diff --git a/.github/workflows/api-testing.yml b/.github/workflows/api-testing.yml
index 62a2425b6c..27694dcfd1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/api-testing.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/api-testing.yml
@@ -654,6 +654,8 @@ jobs:
           # 2. Nothing API-relevant changed → nothing ran → allow.
           if [ "${{ needs.check_changes.outputs.has_changes }}" != "true" ]; then
             echo "✅ No API-relevant changes — suite not required."
+            echo "::notice title=API tests skipped::No API-relevant changes — suite did not run."
+            echo "### ⏭️ API suite skipped — no API-relevant changes in this PR, so no tests ran." >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
             exit 0
           fi
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/playwright.yml b/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
index e474142ff3..3bd77dea95 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
@@ -1168,6 +1168,8 @@ jobs:
           # 2. Nothing Playwright-relevant changed → nothing ran → allow.
           if [ "${{ needs.check_changes.outputs.has_changes }}" != "true" ]; then
             echo "✅ No Playwright-relevant changes — suite not required."
+            echo "::notice title=Playwright tests skipped::No Playwright-relevant changes — suite did not run."
+            echo "### ⏭️ Playwright suite skipped — no Playwright-relevant changes in this PR, so no tests ran." >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
             exit 0
           fi
 
diff --git a/tests/ui-testing/pages/logsPages/logsPage.js b/tests/ui-testing/pages/logsPages/logsPage.js
index f721098477..aef687db06 100644
--- a/tests/ui-testing/pages/logsPages/logsPage.js
+++ b/tests/ui-testing/pages/logsPages/logsPage.js
@@ -3447,13 +3447,7 @@ export class LogsPage {
         // Create lives in the Saved views submenu, which only renders while open.
         const createSavedViewBtn = this.page.locator(this.menuCreateSavedViewBtn);
         if (!(await createSavedViewBtn.isVisible({ timeout: 500 }).catch(() => false))) {
-            const submenuTrigger = this.page.locator(this.menuListSavedViewsBtn);
-            if (!(await submenuTrigger.isVisible().catch(() => false))) {
-                await this.page.locator(this.utilitiesMenuButton).click({ force: true });
-                await submenuTrigger.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
-            }
-            await submenuTrigger.click({ force: true });
-            await createSavedViewBtn.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
+            await this.openSavedViewsSubmenu(this.menuCreateSavedViewBtn);
         }
         await createSavedViewBtn.click();
         await this.page.locator(this.savedViewDialog).waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 10000 });
@@ -9035,12 +9029,29 @@ export class LogsPage {
             await listMenuItem.waitFor({ state: 'hidden', timeout: 2000 }).catch(() => {});
         }
         if (!opened) throw new Error('Could not open saved views menu after 3 attempts');
-        // force: true — ODropdown portal transiently detaches items during initial render
-        await listMenuItem.click({ force: true });
-        await this.page.locator(this.savedViewSearchInput).waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 10000 });
+        await this.openSavedViewsSubmenu(this.savedViewSearchInput);
         testLogger.info('Clicked saved views dropdown arrow');
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Open the Saved views submenu of the utilities menu and wait for `targetSelector` inside it.
+     * @param {string} targetSelector - element that only renders while the submenu is open
+     */
+    async openSavedViewsSubmenu(targetSelector) {
+        const trigger = this.page.locator(this.menuListSavedViewsBtn);
+        const target = this.page.locator(targetSelector);
+        for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 3; attempt++) {
+            if (!(await trigger.isVisible().catch(() => false))) {
+                await this.page.locator(this.utilitiesMenuButton).click({ force: true });
+                await trigger.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 }).catch(() => {});
+            }
+            // No force: a click during the menu's open animation lands outside it and dismisses the whole menu.
+            await trigger.click({ timeout: 5000 }).catch(() => {});
+            if (await target.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 3000 }).then(() => true).catch(() => false)) return;
+        }
+        await target.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
+    }
+
     /**
      * Expand the saved views dropdown and wait for search input
      * Tries arrow click first, then main button if search input doesn't appear
diff --git a/web/src/ts/interfaces/oncall.ts b/web/src/ts/interfaces/oncall.ts
index b2b2d6b0a1..338b3400a1 100644
--- a/web/src/ts/interfaces/oncall.ts
+++ b/web/src/ts/interfaces/oncall.ts
@@ -1005,7 +1005,7 @@ export interface EscalationProgress {
   next_targets: string[];
   next_at?: number | null;
   exhausted: boolean;
-  /** Set when the ladder is not climbing: acknowledged, snoozed, resolved. */
+  /** Set when the ladder is not climbing: acknowledged, snoozed, resolved, unrouted, team deleted, or exhausted (check `exhausted`). */
   stopped_because?: string | null;
   /** While the first page is held for AI triage, when the hold ends (micros). */
   held_until_micros?: number | null;
diff --git a/web/src/utils/oncall.spec.ts b/web/src/utils/oncall.spec.ts
index 69f2483ff6..cece07dd39 100644
--- a/web/src/utils/oncall.spec.ts
+++ b/web/src/utils/oncall.spec.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import {
   isShiftRuleValid,
   isSnoozed,
   isDeletedTeam,
+  ladderStopped,
   pagePhrase,
   reachedStepOf,
   pageState,
@@ -516,6 +517,36 @@ describe("isDeletedTeam", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("ladderStopped", () => {
+  const progress = (exhausted: boolean, stopped_because: string | null) =>
+    ({ fired: [], next_targets: [], next_at: null, exhausted, stopped_because }) as any;
+
+  it.each([
+    [
+      "an exhausted ladder",
+      progress(true, "the ladder is exhausted — nobody acknowledged"),
+      false,
+      false,
+    ],
+    [
+      "a ladder stopped for another reason",
+      progress(false, "the owning team was deleted"),
+      false,
+      true,
+    ],
+    ["a climbing ladder", progress(false, null), false, false],
+    [
+      "a deleted team, even with an exhausted ladder",
+      progress(true, "the ladder is exhausted — nobody acknowledged"),
+      true,
+      true,
+    ],
+    ["a deleted team with no progress loaded", undefined, true, true],
+  ])("%s", (_name, ladder, teamDeleted, expected) => {
+    expect(ladderStopped(ladder, teamDeleted)).toBe(expected);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("reachedStepOf", () => {
   it("names the 1-based step a recorded rung delay matches, or nothing", () => {
     const steps = [{ after_micros: 900 }, { after_micros: 0 }, { after_micros: 300 }];
diff --git a/web/src/utils/oncall.ts b/web/src/utils/oncall.ts
index d5ba06804f..91ad57a9d7 100644
--- a/web/src/utils/oncall.ts
+++ b/web/src/utils/oncall.ts
@@ -302,12 +302,12 @@ export function isDeletedTeam(
   return !!teamId && knownTeamIds !== null && !knownTeamIds.includes(teamId);
 }
 
