diff --git a/hermes_cli/doctor_platform.py b/hermes_cli/doctor_platform.py
index 5a4df2670d..33fb7fccad 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/doctor_platform.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/doctor_platform.py
@@ -89,6 +89,37 @@ def _format_db_size(db_path: Path) -> str:
         return "size unknown"
 
 
+def _report_database_holders(name: str, db_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Name the processes holding ``db_path`` (or a WAL sidecar) so the operator knows what to stop before the
+    offline journal-mode conversion; a partial or unavailable scan is reported as "cannot prove quiet", never as
+    an all-clear (the scan is the same fail-closed authority repair/VACUUM/checkpoint admission uses)."""
+    from hermes_state_holders import _read_proc_argv, foreign_state_db_holders, psutil
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        check_warn(f"{name}: cannot prove the database is quiet", "(holder scan is unavailable on Windows)")
+        return
+    unknown: list[str] = []
+    by_pid: dict[int, set[str]] = {}
+    for pid, target in foreign_state_db_holders(db_path):
+        if pid <= 0 or target.startswith("uninspectable"):
+            unknown.append(target)
+        else:
+            by_pid.setdefault(pid, set()).add(Path(target.removesuffix(" (deleted)")).name)
+    for pid in sorted(by_pid):
+        argv = _read_proc_argv(pid)  # /proc only; macOS holders come from psutil
+        if argv is None and psutil is not None:
+            try:
+                argv = psutil.Process(pid).cmdline() or None
+            except Exception:
+                argv = None
+        who = " ".join([Path(argv[0]).name, *argv[1:]])[:80] if argv else "command line unavailable"
+        check_info(f"{name} is held by PID {pid} ({who}): {', '.join(sorted(by_pid[pid]))}")
+    if unknown:
+        check_warn(f"{name}: cannot prove the database is quiet",
+                   f"(holder scan incomplete: {unknown[0][:120]}" + (f"; +{len(unknown) - 1} more" if len(unknown) > 1 else "") + ")")
+    elif not by_pid:
+        check_info(f"{name}: no other process holds it right now — the offline conversion can run")
+
+
 def _report_database_journal_modes(hermes_home: Path | None = None, version_info: tuple[int, ...] | None = None) -> None:
     """List each database's journal mode; warn on WAL under a vulnerable SQLite, and on a configured
     ``database.journal_mode: delete`` that never took effect."""
@@ -122,6 +153,7 @@ def _report_database_journal_modes(hermes_home: Path | None = None, version_info
                        + ("; also exposed to the WAL-reset bug" if vulnerable else "")
                        + ". Stop every Hermes process for this profile, then run a one-time offline "
                        "'PRAGMA journal_mode=DELETE' on the file)")
+            _report_database_holders(name, path)
         elif error is not None:
             if vulnerable:
                 check_warn(f"{name}: journal mode could not be read", f"({error}; cannot rule out WAL exposure)")
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_doctor_journal_modes.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_doctor_journal_modes.py
index d0e19f3a90..b208a3a2ef 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_doctor_journal_modes.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_doctor_journal_modes.py
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ read-only engine open creates -wal/-shm sidecar files next to a WAL database.
 import os
 import re
 import sqlite3
+import subprocess
+import sys
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -461,6 +463,43 @@ class TestConfiguredDeleteNeverApplied:
         assert "state.db: WAL journal mode" not in out
         assert ("To clear the exposure:" in out) is exposed
 
+    @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == "win32", reason="holder scan has no Windows backend")
+    def test_wal_db_under_configured_delete_names_its_holders(self, tmp_path, capsys, monkeypatch):
+        # The offline conversion needs the file quiet, so doctor must say WHICH process to stop — a
+        # subprocess holding a real connection is named by PID; the doctor process itself is not a holder.
+        db = tmp_path / "state.db"
+        _make_db(db, journal_mode="WAL")
+        monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_state_wal.resolve_journal_mode", lambda: "delete")
+        holder = subprocess.Popen(
+            [sys.executable, "-c",
+             "import sqlite3, sys; c = sqlite3.connect(sys.argv[1]); c.execute('SELECT count(*) FROM t'); "
+             "print('ready', flush=True); sys.stdin.readline()", str(db)],
+            stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, text=True,
+        )
+        try:
+            assert holder.stdout.readline().strip() == "ready"
+            doctor_platform._report_database_journal_modes(tmp_path, (3, 51, 3))
+        finally:
+            holder.stdin.write("\n")
+            holder.stdin.flush()
+            holder.wait(timeout=30)
+
+        out = capsys.readouterr().out
+        assert f"state.db is held by PID {holder.pid}" in out and "state.db" in out.split("held by PID")[1]
+        assert "no other process holds it" not in out and "cannot prove" not in out
+
+    def test_partial_holder_scan_is_never_an_all_clear(self, tmp_path, capsys, monkeypatch):
+        _make_db(tmp_path / "state.db", journal_mode="WAL")
+        monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_state_wal.resolve_journal_mode", lambda: "delete")
+        monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_state_holders.foreign_state_db_holders",
+                            lambda path: [(-1, "open-file scan unavailable")])
+
+        doctor_platform._report_database_journal_modes(tmp_path, (3, 51, 3))
+
+        out = capsys.readouterr().out
+        assert "cannot prove the database is quiet" in out and "open-file scan unavailable" in out
+        assert "no other process holds it" not in out and "held by PID" not in out
+
     def test_configured_wal_keeps_the_informational_line(self, tmp_path, capsys, monkeypatch):
         _make_db(tmp_path / "state.db", journal_mode="WAL")
         monkeypatch.setattr("hermes_state_wal.resolve_journal_mode", lambda: "wal")
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
index 5b0e5bdda0..4ad47a51ce 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
@@ -127,7 +127,10 @@ mode is not live-downgraded when you set `journal_mode: delete` (a downgrade
 under open connections can corrupt it). `hermes doctor` warns
 `<db> is in WAL mode despite database.journal_mode=delete` until you stop
 every Hermes process for the profile and run a one-time offline
-`PRAGMA journal_mode=DELETE` on the file.
+`PRAGMA journal_mode=DELETE` on the file. Under that warning it names the
+processes currently holding the database (`<db> is held by PID <n> (<command>)`)
+so you know what to stop; when the holder scan is partial or unavailable it says
+`cannot prove the database is quiet` instead of giving an all-clear.
 
 ## Environment Variable Substitution