diff --git a/examples/app-showcase/src/automation/flows/index.ts b/examples/app-showcase/src/automation/flows/index.ts
index ad2bdb04fb..34dc8f8927 100644
--- a/examples/app-showcase/src/automation/flows/index.ts
+++ b/examples/app-showcase/src/automation/flows/index.ts
@@ -411,9 +411,9 @@ export const ScheduledDigestFlow = defineFlow({
  * needs a real bot token + channel), this flow dispatches to the `rest`
  * connector contributed by `@objectstack/connector-rest`, configured to point
  * at the running server itself. On task completion it issues
- * `GET /api/v1/health`; the request and its `{ status: 'ok' }` response are
- * captured on the flow run, so the connector dispatch is fully observable
- * without any external service or credentials.
+ * `GET /api/v1/health`; the response body is captured on the flow run as the
+ * declared output variable `ping.body` (`{ status: 'ok' }`), so the connector
+ * dispatch is fully observable without any external service or credentials.
  */
 export const TaskCompletedRestPingFlow = defineFlow({
   name: 'showcase_task_completed_rest_ping',
@@ -421,6 +421,12 @@ export const TaskCompletedRestPingFlow = defineFlow({
   description: 'Calls the local server health endpoint via the rest connector when a task is marked Done.',
   type: 'autolaunched',
   status: 'active',
+  // Surface the health response on the run output. Nothing is captured on a run
+  // unless the flow ASKS for it: the engine collects `run.output` from the
+  // declared `isOutput` variables only (#7542). The `request` action of the
+  // `rest` connector returns `{ status, ok, body }`, written back under
+  // `${nodeId}.${key}` — so `ping.body` is the parsed `{ status: 'ok' }` payload.
+  variables: [{ name: 'ping.body', type: 'json', isOutput: true }],
   nodes: [
     {
       id: 'start',
@@ -464,8 +470,9 @@ export const TaskCompletedRestPingFlow = defineFlow({
  * `rest` generic executor (ADR-0097). Nothing registered it in code: the
  * `connectors:` entry named `provider: 'rest'`, and the automation service turned
  * it into a live connector. On task creation the flow issues `GET /api/v1/health`
- * through it; the call and its `{ status: 'ok' }` response are captured on the
- * flow run, proving the declarative path dispatches end-to-end.
+ * through it; the response body is captured on the flow run as the declared
+ * output variable `ping.body` (`{ status: 'ok' }`), proving the declarative path
+ * dispatches end-to-end.
  */
 export const ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow = defineFlow({
   name: 'showcase_declarative_connector_ping',
@@ -474,6 +481,11 @@ export const ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow = defineFlow({
     'Dispatches GET /api/v1/health through showcase_status_api — a provider-bound connector instance materialized from pure metadata at boot.',
   type: 'autolaunched',
   status: 'active',
+  // Same as TaskCompletedRestPingFlow above: the materialized `showcase_status_api`
+  // instance is built by the same `rest` factory, so its `request` action returns
+  // `{ status, ok, body }` and `ping.body` carries the `{ status: 'ok' }` payload
+  // onto `run.output` (#7542).
+  variables: [{ name: 'ping.body', type: 'json', isOutput: true }],
   nodes: [
     {
       id: 'start',
diff --git a/examples/app-showcase/test/connector-ping-run-output.test.ts b/examples/app-showcase/test/connector-ping-run-output.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..36f3920302
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/app-showcase/test/connector-ping-run-output.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * [#7542] The two REST-dispatching showcase flows capture the connector
+ * response on the run — the claim their source comments make.
+ *
+ * `run.output` is not a free side effect of dispatching: the engine collects it
+ * from the flow's declared `isOutput` variables ONLY
+ * (`AutomationEngine.execute` → "Collect output variables"). Both
+ * `TaskCompletedRestPingFlow` and `ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow`
+ * dispatched correctly but declared no variables at all, so `run.output` came
+ * back empty while the comments said the response was captured — a comment that
+ * sends the next reader hunting for an engine bug that does not exist. The
+ * sibling `ShowcaseMcpConnectorEchoFlow` proved it was authoring, not engine:
+ * same dispatch path, one declared variable, captured output.
+ *
+ * This file pins the fixed behaviour at the level the defect lives at — the
+ * flow's own declaration against the real connector's real output keys:
+ *
+ *   - the flows come from `src/automation/flows/index.ts` (not a copy);
+ *   - the `rest` connector is the REAL `createRestConnector` bundle, and the
+ *     declarative instance is materialized by the REAL `createRestProviderFactory`
+ *     from the REAL `StatusApiConnector` metadata — only `fetch` is stubbed, so
+ *     the handler's `{ status, ok, body }` output shape is the shipped one;
+ *   - the assertion is a CONTENT pin on `run.output`, not schema validity:
+ *     `ping.body` must deep-equal the health payload `{ status: 'ok' }`.