-/** A ringing page whose ladder stopped, or whose team was deleted, pages nobody; the list's count and phrase both ask this. [pure] */
+/** A ringing page whose ladder stopped, or whose team was deleted, pages nobody; a ladder that ran out also sets `stopped_because` but is still paging. [pure] */
 export function ladderStopped(
   progress: EscalationProgress | null | undefined,
   teamDeleted: boolean,
 ): boolean {
-  return teamDeleted || !!progress?.stopped_because;
+  return teamDeleted || (!!progress?.stopped_because && !progress?.exhausted);
 }
 
 /** What is happening to a page, as one phrase: the Pages list, Recent pages and the page header all say this. */
diff --git a/web/src/views/OnCall/OnCallResponses.spec.ts b/web/src/views/OnCall/OnCallResponses.spec.ts
index 9afe86640b..4364587819 100644
--- a/web/src/views/OnCall/OnCallResponses.spec.ts
+++ b/web/src/views/OnCall/OnCallResponses.spec.ts
@@ -565,6 +565,9 @@ describe("OnCallResponses", () => {
 
       expect(sections(wrapper)).toEqual({ ringing: 1 });
       expect(wrapper.find('[data-test^="oncall-row-ack-"]').exists()).toBe(true);
+      const header = wrapper.find("[data-test='oncall-section-header-ringing']").text();
+      expect(header).toContain("nobody has acknowledged — these are still paging");
+      expect(header).not.toContain("not being paged");
     });
 
     /// A priority with no rungs configured (P4, by design) never starts a