diff --git a/src/routes/myResources.js b/src/routes/myResources.js
index d043b631..5579b2b3 100644
--- a/src/routes/myResources.js
+++ b/src/routes/myResources.js
@@ -349,11 +349,17 @@ router.post('/my-resources/generate', async function (req, res) {
     // columns are invisible to it. One pass, on generation only, and only when
     // an administrator has named a reviewer — a second pass costs as much as
     // the first and fixes far less.
+    // Computed here, before anything reads it. It used to be declared inside the
+    // review branch below, so with no reviewer configured — the default — it was
+    // undefined by the time the INSERT stringified it, and every generation
+    // failed on a NOT NULL constraint. `var` is function-scoped, so nothing
+    // complained until the database did.
+    var savedFigureIds = (ai.imageJobs || []).map(function (job) { return job.jobId; }).filter(Boolean);
+
     var reviewed = { reviewed: false, reason: 'not attempted' };
     if (deck) {
       var reviewModel = String(await db.getSetting('my_resources.review_model', '') || '');
       if (reviewModel) {
-        var figureIds = (ai.imageJobs || []).map(function (job) { return job.jobId; }).filter(Boolean);
         reviewed = await deckReview.review(deck, {
           model: reviewModel,
           callAI: callAI,
@@ -362,7 +368,7 @@ router.post('/my-resources/generate', async function (req, res) {
           mime: documentExport.FORMATS.pptx.mime,
           // Rendered without the figures: they are still being drawn at this
           // point, and a reviewer judges layout, not artwork.
-          pptx: await documentExport.renderDeck(deck, [], figureIds)
+          pptx: await documentExport.renderDeck(deck, [], savedFigureIds)
         });
         deck = reviewed.deck;
       }
@@ -374,14 +380,11 @@ router.post('/my-resources/generate', async function (req, res) {
     var markdown = deck ? deckSchema.toMarkdown(deck) : String((ai && ai.content) || '').trim();
     if (!markdown) return res.status(502).json({ error: 'The model returned nothing. Try again.' });
 
-    // The figures belong to the resource, or an exported deck has no way to
-    // include the pictures the author asked for.
-    var savedFigureIds = (ai.imageJobs || []).map(function (job) { return job.jobId; }).filter(Boolean);
     var row = await db.get(
       'INSERT INTO user_resources (user_id, title, kind, markdown, topic, grounded_count, image_ids, deck) ' +
       'VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?) RETURNING id, title, kind, topic, grounded_count, created_at',
       [req.user.id, deck && deck.title ? deck.title : firstHeading(markdown, topic), kind, markdown,
-       topic.slice(0, 500), corpus.sources.length, JSON.stringify(figureIds),
+       topic.slice(0, 500), corpus.sources.length, JSON.stringify(savedFigureIds),
        deck ? JSON.stringify(deck) : null]
     );
 
@@ -533,7 +536,8 @@ router.post('/my-resources/:id/refine', async function (req, res) {
     if (existingDeck && !revisedDeck) {
       // A reply that is not a deck would otherwise be saved as the markdown and
       // silently drop every layout the deck held.
-      console.warn('[my-resources] refine did not return a usable deck; nothing changed');
+      logRefine({ id: existing.id, path: 'deck', outcome: 'refused',
+                  detail: 'the model did not return a usable deck', instructions: instructions });
       return res.status(502).json({ error: 'That change could not be applied. Try wording it differently.' });
     }
     if (revisedDeck) {
@@ -557,6 +561,23 @@ router.post('/my-resources/:id/refine', async function (req, res) {
       [revised, firstHeading(revised), JSON.stringify(added),
        revisedDeck ? JSON.stringify(revisedDeck) : null, existing.id, req.user.id]
     );
+    // Said out loud, every time. A modification that changes nothing is the
+    // failure worth catching, and it is invisible from the response: the row
+    // updates, the title updates, and the file is identical.
+    logRefine({
+      id: existing.id,
+      path: revisedDeck ? 'deck' : 'markdown',
+      outcome: 'applied',
+      before: existingDeck ? (existingDeck.slides || []).length : existing.markdown.length,
+      after: revisedDeck ? (revisedDeck.slides || []).length : revised.length,
+      unchanged: revisedDeck
+        ? JSON.stringify(existingDeck.slides) === JSON.stringify(revisedDeck.slides)
+        : revised.trim() === String(existing.markdown || '').trim(),
+      figures: added.length,
+      model: ai && ai.model,
+      instructions: instructions
+    });
+
     res.json({
       success: true, resource: row, markdown: revised,
       grounding: { used: Boolean(sources.corpus.context), count: sources.corpus.sources.length,
@@ -572,6 +593,31 @@ router.post('/my-resources/:id/refine', async function (req, res) {
   }
 });
 
