diff --git a/.github/scripts/pr-merge/merge-job.test.mjs b/.github/scripts/pr-merge/merge-job.test.mjs
index d58497a234..d11399a3f0 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/pr-merge/merge-job.test.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/pr-merge/merge-job.test.mjs
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ test("the listing fails with one clear error after three failed tries", () => {
 test("the job end logs both tokens' readings from the job's own responses, and reads no /rate_limit", () => {
   const block = step("Log the API budget at job end");
   assert.match(block, /\n {8}uses: \.\/\.base\/\.github\/actions\/log-api-budget /);
-  assert.match(block, /\n {8}if: always\(\) && steps\.lane-token\.outputs\.token != ''\n/);
+  assert.match(block, /\n {8}if: always\(\) && needs\.post-merge-dispatch\.outputs\.rate-limited == ''\n/);
   assert.match(block, /\n {8}continue-on-error: true\n/);
   assert.match(block, /\n {10}tokens: lanes-app github-token\n/);
   assert.doesNotMatch(job, /gh api rate_limit|phase: start|\$\{\{ [^}]*token[^}]* \}\}\n {10}tokens:/);
@@ -1119,7 +1119,9 @@ test("after the gate's rate-limit stop, no later merge-job step calls GitHub", (
   try {
     const bin = join(dir, "bin");
     mkdirSync(bin);
-    writeFileSync(join(bin, "gh"), `#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho "$*" >>"${dir}/gh"\necho 2026-10-26T00:00:00Z\n`);
+    // The step reads through the wrapped gh, which asks for the headers (-i).
+    symlinkSync(fileURLToPath(new URL("../../..", import.meta.url)), join(dir, ".base"));
+    writeFileSync(join(bin, "gh"), `#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho "$*" >>"${dir}/gh"\nprintf 'HTTP/2.0 200 OK\\r\\n\\r\\n'\necho 2026-10-26T00:00:00Z\n`);
     writeFileSync(join(bin, "node"), `#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho "RUN_STARTED_AT=$RUN_STARTED_AT" >"${dir}/node"\n`);
     for (const file of ["gh", "node"]) chmodSync(join(bin, file), 0o755);
     const sweep = join(dir, "sweep.json");
@@ -1129,7 +1131,7 @@ test("after the gate's rate-limit stop, no later merge-job step calls GitHub", (
       const result = spawnSync("bash", ["-c", runScript("Count the sweep's refusals")], {
         cwd: dir,
         encoding: "utf8",
-        env: { ...process.env, PATH: `${bin}:${process.env.PATH}`, LIMITED: limited, REPO: "o/r", GITHUB_RUN_ID: "1", SWEEP_SUMMARY_TO: sweep },
+        env: { ...process.env, PATH: `${bin}:${process.env.PATH}`, LIMITED: limited, REPO: "o/r", GITHUB_RUN_ID: "1", SWEEP_SUMMARY_TO: sweep, RUNNER_TEMP: dir },
       });
       assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
       assert.equal(existsSync(join(dir, "gh")), limited !== "true", `gh with LIMITED=${limited}`);
diff --git a/.github/scripts/pr-merge/workflow.test.mjs b/.github/scripts/pr-merge/workflow.test.mjs
index dd1fe9a7b3..0c7a91f4ce 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/pr-merge/workflow.test.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/pr-merge/workflow.test.mjs
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ test("enable-auto-merge logs both tokens' readings at job end, before the token
   const block = /- name: Log the API budget at job end\n([\s\S]*?)(?=\n {6}- name: |$)/.exec(arm)?.[1];
   assert.ok(block, "a job-end budget step");
   assert.match(block, /\n {8}uses: \.\/\.base\/\.github\/actions\/log-api-budget /);
-  assert.match(block, /^ {8}id: budget-end\n {8}if: always\(\) && steps\.lane-token\.outputs\.token != ''\n/);
+  assert.match(block, /^ {8}id: budget-end\n {8}if: always\(\) && needs\.post-merge-dispatch\.outputs\.rate-limited == ''\n/);
   assert.match(block, /\n {8}continue-on-error: true\n {8}timeout-minutes: 1\n/);
   assert.match(block, /\n {10}tokens: lanes-app github-token\n/);
   // The reader's gh calls read into both names.
@@ -498,7 +498,9 @@ test("enable-auto-merge logs both tokens' readings at job end, before the token
 // The hub ranks GITHUB_TOKEN spend by each job's `api-calls` notice, so a
 // job that calls GitHub with the job token and logs nothing is spend no one
 // sees. Every such job carries the log-api-budget step, run whatever failed
-// before it, naming github-token.
