diff --git a/crates/aura-cli/tests/research_docs.rs b/crates/aura-cli/tests/research_docs.rs
index 9890c87..9b481dc 100644
--- a/crates/aura-cli/tests/research_docs.rs
+++ b/crates/aura-cli/tests/research_docs.rs
@@ -421,6 +421,33 @@ fn campaign_introspect_unwired_reports_the_spec_example_slots() {
     assert!(out.contains("open slot: strategies[0].axes.slow (axis declared empty — a P1 axis is a non-empty finite set)"));
 }
 
+/// #195 (fieldtest 0106 F4): the consumer view of the placeholder-ref probe.
+/// A draft that spells its open refs as `"ref": {}` / `"ref": null` — the
+/// natural drafting placeholders — has `--unwired` enumerate BOTH as open slots
+/// (exit 0), instead of the old cryptic serde refusal / silent "no open slots".
+#[test]
+fn campaign_introspect_unwired_reports_placeholder_refs() {
+    let dir = temp_cwd("campaign-introspect-unwired-placeholder");
+    let draft = r#"{ "format_version": 1, "kind": "campaign", "name": "draft",
+        "data": { "instruments": ["GER40"], "windows": [ { "from_ms": 1, "to_ms": 2 } ] },
+        "strategies": [ { "ref": null,
+                          "axes": { "slow": { "kind": "I64", "values": [10, 20] } } } ],
+        "process": { "ref": {} },
+        "seed": 1,
+        "presentation": { "persist_taps": [], "emit": [] } }"#;
+    write_doc(&dir, "draft.campaign.json", draft);
+    let (out, code) = run_code_in(&dir, &["campaign", "introspect", "--unwired", "draft.campaign.json"]);
+    assert_eq!(code, Some(0), "stdout/stderr: {out}");
+    assert!(
+        out.contains("open slot: strategies[0].ref (required, one of: content_id, identity_id)"),
+        "strategy `ref: null` placeholder not enumerated: {out}"
+    );
+    assert!(
+        out.contains("open slot: process.ref (required, content id of a process document)"),
+        "process `ref: {{}}` placeholder not enumerated: {out}"
+    );
+}
+
 /// The campaign twin of `process_introspect_vocabulary_block_and_content_id`'s
 /// `--content-id` branch: pins that `campaign introspect --content-id` wires
 /// `parse_valid_campaign` + `campaign_to_json` + `content_id_of` end to end
diff --git a/crates/aura-research/src/lib.rs b/crates/aura-research/src/lib.rs
index c79dce3..da5fb75 100644
--- a/crates/aura-research/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/aura-research/src/lib.rs
@@ -836,6 +836,18 @@ pub fn open_slots_process(text: &str) -> Result<Vec<OpenSlot>, DocError> {
 }
 
 /// List the open slots of a (possibly partial) campaign document.
+/// Whether a `ref` slot in a DRAFT reads as open: absent, or one of the two
+/// natural placeholder spellings `{}` / `null` (#195). A draft affordance of
+/// the open-slot probe only — the strict parse tier keeps refusing
+/// placeholders (they are not a valid document form).
+fn ref_slot_is_open(r: Option<&serde_json::Value>) -> bool {
+    match r {
+        None | Some(serde_json::Value::Null) => true,
+        Some(serde_json::Value::Object(m)) => m.is_empty(),
+        Some(_) => false,
+    }
+}
+
 pub fn open_slots_campaign(text: &str) -> Result<Vec<OpenSlot>, DocError> {
     let v: serde_json::Value =
         serde_json::from_str(text).map_err(|e| DocError::NotJson(e.to_string()))?;
@@ -862,7 +874,7 @@ pub fn open_slots_campaign(text: &str) -> Result<Vec<OpenSlot>, DocError> {
         }
         Some(list) => {
             for (i, s) in list.iter().enumerate() {
-                if s.get("ref").is_none() {
+                if ref_slot_is_open(s.get("ref")) {
                     slots.push(open(
                         format!("strategies[{i}].ref"),
                         "required, one of: content_id, identity_id",
@@ -891,7 +903,7 @@ pub fn open_slots_campaign(text: &str) -> Result<Vec<OpenSlot>, DocError> {
             }
         }
     }
-    if v.get("process").and_then(|p| p.get("ref")).is_none() {
+    if ref_slot_is_open(v.get("process").and_then(|p| p.get("ref"))) {
         // deliberately narrower than the strategy-ref hint: validate_campaign
         // refuses an identity_id process ref, so the guide must not offer it
         slots.push(open("process.ref", "required, content id of a process document"));
@@ -1402,4 +1414,38 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert!(matches!(open_slots_process("nope"), Err(DocError::NotJson(_))));
     }
+
+    /// Property: in the open-slot probe, a ref placeholder — `"ref": {}` or
+    /// `"ref": null` — is a drafting affordance that reports the SAME open slot
+    /// (same path, same existing hint) the omitted-key form reports, on both a
+    /// strategy entry and `process.ref`, and never aborts the probe. It lets one
+    /// draft file both validate-so-far and enumerate its open slots (fieldtest
+    /// 0106 F4 / #195). This pins only the probe; the strict `parse_campaign`
+    /// tier keeps refusing placeholders (canonical-form byte stability outranks
+    /// draft leniency) and is deliberately not exercised here.
+    #[test]
+    fn open_slots_report_placeholder_refs_as_open_slots() {
+        let draft = r#"{ "format_version": 1, "kind": "campaign", "name": "draft",
+            "data": { "instruments": ["GER40"], "windows": [ { "from_ms": 1, "to_ms": 2 } ] },
+            "strategies": [ { "ref": null,
+                              "axes": { "slow": { "kind": "I64", "values": [10, 20] } } } ],
+            "process": { "ref": {} },
+            "seed": 1,
+            "presentation": { "persist_taps": [], "emit": [] } }"#;
+        // Errors on neither placeholder form (the probe stays a probe).
+        let slots = open_slots_campaign(draft).expect("placeholder refs must not abort the probe");
+        // The `null` strategy ref reports the strategy-ref open slot with its
+        // existing both-id-forms hint...
+        assert!(
+            slots.iter().any(|s| s.path == "strategies[0].ref"
+                && s.hint == "required, one of: content_id, identity_id"),
+            "strategy `ref: null` placeholder not reported as an open slot: {slots:?}"
+        );
+        // ...and the `{}` process ref reports the narrower content-id-only hint.
+        assert!(
+            slots.iter().any(|s| s.path == "process.ref"
+                && s.hint == "required, content id of a process document"),
+            "process `ref: {{}}` placeholder not reported as an open slot: {slots:?}"
+        );
+    }
 }