+// What a modification actually did, in one line, so "it spat out the same thing"
+// can be checked rather than guessed at. The unchanged case is the one worth
+// watching: the response says success either way, and the download is identical.
+function logRefine(event) {
+  var unit = event.path === 'deck' ? ' slides' : ' chars';
+  var parts = ['[my-resources] refine id=' + event.id, 'path=' + event.path, 'outcome=' + event.outcome];
+  if (event.outcome === 'applied') {
+    parts.push(event.before + '\u2192' + event.after + unit);
+    parts.push(event.unchanged ? 'CHANGED=no' : 'changed=yes');
+    if (event.figures) parts.push('figures=+' + event.figures);
+    if (event.model) parts.push('model=' + event.model);
+  } else if (event.detail) {
+    parts.push('(' + event.detail + ')');
+  }
+  parts.push('instruction="' + String(event.instructions || '').slice(0, 70).replace(/\s+/g, ' ') + '"');
+  var line = parts.join(' ');
+  if (event.outcome !== 'applied' || event.unchanged) console.warn(line); else console.log(line);
+  try {
+    require('../utils/metrics').resourceRefines.inc({
+      path: event.path,
+      outcome: event.outcome === 'applied' ? (event.unchanged ? 'unchanged' : 'changed') : event.outcome
+    });
+  } catch (e) { /* never worth an error here */ }
+}
+
 // One line per distinct thing a deck wanted and could not have, plus a counter
 // so it can be watched over time. Never fails anything: this is a note to
 // whoever decides what to build next, not part of the generation.
diff --git a/src/utils/metrics.js b/src/utils/metrics.js
index 3cc242eb..a525e483 100644
--- a/src/utils/metrics.js
+++ b/src/utils/metrics.js
@@ -82,9 +82,19 @@ const deckVocabularyGaps = new client.Counter({
   registers: [register]
 });
 
+// What modifying a resource did. "unchanged" is the one to watch: it means a
+// person was told their change was applied and got back exactly what they had.
+const resourceRefines = new client.Counter({
+  name: 'ped_ai_resource_refine_total',
+  help: 'Modifications to a generated resource, by path taken and what happened',
+  labelNames: ['path', 'outcome'],
+  registers: [register]
+});
+
 module.exports = {
   metricsHandler,
   metricsMiddleware,
   deckVocabularyGaps,
+  resourceRefines,
   register
 };
diff --git a/test/my-resources.test.js b/test/my-resources.test.js
index ef837457..da58bac8 100644
--- a/test/my-resources.test.js
+++ b/test/my-resources.test.js
@@ -279,6 +279,23 @@ test('the library is bounded, searchable, and drives the modify picker', () => {
   assert.match(js, /library\.length\s*\n?\s*\? 'Nothing matches/);
 });
 
+test('the figure ids are computed before anything reads them', () => {
+  const route = read('src/routes/myResources.js');
+  // They were declared inside the slide-review branch, so with no reviewer
+  // configured — the default — the value was undefined by the time the INSERT
+  // stringified it, and every generation failed on a NOT NULL constraint. `var`
+  // is function-scoped, so nothing complained until the database did. This is
+  // the second bug of exactly this shape in this file.
+  const body = route.slice(route.indexOf("router.post('/my-resources/generate'"));
+  const declared = body.indexOf('var savedFigureIds =');
+  const reviewUses = body.indexOf('renderDeck(deck, [], savedFigureIds)');
+  const insertUses = body.indexOf('JSON.stringify(savedFigureIds)');
+  assert.ok(declared > -1 && declared < reviewUses, 'declared before the review reads it');
+  assert.ok(declared < insertUses, 'and before the insert reads it');
+  // Declared at the top level of the handler, not inside a branch.
+  assert.doesNotMatch(body.slice(0, insertUses), /if \(reviewModel\) \{\s*\n\s*var savedFigureIds/);
+});
+
 test('modifying a presentation edits the deck, not only its markdown', () => {
   const route = read('src/routes/myResources.js');
   // Export renders from the stored deck. Refine edited the markdown beside it
@@ -291,7 +308,7 @@ test('modifying a presentation edits the deck, not only its markdown', () => {
 
   // A reply that is not a deck must not be saved as markdown: that would drop
   // every layout the deck held while looking like it worked.
-  assert.match(route, /refine did not return a usable deck; nothing changed/);
+  assert.match(route, /outcome: 'refused',\s*\n\s*detail: 'the model did not return a usable deck'/);
   assert.match(route, /That change could not be applied\. Try wording it differently\./);
 
   // An article has no deck and keeps the markdown path.
diff --git a/test/slide-spec.test.js b/test/slide-spec.test.js
index 735c450e..cf16cff0 100644
--- a/test/slide-spec.test.js
+++ b/test/slide-spec.test.js
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ test('a resource remembers its figures, so an export can include them', () => {
   // They were queued and shown on screen, but nothing tied them to the
   // resource, so an exported deck could never contain them.
   assert.match(read('migrations/1780500000000_resource-images.js'), /image_ids JSONB/);
-  assert.match(route, /var figureIds = \(ai\.imageJobs \|\| \[\]\)\.map/);
+  assert.match(route, /var savedFigureIds = \(ai\.imageJobs \|\| \[\]\)\.map/);
   // "Add two more diagrams" means more, not instead.
   assert.match(route, /image_ids = image_ids \|\| \?::jsonb/);
   assert.match(route, /async function collectFigures\(ids, user, dir\)/);