diff --git a/src/app/api/insights/generate/__tests__/route.test.ts b/src/app/api/insights/generate/__tests__/route.test.ts
index 12a88e790..f30c72fed 100644
--- a/src/app/api/insights/generate/__tests__/route.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/insights/generate/__tests__/route.test.ts
@@ -173,6 +173,11 @@ beforeEach(() => {
   // need a fresh cache so the previous test's success doesn't reorder
   // the chain on the next request.
   clearLastWorkingProviderCache();
+  // `clearAllMocks` does not undo a `mockImplementation`, so the ledger stub is
+  // re-seeded per test — otherwise the over-cap case below leaks into the rest.
+  vi.mocked(prisma.$queryRaw).mockImplementation((async () => [
+    { total_tokens: 0 },
+  ]) as never);
   vi.mocked(checkRateLimit).mockResolvedValue({
     allowed: true,
     remaining: 9,
@@ -228,6 +233,33 @@ function makeProviderThatThrows(
   } as unknown as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof resolveProvider>>);
 }
 
+describe("POST /api/insights/generate — daily token ceiling", () => {
+  it("refuses over-cap with 429 before any provider egress", async () => {
+    // The reservation reports a prior total already at the ceiling. The hourly
+    // rate limit bounds how OFTEN this route runs; the ledger bounds what it
+    // costs. Before this wiring the route had only the former, so ten
+    // full-price briefings an hour was the real ceiling.
+    // Targeted at the ledger's upsert only — other raw reads on this path
+    // (the plateau / derived-signal probes) must keep their own shape.
+    vi.mocked(prisma.$queryRaw).mockImplementation((async (
+      strings: TemplateStringsArray,
+    ) =>
+      String(strings[0]).includes("coach_usage")
+        ? [{ total_tokens: 10_000_000 }]
+        : [{ total_tokens: 0 }]) as never);
+    makeWorkingProvider();
+
+    const res = await POST(jsonRequest({ force: true }) as never);
+    expect(res.status).toBe(429);
+    const body = (await res.json()) as ApiErrorEnvelope;
+    expect(body.error).toContain("Daily AI token budget");
+    // Not a provider failure: no cache row written, so the last good briefing
+    // stays intact and the card does not blank.
+    expect(prisma.user.update).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(enqueueStatusRefillForUser).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("POST /api/insights/generate — provider error mapping", () => {
   it("rejects a body over the 16 KB cap with 413 before parsing", async () => {
     const res = await POST(
diff --git a/src/lib/insights/__tests__/briefing-provider-budget.test.ts b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/briefing-provider-budget.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b79a4a7ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/briefing-provider-budget.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+/**
+ * Cost accounting for the comprehensive-briefing provider chokepoint.
+ *
+ * `runBriefingCompletion` is the single provider entry for the briefing tier —
+ * the shared generator's first pass, its JSON-shape retry, its
+ * grounding-correction retry, the daily paragraph re-roll, and both calls in
+ * the on-demand `POST /api/insights/generate` route. That tier previously ran
+ * with NO budget accounting: nothing reserved, nothing recorded, no ceiling.
+ * The briefing is the most expensive generation in the product and retries up
+ * to twice, so an unmetered run could cost three full generations — and on an
+ * operator-key account that was unmetered operator spend.
+ *
+ * These tests drive the REAL budget module (`reserveBudget` / `reconcileSpend`
+ * / `resolveDailyCap`) against a stateful in-memory stand-in for the
+ * `coach_usage` row, so they exercise the actual atomic-upsert path rather
+ * than merely asserting that a mock was called. Mirrors the status tier's
+ * `status-provider-budget.test.ts` deliberately: one accounting mechanism,
+ * one set of guarantees, asserted the same way at both chokepoints.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
+
+/** In-memory stand-in for the day's `coach_usage.total_tokens`. */
+let ledgerTotal = 0;
+
+vi.mock("@/lib/db", () => ({
+  prisma: {
+    // `reserveBudget`'s atomic upsert-increment. Tagged-template call shape:
+    // (strings, userId, dateKey, reserved, reserved).
