diff --git a/scripts/calib-push.py b/scripts/calib-push.py
index 4c43e7b..6bd8ee1 100755
--- a/scripts/calib-push.py
+++ b/scripts/calib-push.py
@@ -22,9 +22,12 @@ Mechanics notes:
   prompts do not bias the Hessians (the corpus is drawn round-robin over
   source classes, so loss is class-neutral as long as failures are rare;
   a systematic 4xx is loud in the log and must be fixed, not ignored).
-- a round that seals no tap bytes is a FAILURE, not a retry: the engine
-  answering 200 while the tap directory is wrong, full or read-only is
-  how a corpus gets pushed four times for nothing.
+- a round that seals no tap bytes is NORMAL and continues: RADIANCE_CALIB_TOKENS
+  is a pooled floor and this campaign's corpus is 10.03M tokens against a 12M
+  floor, so round 1 seals nothing by construction. A tap that LOSES bytes fails
+  the run, and a run that never sees the engine's completion line exits non-zero.
+  The first version failed on a flat round, which aborted exactly one round too
+  early (2026-10-29).
 - before any prompt, the tap must carry the rig's own marker
   (`--tap-marker`, written by run-qwen38-bf16.sh calib) naming THIS
   container, and that container must be running. Measured 2026-10-29:
@@ -112,6 +115,27 @@ def tap_bytes(path):
     return total
 
 
+def round_verdict(before, after, done):
+    """What one round's tap bytes mean.
+
+    'done'   the engine logged that it sealed the tap — the run is over
+    'shrink' the tap LOST bytes: reset, pruned or replaced under us
+    'grew'   sealed bytes this round
+    'flat'   sealed nothing — which is legitimate: RADIANCE_CALIB_TOKENS is a
+             pooled floor, and a round that does not reach it has nothing to
+             write yet (the campaign's corpus is 10.03M tokens against a 12M
+             floor, so round 1 is always flat). Failing on it aborted the run
+             exactly one round too early.
+    """
+    if done:
+        return "done"
+    if after < before:
+        return "shrink"
+    if after == before:
+        return "flat"
+    return "grew"
+
+
 def require_rig(a):
     """Refuse unless the rig that opened this tap is up and serving right now.
 
@@ -198,11 +222,15 @@ def main():
         if tap_done(a.container):
             break
         after = tap_bytes(a.tap_dir)
-        if after <= before:
-            print(f"FAIL: the tap at {a.tap_dir} sealed nothing this round "
-                  f"({before} B before, {after} B after) — the engine is serving "
-                  "without recording (wrong dir, full disk, read-only mount)", flush=True)
+        verdict = round_verdict(before, after, False)
+        if verdict == "shrink":
+            print(f"FAIL: the tap at {a.tap_dir} LOST bytes this round "
+                  f"({before} B before, {after} B after) — it was reset or replaced "
+                  "under us", flush=True)
             sys.exit(1)
+        if verdict == "flat":
+            print(f"round {rnd}: the tap sealed nothing yet (byte floor not reached; "
+                  f"{before} B) — continuing", flush=True)
     else:
         print("max rounds exhausted, tap not done", flush=True)
         sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/tests/qwen38_campaign.bats b/tests/qwen38_campaign.bats
index afcdc12..f9ce0fe 100755
--- a/tests/qwen38_campaign.bats
+++ b/tests/qwen38_campaign.bats
@@ -699,3 +699,20 @@ window_fixture() {
     [[ "$output" == *"calib-push.py"* ]]
     [[ "$output" == *"AGENTTRASH"* ]]
 }
+
+@test "a flat calibration round is not a failure: the tap's floor is pooled" {
+    # round 1 of a 10.03M-token corpus against a 12M floor seals nothing, and the
+    # first version of this gate aborted the run there — one round too early.
+    run python3 - "$PUSHER" <<'PY'
+import importlib.util, sys
+spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("cp", sys.argv[1])
+m = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+spec.loader.exec_module(m)
+print(m.round_verdict(8192, 8192, False),   # flat: continue
+      m.round_verdict(8192, 4096, False),   # shrink: fail
+      m.round_verdict(8192, 20000, False),  # grew: continue
+      m.round_verdict(0, 0, True))          # done: stop
+PY
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "$output" = "flat shrink grew done" ]
+}