diff --git a/src/core/config.ts b/src/core/config.ts
index 644df2c2a..e81954886 100644
--- a/src/core/config.ts
+++ b/src/core/config.ts
@@ -928,8 +928,6 @@ export const KNOWN_CONFIG_KEYS: readonly string[] = [
   'models.tier.subagent',
   'models.aliases',
   'models.dream.synthesize',
-  'models.dream.extract_atoms',
-  'cycle.extract_atoms.budget_usd',
   'models.dream.patterns',
   'models.dream.synthesize_verdict',
   'models.drift',
diff --git a/src/core/cycle/extract-atoms.ts b/src/core/cycle/extract-atoms.ts
index 08565b343..4c73ea400 100644
--- a/src/core/cycle/extract-atoms.ts
+++ b/src/core/cycle/extract-atoms.ts
@@ -51,15 +51,13 @@ import type { BrainEngine } from '../engine.ts';
 import type { PhaseResult } from '../cycle.ts';
 import type { GBrainConfig } from '../config.ts';
 import type { ProgressReporter } from '../progress.ts';
-import { chat as gatewayChat, withBudgetTracker } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
-import { BudgetExhausted, BudgetTracker } from '../budget/budget-tracker.ts';
+import { chat as gatewayChat } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
 import { writeReceipt } from '../extract/receipt-writer.ts';
 import { upsertExtractRollup } from '../extract/rollup-writer.ts';
 import { createHash } from 'crypto';
 import { slugifySegment } from '../sync.ts';
 
 const DEFAULT_BUDGET_USD = 0.3;
-const DEFAULT_EXTRACT_ATOMS_MODEL = 'anthropic:claude-haiku-4-5';
 
 // v0.42+ TODO: read atom_type enum from active pack manifest at runtime.
 const ATOM_TYPES = [
@@ -502,24 +500,7 @@ export async function runPhaseExtractAtoms(
   let pagesSkipped = 0;
   const failures: Array<{ source: string; error: string }> = [];
   let estimatedSpendUsd = 0;
-  let budgetExhausted = false;
-  let extractModel = DEFAULT_EXTRACT_ATOMS_MODEL;
-  let budgetCap = DEFAULT_BUDGET_USD;
-  try {
-    const configuredModel = await engine.getConfig('models.dream.extract_atoms');
-    if (configuredModel) extractModel = configuredModel;
-    const configuredBudget = await engine.getConfig('cycle.extract_atoms.budget_usd');
-    if (configuredBudget) {
-      const n = Number(configuredBudget);
-      if (Number.isFinite(n) && n > 0) budgetCap = n;
-    }
-  } catch {
-    // Keep safe defaults: Haiku + $0.30.
-  }
-  const budgetTracker = new BudgetTracker({
-    maxCostUsd: budgetCap,
-    label: 'cycle.extract_atoms',
-  });
+  const budgetCap = DEFAULT_BUDGET_USD;
 
   // v0.41.19.0 (T3): throttled yield helper. Fires `opts.yieldDuringPhase`
   // every 30s. Cycle.ts threads `buildYieldDuringPhase(lock, outer)` so
@@ -544,10 +525,9 @@ export async function runPhaseExtractAtoms(
     }
   }
 
-  await withBudgetTracker(budgetTracker, async () => {
   for (const item of work) {
     await maybeYield();
-    if (budgetExhausted || budgetTracker.totalSpent >= budgetCap) {
+    if (estimatedSpendUsd >= budgetCap) {
       if (item.kind === 'transcript') transcriptsSkipped++;
       else pagesSkipped++;
       continue;
@@ -556,7 +536,6 @@ export async function runPhaseExtractAtoms(
     const originLabel = item.kind === 'transcript' ? item.filePath : item.slug;
     try {
       const result = await chat({
-        model: extractModel,
         system: EXTRACT_PROMPT,
         messages: [
           {
@@ -571,7 +550,9 @@ export async function runPhaseExtractAtoms(
       // actual refresh rate so this is cheap when calls are fast.
       await maybeYield();
 
