diff --git a/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/capture_ib_truth.rs b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/capture_ib_truth.rs
index 6e63c5c..19a3925 100644
--- a/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/capture_ib_truth.rs
+++ b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/capture_ib_truth.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 //!
 //! Usage:
 //!   cargo run --release --example capture_ib_truth -- <Stage_SNN.xpr> <capture.log>...
-use sylpheed_formats::mesh::Xbg7Model;
+use sylpheed_formats::mesh::{debug_resource_params, xbg7_resource_names, Xbg7Model};
 use sylpheed_formats::ship_capture::{parse_capture, CapturedDraw};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
@@ -113,6 +113,25 @@ fn main() {
     }
     println!("decoded {} resources, {} distinct vertex offsets\n", models.len(), by_off.len());
 
+    // Declared-but-not-decoded resources, indexed by their first marker's
+    // (vertex, index) counts. A drawn buffer our decoder cannot name is the one
+    // thing a capture can give the residual misses: ground truth for where the
+    // block actually is. Matching on counts is enough to propose an identity —
+    // then `debug_try_anchor` at that offset says which gate rejects it.
+    let decoded_names: std::collections::HashSet<String> =
+        models.iter().map(|m| m.name.clone()).collect();
+    let mut undecoded_by_counts: HashMap<(usize, usize), Vec<String>> = HashMap::new();
+    for n in xbg7_resource_names(&bytes) {
+        if decoded_names.contains(&n) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if let Some((markers, _)) = debug_resource_params(&bytes, &n) {
+            if let Some(&(v, i)) = markers.first() {
+                undecoded_by_counts.entry((v, i)).or_default().push(n);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // ── The report: one row per drawn BUFFER, aggregating its index batches.
     let mut per_buf: HashMap<u32, (usize, Vec<sylpheed_formats::ship_capture::CapturedIndexBuffer>, u32)> =
         HashMap::new();
@@ -177,7 +196,14 @@ fn main() {
                         .map(|(n, p, i)| format!("{n}(v{p},i{i})"))
                         .collect::<Vec<_>>()
                         .join(" "))
-                    .unwrap_or_else(|| "-".into())
+                    .unwrap_or_else(|| {
+                        // Nothing of ours sits here — is it a resource that never
+                        // decodes? Propose it by (vertex, index) counts.
+                        undecoded_by_counts
+                            .get(&(*vcount as usize, total as usize))
+                            .map(|v| format!("MISSED? {}", v.join(" ")))
+                            .unwrap_or_else(|| "-".into())
+                    })
             ),
         ));
     }
diff --git a/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/grouped_report.rs b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/grouped_report.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1361ae4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/grouped_report.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+fn main(){let a:Vec<String>=std::env::args().collect();let b=std::fs::read(&a[1]).unwrap();
+for l in sylpheed_formats::mesh::debug_grouped_report(&b,&a[2],a[3].parse().unwrap()){println!("{l}")}}
diff --git a/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/miss_targets.rs b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/miss_targets.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..432ffc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/miss_targets.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+//! Which container should the next runtime capture aim at?
+//!
+//! The 2026-08-13 stage-05 capture showed that a mission keeps several containers
+//! resident and that its OWN `Stage_SNN.xpr` is among them (the f101 ACROPOLIS was
+//! drawn from `Stage_S05.xpr`), so a capture can be aimed by choosing the mission.
+//! This ranks the targets: for every XBG7 resource on the disc it records the
+//! containers where it decodes and the ones where it does not, then reports
+//!
+//!   * resources that decode **nowhere** — the real gaps, where a capture is the
+//!     only ground truth left;
+//!   * per container, how many of those it holds (fly that mission);
+//!   * resources that miss in one container but decode in another — a defect worth
+//!     fixing, but the geometry is already recoverable, so a capture is not needed.
+//!
