diff --git a/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.test.tsx b/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.test.tsx
index b70067f5..88df0cbb 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.test.tsx
+++ b/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.test.tsx
@@ -153,9 +153,14 @@ describe("SkillsScreen", () => {
     expect(root).toHaveAttribute("data-skill-page-count", "2");
   });
 
-  it("renders 'No skills' when the list is empty", () => {
+  it("says the list was empty without claiming there are no skills", () => {
+    // SEP-2640 lets a server return an empty or partial catalog and says an
+    // empty result is not proof it has none — an unlisted skill is still
+    // fetchable by URI — so "No skills" would be the tool asserting something
+    // the protocol explicitly does not.
     renderWithMantine(<SkillsScreen {...baseProps} skills={[]} />);
-    expect(screen.getByText("No skills")).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText("No skills listed")).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByText("No skills")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
   it("renders a load failure above the list", () => {
@@ -236,10 +241,13 @@ describe("SkillsScreen", () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup();
     renderWithMantine(<ControlledSkillsScreen />);
     await user.click(screen.getByText("data-analysis"));
-    const manifest = screen.getByTestId("skill-manifest");
-    // One row at a time: the first row's own Verify button, not "Verify all".
+    // Addressed by its accessible name, which carries the URI — every row's
+    // visible text is just "Verify", so that name is what tells a
+    // screen-reader user (and this test) which file the button checks.
     await user.click(
-      within(manifest).getAllByRole("button", { name: "Verify" })[0],
+      screen.getByRole("button", {
+        name: "Verify skill://data-analysis/reference.md",
+      }),
     );
     expect(await screen.findByText("verified")).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
@@ -374,10 +382,9 @@ describe("SkillsScreen", () => {
       />,
     );
     await user.click(screen.getByText("data-analysis"));
-    const manifest = screen.getByTestId("skill-manifest");
-    const rowVerify = within(manifest).getAllByRole("button", {
-      name: "Verify",
-    })[0];
+    const rowVerify = screen.getByRole("button", {
+      name: "Verify skill://data-analysis/SKILL.md",
+    });
     await user.click(rowVerify);
     await user.click(rowVerify);
     expect(resolvers).toHaveLength(2);
@@ -780,6 +787,68 @@ describe("SkillsScreen", () => {
     ).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
+  it("rejects an older preview read even when it resolves FIRST", async () => {
+    // The ordering hole: recording an attempt only when it settles leaves a
+    // window where the older request is still considered current. Claiming it
+    // before the request goes out is what makes the older callback stale
+    // immediately, whatever order the two resolve in.
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    const resolvers: ((value: { text: string }) => void)[] = [];
+    const onReadSkillFile = vi.fn(
+      () =>
+        new Promise<{ text: string }>((resolve) => {
+          resolvers.push(resolve);
+        }),
+    );
+    renderWithMantine(
+      <ControlledSkillsScreen onReadSkillFile={onReadSkillFile} />,
+    );
+    await user.click(screen.getByText("data-analysis"));
+    const view = screen.getByRole("button", { name: /View SKILL.md/ });
+    await user.click(view);
+    await user.click(view);
+    expect(resolvers).toHaveLength(2);
+
+    // The OLDER read answers first, while the newer one is still in flight.
+    resolvers[0]({ text: "# stale\n" });
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("skill-md-preview")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    resolvers[1]({ text: "# newest\n" });
+    expect(await screen.findByTestId("skill-md-preview")).toHaveTextContent(
+      "newest",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("rejects an older skills/get even when it resolves FIRST", async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    const resolvers: ((value: SkillEntry) => void)[] = [];
+    const onGetSkill = vi.fn(
+      () =>
+        new Promise<SkillEntry>((resolve) => {
+          resolvers.push(resolve);
+        }),
+    );
+    renderWithMantine(<ControlledSkillsScreen onGetSkill={onGetSkill} />);
+    await user.click(screen.getByText("data-analysis"));
+    const fetchButton = screen.getByRole("button", {
+      name: /Fetch with skills\/get/,
+    });
+    await user.click(fetchButton);
+    await user.click(fetchButton);
+    expect(resolvers).toHaveLength(2);
+
+    // The older fetch answers first with a differing entry; it must not
+    // publish a verdict while the newer one is pending.