+    $queryRaw: vi.fn(
+      async (_strings: TemplateStringsArray, ...v: unknown[]) => {
+        ledgerTotal += Number(v[2] ?? 0);
+        return [{ total_tokens: ledgerTotal }];
+      },
+    ),
+    // `reconcileSpend` (+delta) and `refundReservation` (-reserved).
+    $executeRaw: vi.fn(
+      async (strings: TemplateStringsArray, ...v: unknown[]) => {
+        const sql = strings.join("?");
+        const amount = Number(v[0] ?? 0);
+        if (sql.includes("total_tokens + ")) ledgerTotal += amount;
+        else if (sql.includes("total_tokens - ")) ledgerTotal -= amount;
+        ledgerTotal = Math.max(0, ledgerTotal);
+        return 1;
+      },
+    ),
+  },
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@/lib/logging/context", () => ({ annotate: vi.fn() }));
+
+const { runRawCompletionWithFallback } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  runRawCompletionWithFallback: vi.fn(),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/ai/provider-runner", () => ({
+  AllProvidersFailedError: class extends Error {},
+  runRawCompletionWithFallback,
+}));
+
+import {
+  runBriefingCompletion,
+  BriefingBudgetExceededError,
+} from "../briefing-provider";
+import { annotate } from "@/lib/logging/context";
+import { OPERATOR_COST_CAP, USER_PLAN_CAP } from "@/lib/ai/coach/budget";
+
+const OPERATOR_CHAIN = [
+  { providerType: "admin-openai" as const, instance: {} as never },
+];
+const BYOK_CHAIN = [
+  { providerType: "anthropic" as const, instance: {} as never },
+];
+
+function completionArgs(overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
+  return {
+    userId: "u1",
+    chain: OPERATOR_CHAIN,
+    systemPrompt: "system",
+    userPrompt: "user",
+    temperature: 0.3,
+    maxTokens: 2500,
+    timeoutMs: 60_000,
+    stage: "generate" as const,
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+/** A successful provider reply reporting `tokensUsed`. */
+function mockProviderReply(
+  tokensUsed: number | null,
+  cachedInputTokens?: number,
+) {
+  runRawCompletionWithFallback.mockResolvedValue({
+    result: {
+      content: '{"dailyBriefing":{"paragraph":"ok"}}',
+      model: "m",
+      tokensUsed,
+      cachedInputTokens,
+    },
+    workingProvider: { providerType: "admin-openai" },
+    fallbackHops: [],
+  });
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  vi.clearAllMocks();
+  ledgerTotal = 0;
+});
+
+describe("runBriefingCompletion — ledger accounting", () => {
+  it("lands a successful generation on the day's ledger", async () => {
+    mockProviderReply(1234);
+
+    const outcome = await runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs());
+
+    expect(outcome.result.tokensUsed).toBe(1234);
+    // Reserved an estimate, then reconciled down to what the provider actually
+    // reported. Either way the spend is now ON the ledger — before this wiring
+    // existed the total stayed at zero forever, no matter how many briefings
+    // the account generated.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(1234);
+  });
+
+  it("charges the reservation when the provider reports no token count", async () => {
+    mockProviderReply(null);
+
+    await runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs());
+
+    // An unreported generation must not bill as free.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+
+  it("bills net of provider-cached input tokens", async () => {
+    mockProviderReply(1000, 400);
+
+    await runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs());
+
+    // The gross count still includes input the prompt cache served cheaply;
+    // charging the user's meter for input they did not re-pay for is an
+    // over-charge.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(600);
+  });
+
+  it("refuses a generation once the day's cap is already spent", async () => {
+    ledgerTotal = OPERATOR_COST_CAP;
+    mockProviderReply(500);
+
+    await expect(
+      runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs()),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(BriefingBudgetExceededError);
+
+    // Refused BEFORE any provider egress — the point of the whole exercise.
