diff --git a/.trinity/seals/queen_QueenDispatchExit.json b/.trinity/seals/queen_QueenDispatchExit.json
index ccefd9787b..8181ce0e8a 100644
--- a/.trinity/seals/queen_QueenDispatchExit.json
+++ b/.trinity/seals/queen_QueenDispatchExit.json
@@ -1,24 +1,25 @@
 {
-  "built_by": "t27c-bootstrap@0.5.2+0d573722c",
+  "built_by": "t27c-bootstrap@0.5.2+e1b4c32a0",
   "closure": [],
   "config": "gen=c,rust,verilog,zig;tests=zig",
-  "gen_hash_c": "sha256:9d5fb4742395ee3443463b27b5cbf9b4d4e24a4561fc4433210e3c225477b5eb",
-  "gen_hash_rust": "sha256:1171a040c6c748255961613d0a238c6debd70cee6b47d305d0eab69bbce30be9",
-  "gen_hash_verilog": "sha256:62fe95606912c285411e434f9b1d427c2f932738ba70059a96bef9057f12741c",
-  "gen_hash_zig": "sha256:a57022e1dd161143ef6cd379e303852fbda7f23ed292ad1680421a0a0ce65c6b",
+  "gen_hash_c": "sha256:2c3626742c7e3b35d1017fe866c795f2ad11ef98da00ef5acd0fcd56381adf74",
+  "gen_hash_rust": "sha256:283d83b27e34e082e497c000eb9b0df7a92beeb208dbf31e9e91514176f97095",
+  "gen_hash_verilog": "sha256:ad80632bfdf3d74db36766d51f961e34c388f0d4783e08c75e564782727c379b",
+  "gen_hash_zig": "sha256:d702797b3c2045ca3d0c178608bc6387d377bccbea53bf852746c00b5ed4e34a",
   "module": "QueenDispatchExit",
   "ring": 12,
   "seal_schema": 2,
-  "sealed_at": "2026-10-09T21:26:10Z",
+  "sealed_at": "2026-10-17T16:11:16Z",
   "sealed_by": "t27c-bootstrap@0.5.2",
-  "spec_hash": "sha256:ac1f481c62b16c3783ffeb83c682422a0c0fd0498169d8c101db160768913a3b",
+  "spec_hash": "sha256:2a1b5a1bb24298ee05319cd9458d0a31c4e596a4d87fe9e360fdc93dc9a56037",
   "spec_path": "specs/queen/dispatch_exit.t27",
   "tests": {
     "failed": 0,
     "failing": [],
     "forced": false,
-    "passed": 10,
-    "total": 10
+    "passed": 11,
+    "total": 11,
+    "vacuous": 0
   },
   "toolchain": {
     "test_runner": "sha256:1982ae948e24d00c5d221ccec12dfce1eb01204b53e37b0f857f93b16d64629d",
diff --git a/docs/now/2026-10-17-dispatch-exit-provider.md b/docs/now/2026-10-17-dispatch-exit-provider.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..45214609ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/now/2026-10-17-dispatch-exit-provider.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# NOW -- dispatch_exit.t27: a provider refusal never charges the issue (2026-10-17)
+
+## specs/queen/dispatch_exit.t27 (Closes #10008, part of #9976)
+
+- The bee dispatcher as keyed actors (gHashTag/trios `queen-bee-actors.ts`, `TRIOS_QUEEN_DISPATCH=actors`) asks this card whether an end counts against the issue.
+  - Until now `counts_against_issue(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR)` was true, so three quota refusals in a row (`RUN_LIMIT`) gave the issue up.
+  - A quota or an overload belongs to the key that served the turn. The next dispatch takes another key, and `key_failover.t27` `charges_issue` (#9993) charges only a bad request. The two cards now agree.
+- Unchanged: a bad request (`HC_4XX`) still gives up at once, and a refusal that keeps repeating still ends at `STREAK_LIMIT` (6) with the backoff between tries.
+- New test `a_provider_refusal_never_charges_the_issue`: 8 asserts, including that a timeout and an unknown end are still counted runs.
+- Railway lab, master de2cff882:
+  - `t27c test-report`: 11 tests, 0 FAIL, 0 vacuous, 4 invariants.
+  - `tri mutate spec`: 81 of 84 mutants killed.
+    - The 3 survivors are equivalent mutants in `restart_wait_seconds`, which this change does not touch: lines 192, 198 and 202 flip `>=` and `>` at a clamp, and at the boundary both branches return the same value (`LEASE_TTL_SECONDS - age` is 0; `wait` equals `BACKOFF_CAP`).
+  - `dispatch_exit.wasm` (t27c gen-c + zig 0.16.0 cc wasm32-wasi -Oz -DNDEBUG reactor, every fn exported):
+    - The old card rebuilds to `31c0e524...`, the hash pinned in gHashTag/trios `specs/PIN`, so the recipe is the one in production.
+    - The new card builds to `b990a601e4c1806095688683e3c25f0b5176124d368dfd258fdcdd7934c56327`, the same hash on two builds.
