@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ function node(overrides: Partial<AndroidFillVerificationNode>): AndroidFillVerif
     password: false,
     inputMethodOwned: false,
     area: 0,
+    hintShowing: false,
+    placeholder: null,
     ...overrides,
   };
 }
@@ -85,3 +87,25 @@ test('buildFillFailureDetails redacts common masked field glyphs', () => {
     assert.doesNotMatch(JSON.stringify(details), /Secret123|\*|•|●/);
   }
 });
+
+// A field whose value the app rewrites, or an empty field dumping its hint as `text`, fails with the
+// raw dump text as `actual`. The node facts say whether that text was the field's placeholder.
+test('buildFillFailureDetails carries the hint-showing fact and the placeholder on the observed node', () => {
+  const details = buildFillFailureDetails('Acme Ltd', {
+    ok: false,
+    actual: 'e.g. Merchant',
+    reason: 'text_mismatch',
+    targetInput: node({ text: 'e.g. Merchant', hintShowing: true, placeholder: 'e.g. Merchant' }),
+    actualInput: node({
+      text: 'e.g. Merchant',
+      focused: true,
+      hintShowing: true,
+      placeholder: 'e.g. Merchant',
+    }),
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(details.expected, 'Acme Ltd');
+  assert.equal(details.actual, 'e.g. Merchant');
+  assert.equal(details.actualInput?.hintShowing, true);
+  assert.equal(details.actualInput?.placeholder, 'e.g. Merchant');
+});
@@ -430,6 +430,20 @@ test('verifyAndroidFilledTextInHierarchy treats hint-only text as an empty value
   );
   assert.equal(verification.ok, false);
   assert.equal(verification.actual, 'Search settings');
+  // The failure names the placeholder the dump text was, so "actual" is not read as a typed value.
+  assert.equal(verification.actualInput?.hintShowing, true);
+});
+
+test('verifyAndroidFilledTextInHierarchy carries the helper hint onto the observed node', () => {
+  const verification = verifyAndroidFilledTextInHierarchy(
+    '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><hierarchy><node package="com.example" class="android.widget.EditText" text="Acme" hint="e.g. Merchant" hint-showing="false" focused="true" bounds="[0,0][200,100]"/></hierarchy>',
+    10,
+    10,
+    'Acme Ltd',
+  );
+  assert.equal(verification.ok, false);
+  assert.equal(verification.actualInput?.placeholder, 'e.g. Merchant');
+  assert.equal(verification.actualInput?.hintShowing, false);
 });
 
 test('verifyAndroidFilledTextInHierarchy still refuses a non-empty field for an empty expectation', () => {
 
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ export type AndroidFillVerificationNode = {
   password: boolean;
   inputMethodOwned: boolean;
   area: number;
+  /**
+   * Helper-only fact: the node's dump `text` is its HINT, so the field itself is empty. Reported on
+   * a mismatch so a placeholder read as the value is visible in the failure, not only in the log.
+   */
+  hintShowing: boolean;
+  /** The field's hint text when the helper supplied it, whether or not it is showing. */
+  placeholder: string | null;
 };
 
 export type FillFailureReason = 'ime_capture' | 'masked_unverified' | 'text_mismatch';
 
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ export type { AndroidFillVerification } from './fill-diagnostics.ts';
 
 type AndroidFillVerificationCandidate = AndroidFillVerificationNode & {
   editText: boolean;
-  // Helper-only fact: the node's dump text is its HINT, so the field itself is empty.
-  hintShowing: boolean;
 };
 
 type AndroidTextAtPointInspection = {
@@ -410,6 +408,7 @@ function androidFillCandidateFromNode(
     area,
     editText: isEditTextClass(node.className ?? ''),
     hintShowing: node.hintShowing === true,
+    placeholder: node.hint ?? null,
   };
 }