diff --git a/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceAbandonedCleanupOrchestrator.php b/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceAbandonedCleanupOrchestrator.php
index b20c17e..5d822d1 100644
--- a/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceAbandonedCleanupOrchestrator.php
+++ b/inc/Workspace/WorkspaceAbandonedCleanupOrchestrator.php
@@ -520,8 +520,21 @@ private function build_continuation( string $stage, array $step, int $limit, int
 			'pagination'   => $pagination,
 		);
 		if ( $restart ) {
+			$written = (int) ( $step['summary']['written'] ?? 0 );
+			$removed = (int) ( $step['summary']['removed'] ?? 0 );
+
 			$continuation['candidate_set_changed_restart_required'] = true;
 			$continuation['reason']                                 = 'candidate_set_changed_restart_required';
+			$continuation['reason_description']                     = 'The previous cleanup pass changed the candidate set, so the next safe continuation intentionally restarts this stage from offset 0.';
+			$continuation['progress_delta']                         = array(
+				'written'           => $written,
+				'removed'           => $removed,
+				'total_mutations'   => $written + $removed,
+				'previous_offset'   => $current,
+				'restart_offset'    => $next_offset,
+				'candidate_set_now' => 'changed',
+			);
+			$continuation['next_command_label']                     = 'Restart this stage from offset 0 because the cleanup candidate set changed.';
 		}
 
 		return $continuation;
diff --git a/tests/smoke-abandoned-cleanup-orchestrator.php b/tests/smoke-abandoned-cleanup-orchestrator.php
index b80cbdb..ef26169 100644
--- a/tests/smoke-abandoned-cleanup-orchestrator.php
+++ b/tests/smoke-abandoned-cleanup-orchestrator.php
@@ -261,6 +261,12 @@ static function () use ( &$clock_index, $clock_values ): float {
 $restart_result        = $orchestrator->run(array( 'active_no_signal_drain' => true, 'apply' => true, 'limit' => 10, 'passes' => 1, 'until_budget' => '1s' ));
 abandoned_cleanup_assert(! is_wp_error($restart_result), 'active/no-signal restart result succeeds');
 abandoned_cleanup_assert(! empty($restart_result['continuation']['candidate_set_changed_restart_required']), 'restart continuation exposes candidate set changed evidence');
+abandoned_cleanup_assert('candidate_set_changed_restart_required' === $restart_result['continuation']['reason'], 'restart continuation exposes machine-readable restart reason');
+abandoned_cleanup_assert(str_contains((string) $restart_result['continuation']['reason_description'], 'candidate set'), 'restart continuation explains why offset zero is expected');
+abandoned_cleanup_assert(1 === (int) $restart_result['continuation']['progress_delta']['written'], 'restart continuation exposes written progress delta');
+abandoned_cleanup_assert(1 === (int) $restart_result['continuation']['progress_delta']['total_mutations'], 'restart continuation exposes total mutation progress delta');
+abandoned_cleanup_assert(0 === (int) $restart_result['continuation']['progress_delta']['restart_offset'], 'restart continuation exposes the intentional restart offset');
+abandoned_cleanup_assert(str_contains((string) $restart_result['continuation']['next_command_label'], 'candidate set changed'), 'restart continuation labels the restart command');
 abandoned_cleanup_assert('active-no-signal-drain' === explode(' ', (string) $restart_result['continuation']['next_command'])[5], 'restart next command uses active/no-signal drain');
 
 fwrite(STDOUT, 'abandoned cleanup orchestrator smoke passed' . PHP_EOL);