diff --git a/.changeset/23068-migrate-actor.md b/.changeset/23068-migrate-actor.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ab266477d58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/23068-migrate-actor.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/metadata-protocol': patch
+'@objectstack/metadata-core': patch
+'@objectstack/rest': patch
+'@objectstack/runtime': patch
+'@objectstack/cli': patch
+---
+
+fix(metadata-protocol): a stored-metadata migration records the user who ran it, or nobody, never a label
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+- **What was wrong.** The stored-metadata migration pass (`os migrate meta --stored`, `POST /api/v1/meta/_migrate-stored`, the runtime dispatcher's `POST /metadata/_migrate-stored`, and `migrateStoredMetadata()` called in process) recorded a label as the writer of every row it rewrote: `'os migrate meta --stored'`, `'<user id> (POST /api/v1/meta/_migrate-stored)'`, `'POST /api/v1/meta/_migrate-stored'`, or `'migrate-stored'`. The writer lands in `sys_metadata_history.recorded_by` and in the row's `updated_by`. Both columns are references to `sys_user`, so the label pointed at no user. Nothing refused it, because metadata writes run as the system.
+- **What it does now.** The pass records the id of the user who ran it, exactly as every other metadata write does. A REST or runtime call by a signed-in user with `manage_metadata` records that user's id. A run with no user records `null`, which means "system-initiated". That covers the CLI, which opens the database directly with no session, and a system caller. The pass still names itself on each history row's `source` (`migrate-stored`), as it did before.
+- **What an operator sees.** History rows and rewritten rows written by a migration from this release on name the person who ran it, or nobody. They never name a command or a route. Rows a migration rewrote before this release keep the label they were given.
+- **Contract text.** `MetadataItem.authoredBy`'s description now gives the same rule as `PutOptions.actor`: the acting user's id, or `null` for a system-initiated write, never a label such as `"system"` or `"cli"`. The schema accepts the same values as before.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.stored-actor.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.stored-actor.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f093bd22ed9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.stored-actor.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * `os migrate meta --stored` — who a rewritten row records (#23068).
+ *
+ * The command calls `migrateStoredMetadata`, whose `actor` becomes
+ * `PutOptions.actor`: it lands in `sys_metadata_history.recorded_by` and in the
+ * rewritten row's `updated_by`, both `lookup('sys_user')` columns. That is the
+ * acting user's id or nothing (#4556). This command has no user to name — it
+ * opens the deployment's database directly, with no session — so it passes no
+ * actor, and the rows record `null`, the "system-initiated" spelling. The pass
+ * names itself on `source: 'migrate-stored'`; the command's name is never an
+ * actor (it used to be: `'os migrate meta --stored'` landed in both columns as
+ * a reference to no user).
+ *
+ * The boot is replaced, so no database is opened; the command's own parse and
+ * control flow run for real, up to and including the protocol call.
+ */
+
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { dirname, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import MigrateMeta from './meta.js';
+
+const boot = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
+vi.mock('../../utils/schema-migrate.js', () => ({ bootSchemaStack: boot }));
