Only counts as combat if you're in combat, otherwise it's stealth knockout.
Guess my firing the bolt just as the dude detected me fully is what made it count as a combat.
I'm also not liking its "gas" isn't able to be exploited on multiple enemies in a cluster. :/ Reason why I picked it over the Stungun: To have a few more "gas grenades" but in a bolt and with a more accurate ping to get more enemies in a group.