diff --git a/src/commands/doctor.ts b/src/commands/doctor.ts
index 73dc89721..120999c0c 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor.ts
@@ -1623,7 +1623,7 @@ export async function computeWedgedQueueCheck(engine: BrainEngine): Promise<Chec
        FROM minion_jobs
        GROUP BY queue`,
     );
-    const wedged: string[] = [];
+    const wedged: Array<{ queue: string; label: string }> = [];
     for (const r of rows) {
       const activeHealthy = Number(r.active_healthy ?? 0);
       const waiting = Number(r.waiting ?? 0);
@@ -1631,21 +1631,59 @@ export async function computeWedgedQueueCheck(engine: BrainEngine): Promise<Chec
       // Conservative: only flag stale-after-progress (non-null mins past
       // threshold). The null-completions case is the supervisor's job.
       if (activeHealthy === 0 && waiting > 0 && mins !== null && mins > thresholdMin) {
-        wedged.push(`'${r.queue}' (${waiting} waiting, 0 active, ${Math.round(mins)}m since last completion)`);
+        wedged.push({
+          queue: r.queue,
+          label: `'${r.queue}' (${waiting} waiting, 0 active, ${Math.round(mins)}m since last completion)`,
+        });
       }
     }
     if (wedged.length === 0) {
       return { name: 'wedged_queue', status: 'ok', message: 'No wedged queues' };
     }
-    return {
-      name: 'wedged_queue',
-      status: 'fail',
-      message:
-        `Wedged queue(s) — worker alive but not claiming work: ${wedged.join('; ')}. ` +
+    // #3063: split the diagnosis on worker liveness. The wedged-pool message
+    // ("worker alive but not claiming work → restart to rebuild the DB pool")
+    // only applies when a supervisor actually holds a live singleton lock.
+    // With no live holder the worker is simply not running — telling the
+    // operator to blame the DB pool sends them down the wrong path.
+    const alive: string[] = [];
+    const noWorker: string[] = [];
+    for (const w of wedged) {
+      let hasLiveWorker = false;
+      try {
+        const { supervisorLockId } = await import('../core/minions/supervisor.ts');
+        const lockRows = await engine.executeRaw<{ live: boolean }>(
+          `SELECT (ttl_expires_at > now()) AS live FROM gbrain_cycle_locks WHERE id = $1`,
+          [supervisorLockId(w.queue)],
+        );
+        hasLiveWorker = lockRows.length > 0 && lockRows[0].live === true;
+      } catch {
+        // Lock table unreadable → can't prove absence; keep the
+        // conservative wedged-pool message.
+        hasLiveWorker = true;
+      }
+      (hasLiveWorker ? alive : noWorker).push(w.label);
+    }
+    const parts: string[] = [];
+    if (noWorker.length > 0) {
+      parts.push(
+        `Queue(s) with waiting jobs and no worker running: ${noWorker.join('; ')}. ` +
+        `Start the worker: \`gbrain jobs supervisor start\` ` +
+        `(or restart the autopilot unit if installed).`,
+      );
+    }
+    if (alive.length > 0) {
+      parts.push(
+        `Wedged queue(s) — worker alive but not claiming work: ${alive.join('; ')}. ` +
         `Restart the worker so it rebuilds a fresh DB pool: ` +
         `\`gbrain jobs supervisor stop && gbrain jobs supervisor start\`, ` +
         `then \`gbrain jobs retry <id>\` on any dead-lettered jobs.`,
-      details: { wedged_queues: wedged.length, threshold_minutes: thresholdMin },
+      );
+    }
+    return {
+      name: 'wedged_queue',
+      status: 'fail',
+      message: parts.join(' '),
+      details: { wedged_queues: wedged.length, no_worker_queues: noWorker.length, threshold_minutes: thresholdMin },
     };
   } catch (e) {
     // Pre-migration brains / transient errors: advisory check stays ok.
diff --git a/src/core/cycle/nightly-quality-probe.ts b/src/core/cycle/nightly-quality-probe.ts
index caf7a1f53..e1bd58d2b 100644
--- a/src/core/cycle/nightly-quality-probe.ts
+++ b/src/core/cycle/nightly-quality-probe.ts
@@ -101,21 +101,20 @@ export async function runNightlyQualityProbe(deps: NightlyProbeDeps): Promise<Ni
     return { outcome: 'disabled', exit_code: 0, detail: 'feature flag off' };
   }
 