+//! Usage: miss_targets <resource3d_dir>
+use sylpheed_formats::mesh::{xbg7_resource_names, Xbg7Model};
+use std::collections::{BTreeMap, BTreeSet};
+
+fn main() {
+    let dir = std::env::args().nth(1).expect("resource3d dir");
+    let mut files: Vec<_> = std::fs::read_dir(&dir)
+        .unwrap()
+        .flatten()
+        .map(|e| e.path())
+        .filter(|p| p.extension().and_then(|s| s.to_str()) == Some("xpr"))
+        .collect();
+    files.sort();
+
+    // resource -> (containers where it decodes, containers where it misses)
+    let mut ok: BTreeMap<String, BTreeSet<String>> = BTreeMap::new();
+    let mut miss: BTreeMap<String, BTreeSet<String>> = BTreeMap::new();
+    for f in &files {
+        let Ok(bytes) = std::fs::read(f) else { continue };
+        let where_ = f.file_name().unwrap().to_string_lossy().to_string();
+        let declared: BTreeSet<String> = xbg7_resource_names(&bytes).into_iter().collect();
+        if declared.is_empty() {
+            continue;
+        }
+        let decoded: BTreeSet<String> =
+            Xbg7Model::stage_models(&bytes).into_iter().map(|m| m.name).collect();
+        for n in &declared {
+            if decoded.contains(n) {
+                ok.entry(n.clone()).or_default().insert(where_.clone());
+            } else {
+                miss.entry(n.clone()).or_default().insert(where_.clone());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    let never: BTreeMap<&String, &BTreeSet<String>> =
+        miss.iter().filter(|(n, _)| !ok.contains_key(*n)).collect();
+    let recoverable: Vec<&String> = miss.keys().filter(|n| ok.contains_key(*n)).collect();
+
+    println!("resources that decode NOWHERE: {}", never.len());
+    println!("resources that miss somewhere but decode elsewhere: {}\n", recoverable.len());
+
+    // Rank containers by how many never-decoding resources they hold.
+    let mut per_container: BTreeMap<&String, Vec<&String>> = BTreeMap::new();
+    for (n, wheres) in &never {
+        for w in wheres.iter() {
+            per_container.entry(w).or_default().push(n);
+        }
+    }
+    let mut ranked: Vec<_> = per_container.iter().collect();
+    ranked.sort_by_key(|(_, v)| std::cmp::Reverse(v.len()));
+    println!("container                   never-decoding resources it holds");
+    for (w, v) in ranked.iter().take(14) {
+        let sample: Vec<&str> = v.iter().take(6).map(|s| s.as_str()).collect();
+        println!("{:<26} {:>3}   {}", w, v.len(), sample.join(", "));
+    }
+
+    // Exclusives: a never-decoding resource that only ONE container holds is only
+    // reachable through whatever loads that container.
+    let excl: Vec<(&&String, &&BTreeSet<String>)> =
+        never.iter().filter(|(_, w)| w.len() == 1).collect();
+    println!("\nof the never-decoding, {} live in exactly one container", excl.len());
+    let mut by_one: BTreeMap<&String, Vec<&String>> = BTreeMap::new();
+    for (n, w) in &excl {
+        by_one.entry(w.iter().next().unwrap()).or_default().push(n);
+    }
+    let mut b: Vec<_> = by_one.iter().collect();
+    b.sort_by_key(|(_, v)| std::cmp::Reverse(v.len()));
+    for (w, v) in b.iter().take(10) {
+        println!("  {:<24} {:>3}   {}", w, v.len(), v.iter().take(5).map(|s| s.as_str()).collect::<Vec<_>>().join(", "));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/params.rs b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/params.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6279b43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/params.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+fn main(){
+    let a:Vec<String>=std::env::args().collect();
+    let bytes=std::fs::read(&a[1]).unwrap();
+    let filter=a.get(2).cloned().unwrap_or_default();
+    for n in sylpheed_formats::mesh::xbg7_resource_names(&bytes) {
+        if !filter.is_empty() && !n.contains(&filter) { continue }
+        if let Some((m,stride))=sylpheed_formats::mesh::debug_resource_params(&bytes,&n) {
+            println!("{n:<28} stride {stride} markers {:?}", &m[..m.len().min(4)]);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/docs/re/structures/xbg7-mesh.md b/docs/re/structures/xbg7-mesh.md
index 30d54b9..93a7dcb 100644
--- a/docs/re/structures/xbg7-mesh.md
+++ b/docs/re/structures/xbg7-mesh.md
@@ -1550,3 +1550,55 @@ which is a static question (resource names per container × the stage's
 `EnumUnit_SNN` roster), not another capture run. That is the cheap way to aim the
 next capture, and the first-ever truth rows for a non-`Stage_S02` container (the
 five f101 rows above) show the method works the moment the roster does.
