diff --git a/messages/de.json b/messages/de.json
index f3cf1a8af..be2abd1b4 100644
--- a/messages/de.json
+++ b/messages/de.json
@@ -7417,6 +7417,9 @@
     "sleepDebtBody": "Einige deiner Nächte waren diese Woche recht kurz. Wenn du willst, suchen wir gemeinsam nach einem Muster.",
     "measurementGapBody": "Dein Protokoll ist seit etwa einer Woche still. Wann immer es dir passt, hilft ein kurzer Austausch beim Wiedereinstieg.",
     "focusNote": "Das passt auch zu dem, was du selbst im Blick behalten möchtest.",
+    "reminderSurfacedTitle": "Deine Erinnerung",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadOne": "Du wolltest heute daran erinnert werden:",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadMany": "Du wolltest heute an {count} Dinge erinnert werden:",
     "questionConditions": "Hast du chronische Erkrankungen, die der Coach kennen sollte?",
     "questionFocus": "Gibt es etwas Bestimmtes, worauf der Coach achten soll?",
     "questionAllergies": "Hast du Allergien oder Unverträglichkeiten?",
diff --git a/messages/en.json b/messages/en.json
index 9969e7de4..a4745ee09 100644
--- a/messages/en.json
+++ b/messages/en.json
@@ -7417,6 +7417,9 @@
     "sleepDebtBody": "Several of your nights came up short this week. If you want, we can look for a pattern together.",
     "measurementGapBody": "Your log has been quiet for about a week. Whenever it suits you, a quick check-in helps you pick things back up.",
     "focusNote": "It also ties into what you said you wanted to keep an eye on.",
+    "reminderSurfacedTitle": "The reminder you asked for",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadOne": "You asked me to bring this back to you today:",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadMany": "You asked me to bring {count} things back to you today:",
     "questionConditions": "Do you have any chronic conditions the Coach should know about?",
     "questionFocus": "Is there anything specific the Coach should pay attention to?",
     "questionAllergies": "Do you have any allergies or intolerances?",
diff --git a/messages/es.json b/messages/es.json
index a800a3727..a2d577662 100644
--- a/messages/es.json
+++ b/messages/es.json
@@ -7417,6 +7417,9 @@
     "sleepDebtBody": "Varias de tus noches se quedaron cortas esta semana. Si te apetece, buscamos un patrón juntos.",
     "measurementGapBody": "Tu registro lleva una semana en silencio. Cuando te venga bien, una breve puesta al día ayuda a retomarlo.",
     "focusNote": "También tiene que ver con eso que querías vigilar.",
+    "reminderSurfacedTitle": "Tu recordatorio",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadOne": "Me pediste que hoy te recordara esto:",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadMany": "Me pediste que hoy te recordara {count} cosas:",
     "questionConditions": "¿Tienes enfermedades crónicas que el Coach deba conocer?",
     "questionFocus": "¿Hay algo concreto en lo que el Coach deba fijarse?",
     "questionAllergies": "¿Tienes alergias o intolerancias?",
diff --git a/messages/fr.json b/messages/fr.json
index b14279d03..6a3e7939e 100644
--- a/messages/fr.json
+++ b/messages/fr.json
@@ -7417,6 +7417,9 @@
     "sleepDebtBody": "Plusieurs de vos nuits ont été un peu courtes cette semaine. Si vous voulez, on cherche une régularité ensemble.",
     "measurementGapBody": "Votre journal est silencieux depuis environ une semaine. Quand cela vous convient, un petit point aide à reprendre.",
     "focusNote": "Cela rejoint aussi ce que vous vouliez garder à l'œil.",
+    "reminderSurfacedTitle": "Ton rappel",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadOne": "Tu m'as demandé de te rappeler ceci aujourd'hui :",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadMany": "Tu m'as demandé de te rappeler {count} choses aujourd'hui :",
     "questionConditions": "Avez-vous des maladies chroniques que le Coach devrait connaître ?",
     "questionFocus": "Y a-t-il quelque chose de précis auquel le Coach devrait veiller ?",
     "questionAllergies": "Avez-vous des allergies ou des intolérances ?",
diff --git a/messages/it.json b/messages/it.json
index 72a8faeb1..be11085ae 100644
--- a/messages/it.json
+++ b/messages/it.json
@@ -7417,6 +7417,9 @@
     "sleepDebtBody": "Diverse delle tue notti sono state un po' corte questa settimana. Se ti va, cerchiamo insieme uno schema.",
     "measurementGapBody": "Il tuo diario è in silenzio da circa una settimana. Quando ti è comodo, due parole aiutano a riprendere.",
     "focusNote": "Si lega anche a ciò che volevi tenere d'occhio.",
+    "reminderSurfacedTitle": "Il tuo promemoria",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadOne": "Mi avevi chiesto di ricordarti questo oggi:",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadMany": "Mi avevi chiesto di ricordarti {count} cose oggi:",
     "questionConditions": "Hai malattie croniche che il Coach dovrebbe conoscere?",
     "questionFocus": "C'è qualcosa di specifico a cui il Coach dovrebbe fare attenzione?",
     "questionAllergies": "Hai allergie o intolleranze?",
diff --git a/messages/pl.json b/messages/pl.json
index ddd1b58b4..7b0cbd0af 100644
--- a/messages/pl.json
+++ b/messages/pl.json
@@ -7417,6 +7417,9 @@
     "sleepDebtBody": "Kilka Twoich nocy było w tym tygodniu krótkich. Jeśli masz ochotę, poszukajmy razem wzorca.",
     "measurementGapBody": "Twój dziennik milczy od około tygodnia. Kiedy Ci pasuje, krótka rozmowa pomoże wrócić do rutyny.",
     "focusNote": "Wiąże się to też z tym, na co chciałeś/chciałaś zwracać uwagę.",
+    "reminderSurfacedTitle": "Twoje przypomnienie",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadOne": "Prosiłeś, żeby przypomnieć ci o tym dzisiaj:",
+    "reminderSurfacedLeadMany": "Prosiłeś, żeby przypomnieć ci dzisiaj o {count} sprawach:",
     "questionConditions": "Czy masz choroby przewlekłe, o których Coach powinien wiedzieć?",
     "questionFocus": "Czy jest coś konkretnego, na co Coach powinien zwracać uwagę?",
     "questionAllergies": "Czy masz alergie lub nietolerancje?",
diff --git a/src/components/insights/layout-coach-fab.tsx b/src/components/insights/layout-coach-fab.tsx
index 0d652d85e..19bc4f3c4 100644
--- a/src/components/insights/layout-coach-fab.tsx
+++ b/src/components/insights/layout-coach-fab.tsx
@@ -122,27 +122,20 @@ export function LayoutCoachFab() {
     },
   });
 
