fix: say an unknown-scale balance the same way on Send and on confirm (closes #377)

When two addresses' explorer reports disagree on a token's decimals, the
Send screen showed the stored figure while the confirmation screen said
the balance was unknown. One function in send.js now gives both the
balance and scale, so both read `unknown (SYMBOL)`.

The confirmation screen's fee-unknown message names its cause: for an
unknown scale it says the wallet does not know the token's decimal
places and the transaction cannot be sent, instead of asking for a
retry that cannot help. Other causes keep the old sentence.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -949,6 +949,13 @@ and compare against. Reading the stored field directly instead answers `null`
 for a bundled or tracked token the explorer merely omitted, which is not a
 refusal the wallet has any reason to make.
 
+The Send screen also consults every address's explorer reports, so a contract
+two addresses report different `decimals` for has no scale there, and the stored
+balance, formatted at one of those scales, is withdrawn with it. The Send
+screen's `Current balance` and the confirmation screen's balance line then both
+read `unknown (SYMBOL)`. The balance list formats each explorer row as it is
+fetched, without that cross-address check, and shows the row's figure.
+
 **Decoded amount lines on the transaction approval screen:** the `Amount` line
 of a decoded ERC-20 call, and the `Amount` and `Min. received` lines of a
 decoded swap (see TxApproval below), do not always read as a number. They can
@@ -1395,7 +1402,9 @@ view would leave a wallet one click from deletion.
     - What to send: token dropdown (or static display with contract address when
       locked from AddressToken)
     - To: address or ENS name input, with an inline validation message
-    - Amount input with current balance display
+    - Amount input with current balance display, which reads
+      `Current balance: unknown (SYMBOL)` for a token whose scale is unknown, as
+      ConfirmTx's balance line does (see Unknown token scale)
     - "Review" button, disabled until the recipient validates
 - **Transitions**:
     - "Review" (valid inputs, ENS resolved) → **ConfirmTx**
@@ -1413,7 +1422,8 @@ view would leave a wallet one click from deletion.
     - From: blockie + color dot + full address + etherscan link + wallet title
     - To: blockie + color dot + full address + etherscan link + ENS name
     - Amount: value + symbol (USD in parentheses)
-    - Your balance: value + symbol (USD in parentheses)
+    - Your balance: value + symbol (USD in parentheses), or `unknown (SYMBOL)`
+      for a token whose scale is unknown
     - Network fee: "Estimating..." then two lines, or "Unable to estimate",
       fetched async. The first line is what the transfer is expected to cost,
       `gasLimit * gasPrice` (USD in parentheses); the second is the
@@ -1429,7 +1439,11 @@ view would leave a wallet one click from deletion.
       amount plus the fee exceeds the balance (ETH transfers), not enough ETH to
       pay the fee for the transfer (ERC-20 transfers), and the fee could not be
       estimated. The first two are mutually exclusive per transfer type, so only
-      the applicable one holds space
+      the applicable one holds space. The last names its cause: for a token
+      whose scale is unknown the fee can never be estimated, and it says the
+      wallet does not know how many decimal places the token uses and that the
+      transaction cannot be sent; for any other failure it asks the user to go
+      back and try again
     - Password: an inline field on this screen, not a modal, with its own error
       line
     - "Sign & Send" button (disabled if errors, and while the network fee

TODO.md

@@ -45,6 +45,18 @@ but the review is broader than any of them.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-04: A token whose scale is unknown reads the same on the Send screen
+  as on the confirmation screen
+  ([#377](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/377)). When two addresses'
+  explorer reports disagree on a token's `decimals`, the Send screen showed the
+  stored figure while the confirmation screen it leads to said
+  `unknown (SYMBOL)`; both now say `unknown (SYMBOL)`, from one function in
+  `src/popup/views/send.js`. The confirmation screen's fee-unknown message names
+  its cause: for an unknown scale it says the wallet does not know how many
+  decimal places the token uses and that the transaction cannot be sent, instead
+  of asking the user to go back and try again, which cannot help. For any other
+  cause it is unchanged.
+
 - 2026-10-04: A transaction with no `to` says "This transaction creates a new
   contract. It has no recipient." on its recipient line and in its transaction
   history row ([#250](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/250)). The