+vi.mock('../../utils/migrate-occupancy-gate.js', () => ({
+  OCCUPANCY_HINT: 'occupancy hint',
+  probeMigrationTarget: vi.fn(async () => ({ status: 'free' })),
+}));
+vi.mock('../../utils/data-migration-plugins.js', () => ({ buildDataMigrationPlugins: vi.fn(async () => []) }));
+
+const HERE = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const CLI_ROOT = resolve(HERE, '..', '..', '..');
+/** oclif builds its whole command table on the first `run()` in a process. */
+const RUN_TIMEOUT = 60_000;
+
+/** A clean report: the command exits 0 and never calls `this.exit()`. */
+const CLEAN_REPORT = {
+  apply: true,
+  protocol: '17.0.0',
+  scanned: 1,
+  canonical: 0,
+  pending: 0,
+  rewritten: 1,
+  skipped: 0,
+  failed: 0,
+  rows: [],
+  decisionModeReview: [],
+};
+
+const migrateStoredMetadata = vi.fn();
+let stdout: ReturnType<typeof vi.spyOn>;
+let stderr: ReturnType<typeof vi.spyOn>;
+let log: ReturnType<typeof vi.spyOn>;
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  migrateStoredMetadata.mockReset();
+  migrateStoredMetadata.mockImplementation(async (req: { apply?: boolean }) => ({
+    ...CLEAN_REPORT,
+    apply: req.apply === true,
+    rewritten: req.apply === true ? 1 : 0,
+    canonical: req.apply === true ? 0 : 1,
+  }));
+  boot.mockReset();
+  boot.mockResolvedValue({
+    kernel: { getService: (name: string) => (name === 'protocol' ? { migrateStoredMetadata } : undefined) },
+    dbLabel: 'file:test.db',
+    tableAbsent: () => false,
+    shutdown: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+  });
+  // `emitJson` awaits the write's DRAIN callback, so the double invokes it.
+  stdout = vi.spyOn(process.stdout, 'write').mockImplementation(((chunk: unknown, enc?: unknown, cb?: unknown) => {
+    const done = typeof enc === 'function' ? enc : cb;
+    if (typeof done === 'function') done();
+    return true;
+  }) as typeof process.stdout.write);
+  stderr = vi.spyOn(process.stderr, 'write').mockImplementation((() => true) as typeof process.stderr.write);
+  log = vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {});
+});
+afterEach(() => {
+  stdout.mockRestore();
+  stderr.mockRestore();
+  log.mockRestore();
+});
+
+describe('os migrate meta --stored — the rewrite records nobody, never the command (#23068)', () => {
+  it('--apply hands the pass no actor, so recorded_by and updated_by store null', async () => {
+    await MigrateMeta.run(['--stored', '--apply', '--yes', '--json'], { root: CLI_ROOT });
+
+    expect(migrateStoredMetadata).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const request = migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0];
+    expect(request.apply).toBe(true);
+    expect(request).not.toHaveProperty('actor');
+  }, RUN_TIMEOUT);
+
+  it('the preview hands it no actor either', async () => {
+    await MigrateMeta.run(['--stored', '--json'], { root: CLI_ROOT });
+
+    expect(migrateStoredMetadata).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const request = migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0];
+    expect(request.apply).toBe(false);
+    expect(request).not.toHaveProperty('actor');
+  }, RUN_TIMEOUT);
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.stored-flow-resolution.integration.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.stored-flow-resolution.integration.test.ts
index ede7c30417d..f85252ee504 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.stored-flow-resolution.integration.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.stored-flow-resolution.integration.test.ts
@@ -110,11 +110,11 @@ describe('os migrate meta --stored — the protocol resolves the engine itself (
 