-  // v1.22 (M4) — surface a due/surfaced Coach reminder on the FAB. Additive:
-  // the dot also lights when the daily sweep has flipped a "remind me" reminder
-  // to due, independent of the nudge seen-stamp (resolving the reminder in the
-  // ledger clears it). Same cheap, gated, stale-while-revalidate read shape.
-  const { data: dueReminders } = useQuery({
-    queryKey: queryKeys.coachReminders("due,surfaced"),
-    queryFn: async () => {
-      const data = await apiGet<{ reminders?: unknown[] } | undefined>(
-        "/api/coach/reminders?status=due,surfaced",
-      );
-      return data?.reminders ?? [];
-    },
-    enabled: coachAvailable && !onCoachPage,
-    staleTime: 5 * 60 * 1000,
-  });
-  const hasDueReminders = (dueReminders?.length ?? 0) > 0;
-
   const nudgedAt = status?.nudgedAt ?? null;
+  // ONE source for the dot: an assistant message the user has not opened yet.
+  //
+  // v1.22 added a second arm — a separate "any due reminder?" query — and that
+  // is the arm that produced a badge over an empty Coach. The sweep flipped a
+  // reminder to `due` without writing anything into a conversation, so the dot
+  // promised a message that did not exist; opening the Coach showed the empty
+  // state and did not clear the dot either, because only resolving the reminder
+  // in Settings could. The sweep now writes the reminder into the thread as a
+  // real assistant message (`coach-reminder-sweep.ts`), which the nudge status
+  // already reports — so the reminder still lights the dot, through the message
+  // it actually wrote, and opening the Coach clears it like any other.
   const unread = isNudgeUnread(status, seenStamp);
-  // The visual dot lights for either an unread nudge OR a due reminder.
-  const showDot = unread || hasDueReminders;
+  const showDot = unread;
 
   // The unread dot is visual-only (`aria-hidden`) and the swapped
   // `aria-label` is not announced on mutation — a screen-reader user
diff --git a/src/lib/jobs/__tests__/coach-reminder-sweep.test.ts b/src/lib/jobs/__tests__/coach-reminder-sweep.test.ts
index ecb93983d..fee4c27f4 100644
--- a/src/lib/jobs/__tests__/coach-reminder-sweep.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/jobs/__tests__/coach-reminder-sweep.test.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 /**
  * v1.22 (M4) — daily Coach-reminder sweep.
  *
- * Covers: overdue active date-reminders flip to `due`; a passed CoachPlan
- * reviewDate mints a one-off reminder from the plan's own cue→action text and
- * clears the reviewDate (activating the dangling B1 column); an undecryptable
- * plan is skipped (counted errored) without sinking the tick.
+ * Covers: a passed CoachPlan reviewDate mints a one-off reminder from the
+ * plan's own cue→action text and clears the reviewDate (activating the dangling
+ * B1 column); an undecryptable plan is skipped (counted errored) without
+ * sinking the tick; and — v1.37 — surfacing writes the reminder into a
+ * conversation and flips its status in one transaction, so a badge can never
+ * point at a message that was never written.
  */
 import { describe, it, expect, vi } from "vitest";
 
