diff --git a/polylogue/storage/sqlite/archive_tiers/archive.py b/polylogue/storage/sqlite/archive_tiers/archive.py
index 9f714ec2b1..b8683b978c 100644
--- a/polylogue/storage/sqlite/archive_tiers/archive.py
+++ b/polylogue/storage/sqlite/archive_tiers/archive.py
@@ -8350,14 +8350,26 @@ def row_int(key: str) -> int:
     session_id = str(row["session_id"])
     message_count = int(row["message_count"] or 0)
     raw_title = str(row["title"]) if row["title"] is not None else None
-    provider_title = raw_title if raw_title and raw_title.strip() else None
     raw_title_source = str(row["title_source"]) if row["title_source"] is not None else None
+    # A non-blank ``sessions.title`` is only a genuine provider/derived title
+    # when ``title_source`` says so. ``title_source='unknown'`` rows still
+    # carry a NON-NULL title -- the writer's pre-cijx.4 fallback stores the
+    # raw native id there (a bare UUID, or "<uuid>:agent-<hash>" for a
+    # subagent), which is exactly the "worse than the UUID it replaces" case
+    # decision 3 exists to fix. Measured live: 7,501 of 15,401 root sessions
+    # (48.7%) carry title_source='unknown' -- checking only "is title
+    # non-blank" (the pre-fix condition) made the structural-label fallback
+    # dead code for all of them. ``title_source='path'`` is the structural
+    # label's own prior output; treating it as "not a real title" keeps this
+    # idempotent on rebuild instead of freezing a stale message count.
+    has_real_title = bool(raw_title and raw_title.strip()) and raw_title_source in {"origin", "heuristic", "user"}
+    provider_title = raw_title if has_real_title else None
     if provider_title is not None:
         title = provider_title
         title_source = raw_title_source
     else:
-        # No provider-supplied title (or a blank one): fall back to the
-        # structural label (polylogue-cijx.4 decision 3) rather than
+        # No provider-supplied title (or a blank/synthetic one): fall back to
+        # the structural label (polylogue-cijx.4 decision 3) rather than
         # exposing a bare/blank title to CLI/MCP/API surfaces. This is a
         # read-time projection only -- never written back to sessions.title.
         title = session_structural_label_for_session(
diff --git a/tests/unit/storage/test_title_source_queryable.py b/tests/unit/storage/test_title_source_queryable.py
index 501d42da38..dc01fa2d67 100644
--- a/tests/unit/storage/test_title_source_queryable.py
+++ b/tests/unit/storage/test_title_source_queryable.py
@@ -110,6 +110,65 @@ def test_titleless_session_falls_back_to_structural_label(tmp_path: Path) -> Non
         assert matched[0].title_source == "path"
 
 
+def test_unknown_title_source_falls_back_to_structural_label(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """polylogue-cijx.4 decision 3: ``title_source='unknown'`` is NOT a real
+    title, even when ``sessions.title`` is non-blank.
+
+    Claude Code's parser (``sources/parsers/claude/code_parser.py``)
+    initializes ``title`` to the raw composed session id (e.g.
+    ``"<uuid>:agent-<hash>"`` for a subagent) and only promotes
+    ``title_source`` off ``UNKNOWN`` when a real signal (human message,
+    ``agent-name``, ``ai-title``, ``custom-title``) is found. So a real
+    Claude Code row can carry a non-NULL, non-blank ``title`` *and*
+    ``title_source='unknown'`` simultaneously -- exactly the case decision 3
+    exists to fix ("a structural label today reads 'agent-<hash> - 27f -
+    499m' -- worse than the UUID it replaces"). Before this fix,
+    ``_summary_from_row`` treated any non-blank title as a real one
+    regardless of provenance, so the structural-label fallback never fired
+    for this population (measured live: 48.7% of root sessions).
+    """
+    from polylogue.storage.sqlite.archive_tiers.archive import ArchiveStore
+
+    db_path = tmp_path / "index.db"
+    with ArchiveStore(tmp_path, initialize=True, read_only=False):
+        pass
+
+    conn = sqlite3.connect(db_path)
+    conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
+    try:
+        session = ParsedSession(
+            source_name=Provider.CLAUDE_CODE,
+            provider_session_id="raw-uuid-1234",
+            title="raw-uuid-1234",  # the code_parser.py raw-id fallback shape
+            title_source=TitleSource.UNKNOWN,
+            messages=[
+                ParsedMessage(
+                    provider_message_id="m1",
+                    role=Role.USER,
+                    text="hi",
+                    position=0,
+                    blocks=[ParsedContentBlock(type=BlockType.TEXT, text="hi")],
+                ),
+            ],
+        )
+        write_parsed_session_to_archive(conn, session)
+        conn.commit()
+    finally:
+        conn.close()
+
+    with ArchiveStore(tmp_path, initialize=False, read_only=True) as archive:
+        session_id = archive.resolve_session_id("raw-uuid-1234")
+        summary = archive.read_summary(session_id)
+        assert summary.title != "raw-uuid-1234"
+        assert summary.title_source == "path"
+
+        listed = archive.list_summaries(origin="claude-code-session", limit=10, offset=0)
+        matched = [s for s in listed if s.session_id == session_id]
+        assert len(matched) == 1
+        assert matched[0].title != "raw-uuid-1234"
+        assert matched[0].title_source == "path"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_session_filter_summary_exposes_title_source(workspace_env: dict[str, Path]) -> None:
     """``SessionFilter.list_summaries()`` yields a domain ``SessionSummary`` with ``title_source`` set."""