+// or stopped before it, naming github-token: under `always()` alone, so a job
+// that ends before it mints a lane token still logs the job token's calls. A
+// token with no reading gets no line (log-api-budget.test.mjs).
 test("every job that calls GitHub with the job token logs its api-calls", () => {
   const ids = [...jobs.matchAll(/\n {2}([a-z-]+):\n/g)].map((m) => m[1]);
   const callers = ids.filter((id) => job(id).includes("${{ github.token }}"));
@@ -508,7 +510,7 @@ test("every job that calls GitHub with the job token logs its api-calls", () =>
   const unlogged = callers.filter((id) => {
     const step = `\n${/- name: Log the API budget[^\n]*\n([\s\S]*?)(?=\n {6}- name: |$)/.exec(job(id))?.[1] ?? ""}`;
     return !(
-      /\n {8}if: always\(\)/.test(step) &&
+      /\n {8}if: always\(\)(?: && needs\.post-merge-dispatch\.outputs\.rate-limited == '')?\n/.test(step) &&
       /\n {8}continue-on-error: true\n/.test(step) &&
       /\n {8}uses: \.\/\.base\/\.github\/actions\/log-api-budget /.test(step) &&
       /\n {10}tokens: (?:[a-z-]+ )*github-token\b/.test(step)
@@ -517,6 +519,144 @@ test("every job that calls GitHub with the job token logs its api-calls", () =>
   assert.deepEqual(unlogged, []);
 });
 
+// A node step whose only token is the job token and whose script builds a
+// createGitHub client keeps each answer's reading under github-token (the
+// client's rate guard writes it when API_BUDGET_TOKEN names the bucket), or
+// the job-end notice counts nothing. A step whose script calls nothing needs
+// no bucket, so none is asked of it.
+test("every createGitHub step that calls GitHub with the job token alone names API_BUDGET_TOKEN github-token", () => {
+  const ids = [...jobs.matchAll(/\n {2}([a-z-]+):\n/g)].map((m) => m[1]);
+  const unnamed = [];
+  const needless = [];
+  for (const id of ids) {
+    const body = job(id);
+    const jobBucket = /(?:^|\n) {4}env:\n(?: {6}.*\n)*? {6}API_BUDGET_TOKEN: ([a-z-]+)$/m.exec(body.split("\n    steps:\n")[0])?.[1];
+    for (const step of body.split(/\n {6}- name: /).slice(1)) {
+      const name = step.split("\n")[0];
+      const script = /\n {8}run: (?:\|\n(?: {10}.*\n|\s*\n)*? {10})?(?:[A-Z_]+=\S+ )*node \.base\/(\S+\.mjs)/.exec(step)?.[1];
+      if (!script || !step.includes("${{ github.token }}") || step.includes("${{ steps.lane-token.outputs.token }}")) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      const calls = readFileSync(new URL(`../../../${script}`, import.meta.url), "utf8").includes("createGitHub(");
+      const bucket = /\n {10}API_BUDGET_TOKEN: ([a-z-]+)\n/.exec(step)?.[1];
+      if (calls && (bucket ?? jobBucket) !== "github-token") {
+        unnamed.push(`${id}: ${name}`);
+      }
+      if (!calls && bucket !== undefined) {
+        needless.push(`${id}: ${name}`);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  assert.deepEqual(unnamed, []);
+  assert.deepEqual(needless, []);
+});
+
+// The sweep-count step's one read, the run's start, goes through the wrapped
+// gh, so the job-end notice counts it; sweep-summary.mjs calls nothing.
+test("the merge job's sweep-count read leaves one github-token reading", () => {
+  const step = /- name: Count the sweep's refusals\n([\s\S]*?)(?=\n {6}- name: )/.exec(job("merge"))[1];
+  const run = /\n {8}run: \|\n((?: {10}.*\n|\s*\n)+)/.exec(step)[1].replace(/^ {10}/gm, "");
+  const dir = tempDir("pr-merge-sweep-count-");
+  try {
+    mkdirSync(join(dir, "bin"));
+    symlinkSync(fileURLToPath(new URL("../../..", import.meta.url)), join(dir, ".base"));
+    const headers = "X-Ratelimit-Limit: 5000\\r\\nX-Ratelimit-Remaining: 4000\\r\\nX-Ratelimit-Used: 1000\\r\\nX-Ratelimit-Reset: 9999999999\\r\\nX-Ratelimit-Resource: core\\r\\n\\r\\n";
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(dir, "bin", "gh"),
+      `#!/usr/bin/env bash
+printf 'HTTP/2.0 200 OK\\r\\n${headers}'
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do if [ "$1" = --jq ]; then echo '{"run_started_at":"2026-10-28T00:00:00Z"}' | jq -r "$2"; exit; fi; shift; done
+`,
+      { mode: 0o755 },
+    );
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "bin", "node"), "#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho \"$RUN_STARTED_AT\" >\"$RUNNER_TEMP/started\"\n", { mode: 0o755 });
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, "sweep.json"), '{"refusal_counts":{}}');
+    const r = spawnSync("bash", ["-c", run], {
+      cwd: dir,
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      env: { PATH: `${join(dir, "bin")}:${process.env.PATH}`, GH_TOKEN: "x", REPO: "o/r", GITHUB_RUN_ID: "77", LIMITED: "", RUNNER_TEMP: dir, SWEEP_SUMMARY_TO: join(dir, "sweep.json") },
+    });
+    assert.equal(r.status, 0, r.stdout + r.stderr);
+    assert.equal(readFileSync(join(dir, "started"), "utf8"), "2026-10-28T00:00:00Z\n");
+    assert.equal(readFileSync(join(dir, "api-budget", "github-token"), "utf8"), "200 5000 4000 1000 9999999999 core\n");
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+// A run that stops at the superseded step, before the lane token, still
+// ends with the job token's calls: who's read, the pending-run listing and
+// the waiting run's jobs read, each through createGitHub.