@@ -25,84 +27,179 @@ function bytes(tag: string): Uint8Array {
   return new Uint8Array(Buffer.from(tag, "utf8"));
 }
 
+/**
+ * A prisma double whose `$transaction` accepts BOTH shapes the sweep uses: an
+ * array of pre-built operations (the plan-review mint) and an interactive
+ * callback (the surfacing step).
+ */
+function makePrisma(options: {
+  overdue?: {
+    id: string;
+    userId: string;
+    noteEncrypted: Uint8Array;
+  }[];
+  plans?: {
+    id: string;
+    userId: string;
+    metric: string;
+    ifCueEncrypted: Uint8Array;
+    thenActionEncrypted: Uint8Array;
+  }[];
+}) {
+  const tx = {
+    coachConversation: { create: vi.fn(async () => ({ id: "c1" })) },
+    coachMessage: { create: vi.fn(async () => ({ id: "m1" })) },
+    coachReminder: { updateMany: vi.fn(async () => ({ count: 0 })) },
+  };
+  const prisma = {
+    coachReminder: {
+      findMany: vi.fn(async () => options.overdue ?? []),
+      create: vi.fn(async () => ({ id: "r-new" })),
+      updateMany: vi.fn(async () => ({ count: 0 })),
+    },
+    coachPlan: {
+      findMany: vi.fn(async () => options.plans ?? []),
+      update: vi.fn(async () => ({})),
+    },
+    coachConversation: { create: vi.fn(async () => ({ id: "c1" })) },
+    coachMessage: { create: vi.fn(async () => ({ id: "m1" })) },
+    user: { findUnique: vi.fn(async () => ({ locale: "en" })) },
+    $transaction: vi.fn(async (arg: unknown) => {
+      if (typeof arg === "function") {
+        return (arg as (t: typeof tx) => Promise<unknown>)(tx);
+      }
+      return Promise.all(arg as Promise<unknown>[]);
+    }),
+    tx,
+  };
+  return prisma;
+}
+
 describe("runCoachReminderSweep", () => {
-  it("flips overdue active date-reminders to due and mints plan-review reminders", async () => {
-    const prisma = {
-      coachReminder: {
-        updateMany: vi.fn(async () => ({ count: 3 })),
-        create: vi.fn(async () => ({ id: "r-new" })),
-      },
-      coachPlan: {
-        findMany: vi.fn(async () => [
-          {
-            id: "p1",
-            userId: "u1",
-            metric: "WEIGHT",
-            ifCueEncrypted: bytes("every morning"),
-            thenActionEncrypted: bytes("weigh in"),
-          },
-        ]),
-        update: vi.fn(async () => ({})),
-      },
-      // The mint runs as one atomic batch; resolve the built ops together.
-      $transaction: vi.fn(async (ops: Promise<unknown>[]) => Promise.all(ops)),
-    };
+  it("mints a plan-review reminder from the plan's own prose and clears the reviewDate", async () => {
+    const prisma = makePrisma({
+      plans: [
+        {
+          id: "p1",
+          userId: "u1",
+          metric: "WEIGHT",
+          ifCueEncrypted: bytes("every morning"),
+          thenActionEncrypted: bytes("weigh in"),
+        },
+      ],
+    });
 
     const summary = await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma as never, NOW);
-    expect(summary.remindersDue).toBe(3);
     expect(summary.planReviewsMinted).toBe(1);
     expect(summary.errored).toBe(0);
 
-    // The flip query is scoped to active, date-triggered, overdue rows.
-    const flipArgs = prisma.coachReminder.updateMany.mock
-      .calls[0] as unknown as [
-      { where: { status: string; triggerKind: string; dueAt: unknown } },
-    ];
-    const where = flipArgs[0].where;
-    expect(where.status).toBe("active");
-    expect(where.triggerKind).toBe("date");
-    expect(where.dueAt).toEqual({ not: null, lte: NOW });
-
-    // The minted reminder carries the plan's own prose + relatedPlanId.
     const createArgs = prisma.coachReminder.create.mock.calls[0] as unknown as [
       { data: { relatedPlanId: string; source: string; status: string } },
     ];
     const data = createArgs[0].data;
     expect(data.relatedPlanId).toBe("p1");
     expect(data.source).toBe("extractor");
-    expect(data.status).toBe("due");
+    // Minted `active`, not `due`: the surfacing pass in this same tick is what
+    // takes it to the conversation, and there is only one such path.
+    expect(data.status).toBe("active");
 
-    // The plan's reviewDate is cleared so the review fires exactly once.
     expect(prisma.coachPlan.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
       where: { id: "p1" },
       data: { reviewDate: null },
     });
+  });
 
