diff --git a/.changeset/29221-i18n-extract-field-help-empty-link.md b/.changeset/29221-i18n-extract-field-help-empty-link.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0665042af42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/29221-i18n-extract-field-help-empty-link.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/cli': patch
+---
+
+fix(cli): `os i18n extract` scaffolds a field's description when its `inlineHelpText` is empty
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+Nothing changes in what a metadata author can write. What changes is the seed `os i18n extract` (and the `os i18n check` coverage gate) takes for a field's `objects.OBJECT.fields.FIELD.help` entry.
+
+- **Before.** The seed was `help ?? inlineHelpText ?? description`, which stops at an empty string. A field with `inlineHelpText: ''` (or `help: ''`) and a `description` got a help entry with no seed, so the description, which is the line the console draws for that field, was never offered for translation.
+- **Now.** The first link that carries authored text wins: an empty string reads as absent, as it does in the console's help line (`inlineHelpText || description`). Whitespace-only text still counts as authored, as it does in the console.
+- **Unchanged.** `help` still wins over `inlineHelpText`, and a non-empty `inlineHelpText` still wins over `description`. A field whose links are all empty still gets the seed-less entry it got before.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts
index 33cb3382ee6..21178839abf 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/i18n-extract.ts
@@ -1483,10 +1483,20 @@ export function collectExpectedEntries(
         // `inlineHelpText` is the key `FieldSchema` spells help text with, so it
         // is the authored default-locale text of `help` — after `help`, before
         // `description` — exactly as the authored label is for `label` (#15711).
+        //
+        // The FIRST AUTHORED link wins, not the first defined one: the console
+        // draws `inlineHelpText || description` (`fieldHelpText` in
+        // `@object-ui/fields`), so an empty `inlineHelpText` reads as absent
+        // there and the description is the line people see. A `??` chain
+        // stopped at that `''` and scaffolded no seed, leaving the drawn
+        // description out of the bundle (#29221). `asAuthoredLabel` is the one
+        // "authored" test this file uses (a non-empty string or a non-empty
+        // inline locale map); whitespace-only text stays authored, as it does
+        // for the console's `||` and the resolver's non-empty check.
         pushOptional(
           out,
           ['objects', objectName, 'fields', fieldName, 'help'],
-          field.help ?? field.inlineHelpText ?? field.description,
+          asAuthoredLabel(field.help) ?? asAuthoredLabel(field.inlineHelpText) ?? asAuthoredLabel(field.description),
           'field',
           { objectName },
         );
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/i18n-extract-inline-help-text.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/i18n-extract-inline-help-text.test.ts
index 8d9989f6c3c..73ec3234cd6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/i18n-extract-inline-help-text.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/i18n-extract-inline-help-text.test.ts
@@ -62,3 +62,72 @@ describe('the field help key takes `inlineHelpText` as its default-locale source
     expect(helpIssues(report, 'zh-CN').length).toBe(1);
   });
 });
+
+// The extractor seeds the key from the FIRST AUTHORED link of
+// `help`, `inlineHelpText`, `description`. The console draws a field's help
+// line from `inlineHelpText || description` (`fieldHelpText` in
+// `@object-ui/fields`), so an empty string reads as absent there; a `??` chain
+// stopped at `inlineHelpText: ''` and scaffolded no seed, leaving the drawn
+// description out of the bundle (#29221).
+describe('the field help key skips an empty link, as the console does', () => {
+  const entryOf = (field: Record<string, unknown>) =>
+    collectExpectedEntries(stack(field, [])).find((e) => e.path.join('.') === HELP_KEY);
+
+  /** The console's reader (`fieldHelpText` in `@object-ui/fields`), restated. */
+  const consoleHelpLine = (field: Record<string, unknown>) =>
+    (field.inlineHelpText as string | undefined) || (field.description as string | undefined) || undefined;
+
+  it('`inlineHelpText: \'\'` beside a description scaffolds the description', () => {
+    const entry = entryOf({ inlineHelpText: '', description: 'B' });
+    expect(entry?.sourceValue).toBe('B');
+    expect(entry?.inline).toBe('B');
+  });
+
+  it('`help: \'\'` beside a description scaffolds the description', () => {
+    const entry = entryOf({ help: '', description: 'B' });
+    expect(entry?.sourceValue).toBe('B');
+    expect(entry?.inline).toBe('B');
+  });
+
+  it('`help: \'\'` beside an `inlineHelpText` scaffolds the `inlineHelpText`', () => {
+    expect(entryOf({ help: '', inlineHelpText: 'I', description: 'B' })?.sourceValue).toBe('I');
+  });
+
+  it('a non-empty `inlineHelpText` still wins over the description', () => {
+    expect(entryOf({ inlineHelpText: 'I', description: 'B' })?.sourceValue).toBe('I');
+  });
+
+  it('`help` still wins over both', () => {
+    expect(entryOf({ help: 'H', inlineHelpText: 'I', description: 'B' })?.sourceValue).toBe('H');
+    expect(entryOf({ help: 'H', inlineHelpText: '', description: 'B' })?.sourceValue).toBe('H');
+  });
+
+  it('whitespace-only `inlineHelpText` stays the source: the console\'s `||` draws it too', () => {
+    const field = { inlineHelpText: ' ', description: 'B' };
+    expect(entryOf(field)?.sourceValue).toBe(' ');
+    expect(consoleHelpLine(field)).toBe(' ');
+  });
+
+  it('every link empty still emits the seed-less entry, as before', () => {
+    const entry = entryOf({ help: '', inlineHelpText: '', description: '' });
+    expect(entry).toBeDefined();
+    expect(entry?.sourceValue).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(entry?.inline).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('agrees with the line the console draws, for every field that authors no `help`', () => {
+    const shapes: Record<string, unknown>[] = [
+      { description: 'B' },
+      { inlineHelpText: 'I' },
+      { inlineHelpText: 'I', description: 'B' },
+      { inlineHelpText: '', description: 'B' },
+      { inlineHelpText: 'I', description: '' },
+    ];
+    for (const field of shapes) expect(entryOf(field)?.sourceValue).toBe(consoleHelpLine(field));
+  });
+
+  it('the coverage gate counts the default locale as covered by the scaffolded description', () => {
+    const report = computeI18nCoverage(stack({ inlineHelpText: '', description: '说明' }, [enHelp]), { strict: true });
+    expect(helpIssues(report, 'zh-CN')).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});