+    resolvers[0]({
+      ...CLEAN_SKILL,
+      frontmatter: { ...CLEAN_SKILL.frontmatter, description: "stale" },
+    });
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId("skills-get-result")).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    resolvers[1](CLEAN_SKILL);
+    expect(
+      await screen.findByText("skills/get matches skills/list"),
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
   it("shows the SKILL.md preview on demand", async () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup();
     renderWithMantine(<ControlledSkillsScreen />);
diff --git a/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.tsx b/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.tsx
index 35a39f1f..909625ac 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.tsx
+++ b/clients/web/src/components/screens/SkillsScreen/SkillsScreen.tsx
@@ -529,6 +529,13 @@ export function SkillsScreen({
       setPreviewState((prev) =>
         isStale(prev, key, attempt) ? prev : { key, attempt, ...next },
       );
+    // Claimed BEFORE the request goes out, the way `verifyRow` claims its row.
+    // Recording the attempt only on settle leaves a window where an older
+    // request that happens to resolve first is still considered current, and
+    // publishes its contents while a newer one is in flight. Clearing the
+    // previous result at the same time also means the pane doesn't keep
+    // showing the old file while the new read is running.
+    writePreview({});
     void onReadSkillFile(selected.uri)
       .then((contents) => writePreview({ contents }))
       .catch((err: unknown) => {
@@ -549,6 +556,9 @@ export function SkillsScreen({
       setFetchedEntry((prev) =>
         isStale(prev, key, attempt) ? prev : { key, attempt, ...next },
       );
+    // Claimed before the request goes out — see `showSkillMd` for why settling
+    // is too late.
+    writeFetched({});
     void onGetSkill(selected.uri)
       .then((entry) => {
         // The fetched entry is checked ON ITS OWN before being compared. A
@@ -628,7 +638,12 @@ export function SkillsScreen({
               </Alert>
             )}
             {filtered.length === 0 ? (
-              <EmptyState>No skills</EmptyState>
+              // Not "No skills": SEP-2640 lets a server return an empty or
+              // partial catalog, and says an empty result must not be read as
+              // proof it has none — an unlisted skill can still be fetched by
+              // URI with `skills/get`. Claiming otherwise would be the tool
+              // asserting something the protocol explicitly does not.
+              <EmptyState>No skills listed</EmptyState>
             ) : (
               filtered.map((skill) => {
                 const skillIssues = checkSkillConformance(skill);
@@ -783,8 +798,14 @@ export function SkillsScreen({
                                   {verificationLabel(state)}
                                 </CountBadge>
                                 <RowVerifyButton
+                                  // Every row's button reads "Verify", so the
+                                  // visible text alone gives a screen-reader
+                                  // user no way to tell which file each one
+                                  // checks; the URI cell is in the same row but
+                                  // is not programmatically associated with it.
+                                  aria-label={`Verify ${resource.uri}`}
                                   // A click handler cannot await, and
-                                  // `verifyFile` owns its own failures — it
+                                  // `verifyRow` owns its own failures — it
                                   // records them as this row's state.
                                   onClick={() =>
                                     void verifyRow(index, resource, manifestKey)
diff --git a/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/inspectorClient-skills.test.ts b/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/inspectorClient-skills.test.ts
index 779fdaf6..989a1448 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/inspectorClient-skills.test.ts
+++ b/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/inspectorClient-skills.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { describe, it, expect, vi } from "vitest";
 import { InspectorClient } from "@inspector/core/mcp/inspectorClient.js";
 import type { ServerCapabilities } from "@modelcontextprotocol/client";
 import { SKILLS_EXTENSION_KEY } from "@inspector/core/mcp/skillsSchemas.js";
+import { SdkError, SdkErrorCode } from "@modelcontextprotocol/client";
 
 /**
  * Unit coverage for the Skills extension methods (#2234, SEP-2640).