src/popup/index.html

@@ -698,15 +698,13 @@
                     You do not have enough ETH to pay the network fee for this
                     transfer. Please add ETH to this address and try again.
                 </div>
+                <!-- Its sentence names why the fee could not be estimated,
+                so show() in confirmTx.js sets it. -->
                 <div
                     id="confirm-fee-unknown-error"
                     class="mb-2 border border-border border-dashed p-2 text-xs"
                     style="visibility: hidden"
-                >
+                ></div>
-                    The network fee could not be estimated, so this transaction
-                    cannot be checked against your balance. Please go back and
-                    try again.
-                </div>
                 <div class="mb-2">
                     <label class="block mb-1 text-xs">Password</label>
                     <input

src/popup/views/confirmTx.js

@@ -198,6 +198,19 @@ function show(txInfo) {
     $("confirm-amount-fee-error").classList.toggle("hidden", isErc20);
     $("confirm-gas-error").classList.toggle("hidden", !isErc20);
 
+    // The fee-unknown message names its cause, which is also known here.
+    // Without the token's scale estimateGas() cannot encode the transfer, so
+    // the estimate fails every time and going back cannot help; any other
+    // failure may clear on a retry.
+    $("confirm-fee-unknown-error").textContent =
+        isErc20 && txInfo.tokenDecimals == null
+            ? "The network fee could not be estimated, because this wallet" +
+              " does not know how many decimal places this token uses, so" +
+              " this transaction cannot be sent."
+            : "The network fee could not be estimated, so this transaction" +
+              " cannot be checked against your balance. Please go back and" +
+              " try again.";
+
     renderValidation(txInfo);
 
     // Reset password field and error
@@ -244,7 +257,8 @@ function renderValidation(txInfo) {
     });
 
     // Messages carrying the user's own numbers are built here; the fixed
-    // sentences live in the reserved elements in index.html.
+    // sentences live in the reserved elements in index.html, except the
+    // fee-unknown one, which show() sets.
     const messages = [];
     if (codes.includes(CODES.AMOUNT_INVALID)) {
         messages.push("Please enter a valid amount to send.");