-    // The create + clear commit atomically — a half-applied mint would let the
-    // next tick re-select the plan and duplicate the review reminder.
-    expect(prisma.$transaction).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  it("writes the reminder into a conversation and flips its status in ONE transaction", async () => {
+    const prisma = makePrisma({
+      overdue: [
+        { id: "r1", userId: "u1", noteEncrypted: bytes("ask about my sleep") },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const summary = await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma as never, NOW);
+    expect(summary.remindersDue).toBe(1);
+    expect(summary.errored).toBe(0);
+
+    // A conversation with the note as an ASSISTANT message — the row the
+    // unread badge is derived from.
+    expect(prisma.tx.coachConversation.create).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const msgArgs = prisma.tx.coachMessage.create.mock.calls[0] as unknown as [
+      { data: { role: string; encryptedContent: Uint8Array } },
+    ];
+    expect(msgArgs[0].data.role).toBe("assistant");
+    const body = Buffer.from(msgArgs[0].data.encryptedContent).toString("utf8");
+    expect(body).toContain("dec:ask about my sleep");
+
+    // …and the status flip rides the SAME transaction, so neither half can
+    // land without the other.
+    const flip = prisma.tx.coachReminder.updateMany.mock
+      .calls[0] as unknown as [
+      { where: { id: { in: string[] } }; data: { status: string } },
+    ];
+    expect(flip[0].where.id.in).toEqual(["r1"]);
+    expect(flip[0].data.status).toBe("surfaced");
+  });
+
+  it("picks up rows an older build left stuck on `due`", async () => {
+    const prisma = makePrisma({
+      overdue: [{ id: "r-old", userId: "u1", noteEncrypted: bytes("stuck") }],
+    });
+
+    await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma as never, NOW);
+
+    const where = (
+      prisma.coachReminder.findMany.mock.calls[0] as unknown as [
+        { where: { status: { in: string[] } } },
+      ]
+    )[0].where;
+    expect(where.status.in).toEqual(["active", "due"]);
+  });
+
+  it("leaves the reminder alone when the conversation write fails", async () => {
+    const prisma = makePrisma({
+      overdue: [{ id: "r1", userId: "u1", noteEncrypted: bytes("note") }],
+    });
+    prisma.$transaction = vi.fn(async (arg: unknown) => {
+      if (typeof arg === "function") throw new Error("db down");
+      return Promise.all(arg as Promise<unknown>[]);
+    }) as never;
+
+    const summary = await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma as never, NOW);
+    // Not counted as surfaced — the next tick retries, and until it succeeds
+    // nothing claims a message that does not exist.
+    expect(summary.remindersDue).toBe(0);
+    expect(summary.errored).toBe(1);
+    expect(prisma.tx.coachReminder.updateMany).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("skips an undecryptable note without losing the ones beside it", async () => {
+    const prisma = makePrisma({
+      overdue: [
+        { id: "r-bad", userId: "u1", noteEncrypted: bytes("__bad__") },
+        { id: "r-ok", userId: "u1", noteEncrypted: bytes("fine") },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const summary = await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma as never, NOW);
+    expect(summary.remindersDue).toBe(1);
+    expect(summary.errored).toBe(1);
+    const flip = prisma.tx.coachReminder.updateMany.mock
+      .calls[0] as unknown as [{ where: { id: { in: string[] } } }];
+    expect(flip[0].where.id.in).toEqual(["r-ok"]);
   });
 
   it("skips an undecryptable plan without sinking the tick", async () => {
-    const prisma = {
-      coachReminder: {
-        updateMany: vi.fn(async () => ({ count: 0 })),
-        create: vi.fn(async () => ({ id: "r-new" })),
-      },
-      coachPlan: {
-        findMany: vi.fn(async () => [
-          {
-            id: "p1",
-            userId: "u1",
-            metric: "SLEEP",
-            ifCueEncrypted: bytes("__bad__"),
-            thenActionEncrypted: bytes("lights out"),
-          },
-        ]),
-        update: vi.fn(async () => ({})),
-      },
-      $transaction: vi.fn(async (ops: Promise<unknown>[]) => Promise.all(ops)),
-    };
+    const prisma = makePrisma({
+      plans: [
+        {
+          id: "p1",
+          userId: "u1",
+          metric: "SLEEP",
+          ifCueEncrypted: bytes("__bad__"),
+          thenActionEncrypted: bytes("lights out"),
+        },
+      ],
+    });
 