@@ -181,6 +182,52 @@ describe("InspectorClient skills methods (#2234)", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("attributes a rejected skills/get envelope to its Protocol entry", async () => {
+    // Without this the Skills screen shows an error while the Protocol tab
+    // renders the same exchange as a clean success. Done in the client rather
+    // than a store because `skills/get` has none — the screen calls it.
+    const client = makeClient();
+    const marked: [string, string][] = [];
+    (
+      client as unknown as {
+        markResponseRejected: (m: string, r: string) => void;
+      }
+    ).markResponseRejected = (method, reason) => {
+      marked.push([method, reason]);
+    };
+    internals(client).client = {
+      request: async () => {
+        throw new SdkError(
+          SdkErrorCode.InvalidResult,
+          "Invalid result for skills/get",
+        );
+      },
+    };
+    await expect(client.getSkill("skill://demo/SKILL.md")).rejects.toThrow();
+    expect(marked).toEqual([["skills/get", "Invalid result for skills/get"]]);
+  });
+
+  it("does NOT attribute a transport failure on skills/get", async () => {
+    // No response frame arrived, so the last-answered id still points at an
+    // earlier, successful exchange; marking it would stamp that one.
+    const client = makeClient();
+    const marked: string[] = [];
+    (
+      client as unknown as {
+        markResponseRejected: (m: string, r: string) => void;
+      }
+    ).markResponseRejected = (method) => {
+      marked.push(method);
+    };
+    internals(client).client = {
+      request: async () => {
+        throw new SdkError(SdkErrorCode.ConnectionClosed, "Connection closed");
+      },
+    };
+    await expect(client.getSkill("skill://demo/SKILL.md")).rejects.toThrow();
+    expect(marked).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("rejects a skills/list result that is not a skills page", async () => {
     // The explicit result schema is the whole client-side mechanism for a
     // consumer-owned extension method, so a nonconforming result must fail
diff --git a/core/mcp/inspectorClient.ts b/core/mcp/inspectorClient.ts
index 70b95eb7..7b2964f2 100644
--- a/core/mcp/inspectorClient.ts
+++ b/core/mcp/inspectorClient.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ import {
   LIST_MAX_PAGES,
   ModernResultEnvelopeSchema,
   isSalvageableRejection,
+  isClientDecodeRejection,
   listPaginationExceeded,
   toolItemSchemaForEra,
   nextCursorOf,
@@ -5603,15 +5604,33 @@ export class InspectorClient extends InspectorClientEventTarget {
     };
     // `GetSkillResultSchema` unwraps the envelope, so there is nothing to
     // unwrap here.
-    return this.invokeMcpClient(
-      () =>
-        this.client!.request(
-          { method: SKILLS_GET_METHOD, params },
-          GetSkillResultSchema,
-          this.getRequestOptions(this.progressTokenOf(metadata)),
-        ),
-      { method: SKILLS_GET_METHOD },
-    );
+    try {
+      return await this.invokeMcpClient(
+        () =>
+          this.client!.request(
+            { method: SKILLS_GET_METHOD, params },
+            GetSkillResultSchema,
+            this.getRequestOptions(this.progressTokenOf(metadata)),
+          ),
+        { method: SKILLS_GET_METHOD },
+      );
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Attribute a rejected envelope to the exchange it came from, so the
+      // Protocol tab stops rendering it as a clean success while the Skills
+      // screen shows an error — the same handling every managed list gets
+      // (#1953). Done here rather than in a store because `skills/get` has
+      // none: the screen calls it directly. Must happen in this catch, while
+      // the correlation window is still current, and ONLY for a decode
+      // rejection — a request that never produced a response would otherwise
+      // stamp an earlier, successful exchange.
+      if (isClientDecodeRejection(err)) {
+        this.markResponseRejected(
+          SKILLS_GET_METHOD,
+          err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
+        );
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
   }
 
   /**