diff --git a/agent/status_output.py b/agent/status_output.py
index 69c4b2ddc1..8e6ab267cf 100644
--- a/agent/status_output.py
+++ b/agent/status_output.py
@@ -29,19 +29,17 @@ class StatusOutputMixin:
         the main response; ``force=True`` bypasses both. ``suppress_status_output`` (``hermes chat -q``) wins."""
         if getattr(self, "suppress_status_output", False):
             return
-        if not force and (getattr(self, "_mute_post_response", False)
-                          or (self._has_stream_consumers() and not self._executing_tools)):
-            return
-        self._safe_print(*args, **kwargs)
+        muted = getattr(self, "_mute_post_response", False) or (self._has_stream_consumers() and not self._executing_tools)
+        if force or not muted:
+            self._safe_print(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def _should_start_quiet_spinner(self) -> bool:
         """True when quiet-mode spinner output has a safe sink (``_print_fn`` or a real TTY); a raw spinner
         on a non-TTY stdout can corrupt protocol streams (ACP JSON-RPC)."""
         if self._print_fn is not None:
             return True
-        stream = getattr(sys, "stdout", None)
         try:
-            return bool(stream.isatty())
+            return bool(sys.stdout.isatty())
         except (AttributeError, ValueError, OSError):
             return False
 
diff --git a/agent/stream_delivery.py b/agent/stream_delivery.py
index 24bd639bc6..4c2e02ec81 100644
--- a/agent/stream_delivery.py
+++ b/agent/stream_delivery.py
@@ -76,14 +76,12 @@ class StreamDeliveryMixin:
 
     def _interim_content_was_streamed(self, content: str) -> bool:
         visible_content = self._normalize_interim_visible_text(self._strip_think_blocks(content or ""))
-        if not visible_content:
-            return False
         streamed = self._normalize_interim_visible_text(
             self._strip_think_blocks(getattr(self, "_current_streamed_assistant_text", "") or "")
         )
         # Prefix match, not equality: the final may be streamed text plus a trailing delta. The
         # reverse (streamed longer) is NOT matched — it could suppress a needed resend.
-        return bool(streamed) and visible_content.startswith(streamed)
+        return bool(visible_content and streamed) and visible_content.startswith(streamed)
 
     def _extract_codex_interim_visible_parts(self, assistant_msg: Dict[str, Any]) -> List[str]:
         """Visible Codex commentary (``phase=commentary`` items), one string per message item.
@@ -91,14 +89,9 @@ class StreamDeliveryMixin:
         ``phase=analysis`` stays hidden (scratchpad); with ``display.show_commentary=false``
         commentary stays on the reasoning channel.
         """
-        if not getattr(self, "show_commentary", True):
-            return []
-        items = assistant_msg.get("codex_message_items")
-        if not isinstance(items, list):
-            return []
-
+        items = assistant_msg.get("codex_message_items") if getattr(self, "show_commentary", True) else None
         messages: List[str] = []
-        for item in items:
+        for item in items if isinstance(items, list) else ():
             if not isinstance(item, dict) or item.get("type") != "message":
                 continue
             phase, content_parts = item.get("phase"), item.get("content")