     const summary = await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma as never, NOW);
     expect(summary.planReviewsMinted).toBe(0);
diff --git a/src/lib/jobs/coach-reminder-sweep.ts b/src/lib/jobs/coach-reminder-sweep.ts
index 136bf23fe..010bde5be 100644
--- a/src/lib/jobs/coach-reminder-sweep.ts
+++ b/src/lib/jobs/coach-reminder-sweep.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
  * per tick that brings a reminder back at its chosen moment. Two sources:
  *
  *   1. `CoachReminder` rows that are date-triggered, `active`, and whose `dueAt`
- *      has passed → flipped to `due` (the in-app tile + indicator read `due` /
- *      `surfaced`). `lastSurfacedAt` is stamped + `surfaceCount` bumped.
+ *      has passed.
  *   2. `CoachPlan` rows whose dangling `reviewDate` (written nowhere, read
  *      nowhere until now — see the design §1c) has passed and that are still
  *      `active` → a one-off `CoachReminder` is minted from the plan's own
@@ -14,9 +13,30 @@
  *      `reviewDate` is cleared so the review fires once. This finally activates
  *      the column the B1 schema anticipated.
  *
- * In-app surfacing ONLY in this wave: push delivery + the receptivity gate (B4)
- * land later. The sweep never calls a provider and never pushes — it only flips
- * status + mints the plan-review reminder, both idempotent across re-fires.
+ * Both sources converge on ONE surfacing step, and that convergence is the
+ * point. Until v1.37 the sweep only flipped a reminder's status to `due` and
+ * stopped: nothing was written into the conversation, `surfaced` had no writer
+ * at all, and the FAB lit its unread dot off a separate "is anything due?"
+ * query. So the dot appeared over an empty Coach, opening it showed the empty
+ * state, and opening it did not clear the dot either — the only way out was to
+ * resolve the reminder in Settings, which nothing on the badge suggested. A
+ * badge and the content it promises must come from one event.
+ *
+ * They do now. Surfacing writes the reminder into the user's Coach thread as a
+ * real assistant message and flips the reminder to `surfaced` in the SAME
+ * transaction, so the two cannot drift: no message, no status change, no
+ * badge. The badge itself is derived from that message
+ * (`readCoachNudgeStatus` compares the newest assistant message against
+ * `User.coachLastSeenAt`), which means opening the Coach clears it the way it
+ * clears any other proactive message.
+ *
+ * Rows left `due` by an older build are picked up by the same pass, so a badge
+ * that has been stuck on an empty conversation resolves into the message it
+ * always implied rather than staying stuck.
+ *
+ * The sweep still never calls a provider and never pushes. The message body is
+ * a deterministic localized template around the user's OWN note text — the
+ * words they asked to be reminded of, never anything fabricated.
  *
  * Context-cue reminders (`triggerKind: "context"`) are NOT evaluated here — that
  * is a follow-on (F4); the column exists and capture supports it, but the date
@@ -25,6 +45,9 @@
 import type { PrismaClient } from "@/generated/prisma/client";
 
 import { decryptFromBytes, encryptToBytes } from "@/lib/ai/coach/bytes-codec";
+import { getServerTranslator } from "@/lib/i18n/server-translator";
+import type { Locale } from "@/lib/i18n/config";
+import { defaultLocale, locales } from "@/lib/i18n/config";
 
 export const COACH_REMINDER_SWEEP_QUEUE = "coach-reminder-sweep";
 // Daily at 05:20 Europe/Berlin — just after the 05:15 nudge tick so both
@@ -33,8 +56,13 @@ export const COACH_REMINDER_SWEEP_CRON = "20 5 * * *";
 
 /** Bound the plan-review fan-out per tick so one sweep can't run unbounded. */
 const PLAN_REVIEW_BATCH = 200;
+/** Bound the surfacing fan-out per tick for the same reason. */
+const SURFACE_BATCH = 500;
+/** How many notes one surfacing message carries before the rest wait a tick. */
+const MAX_NOTES_PER_MESSAGE = 6;
 
 export interface CoachReminderSweepSummary {
+  /** Reminders whose moment arrived AND that reached the conversation. */
   remindersDue: number;
   planReviewsMinted: number;
   errored: number;
@@ -42,12 +70,43 @@ export interface CoachReminderSweepSummary {
 
 type SweepPrisma = Pick<
   PrismaClient,
-  "coachReminder" | "coachPlan" | "$transaction"
+  | "coachReminder"
+  | "coachPlan"
+  | "coachConversation"
+  | "coachMessage"
+  | "user"
+  | "$transaction"
 >;
 
+function resolveLocale(locale: string | null | undefined): Locale {
+  return locales.includes(locale as Locale)
+    ? (locale as Locale)
+    : defaultLocale;
+}
+
 /**
- * Run one sweep tick. Idempotent: a reminder already `due` is not re-flipped,
- * and a plan whose `reviewDate` was cleared on a prior tick is not re-minted.
+ * The surfacing message for one user's due reminders. Deterministic, localized,
+ * and built only from the user's own note text — the sweep composes, it never
+ * generates.
+ */
+export function buildReminderSurfaceMessage(
+  notes: readonly string[],
+  locale: string | null | undefined,
+): { title: string; body: string } {
+  const t = getServerTranslator(resolveLocale(locale)).t;
+  const title = t("coachNudges.reminderSurfacedTitle");
+  const lead =
+    notes.length === 1
+      ? t("coachNudges.reminderSurfacedLeadOne")
+      : t("coachNudges.reminderSurfacedLeadMany", { count: notes.length });
+  const body = [lead, ...notes.map((n) => `• ${n}`)].join("\n");
+  return { title, body };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Run one sweep tick. Idempotent: a reminder already `surfaced` is not
+ * re-surfaced, and a plan whose `reviewDate` was cleared on a prior tick is not
+ * re-minted.
  */
 export async function runCoachReminderSweep(
   prisma: SweepPrisma,
@@ -59,23 +118,10 @@ export async function runCoachReminderSweep(
     errored: 0,
   };
 