-  // 24h rate limit — skip + audit "rate_limited".
+  // 24h rate limit — skip quietly (no audit row).
+  // #3064: gate only on events from ATTEMPTED runs. The skip path used to log
+  // its own 'rate_limited' audit row, and autopilot ticks every ~5 min — each
+  // skip re-armed the 24h window, so the probe ran exactly once and then
+  // self-muted forever. Filter defends against historical skip rows already
+  // sitting in the audit files of pre-fix brains.
   const now = deps.now();
   const recent = readRecentQualityProbeEvents(2, now); // 2-day window is enough for 24h check
-  const decision = shouldRunNightly(now, recent);
+  const decision = shouldRunNightly(now, recent.filter((e) => e.outcome !== 'rate_limited'));
   if (!decision.run) {
-    logQualityProbeEvent({
-      outcome: 'rate_limited',
-      exit_code: 0,
-      pass_count: 0,
-      fail_count: 0,
-      inconclusive_count: 0,
-      error_count: 0,
-      est_cost_usd: 0,
-      detail: 'already ran within 24h window',
-    });
+    // #3064: do NOT log an audit row here. Autopilot ticks every ~5 min, so
+    // the skip fires ~288x/day between real runs — logging each one spammed
+    // the audit JSONL and permanently tripped doctor's
+    // nightly_quality_probe_health warn (rate_limited counts as non-PASS).
     return { outcome: 'rate_limited', exit_code: 0, detail: 'already ran within 24h' };
   }
 
diff --git a/src/core/facts/fence-write.ts b/src/core/facts/fence-write.ts
index ae35769fb..52ea23a3c 100644
--- a/src/core/facts/fence-write.ts
+++ b/src/core/facts/fence-write.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
  */
 
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync, renameSync, appendFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { dirname } from 'node:path';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
 
 import type { BrainEngine, NewFact, FactVisibility } from '../engine.ts';
 import { resolvePageFilePath } from '../markdown.ts';
@@ -172,17 +172,68 @@ export async function writeFactsToFence(
   // the put_page write-through and dream-cycle reverse-render compute. The
   // bare join wrote main-source fences to the repo ROOT (the default source's
   // tree), polluting ~/brain with stray root-level fence files.
-  const filePath = resolvePageFilePath(target.localPath, target.slug, target.sourceId);
-  const tmpPath = `${filePath}.tmp`;
+  let filePath = resolvePageFilePath(target.localPath, target.slug, target.sourceId);
 
   return withPageLock(
     target.slug,
     async () => {
       // 1. Read existing body or stub-create.
-      let body: string;
+      let body: string | null = null;
       if (existsSync(filePath)) {
         body = readFileSync(filePath, 'utf-8');
       } else {
+        // #3069: the slug-derived path missed, but the page may still exist
+        // on disk under a different basename — vault files like
+        // `10-people/First Last.md` import with slug `10-people/first-last`,
+        // so `<root>/<slug>.md` doesn't exist even though the page does.
+        // Stub-creating next to the real file (a) duplicates the page and
+        // (b) restarts fence row_num at 1 on the empty stub, colliding with
+        // the real page's existing DB rows on idx_facts_fence_key. Resolve
+        // via the page row (sync stamps source_path + import_filename)
+        // before concluding the page doesn't exist.
+        let pageRow: { source_path: string | null; import_filename: string | null } | null = null;
+        try {
+          const rows = await engine.executeRaw<{ source_path: string | null; import_filename: string | null }>(
+            `SELECT source_path, import_filename FROM pages WHERE slug = $1 AND source_id = $2 AND deleted_at IS NULL LIMIT 1`,
+            [target.slug, target.sourceId],
+          );
+          pageRow = rows[0] ?? null;
+        } catch {
+          // Lookup failed (pre-migration schema, transient) — fall through
+          // to the pre-#3069 stub path rather than dropping the facts.
+        }
+        if (pageRow !== null) {
+          const candidates: string[] = [];
+          if (pageRow.source_path) {
+            candidates.push(join(target.localPath!, pageRow.source_path));
+          }
+          if (pageRow.import_filename) {
+            const name = pageRow.import_filename.endsWith('.md')
+              ? pageRow.import_filename
+              : `${pageRow.import_filename}.md`;
+            candidates.push(join(dirname(filePath), name));
+          }
+          const hit = candidates.find((c) => existsSync(c));
+          if (hit !== undefined) {
+            filePath = hit;
+            body = readFileSync(filePath, 'utf-8');
+          } else {
+            // A page row exists but its backing file can't be located.
+            // Refuse to stub-create (the empty stub's fence would restart
+            // row_num at 1 → unique violation against the row's existing
+            // facts, and a later sync would import the stub OVER the real
+            // page content). Route to the legacy DB-only path instead so
+            // the facts aren't dropped.
+            // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+            console.warn(
+              `[facts] page row exists for slug=${target.slug} (source=${target.sourceId}) but its backing file was not found on disk — refusing to stub-create a duplicate page; routing to legacy DB-only path.`,
+            );
+            return { inserted: 0, ids: [], stubGuardBlocked: true };
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      if (body === null) {
+        // No page row for this slug — genuinely new entity page.
         // Stub-creation guard. Phantom entity pages at the brain root were
         // being spawned when resolveEntitySlug fell through to a bare
         // slugify because pg_trgm scored too low on short bare names. The
@@ -238,6 +289,7 @@ export async function writeFactsToFence(
       }
 