-      estimatedSpendUsd = budgetTracker.totalSpent;
+      // Rough cost estimate — Haiku at ~$0.80/M input + $4/M output
+      estimatedSpendUsd +=
+        (result.usage.input_tokens * 0.8 + result.usage.output_tokens * 4.0) / 1_000_000;
 
       const atoms = parseAtomsResponse(result.text);
       if (atoms.length === 0) {
@@ -624,20 +605,12 @@ export async function runPhaseExtractAtoms(
       // Reporter rate-limits to ~1 line/sec; safe to tick every iter.
       opts.progress?.tick(1, `${totalAtomsExtracted} atoms / ${duplicatesSkipped} skipped`);
     } catch (err) {
-      if (err instanceof BudgetExhausted) {
-        budgetExhausted = true;
-        if (item.kind === 'transcript') transcriptsSkipped++;
-        else pagesSkipped++;
-        continue;
-      }
       failures.push({
         source: originLabel,
         error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
       });
     }
   }
-  });
-  estimatedSpendUsd = budgetTracker.totalSpent;
 
   // v0.42 Wave B2: write extract receipt + rollup row when the phase
   // actually extracted atoms. Both are best-effort per F-OUT-19 —
@@ -695,8 +668,6 @@ export async function runPhaseExtractAtoms(
       failures,
       estimated_spend_usd: estimatedSpendUsd,
       budget_usd: budgetCap,
-      model: extractModel,
-      budget_exhausted: budgetExhausted,
       source_id: sourceId,
       dry_run: opts.dryRun ?? false,
     },
diff --git a/test/cycle/extract-atoms-progress.test.ts b/test/cycle/extract-atoms-progress.test.ts
index 62a9a5b10..0852555ce 100644
--- a/test/cycle/extract-atoms-progress.test.ts
+++ b/test/cycle/extract-atoms-progress.test.ts
@@ -117,43 +117,6 @@ describe('extract_atoms progress wiring (T4)', () => {
     expect(ticks[0].note).toMatch(/atoms.*skipped/);
   });
 
-  test('passes an explicit Haiku model to chat calls', async () => {
-    const seenModels: Array<string | undefined> = [];
-    const validAtomJson = JSON.stringify([
-      { title: 'A', atom_type: 'insight', body: 'body a' },
-    ]);
-    await runPhaseExtractAtoms(engine, {
-      sourceId: 'default',
-      _transcripts: [
-        { filePath: '/tmp/t1.txt', content: 'transcript 1 body', contentHash: 'h1'.repeat(8) },
-      ],
-      _pages: [],
-      _chat: async (o: ChatOpts) => {
-        seenModels.push(o.model);
-        return stubChat(validAtomJson)(o);
-      },
-    });
-    expect(seenModels).toEqual(['anthropic:claude-haiku-4-5']);
-  });
-
-  test('DB config can override the extract_atoms budget and model', async () => {
-    await engine.setConfig('models.dream.extract_atoms', 'anthropic:claude-haiku-4-5-20251001');
-    await engine.setConfig('cycle.extract_atoms.budget_usd', '0.12');
-    const validAtomJson = JSON.stringify([
-      { title: 'A', atom_type: 'insight', body: 'body a' },
-    ]);
-    const result = await runPhaseExtractAtoms(engine, {
-      sourceId: 'default',
-      _transcripts: [
-        { filePath: '/tmp/t1.txt', content: 'transcript 1 body', contentHash: 'h1'.repeat(8) },
-      ],
-      _pages: [],
-      _chat: stubChat(validAtomJson),
-    });
-    expect(result.details.model).toBe('anthropic:claude-haiku-4-5-20251001');
-    expect(result.details.budget_usd).toBe(0.12);
-  });
-
   test('no progress wiring required — opts.progress is optional', async () => {
     // Sanity: phase works without a reporter.
     const result = await runPhaseExtractAtoms(engine, {