+for (const jobId of ["merge", "enable-auto-merge"]) {
+  test(`${jobId}: a run that stops as superseded still logs its github-token calls`, async () => {
+    const body = job(jobId);
+    const stepOf = (name) => new RegExp(`- name: ${name}\\n([\\s\\S]*?)(?=\\n {6}- name: |\\n*$)`).exec(body)?.[1];
+    const context = { "github.event_name": "workflow_dispatch", "github.actor_id": String(OWNER.id), "github.token": "t" };
+    const envOf = (step) =>
+      Object.fromEntries([...step.matchAll(/^ {10}([A-Z_]+): (.*)$/gm)].map(([, k, v]) => [k, v.replace(/\$\{\{ (\S+) \}\}/g, (_, e) => context[e] ?? "")]));
+    const answers = {
+      "/repos/o/r/actions/runs/4242": { id: 4242, run_attempt: 2, actor: OWNER, triggering_actor: OWNER },
+      "/repos/o/r/actions/workflows/pr-merge.yml/runs": { workflow_runs: [{ id: 5000, status: "pending", event: "schedule", head_branch: "main", run_attempt: 1 }] },
+      "/repos/o/r/actions/runs/5000/jobs": { jobs: [{ name: jobId, status: "waiting" }] },
+    };
+    const server = createServer((req, res) => {
+      const answer = answers[req.url.split("?")[0]];
+      res.writeHead(answer ? 200 : 404, {
+        "Content-Type": "application/json",
+        "X-Ratelimit-Limit": "5000",
+        "X-Ratelimit-Remaining": "4000",
+        "X-Ratelimit-Used": "1000",
+        "X-Ratelimit-Reset": "9999999999",
+        "X-Ratelimit-Resource": "core",
+      });
+      res.end(JSON.stringify(answer ?? { message: "Not Found" }));
+    });
+    await new Promise((resolve) => server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", resolve));
+    const dir = tempDir("pr-merge-superseded-budget-");
+    try {
+      symlinkSync(fileURLToPath(new URL("../../../", import.meta.url)), join(dir, ".base"));
+      const output = join(dir, "output");
+      writeFileSync(output, "");
+      writeFileSync(join(dir, "summary"), "");
+      const base = {
+        PATH: process.env.PATH,
+        RUNNER_TEMP: dir,
+        GITHUB_OUTPUT: output,
+        GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY: join(dir, "summary"),
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "o/r",
+        GITHUB_RUN_ID: "4242",
+        GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT: "2",
+        GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: "workflow_dispatch",
+        GITHUB_API_URL: `http://127.0.0.1:${server.address().port}`,
+        NODE_OPTIONS: "--preserve-symlinks-main",
+      };
+      for (const name of ["Check who started the run", "Check for a newer run that does this work"]) {
+        const step = stepOf(name);
+        const run = /\n {8}run: (.*)/.exec(step)[1];
+        const status = await new Promise((resolve) =>
+          spawn("bash", ["-ec", run], { cwd: dir, env: { ...base, ...envOf(step) }, stdio: "ignore" }).on("close", resolve),
+        );
+        assert.equal(status, 0, name);
+      }
+      assert.match(readFileSync(output, "utf8"), /^proceed=true$/m);
+      assert.match(readFileSync(output, "utf8"), /^superseded=true$/m);
+      const log = stepOf("Log the API budget at job end");
+      assert.match(log, /^ {8}id: budget-end\n {8}if: always\(\) && needs\.post-merge-dispatch\.outputs\.rate-limited == ''\n/);
+      const action = readFileSync(new URL("../../actions/log-api-budget/action.yml", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+      const out = spawnSync("bash", ["-c", /\n {6}run: \|\n([\s\S]*)$/.exec(action)[1].replace(/^ {8}/gm, "")], {
+        cwd: dir,
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        env: { ...base, GITHUB_ACTION_PATH: fileURLToPath(new URL("../../actions/log-api-budget/", import.meta.url)), TOKENS: /\n {10}tokens: (.*)\n/.exec(log)[1] },
+      });
+      assert.match(out.stdout, /^::notice title=api-calls::github-token=3 not-modified=0$/m);
+      assert.doesNotMatch(out.stdout, /lanes-app/);
+    } finally {
+      server.close();
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 // The lane's room (lane-room) reads this run's post-merge report, which
 // post-merge-dispatch keeps, rather than running the check a third time per
 // scheduled run, and the rung cap as the merge job passes it: an unset cap
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-merge.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-merge.yml
index a3b0a29bd6..404f1d54ce 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-merge.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-merge.yml
@@ -854,6 +854,7 @@ jobs:
         id: who
         if: steps.kill.outputs.proceed == 'true'
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           # The lane token holds no Actions permission.