       const protocol: any = stack.kernel.getService('protocol');
 
-      // The command's exact call since #4498 — no `canonicalizeFlow`.
+      // The command's exact call since #4498 — no `canonicalizeFlow` — and,
+      // since #23068, no `actor` either (the command has no user to name).
       const report = await protocol.migrateStoredMetadata({
         apply: true,
         types: ['flow'],
-        actor: 'os migrate meta --stored',
       });
 
       // Before the resolver this row came back `skipped` with "no automation
@@ -195,7 +195,8 @@ describe('os migrate meta --stored — the protocol resolves the engine itself (
         name: 'sfs_purge',
         item: { ...item, label: 'Purge Stale Leads (edited)' },
         parentVersion: null,
-        actor: 'studio-roundtrip-probe',
+        // A user id, as a Studio save passes one — never a label (#23068).
+        actor: 'usr_studio_probe',
       });
 
       const [row] = await ql.find('sys_metadata', {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.ts
index f026976c08c..85d0272451b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/migrate/meta.ts
@@ -1555,7 +1555,12 @@ export default class MigrateMeta extends Command {
         : await protocol.migrateStoredMetadata({
             apply,
             ...(flags.type && flags.type.length > 0 ? { types: flags.type } : {}),
-            actor: 'os migrate meta --stored',
+            // [#23068] No `actor`: this command opens the database directly,
+            // with no session, so it has no user id to give — and the actor
+            // lands in `recorded_by` / `updated_by`, `lookup('sys_user')`
+            // columns, where only a user id or `null` belongs. Omitted, the
+            // rows record `null` ("system-initiated", #4556); the pass names
+            // itself on `source: 'migrate-stored'`.
           });
       const clean = storedMigrationClean(report);
       if (!clean) exitCode = 1;
diff --git a/packages/metadata-core/src/types.ts b/packages/metadata-core/src/types.ts
index 68342c47bae..4f88e04aa6a 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-core/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-core/src/types.ts
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ export const MetadataItemSchema = z.object({
   body: z.record(z.string(), z.unknown()).describe('Canonical Zod-normalised spec'),
   hash: z.string().regex(/^sha256:[0-9a-f]{64}$/).describe('sha256(canonicalize(body, ref.type))'),
   parentHash: z.string().nullable().describe('Hash this version was derived from; null for first version'),
-  authoredBy: z.string().nullable().describe('Identity of the writer (user id, "cli", "ai:claude", …); null = system-initiated, no actor'),
+  authoredBy: z.string().nullable().describe('Identity of the writer: the acting user id, as PutOptions.actor records it; null = system-initiated, no actor — never a label such as "system" or "cli"'),
   authoredAt: z.string().describe('ISO-8601 timestamp'),
   message: z.string().optional().describe('Optional commit message'),
   seq: z.number().int().nonnegative().describe('Sequence number this write produced in the org log'),
diff --git a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.stored-migration.test.ts b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.stored-migration.test.ts
index 7e0563798a4..54230ae504b 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.stored-migration.test.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.stored-migration.test.ts
@@ -330,6 +330,41 @@ describe('migrateStoredMetadata — apply (#4327)', () => {
     });
 });
 
+/**
+ * [#23068] Who a rewritten row records. The pass's `actor` becomes
+ * `PutOptions.actor`, which lands in `sys_metadata_history.recorded_by` and in
+ * the row's own `updated_by` — both `lookup('sys_user')` columns. So it is the
+ * acting user's id, or nothing (`null`, #4556's "system-initiated"). The pass
+ * names ITSELF on `source: 'migrate-stored'`, the column that exists for an
+ * origin label, and never in the actor: a label there is a reference to no
+ * user, and no engine check stops it (`put` writes under `isSystem`).
+ */
+describe('migrateStoredMetadata — a rewrite records the user who ran it, or nobody (#23068)', () => {
+    it('a pass run by a user records that user id in recorded_by and in the row\'s updated_by', async () => {
+        const { engine, tables } = makeStubEngine([legacyObjectRow]);