src/popup/views/send.js

@@ -146,6 +146,50 @@ function renderSendTokenSelect(addr) {
     }
 }
 
+// The token balance and scale the Send screen states and hands the
+// confirmation screen, so the two screens describe the holding the same way.
+//
+// The scale is resolved the same way balances.js resolved the scale it
+// DISPLAYED this token's balance at: bundled list, then the user's tracked
+// tokens, then the explorer. The stored tokenBalances[].decimals is the
+// explorer's own answer alone, so reading it raw carries a null forward for a
+// token the wallet does know the scale of — and displayedDecimals() then throws
+// inside estimateGas(), which the confirmation screen reports as an unestimable
+// fee. Unsendable, over a scale that was never in doubt
+// (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/349). Still null when nothing
+// knows: no fallback.
+//
+// Resolved WITH `wallets`, which balances.js does not pass: that adds
+// explorerDecimals()'s cross-address check, so a contract two addresses report
+// different scales for answers null rather than picking one. That check has to
+// apply here, because this scale encodes the transfer — it is carried forward
+// so the transfer is encoded with the number the user read rather than with
+// whatever the contract answers at signing time (see
+// src/shared/transferAmount.js). balances.js is formatting one explorer row at
+// fetch time and cannot consult a state it is in the middle of replacing.
+//
+// The two resolutions can therefore differ, and where they do, the stored
+// `balance` is a quantity computed at a scale this screen has just declined to
+// stand behind. Stating it would leave validateTransfer() checking the amount
+// against a number the wallet does not vouch for, so it is withdrawn: unknown
+// scale means unknown balance. It is null rather than "0": both screens state
+// an unknown balance as unknown, and validateTransfer() treats it as no balance
+// to spend from, which is the fail-closed side of an amount nobody can check.
+// Only a stored quantity is withdrawn: the "0" for a token that has no row at
+// all is an absence of holdings, which is true at every scale.
+function tokenBalanceAndDecimals(addr, token) {
+    const tb = (addr.tokenBalances || []).find(
+        (t) => t.address.toLowerCase() === token.toLowerCase(),
+    );
+    const tokenDecimals = resolveTokenDecimals(token, {
+        trackedTokens: state.trackedTokens,
+        wallets: state.wallets,
+    });
+    if (!tb) return { tokenBalance: "0", tokenDecimals };
+    if (tokenDecimals === null) return { tokenBalance: null, tokenDecimals };
+    return { tokenBalance: tb.balance ?? null, tokenDecimals };
+}
+
 function updateSendBalance() {
     const addr = currentAddress();
     if (!addr) return;
@@ -162,18 +206,16 @@ function updateSendBalance() {
             truncateAmountNeverZero(addr.balance || "0") +
             " ETH";
     } else {
-        const tb = (addr.tokenBalances || []).find(
-            (t) => t.address.toLowerCase() === token.toLowerCase(),
-        );
         const symbol = resolveSymbol(
             token,
             addr.tokenBalances,
             state.trackedTokens,
         );
-        // A null balance is a holding whose scale nothing knows. Saying "0"
+        // A null balance is a holding whose scale is unknown. Saying a figure
-        // for it would be a claim about the amount; the send itself is
+        // for it would be a claim about the amount, so it reads as the
+        // confirmation screen's balance line reads it; the send itself is
         // refused later by transferAmountUnits() for the same missing scale.
-        const bal = tb ? tb.balance : "0";
+        const bal = tokenBalanceAndDecimals(addr, token).tokenBalance;
         $("send-balance").textContent =
             bal == null
                 ? "Current balance: unknown (" + symbol + ")"
@@ -240,59 +282,17 @@ function init(_ctx) {
 
         let tokenSymbol = null;
         let tokenBalance = null;
-        // The scale the amount and the balance below are rendered at, carried
-        // forward so the transfer is encoded with the number the user read
-        // rather than with whatever the contract answers at signing time. See
-        // src/shared/transferAmount.js.
         let tokenDecimals = null;
         if (token !== "ETH") {
-            const tb = (addr.tokenBalances || []).find(
-                (t) => t.address.toLowerCase() === token.toLowerCase(),
-            );
             tokenSymbol = resolveSymbol(
                 token,
                 addr.tokenBalances,
                 state.trackedTokens,
             );
-            // null carried through rather than flattened to "0": the confirm
+            ({ tokenBalance, tokenDecimals } = tokenBalanceAndDecimals(
-            // screen states an unknown balance as unknown, and
+                addr,
-            // validateTransfer() treats it as no balance to spend from, which
+                token,
-            // is the fail-closed side of an amount nobody can check.
+            ));
-            tokenBalance = tb ? (tb.balance ?? null) : "0";
-            // Resolved the same way balances.js resolved the scale it
-            // DISPLAYED this token's balance at: bundled list, then the user's
-            // tracked tokens, then the explorer. The stored
-            // tokenBalances[].decimals is the explorer's own answer alone, so
-            // reading it raw carries a null forward for a token the wallet
-            // does know the scale of — and displayedDecimals() then throws
-            // inside estimateGas(), which the confirmation screen reports as
-            // an unestimable fee. Unsendable, over a scale that was never in
-            // doubt (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/349).
-            // Still null when nothing knows: no fallback.
-            //
-            // Resolved WITH `wallets`, which balances.js does not pass: that
-            // adds explorerDecimals()'s cross-address check, so a contract two
-            // addresses report different scales for answers null rather than
-            // picking one. That check has to apply here, because this value
-            // encodes a transfer; balances.js is formatting one explorer row
-            // at fetch time and cannot consult a state it is in the middle of
-            // replacing.
-            tokenDecimals = resolveTokenDecimals(token, {
-                trackedTokens: state.trackedTokens,
-                wallets: state.wallets,
-            });
-            // The two resolutions can therefore differ, and where they do, the
-            // stored `balance` is a quantity computed at a scale this screen
-            // has just declined to stand behind. Stating it would leave
-            // validateTransfer() checking the amount against a number the
-            // wallet does not vouch for, and — since the unknown-balance path
-            // is gated on the balance, not on the scale — would leave the
-            // fee-estimate failure as the only thing on the confirmation
-            // screen, which says nothing about decimals. Unknown scale means
-            // unknown balance. Only a stored quantity is withdrawn: the "0"
-            // for a token that has no row at all is an absence of holdings,
-            // which is true at every scale.
-            if (tb && tokenDecimals === null) tokenBalance = null;
         }
 
