diff --git a/application/api/answer/routes/base.py b/application/api/answer/routes/base.py
index 0c4d046d..380b6f13 100644
--- a/application/api/answer/routes/base.py
+++ b/application/api/answer/routes/base.py
@@ -250,8 +250,11 @@ class BaseAnswerResource:
         # continuation state is committed (or the stateless finalize path is
         # reached): the v1 translator turns it into ``finish_reason:"tool_calls"``,
         # and a client that resumes on that signal would otherwise race
-        # ``save_state``, miss the pending state, and fall back to a stateless
-        # ``persist=False`` round that never persists the final answer.
+        # ``save_state``, miss the pending state, and fall back to the
+        # transcript-rebuild round. That fallback still persists the final
+        # answer when a conversation is mapped, but only as an appended
+        # empty-prompt turn — it cannot finalize the reserved WAL row, which
+        # would be stranded non-terminal for the reconciler.
         pending_pause_event: Optional[dict] = None
 
         # One id shared across the WAL row, primary LLM (token_usage
diff --git a/application/api/v1/routes.py b/application/api/v1/routes.py
index 620f15a1..f8a266fd 100644
--- a/application/api/v1/routes.py
+++ b/application/api/v1/routes.py
@@ -298,9 +298,18 @@ def chat_completions():
                     internal_data["tool_actions"],
                 )
                 # A missing/expired durable continuation has no reserved WAL
-                # row to finalize. Run it statelessly without appending a blank
-                # sibling turn to the mapped conversation.
-                internal_data["persist"] = False
+                # row to finalize, so nothing mid-loop is persisted — but the
+                # FINAL turn of this round must still land in the mapped
+                # conversation, else a loop whose first resume produces the
+                # answer (one pause, then stop — the common single-search
+                # shape) persists only the empty tool-call row and the answer
+                # is lost upstream. With persist on, the finished answer is
+                # APPENDED as a new empty-prompt turn (there is no reserved
+                # row to finalize into); that's the accepted shape here. No
+                # worthless rows appear along the way: continuation rounds
+                # reserve no WAL row and the pause path never appends. Only a
+                # round with no mapped conversation at all stays stateless.
+                internal_data["persist"] = bool(internal_data.get("conversation_id"))
             continuation = {
                 "messages": messages,
                 "tools_dict": tools_dict,
diff --git a/tests/api/v1/test_v1_tool_pause_finalization.py b/tests/api/v1/test_v1_tool_pause_finalization.py
index bedc734b..5fb20dfe 100644
--- a/tests/api/v1/test_v1_tool_pause_finalization.py
+++ b/tests/api/v1/test_v1_tool_pause_finalization.py
@@ -711,9 +711,105 @@ class TestV1ContinuationRoutesStatelessly:
         assert continuation["reserved_message_id"] is None
         assert continuation["request_id"] is None
         assert captured.get("finalize_tool_pause_as_complete") is False
-        # Missing durable state runs without appending a blank sibling turn.
+        # A mapped conversation keeps persistence on: the final turn of the
+        # round must land in it (as an appended answer turn — there is no
+        # reserved WAL row to finalize), else the answer is silently lost.
         assert captured.get("conversation_id") == "conv-1"
+        assert captured.get("should_persist") is True
+
+    def test_continuation_without_conversation_id_stays_stateless(self):
+        """No mapped conversation → the round runs with persistence off."""
+        app = self._build_app()
+
+        def _fake_translate(data, api_key):
+            # Translator behavior for a stateless continuation (opencode
+            # et al.): no conversation_id, persist defaults to False.
+            return {
+                "question": "",
+                "tool_actions": [{"call_id": "c1", "result": "r"}],
+                "persist": False,
+                "messages": data["messages"],
+            }
+
+        fake_processor = MagicMock()
+        fake_processor.decoded_token = {"sub": "owner"}
+        fake_processor.conversation_id = None
+        fake_processor.agent_config = {"user_api_key": "k"}
+        fake_processor.agent_id = None
+        fake_processor.model_id = "m"
+        fake_processor.model_user_id = None
+        fake_processor.reserved_message_id = None
+        fake_processor.request_id = None
+        fake_processor.build_continuation_from_messages.return_value = (
+            MagicMock(), [], {}, [{"call_id": "c1"}], [{"call_id": "c1", "result": "r"}], ""
+        )
+
+        captured: Dict[str, Any] = {}
+
+        def _capture_complete_stream(**kw):
+            captured.update(kw)
+            return iter(['data: {"type": "end"}'])
+
+        fake_helper = MagicMock()
+        fake_helper.check_usage.return_value = None
+        fake_helper.complete_stream.side_effect = _capture_complete_stream
+        fake_helper.process_response_stream.return_value = {
+            "error": None,
+            "conversation_id": None,
+            "answer": "done",
+            "sources": [],
+            "tool_calls": [],
+            "thought": "",
+        }
+
+        @contextmanager
+        def _yield_conn():
+            yield MagicMock()
+
+        with patch(
+            "application.api.v1.routes._lookup_agent",
+            return_value={"id": "agent-1", "name": "Agent", "user_id": "owner"},
+        ), patch(
+            "application.api.v1.routes.translate_request",
+            side_effect=_fake_translate,
+        ), patch(
+            "application.api.v1.routes.StreamProcessor",
+            return_value=fake_processor,
+        ), patch(
+            "application.api.v1.routes._V1AnswerHelper",
+            return_value=fake_helper,
+        ), patch(
+            "application.api.v1.routes.db_readonly",
+            _yield_conn,
+        ), patch(
+            "application.api.v1.routes.translate_response",
+            return_value={"id": "x", "choices": []},
+        ):
+            with app.test_client() as c:
+                resp = c.post(
+                    "/v1/chat/completions",
+                    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer x"},
+                    json={
+                        "messages": [
+                            {"role": "user", "content": "hi"},
+                            {
+                                "role": "assistant",
+                                "tool_calls": [{"id": "c1", "function": {}}],
+                            },
+                            {"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": "c1", "content": "r"},
+                        ],
+                    },
+                )
+
+        assert resp.status_code == 200
+        fake_processor.build_continuation_from_messages.assert_called_once()
+        fake_processor.resume_from_tool_actions.assert_not_called()
+        # No mapped conversation: nothing to land the answer in, so the
+        # round stays fully stateless (no orphan empty-question rows), and
+        # a further pause finalizes as complete instead of writing state.
+        assert captured.get("conversation_id") is None
         assert captured.get("should_persist") is False
+        assert captured.get("finalize_tool_pause_as_complete") is True
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------