diff --git a/apps/orchestrator/agentmetry/cli/__init__.py b/apps/orchestrator/agentmetry/cli/__init__.py
index b5596b8..e6f4cca 100644
--- a/apps/orchestrator/agentmetry/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/apps/orchestrator/agentmetry/cli/__init__.py
@@ -219,7 +219,8 @@ def cmd_stats(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
         return 1
 
     if not data.get("enabled", True):
-        print("Audit export disabled — enable AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT to collect stats.")
+        print("Audit export is disabled, so no events are recorded and stats are empty.")
+        print("Set AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT_ENABLED=1 and restart.")
         return 1
 
     days = data.get("window_days", args.days)
diff --git a/apps/orchestrator/tests/test_cli_env_var_names.py b/apps/orchestrator/tests/test_cli_env_var_names.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..36d762f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/orchestrator/tests/test_cli_env_var_names.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+"""The CLI tells operators which environment variable to set. It has to be real.
+
+`agentmetry stats` spent an unknown number of releases telling anyone who hit a
+disabled export to "enable AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT". No such variable exists.
+The only alias is `AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT_ENABLED`, so an operator who followed
+the instruction set something inert, saw the trail stay empty, and had nothing
+to tell them why.
+
+That is the worst shape of bug this project can ship: a recorder that is off,
+and a message that convinces the operator it is on.
+
+It was found by contrast. PR #139 added the same message to `agentmetry
+detections` and named the variable correctly, which is the only reason anybody
+looked at the older one.
+
+So this walks every string the CLI prints, pulls out anything shaped like an
+`AGENTMETRY_` variable, and checks it against the aliases `Settings` actually
+declares. Names, not values: whether `=1` is the right value is a question for
+the reader, but whether the variable exists is a question a test can settle.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import ast
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from pydantic import AliasChoices
+
+from agentmetry.core.config import Settings
+
+PACKAGE = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "agentmetry"
+CLI = PACKAGE / "cli" / "__init__.py"
+
+# Deliberately broad. A variable named in a comment is documentation too, but
+# only strings reach the operator, so only strings are scanned.
+_VAR = re.compile(r"\bAGENTMETRY_[A-Z0-9_]+\b")
+
+# Not every setting goes through `Settings`. `AGENTMETRY_AGT_HMAC_KEY` is read
+# straight from the environment at the point of use, and it is no less real for
+# that, so a name counts as declared if anything in the package reads it.
+_DIRECT_READ = re.compile(
+    r"os\.(?:environ(?:\.get)?\(|getenv\()\s*[\"'](AGENTMETRY_[A-Z0-9_]+)[\"']"
+)
+
+
+def _declared_aliases() -> set[str]:
+    names: set[str] = set()
+    for field in Settings.model_fields.values():
+        alias = field.validation_alias
+        if isinstance(alias, AliasChoices):
+            names.update(str(choice) for choice in alias.choices)
+        elif alias:
+            names.add(str(alias))
+    for source in PACKAGE.rglob("*.py"):
+        names.update(_DIRECT_READ.findall(source.read_text(encoding="utf-8")))
+    return names
+
+
+def _mentioned_in_printed_strings() -> dict[str, int]:
+    """Every `AGENTMETRY_*` token inside a string literal, with its line."""
+    tree = ast.parse(CLI.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    found: dict[str, int] = {}
+    for node in ast.walk(tree):
+        if isinstance(node, ast.Constant) and isinstance(node.value, str):
+            for name in _VAR.findall(node.value):
+                found.setdefault(name, node.lineno)
+    return found
+
+
+def test_every_environment_variable_the_cli_names_exists():
+    declared = _declared_aliases()
+    mentioned = _mentioned_in_printed_strings()
+    assert mentioned, "no environment variables found in the CLI; this test has gone blind"
+
+    unknown = {name: line for name, line in mentioned.items() if name not in declared}
+    assert not unknown, (
+        "the CLI names environment variables that Settings does not declare, so an "
+        f"operator who sets them changes nothing: {unknown}"
+    )
+
+
+def test_the_specific_regression_stays_fixed():
+    """`AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT` without the suffix is the one that shipped."""
+    source = CLI.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT_ENABLED" in source
+    assert not re.search(r"AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT(?!_ENABLED)", source), (
+        "AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT is not a real variable; the alias is "
+        "AGENTMETRY_AUDIT_EXPORT_ENABLED"
+    )