+        const protocol = new ObjectStackProtocolImplementation(engine);
+
+        const report = await protocol.migrateStoredMetadata({ apply: true, actor: 'usr_operator' });
+
+        expect(report.rewritten).toBe(1);
+        expect(historyRows(tables).map((h) => h.recorded_by)).toEqual(['usr_operator']);
+        expect(metaRows(tables).map((r) => r.updated_by)).toEqual(['usr_operator']);
+    });
+
+    it('a pass with no user records null in both columns — no label reaches either one', async () => {
+        const { engine, tables } = makeStubEngine([legacyObjectRow, legacyActionRow]);
+        const protocol = new ObjectStackProtocolImplementation(engine);
+
+        const report = await protocol.migrateStoredMetadata({ apply: true });
+
+        expect(report.rewritten).toBe(2);
+        expect(historyRows(tables).map((h) => h.recorded_by)).toEqual([null, null]);
+        expect(metaRows(tables).map((r) => r.updated_by)).toEqual([null, null]);
+        // The pass's own name is still on every history row, where it belongs.
+        expect(historyRows(tables).map((h) => h.source)).toEqual(['migrate-stored', 'migrate-stored']);
+    });
+});
+
 describe('migrateStoredMetadata — flow rows via the canonicalizeFlow hook (#4454)', () => {
     // A body the write path's schema gate accepts — the hook canonicalizes the
     // shape, it does not exempt the row from validation.
diff --git a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts
index 2abdde20037..799733c6b23 100644
--- a/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts
+++ b/packages/metadata-protocol/src/protocol.ts
@@ -21389,7 +21389,9 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
      *   are about to write (the same conversion). It is empty by construction,
      *   and there is no author here for a confirmation prompt to reach.
      * - `source: 'migrate-stored'` — so a history diff distinguishes a
-     *   canonicalization pass from an edit someone made.
+     *   canonicalization pass from an edit someone made. This is the ONLY
+     *   place the pass names itself: `actor` (below) is the user who ran it
+     *   or nobody, never a label (#23068).
      *
      * ## What it lists and never writes
      *
@@ -21483,7 +21485,16 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
         apply?: boolean;
         /** Restrict to these metadata types (singular or plural spelling). */
         types?: string[];
-        /** Recorded as the writer on the history + audit rows. */
+        /**
+         * The id of the user running the pass — omit it when no user is
+         * (a CLI run against the database, an `isSystem` caller). It becomes
+         * each rewrite's `PutOptions.actor`, so it lands in
+         * `sys_metadata_history.recorded_by` and the row's `updated_by`, both
+         * `lookup('sys_user')`: omitted, they record `null`, #4556's
+         * "system-initiated". ⛔ Never a label naming the door or the pass —
+         * that is a reference to no user, and `source: 'migrate-stored'`
+         * already says where the write came from (#23068).
+         */
         actor?: string;
         /**
          * Canonicalize a stored `flow` body (#4454). **Optional override** —
@@ -21815,7 +21826,10 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
                     packageId,
                     force: true,
                     source: 'migrate-stored',
-                    actor: request.actor ?? 'migrate-stored',
+                    // [#23068] The user who ran the pass, or none — and none
+                    // reaches `PutOptions.actor` as `null` (`saveMetaItem`'s
+                    // #4556 default). The pass's name is on `source` above.
+                    ...(request.actor ? { actor: request.actor } : {}),
                 });
                 record({ ...base, notices: flattened, todos: flattenedTodos, outcome: 'rewritten' });
             } catch (e: any) {
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/rest-meta-migrate-stored.test.ts b/packages/rest/src/rest-meta-migrate-stored.test.ts
index 07533941886..bdbb984b717 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/rest-meta-migrate-stored.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/rest-meta-migrate-stored.test.ts
@@ -174,10 +174,21 @@ describe('POST /meta/_migrate-stored — preview by default', () => {
     expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0]).not.toHaveProperty('canonicalizeFlow');
   });
 
