diff --git a/jouleclaw/jouleclaw-rs/crates/jouleclaw-compose/src/verified.rs b/jouleclaw/jouleclaw-rs/crates/jouleclaw-compose/src/verified.rs
index 746a20a74..29a585f22 100644
--- a/jouleclaw/jouleclaw-rs/crates/jouleclaw-compose/src/verified.rs
+++ b/jouleclaw/jouleclaw-rs/crates/jouleclaw-compose/src/verified.rs
@@ -179,13 +179,38 @@ fn build_answer(inputs: &ComposeInputs<'_>) -> Answer {
             .and_then(|id| claims_by_id.get(&id).map(|c| c.knowledge_axes.clone()))
             .unwrap_or_else(default_axes);
 
-        // Build per-claim attribution. Source URI from the most
-        // authoritative cited item.
-        let cited_item = ds
+        // Build per-claim attribution from the most authoritative cited item.
+        //
+        // This took `.next()` — the first cited id that happened to resolve,
+        // in whatever order the ids were listed. Tier 1 is the *most*
+        // authoritative (`AuthorityTier::Primary`) and 4 the least, so the
+        // most authoritative item is the **minimum** tier, and a segment
+        // citing a community post before a peer-reviewed source was
+        // attributed to the community post. The whole attribution — source
+        // URI, retrieval timestamp and axes — rides on this choice.
+        //
+        // Ties break on `item_id` so the choice is reproducible rather than
+        // dependent on citation order.
+        let resolved: Vec<&RetrievedItem> = ds
             .cited_item_ids
             .iter()
             .filter_map(|id| inputs.items.iter().find(|it| it.item_id == *id))
-            .next();
+            .collect();
+        // A cited id that matches no retrieved item is not provenance, and
+        // `filter_map` drops it silently: with every citation dangling the
+        // attribution degrades to all-`None` while the segment still carries
+        // the ids, so a reader sees citations and no source with nothing
+        // saying why. Say why.
+        let dangling = ds.cited_item_ids.len() - resolved.len();
+        if dangling > 0 {
+            caveats.push(format!(
+                "Segment {} cites {dangling} item(s) that are not in the retrieved set",
+                ds.segment_id
+            ));
+        }
+        let cited_item = resolved
+            .into_iter()
+            .min_by_key(|it| (it.knowledge_axes.source_authority_tier, it.item_id));
         let attribution = ClaimAttribution {
             schema_version: "6.0".into(),
             epistemic_mode: EpistemicMode::FromRetrieval,
@@ -571,6 +596,182 @@ mod tests {
             .contains(&"I13".to_string()), "I13 should be added");
     }
 
+    /// **The attribution must come from the most authoritative cited item,
+    /// not the first one listed.**
+    ///
+    /// Tier 1 is `AuthorityTier::Primary` and 4 is `Community`, so the most
+    /// authoritative item is the *minimum* tier. This selection carries the
+    /// whole attribution — source URI, retrieval timestamp and axes — so
+    /// taking whichever id happened to be listed first attributed a claim to
+    /// a forum post while a peer-reviewed source sat in the same citation
+    /// list.
+    ///
+    /// The discriminating pair is citation *order*: the same two items, listed
+    /// both ways round, must attribute to the same one.
+    #[test]
+    fn attribution_takes_the_most_authoritative_cited_item_not_the_first() {
+        for community_first in [true, false] {
+            let p = plan();
+            let mut community = item("A forum post about France.");
+            community.knowledge_axes = axes(4);
+            community.source_url = Some("https://forum.example/thread/1".into());
+            let mut primary = item("Paris is the capital of France.");
+            primary.knowledge_axes = axes(1);
+            primary.source_url = Some("https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q90".into());
+
+            let cited = if community_first {
+                vec![community.item_id, primary.item_id]
+            } else {
+                vec![primary.item_id, community.item_id]
+            };
+            let seg = DraftSegment {
+                segment_id: "s0".into(),
+                text: "Paris is the capital of France.".into(),
+                cited_item_ids: cited,
+            };
+            let claim = claim_for("s0", "Paris is the capital of France.");
+            let report = report_proceed(p.plan_id);
+            let items = [community.clone(), primary.clone()];
+            let inputs = ComposeInputs {
+                plan: &p,
+                draft_segments: &[seg],
+                claims: &[claim],
+                items: &items,
+                report: &report,
+                joules_spent_total: 100.0,
+                latency_ms: 1500,
+            };
+            let result = compose_verified_answer(&inputs).unwrap();
+            let ans = result.as_answer().expect("Answer");
+            let attr = &ans.segments[0].attribution;
+            assert_eq!(
+                attr.retrieval_source_uri.as_deref(),
+                Some("https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q90"),
+                "community_first={community_first}: the tier-1 source must carry the attribution"
+            );
+            assert_eq!(
+                attr.retrieval_axes.as_ref().map(|a| a.source_authority_tier),
+                Some(1),
+                "and the axes must be the tier-1 item's, not the first listed"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Two cited items of **equal** authority must resolve the same way
+    /// whichever order they are cited in, or the attribution of an answer
+    /// depends on citation order — which is not a property of the sources.