-  // ── 1. flip overdue active date-reminders → due ──────────────
-  const due = await prisma.coachReminder.updateMany({
-    where: {
-      deletedAt: null,
-      status: "active",
-      triggerKind: "date",
-      dueAt: { not: null, lte: now },
-    },
-    data: {
-      status: "due",
-      lastSurfacedAt: now,
-      surfaceCount: { increment: 1 },
-    },
-  });
-  summary.remindersDue = due.count;
-
-  // ── 2. mint plan-review reminders for passed reviewDates ──────
+  // ── 1. mint plan-review reminders for passed reviewDates ──────
+  //
+  // Minted `active` with `dueAt: now` so the surfacing pass below picks them
+  // up in this same tick. One path reaches the conversation, not two.
   const plans = await prisma.coachPlan.findMany({
     where: {
       deletedAt: null,
@@ -120,10 +166,8 @@ export async function runCoachReminderSweep(
             relatedPlanId: plan.id,
             triggerKind: "date",
             dueAt: now,
-            status: "due",
+            status: "active",
             source: "extractor",
-            lastSurfacedAt: now,
-            surfaceCount: 1,
           },
         }),
         prisma.coachPlan.update({
@@ -137,5 +181,94 @@ export async function runCoachReminderSweep(
     }
   }
 
+  // ── 2. surface everything whose moment has passed ─────────────
+  //
+  // `due` is included alongside `active` deliberately: rows an older build
+  // flipped to `due` never reached a conversation, and they are exactly the
+  // ones showing a badge with nothing behind it. Picking them up here converts
+  // a stuck indicator into the message it always promised.
+  const overdue = await prisma.coachReminder.findMany({
+    where: {
+      deletedAt: null,
+      status: { in: ["active", "due"] },
+      triggerKind: "date",
+      dueAt: { not: null, lte: now },
+    },
+    take: SURFACE_BATCH,
+    orderBy: { dueAt: "asc" },
+    select: { id: true, userId: true, noteEncrypted: true },
+  });
+
+  const byUser = new Map<string, typeof overdue>();
+  for (const row of overdue) {
+    const bucket = byUser.get(row.userId);
+    if (bucket) bucket.push(row);
+    else byUser.set(row.userId, [row]);
+  }
+
+  for (const [userId, rows] of byUser) {
+    try {
+      // Decrypt fault-isolated per row: one undecryptable note must not cost
+      // the user the reminders that sit beside it.
+      const usable: { id: string; note: string }[] = [];
+      for (const row of rows) {
+        try {
+          usable.push({
+            id: row.id,
+            note: decryptFromBytes(row.noteEncrypted),
+          });
+        } catch {
+          summary.errored += 1;
+        }
+      }
+      if (usable.length === 0) continue;
+
+      const batch = usable.slice(0, MAX_NOTES_PER_MESSAGE);
+      const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({
+        where: { id: userId },
+        select: { locale: true },
+      });
+      const { title, body } = buildReminderSurfaceMessage(
+        batch.map((r) => r.note),
+        user?.locale,
+      );
+
+      // Conversation + message + status flip in ONE transaction. A partial
+      // write is the failure this whole change exists to remove: a status
+      // without a message is a badge pointing at nothing, and a message
+      // without a status change re-surfaces the same note every night.
+      await prisma.$transaction(async (tx) => {
+        const conversation = await tx.coachConversation.create({
+          data: { userId, title: title.slice(0, 80) },
+        });
+        await tx.coachMessage.create({
+          data: {
+            conversationId: conversation.id,
+            role: "assistant",
+            encryptedContent: encryptToBytes(body),
+            metricSourceJson: null,
+            // Same tag the proactive nudge uses — this IS a proactive message,
+            // and the nudge cron's frequency gate reads the tag back.
+            providerType: "nudge",
+            promptVersion: null,
+          },
+        });
+        await tx.coachReminder.updateMany({
+          where: { id: { in: batch.map((r) => r.id) } },
+          data: {
+            status: "surfaced",
+            lastSurfacedAt: now,
+            surfaceCount: { increment: 1 },
+          },
+        });
+      });
+      summary.remindersDue += batch.length;
+    } catch {
+      // Leave the rows where they were: the next tick retries, and until then
+      // no badge claims a message that was never written.
+      summary.errored += 1;
+    }
+  }
+
   return summary;
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/jobs/reminder/register-status.ts b/src/lib/jobs/reminder/register-status.ts
index 9ebca0bc2..3771f9ab2 100644
--- a/src/lib/jobs/reminder/register-status.ts
+++ b/src/lib/jobs/reminder/register-status.ts
@@ -822,10 +822,12 @@ export async function registerStatusQueues(
     },
   );
 