+- The TypeScript hosts read this card from the wasm, so trios takes the change by re-vendoring the `.t27`, the `.wasm` and the `specs/PIN` lines. There is no hand-written code.
diff --git a/specs/queen/dispatch_exit.t27 b/specs/queen/dispatch_exit.t27
index 36cbd440f7..4f9fa86b1e 100644
--- a/specs/queen/dispatch_exit.t27
+++ b/specs/queen/dispatch_exit.t27
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 ; once its lease was taken from it. What is left -- a silent runtime that still holds its lease past
 ; one TTL without a heartbeat -- contradicts the lease rule itself (a lease expires one TTL after the
 ; last renewal), so UNKNOWN names an observation that is inconsistent, not a cause nobody looked for.
+; #10008 (2026-10-17): a provider error no longer counts against the issue. A quota or an overload
+; belongs to the key that served the turn, the next try takes another key, and key_failover.t27
+; charges_issue charges only a bad request; this card now agrees with it.
 ; Not here: the wiring. The host is TypeScript in gHashTag/BrowserOS (queen-dispatch.ts); the test
 ; `conformance_rows` is one assert per row, inputs to code, so the host can run the same rows. ASCII
 ; only (L3).
@@ -145,11 +148,16 @@ pub const BACKOFF_CAP : u32 = 300;
 /// Whether this end is a counted run of the issue. An agent runtime is a transient child (actors.t27
 /// queen_restart_type): normal and shutdown end it for good and count nothing, a cancel is an
 /// interruption (control.t27 cancel_counts_against_issue). A dropped connection is an interruption
-/// too: the runtime was alive and the work did nothing wrong. Every other end is a failed run.
+/// too: the runtime was alive and the work did nothing wrong. A provider error is the provider's or
+/// the key's, not the issue's (#10008): the next try takes another key, and key_failover.t27
+/// charges_issue charges only a bad request. A bad request still gives up at once, by its own rule in
+/// restart_decision, and a refusal that repeats still ends at STREAK_LIMIT. Every other end is a
+/// failed run.
 pub fn counts_against_issue(reason: u8) -> bool {
     if (reason == DX_NORMAL) { return false; }
     if (reason == DX_SHUTDOWN) { return false; }
     if (reason == DX_NOCONNECTION) { return false; }
+    if (reason == DX_PROVIDER_ERROR) { return false; }
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -267,7 +275,7 @@ test the_third_counted_run_gives_up_and_an_interruption_is_not_counted {
     assert counts_against_issue(DX_NOCONNECTION) == false;
     assert counts_against_issue(DX_KILLED) == true;
     assert counts_against_issue(DX_TIMEOUT) == true;
-    assert counts_against_issue(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR) == true;
+    assert counts_against_issue(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR) == false;
     assert counts_against_issue(DX_UNKNOWN) == true;
     assert restart_decision(DX_TIMEOUT, HC_NONE, 1, 1) == RD_LATER;
     assert restart_decision(DX_TIMEOUT, HC_NONE, 2, 2) == RD_GIVE_UP;
@@ -279,6 +287,20 @@ test the_third_counted_run_gives_up_and_an_interruption_is_not_counted {
     assert restart_decision(DX_SHUTDOWN, HC_NONE, 9, 9) == RD_NONE;
 }
 
+/// #10008: a quota, an overload or a 5xx is the key's, not the issue's. Past RUN_LIMIT counted runs
+/// it still waits and tries again; a bad request still gives up at once; a refusal that repeats ends
+/// at STREAK_LIMIT like any interruption.
+test a_provider_refusal_never_charges_the_issue {
+    assert restart_decision(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR, HC_NONE, RUN_LIMIT - 1, RUN_LIMIT - 1) == RD_LATER;
+    assert restart_decision(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR, HC_429, RUN_LIMIT, RUN_LIMIT) == RD_LATER;
+    assert restart_decision(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR, HC_5XX, 9, STREAK_LIMIT - 1) == RD_LATER;
+    assert restart_decision(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR, HC_NONE, 0, STREAK_LIMIT) == RD_GIVE_UP;
+    assert restart_decision(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR, HC_4XX, 0, 0) == RD_GIVE_UP;
+    assert restart_decision(DX_PROVIDER_ERROR, HC_4XX, RUN_LIMIT, 1) == RD_GIVE_UP;
+    assert restart_decision(DX_TIMEOUT, HC_NONE, RUN_LIMIT - 1, RUN_LIMIT - 1) == RD_GIVE_UP;
+    assert restart_decision(DX_UNKNOWN, HC_429, RUN_LIMIT - 1, 0) == RD_GIVE_UP;
+}
+
 test an_interruption_that_repeats_also_ends {
     assert restart_decision(DX_NOCONNECTION, HC_NONE, 0, STREAK_LIMIT - 1) == RD_LATER;
     assert restart_decision(DX_NOCONNECTION, HC_NONE, 0, STREAK_LIMIT) == RD_GIVE_UP;