diff --git a/apps/petrinaut-website/README.md b/apps/petrinaut-website/README.md
index 86990c2bfc7..1bf3b44f813 100644
--- a/apps/petrinaut-website/README.md
+++ b/apps/petrinaut-website/README.md
@@ -261,14 +261,14 @@ gets through, open DevTools, enable the **Verbose** console level and filter by
   it.
 - `input.ignored` with `reason: "short-during-output"` marks a short transcript
   that started during output and was not sent to Brunch.
-- `filter.shadow` with `stage: "echo"` marks a transcript the echo check would
+- `filter.shadow` with `reason: "echo"` marks a transcript the echo check would
   skip. The check runs in shadow, so the transcript is still handled as before
   and can also appear as `input.ignored`. It compares speech that overlapped
   output, in memory only, with Live's output transcript from three seconds
   before the speech started until it stopped. Six or more words count as a
   repeat when they mostly match Live's words in order; fewer count only when
   they appear together, in order, in Live's words.
-- `filter.shadow` with `stage: "doubtful-short-during-output"` tries a narrower
+- `filter.shadow` with `reason: "doubtful-short-during-output"` tries a narrower
   three-word rule: short speech during output counts only when its least
   likely token has a log probability below -1.9 (`minLogprob`) or it repeats
   Live's words as the echo check defines them. The three-word rule still
diff --git a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge.test.ts b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge.test.ts
index e452caac022..c99d7624d89 100644
--- a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge.test.ts
+++ b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge.test.ts
@@ -1384,13 +1384,9 @@ test("an input repeating Live's overlapping words is traced by the echo stage in
   expect(
     records.filter((record) => record.event === "filter.shadow"),
   ).toMatchObject([
-    { inputId: "echo", stage: "echo", reason: "echo" },
-    { inputId: "short-echo", stage: "echo", reason: "echo" },
-    {
-      inputId: "short-echo",
-      stage: "doubtful-short-during-output",
-      reason: "doubtful-short-during-output",
-    },
+    { inputId: "echo", reason: "echo" },
+    { inputId: "short-echo", reason: "echo" },
+    { inputId: "short-echo", reason: "doubtful-short-during-output" },
   ]);
   expect(
     records.filter((record) => record.event === "input.ignored"),
diff --git a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.test.ts b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.test.ts
index 395819c8e5b..6233ed565b9 100644
--- a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.test.ts
+++ b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.test.ts
@@ -24,17 +24,19 @@ const input = { id: "one", text: "PRIVATE okay", startedDuringOutput: true };
 
 test("sends when no stage skips", () => {
   expect(
-    routeUtterance(input, [{ name: "probe", mode: "on", skip: () => null }]),
+    routeUtterance(input, [
+      { reason: "empty", mode: "on", skips: () => false },
+    ]),
   ).toBeNull();
 });
 
 test("the first stage that is on and skips decides; later stages never run", () => {
-  const later = vi.fn(() => "empty" as const);
+  const later = vi.fn(() => true);
   expect(
     routeUtterance(input, [
-      { name: "quiet", mode: "on", skip: () => null },
-      { name: "decides", mode: "on", skip: () => "short-during-output" },
-      { name: "later", mode: "on", skip: later },
+      { reason: "echo", mode: "on", skips: () => false },
+      { reason: "short-during-output", mode: "on", skips: () => true },
+      { reason: "empty", mode: "on", skips: later },
     ]),
   ).toBe("short-during-output");
   expect(later).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
@@ -45,20 +47,19 @@ test("a shadow stage traces what it would skip without deciding", () => {
   const debug = vi.spyOn(console, "debug").mockImplementation(() => {});
   expect(
     routeUtterance(input, [
-      { name: "trial", mode: "shadow", skip: () => "empty" },
-      { name: "decides", mode: "on", skip: () => "short-during-output" },
+      { reason: "empty", mode: "shadow", skips: () => true },
+      { reason: "short-during-output", mode: "on", skips: () => true },
     ]),
   ).toBe("short-during-output");
   const records = traceRecords(debug.mock.calls);
   expect(records).toMatchObject([
-    { event: "filter.shadow", inputId: "one", stage: "trial", reason: "empty" },
+    { event: "filter.shadow", inputId: "one", reason: "empty" },
   ]);
   expect(Object.keys(records[0] ?? {}).sort()).toEqual([
     "at",
     "event",
     "inputId",
     "reason",
-    "stage",
   ]);
   expect(JSON.stringify(debug.mock.calls)).not.toContain("PRIVATE");
 });
@@ -68,22 +69,22 @@ test("a shadow stage that would not skip leaves no trace", () => {
   const debug = vi.spyOn(console, "debug").mockImplementation(() => {});
   expect(
     routeUtterance(input, [
-      { name: "trial", mode: "shadow", skip: () => null },
+      { reason: "empty", mode: "shadow", skips: () => false },
     ]),
   ).toBeNull();
   expect(debug).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 });
 
