diff --git a/internal/monitoring/guest_metadata.go b/internal/monitoring/guest_metadata.go
index dce9e01f62..fcd887e0e8 100644
--- a/internal/monitoring/guest_metadata.go
+++ b/internal/monitoring/guest_metadata.go
@@ -276,6 +276,10 @@ func (m *Monitor) releaseGuestMetadataSlot() {
 	}
 }
 
+// This marker is evidence that the callback never started, not a classification
+// of a cancellation returned by an already-started guest command.
+var errGuestAgentCallNotStarted = errors.New("guest agent call not started")
+
 // retryGuestAgentCall executes a guest agent API call with timeout and retry logic (refs #592)
 func (m *Monitor) retryGuestAgentCall(ctx context.Context, timeout time.Duration, maxRetries int, fn func(context.Context) (interface{}, error)) (interface{}, error) {
 	if fn == nil {
@@ -299,6 +303,14 @@ func (m *Monitor) retryGuestAgentCall(ctx context.Context, timeout time.Duration
 
 	var lastErr error
 	for attempt := 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++ {
+		if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+			if lastErr != nil {
+				// A prior attempt did start. Do not relabel its outcome as an
+				// unstarted command merely because the retry budget ended.
+				return nil, errors.Join(lastErr, err)
+			}
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %w", errGuestAgentCallNotStarted, err)
+		}
 		callCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, timeout)
 		result, err := fn(callCtx)
 		cancel()
@@ -470,13 +482,13 @@ func (m *Monitor) fetchGuestAgentMetadata(ctx context.Context, client PVEClientI
 		}
 		if err != nil {
 			status, statusKnown := proxmox.APIErrorStatus(err)
-			if reason := proxmox.GuestAgentErrorReason(err); reason == "permission-denied" || reason == "agent-not-running" || (statusKnown && status == http.StatusTooManyRequests) {
+			if reason := proxmox.GuestAgentErrorReason(err); errors.Is(err, errGuestAgentCallNotStarted) || reason == "permission-denied" || reason == "agent-not-running" || (statusKnown && status == http.StatusTooManyRequests) {
 				// Access/rate refusal or stopped QGA did not exercise this
 				// command. Use the wire status, not OS-like or status-like body
 				// text: a temporary rate limit must not disable OS discovery.
-				// The request was not admitted or QGA was stopped, so this did
-				// not exercise the OS-info command. Do not permanently disable
-				// that command when ordinary access/agent availability returns.
+				// An ended caller budget before the callback starts likewise
+				// cannot count as a failed OS command. A cancellation after
+				// admission still owns its existing outcome/uncertainty fence.
 				// Preserve any real prior failures and the normal refresh backoff.
 				log.Debug().
 					Str("instance", instanceName).
diff --git a/internal/monitoring/guest_metadata_ended_budget_test.go b/internal/monitoring/guest_metadata_ended_budget_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..14eba83b27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/monitoring/guest_metadata_ended_budget_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,312 @@
+package monitoring
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/rcourtman/pulse-go-rewrite/internal/alerts"
+	"github.com/rcourtman/pulse-go-rewrite/internal/config"
+	"github.com/rcourtman/pulse-go-rewrite/internal/models"
+	"github.com/rcourtman/pulse-go-rewrite/pkg/proxmox"
+)
+
+// Cancellation before a callback starts is not an OS-command outcome. Once a
+// callback starts, cancellation cannot establish whether its command ran.