         ctx.showConfirmTx({

tests/unknownScaleSend.test.js

@@ -382,8 +382,56 @@ describe("a scale the explorer's own rows disagree about", () => {
         );
     });
 
+    // https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/377. The Send screen read the
+    // stored balance and said "5.0000 NOVEL", the confirmation screen it leads
+    // to said "unknown (NOVEL)", and the fee message asked the user to go back
+    // and try again, which cannot supply a scale.
+    test("reads the same on the Send screen and the confirmation screen, and the fee message names the scale", async () => {
+        await fetchOntoBoth([novel("6", 5000000n)], [novel("18", FIVE_WETH)]);
+        state.selectedToken = NOVEL;
+        send.updateSendBalance();
+        expect(text("send-balance")).toBe("Current balance: unknown (NOVEL)");
+
+        const txInfo = await reviewSend(NOVEL, "1.5");
+        confirmTx.show(txInfo);
+        await settle();
+        expect(text("confirm-balance")).toBe("unknown (NOVEL)");
+        expect(text("confirm-fee-unknown-error")).toBe(
+            "The network fee could not be estimated, because this wallet" +
+                " does not know how many decimal places this token uses, so" +
+                " this transaction cannot be sent.",
+        );
+        expect(el("confirm-fee-unknown-error").style.visibility).toBe(
+            "visible",
+        );
+    });
+
+    test("while a fee that fails for any other reason keeps its retry", async () => {
+        await fetchOntoBoth([novel("6", 5000000n)], [novel("6", 5000000n)]);
+        const txInfo = await reviewSend(NOVEL, "1.5");
+        const getFeeData = mockProvider.getFeeData;
+        mockProvider.getFeeData = async () => {
+            throw new Error("the node did not answer");
+        };
+        try {
+            confirmTx.show(txInfo);
+            await settle();
+        } finally {
+            mockProvider.getFeeData = getFeeData;
+        }
+        expect(text("confirm-fee-amount")).toBe("Unable to estimate");
+        expect(text("confirm-fee-unknown-error")).toBe(
+            "The network fee could not be estimated, so this transaction" +
+                " cannot be checked against your balance. Please go back and" +
+                " try again.",
+        );
+    });
+
     test("while agreeing rows leave the scale usable", async () => {
         await fetchOntoBoth([novel("6", 5000000n)], [novel("6", 5000000n)]);
+        state.selectedToken = NOVEL;
+        send.updateSendBalance();
+        expect(text("send-balance")).toBe("Current balance: 5.0000 NOVEL");
         const txInfo = await reviewSend(NOVEL, "1.5");
         expect(txInfo.tokenDecimals).toBe(6);
         expect(txInfo.tokenBalance).toBe("5.0");