-  // v1.22 (M4) — daily Coach-reminder sweep. Single-flight; flipping an overdue
-  // reminder to `due` and minting plan-review reminders are both idempotent
-  // across re-fires (an already-due reminder is not re-flipped; a plan whose
-  // reviewDate was cleared is not re-minted). No provider call, no push.
+  // v1.22 (M4) — daily Coach-reminder sweep. Single-flight; surfacing an
+  // overdue reminder into the user's Coach thread and minting plan-review
+  // reminders are both idempotent across re-fires (an already-surfaced
+  // reminder is not re-written; a plan whose reviewDate was cleared is not
+  // re-minted). No provider call, no push — the message body is a
+  // deterministic localized template around the user's own note.
   await createAndWork(
     boss,
     COACH_REMINDER_SWEEP_QUEUE,
diff --git a/tests/integration/coach-reminder-surfacing.test.ts b/tests/integration/coach-reminder-surfacing.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cbd927b0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/coach-reminder-surfacing.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,239 @@
+/**
+ * The Coach badge and the Coach conversation, over the real assembly.
+ *
+ * The report: the FAB shows its unread dot, you open the Coach, the
+ * conversation is empty, and the dot is still there afterwards. Two separate
+ * paths were feeding one indicator — a "is any reminder due?" query lit the
+ * dot, while the nightly sweep that made the reminder due wrote nothing into a
+ * conversation and had no way to be cleared by opening one.
+ *
+ * The unit suite can prove the sweep CALLS the right prisma methods; it cannot
+ * prove a row exists, that the badge derives from that row, or that opening
+ * the Coach clears it. Those three claims are the defect, so they are asserted
+ * here against Postgres, through the same functions the cron and the FAB use:
+ * `runCoachReminderSweep` writes, `readCoachNudgeStatus` reads, and the seen
+ * stamp in between is the one `POST /api/insights/coach/seen` writes.
+ *
+ * The note text is round-tripped through the real AES codec rather than a
+ * mock, so an encoding mistake between the sweep and the conversation reader
+ * fails here instead of shipping as an unreadable reminder.
+ */
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { getPrismaClient, truncateAllTables } from "./setup";
+import { runCoachReminderSweep } from "@/lib/jobs/coach-reminder-sweep";
+import { readCoachNudgeStatus } from "@/lib/ai/coach/nudge-status";
+import { decryptFromBytes, encryptToBytes } from "@/lib/ai/coach/bytes-codec";
+
+const NOW = new Date("2026-08-07T05:20:00.000Z");
+const YESTERDAY = new Date("2026-08-06T09:00:00.000Z");
+
+beforeEach(async () => {
+  await truncateAllTables(getPrismaClient());
+});
+
+async function seedUser(username: string, locale = "en") {
+  return getPrismaClient().user.create({
+    data: {
+      username,
+      email: `${username}@example.test`,
+      timezone: "UTC",
+      locale,
+    },
+  });
+}
+
+describe("a due Coach reminder reaches the conversation the badge points at", () => {
+  it("writes the note as an assistant message, and that message is what makes the badge unread", async () => {
+    const prisma = getPrismaClient();
+    const user = await seedUser("reminder-surfacing");
+
+    await prisma.coachReminder.create({
+      data: {
+        userId: user.id,
+        noteEncrypted: encryptToBytes("ask me about my sleep again"),
+        triggerKind: "date",
+        dueAt: YESTERDAY,
+        status: "active",
+        source: "user",
+      },
+    });
+
+    // Before the sweep there is nothing to be unread ABOUT.
+    const before = await readCoachNudgeStatus(user.id);
+    expect(before.unread).toBe(false);
+    expect(before.conversationId).toBeNull();
+
+    const summary = await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma, NOW);
+    expect(summary.remindersDue).toBe(1);
+    expect(summary.errored).toBe(0);
+
+    // BOTH ENDS. The row exists…
+    const messages = await prisma.coachMessage.findMany({
+      where: { conversation: { userId: user.id } },
+    });
+    expect(messages).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(messages[0].role).toBe("assistant");
+    expect(decryptFromBytes(messages[0].encryptedContent)).toContain(
+      "ask me about my sleep again",
+    );
+
+    // …and the badge is derived from THAT row, not from a parallel query.
+    const after = await readCoachNudgeStatus(user.id);
+    expect(after.unread).toBe(true);
+    expect(after.conversationId).toBe(messages[0].conversationId);
+
+    // The reminder is marked surfaced, so it stops being pending work.
+    const reminder = await prisma.coachReminder.findFirstOrThrow({
+      where: { userId: user.id },
+    });
+    expect(reminder.status).toBe("surfaced");
+    expect(reminder.surfaceCount).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it("opening the Coach clears the badge", async () => {
+    const prisma = getPrismaClient();
+    const user = await seedUser("reminder-seen");
+    await prisma.coachReminder.create({