+func TestGuestAgentEndedBudgetAdmission(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, budget := range []string{"cancelled", "expired"} {
+		for _, retries := range []int{0, 2} {
+			t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%s/retries-%d", budget, retries), func(t *testing.T) {
+				ctx, cancel := endedMetadataBudget(budget)
+				defer cancel()
+				calls := 0
+				_, err := (&Monitor{}).retryGuestAgentCall(ctx, time.Second, retries, func(context.Context) (interface{}, error) {
+					calls++
+					return "unexpected", nil
+				})
+				if calls != 0 || !errors.Is(err, ctx.Err()) || errors.Is(err, proxmox.ErrGuestAgentDeferred) {
+					t.Errorf("ended budget invoked a callback or invented a shared pause: calls=%d error=%v", calls, err)
+				}
+			})
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func endedMetadataBudget(budget string) (context.Context, context.CancelFunc) {
+	if budget == "expired" {
+		return context.WithDeadline(context.Background(), time.Now().Add(-time.Second))
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	cancel()
+	return ctx, cancel
+}
+
+type endedBudgetMetadataClient struct {
+	PVEClientInterface
+	network, os, version  int
+	afterNetwork, afterOS func()
+}
+
+func (c *endedBudgetMetadataClient) GetVMNetworkInterfaces(ctx context.Context, node string, vmid int) ([]proxmox.VMNetworkInterface, error) {
+	c.network++
+	data, err := c.PVEClientInterface.GetVMNetworkInterfaces(ctx, node, vmid)
+	if c.afterNetwork != nil {
+		c.afterNetwork()
+	}
+	return data, err
+}
+
+func (c *endedBudgetMetadataClient) GetVMAgentInfo(ctx context.Context, node string, vmid int) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	c.os++
+	data, err := c.PVEClientInterface.GetVMAgentInfo(ctx, node, vmid)
+	if c.afterOS != nil {
+		c.afterOS()
+	}
+	return data, err
+}
+
+func (c *endedBudgetMetadataClient) GetVMAgentVersion(ctx context.Context, node string, vmid int) (string, error) {
+	c.version++
+	return c.PVEClientInterface.GetVMAgentVersion(ctx, node, vmid)
+}
+
+type metadataBudgetFixture struct {
+	commands, osCommands atomic.Int32
+	recovered, rejectOS  atomic.Bool
+}
+
+func (f *metadataBudgetFixture) client(t *testing.T, kind string) PVEClientInterface {
+	t.Helper()
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if r.Method != http.MethodGet || r.Header.Get("Authorization") != "PVEAPIToken=fixture@pve!pulse=fixture" {
+			t.Error("read-only fixture authentication changed")
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusForbidden)
+			return
+		}
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		if strings.Contains(r.URL.Path, "/agent/") {
+			f.commands.Add(1)
+		}
+		switch {
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/nodes"):
+			fmt.Fprint(w, `{"data":[]}`)
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/config"):
+			fmt.Fprint(w, `{"data":{}}`)
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/status/current"):
+			used, available := 3*bootstrapMiB, 5*bootstrapMiB
+			if f.recovered.Load() {
+				used, available = 4*bootstrapMiB, 4*bootstrapMiB
+			}
+			fmt.Fprintf(w, `{"data":{"status":"running","agent":1,"maxmem":8388608,"mem":%d,"meminfo":{"total":8388608,"available":%d}}}`, used, available)
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/get-fsinfo"):
+			fmt.Fprint(w, `{"data":{"result":[{"name":"C:","mountpoint":"C:\\","type":"ntfs","total-bytes":1572864000,"used-bytes":419430400},{"name":"D:","mountpoint":"D:\\","type":"ntfs","total-bytes":524288000,"used-bytes":104857600}]}}`)
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/network-get-interfaces"):
