diff --git a/services/imessage-bridge/src/session.ts b/services/imessage-bridge/src/session.ts
index 5ec00c74..649dd2b6 100644
--- a/services/imessage-bridge/src/session.ts
+++ b/services/imessage-bridge/src/session.ts
@@ -2216,21 +2216,30 @@ export class IMessageSession {
       const target = this.ownerSelfChatTarget();
       if (!target) return; // no owner channel → nothing to DM
 
+      const now = Date.now();
+
+      // WORLD MODEL runs even when the channel is MUTED, and is therefore
+      // ABOVE the pause gate. Mute means "don't SEND to contacts" (#250), not
+      // "stop thinking": this reads the owner's own mail/calendar/notes and
+      // updates the OWNER's profile — it never messages a contact. Live proof
+      // this matters: the bridge was muted on 2026-09-18, so the refresh that
+      // would have corrected the stale opening date never ran at all, which is
+      // the very incident the world model was built for. Quiet hours and an
+      // explicit "quiet Nh" still defer it (the FYI would wake the owner); the
+      // next tick after the window picks it up.
+      const quiet = isQuietHours(new Date(), defaultQuietHours()) || now < this.proactiveMuteUntil;
+      if (!quiet) this.maybeRefreshWorldModel(target, now);
+
       // Quiet hours: defer nudges (don't wake the owner). The next tick
       // picks them up once the window reopens; dedupe keys keep them fresh.
       if (this.proactivePaused()) return;
 
-      const now = Date.now();
-
       // EVENT SCOUT rides this tick (same killswitch/quiet-hours guards):
       // weekly web_search scan → numbered list to self-chat. Fire-and-forget
       // so a slow search never delays the nudges below.
       this.maybeRunEventScout(target, now);
       // SKILL FORGE rides the same tick: due owner-taught skills fire here.
       this.maybeRunSkills(target, now);
-      // WORLD MODEL rides the same tick: every few hours, derive the owner's
-      // present-tense Now/Public lines from mail + calendar (no owner typing).
-      this.maybeRefreshWorldModel(target, now);
 
       const input = await this.gatherProactiveSignals(now);
       const nudges = computeProactiveNudges({ now, ...input });
diff --git a/services/imessage-bridge/src/world-model-mute-scope.test.ts b/services/imessage-bridge/src/world-model-mute-scope.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f00161f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/imessage-bridge/src/world-model-mute-scope.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+
+// The world-model refresh must run on a MUTED channel. Mute means "don't SEND
+// to contacts" (#250), not "stop thinking" — the refresh reads the owner's own
+// mail/calendar/notes and writes the OWNER's profile; it never messages a
+// contact. Live proof: the bridge was muted on 2026-09-18, so the refresh that
+// would have corrected the stale grand-opening date never ran once, which is
+// the exact incident the world model exists to prevent.
+//
+// Structural, because the bug is WHERE the call sits: under the
+// `proactivePaused()` return (which is true whenever muted), it is dead code.
+const src = readFileSync(new URL("./session.ts", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+
+describe("world model runs while muted", () => {
+  it("is called ABOVE the proactivePaused() early return", () => {
+    const tick = src.slice(src.indexOf("private async runAnticipationTick"));
+    const body = tick.slice(0, tick.indexOf("gatherProactiveSignals"));
+    const refresh = body.indexOf("this.maybeRefreshWorldModel(");
+    const paused = body.indexOf("if (this.proactivePaused()) return;");
+    expect(refresh).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(paused).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(refresh).toBeLessThan(paused);
+  });
+
+  it("still defers for quiet hours / an explicit quiet window", () => {
+    const tick = src.slice(src.indexOf("private async runAnticipationTick"));
+    expect(tick).toMatch(/const quiet = isQuietHours\(new Date\(\), defaultQuietHours\(\)\) \|\| now < this\.proactiveMuteUntil;/);
+    expect(tick).toMatch(/if \(!quiet\) this\.maybeRefreshWorldModel\(target, now\);/);
+  });
+
+  it("the killswitch still stops it (do-nothing-at-all switch)", () => {
+    const tick = src.slice(src.indexOf("private async runAnticipationTick"));
+    const kill = tick.indexOf("if (this.killSwitch) return;");
+    const refresh = tick.indexOf("this.maybeRefreshWorldModel(");
+    expect(kill).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(kill).toBeLessThan(refresh);
+  });
+});