diff --git a/docs/spa-conventions.md b/docs/spa-conventions.md
index a1261376e..41e72f174 100644
--- a/docs/spa-conventions.md
+++ b/docs/spa-conventions.md
@@ -199,11 +199,15 @@ the #644 follow-up got Class A right and Class B only half right):
     match count — this is a bulk multi-select add, where "add the 40 matching episodes" is a
     first-class use, so `AddItemsDialog` sums each kind's `totalCount` and renders a `Showing N of
     M matches` hint once it exceeds the rendered rows (finding 4 — an earlier revision of this
-    bullet called the truncation nothing left to hint at). **Put the gate in the single search
-    sink, not at each caller**: `AddItemsDialog` has two entry paths (blank form submit, kind-chip
-    click), and #685's first fix duplicated the check at one of them, which measurably tested
-    nothing — deleting the duplicate reddened no test, while deleting the sink's gate reddened both
-    paths. **Outstanding on this screen**: `AddItemsDialog` still lacks the monotonic `seqRef`
+    bullet called the truncation nothing left to hint at). **The gate's home is the shared HELPER,
+    not the screen — however single-sink the screen's own function looks.** #685 got this wrong
+    twice in a row, and the second time is the instructive one: the check sat inside `runSearch`,
+    which genuinely IS the one sink both entry paths route through, so it read as correct. It was
+    still a duplicate of the helper's gate, and the two masked each other — with both present,
+    deleting EITHER left the whole suite green, so the min-query boundary test pinned nothing.
+    Measured after removing the screen's copy: deleting the helper's gate alone reddens that test
+    and three more. A guard you cannot redden is not a guard, and "it's the single sink" is not
+    evidence that it is the only one. **Outstanding on this screen**: `AddItemsDialog` still lacks the monotonic `seqRef`
     stale-response guard and `useIsMountedRef()` — the same class of guard "Debounced typeaheads"
     below mandates there, applied to a debounced-while-typing fetch; `AddItemsDialog` is an explicit
     Search-button submission, not a typeahead, so that mandate doesn't reach it directly, but the
diff --git a/web/src/api/pageSizeCallSites.guard.test.ts b/web/src/api/pageSizeCallSites.guard.test.ts
index bdc597b3f..d729f0e3a 100644
--- a/web/src/api/pageSizeCallSites.guard.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/api/pageSizeCallSites.guard.test.ts
@@ -187,10 +187,13 @@ const REGISTRY: RegistryEntry[] = [
       "real match count below what totalCount reports, and AddItemsDialog now sums each kind's " +
       "totalCount and renders a 'Showing N of M' hint when it exceeds the rendered rows. The only " +
       'remaining client-side filter in AddItemsDialog (ADDABLE_TYPES.has(item.mediaType)) is inert, ' +
-      'not a silent drop, and this is now enforced by the type system rather than by convention: ' +
-      "MediaKindFilter is derived from ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST (`(typeof ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST)[number]`), so " +
-      'adding a non-addable kind to MEDIA_KIND_FILTERS is a compile error, not a silently-possible ' +
-      'mismatch.'
+      'not a silent drop, and this is now enforced by the type system rather than by convention on ' +
+      'BOTH ingress paths into the searched kinds — MediaKindFilter (the explicit-chip path) and ' +
+      'DEFAULT_SEARCH_KINDS (the `all` fan-out) are each derived from ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST via ' +
+      '`(typeof ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST)[number]`, so adding a non-addable kind to either is a compile ' +
+      'error. Enforcing only the first was the #685 round-3 review finding: the hint sums ' +
+      'PRE-filter totalCounts against POST-filter rows, so one unenforced ingress is enough to ' +
+      'overstate it with every row of that kind dropped.'
   },
   {
     file: 'api/paging.ts',
diff --git a/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.test.tsx b/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.test.tsx
index 831ce49fd..237919112 100644
--- a/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.test.tsx
+++ b/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.test.tsx
@@ -641,6 +641,14 @@ describe('CollectionsScreen', () => {
     });
     expect(within(dialog).queryByText(/Showing .* of .* matches/)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    // A failed search must NOT fall into the min-query guidance branch: the user typed a valid
+    // 2-character query and got a 500, so telling them to "type at least 2 characters" states
+    // something false about what they just did. The error banner is the whole message (#685
+    // review round 3 — that branch conflated "nothing searched yet" with "the last search failed").
+    expect(
+      within(dialog).queryByText(`Type at least ${LIBRARY_PICKER_MIN_QUERY} characters to search.`)
+    ).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
   /* ---------- add-items search bounds (#685) ---------- */
diff --git a/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.tsx b/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.tsx
index a43412187..0165ace4b 100644
--- a/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.tsx
+++ b/web/src/screens/CollectionsScreen.tsx
@@ -76,7 +76,12 @@ const ADDABLE_TYPES = new Set<LibraryBrowseItem['mediaType']>(ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST)
 // The default fan-out excludes seasons so a multi-season show doesn't flood the
 // results with per-season rows (issue #180); seasons (and the other narrower kinds
 // added for #211) stay reachable via the explicit media-kind filter below.
-const DEFAULT_SEARCH_KINDS: LibraryBrowseItem['mediaType'][] = ['Movie', 'TelevisionShow', 'Artist'];
+// Derived from ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST for the same reason MediaKindFilter is: this is the SECOND
+// ingress into `kinds` (the `all` branch of runSearch), and the truncation hint sums pre-filter
+// totalCounts against post-ADDABLE_TYPES rows. A non-addable kind here would overstate the hint
+// with every one of its rows dropped, and typing it as the whole mediaType union let that through
+// (#685 review round 3 — one of two ingress paths was enforced, which is not an invariant).
+const DEFAULT_SEARCH_KINDS: (typeof ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST)[number][] = ['Movie', 'TelevisionShow', 'Artist'];
 
 type MediaKindFilter = 'all' | (typeof ADDABLE_TYPE_LIST)[number];
 
@@ -390,13 +395,14 @@ function AddItemsDialog({
           Results for &ldquo;{submittedQuery}&rdquo;
         </p>
       )}
-      {totalMatches > results.length && (
-        <p aria-live="polite" className="ctv-collections-picker-note">
-          Showing {results.length} of {totalMatches} matches — narrow your search.
-        </p>
-      )}
+      {/* The live region is mounted UNCONDITIONALLY with the condition inside it: most screen
+          readers only announce mutations to a region that already existed, so creating the region
+          and its text in the same commit announces nothing (#685 review round 3). */}
+      <p aria-live="polite" className="ctv-collections-picker-note">
+        {totalMatches > results.length ? `Showing ${results.length} of ${totalMatches} matches — narrow your search.` : ''}
+      </p>
       <div className="ctv-collections-picker-results">
-        {results.length === 0 && submittedQuery === '' ? (
+        {results.length === 0 && submittedQuery === '' && !error ? (
           // Keyed to submittedQuery, not the live input: without it, backspacing the query back
           // below the min-query length after a successful search wiped the rendered rows AND their
           // checkmarks while `selected` (and the Add button's count) still held them (#685 review