+			fmt.Fprint(w, `{"data":{"result":[{"name":"Ethernet","hardware-address":"02:00:00:00:00:01","ip-addresses":[{"ip-address":"192.0.2.20","prefix":24,"ip-address-type":"ipv4"}]}]}}`)
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/get-osinfo"):
+			f.osCommands.Add(1)
+			if f.rejectOS.Load() {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
+				fmt.Fprint(w, "completed OS command rejection")
+			} else {
+				fmt.Fprint(w, `{"data":{"result":{"name":"Windows","version":"2025"}}}`)
+			}
+		case strings.HasSuffix(r.URL.Path, "/info"):
+			fmt.Fprint(w, `{"data":{"result":{"version":"2.0"}}}`)
+		default:
+			t.Errorf("unexpected request: %s", r.URL.Path)
+			http.NotFound(w, r)
+		}
+	}))
+	t.Cleanup(server.Close)
+	return windowsBootstrapClient(t, server.URL, kind)
+}
+
+func metadataBudgetMonitor(t *testing.T, seed string) (*Monitor, string, guestMetadataCacheEntry) {
+	key := guestMetadataCacheKey("budget", "node", 105)
+	entry := guestMetadataCacheEntry{}
+	if seed != "cold" {
+		entry = metadataObservationFixture(time.Now().Add(-2 * guestMetadataCacheTTL))
+		entry.osInfoFailureCount = guestAgentOSInfoFailureThreshold - 1
+		if seed == "suppressed" {
+			entry.osInfoFailureCount = guestAgentOSInfoFailureThreshold
+			entry.osInfoSkip = true
+		}
+	}
+	t.Helper()
+	m := &Monitor{config: &config.Config{}, state: models.NewState(), rateTracker: NewRateTracker(),
+		guestMetadataCache:   map[string]guestMetadataCacheEntry{key: entry},
+		guestMetadataLimiter: make(map[string]time.Time), guestAgentRetries: 2,
+		guestAgentNetworkTimeout: time.Second, guestAgentOSInfoTimeout: time.Second, guestAgentVersionTimeout: time.Second}
+	m.alertManager = alerts.NewManagerWithDataDir(t.TempDir(), alerts.WithoutPersistedAlertRestore())
+	t.Cleanup(m.alertManager.Stop)
+	return m, key, entry
+}
+
+func TestGuestMetadataEndedBudgetPreservesSafetyState(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, kind := range []string{"client", "cluster-client"} {
+		for _, seed := range []string{"cold", "partial-failure", "suppressed"} {
+			for _, budget := range []string{"cancelled", "expired"} {
+				t.Run(kind+"/"+seed+"/"+budget, func(t *testing.T) {
+					f := &metadataBudgetFixture{}
+					client := &endedBudgetMetadataClient{PVEClientInterface: f.client(t, kind)}
+					m, key, original := metadataBudgetMonitor(t, seed)
+					status := &proxmox.VMStatus{Agent: proxmox.VMAgentField{Value: 1}}
+					for round := 0; round < guestAgentOSInfoFailureThreshold; round++ {
+						// Advance only test-owned scheduling, never a command uncertainty
+						// fence or the OS suppression being tested.
+						m.guestMetadataLimiter[key] = time.Now().Add(-time.Second)
+						ctx, cancel := endedMetadataBudget(budget)
+						ips, ifaces, name, version, agent, paused := m.fetchGuestAgentMetadata(ctx, client, "budget", "node", "guest", 105, status, false)
+						cancel()
+						if paused || !reflect.DeepEqual(m.guestMetadataCache[key], original) || !reflect.DeepEqual(ips, original.ipAddresses) || !reflect.DeepEqual(ifaces, original.networkInterfaces) || name != original.osName || version != original.osVersion || agent != original.agentVersion {
+							t.Errorf("ended budget changed safety/observation state: %+v; want %+v; paused=%t", m.guestMetadataCache[key], original, paused)
+						}
+						if !m.guestMetadataLimiter[key].After(time.Now()) || m.hasRecentGuestMetadataEvidence("budget", "node", 105, time.Now()) {
+							t.Error("ended budget bypassed backoff or renewed observation age")
+						}
+						assertMetadataReservationReleased(t, m)
+					}
+					if client.network+client.os+client.version != 0 || f.commands.Load() != 0 {
