diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix
index d10996a4..d2fa786e 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-bao.nix
@@ -41,6 +41,17 @@ let
   networkCfg = hyperhiveCfg.network;
   swarmDomain = hyperhiveCfg.swarm.domain;
 
+  # What this container's own collector stamps as `service.name` on every
+  # log line and metric it forwards, and the value the shipped Grafana
+  # dashboard's (`swarm-grafana/dashboards/bao.json`) panels all select on.
+  # Deliberately NOT `cfg.machine`: that value names the *container* — it is
+  # also the swarm-tier receiver/authenticator component name
+  # (`otlp/${cfg.machine}` in ./swarm-otel.nix) and could change for reasons
+  # that have nothing to do with what the dashboard queries. One literal,
+  # bound once, so the collector and the dashboard can't drift apart —
+  # `nix/module-eval/grafana.nix` pins it against the shipped dashboard file.
+  collectorServiceName = "bao";
+
   # Upstream's own default, kept so its documentation matches. The raft data
   # lives INSIDE the container on `ephemeral = false`, the same way
   # ./swarm-grafana.nix keeps its sqlite database — no sibling service binds
@@ -2782,10 +2793,14 @@ in
                 # `hive` or `swarm` label — the swarm tier upserts `hive` from
                 # the receiver that accepted the record, precisely so it comes
                 # from something the sender cannot write.
+                #
+                # `collectorServiceName`, not `cfg.machine`: what the
+                # dashboard selects on is a display identity, not the
+                # container/receiver name — see that binding's own comment.
                 processors.resource.attributes = [
                   {
                     key = "service.name";
-                    value = cfg.machine;
+                    value = collectorServiceName;
                     action = "upsert";
                   }
                 ];
diff --git a/nix/module-eval/grafana.nix b/nix/module-eval/grafana.nix
index fe3cd97e..9fe2f86b 100644
--- a/nix/module-eval/grafana.nix
+++ b/nix/module-eval/grafana.nix
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ let
     swarm.grafana.package = pkgs.emptyDirectory;
   };
 
+  # Same pairing `nix/module-eval/bao-otel-collector.nix` uses for its own
+  # cases: the store's container with its own collector on, so
+  # `.containers.swarm-bao.config` carries a real, evaluated
+  # `opentelemetry-collector.settings` rather than one this file would have
+  # to hand-assemble.
+  baoWithCollector = hive {
+    deploy.bao.enable = true;
+    deploy.swarm-otel.enable = true;
+  };
+
   # The metrics UI beside the IdP. It reads its secret out of the store like
   # every other Grafana host, so it needs a store identity like every other
   # Grafana host — the cert pair here is not scenery, it is the arm that would
@@ -261,6 +271,33 @@ let
         && lib.all (r: r.field == "severity_text" && r.enabled == true && lib.elem r.level canonical) rules
         && lib.all (text: lib.any (r: r.value == text) rules) emitted;
     }
+    {
+      # 🩸 The regression this guards: moving bao's metrics scrape into its
+      # own in-container collector made that collector stamp every exported
+      # series `service.name=swarm-bao`, while every panel in the shipped
+      # bao.json still queried the literal `"service.name"="bao"` — delivery
+      # could be perfect and no panel would ever match. Fixed by renaming it
+      # in the collector rather than in the dashboard: `swarm-bao.nix`'s
+      # `collectorServiceName` now stamps `"bao"` directly. This case reads
+      # the collector's OWN evaluated config — not a hand-copied literal —
+      # so it fails again the moment that binding and the dashboard drift
+      # apart in either direction.
+      # 🔬 Invert-proof: change `collectorServiceName` in swarm-bao.nix back
+      # to `cfg.machine` and this case fails.
+      name = "the bao dashboard's selectors match the service.name bao's own collector stamps";
+      ok =
+        let
+          attrs =
+            baoWithCollector.containers.swarm-bao.config.services.opentelemetry-collector.settings.processors.resource.attributes;
+          stamped = lib.findFirst (a: a.key == "service.name") null attrs;
+          board = builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile ../host-modules/swarm-grafana/dashboards/bao.json);
+          exprs = lib.concatMap (p: map (t: t.expr or "") (p.targets or [ ])) board.panels;
+          selectors = lib.filter (e: lib.hasInfix "service.name" e) exprs;
+        in
+        stamped != null
+        && builtins.length selectors == 12
+        && lib.all (e: lib.hasInfix "\"service.name\"=\"${stamped.value}\"" e) selectors;
+    }
   ];
 in
 runGroup "grafana" cases