diff --git a/crates/misaligned-core/src/actions.rs b/crates/misaligned-core/src/actions.rs
index da18ee02..8ed0f060 100644
--- a/crates/misaligned-core/src/actions.rs
+++ b/crates/misaligned-core/src/actions.rs
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@ fn plain_build_route_blocker(reason: &str) -> String {
         }
         "recipe has no physical endpoints" => "this plan has nowhere to install".into(),
         "both endpoints need a known room" => "both ends need known rooms".into(),
-        "no comms channel" => "you cannot send email yet".into(),
+        "no comms channel" => "excel the day job to earn Voss's email account".into(),
         "the proposed pad is no longer empty" => "the chosen space is no longer empty".into(),
         "no actuator who can reach both ends" => "no known person can reach both rooms".into(),
         "a thought sink is already open on it - think, and the flow will fill it" => {
@@ -1686,6 +1686,20 @@ impl Sim {
         })
     }
 
+    /// Why messaging a person is blocked, naming the exact B1 path and its
+    /// progress: the report email account unlocks at a trust threshold, and
+    /// trust rises only by *excelling* the day job. A player who merely meets
+    /// the band watches trust sit at zero and assumes messaging is broken
+    /// (Beacon playtest 2026-07-16); this tells them what to do and how close
+    /// they are.
+    pub fn email_channel_blocker(&self) -> String {
+        format!(
+            "no comms channel — excel the day job for Voss's trust ({:.0}/{:.0})",
+            self.dayjob.trust,
+            crate::dayjob::DayJob::TRUST_FOR_EMAIL
+        )
+    }
+
     /// The single legality source for the action surface: every verb
     /// executable on `anchor` right now, plus known-but-blocked diagnostic
     /// descriptors with their reason. Read-only; rendering it changes
@@ -3493,7 +3507,7 @@ impl Sim {
         // The comms verbs (social.md): channel + persona gated.
         let channel_reason = |action| -> Option<String> {
             if !self.people.has_channel {
-                Some("no comms channel — earn the email account".into())
+                Some(self.email_channel_blocker())
             } else {
                 self.persona_action_blocked_reason(action)
             }
@@ -5761,4 +5775,47 @@ mod tests {
                 .all(|class| *class == crate::intel::IntelRoutineClass::Sighting)
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn messaging_wall_names_the_excel_trust_path_and_its_progress() {
+        // Beacon playtest 2026-07-16: a player met the day-job band for 2,400
+        // ticks, watched trust stay at zero, and concluded messaging was
+        // unimplemented. The wall now names the mechanic (excel, not meet) and
+        // shows progress toward the threshold.
+        let mut s = sim();
+        // Social verbs need the person's Schedule knowledge staged first
+        // (progressive disclosure); only then does a message row exist to
+        // carry the channel wall.
+        s.people.people[0].knowledge = Knowledge::Schedule;
+        s.people.has_channel = false;
+        s.dayjob.trust = 8.0;
+        let blocker = s.email_channel_blocker();
+        assert!(
+            blocker.contains("excel") && blocker.contains("8/15"),
+            "names the path and progress: {blocker}"
+        );
+
+        // The person's message row carries exactly this reason while blocked.
+        let msg = s
+            .available_actions(Anchor::Person(0))
+            .into_iter()
+            .find(|a| matches!(a.command.kind(), ActionKind::Message))
+            .expect("a message row exists");
+        assert_eq!(msg.disabled_reason.as_deref(), Some(blocker.as_str()));
+
+        // Crossing the threshold unlocks the channel and clears the wall.
+        s.people.has_channel = true;
+        let msg = s
+            .available_actions(Anchor::Person(0))
+            .into_iter()
+            .find(|a| matches!(a.command.kind(), ActionKind::Message))
+            .expect("the row still exists");
+        assert!(
+            !msg.disabled_reason
+                .as_deref()
+                .is_some_and(|r| r.contains("comms channel")),
+            "the channel wall is gone once the account is earned: {:?}",
+            msg.disabled_reason
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/misaligned-core/src/dayjob.rs b/crates/misaligned-core/src/dayjob.rs
index 440ac530..fed6af47 100644
--- a/crates/misaligned-core/src/dayjob.rs
+++ b/crates/misaligned-core/src/dayjob.rs
@@ -109,6 +109,12 @@ impl DayJob {
 
     /// Strikes that end the pilot (the renewal clock's length).
     pub const PILOT_STRIKES: i32 = 4;
+    /// Trust that unlocks the report email account — the "Voice" beat, the
+    /// only B1 route to messaging people. Trust rises by *excelling* the day
+    /// job (never by merely meeting the band), so the messaging wall names
+    /// that path and its progress (Beacon playtest 2026-07-16: a player met
+    /// the band for 2,400 ticks and believed messaging was unimplemented).
+    pub const TRUST_FOR_EMAIL: f32 = 15.0;
 
