diff --git a/src/app/api/insights/generate/route.ts b/src/app/api/insights/generate/route.ts
index 297947196..61dcc1e52 100644
--- a/src/app/api/insights/generate/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/insights/generate/route.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   FeaturesPayloadTooLargeError,
 } from "@/lib/insights/features";
 import { applyInsightsExcludeFilter } from "@/lib/insights/exclude-filter";
+import { compactSections } from "@/lib/insights/prompt-compact";
 import {
   detectGlp1Plateau,
   buildGlp1PlateauPrompt,
@@ -300,7 +301,15 @@ export const POST = apiHandler(async (request: NextRequest) => {
   // BEFORE serialisation so the model never sees the dropped blocks.
   const excludeList = dbUser?.insightsExcludeMetrics ?? [];
   features = applyInsightsExcludeFilter(features, excludeList);
-  const featuresJson = JSON.stringify(features, null, 2);
+  // v1.4.36 W3 T4 — drop zero-row blocks so the prompt never carries
+  // labelled-empty sections (`"sleep": []`, `"medications": []`,
+  // etc.). Prevents the model from narrating "there are no
+  // medications in your data" when the user explicitly excluded the
+  // block.
+  const compactFeatures = compactSections(
+    features as unknown as Record<string, unknown>,
+  );
+  const featuresJson = JSON.stringify(compactFeatures, null, 2);
   if (payloadDowngraded) {
     annotate({
       meta: {
diff --git a/src/lib/ai/coach/snapshot.ts b/src/lib/ai/coach/snapshot.ts
index 9c46c9c5d..bbb739050 100644
--- a/src/lib/ai/coach/snapshot.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ai/coach/snapshot.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
   type CoachExcludeMetric,
 } from "@/lib/validations/coach-prefs";
 import { DEFAULT_TIMEZONE } from "@/lib/tz/resolver";
+import { compactSections } from "@/lib/insights/prompt-compact";
 import { buildGlp1SnapshotBlock } from "./glp1-snapshot";
 import type {
   CoachProvenance,
@@ -817,8 +818,15 @@ async function buildCoachSnapshotImpl(
     timelineRecentDays: DAILY_TIMELINE_DAYS,
   };
 
+  // v1.4.36 W3 T4 — compactSections drops any zero-row block before
+  // serialisation so the prompt never carries a labelled-empty key.
+  // The snapshot is built conditionally above so most empty paths are
+  // already skipped, but the helper catches future regressions and
+  // matches the contract the /insights/generate route applies on its
+  // side of the prompt.
+  const compactSnapshot = compactSections(snapshot);
   return {
-    snapshotJson: JSON.stringify(snapshot, null, 2),
+    snapshotJson: JSON.stringify(compactSnapshot, null, 2),
     provenance: {
       windows: Array.from(windows),
       metrics: Array.from(metrics),
diff --git a/src/lib/insights/__tests__/prompt-compact.test.ts b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/prompt-compact.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c4ca864b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/prompt-compact.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { compactSections } from "../prompt-compact";
+
+describe("compactSections", () => {
+  it("drops empty arrays", () => {
+    const out = compactSections({ sleep: [], weight: [{ v: 1 }] });
+    expect(out).toEqual({ weight: [{ v: 1 }] });
+  });
+
+  it("drops empty plain objects", () => {
+    const out = compactSections({ medications: {}, weight: { latest: 82 } });
+    expect(out).toEqual({ weight: { latest: 82 } });
+  });
+
+  it("drops undefined values", () => {
+    const out = compactSections({ weight: undefined, bp: { avg: 128 } });
+    expect(out).toEqual({ bp: { avg: 128 } });
+  });
+
+  it("preserves null (null is a meaningful 'unknown' marker, not 'empty')", () => {
+    const out = compactSections({ avg30: null, avg7: 82 });
+    expect(out).toEqual({ avg30: null, avg7: 82 });
+  });
+
+  it("preserves nested objects shallow by default (count: 0 stays)", () => {
+    const out = compactSections({
+      coverage: { count: 0, spanDays: 0 },
+      bp: { avg30: 128 },
+    });
+    expect(out.coverage).toEqual({ count: 0, spanDays: 0 });
+  });
+
+  it("deep mode recurses into nested plain objects", () => {
+    const out = compactSections(
+      {
+        bp: { avg30: 128, history: [] },
+        ghost: { medications: [] },
+      },
+      { deep: true },
+    );
+    expect(out).toEqual({ bp: { avg30: 128 } });
+  });
+
+  it("preserves arrays of objects with content", () => {
+    const out = compactSections({
+      medications: [{ name: "Mounjaro" }],
+      bp: [],
+    });
+    expect(out).toEqual({ medications: [{ name: "Mounjaro" }] });
+  });
+
+  it("returns a new object — does not mutate the input", () => {
+    const input = { sleep: [], weight: 82 } as Record<string, unknown>;
+    const out = compactSections(input);
+    expect(input.sleep).toEqual([]);
+    expect(out).not.toBe(input);
+  });
+
+  it("renders empty input as empty output", () => {
+    expect(compactSections({})).toEqual({});
+  });
+
+  it("does not drop primitive zeros, false, or empty strings", () => {
+    // These are legitimate data signals — only structural emptiness
+    // (empty arrays/objects/undefined) is filtered.
