diff --git a/docs/how-it-works.md b/docs/how-it-works.md
index 7741bcc..7311a77 100644
--- a/docs/how-it-works.md
+++ b/docs/how-it-works.md
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ honestly. This is what renderdiff does to make sure of that.
 - **Refuses a shot** it can't trust: an HTTP status of 400 or above on either side is an
   error naming the status. A route where *both* sides look blank — under 200 characters of
   text and no visible images, SVG, canvas, video, iframes or form controls — errors instead
-  of quietly scoring as a match. If only one side is blank, the diff shows it.
+  of quietly scoring as a match. If only one side is blank, the diff shows it. A page that is
+  sparse on purpose can carry `data-renderdiff-rendered` on an element its own content renders.
 - **Blocks analytics, consent and A/B tooling** at the network layer on both sides —
   GTM, GA, Segment, Intercom, Hotjar, LinkedIn, Meta, OneTrust, CookieLaw, VWO. Blocked
   rather than hidden, because A/B tools rewrite arbitrary DOM and CSS can't pre-empt an
diff --git a/docs/scoping.md b/docs/scoping.md
index 723bcd5..c30a43a 100644
--- a/docs/scoping.md
+++ b/docs/scoping.md
@@ -125,3 +125,8 @@ An element marked `data-renderdiff-mask` is masked like a config mask, on every
 both sides. The attribute's value is its reason in the report, `rotating quote
 (data-renderdiff-mask)` for `data-renderdiff-mask="rotating quote"`, and in the result's
 `masked` in `results.json`.
+
+A page under 200 characters of text and no visible media on both sides is refused as `page did
+not render`. If it is sparse on purpose, like a fixture page, mark an element its own content
+renders `data-renderdiff-rendered`. Not the layout shell (`<html>`, `<body>`, a layout around the
+error boundary): it is there when the page never mounts too, and that page would pass.
diff --git a/skills/renderdiff/reference.md b/skills/renderdiff/reference.md
index 6f03f7c..5c92f9f 100644
--- a/skills/renderdiff/reference.md
+++ b/skills/renderdiff/reference.md
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ Report (`--open`, for a human): green from 99.5%, amber to 97%, red below.
 | --- | --- |
 | `HTTP 404 at …` (any ≥ 400) | That side answered an error: a route missing on one origin, or a server not ready. |
 | `not an HTML page: server sent … at …` | The route is a file (PDF, image, JSON, download), not a page. Drop it from the routes. Never retried. |
-| `page did not render on either side (…)` | Both sides under 200 chars of text and no visible image, SVG, canvas, video, iframe or form control. Usually a failed asset or an app that never mounted. One blank side isn't refused; it scores low. |
+| `page did not render on either side (…)` | Both sides under 200 chars of text and no visible image, SVG, canvas, video, iframe or form control. Usually a failed asset or an app that never mounted. One blank side isn't refused; it scores low. A page that is sparse on purpose (a fixture page) passes with `data-renderdiff-rendered` on a visible element (at least 1024px² in area) its own content renders, never the layout shell (`<html>`, `<body>`, a layout around the error boundary): there it vouches for a page that never mounted too. For a page you can't edit, set it in `beforeShot` only after checking the expected content is there. |
 | `page did not settle: Npx unstable at …` | Over 25% of the page kept changing, on two loads. `<shot>.<side>.unsettled-a/-b.png` are the two differing frames, and the message gives the box they differ in. Mask or stop the moving part. |
 | `page is Npx tall at Wpx wide, past the …px sanity ceiling …` | Taller than 57,600,000px ÷ width (never under 40,000px): a runaway layout, not a page. A long page still compares one element with `--selector` or `@sel` (`element is …` when that element itself is past it). |
 | `selector "…" matched N elements on left (/a), expected 1` | Make it unique (an id, `data-test`, `>> nth=0`), or list the route once per element. |
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ aria: identical on 2 of 3 route(s), differs /pricing
 | Tool | Legitimate for | Never for |
 | --- | --- | --- |
 | Mask (`--mask <sel>`, config `masks` with `reason`, `--mask-media`, `data-renderdiff-mask="<reason>"` in the page) | Content *proven* to vary per load: a base-vs-base baseline differs there (clocks, star counts, rotating quotes, embeds). | Anything that differs only after your change. |
+| `data-renderdiff-rendered` in the page | A page sparse on purpose, refused as `page did not render`; on an element its own content renders. | The layout shell, or getting past a page that really didn't render. |
 | `--accept "<reason>"` | A difference you opened that exists before your change (baseline vs production) or is intended, with a reason saying which. | Getting green. |
 | `--threshold <0..1>` | A CI gate on the exit code. | Reaching green; the difference is still there. |
 