       // 3. Atomic write: .tmp first, then parse-validate, then rename.
+      const tmpPath = `${filePath}.tmp`;
       writeFileSync(tmpPath, body, 'utf-8');
 
       // 4. Parse-before-rename: re-read the .tmp content and verify the
diff --git a/test/doctor-wedged-queue.test.ts b/test/doctor-wedged-queue.test.ts
index c69932f1a..787ad91d2 100644
--- a/test/doctor-wedged-queue.test.ts
+++ b/test/doctor-wedged-queue.test.ts
@@ -97,6 +97,34 @@ describe('issue #1801 fix #3 — computeWedgedQueueCheck', () => {
     expect(check.message).not.toContain("'q-healthy'");
   });
 
+  it('#3063: wedged queue with NO live supervisor → "no worker running", not the DB-pool message', async () => {
+    await seed('default', 'cycle', 'waiting');
+    await seed('default', 'cycle', 'completed', { updatedAtSql: "now() - interval '20 min'" });
+    // No gbrain_cycle_locks row for gbrain-supervisor:default.
+    const check = await computeWedgedQueueCheck(pgLike);
+    expect(check.status).toBe('fail');
+    expect(check.message).toContain('no worker running');
+    expect(check.message).toContain('gbrain jobs supervisor start');
+    expect(check.message).not.toContain('rebuilds a fresh DB pool');
+  });
+
+  it('#3063: wedged queue WITH a live supervisor lock → keeps the wedged-pool message', async () => {
+    await seed('default', 'cycle', 'waiting');
+    await seed('default', 'cycle', 'completed', { updatedAtSql: "now() - interval '20 min'" });
+    await base.executeRaw(
+      `INSERT INTO gbrain_cycle_locks (id, holder_pid, holder_host, acquired_at, ttl_expires_at, last_refreshed_at)
+       VALUES ('gbrain-supervisor:default', 12345, 'test-host', now(), now() + interval '5 min', now())`,
+    );
+    try {
+      const check = await computeWedgedQueueCheck(pgLike);
+      expect(check.status).toBe('fail');
+      expect(check.message).toContain('worker alive but not claiming work');
+      expect(check.message).toContain('rebuilds a fresh DB pool');
+    } finally {
+      await base.executeRaw(`DELETE FROM gbrain_cycle_locks WHERE id = 'gbrain-supervisor:default'`);
+    }
+  });
+
   it('returns ok on PGLite (no multi-process worker surface)', async () => {
     const check = await computeWedgedQueueCheck(base as unknown as BrainEngine);
     expect(check.status).toBe('ok');
diff --git a/test/fence-write.test.ts b/test/fence-write.test.ts
index 3bcb0c05b..9e7852ff6 100644
--- a/test/fence-write.test.ts
+++ b/test/fence-write.test.ts
@@ -273,6 +273,74 @@ describe('writeFactsToFence — stub guard (v0.34.5)', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('writeFactsToFence — basename ≠ slug (#3069)', () => {
+  test('resolves the real file via the page row instead of stub-creating a duplicate', async () => {
+    // Vault file whose basename differs from its slug — the way sync imports
+    // `10-people/Joey Example.md` as slug `10-people/joey-example`.
+    mkdirSync(join(brainDir, '10-people'), { recursive: true });
+    const realPath = join(brainDir, '10-people/Joey Example.md');
+    writeFileSync(
+      realPath,
+      '---\ntype: person\ntitle: Joey Example\nslug: 10-people/joey-example\n---\n\n# Joey Example\n\n## Facts\n\n<!--- gbrain:facts:begin -->\n| # | claim | kind | confidence | visibility | notability | valid_from | valid_until | source | context |\n|---|-------|------|------------|------------|------------|------------|-------------|--------|---------|\n| 1 | Existing claim | fact | 1.0 | world | medium | 2024-01-01 |  | import |  |\n<!--- gbrain:facts:end -->\n',
+      'utf-8',
+    );
+    await engine.putPage('10-people/joey-example', {
+      type: 'person',
+      title: 'Joey Example',
+      compiled_truth: '# Joey Example',
+      timeline: '',
+      frontmatter: {},
+      content_hash: 'x',
+      source_path: '10-people/Joey Example.md',
+      import_filename: 'Joey Example',
+    });
+
+    const result = await writeFactsToFence(
+      engine,
+      { sourceId: 'default', localPath: brainDir, slug: '10-people/joey-example' },
+      [baseInput({ fact: 'New claim after rename' })],
+    );
+
+    expect(result.inserted).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stubGuardBlocked).toBeUndefined();
