diff --git a/docs/aliases.md b/docs/aliases.md
index f76265f..cb59b6b 100644
--- a/docs/aliases.md
+++ b/docs/aliases.md
@@ -68,9 +68,15 @@ is the payoff for storing a `file_id` rather than bytes.
 `InlineQueryResultCachedVideoNote`, and substituting a plain video would change
 what was saved. They stay reachable through `/insert` and `/<name>`.
 
-**Inline mode must be enabled in BotFather** (`/setinline`) or Telegram never
-delivers these updates and the handler is never called. This is a one-time
-operational step that cannot be done from code.
+**Two things gate inline mode, and both fail silently.**
+
+1. `inline_query` must be in `pollingAllowedUpdates`
+   (`internal/telegram/client.go`). Telegram filters getUpdates server-side, so
+   a missing kind means the handler is never called — no log line, no error.
+2. Inline mode must be enabled for the bot in BotFather (`/setinline`). Until
+   it is, Telegram does not offer the bot for inline use at all, so typing
+   `@botname` shows nothing. This is a one-time operational step that cannot be
+   done from code.
 
 ## Names
 
diff --git a/internal/telegram/client.go b/internal/telegram/client.go
index a4e2cc3..8f4dbc0 100644
--- a/internal/telegram/client.go
+++ b/internal/telegram/client.go
@@ -5,10 +5,15 @@ import (
 )
 
 // pollingAllowedUpdates restricts getUpdates to the update kinds the modules
-// actually handle (text commands + inline-keyboard callbacks), matching the
-// allowed_updates the old webhook registration set. Anything else (channel
-// posts, edited messages, etc.) is dropped server-side by Telegram.
-var pollingAllowedUpdates = bot.AllowedUpdates{"message", "callback_query"}
+// actually handle: text commands, inline-keyboard callbacks, and inline-mode
+// queries. Anything else (channel posts, edited messages, etc.) is dropped
+// server-side by Telegram.
+//
+// This list is a hard gate, not an optimisation. Telegram filters on its side,
+// so a handler for a kind missing here is never called and leaves no trace —
+// no log line, no error, nothing to debug from. Any module that starts handling
+// a new update kind must add it here in the same change.
+var pollingAllowedUpdates = bot.AllowedUpdates{"message", "callback_query", "inline_query"}
 
 // NewBot constructs a Telegram bot for long-polling mode (the sole transport
 // on self-host — b.Start runs the getUpdates loop in cmd/server):
diff --git a/internal/telegram/client_test.go b/internal/telegram/client_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e0f0a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/telegram/client_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package telegram
+
+import (
+	"slices"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// pollingAllowedUpdates is a silent gate: Telegram filters getUpdates on its
+// side, so a handler for a kind missing from this list is never called and
+// leaves no log line, no error, and nothing to debug from. Inline queries were
+// dropped exactly this way once — the handler was registered and the list was
+// not updated.
+//
+// This test is the tripwire. A module that starts handling a new update kind
+// belongs in both places, and removing a kind here must be deliberate enough to
+// require editing this list too.
+func TestPollingAllowedUpdates_CoversEveryHandledKind(t *testing.T) {
+	// message       — every /command, and the alias fallback
+	// callback_query — inline-keyboard buttons (stock dividends, loldle)
+	// inline_query   — "@botname <prefix>" alias lookups
+	want := []string{"message", "callback_query", "inline_query"}
+
+	for _, kind := range want {
+		if !slices.Contains(pollingAllowedUpdates, kind) {
+			t.Errorf("%q missing from pollingAllowedUpdates; its handlers will never fire", kind)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(pollingAllowedUpdates) != len(want) {
+		t.Errorf("pollingAllowedUpdates = %v, want exactly %v — an unhandled kind costs bandwidth for nothing",
+			pollingAllowedUpdates, want)
+	}
+}