diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 979fc2b..1528532 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ All notable changes to evidence-cli are documented here. This format follows
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/), and the project adheres to
 [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
+## [0.1.4] — 2026-07-07
+
+- **Failure `title`** — a step-level `failure.yaml` MAY carry a short
+  defect-style `title` (open string, never cross-checked); `finalize` lifts it
+  verbatim into the run-level failure index row, so triage queues and
+  dashboards get a name, not just a status. Purely additive — records without
+  a title index exactly as before.
+
 ## [0.1.0] — Unreleased
 
 Initial public release of the `0.1` evidence contract.
diff --git a/design/contract/04-L1.md b/design/contract/04-L1.md
index eaa91e0..a3314ce 100644
--- a/design/contract/04-L1.md
+++ b/design/contract/04-L1.md
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ Authored by the framework (or a triage agent), sibling of the step's screenshot.
 ```yaml
 step: pay                                # REQUIRED — = folder id + a result.yaml step
 status: broken                           # REQUIRED — verdict enum; cross-checked
+title: Payment API timeout on checkout   # OPTIONAL — short defect-style name (open string)
 expected: receipt screen shown           # ┐ evidence-of-what: error.message,
 actual: payment API timed out            # ┘ or expected + actual (REQUIRED)
 page_state:
@@ -155,6 +156,8 @@ triage:                                  # OPTIONAL — strictly shaped when pre
   URLs are open strings, never checked.
 - **Triage is strict when present**, open vocabulary elsewhere
   (`locator_context`, `error.type`, `rca.category`, `linked_defects`, …).
+- An optional **`title`** gives the failure a short defect-style *name* (the
+  label a triage queue shows) — an open string, never cross-checked.
 - A record whose `status` disagrees with its step's `result.yaml` status is an
   advisory **warning**; so is a failed/broken step with no record (at
   finalized). Neither fails the pack.
@@ -175,6 +178,7 @@ failures:
     step: pay
     status: broken
     path: tests/checkout/steps/2-pay/failure.yaml   # pack-root-relative pointer
+    title: Payment API timeout on checkout          # lifted from the record when present
     triage_status: triaged               # lifted from the record when present
 ```
 
diff --git a/design/decisions/0044-failure-records.md b/design/decisions/0044-failure-records.md
index c69734c..ca7cfad 100644
--- a/design/decisions/0044-failure-records.md
+++ b/design/decisions/0044-failure-records.md
@@ -73,6 +73,16 @@ supersedes: []
 
 ## Reasoning
 
+> **Amendment (optional `title`, 2026-07-07).** A step record MAY carry a
+> top-level `title` — a short defect-style *name* for the failure, typically
+> the investigation verdict's bug title. It is an **open string, never
+> cross-checked** (no new codes, no new required fields), and finalize **lifts
+> it verbatim** into the index row when it is a non-empty string — the same
+> mirror-never-validate posture as the `triage_status` lift. Rationale: triage
+> queues and dashboards need a *label*, not just a status — `rca.root_cause` is
+> a sentence, `title` is a name. A record-vs-row title mismatch is impossible
+> on a freshly finalized pack, since finalize generates the index.
+
 **Why not `issues/`.** The reserved directory imagined failures as a *sibling
 concept* beside steps. But a failure's forensics are *about a step* — the
 expected/actual, the page state, the console at the moment step N broke. Giving
diff --git a/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/failure.yaml b/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/failure.yaml
index 3cbd26d..dd7b382 100644
--- a/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/failure.yaml
+++ b/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/failure.yaml
@@ -6,4 +6,5 @@ failures:
     step: pay
     status: broken
     path: tests/checkout/steps/2-pay/failure.yaml
+    title: Payment API timeout on checkout
     triage_status: triaged
diff --git a/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/tests/checkout/steps/2-pay/failure.yaml b/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/tests/checkout/steps/2-pay/failure.yaml
index f0fd89a..d544a93 100644
--- a/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/tests/checkout/steps/2-pay/failure.yaml
+++ b/fixtures/0.1/L1/valid/failure-full.evidence/tests/checkout/steps/2-pay/failure.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 step: pay
 status: broken
+title: Payment API timeout on checkout
 expected: receipt screen shown with a charge id
 actual: payment API timed out after 30s
 page_state:
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ecf09c3..d9aaddc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@testmuai/evidence-cli",
-  "version": "0.1.3",
+  "version": "0.1.4",
   "description": "An open, framework-agnostic format for what a test run produced — the .evidence pack, and the library + CLI that validate and seal it.",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "author": "TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest)",
diff --git a/src/finalize/index.test.ts b/src/finalize/index.test.ts
index decce85..265dc5e 100644
--- a/src/finalize/index.test.ts
+++ b/src/finalize/index.test.ts
@@ -123,6 +123,37 @@ describe("finalize failure index (decision 0044)", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("lifts an optional title verbatim; omits it when absent, empty, or not a string", async () => {
+    const dir = await stageCopy();
+    const steps = path.join(dir, "tests", "checkout", "steps");
+    await fs.mkdir(path.join(steps, "1-open"), { recursive: true });
+    await fs.mkdir(path.join(steps, "2-pay"), { recursive: true });
+    await fs.mkdir(path.join(steps, "3-refund"), { recursive: true });
+    // (a) present — lifted verbatim
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(steps, "1-open", "failure.yaml"),
+      "step: open\nstatus: failed\ntitle: Checkout page renders blank\nerror: { message: blank }\n",
+    );
+    // (b) empty string — omitted, no `title: null` noise
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(steps, "2-pay", "failure.yaml"),
+      'step: pay\nstatus: broken\ntitle: ""\nerror: { message: timeout }\n',
+    );
+    // (c) an old record without title still indexes fine
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(steps, "3-refund", "failure.yaml"),
+      "step: refund\nstatus: failed\nerror: { message: no refund button }\n",
+    );
+
+    await finalize(dir, { endedAt: "2026-06-28T09:00:30Z" });
+    const idx = parseYaml(await readSealed(dir, "failure.yaml")) as any;
+
+    expect(idx.failures[0].title).toBe("Checkout page renders blank");
+    expect("title" in idx.failures[1]).toBe(false);
+    expect("title" in idx.failures[2]).toBe(false);
+    expect(idx.failures.map((r: any) => r.step)).toEqual(["open", "pay", "refund"]);
+  });
+
   it("fails fast on a step record that is not valid YAML", async () => {
     const dir = await stageCopy();
     const folder = path.join(dir, "tests", "checkout", "steps", "2-pay");
diff --git a/src/finalize/index.ts b/src/finalize/index.ts
index e53acc8..097c904 100644
--- a/src/finalize/index.ts
+++ b/src/finalize/index.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ interface FailureRow {
   step: string;
   status: string;
   path: string;
+  title?: string;
   triage_status?: string;
 }
 