+						t.Errorf("ended budget entered a callback/command: %+v, commands=%d", client, f.commands.Load())
+					}
+					m.guestMetadataLimiter[key] = time.Now().Add(-time.Second)
+					_, _, name, version, _, paused := m.fetchGuestAgentMetadata(context.Background(), client, "budget", "node", "guest", 105, status, false)
+					wantOS := int32(1)
+					if seed == "suppressed" {
+						wantOS = 0
+					}
+					if paused || f.osCommands.Load() != wantOS || (seed != "suppressed" && (name != "Windows" || version != "2025" || m.guestMetadataCache[key].osInfoSkip)) {
+						t.Error("ordinary recovery lost OS admission or weakened genuine suppression")
+					}
+				})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGuestMetadataBudgetEndsAfterNetworkRecovery(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, kind := range []string{"client", "cluster-client"} {
+		for _, seed := range []string{"cold", "partial-failure", "suppressed"} {
+			for _, collector := range []string{"cluster", "node"} {
+				t.Run(kind+"/"+seed+"/"+collector, func(t *testing.T) {
+					f := &metadataBudgetFixture{}
+					client := &endedBudgetMetadataClient{PVEClientInterface: f.client(t, kind)}
+					m, key, original := metadataBudgetMonitor(t, seed)
+					status := &proxmox.VMStatus{Agent: proxmox.VMAgentField{Value: 1}}
+					for round := 0; round < guestAgentOSInfoFailureThreshold; round++ {
+						entry := m.guestMetadataCache[key]
+						entry.fetchedAt = time.Now().Add(-2 * guestMetadataCacheTTL)
+						m.guestMetadataCache[key] = entry
+						m.guestMetadataLimiter[key] = time.Now().Add(-time.Second)
+						ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+						client.afterNetwork = cancel // Both config checks and the body already completed.
+						start := time.Now()
+						_, _, _, _, _, paused := m.fetchGuestAgentMetadata(ctx, client, "budget", "node", "guest", 105, status, false)
+						cancel()
+						entry = m.guestMetadataCache[key]
+						if paused || entry.osInfoFailureCount != original.osInfoFailureCount || entry.osInfoSkip != original.osInfoSkip || entry.osName != original.osName || !entry.osInfoObservedAt.Equal(original.osInfoObservedAt) {
+							t.Errorf("unstarted OS command changed its safety/identity: %+v", entry)
+						}
+						if entry.fetchedAt.Before(start) || !m.hasRecentGuestMetadataEvidence("budget", "node", 105, time.Now()) || len(entry.networkInterfaces) != 1 || entry.networkInterfaces[0].Name != "Ethernet" {
+							t.Error("completed network observation was discarded")
+						}
+						assertMetadataReservationReleased(t, m)
+					}
+					client.afterNetwork = nil
+					if client.network != guestAgentOSInfoFailureThreshold || client.os+client.version != 0 || f.commands.Load() != guestAgentOSInfoFailureThreshold {
+						t.Errorf("budget admitted a later callback/command: network=%d os=%d version=%d commands=%d", client.network, client.os, client.version, f.commands.Load())
+					}
+					poll := func(previous *models.VM) models.VM {
+						cpu := .1
+						if f.recovered.Load() {
+							cpu = .2
+						}
+						id := makeGuestID("budget", "node", 105)
+						if collector == "node" {
+							prior := make(map[string]models.VM)
+							if previous != nil {
+								prior[id] = *previous
+							}
+							vms, _ := m.pollNodeVMsWithClusterResourceBuilder(context.Background(), "budget", "node", []proxmox.VM{{VMID: 105, Name: "budget-guest", Status: "running", MaxMem: 8 * bootstrapMiB, MaxDisk: 2000 * bootstrapMiB, CPU: cpu}}, client, prior, nil)
+							if len(vms) != 1 {
+								t.Fatal("node poll lost guest")
+							}
+							return vms[0]