+    // No duplicate stub next to the real page.
+    expect(existsSync(join(brainDir, '10-people/joey-example.md'))).toBe(false);
+    // The fact landed on the REAL file, continuing the fence's row_num
+    // sequence (a stub would have restarted at 1 → idx_facts_fence_key
+    // collision against the real page's DB rows).
+    const body = readFileSync(realPath, 'utf-8');
+    expect(body).toContain('New claim after rename');
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+    const rows = await (engine as any).db.query(
+      `SELECT row_num FROM facts WHERE source_markdown_slug = '10-people/joey-example'`,
+    );
+    expect(rows.rows[0].row_num).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  test('page row exists but backing file is gone → stubGuardBlocked, no stub created', async () => {
+    await engine.putPage('10-people/ghost-page', {
+      type: 'person',
+      title: 'Ghost',
+      compiled_truth: '',
+      timeline: '',
+      frontmatter: {},
+      content_hash: 'y',
+      source_path: '10-people/Ghost Page.md', // never written to disk
+      import_filename: 'Ghost Page',
+    });
+
+    const result = await writeFactsToFence(
+      engine,
+      { sourceId: 'default', localPath: brainDir, slug: '10-people/ghost-page' },
+      [baseInput()],
+    );
+
+    expect(result.inserted).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.stubGuardBlocked).toBe(true);
+    expect(existsSync(join(brainDir, '10-people/ghost-page.md'))).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('lookupSourceLocalPath', () => {
   test('returns the configured local_path for an existing source', async () => {
     const got = await lookupSourceLocalPath(engine, 'default');
diff --git a/test/nightly-quality-probe.test.ts b/test/nightly-quality-probe.test.ts
index 5f145e903..a6b123391 100644
--- a/test/nightly-quality-probe.test.ts
+++ b/test/nightly-quality-probe.test.ts
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ describe('runNightlyQualityProbe (DI stub harness)', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  test('enabled + recent run within 24h → outcome: rate_limited', async () => {
+  test('enabled + recent run within 24h → outcome: rate_limited (no audit row for the skip)', async () => {
     // Pre-seed a recent audit event by running the probe once first.
     await withEnv({ GBRAIN_AUDIT_DIR: auditTmp }, async () => {
       // First run succeeds.
@@ -140,9 +140,28 @@ describe('runNightlyQualityProbe (DI stub harness)', () => {
       // Second run, same hour → rate_limited.
       const r2 = await runNightlyQualityProbe(makeDeps());
       expect(r2.outcome).toBe('rate_limited');
+      // #3064: the skip does NOT log an audit row — autopilot ticks every
+      // ~5 min, so skip rows would spam the JSONL and (pre-fix) re-arm the
+      // 24h window on every tick, muting the probe forever after one run.
       const events = await readEvents();
-      expect(events.length).toBe(2);
-      expect(events[1].outcome).toBe('rate_limited');
+      expect(events.length).toBe(1);
+      expect(events[0].outcome).toBe('pass');
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('#3064 regression: historical rate_limited skip rows do NOT re-arm the 24h window', async () => {
+    await withEnv({ GBRAIN_AUDIT_DIR: auditTmp }, async () => {
+      const { logQualityProbeEvent } = await import('../src/core/audit-quality-probe.ts');
+      const now = new Date();
+      const zero = { exit_code: 0, pass_count: 0, fail_count: 0, inconclusive_count: 0, error_count: 0, est_cost_usd: 0 };
+      // Real run 25h ago (outside the window)...
+      logQualityProbeEvent({ outcome: 'pass', ts: new Date(now.getTime() - 25 * 3600_000).toISOString(), ...zero });
+      // ...plus skip rows a pre-fix brain logged on every autopilot tick.
+      logQualityProbeEvent({ outcome: 'rate_limited', ts: new Date(now.getTime() - 10 * 60_000).toISOString(), ...zero });
+      logQualityProbeEvent({ outcome: 'rate_limited', ts: new Date(now.getTime() - 5 * 60_000).toISOString(), ...zero });
+
+      const r = await runNightlyQualityProbe(makeDeps({ now: () => now }));
+      expect(r.outcome).toBe('pass'); // pre-fix: 'rate_limited' forever
     });
   });