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(annotate).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        action: { name: "insights.briefing.budget_exceeded" },
+      }),
+    );
+    // The refused reservation was refunded, not left on the row.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(OPERATOR_COST_CAP);
+  });
+
+  it("refunds the reservation in full when the provider errors", async () => {
+    runRawCompletionWithFallback.mockRejectedValue(new Error("upstream down"));
+
+    await expect(runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs())).rejects.toThrow(
+      "upstream down",
+    );
+
+    // A failed generation must not leave an estimate parked on the ledger,
+    // which would ration the retry the user is entitled to.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it("re-throws the provider error unchanged so callers keep their mapping", async () => {
+    class AllProvidersFailedError extends Error {}
+    runRawCompletionWithFallback.mockRejectedValue(
+      new AllProvidersFailedError("chain exhausted"),
+    );
+
+    // The route maps `AllProvidersFailedError` to specific user-facing
+    // statuses; swallowing or re-wrapping it here would silently degrade every
+    // one of those branches to the generic error.
+    await expect(
+      runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs()),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(AllProvidersFailedError);
+  });
+
+  it("meters each retry stage separately", async () => {
+    mockProviderReply(1000);
+
+    await runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs({ stage: "generate" }));
+    await runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs({ stage: "json-retry" }));
+    await runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs({ stage: "grounding-retry" }));
+
+    // A correction pass is real spend. If retries rode the first pass's
+    // reservation, a user at the ceiling would get free retries.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(3000);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("runBriefingCompletion — cost owner decides the ceiling", () => {
+  it("measures an operator-key chain against the operator ceiling", async () => {
+    ledgerTotal = OPERATOR_COST_CAP;
+    mockProviderReply(100);
+
+    await expect(
+      runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs()),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(BriefingBudgetExceededError);
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("measures a BYOK chain against the user-plan ceiling, not the operator's", async () => {
+    // Same spend that locked the operator-key user out above. A self-hoster on
+    // their own key pays their own bill, so the operator's ceiling is a
+    // category error for them — they must still be served.
+    ledgerTotal = OPERATOR_COST_CAP;
+    mockProviderReply(100);
+
+    const outcome = await runBriefingCompletion(
+      completionArgs({ chain: BYOK_CHAIN }),
+    );
+
+    expect(outcome.result.tokensUsed).toBe(100);
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("still bounds a BYOK chain at the user-plan ceiling", async () => {
+    ledgerTotal = USER_PLAN_CAP;
+    mockProviderReply(100);
+
+    await expect(
+      runBriefingCompletion(completionArgs({ chain: BYOK_CHAIN })),
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(BriefingBudgetExceededError);
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/insights/__tests__/comprehensive-budget-refusal.test.ts b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/comprehensive-budget-refusal.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..205fca7b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/comprehensive-budget-refusal.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,224 @@
+/**
+ * The briefing generator's behaviour when the day's token ceiling refuses it.
+ *
+ * `briefing-provider-budget.test.ts` pins the accounting itself. This pins the
+ * WIRING: that `generateComprehensiveInsight` actually routes through the
+ * metered chokepoint, and that an over-cap run is reported honestly.