-  it('attributes the run to the caller — history and audit rows answer "who ran it"', async () => {
+  // [#23068] The actor lands in `sys_metadata_history.recorded_by` and the
+  // rewritten row's `updated_by`, both `lookup('sys_user')`: the caller's user
+  // id exactly, or nothing — never the route's name, which the pass already
+  // records on `source: 'migrate-stored'`.
+  it('attributes the run to the caller\'s user id, and to nothing else — history rows answer "who ran it"', async () => {
     const { route, migrateStoredMetadata } = boot(admin);
     await run(route, {});
-    expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0].actor).toContain('admin');
+    expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0].actor).toBe('admin');
+  });
+
+  it('a caller with no user (isSystem) runs it as nobody — no actor, never a label', async () => {
+    const { route, migrateStoredMetadata } = boot({ isSystem: true });
+    const out = await run(route, { apply: true });
+    expect(out.getStatus()).toBe(200);
+    expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0]).not.toHaveProperty('actor');
   });
 
   it('returns the report unwrapped', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/rest/src/rest-server.ts b/packages/rest/src/rest-server.ts
index 42e0bc79bc1..712ca3eb781 100644
--- a/packages/rest/src/rest-server.ts
+++ b/packages/rest/src/rest-server.ts
@@ -2849,7 +2849,8 @@ export class RestServer {
     /**
      * [#7749] The acting identity recorded on a metadata WRITE — the single
      * producer for every `/meta` route that stamps an `actor` (save, delete,
-     * publish, rollback, compound save).
+     * publish, rollback, compound save, and — since #23068, which retired the
+     * route-name label it stamped inline — `POST /_migrate-stored`).
      *
      * ## What was wrong
      *
@@ -6002,15 +6003,19 @@ export class RestServer {
                         // Preview by default — `apply` must be explicitly true,
                         // the same posture the CLI takes. A caller who sends an
                         // empty body gets a report and no writes.
+                        // Attributed to the caller: this writes history rows,
+                        // and "who ran the migration" is the question they
+                        // exist to answer. [#23068] By user id alone — the
+                        // identity this request was authorized as, read by the
+                        // producer every `/meta` write door shares — or by
+                        // nobody. It lands in `recorded_by` / `updated_by`,
+                        // `lookup('sys_user')` columns, so ⛔ never the route's
+                        // name: the pass records its origin on `source`.
+                        const actor = await this.resolveMetaWriteActor(environmentId, req);
                         const report = await (p as any).migrateStoredMetadata({
                             apply: (req.body as any)?.apply === true,
                             ...(types.length > 0 ? { types } : {}),
-                            // Attributed to the caller: this writes history +
-                            // audit rows, and "who ran the migration" is the
-                            // question those rows exist to answer.
-                            actor: ctx?.userId
-                                ? `${ctx.userId} (POST ${metadata.prefix}/_migrate-stored)`
-                                : `POST ${metadata.prefix}/_migrate-stored`,
+                            ...(actor ? { actor } : {}),
                         });
                         res.json(report);
                     } catch (error: any) {
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-migrate-stored.test.ts b/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-migrate-stored.test.ts
index 1b7a4f55157..82801626ff8 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-migrate-stored.test.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta-migrate-stored.test.ts
@@ -132,10 +132,23 @@ describe('POST /meta/_migrate-stored — preview by default (#4327)', () => {
         expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0]).not.toHaveProperty('canonicalizeFlow');
     });
 
-    it('attributes the run to the caller — history and audit rows answer "who ran it"', async () => {
+    // [#23068] The actor lands in `sys_metadata_history.recorded_by` and the
+    // rewritten row's `updated_by`, both `lookup('sys_user')`: the caller's user
+    // id exactly, or nothing — never the route's name, which the pass already
+    // records on `source: 'migrate-stored'`.
+    it('attributes the run to the caller\'s user id, and to nothing else — history rows answer "who ran it"', async () => {
         const migrateStoredMetadata = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(REPORT);
         await make({ migrateStoredMetadata }).handleMetadata('/_migrate-stored', admin(), 'POST', {});
-        expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0].actor).toContain('admin');
+        expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0].actor).toBe('admin');
+    });
+
+    it('a caller with no user (isSystem) runs it as nobody — no actor, never a label', async () => {
+        const migrateStoredMetadata = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(REPORT);
+        const res = await make({ migrateStoredMetadata }).handleMetadata(
+            '/_migrate-stored', ctx({ isSystem: true }), 'POST', { apply: true },
+        );
+        expect(res.response?.status).toBe(200);
+        expect(migrateStoredMetadata.mock.calls[0][0]).not.toHaveProperty('actor');
     });
 
     it('returns the report as-is', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta.ts b/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta.ts
index ccf31fe3c4e..06c805fe043 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/domains/meta.ts
@@ -1832,14 +1832,18 @@ export async function handleMetadataRequest(deps: DomainHandlerDeps, path: strin
         const types = Array.isArray(body?.types)
             ? body.types.filter((t: unknown): t is string => typeof t === 'string' && t.length > 0)
             : undefined;
+        // Attributed to the caller, not to the route: this writes history
+        // rows, and "who ran the migration" is the question they exist to
+        // answer. [#23068] By the caller's user id alone, or by nobody (an
+        // `isSystem` caller): it lands in `recorded_by` / `updated_by`,
+        // `lookup('sys_user')` columns, so ⛔ never the route's name — the
+        // pass records its origin on `source: 'migrate-stored'`.
+        const actor = typeof ec?.userId === 'string' && ec.userId ? ec.userId : undefined;
         try {
             const report = await protocol.migrateStoredMetadata({
                 apply: body?.apply === true,
                 ...(types && types.length > 0 ? { types } : {}),
-                // Attributed to the caller, not to the route: this writes
-                // history + audit rows, and "who ran the migration" is the
-                // question those rows exist to answer.
-                actor: ec?.userId ? `${ec.userId} (POST /metadata/_migrate-stored)` : 'POST /metadata/_migrate-stored',
+                ...(actor ? { actor } : {}),
             });
             return { handled: true, response: deps.success(report) };
         } catch (e: any) {