+      data: {
+        userId: user.id,
+        noteEncrypted: encryptToBytes("check the blood pressure trend"),
+        triggerKind: "date",
+        dueAt: YESTERDAY,
+        status: "active",
+        source: "user",
+      },
+    });
+    await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma, NOW);
+    expect((await readCoachNudgeStatus(user.id)).unread).toBe(true);
+
+    // What `POST /api/insights/coach/seen` writes when the Coach is opened.
+    // Anchored on the MESSAGE's own `createdAt`: the sweep takes its `now` for
+    // the due-date arithmetic, but the row is stamped by the database, and the
+    // route stamps the seen time from the same clock the row came from.
+    const written = await prisma.coachMessage.findFirstOrThrow({
+      where: { conversation: { userId: user.id } },
+    });
+    await prisma.user.update({
+      where: { id: user.id },
+      data: { coachLastSeenAt: new Date(written.createdAt.getTime() + 1_000) },
+    });
+
+    expect((await readCoachNudgeStatus(user.id)).unread).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("does not surface the same reminder twice", async () => {
+    const prisma = getPrismaClient();
+    const user = await seedUser("reminder-idempotent");
+    await prisma.coachReminder.create({
+      data: {
+        userId: user.id,
+        noteEncrypted: encryptToBytes("weekly review"),
+        triggerKind: "date",
+        dueAt: YESTERDAY,
+        status: "active",
+        source: "user",
+      },
+    });
+
+    await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma, NOW);
+    const second = await runCoachReminderSweep(
+      prisma,
+      new Date(NOW.getTime() + 86_400_000),
+    );
+
+    expect(second.remindersDue).toBe(0);
+    expect(
+      await prisma.coachMessage.count({
+        where: { conversation: { userId: user.id } },
+      }),
+    ).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it("takes a reminder an older build left stuck on `due` and gives it the message it promised", async () => {
+    const prisma = getPrismaClient();
+    const user = await seedUser("reminder-legacy");
+    await prisma.coachReminder.create({
+      data: {
+        userId: user.id,
+        noteEncrypted: encryptToBytes("the note nobody ever saw"),
+        triggerKind: "date",
+        dueAt: new Date("2026-05-01T09:00:00.000Z"),
+        status: "due",
+        lastSurfacedAt: new Date("2026-05-01T05:20:00.000Z"),
+        surfaceCount: 1,
+        source: "user",
+      },
+    });
+
+    // This is the reported state exactly: something the UI treated as
+    // outstanding, with an empty conversation behind it.
+    expect(
+      await prisma.coachMessage.count({
+        where: { conversation: { userId: user.id } },
+      }),
+    ).toBe(0);
+
+    await runCoachReminderSweep(prisma, NOW);
+
+    const messages = await prisma.coachMessage.findMany({
+      where: { conversation: { userId: user.id } },
+    });
+    expect(messages).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(decryptFromBytes(messages[0].encryptedContent)).toContain(
+      "the note nobody ever saw",
+    );
+    expect((await readCoachNudgeStatus(user.id)).unread).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a failed write from leaving a badge with nothing behind it", async () => {
+    const prisma = getPrismaClient();
+    const user = await seedUser("reminder-partial");
+    const reminder = await prisma.coachReminder.create({
+      data: {
+        userId: user.id,
+        noteEncrypted: encryptToBytes("intact note"),
+        triggerKind: "date",
+        dueAt: YESTERDAY,
+        status: "active",
+        source: "user",
+      },
+    });
+
+    // Fail the transaction the way a real outage would — inside the write, so
+    // the conversation, the message and the status flip are all in flight.
+    const failing = new Proxy(prisma, {
+      get(target, prop, receiver) {
+        if (prop === "$transaction") {
+          return (arg: unknown) => {
+            if (typeof arg === "function") {
+              return Promise.reject(new Error("connection reset"));
+            }
+            const passthrough = Reflect.get(target, prop, receiver) as (
+              ops: unknown,
+            ) => Promise<unknown>;
+            return passthrough.call(target, arg);
+          };
+        }
+        return Reflect.get(target, prop, receiver);
+      },
+    });
+
+    const summary = await runCoachReminderSweep(failing as typeof prisma, NOW);
+    expect(summary.remindersDue).toBe(0);
+    expect(summary.errored).toBe(1);
+
+    // Nothing written, nothing marked — and the badge stays dark, which is the
+    // honest state: there is no message to read.
+    expect(
+      await prisma.coachMessage.count({
+        where: { conversation: { userId: user.id } },
+      }),
+    ).toBe(0);
+    const untouched = await prisma.coachReminder.findFirstOrThrow({
+      where: { id: reminder.id },
+    });
+    expect(untouched.status).toBe("active");
+    expect((await readCoachNudgeStatus(user.id)).unread).toBe(false);
+  });
+});