+ *
+ * Load-bearing distinction: an over-cap run is `skipped`, NOT `failed`. No
+ * provider was contacted, so there is no upstream fault to retry against. The
+ * morning-refresh worker enqueues its 45-minute provider-failure retry on a
+ * `failed` outcome and holds the day provisional — doing that for a ceiling
+ * that will not move until the ledger rolls over would be a retry loop against
+ * an accounting outcome.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
+
+let ledgerTotal = 0;
+
+const findUnique = vi.fn();
+const userUpdate = vi.fn();
+const resolveProviderChain = vi.fn();
+const resolveProvider = vi.fn();
+const runRawCompletionWithFallback = vi.fn();
+const extractFeatures = vi.fn();
+const recordBriefingFailure = vi.fn();
+const hasActiveConsentForSurface = vi.fn();
+
+vi.mock("@/lib/db", () => ({
+  prisma: {
+    $queryRaw: vi.fn(
+      async (_strings: TemplateStringsArray, ...v: unknown[]) => {
+        ledgerTotal += Number(v[2] ?? 0);
+        return [{ total_tokens: ledgerTotal }];
+      },
+    ),
+    $executeRaw: vi.fn(
+      async (strings: TemplateStringsArray, ...v: unknown[]) => {
+        const sql = strings.join("?");
+        const amount = Number(v[0] ?? 0);
+        if (sql.includes("total_tokens + ")) ledgerTotal += amount;
+        else if (sql.includes("total_tokens - ")) ledgerTotal -= amount;
+        ledgerTotal = Math.max(0, ledgerTotal);
+        return 1;
+      },
+    ),
+    user: {
+      findUnique: (...a: unknown[]) => findUnique(...a),
+      update: (...a: unknown[]) => userUpdate(...a),
+    },
+    auditLog: { deleteMany: vi.fn() },
+  },
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/ai/provider", () => ({
+  resolveProviderChain: (...a: unknown[]) => resolveProviderChain(...a),
+  resolveProvider: (...a: unknown[]) => resolveProvider(...a),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/ai/provider-runner", () => ({
+  AllProvidersFailedError: class extends Error {},
+  runRawCompletionWithFallback: (...a: unknown[]) =>
+    runRawCompletionWithFallback(...a),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/insights/features", () => ({
+  FeaturesPayloadTooLargeError: class extends Error {
+    sizeBytes = 0;
+  },
+  extractFeatures: (...a: unknown[]) => extractFeatures(...a),
+  BRIEFING_FEATURE_WINDOW_DAYS: 400,
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/insights/briefing-failure-marker", () => ({
+  recordBriefingFailure: (...a: unknown[]) => recordBriefingFailure(...a),
+  readBriefingFailure: vi.fn(async () => null),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/insights/illness-cycle-briefing", () => ({
+  buildBriefingIllnessCycleContext: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(null),
+  buildBriefingIllnessCyclePrompt: vi.fn().mockReturnValue(""),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/insights/glp1-plateau", () => ({
+  detectGlp1Plateau: vi.fn(async () => null),
+  buildGlp1PlateauPrompt: vi.fn(() => ""),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/ai/coach/about-me", () => ({
+  getSelfContextTextForUser: vi.fn(async () => null),
+  buildAboutMeInsightBlock: vi.fn(() => ""),
+}));
+vi.mock("@/lib/cache/invalidate", () => ({
+  invalidateUserInsights: vi.fn(),
+}));
+// Modelled truthfully rather than stubbed open: only an operator-credential
+// chain needs a receipt, which is what lets the consent-ordering test below
+// assert the real gate rather than a bypass.
+vi.mock("@/lib/ai/consent-guard", () => ({
+  chainRequiresServerManagedConsent: (chain: { providerType: string }[] = []) =>
+    chain.some((c) => c.providerType.startsWith("admin-")),
+  hasActiveConsentForSurface: (...a: unknown[]) =>
+    hasActiveConsentForSurface(...a),
+}));
+
+import { generateComprehensiveInsight } from "../comprehensive-generate";
+import { OPERATOR_COST_CAP, USER_PLAN_CAP } from "@/lib/ai/coach/budget";
+
+const VALID = JSON.stringify({ dailyBriefing: { paragraph: "ok" } });
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  vi.clearAllMocks();
+  ledgerTotal = 0;
+  resolveProviderChain.mockResolvedValue([
+    { providerType: "admin-openai", instance: {} },
+  ]);
+  resolveProvider.mockResolvedValue({ type: "none" });
+  extractFeatures.mockResolvedValue({
+    weight: { count: 12, latest: 81.4, mean30: 82.1 },
+  });
+  userUpdate.mockResolvedValue({});
+  findUnique.mockResolvedValue({
+    insightsPrivacyMode: "aggregated",
