diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.svelte.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.svelte.ts
index c3ec05b09b..95421beac6 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.svelte.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.svelte.ts
@@ -952,14 +952,25 @@ export class FlowChatManager {
 					break
 				}
 				const furthest = Math.max(...batch.map((m) => m.created_seq))
-				// A page that moved nothing would ask for the same rows forever.
-				if (afterSeq !== undefined && furthest <= afterSeq) {
-					readWhole = true
-					break
-				}
+				// A page that moved nothing would ask for the same rows forever, and is no more a
+				// finished read than the cap above.
+				if (afterSeq !== undefined && furthest <= afterSeq) break
 				afterSeq = furthest
 			}
 
+			if (!readWhole) {
+				// Reading stopped before the conversation did, so none of this is a picture of
+				// it. Appending would stand these rows beside the temp ones already showing the
+				// same answer, and sweeping would drop the only thing showing what was never
+				// read. The transcript keeps what it has: the next turn's poll resumes from it,
+				// and a reload refetches.
+				console.warn(
+					`Stopped reading conversation ${conversationId} after ${POLL_MAX_PAGES} pages ` +
+						`(${response.length} rows, up to seq ${afterSeq}); leaving the transcript as it is`
+				)
+				return
+			}
+
 			if (options?.isNewConversation) {
 				await this.refreshConversations()
 			}
@@ -974,15 +985,9 @@ export class FlowChatManager {
 				}
 			}
 
-			if (!readWhole) {
-				// The cap is a guard against a cursor that stops advancing, not a reason to
-				// believe the conversation ends here. Sweeping now would drop the rows standing
-				// in for what was never read — the failure this paging exists to prevent.
-				console.warn(`Stopped reading conversation ${conversationId} after ${POLL_MAX_PAGES} pages`)
-			}
 			// Only remove temporary messages when explicitly requested (e.g., after job completion)
 			// During streaming, we keep temp messages to avoid them disappearing due to race conditions
-			if (options?.removeTempMessages && readWhole) {
+			if (options?.removeTempMessages) {
 				this.#rowsById[conversationId] = this.#rowsOf(conversationId).filter(
 					(msg) => !msg.id.startsWith('temp-') || msg.message_type === 'user'
 				)
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.test.ts
index b6782fabf2..e624ca7bf3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/flows/conversations/FlowChatManager.test.ts
@@ -205,6 +205,38 @@ describe('reading a turn longer than one page', () => {
 		const calls = vi.mocked(FlowConversationsService.listConversationMessages).mock.calls
 		expect((calls[1][0] as any).afterSeq).toBe(50)
 	})
+
+	/**
+	 * Reading can stop before the conversation does. What was read is then not a picture of
+	 * it, and applying it would both duplicate what the temp rows already show and sweep
+	 * away the only record of what was never read.
+	 */
+	it('leaves the transcript alone when it could not read to the end', async () => {
+		let seq = 0
+		vi.mocked(FlowConversationsService.listConversationMessages)
+			.mockReset()
+			.mockImplementation((async () => {
+				const batch = assistantRows(seq + 1, 50)
+				seq += 50
+				return batch
+			}) as any)
+		const manager = managerWithRows()
+		manager.selectedConversationId = 'a'
+		const streamed = {
+			id: 'temp-answer',
+			conversation_id: 'a',
+			message_type: 'assistant',
+			content: 'the answer as it streamed',
+			created_at: new Date().toISOString(),
+			created_seq: 0
+		}
+		manager.messages = [streamed as any]
+
+		await (manager as any).pollConversationMessages('a', { removeTempMessages: true })
+
+		// Untouched: neither the rows it managed to read nor the sweep were applied.
+		expect(manager.messages).toEqual([streamed])
+	})
 })
 
 /**