+						}
+						vm, _, _, _, _, ok := m.buildVMFromClusterResource(context.Background(), "budget", proxmox.ClusterResource{VMID: 105, Node: "node", Type: "qemu", Name: "budget-guest", Status: "running", MaxMem: 8 * bootstrapMiB, MaxDisk: 2000 * bootstrapMiB, CPU: cpu}, client, id, nil, previous)
+						if !ok {
+							t.Fatal("cluster poll lost guest")
+						}
+						return vm
+					}
+					before := poll(nil)
+					f.recovered.Store(true)
+					entry := m.guestMetadataCache[key]
+					entry.fetchedAt = time.Now().Add(-2 * guestMetadataCacheTTL)
+					m.guestMetadataCache[key] = entry
+					m.guestMetadataLimiter[key] = time.Now().Add(-time.Second)
+					after := poll(&before)
+					for _, vm := range []models.VM{before, after} {
+						if len(vm.Disks) != 2 || vm.Disk.Used != int64(500*bootstrapMiB) || vm.DiskStatusReason != "" || vm.GuestAgentStatus != "available" || len(vm.IPAddresses) != 1 || vm.IPAddresses[0] != "192.0.2.20" {
+							t.Errorf("independent ordinary readings were lost: %+v", vm)
+						}
+					}
+					if before.CPU != .1 || after.CPU != .2 || before.Memory.Used != int64(3*bootstrapMiB) || after.Memory.Used != int64(4*bootstrapMiB) {
+						t.Error("independent CPU/memory stopped advancing")
+					}
+					if seed == "suppressed" {
+						if f.osCommands.Load() != 0 || after.OSName != original.osName || !m.guestMetadataCache[key].osInfoSkip {
+							t.Error("genuine suppression was weakened")
+						}
+					} else if f.osCommands.Load() != 1 || after.OSName != "Windows" || after.OSVersion != "2025" || m.guestMetadataCache[key].osInfoFailureCount != 0 || !m.guestMetadataCache[key].windowsGuest {
+						t.Error("ended budgets permanently disabled ordinary OS recovery")
+					}
+					if os.Getenv("PULSE_TEST_ENDED_BUDGET_PROJECTION") == "1" && kind == "client" && seed == "partial-failure" && collector == "cluster" {
+						data, err := json.Marshal(map[string]models.VM{"before": before, "after": after})
+						if err != nil {
+							t.Fatal(err)
+						}
+						t.Logf("ENDED_BUDGET_PROJECTION %s", data)
+					}
+				})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGuestMetadataStartedOSOutcomeSurvivesBudgetEnd(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, kind := range []string{"client", "cluster-client"} {
+		for _, rejected := range []bool{false, true} {
+			t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%s/rejected-%t", kind, rejected), func(t *testing.T) {
+				f := &metadataBudgetFixture{}
+				f.rejectOS.Store(rejected)
+				client := &endedBudgetMetadataClient{PVEClientInterface: f.client(t, kind)}
+				m, key, original := metadataBudgetMonitor(t, "partial-failure")
+				ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+				defer cancel()
+				client.afterOS = cancel
+				_, _, _, _, _, paused := m.fetchGuestAgentMetadata(ctx, client, "budget", "node", "guest", 105, &proxmox.VMStatus{Agent: proxmox.VMAgentField{Value: 1}}, false)
+				entry := m.guestMetadataCache[key]
+				if paused || client.network != 1 || client.os != 1 || client.version != 0 || f.commands.Load() != 2 {
+					t.Error("budget end admitted a later callback or lost a completed outcome")
+				}
+				if rejected {
+					if !entry.osInfoSkip || entry.osInfoFailureCount != guestAgentOSInfoFailureThreshold || entry.osName != original.osName {
+						t.Error("completed rejection was reclassified as an unstarted OS command")
+					}
+				} else if entry.osInfoSkip || entry.osInfoFailureCount != 0 || entry.osName != "Windows" || !entry.windowsGuest || entry.osInfoObservedAt.IsZero() {
+					t.Error("completed OS observation was discarded")
+				}
+			})
+		}
+	}
+}