+    /// The tie breaks on `item_id`, so the choice is reproducible.
+    #[test]
+    fn an_authority_tie_breaks_reproducibly_not_on_citation_order() {
+        let low = Uuid::from_u128(1);
+        let high = Uuid::from_u128(2);
+        assert!(low < high, "the test's own premise about Uuid ordering");
+
+        for low_first in [true, false] {
+            let p = plan();
+            let mut a = item("One tier-1 source.");
+            a.item_id = low;
+            a.knowledge_axes = axes(1);
+            a.source_url = Some("https://example.org/low".into());
+            let mut b = item("Another tier-1 source.");
+            b.item_id = high;
+            b.knowledge_axes = axes(1);
+            b.source_url = Some("https://example.org/high".into());
+
+            let seg = DraftSegment {
+                segment_id: "s0".into(),
+                text: "Paris is the capital of France.".into(),
+                cited_item_ids: if low_first { vec![low, high] } else { vec![high, low] },
+            };
+            let claim = claim_for("s0", "Paris is the capital of France.");
+            let report = report_proceed(p.plan_id);
+            let items = [a, b];
+            let inputs = ComposeInputs {
+                plan: &p,
+                draft_segments: &[seg],
+                claims: &[claim],
+                items: &items,
+                report: &report,
+                joules_spent_total: 100.0,
+                latency_ms: 1500,
+            };
+            let result = compose_verified_answer(&inputs).unwrap();
+            let ans = result.as_answer().expect("Answer");
+            assert_eq!(
+                ans.segments[0].attribution.retrieval_source_uri.as_deref(),
+                Some("https://example.org/low"),
+                "low_first={low_first}: an equal-authority tie must not follow citation order"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// A cited id matching no retrieved item is not provenance. It was dropped
+    /// silently, so a segment whose every citation dangled came out with the
+    /// ids still attached and an all-`None` attribution, with nothing stating
+    /// why. The answer now says so.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_citation_that_resolves_to_nothing_is_reported_not_dropped() {
+        let p = plan();
+        let it = item("Paris is the capital of France.");
+        let seg = DraftSegment {
+            segment_id: "s0".into(),
+            text: "Paris is the capital of France.".into(),
+            // One real citation and one that is in no retrieved set.
+            cited_item_ids: vec![it.item_id, Uuid::new_v4()],
+        };
+        let claim = claim_for("s0", "Paris is the capital of France.");
+        let report = report_proceed(p.plan_id);
+        let items = [it.clone()];
+        let inputs = ComposeInputs {
+            plan: &p,
+            draft_segments: &[seg],
+            claims: &[claim],
+            items: &items,
+            report: &report,
+            joules_spent_total: 100.0,
+            latency_ms: 1500,
+        };
+        let result = compose_verified_answer(&inputs).unwrap();
+        let ans = result.as_answer().expect("Answer");
+        assert!(
+            ans.caveats.iter().any(|c| c.contains("not in the retrieved set")),
+            "a dangling citation must be stated, got caveats {:?}",
+            ans.caveats
+        );
+        // The resolvable citation still carries the attribution.
+        assert_eq!(
+            ans.segments[0].attribution.retrieval_source_uri,
+            it.source_url,
+            "the one real citation still attributes"
+        );
+
+        // And where every citation dangles there is no attribution at all —
+        // which is exactly when saying so matters most.
+        let seg = DraftSegment {
+            segment_id: "s0".into(),
+            text: "Paris is the capital of France.".into(),
+            cited_item_ids: vec![Uuid::new_v4(), Uuid::new_v4()],
+        };
+        let claim = claim_for("s0", "Paris is the capital of France.");
+        let inputs = ComposeInputs {
+            plan: &p,
+            draft_segments: &[seg],
+            claims: &[claim],
+            items: &items,
+            report: &report,
+            joules_spent_total: 100.0,
+            latency_ms: 1500,
+        };
+        let result = compose_verified_answer(&inputs).unwrap();
+        let ans = result.as_answer().expect("Answer");
+        assert!(ans.segments[0].attribution.retrieval_source_uri.is_none());
+        assert!(
+            ans.caveats.iter().any(|c| c.contains("cites 2 item(s)")),
+            "both dangling citations must be counted, got {:?}",
+            ans.caveats
+        );
+    }
+
     /// The answer's provenance carries the backing the verifier declared,
     /// beside the entailment results it covers, so an answer read back from
     /// a cache can be held to the same claim. Any backing, the floor