diff --git a/src/capture.ts b/src/capture.ts
index 4d3fe7b..b2a38c1 100644
--- a/src/capture.ts
+++ b/src/capture.ts
@@ -387,7 +387,9 @@ export async function capture(
           ((root === document.documentElement ? body : root) as HTMLElement).innerText || "",
         pageText: body.innerText?.length ?? 0,
         media: Array.from(
-          document.querySelectorAll("img, svg, canvas, video, iframe, input, textarea, select"),
+          document.querySelectorAll(
+            "img, svg, canvas, video, iframe, input, textarea, select, [data-renderdiff-rendered]",
+          ),
         ).some((e) => {
           const r = e.getBoundingClientRect();
           return r.width * r.height >= 1024;
diff --git a/src/probe.ts b/src/probe.ts
index 0d519e6..eb64276 100644
--- a/src/probe.ts
+++ b/src/probe.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { prepare } from "./capture.ts";
 import { collapseInherited, pageError, SHOWN, type Snapshot } from "./computed.ts";
 import { CONTEXT_OPTIONS, masksFor, type ResolvedConfig, type Route } from "./config.ts";
 import { SNAP_PROPS, snapshot } from "./locate.ts";
-import { COMPUTED_TIMEOUT, launch, shoot } from "./run.ts";
+import { BLANK_HINT, COMPUTED_TIMEOUT, launch, shoot } from "./run.ts";
 
 // ponytail: x/y also list the siblings a grown box pushes down; drop a y a previous sibling's height explains if it gets noisy
 const FIELDS = [...SNAP_PROPS, "x", "y"];
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ async function load(
     const pages = { left: await ctx.newPage() } as Record<"left" | "right", Page>;
     await prepare(pages.left, cfg, now);
     const shot = await shoot(pages, url, route, "left", width, cfg, now);
-    if (shot.blank) throw new Error(`page did not render (${shot.blank})`);
+    if (shot.blank) throw new Error(`page did not render (${shot.blank}): ${BLANK_HINT}`);
     const page = pages.left;
     const snap: Snapshot = await snapshot(page, masksFor(cfg, page, route), COMPUTED_TIMEOUT, null);
     const at = await page.evaluate(
diff --git a/src/run.ts b/src/run.ts
index 76703b2..1430d60 100644
--- a/src/run.ts
+++ b/src/run.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ const SHOT_TIMEOUT = (Math.max(0, Number(process.env.RENDERDIFF_SHOT_TIMEOUT)) |
 /** Past this share of a page unstable, too little was measured for a score to mean anything. */
 const MAX_UNSTABLE_SHARE = 0.25;
 
+export const BLANK_HINT =
+  "under 200 chars of text and no visible image, SVG, canvas, video, iframe or form control; " +
+  "if the page is meant to be this sparse, add data-renderdiff-rendered to a visible element its own " +
+  "content renders (not the layout shell, or a page that never mounted passes too)";
+
 interface Job {
   route: Route;
   width: number;
@@ -365,7 +370,7 @@ export async function run({
         if (leftShot.blank && rightShot.blank) {
           throw new Error(
             `page did not render on either side ` +
-              `(left: ${leftShot.blank}; right: ${rightShot.blank}) at ${key}`,
+              `(left: ${leftShot.blank}; right: ${rightShot.blank}) at ${key}: ${BLANK_HINT}`,
           );
         }
         // A replay that went live in part compared against two different moments of the reference.
diff --git a/tests/visual/guardrails.test.ts b/tests/visual/guardrails.test.ts
index 5403209..4b95991 100644
--- a/tests/visual/guardrails.test.ts
+++ b/tests/visual/guardrails.test.ts
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ describe("the render gate", () => {
     assert.match(report.errors[0]!.message, /page did not render/);
     // The message carries the numbers that explain the refusal. Measured: text=17 chars.
     assert.match(report.errors[0]!.message, /text=\d+ chars/);
+    assert.match(report.errors[0]!.message, /under 200 chars .+ add data-renderdiff-rendered/);
   });
 
   test("results.json lists the refused route as an error, beside the compared one", () => {
@@ -170,6 +171,17 @@ describe("the render gate", () => {
     assert.match(report.errors[0]!.message, /page did not render/);
   });
 
+  test("a sparse page that marks itself rendered is compared, not refused", async () => {
+    const file = path.join(tempDir(), "rendered.mjs");
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      file,
+      'export default { beforeShot: async (page) => { await page.evaluate(() => document.querySelector("p").setAttribute("data-renderdiff-rendered", "")); } };\n',
+    );
+    const run = await capture(["/blank"], { config: file });
+    assert.equal(run.code, 0, context(run));
+    assert.equal(cardFor(run, "/blank").diffPixels, 0, context(run));
+  });
+
   test("a short, nearly textless page with form controls is compared, not refused", async () => {
     // A sign-in form: under 200 chars of text, which the gate used to refuse on its own.
     const run = await capture(["/short"], { widths: [1440, 375] });
@@ -1229,7 +1241,7 @@ describe("the run summary", () => {
     // In full: the reason is what tells a blank page from a broken asset pipeline.
     assert.match(
       blank.errors[0]!.message,
-      /^page did not render on either side \(left: .+; right: .+\) at \/blank$/,
+      /^page did not render on either side \(left: .+; right: .+\) at \/blank: under 200 chars .+data-renderdiff-rendered.+$/,
     );
     assert.deepEqual([verdict.differ, verdict.routes, verdict.errors], [0, 2, 1]);
   });