@@ -145,6 +146,7 @@ async function collectFailureRows(testsDir: string, id: string): Promise<Failure
       status: rec.status,
       path: relPath,
     };
+    if (typeof rec?.title === "string" && rec.title.length > 0) row.title = rec.title;
     const ts = rec?.triage?.status;
     if (typeof ts === "string" && ts.length > 0) row.triage_status = ts;
     rows.push(row);
diff --git a/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure-index.schema.json b/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure-index.schema.json
index d71c39e..fa9e013 100644
--- a/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure-index.schema.json
+++ b/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure-index.schema.json
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@
           "triage_status": {
             "description": "Lifted verbatim from the record's triage.status when present.",
             "enum": ["untriaged", "triaged", "in_progress", "dismissed"]
+          },
+          "title": {
+            "description": "Lifted verbatim from the record's title when present.",
+            "type": "string",
+            "minLength": 1
           }
         },
         "additionalProperties": true
diff --git a/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure.schema.json b/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure.schema.json
index 5d01af0..9915973 100644
--- a/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure.schema.json
+++ b/src/schemas/0.1/L1/failure.schema.json
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@
       "description": "The step verdict — same vocabulary as result.yaml (decision 0006). Cross-checked against the matched step; disagreement is an advisory warning (l1.failure.status_disagrees).",
       "enum": ["passed", "failed", "broken", "skipped"]
     },
+    "title": {
+      "description": "Short defect-style name for the failure, authored by the framework (typically the investigation verdict's bug title). Optional; open string, never cross-checked.",
+      "type": "string",
+      "minLength": 1
+    },
     "expected": { "type": "string" },
     "actual": { "type": "string" },
     "error": {
diff --git a/src/schemas/failure.schema.test.ts b/src/schemas/failure.schema.test.ts
index 6d0470a..ad350e7 100644
--- a/src/schemas/failure.schema.test.ts
+++ b/src/schemas/failure.schema.test.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ describe("failure.schema.json — required core", () => {
     expect(failure({ ...core, status: "exploded" })).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it("accepts an optional title; rejects an empty one", () => {
+    expect(failure({ ...core, title: "Checkout page renders blank" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(failure({ ...core, title: "" })).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("keeps forensic blocks open (locator_context, trajectory_refs, extra keys)", () => {
     expect(
       failure({
@@ -91,6 +96,11 @@ describe("failure-index.schema.json", () => {
     expect(failureIndex({ failures: [] })).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("accepts an optional lifted title on a row; rejects an empty one", () => {
+    expect(failureIndex({ failures: [{ ...row, title: "Checkout page renders blank" }] })).toBe(true);
+    expect(failureIndex({ failures: [{ ...row, title: "" }] })).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("rejects a row missing a required field or with a bad enum", () => {
     const { path: _p, ...noPath } = row;
     expect(failureIndex({ failures: [noPath] })).toBe(false);