diff --git a/public/scope-audit.css b/public/scope-audit.css
index 6aaee15a..59e57057 100644
--- a/public/scope-audit.css
+++ b/public/scope-audit.css
@@ -52,3 +52,8 @@
 @media (max-width: 640px) {
   .sa-table th:nth-child(6), .sa-table td:nth-child(6) { display: none; }
 }
+
+/* Observed forwarding, the green half of the merged Scopes column. Pairs with
+   .sa-chip-missing above, which keeps the red. Same colour-mix construction so
+   the two read as one scale rather than two unrelated styles. */
+.sa-chip-observed { background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--status-green) 16%, transparent); color: var(--status-green-text); }
diff --git a/public/scope-audit.js b/public/scope-audit.js
index 89159dfb..44e7ad6c 100644
--- a/public/scope-audit.js
+++ b/public/scope-audit.js
@@ -57,17 +57,32 @@
     return '<span title="Declared regions answer captured ' + escapeHtml(row.declaredAt) + '">' + escapeHtml(age) + '</span>';
   }
 
-  function scopeChips(names, cls) {
-    if (!names.length) return '<span class="text-muted">—</span>';
-    return names.map(function (n) { return '<span class="sa-chip ' + cls + '">' + escapeHtml(n) + '</span>'; }).join(' ');
-  }
-
-  function undeclaredChips(rows) {
-    if (!rows.length) return '<span class="text-muted">—</span>';
-    return rows.map(function (o) {
-      return '<span class="sa-chip sa-chip-undeclared" title="' + o.packets + ' packet' + (o.packets === 1 ? '' : 's') +
-        ', last seen ' + escapeHtml(timeAgo(o.lastSeen)) + '">' + escapeHtml(o.scope) + '</span>';
-    }).join(' ');
+  // mergedScopeChips renders ONE chip per declared region, coloured by whether
+  // that region was actually observed forwarding in the window.
+  //
+  // This replaces the old DECLARED and NOT OBSERVED pair. They were never
+  // independent: notObserved is a strict subset of declaredRegions, checked
+  // against a live 197-row response where it held on 197 of 197 rows. The two
+  // columns printed the same set twice, once whole and once filtered, and left
+  // the reader to diff them. On a typical mixed row that meant comparing two
+  // lists of eight to find the one or two entries that differ. Here the
+  // observed ones are simply the green ones.
+  //
+  // No new claim is made about the data: a region present in declaredRegions
+  // and absent from notObserved is exactly what the server already means by
+  // "observed forwarding in this window".
+  function mergedScopeChips(row) {
+    var missing = Object.create(null);
+    row.notObserved.forEach(function (n) { missing[n] = true; });
+    var chips = row.declaredRegions.map(function (n) {
+      var observed = !missing[n];
+      return '<span class="sa-chip ' + (observed ? 'sa-chip-observed' : 'sa-chip-missing') +
+        '" title="' + escapeHtml(n) +
+        (observed ? ': observed forwarding in this window' : ': declared, but no forwarding observed in this window') +
+        '">' + escapeHtml(n) + '</span>';
+    });
+    if (!chips.length) return '<span class="text-muted">—</span>';
+    return chips.join(' ');
   }
 
   // nameHtml renders the repeater identity cell. row.name == null means this
@@ -171,15 +186,12 @@
     // parsed back into a date.
     var declaredAtMs = row.declaredAt ? new Date(row.declaredAt).getTime() : NaN;
     var nameSortValue = row.name != null ? row.name : row.publicKey;
-    var declaredCount = row.declaredRegions.length + (row.declaredWildcard ? 1 : 0);
 
     return '<tr data-pubkey="' + escapeHtml(row.publicKey) + '">' +
       '<td class="sa-name" data-value="' + escapeHtml(nameSortValue) + '">' + nameHtml(row) + (row.role != null && row.role !== '' ? '<span class="text-muted sa-role"> ' + escapeHtml(row.role) + '</span>' : '') + '</td>' +
       '<td data-value="' + statusScore(row) + '">' + issuesHtml + '</td>' +
       '<td data-value="' + escapeHtml(CONFIG_STATES[row.configState].label) + '">' + configStateHtml(row) + '</td>' +
-      '<td data-value="' + declaredCount + '">' + scopeChips(row.declaredRegions, 'sa-chip-declared') + (row.declaredWildcard ? ' <span class="sa-chip sa-chip-wildcard" title="Declares the \'*\' wildcard — allows plain unscoped floods.">*</span>' : '') + '</td>' +
-      '<td data-value="' + row.notObserved.length + '">' + scopeChips(row.notObserved, 'sa-chip-missing') + ambiguousCaveat(row) + '</td>' +
-      '<td data-value="' + row.undeclaredObserved.length + '">' + undeclaredChips(row.undeclaredObserved) + '</td>' +
+      '<td data-value="' + row.notObserved.length + '">' + mergedScopeChips(row) + (row.declaredWildcard ? ' <span class="sa-chip sa-chip-wildcard" title="Declares the \'*\' wildcard — allows plain unscoped floods.">*</span>' : '') + ambiguousCaveat(row) + '</td>' +
       '<td data-value="' + (isNaN(declaredAtMs) ? '' : declaredAtMs) + '">' + ageHtml(row) + (row.truncated ? ' <span class="ns-truncated" title="Declared list was truncated by the repeater — a missing region here is not necessarily a real absence.">truncated</span>' : '') + '</td>' +
       '</tr>';
   }
@@ -247,9 +259,7 @@
       '<th data-sort-key="name">Repeater</th>' +
       '<th data-sort-key="status" data-type="numeric">Status</th>' +
       '<th data-sort-key="config">Config</th>' +
-      '<th data-sort-key="declared" data-type="numeric">Declared</th>' +
-      '<th data-sort-key="notObserved" data-type="numeric">Not observed</th>' +
-      '<th data-sort-key="undeclared" data-type="numeric">Undeclared observed</th>' +
+      '<th data-sort-key="notObserved" data-type="numeric" title="Declared regions, coloured by whether forwarding was observed in this window. Green = observed, red = declared but not observed.">Scopes</th>' +
       '<th data-sort-key="declaredAt" data-type="numeric">Declared age</th>' +
       '</tr></thead><tbody>' +
       d.repeaters.map(rowHtml).join('') +
@@ -327,5 +337,12 @@
     sortCtl = null;
   }
 