+    insightsCachedAt: null,
+    insightsCachedText: null,
+    insightsExcludeMetrics: [],
+    insightsSnapshotHash: null,
+    insightsBriefingRerollDate: null,
+  });
+  hasActiveConsentForSurface.mockResolvedValue(true);
+  runRawCompletionWithFallback.mockResolvedValue({
+    result: { content: VALID, tokensUsed: 900, model: "m" },
+    workingProvider: { providerType: "admin-openai" },
+    fallbackHops: [],
+  });
+});
+
+describe("generateComprehensiveInsight — daily token ceiling", () => {
+  it("lands the briefing's spend on the ledger", async () => {
+    const outcome = await generateComprehensiveInsight("u1", { locale: "de" });
+
+    expect(outcome.status).toBe("generated");
+    // The whole point: this path used to spend invisibly.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(900);
+  });
+
+  it("refuses over-cap as `skipped: budget` without contacting a provider", async () => {
+    ledgerTotal = OPERATOR_COST_CAP;
+
+    const outcome = await generateComprehensiveInsight("u1", { locale: "de" });
+
+    expect(outcome).toEqual({ status: "skipped", reason: "budget" });
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    // Not a provider failure: no marker, so the read path never claims the
+    // refresh broke, and the morning-refresh worker does not enqueue its
+    // provider-failure retry against a ceiling.
+    expect(recordBriefingFailure).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    // No cache row written, so the last good briefing stays intact.
+    expect(userUpdate).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(OPERATOR_COST_CAP);
+  });
+
+  it("serves a BYOK account at the same spend that refuses an operator-key one", async () => {
+    // A self-hoster on their own key pays their own bill; the operator's
+    // ceiling is a category error for them.
+    resolveProviderChain.mockResolvedValue([
+      { providerType: "anthropic", instance: {} },
+    ]);
+    ledgerTotal = OPERATOR_COST_CAP;
+
+    const outcome = await generateComprehensiveInsight("u1", { locale: "de" });
+
+    expect(outcome.status).toBe("generated");
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("still bounds a BYOK account at the user-plan ceiling", async () => {
+    resolveProviderChain.mockResolvedValue([
+      { providerType: "anthropic", instance: {} },
+    ]);
+    ledgerTotal = USER_PLAN_CAP;
+
+    const outcome = await generateComprehensiveInsight("u1", { locale: "de" });
+
+    expect(outcome).toEqual({ status: "skipped", reason: "budget" });
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("refunds in full when the provider fails, leaving no estimate parked", async () => {
+    runRawCompletionWithFallback.mockRejectedValue(new Error("upstream down"));
+
+    const outcome = await generateComprehensiveInsight("u1", { locale: "de" });
+
+    expect(outcome.status).toBe("failed");
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it("never charges a consent-blocked user", async () => {
+    // Ordering guarantee: the reservation lands AFTER the consent gate.
+    // Reserving first would bill an operator-key user for a snapshot that is
+    // never sent anywhere, and could lock them out of a tier they are not
+    // even permitted to use.
+    hasActiveConsentForSurface.mockResolvedValue(false);
+
+    const outcome = await generateComprehensiveInsight("u1", { locale: "de" });
+
+    expect(outcome).toEqual({ status: "skipped", reason: "no-consent" });
+    expect(runRawCompletionWithFallback).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it("charges the JSON-shape retry as its own generation", async () => {
+    runRawCompletionWithFallback
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        result: { content: "not json", tokensUsed: 400, model: "m" },
+        workingProvider: { providerType: "admin-openai" },
+        fallbackHops: [],
+      })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        result: { content: VALID, tokensUsed: 900, model: "m" },
+        workingProvider: { providerType: "admin-openai" },
+        fallbackHops: [],
+      });
+
+    const outcome = await generateComprehensiveInsight("u1", { locale: "de" });
+
+    expect(outcome.status).toBe("generated");
+    // Both passes billed. A retry that rode the first reservation would let a
+    // user at the ceiling generate for free.
+    expect(ledgerTotal).toBe(1300);
+  });
+});