diff --git a/hermes_state.py b/hermes_state.py
index b1e558d438..a1624dc28a 100644
--- a/hermes_state.py
+++ b/hermes_state.py
@@ -10979,13 +10979,13 @@ class SessionDB(SessionSearchMixin, SessionSchemaMixin, SessionPortabilityMixin)
         """Write a title, enforcing provenance precedence.
 
         ``source`` is one of ``TITLE_SOURCE_{DERIVED,LLM,USER}``. A ``user``
-        write is authoritative except for a canonical Bot Chat identity. An
-        automatic write (``derived``/``llm``) lands only when the row is
-        untitled or the stored title has strictly lower authority, so the
-        instant ``derived`` title upgrades to ``llm`` exactly once and neither
-        can ever overwrite a name the user typed. Re-running the titler on an
-        already-``llm`` row is a no-op, which is what stops a session renaming
-        itself.
+        write always lands — an explicit rename is authoritative. An automatic
+        write (``derived``/``llm``) lands only when the row is untitled or the
+        stored title has strictly lower authority, so the instant ``derived``
+        title upgrades to ``llm`` exactly once and neither can ever overwrite a
+        name the user typed. Re-running the titler on an already-``llm`` row is
+        a no-op, which is what stops a session renaming itself. The one thing
+        no writer may do is move a hidden canonical Bot Chat off its title.
 
         The read and the write are one compare-and-swap inside a single
         transaction, so a manual ``/title`` racing an in-flight generation
@@ -11010,7 +11010,9 @@ class SessionDB(SessionSearchMixin, SessionSchemaMixin, SessionPortabilityMixin)
             # surface funnels through (gateway session.title, /title, CLI
             # rename, REST). Hidden is the discriminator: canonical chats are
             # born hidden; an ordinary visible session a user happens to call
-            # "Bot Chat" stays freely renameable.
+            # "Bot Chat" stays freely renameable. Provenance-blind: an
+            # automatic llm write outranks a derived title, so the auto-titler
+            # would otherwise rename the row too (#99517) — it no-ops instead.
             if (
                 (current["title"] or "") == self.CANONICAL_BOT_CHAT_TITLE
                 and bool(current["hidden"])
diff --git a/tests/hermes_state/test_canonical_title_guard.py b/tests/hermes_state/test_canonical_title_guard.py
index 6ab7f88812..784825c25e 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_state/test_canonical_title_guard.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_state/test_canonical_title_guard.py
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ def test_auto_titler_still_cannot_touch_the_canonical_row(db):
 
 
 def test_auto_titler_cannot_rename_derived_canonical_bot_chat(db):
+    # #99517: the guard must be provenance-blind. A derived (rank 0) canonical
+    # title loses to an llm (rank 1) auto-title on precedence alone, so the
+    # identity check — not precedence — has to stop the write.
     db.create_session("derived", source="desktop")
     assert db._set_session_title(
         "derived",
@@ -91,6 +94,8 @@ def test_auto_titler_cannot_rename_derived_canonical_bot_chat(db):
 
 
 def test_auto_titler_can_rename_visible_derived_bot_chat(db):
+    # Control: hidden is still the discriminator — a visible session that
+    # merely carries the text "Bot Chat" upgrades derived -> llm as usual.
     db.create_session("visible", source="desktop")
     assert db._set_session_title(
         "visible",