diff --git a/src/lib/export/records-backup.ts b/src/lib/export/records-backup.ts
index 383212b0c..2948689e8 100644
--- a/src/lib/export/records-backup.ts
+++ b/src/lib/export/records-backup.ts
@@ -50,13 +50,13 @@ export const WORKOUTS_MANIFEST_NOTE =
  * Decrypt an encrypted free-text column for a portable export, or say plainly
  * that this one could not be read.
  *
- * `decryptNoteSoft` / `decryptContextSoft` answer `null` on a wrong or dropped
- * key. In a list view that is right — one bad row must not take the page down.
- * In an export it is not: `null` is exactly what a column that was never
- * written looks like, so the restore importer writes nothing and a note the
- * person did write disappears without anyone being told. The Coach transcript
- * and the doctor report both refuse that trade, one with a placeholder
- * sentence and one with a rendered flag; this follows the same rule.
+ * A fail-soft decrypt answers `null` on a wrong or dropped key. In a list view
+ * that is right — one bad row must not take the page down. In an export it is
+ * not: `null` is exactly what a column that was never written looks like, so
+ * the restore importer writes nothing and a note the person did write
+ * disappears without anyone being told. The Coach transcript and the doctor
+ * report both refuse that trade, one with a placeholder sentence and one with
+ * a rendered flag; this follows the same rule.
  *
  * The warning the soft helpers emitted is kept, so a systemic key gap still
  * shows up in the wide event rather than only in the file.
diff --git a/src/lib/labs/biomarker-store.ts b/src/lib/labs/biomarker-store.ts
index b6cefe5e1..f1e11411e 100644
--- a/src/lib/labs/biomarker-store.ts
+++ b/src/lib/labs/biomarker-store.ts
@@ -33,10 +33,12 @@ export function decryptContextFromBytes(buf: Uint8Array): string {
 
 /** Decrypt a stored `Bytes` context note, fail-soft to `null` on any error.
  *
- * Mirrors `decryptNoteSoft` in the illness DTO layer: a single bad-key /
- * malformed row must not 500 the whole catalog list. The single-resource GET
- * path uses the throwing `decryptContextFromBytes` so a genuine decrypt
- * failure there surfaces instead of silently masking a key-rotation gap. */
+ * A single bad-key / malformed row must not 500 the whole catalog list, and
+ * the list surface renders a missing context as nothing either way. The
+ * single-resource GET path uses the throwing `decryptContextFromBytes` so a
+ * genuine decrypt failure there surfaces instead of silently masking a
+ * key-rotation gap, and the backup export reads through its own helper that
+ * marks the row rather than blanking it. */
 export function decryptContextSoft(buf: Uint8Array | null): string | null {
   if (!buf) return null;
   try {
diff --git a/src/lib/labs/store.ts b/src/lib/labs/store.ts
index 11a18e45e..2a215fa16 100644
--- a/src/lib/labs/store.ts
+++ b/src/lib/labs/store.ts
@@ -5,11 +5,15 @@
  * free-text note is the only sensitive column on the model; it shares the
  * `encrypt()` string format (`"<keyId>.<base64>"`) every other `*Encrypted`
  * column uses, encoded as UTF-8 bytes.
+ *
+ * There is one decrypt here and it throws. A fail-soft twin used to sit
+ * beside it for bulk reads; the list DTO never carries the note (it reports
+ * `hasNote` only) and the export now writes a visible marker instead of a
+ * null, so nothing was left that wanted a silent one.
  */
 import { Buffer } from "node:buffer";
 
 import { decrypt, encrypt } from "@/lib/crypto";
-import { getEvent } from "@/lib/logging/context";
 
 /** Encrypt a UTF-8 note into the `Bytes` payload the schema stores. */
 export function encryptNoteToBytes(plaintext: string): Uint8Array<ArrayBuffer> {
@@ -26,26 +30,3 @@ export function encryptNoteToBytes(plaintext: string): Uint8Array<ArrayBuffer> {
 export function decryptNoteFromBytes(buf: Uint8Array): string {
   return decrypt(Buffer.from(buf).toString("utf8"));
 }
-
-/**
- * Decrypt a stored `Bytes` note, fail-soft to `null` on any error.
- *
- * Mirrors `decryptContextSoft` in the biomarker store: a single bad-key /
- * malformed row must not fail a bulk read (list view, backup export) that
- * spans many rows. The single-resource GET path uses the throwing
- * `decryptNoteFromBytes` so a genuine decrypt failure there surfaces instead
- * of silently masking a key-rotation gap.
- */
-export function decryptNoteSoft(buf: Uint8Array | null): string | null {
-  if (!buf || buf.byteLength === 0) return null;
-  try {
-    return decryptNoteFromBytes(buf);
-  } catch (err) {
-    getEvent()?.addWarning(
-      `lab note decrypt failed: ${
-        err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)
-      }`,
-    );
-    return null;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/tests/integration/backup-round-trip.test.ts b/tests/integration/backup-round-trip.test.ts
index aba427cd9..2d22ba3bf 100644
--- a/tests/integration/backup-round-trip.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/backup-round-trip.test.ts
@@ -2627,7 +2627,7 @@ describe("every model the plan claims two-ended survives a real restore", () =>
    * A note this instance can no longer decrypt leaves the export as a marker,
    * not as nothing.
    *
-   * `decryptNoteSoft` answers `null` on a wrong or dropped key, and in a
+   * A fail-soft decrypt answers `null` on a wrong or dropped key, and in a
    * portable file `null` is byte-for-byte what a note that was never written
    * looks like. The restore importer then writes no note, so a note the person
    * did write is gone and no one is told — the whole loss fits inside a