+ *
+ * The variable name is not free either — the engine writes a node's output back
+ * under `${nodeId}.${key}`, so a flow declaring the wrong name captures
+ * `undefined` while still parsing and still dispatching. Asserting the value
+ * rather than the key's presence is what makes that failure visible.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { AutomationEngine, registerConnectorNodes } from '@objectstack/service-automation';
+import { createRestConnector, createRestProviderFactory } from '@objectstack/connector-rest';
+
+import {
+  TaskCompletedRestPingFlow,
+  ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow,
+} from '../src/automation/flows/index.js';
+import { StatusApiConnector } from '../src/system/connectors/index.js';
+
+/** The payload `GET /api/v1/health` answers with on a live showcase boot. */
+const HEALTH_PAYLOAD = { status: 'ok' } as const;
+
+function silentLogger(): any {
+  const logger: any = {
+    info: () => {},
+    warn: () => {},
+    error: () => {},
+    debug: () => {},
+  };
+  logger.child = () => logger;
+  return logger;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A `fetch` stand-in that answers every call with the health payload and records
+ * the URLs it was asked for, so the test can also confirm the flow-owned path
+ * (`/api/v1/health`) actually went out.
+ */
+function stubFetch(requested: string[]): typeof fetch {
+  return (async (input: any) => {
+    requested.push(typeof input === 'string' ? input : String(input?.url ?? input));
+    return new Response(JSON.stringify(HEALTH_PAYLOAD), {
+      status: 200,
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+    });
+  }) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+}
+
+function newEngine(): AutomationEngine {
+  const engine = new AutomationEngine(silentLogger());
+  registerConnectorNodes(engine, { logger: silentLogger() } as any);
+  return engine;
+}
+
+describe('showcase REST connector flows — run output capture (#7542)', () => {
+  it('showcase_task_completed_rest_ping captures the health response as ping.body', async () => {
+    const requested: string[] = [];
+    const engine = newEngine();
+
+    // The plugin-registered `rest` connector, exactly as ConnectorRestPlugin
+    // builds it in objectstack.config.ts — only `fetch` is injected.
+    const { def, handlers } = createRestConnector({
+      name: 'rest',
+      baseUrl: 'http://127.0.0.1:3000',
+      fetchImpl: stubFetch(requested),
+    });
+    engine.registerConnector(def, handlers);
+
+    engine.registerFlow(TaskCompletedRestPingFlow.name, TaskCompletedRestPingFlow);
+
+    // The flow is gated on the done-transition, so drive it with the same
+    // trigger context a record-after-update hook would supply.
+    const result = await engine.execute(TaskCompletedRestPingFlow.name, {
+      object: 'showcase_task',
+      event: 'on_update',
+      record: { id: 't1', status: 'done' },
+      previous: { id: 't1', status: 'in_progress' },
+    });
+
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    // The call the flow declared actually went out...
+    expect(requested).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(requested[0]).toContain('/api/v1/health');
+    // ...and its response is on the run, which is what the comment claims.
+    expect(result.output).toEqual({ 'ping.body': HEALTH_PAYLOAD });
+  });
+
+  it('showcase_declarative_connector_ping captures it too, through the materialized ADR-0097 instance', async () => {
+    const requested: string[] = [];
+    const engine = newEngine();
+
+    // Materialize `showcase_status_api` the way the automation service does at
+    // boot: the REAL provider factory, fed the REAL declared metadata.
+    // The factory contract allows an async materialization, so await it — the
+    // `rest` one happens to be synchronous.
+    const factory = createRestProviderFactory({ fetchImpl: stubFetch(requested) });
+    const { def, handlers } = await factory({
+      name: StatusApiConnector.name,
+      label: StatusApiConnector.label,
+      providerConfig: StatusApiConnector.providerConfig,
+      auth: StatusApiConnector.auth,
+    } as any);
+    engine.registerConnector(def, handlers);
+
+    engine.registerFlow(ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow.name, ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow);
+
+    const result = await engine.execute(ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow.name, {
+      object: 'showcase_task',
+      event: 'on_create',
+      record: { id: 't2', status: 'todo' },
+    });
+
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    expect(requested).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(requested[0]).toContain('/api/v1/health');
+    expect(result.output).toEqual({ 'ping.body': HEALTH_PAYLOAD });
+  });
+
+  it('declares the output variable on both flows — the defect was its absence, not a wrong value', () => {
+    for (const flow of [TaskCompletedRestPingFlow, ShowcaseDeclarativeConnectorPingFlow]) {
+      const outputs = (flow.variables ?? []).filter((v) => v.isOutput);
+      expect(outputs.map((v) => v.name)).toEqual(['ping.body']);
+      // The name must match the connector node it reads from: the engine writes
+      // back under `${nodeId}.${key}`.
+      expect(flow.nodes.some((n) => n.id === 'ping' && n.type === 'connector_action')).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+});