 test("a stage that is off never runs", () => {
-  const off = vi.fn(() => "empty" as const);
+  const off = vi.fn(() => true);
   expect(
-    routeUtterance(input, [{ name: "off", mode: "off", skip: off }]),
+    routeUtterance(input, [{ reason: "empty", mode: "off", skips: off }]),
   ).toBeNull();
   expect(off).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 });
 
 test("stages see Live's words when the speech overlapped its output", () => {
-  const skip = vi.fn(() => null);
+  const skips = vi.fn(() => false);
   routeUtterance(
     {
       id: "one",
@@ -91,9 +92,9 @@ test("stages see Live's words when the speech overlapped its output", () => {
       startedDuringOutput: true,
       liveOutputText: "Okay?",
     },
-    [{ name: "probe", mode: "on", skip }],
+    [{ reason: "empty", mode: "on", skips }],
   );
-  expect(skip).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+  expect(skips).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
     inputId: "one",
     text: "Okay",
     words: 1,
@@ -109,11 +110,11 @@ test.each([
 ])(
   "stages see %j with its word count, counting contractions as one word",
   (text, startedDuringOutput, words) => {
-    const skip = vi.fn(() => null);
+    const skips = vi.fn(() => false);
     routeUtterance({ id: "one", text, startedDuringOutput }, [
-      { name: "probe", mode: "on", skip },
+      { reason: "empty", mode: "on", skips },
     ]);
-    expect(skip).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+    expect(skips).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
       inputId: "one",
       text,
       words,
@@ -123,12 +124,12 @@ test.each([
 );
 
 test("stages see the transcript's lowest token log probability", () => {
-  const skip = vi.fn(() => null);
+  const skips = vi.fn(() => false);
   routeUtterance(
     { id: "one", text: "Okay", startedDuringOutput: false, minLogprob: -2.5 },
-    [{ name: "probe", mode: "on", skip }],
+    [{ reason: "empty", mode: "on", skips }],
   );
-  expect(skip).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+  expect(skips).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
     inputId: "one",
     text: "Okay",
     words: 1,
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ const doubtfulShadows = (calls: readonly (readonly unknown[])[]) =>
   traceRecords(calls).filter(
     (record) =>
       record.event === "filter.shadow" &&
-      record.stage === "doubtful-short-during-output",
+      record.reason === "doubtful-short-during-output",
   );
 
 test.each([
diff --git a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.ts b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.ts
index 1556bcdb8a6..15a738f7268 100644
--- a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.ts
+++ b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-brunch-bridge/utterance-pipeline.ts
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ export interface Utterance {
 }
 
 export interface UtteranceStage {
-  readonly name: string;
+  readonly reason: SkipReason;
   /** A shadow stage traces what it would skip and never decides. */
   readonly mode: "on" | "shadow" | "off";
-  readonly skip: (utterance: Utterance) => SkipReason | null;
+  readonly skips: (utterance: Utterance) => boolean;
 }
 
