diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 57da0c10..2bfe197f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@
 - Pinned the opt-in CPU runtime to PyTorch 2.13.0 and torchvision 0.28.0 from the official CPU wheel index, avoiding unused CUDA runtime packages while preserving the currently validated framework versions.
 - Kept AI dependencies opt-in and model weights local-only; no API, migration, model activation or inference contract changed.
 
+## Sprint 171.1 Validation coverage provenance (2026-07-12)
+
+- Added explicit retained and empty validation sample lists to generated YOLO tile summaries.
+- Quality-filtered holdouts such as Arendonk-heide remain visible in provenance without being counted as actual retained validation coverage.
+
 ## Sprint 171 Positive AOI expansion and split safety (2026-07-12)
 
 - Added four explicit, real-reference Kempen training AOIs: Olen, Lille, Oud-Turnhout and Kasterlee center.
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_sprint130_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py b/backend/tests/test_sprint130_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py
index 76924031..4651b293 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_sprint130_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_sprint130_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py
@@ -100,6 +100,23 @@ def test_default_validation_split_is_explicit_and_rejects_holdout_leakage() -> N
         module.validate_validation_split(samples, {"turnhout", "missing"})
 
 
+def test_validation_coverage_reports_holdouts_without_retained_tiles() -> None:
+    module = load_tile_exporter()
+    coverage = module.validation_sample_coverage(
+        [
+            {"sample_slug": "turnhout", "split": "val", "kept": True},
+            {"sample_slug": "retie", "split": "val", "kept": True},
+            {"sample_slug": "geel", "split": "train", "kept": True},
+        ],
+        {"turnhout", "retie", "arendonk_heide"},
+    )
+
+    assert coverage == {
+        "retained_validation_sample_slugs": ["retie", "turnhout"],
+        "empty_validation_sample_slugs": ["arendonk_heide"],
+    }
+
+
 def test_iter_tile_windows_covers_edges_without_duplicates() -> None:
     module = load_tile_exporter()
 
diff --git a/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md b/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md
index 22ec06b2..cafe2307 100644
--- a/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md
+++ b/docs/CODEX_EXECUTION_LOG.md
@@ -7033,3 +7033,9 @@ Open:
 ## Remaining validation
 
 - Build the AI-enabled all-in-one image on Tower after the current inactive model training run finishes, verify Torch reports a CPU build and rerun live migration/browser smokes before replacing the runtime.
+
+# Sprint 171.1 - Validation coverage provenance
+
+- The expanded live export exposed that Arendonk-heide remained configured as a holdout while all of its low-variance tiles were correctly filtered out.
+- Added `retained_validation_sample_slugs` and `empty_validation_sample_slugs` to tile dataset summaries so configured and actual validation coverage cannot be confused.
+- Added a focused regression test and kept filtering behavior unchanged; no blank tile was reintroduced.
diff --git a/scripts/README.md b/scripts/README.md
index efc9e797..c9457056 100644
--- a/scripts/README.md
+++ b/scripts/README.md
@@ -366,6 +366,9 @@ The tile exporter clips GRB building bounding boxes into each tile, writes
 YOLO labels beside each tile image, keeps a deterministic ratio of empty
 negative tiles, and records `yolo_tile_dataset_summary.json` with
 `positive_tile_count`, `negative_tile_count` and skipped negative tile counts.
+It separately records configured, retained and empty validation sample slugs;
+this keeps a holdout that lost every tile to quality filtering visible without
+pretending it contributed evaluation data.
 `--min-label-visible-ratio` drops labels where only a small clipped fragment of
 the original building bbox is visible inside the tile; this reduces noisy
 tile-edge labels in overlapping-tile datasets. Use `0` for legacy behavior.
diff --git a/scripts/export_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py b/scripts/export_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py
index aa4e8bce..19ad6362 100644
--- a/scripts/export_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py
+++ b/scripts/export_operator_yolo_tile_dataset.py
@@ -181,6 +181,21 @@ def validate_validation_split(samples: list[dict[str, Any]], val_slugs: set[str]
     return val_slugs
 
 
+def validation_sample_coverage(
+    tiles: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    val_slugs: set[str],
+) -> dict[str, list[str]]:
+    retained = {
+        str(tile.get("sample_slug") or "").strip().lower()
+        for tile in tiles
+        if tile.get("kept", True) and str(tile.get("split") or "") == "val"
+    }
+    return {
+        "retained_validation_sample_slugs": sorted(retained),
+        "empty_validation_sample_slugs": sorted(val_slugs - retained),
+    }
+
+
 def edge_starts(length: int, tile_size: int, stride: int) -> list[int]:
     if tile_size <= 0:
         raise ValueError("tile_size must be positive")
@@ -555,6 +570,7 @@ def main() -> int:
         for tile in skipped_negative_tiles
         if tile.get("skip_reason") == LOW_VARIANCE_NEGATIVE_SKIP_REASON
     ]
+    validation_coverage = validation_sample_coverage(kept_tiles, val_slugs)
     summary = {
         "status": "ok",
         "dataset_yaml": str(dataset_yaml),
@@ -570,6 +586,7 @@ def main() -> int:
         "blank_range_threshold": args.blank_range_threshold,
         "source_sample_count": len(samples),
         "validation_sample_slugs": sorted(val_slugs),
+        **validation_coverage,
         "tile_count": len(kept_tiles),
         "positive_tile_count": len(positive_tiles),
         "negative_tile_count": len(negative_tiles),