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           ACTOR_ID: ${{ github.actor_id }}
@@ -872,6 +873,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.who.outputs.proceed == 'true'
         continue-on-error: true
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           # The lane token holds no Actions permission.
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           TRUSTED_ACTORS_PATH: .base/.github/standards/trusted-actors/trusted-actors.json
@@ -1063,6 +1065,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.candidates.outcome == 'success'
         continue-on-error: true
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           CANDIDATES_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/candidates.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -1078,6 +1081,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.candidates.outcome == 'success'
         continue-on-error: true
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           HEAD_REFS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/head-refs-in.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -1100,6 +1104,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 2
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           CARRY_TO: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-carried.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -1125,6 +1130,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 2
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           BABYSIT_VERIFY_LISTING_CARRY: ${{ runner.temp }}/verify-listing-carry.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -1139,6 +1145,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.lane-token.outputs.token != ''
         continue-on-error: true
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           LANE_RECORDS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/lane-records.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -1658,6 +1665,9 @@ jobs:
           SWEEP_SUMMARY_TO: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-sweep.json
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
+          # The read goes through the wrapped gh, so the job-end notice counts it.
+          . .base/.github/actions/log-api-budget/api-budget.bash
+          api_budget_wrap_gh github-token
           # After the gate's rate-limit stop, no read: the start stays unknown.
           RUN_STARTED_AT=
           if [ "$LIMITED" != true ]; then
@@ -1774,9 +1784,13 @@ jobs:
           retention-days: 1
           if-no-files-found: ignore
 
+      # Under always(), not the lane token, so a run that stops before it mints
+      # one (superseded, refused) still logs the job token's calls; a token
+      # with no reading gets no line. After post-merge-dispatch's rate-limit
+      # stop the job made no call and checked nothing out.
       - name: Log the API budget at job end
         id: budget-end
-        if: always() && steps.lane-token.outputs.token != ''
+        if: always() && needs.post-merge-dispatch.outputs.rate-limited == ''
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 1
         uses: ./.base/.github/actions/log-api-budget # zizmor: ignore[self-repository]
@@ -1942,6 +1956,7 @@ jobs:
         id: who
         if: steps.kill.outputs.proceed == 'true'
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           # The lane token holds no Actions permission.
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           ACTOR_ID: ${{ github.actor_id }}
@@ -1962,6 +1977,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 2
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           SUPERSEDED_JOB: enable-auto-merge
           TRUSTED_ACTORS_PATH: .base/.github/standards/trusted-actors/trusted-actors.json
@@ -2000,6 +2016,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.lane-token.outputs.token != '' && (github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch')
         continue-on-error: true
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           HEAD_REFS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/head-refs-in.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -2009,6 +2026,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.lane-token.outputs.token != '' && (github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch')
         continue-on-error: true
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           BABYSIT_VERIFY_LISTING_CARRY: ${{ runner.temp }}/verify-listing-carry.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -2019,6 +2037,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 2
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           CARRY_TO: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-carried.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -2044,6 +2063,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 2
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           VERIFY_ANSWERS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/verify-answers-in.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -2080,6 +2100,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 2
         env:
+          API_BUDGET_TOKEN: github-token
           ACTIONS_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
           LANE_RECORDS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/lane-records.json
           PR_MERGE_READS_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/pr-merge-reads.json
@@ -2174,9 +2195,13 @@ jobs:
           retention-days: 1
           if-no-files-found: ignore
 
+      # Under always(), not the lane token, so a run that stops before it mints
+      # one (superseded, refused) still logs the job token's calls; a token
+      # with no reading gets no line. After post-merge-dispatch's rate-limit
+      # stop the job made no call and checked nothing out.
       - name: Log the API budget at job end
         id: budget-end
-        if: always() && steps.lane-token.outputs.token != ''
+        if: always() && needs.post-merge-dispatch.outputs.rate-limited == ''
         continue-on-error: true
         timeout-minutes: 1
         uses: ./.base/.github/actions/log-api-budget # zizmor: ignore[self-repository]