diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-keyboard-event.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-keyboard-event.ts
index 4d64bddefef..a5cebfa3a96 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-keyboard-event.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-keyboard-event.ts
@@ -101,10 +101,15 @@ export function isImeCompositionKeyDown(event: AnyKeyboardEvent): boolean {
   if (keybindingInputIsImeOwned(nativeEvent)) {
     return true
   }
-  // Why: an Escape the IME owns is marked above, so an unmarked one means this
-  // derived flag has drifted. compositionend is not guaranteed, so swallowing it
-  // would strand every cancel path behind a flag nothing is going to clear. Same
-  // rule as TERMINAL_IME_OWNED_KEYS in xterm-bypass-policy.ts, which omits Escape
-  // for exactly this reason.
+  // Why: UI Events defines `isComposing` as true for any key event dispatched between
+  // compositionstart and compositionend, so an Escape the IME owns is marked above by
+  // definition. An unmarked one is the browser stating we are not between those two
+  // events — it disagrees with this derived flag, and the browser is the authority.
+  // Escape is the one key where trusting the flag instead is unrecoverable: compositionend
+  // is not guaranteed, so swallowing it strands every cancel path behind a flag nothing
+  // will clear. Same rule as TERMINAL_IME_OWNED_KEYS in xterm-bypass-policy.ts.
+  //
+  // Spec-backed, not engine-verified: CANDIDATE_ESCAPE_DISMISSAL_TRACE is derived, and a
+  // browser that under-reports the bit would contradict this. Recording it settles it.
   return nativeEvent.key !== 'Escape' && isDocumentImeCompositionActive()
 }
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-trace.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-trace.test.ts
index 0298def6dc1..c5ae31b6950 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-trace.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-composition-trace.test.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import {
   IBUS_HANGUL_RETAINED_COMMIT_TRACE,
   IBUS_HANGUL_TERMINAL_JAMO_COMMIT_TRACE,
   IME_COMPOSITION_TRACES
-} from './ime-recorded-composition-traces.test-fixtures'
+} from './ime-derived-composition-traces.test-fixtures'
 
 const KEY_EVENT_WITHOUT_REPEAT: ImeTraceKeyEvent = {
   code: 'KeyE',
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-recorded-composition-traces.test-fixtures.ts b/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-derived-composition-traces.test-fixtures.ts
similarity index 97%
rename from src/renderer/src/lib/ime-recorded-composition-traces.test-fixtures.ts
rename to src/renderer/src/lib/ime-derived-composition-traces.test-fixtures.ts
index 50e096af549..263ea517135 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-recorded-composition-traces.test-fixtures.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/lib/ime-derived-composition-traces.test-fixtures.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 //
 // Adding a trace: prefer capturing one from a real engine and mark it `recorded`.
 // A `derived` trace pins current behavior but proves nothing about the engine.
+//
+// Everything defined below is `derived`. The only hardware recording in the suite is the
+// ibus-hangul trace re-exported here. Read a derived trace as a written-down assumption
+// waiting to be falsified by `pnpm ime:record`, not as evidence about any engine.
 
 import type {
   ImeCompositionTrace,