diff --git a/src/plan.rs b/src/plan.rs
index 683114c..5b7b12f 100644
--- a/src/plan.rs
+++ b/src/plan.rs
@@ -84,7 +84,10 @@ needs:
                               # aggregates.yaml already has, so its records keep replaying
     attended_by: >            # ONLY for a stage no desk button moves: the automation that does
       what moves it, in a sentence
-    max_fields: 4             # how many required fields THIS person will tolerate, from what
+    max_fields: 4             # decide this BEFORE writing collects, from what the intake
+                              # says about the person; a budget that equals the form's size
+                              # is counted, not decided, and is reported as such
+                              # how many required fields THIS person will tolerate, from what
                               # the intake says about them: someone on a phone with gloves
                               # on gets 3, a first enquiry 4 to 6, a firm's paperwork 5 to 6
     collects:                 # the form; name is snake_case ASCII, type one of
@@ -225,6 +228,19 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[String]) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
                 if !strangers.is_empty() {
                     eprintln!("  {} persona(s) name a need this plan does not have; set their `need:` to one of the ids above before building:\n    {}", strangers.len(), strangers.join("\n    "));
                 }
+                // A budget that equals the form is the tell of a model
+                // that counted the form and called it the person's
+                // tolerance. One such need is a form that uses its
+                // room; most of them is the number being invented.
+                let tight: Vec<&str> = plan
+                    .needs
+                    .iter()
+                    .filter(|n| n.collects.iter().filter(|f| !f.optional).count() == n.max_fields)
+                    .map(|n| n.id.as_str())
+                    .collect();
+                if tight.len() * 2 > plan.needs.len() && tight.len() > 1 {
+                    eprintln!("  {} of {} need(s) have max_fields equal to their required fields ({}): check each against what the intake says about that person, not the form", tight.len(), plan.needs.len(), tight.join(", "));
+                }
                 println!(
                     "plan written to {}; read it before building from it",
                     out.join("plan.yaml").display()