+    const out = compactSections({
+      count: 0,
+      enabled: false,
+      label: "",
+    });
+    expect(out).toEqual({ count: 0, enabled: false, label: "" });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/insights/prompt-compact.ts b/src/lib/insights/prompt-compact.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa72a274d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/insights/prompt-compact.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/**
+ * v1.4.36 W3 T4 — `compactSections` helper for the AI prompt body.
+ *
+ * The features payload (and the Coach snapshot, transitively) carries
+ * conditionally-populated blocks: `medications`, `bucketedMeasurements`,
+ * `historicalComparison`, the per-metric aggregates, etc. Empty blocks
+ * have two failure modes once they hit the prompt:
+ *
+ *   1. The serialised JSON includes a labelled-empty key (`"sleep": []`
+ *      or `"medications": []`) which the model occasionally narrates as
+ *      "there are no medications in your data" even when the user
+ *      explicitly excluded them — wasted prompt budget and a misleading
+ *      framing.
+ *   2. Some downstream prose composers render the block label without
+ *      checking row count, producing the v1.4.35 "Hier sind die
+ *      Schlafdaten: [keine]" anti-pattern Marc flagged in W3.
+ *
+ * `compactSections` walks the object once and drops any property whose
+ * value is:
+ *   - an empty array
+ *   - an empty object (no own enumerable keys)
+ *   - undefined
+ *
+ * It runs a single shallow pass at the top level — that's enough for
+ * the features + snapshot shapes today. We do NOT recurse into nested
+ * objects because the legitimate empty values inside e.g.
+ * `coverage: { count: 0, … }` should stay readable (count 0 IS the
+ * signal). A future call site that needs deep-compaction can opt in
+ * via the `deep` flag.
+ */
+
+type PlainObject = Record<string, unknown>;
+
+function isPlainObject(value: unknown): value is PlainObject {
+  return (
+    typeof value === "object" &&
+    value !== null &&
+    !Array.isArray(value) &&
+    Object.getPrototypeOf(value) === Object.prototype
+  );
+}
+
+function isEmpty(value: unknown): boolean {
+  if (value === undefined) return true;
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return value.length === 0;
+  if (isPlainObject(value)) return Object.keys(value).length === 0;
+  return false;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Return a shallow copy of `blocks` with every empty key dropped.
+ * `null` values are preserved — null carries the semantic "field
+ * exists but is unknown", which is different from "block doesn't
+ * exist". Set `deep: true` to recurse into nested plain objects.
+ */
+export function compactSections<T extends PlainObject>(
+  blocks: T,
+  options: { deep?: boolean } = {},
+): T {
+  const out: PlainObject = {};
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(blocks)) {
+    let folded = value;
+    if (options.deep && isPlainObject(value)) {
+      folded = compactSections(value, options);
+    }
+    if (isEmpty(folded)) continue;
+    out[key] = folded;
+  }
+  return out as T;
+}