diff --git a/modules/mesh-grants/grants_test.go b/modules/mesh-grants/grants_test.go
index 7d57b724..bf3fc9ea 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-grants/grants_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-grants/grants_test.go
@@ -2640,6 +2640,14 @@ func TestGrants(t *testing.T) {
 				b.put(grants.ReadHave, "b.mod-y", runs)
 				b.put(grants.ReadHave, "a.mesh-delivery-indexer", runs)
 			}, ""},
+			// The wants view unanswered, the assignments answered (issue 1966, the list held from 2026-11-08 16:39): what runs
+			// comes from the haves, the wants are no failed read, and the pass only adds.
+			{"the wants view unanswered", func(b *fakeBus, p *grants.Part) {
+				b.refused[grants.ReadWants] = true
+				if in := grants.ReadInputs(b, &grants.Manifests{}); in.WantsUnread == "" || len(in.ReadFailed()) != 0 {
+					t.Errorf("an unanswered wants view is a failed read, or composes no fallback: %q, %v", in.WantsUnread, in.ReadFailed())
+				}
+			}, ""},
 			// The ledger of a held module stays with its module's users, whatever the seat list (held.go).
 			{"the ledger of a module whose manifest is refused", func(b *fakeBus, p *grants.Part) {
 				b.refuse("mod-x", ledgerX, "it is held")
diff --git a/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/inputs.go b/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/inputs.go
index 4b63aa60..dc8ff14f 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/inputs.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/inputs.go
@@ -180,6 +180,11 @@ type Inputs struct {
 	// answering (bootstrap only, issue 1966); empty when the assignments placed them. Such a pass retires nothing
 	// (ReadFailures) and seals no list dropping a user of the list in force (holdsBack).
 	ByHaves string
+	// WantsUnread says why this pass composed what runs from each have's fingerprint, the wants view not answering while
+	// the assignments view did (bootstrap only, issue 1966: a wants page the running assigner cannot answer in a call's
+	// bound); empty when the wants were read. As ByHaves, such a pass retires nothing (ReadFailures) and only adds
+	// (keepsLoaded): the list is held only where it would take a permission from a loaded user (holdsBack).
+	WantsUnread string
 	// Held is, by module, the manifest a held module's running build was judged on (its have's fingerprint, the builder's
 	// build of it): what the seats it defines, the streams others hear from it and its reads are composed from while its
 	// trunk manifest is refused or waits, so no other principal loses a grant to it (ADR 0601 clause 3).
@@ -519,12 +524,20 @@ func ReadInputs(r Reader, cache *Manifests) Inputs {
 	// What each machine is wanted to run: the want's fingerprint, the builder's build of it, the manifest it built.
 	var fromTrunk []string
 	wants := map[string][]byte{}
-	if in.ByHaves == "" {
+	_, wantsErr := r.Keys(ReadWants)
+	switch {
+	case in.ByHaves == "" && wantsErr == nil:
 		wants = each(r, ReadWants, &in.Gaps)
 		// What each machine runs now is its have's build, which the want may already have left (issue 1966): the
 		// memberships keep what either build reads, calls and consumes.
 		runningByHaves(r, &in, cache, in.Had)
-	} else {
+	case in.ByHaves == "":
+		// **Bootstrap only** (issue 1966), as the assignments' placement by the haves: while the wants view does not answer,
+		// what runs is each placed module's have's fingerprint, said as a gap that is no failed read, and the pass only adds.
+		in.WantsUnread = "the wants view did not answer (" + wantsErr.Error() + "), so what runs is composed from each have's fingerprint"
+		in.Gaps = append(in.Gaps, Gap{Input: ReadWants, Why: "refused or absent: what runs is composed from each have's fingerprint instead, until it answers (" + wantsErr.Error() + ")"})
+		fromTrunk = runningByHaves(r, &in, cache, in.Running)
+	default:
 		// Placed by the haves, what runs is what each have's fingerprint names, not a want: the assigner's wants are its
 		// view too, and not read in such a pass.
 		in.Gaps = append(in.Gaps, Gap{Input: ReadWants, Why: "not read: the modules are placed by the node-engines' haves this pass, so what runs is composed from each have's fingerprint"})
@@ -716,6 +729,9 @@ func (in Inputs) ReadFailures() []string {
 	if in.ByHaves != "" {
 		out = append(out, ReadAssignments+": "+in.ByHaves)
 	}
+	if in.WantsUnread != "" {
+		out = append(out, ReadWants+": "+in.WantsUnread)
+	}
 	for _, g := range in.Refused {
 		out = append(out, g.Input+": "+g.Why)
 	}
diff --git a/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/keeploaded.go b/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/keeploaded.go
index dee095b4..23693a87 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/keeploaded.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-grants/internal/grants/keeploaded.go
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ func (in Inputs) keepsLoaded() string {
 	switch {
 	case in.ByHaves != "":
 		return in.ByHaves
+	case in.WantsUnread != "":
+		return in.WantsUnread
 	case in.SeatListUnread:
 		return "the seat list is unread, so only the bootstrapped seats compose"
 	}