 export const doubtfulBelowLogprob = -1.9;
@@ -40,35 +40,32 @@ const isShortDuringOutput = ({ startedDuringOutput, words }: Utterance) =>
 export const liveUtteranceStages: readonly UtteranceStage[] = [
   // Leaked Live audio can finalize as a longer repeat of Live's own words.
   {
-    name: "echo",
+    reason: "echo",
     mode: "shadow",
-    skip: (utterance) => (repeatsOverlappingOutput(utterance) ? "echo" : null),
+    skips: repeatsOverlappingOutput,
   },
   // Only short speech during output that also looks invented or repeats Live;
   // a shadow stage must run before the on stage that skips the same input.
   {
-    name: "doubtful-short-during-output",
+    reason: "doubtful-short-during-output",
     mode: "shadow",
-    skip: (utterance) =>
+    skips: (utterance) =>
       isShortDuringOutput(utterance) &&
       ((utterance.minLogprob !== undefined &&
         utterance.minLogprob < doubtfulBelowLogprob) ||
-        repeatsOverlappingOutput(utterance))
-        ? "doubtful-short-during-output"
-        : null,
+        repeatsOverlappingOutput(utterance)),
   },
   // Leaked Live audio finalizes as phantoms of a few words.
   {
-    name: "short-during-output",
+    reason: "short-during-output",
     mode: "on",
-    skip: (utterance) =>
-      isShortDuringOutput(utterance) ? "short-during-output" : null,
+    skips: isShortDuringOutput,
   },
   // Transcription can finalize noise as punctuation alone, such as ".".
   {
-    name: "empty",
+    reason: "empty",
     mode: "on",
-    skip: ({ words }) => (words === 0 ? "empty" : null),
+    skips: ({ words }) => words === 0,
   },
 ];
 
@@ -91,14 +88,11 @@ export const routeUtterance = (
     minLogprob: input.minLogprob,
   };
   for (const stage of stages) {
-    if (stage.mode === "off") continue;
-    const reason = stage.skip(utterance);
-    if (reason === null) continue;
-    if (stage.mode === "on") return reason;
+    if (stage.mode === "off" || !stage.skips(utterance)) continue;
+    if (stage.mode === "on") return stage.reason;
     logLiveDiagnostic("filter.shadow", {
       inputId: utterance.inputId,
-      stage: stage.name,
-      reason,
+      reason: stage.reason,
     });
   }
   return null;
diff --git a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.test.ts b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.test.ts
index 34f60e89d22..6219e94cc40 100644
--- a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.test.ts
+++ b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.test.ts
@@ -1485,7 +1485,7 @@ test("telemetry shows activity but silence and late samples never settle or revi
   await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(1);
   expect(fixture.onState.mock.lastCall?.[0].activity?.outputActive).toBe(false);
   expect(fixture.onFinalizedInput).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-  getStats.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("Optional telemetry failed"));
+  getStats.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("Stats unavailable"));
   await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
   expect(fixture.input.stop).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   getStats.mockResolvedValueOnce(
@@ -1756,66 +1756,6 @@ test("summarises echo evidence for each stretch of audible Live output without p
   await stopped;
 });
 