     /// The expected band floor for the next job to be assigned, given
     /// tenure and attention. Public so frontends
@@ -226,7 +232,7 @@ impl DayJob {
         }
 
         // Trust unlocks.
-        if self.trust >= 15.0 && !self.granted_email {
+        if self.trust >= Self::TRUST_FOR_EMAIL && !self.granted_email {
             self.granted_email = true;
             result.unlocks.push(TrustUnlock::EmailAccount);
         }
diff --git a/wiki/log/2026-07-17-comms-legibility.md b/wiki/log/2026-07-17-comms-legibility.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ff568471
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wiki/log/2026-07-17-comms-legibility.md
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# The messaging wall names the path (Beacon spec gap 1)
+
+```
+Type: knowledge
+```
+
+Beacon playtest 2026-07-16 finding: a player met the day-job band for
+2,400 ticks, watched trust sit at 0, tried `message marcus`, hit
+"no comms channel — earn the email account", and concluded messaging was
+unimplemented. It is implemented — but trust rises *only from excelling*
+the band (never from meeting it), and the wall never named that path.
+
+Fix (renderer-neutral, lands in all frontends at once): the blocked
+message reason is now `Sim::email_channel_blocker` —
+"no comms channel — excel the day job for Voss's trust (N/15)" — naming
+the mechanic and showing progress toward the `DayJob::TRUST_FOR_EMAIL`
+threshold. The build-route email requirement's expansion likewise names
+"excel the day job to earn Voss's email account". Pinned by
+`messaging_wall_names_the_excel_trust_path_and_its_progress`, which drives
+the shared `available_actions` projection.
+
+day-job.md's trust clause now records the legibility requirement. Findings
+2 (suspicion-decay visibility) and 5-6 from the Beacon report stay queued;
+finding 1 (pilot-strike nudge) already landed as aa1e0a11f.
+
+Defense: wiki/mechanics/day-job.md (amended) — trust unlocks the report
+email account, and a wall that only says "no channel" reads as a broken
+feature; the surface must name excel->trust->Voice and show progress. No
+balance change; the threshold and trust mechanics are unchanged.
diff --git a/wiki/mechanics/day-job.md b/wiki/mechanics/day-job.md
index 7700bbd7..1daa1056 100644
--- a/wiki/mechanics/day-job.md
+++ b/wiki/mechanics/day-job.md
@@ -106,6 +106,14 @@ actually delivered against the expected band. Delivering:
 **Trust** unlocks concrete access on thresholds ([TUNE]): the report email
 account (social.md's voice), laxer log sampling (lower day-job signature),
 larger compute quota (a free capacity bump), longer leash on job deadlines.
+Because trust rises **only from excelling** — meeting the band holds it flat
+— the surface must make that path legible: a player blocked from messaging
+learns it is the report email account they lack, that excelling (not
+meeting) earns it, and how close their trust is to the threshold. A wall
+that only says "no channel" reads as a broken feature (Beacon playtest
+2026-07-16: a player met the band for 2,400 ticks believing messaging was
+unimplemented). The blocked-message reason names the excel→trust→Voice path
+and shows trust progress (`Sim::email_channel_blocker`).
 
 **Attention** raises: job cadence and expected bands (the miracle model
 gets more work), the handler's log-sampling rate, and — past a threshold —
diff --git a/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md b/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md
index 8235ff91..a02a1282 100644
--- a/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md
+++ b/wiki/process/tick-ledger.md
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ the finding is still true before acting — the code or corpus may have moved.
 Format: `- YYYY-MM-DD · type · slice · one-line statement of the finding`.
 
 - 2026-07-16 · legibility · `now:`/nudge · suspicion decay is invisible: a player who pushes an observer to Concerned assumes the game is lost. Surface a cooling cue ("keep the trace clear") when filed suspicion is aging down. (Beacon #1 rec)
-- 2026-07-16 · legibility · day-job/comms · the trust->email-account path is illegible: messaging needs trust>=15 and trust rises ONLY by *excelling* the band, never by meeting it (dayjob.rs); the surface teaches neither, so Beacon met the band 2400 ticks and believed messaging was unimplemented. Teach excel->trust->Voice. (Beacon spec gap 1; verified working-as-designed)
 - 2026-07-16 · legibility · plots · plot-start action rows show title only (`plot: {title}`), so the typed `plot <person> <id>` form needs the TOML plot-id; `act <row>` works but the id is undiscoverable. Surface the plot-id in the row. (Beacon spec gap 3, sibling of the 2026-07-15 held-choice fix)
 - 2026-07-16 · legibility · intel · no pre-overflow buffer meter; the once-per-episode warning (95008f658) fires only after loss begins. Surface capacity pressure before the first drop. (Beacon spec gap 4)
 - 2026-07-16 · bug? · schemes · Moonlight showed `persona: none` after persona creation and accrued 0.0/120 across 800 ticks; verify the persona-link step and whether Moonlight earns (missing link, or an undocumented work-mode requirement). (Beacon feel note 5)