+  if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
+    // Exposed so the helper tests can assert what the Scopes column RENDERS
+    // rather than grepping this file, the same reason map.js exposes its label
+    // builder (#1356/#1933).
+    window.__meshcoreScopeAuditInternals = { mergedScopeChips: mergedScopeChips };
+  }
+
   registerPage('scope-audit', { init: init, destroy: destroy });
 })();
diff --git a/test-frontend-helpers.js b/test-frontend-helpers.js
index b2cf51d1..bf688f56 100644
--- a/test-frontend-helpers.js
+++ b/test-frontend-helpers.js
@@ -6966,3 +6966,74 @@ console.log('\n=== observers.js: healthStatus (configurable thresholds) ===');
     assert.strictEqual(r.label, 'Unknown');
   });
 }
+
+// ===== scope-audit.js: mergedScopeChips =====
+// DECLARED and NOT OBSERVED were merged into one colour-coded Scopes column.
+// They were never independent: notObserved is a strict subset of
+// declaredRegions, so the page printed the same set twice and made the reader
+// diff it. These assert the rendered markup, not the source.
+console.log('\n=== scope-audit.js: mergedScopeChips ===');
+{
+  const ctx = makeSandbox();
+  ctx.registerPage = () => {};
+  loadInCtx(ctx, 'public/app.js');
+  loadInCtx(ctx, 'public/scope-audit.js');
+  const chips = ctx.__meshcoreScopeAuditInternals.mergedScopeChips;
+  const row = (declared, notObserved) => ({ declaredRegions: declared, notObserved: notObserved });
+
+  test('a declared region absent from notObserved renders as observed', () => {
+    const h = chips(row(['be'], []));
+    assert.ok(h.includes('sa-chip-observed'), 'should carry the observed class');
+    assert.ok(!h.includes('sa-chip-missing'), 'and not the missing one');
+  });
+
+  test('a declared region present in notObserved renders as missing', () => {
+    const h = chips(row(['be'], ['be']));
+    assert.ok(h.includes('sa-chip-missing'));
+    assert.ok(!h.includes('sa-chip-observed'));
+  });
+
+  test('a mixed row renders both colours, one chip per declared region', () => {
+    // The case the merge exists for: on live data a typical mixed row declares
+    // 8 regions of which 6 are unobserved, so the observed ones are the needle.
+    const h = chips(row(['be', 'eu', 'nl'], ['eu', 'nl']));
+    assert.strictEqual((h.match(/sa-chip-observed/g) || []).length, 1);
+    assert.strictEqual((h.match(/sa-chip-missing/g) || []).length, 2);
+    assert.strictEqual((h.match(/<span/g) || []).length, 3, 'one chip per declared region, no more');
+  });
+
+  test('declared order is preserved, not regrouped by colour', () => {
+    // Regrouping would break the operator habit of scanning for a known
+    // region in the position it always sits.
+    const h = chips(row(['be', 'eu', 'nl'], ['eu']));
+    assert.ok(h.indexOf('>be<') < h.indexOf('>eu<'), 'be before eu');
+    assert.ok(h.indexOf('>eu<') < h.indexOf('>nl<'), 'eu before nl');
+  });
+
+  test('no declared regions renders an em dash, not an empty cell', () => {
+    // 68 of 197 rows on live data declare nothing at all; an empty cell reads
+    // as a rendering fault rather than as an answer.
+    assert.ok(chips(row([], [])).includes('—'));
+  });
+
+  test('every chip explains its own colour in a title', () => {
+    const h = chips(row(['be', 'eu'], ['eu']));
+    assert.ok(h.includes('observed forwarding in this window'));
+    assert.ok(h.includes('declared, but no forwarding observed in this window'));
+  });
+
+  test('region names are HTML-escaped', () => {
+    const h = chips(row(['<img src=x onerror=alert(1)>'], []));
+    assert.ok(!h.includes('<img'), 'must not emit raw markup from server-supplied names');
+    assert.ok(h.includes('&lt;img'));
+  });
+
+  test('a notObserved entry that is not declared cannot invent a chip', () => {
+    // Defensive: the server guarantees notObserved is a subset (197 of 197
+    // rows checked), but the column must not grow a phantom chip if that ever
+    // stops holding.
+    const h = chips(row(['be'], ['be', 'ghost']));
+    assert.strictEqual((h.match(/<span/g) || []).length, 1);
+    assert.ok(!h.includes('ghost'));
+  });
+}