-test("does not count speech as started during output while the speaker is muted or at zero volume", async () => {
-  vi.useFakeTimers();
-  const fixture = setup();
-  Object.assign(fixture.peers[0]!, {
-    getStats: vi.fn(
-      async (): Promise<Map<string, unknown>> =>
-        new Map([
-          ["output", { type: "inbound-rtp", kind: "audio", audioLevel: 0.2 }],
-        ]),
-    ),
-  });
-  await connect(fixture);
-  fixture.peers[0]!.dispatchEvent(
-    Object.assign(new Event("track"), {
-      track: fixture.outputs[0],
-      streams: [fixture.stream],
-    }),
-  );
-  const speakers = [
-    { itemId: "muted", muted: true, volume: 1 },
-    { itemId: "silent", muted: false, volume: 0 },
-    { itemId: "audible", muted: false, volume: 1 },
-  ];
-  for (const { itemId, muted, volume } of speakers) {
-    fixture.conversation.setSpeakerMuted(muted);
-    fixture.conversation.setSpeakerVolume(volume);
-    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
-    fixture.emit(1, {
-      type: "input_audio_buffer.speech_started",
-      item_id: itemId,
-    });
-  }
-  let previousItemId: string | null = null;
-  for (const { itemId } of speakers) {
-    fixture.emit(1, {
-      type: "input_audio_buffer.committed",
-      item_id: itemId,
-      previous_item_id: previousItemId,
-    });
-    previousItemId = itemId;
-  }
-  for (const { itemId } of speakers) {
-    fixture.emit(1, {
-      type: "conversation.item.input_audio_transcription.completed",
-      item_id: itemId,
-      content_index: 0,
-      transcript: "Yes.",
-    });
-  }
-
-  expect(
-    fixture.onFinalizedInput.mock.calls.map(
-      ([input]) => input.startedDuringOutput,
-    ),
-  ).toEqual([false, false, true]);
-  const stopped = fixture.conversation.stop();
-  fixture.emit(0, { type: "session.closed" });
-  await stopped;
-});
-
 test("records transcription confidence on input.finalized from numbers only", async () => {
   vi.stubEnv("DEV", true);
   const debug = vi.spyOn(console, "debug").mockImplementation(() => {});
@@ -2067,7 +2007,7 @@ test("passes Live's recent words only with speech that overlapped its audible ou
   await stopped;
 });
 
-test("does not count speech as overlapping output while the speaker is muted or at zero volume", async () => {
+test("does not count speech as started during or overlapping output while the speaker is muted or at zero volume", async () => {
   vi.useFakeTimers();
   const fixture = setup();
   Object.assign(fixture.peers[0]!, {
@@ -2123,6 +2063,11 @@ test("does not count speech as overlapping output while the speaker is muted or
     });
   }
 
+  expect(
+    fixture.onFinalizedInput.mock.calls.map(
+      ([input]) => input.startedDuringOutput,
+    ),
+  ).toEqual([false, false, true]);
   expect(
     fixture.onFinalizedInput.mock.calls.map(([input]) => input.liveOutputText),
   ).toEqual([undefined, undefined, "Yes."]);
diff --git a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.ts b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.ts
index d500bb50229..e3044791b60 100644
--- a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.ts
+++ b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/live-conversation.ts
@@ -321,7 +321,9 @@ export const createLiveConversation = (
         if (report.type === "inbound-rtp") outputLevel = report.audioLevel;
       });
     } catch {
-      // Optional telemetry must not affect the session lifetime.
+      // A failed sample reads as inaudible output. The short-during-output
+      // filter and echo checks depend on this sampling, but its failure must
+      // not end the session.
     }
     if (abort.signal.aborted) return;
     activityTimer = setTimeout(() => void sampleActivity(), 100);
diff --git a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/voice-mediation-history.ts b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/voice-mediation-history.ts
index bdf024ab41a..c90555bb429 100644
--- a/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/voice-mediation-history.ts
+++ b/apps/petrinaut-website/src/main/app/voice-interview/voice-mediation-history.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ const turnSchema = z.object({
   submissionId: z.string().optional(),
   canonicalId: z.string().optional(),
   responseIds: z.array(z.string()),
-  anchorOnly: z.boolean().optional(),
   fields: z.record(z.string(), z.string()).optional(),
   preparationFailed: z.boolean().optional(),
   reply: lineSchema.optional(),
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ export class VoiceMediationHistory {
         .max(100)
         .parse(JSON.parse(storage?.getItem(this.#key) ?? "[]"));
       for (const turn of saved) {
-        if (!turn.submissionId && !turn.anchorOnly) continue;
+        if (!turn.submissionId) continue;
         if (turn.reply) turn.reply.state = "done";
         if (turn.wrapUp) turn.wrapUp.state = "done";
         this.#turns.set(turn.id, turn);
@@ -77,7 +76,7 @@ export class VoiceMediationHistory {
         this.#key,
         JSON.stringify(
           [...this.#turns.values()]
-            .filter((turn) => turn.submissionId || turn.anchorOnly)
+            .filter((turn) => turn.submissionId)
             .slice(-100),
         ),
       );