diff --git a/cscglobal-caplugin.Tests/CSCGlobalCAPluginTests.cs b/cscglobal-caplugin.Tests/CSCGlobalCAPluginTests.cs
index 6443a8d..a763f2e 100644
--- a/cscglobal-caplugin.Tests/CSCGlobalCAPluginTests.cs
+++ b/cscglobal-caplugin.Tests/CSCGlobalCAPluginTests.cs
@@ -1048,10 +1048,14 @@ public async Task Enroll_New_WithDnsValidatorFactoryButEmailMethod_DoesNotAttemp
             [EnrollmentConfigConstants.DomainControlValidationMethod] = "EMAIL"
         });
 
-        await plugin.Enroll("csr", "CN=test", new Dictionary<string, string[]>(), productInfo,
+        var result = await plugin.Enroll("csr", "CN=test", new Dictionary<string, string[]>(), productInfo,
             RequestFormat.PKCS10, EnrollmentType.New);
 
         mockFactory.Verify(f => f.ResolveDomainValidator(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<string>()), Times.Never);
+        // The DcvAutoPublish step must explain *why* it was a no-op for a non-CNAME method,
+        // rather than showing a bare [OK] under a CNAME-sounding step name.
+        var publishStep = result.EnrollmentContext.Single(e => e.Key.Contains("DcvAutoPublish"));
+        Assert.Contains("not CNAME", publishStep.Value);
     }
 
     [Fact]
diff --git a/cscglobal-caplugin/CSCGlobalCAPlugin.cs b/cscglobal-caplugin/CSCGlobalCAPlugin.cs
index 928e8d7..82129a3 100644
--- a/cscglobal-caplugin/CSCGlobalCAPlugin.cs
+++ b/cscglobal-caplugin/CSCGlobalCAPlugin.cs
@@ -698,10 +698,7 @@ await flow.StepAsync("SubmitRegistrationToCSC", async () =>
                     var enrollResult = _requestManager.GetEnrollmentResult(enrollmentResponse);
                     flow.Step("MapResult", $"Status={enrollResult?.Status}, ID={enrollResult?.CARequestID ?? "(null)"}");
 
-                    await flow.StepAsync("PublishCnameDcv", async () =>
-                    {
-                        await TryPublishCnameDcvAsync(productInfo, enrollResult);
-                    });
+                    await flow.StepAsync("DcvAutoPublish", () => TryPublishCnameDcvAsync(productInfo, enrollResult));
 
                     EnrollmentResult? newPolled = null;
                     await flow.StepAsync("PollForIssuance", async () =>
@@ -1388,19 +1385,21 @@ record = null;
     ///     resolves for its domain. No-op if the factory wasn't injected, the cert isn't using CNAME
     ///     validation, or the response contains no CNAME details. Failures are logged but never thrown —
     ///     manual publishing remains a fallback so the enrollment result is still returned to Keyfactor.
+    ///     Returns a short description of what happened (published/skipped/why), surfaced as the
+    ///     flow step's detail so a no-op for non-CNAME methods doesn't look unexplained.
     /// </summary>
-    private async Task TryPublishCnameDcvAsync(EnrollmentProductInfo productInfo, EnrollmentResult? enrollResult)
+    private async Task<string> TryPublishCnameDcvAsync(EnrollmentProductInfo productInfo, EnrollmentResult? enrollResult)
     {
         if (_validatorFactory == null)
         {
             Logger.LogTrace("TryPublishCnameDcvAsync: no IDomainValidatorFactory was injected, skipping auto-publish.");
-            return;
+            return "skipped - no DNS validator factory injected";
         }
 
         if (enrollResult?.EnrollmentContext == null || enrollResult.EnrollmentContext.Count == 0)
         {
             Logger.LogTrace("TryPublishCnameDcvAsync: no CNAME entries in EnrollmentContext, skipping.");
-            return;
+            return "skipped - no DCV entries returned by CSC";
         }
 
         var dcvMethod = productInfo?.ProductParameters != null
@@ -1412,7 +1411,7 @@ private async Task TryPublishCnameDcvAsync(EnrollmentProductInfo productInfo, En
             !string.Equals(dcvMethod, "CNAME", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
         {
             Logger.LogTrace("TryPublishCnameDcvAsync: DCV method '{Method}' is not CNAME, skipping auto-publish.", dcvMethod ?? "(null)");
-            return;
+            return $"skipped - DCV method is '{dcvMethod ?? "(none)"}', not CNAME";
         }
 
         Logger.LogInformation(
@@ -1498,6 +1497,9 @@ private async Task TryPublishCnameDcvAsync(EnrollmentProductInfo productInfo, En
         Logger.LogInformation(
             "TryPublishCnameDcvAsync: complete. Published={Published}, Failed={Failed}, Unresolved={Unresolved}",
             successCount, failCount, unresolvedCount);
+
+        return $"published {successCount}, failed {failCount}, unresolved {unresolvedCount} " +
+            $"of {enrollResult.EnrollmentContext.Count} CNAME record(s)";
     }
 
     //Trying to fix leaf extraction
diff --git a/cscglobal-caplugin/FlowLogger.cs b/cscglobal-caplugin/FlowLogger.cs
index 4ce4ef4..fb90961 100644
--- a/cscglobal-caplugin/FlowLogger.cs
+++ b/cscglobal-caplugin/FlowLogger.cs
@@ -124,6 +124,42 @@ public async Task<FlowLogger> StepAsync(string name, Func<Task> action, string d
         return this;
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    ///     Record an async step whose own return value becomes the step's detail - unlike the
+    ///     <paramref name="detail" /> parameter on the other overload (which is evaluated before
+    ///     the action runs and so can't reflect anything the action decided), this reflects what
+    ///     actually happened during execution (e.g. why a conditional step was a no-op).
+    /// </summary>
+    public async Task<FlowLogger> StepAsync(string name, Func<Task<string>> action)
+    {
+        var sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
+        var step = new FlowStep { Name = name };
+        try
+        {
+            _logger.LogTrace("  [{FlowName}] {StepName} ...", _flowName, name);
+            var detail = await action();
+            sw.Stop();
+            step.Status = FlowStepStatus.Success;
+            step.ElapsedMs = sw.ElapsedMilliseconds;
+            step.Detail = detail;
+            AddStep(step);
+            _logger.LogTrace("  [{FlowName}] {StepName} ... OK ({Elapsed}ms){Detail}",
+                _flowName, name, sw.ElapsedMilliseconds, detail != null ? $" {detail}" : "");
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            sw.Stop();
+            step.Status = FlowStepStatus.Failed;
+            step.ElapsedMs = sw.ElapsedMilliseconds;
+            step.Detail = ex.Message;
+            AddStep(step);
+            _logger.LogTrace("  [{FlowName}] {StepName} ... FAILED ({Elapsed}ms): {Error}",
+                _flowName, name, sw.ElapsedMilliseconds, ex.Message);
+            throw;
+        }
+        return this;
+    }
+
     /// <summary>Record a failed step without throwing.</summary>
     public FlowLogger Fail(string name, string reason = null)
     {