+
+### 🔎 ROOT CAUSE for a never-decoding family: a grouped pool can MIX STRIDES (2026-08-13)
+
+A capture can do more than check anchors — it can name a resource we never decode.
+`capture_ib_truth` now proposes an identity for every drawn buffer our decoder
+cannot place, by matching the buffer's `(vertex, index)` counts against
+**declared-but-not-decoded** resources. In the stage-05 and stage-16 mission
+captures that fired on one buffer, and it identified a member of the
+never-decoding set: **`n201_01` / `_02` / `_03`** in `Stage_S02.xpr` (three of the
+63 resources that decode in no container at all).
+
+The capture pins the whole group. Its four declared markers are
+`(777,4464) (869,4464) (192,576) (869,4464)`, and the drawn offsets are
+
+| sub | vertex buffer | index buffer | indices | verts | **stride** | shader |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| #0 | `0x32BA71C` | `0x32B39FC` | 4464 | 777 | **24** | `0xD2D7612373F4AE3D` |
+| #1 | `0x32BEFF4` | `0x32B5CDC` | 4464 | 869 | **24** | `0xD742809411292720` |
+| #2 | `0x32C416C` | `0x32B7FBC` | 576 | 192 | **24** | `0x57A54C86C90995F8` |
+| #3 | `0x32C536C` | `0x32B843C` | 4464 | 869 | **28** | `0x4F5B7E6C2ED3460A` |
+
+Measured against the file, the layout is **exactly what the decoder assumes**: the
+index buffers pack tightly (`#0` ends where `#1` starts, …), the last one ends
+*flush* at `vb0` (so pad 0, and the pool span 27 936 matches
+`align4`-summed markers to the byte), the vertex buffers are contiguous, and every
+sub-mesh's max index is `verts − 1`. Nothing about the grouping is wrong.
+
+**What is wrong is one stride.** Sub-mesh #3 is stride **28**, not 24 — and each
+sub-mesh has its **own vertex shader**, i.e. its own declaration.
+`anchor_grouped_meshes` parses a *single* declaration per resource and applies its
+stride to the whole pool, so it reads #3 out of phase: dumping that pool at stride
+24 gives 372 non-finite position components out of 2 607, and
+`mesh::debug_grouped_report` at the capture-proven `vb0` reports exactly that —
+`pad 0: position component NaN is not finite/plausible`. The pivot is chosen as the
+largest index count, ties going to the last marker, which lands **on the one
+sub-mesh whose stride is wrong**, so the entire resource is declined.
+
+So this family is not a threshold problem and not an anchoring problem: **the
+descriptor must carry a declaration per sub-mesh**, and reading one for all of them
+is the defect. Next step is to look for those per-sub-mesh declarations in the
+descriptor (the four distinct shader hashes say the game has four), then let the
+grouped path use them.
+
+**Targeting, for the record** (`examples/miss_targets.rs`): of the misses, **63
+decode nowhere** and 13 miss in one container while decoding in another. The
+never-decoding set clusters as `Stage_S16.xpr` 21 (all `e901_wing_05_*`),
+`ptc_pack.xpr` 12 (`.DAT` composites), `Base.xpr` 6 (`g005`, `t170`, `t180`, …),
+then per-stage `n2xx` station groups (S02 `n201`, S06 `n202`, S07 `n203`,
+S09/S25 `n205`, S15 `n207_208`). 58 of the 63 live in exactly one container.
+Flying stage 16 did **not** get the `e901` wings drawn (the boss appears later in
+the mission), which is the next lesson: choosing the mission puts a container in
+memory, but the unit still has to be **on screen** for a draw to exist.