diff --git a/crates/rhema-claw/src/config.rs b/crates/rhema-claw/src/config.rs
index 97844ad..407fc8d 100644
--- a/crates/rhema-claw/src/config.rs
+++ b/crates/rhema-claw/src/config.rs
@@ -280,10 +280,9 @@ pub struct ClawConfig {
     pub listen: Option<String>,
     /// The bounded request view over the claw's sessions — past a byte
     /// budget, older messages summarize into lines the agent's `zoom`
-    /// tool can open. On when unset; `transcript: false` sends the
-    /// whole history every step, as the coding agent does by default.
-    /// The claw turns it on because its chats and coding jobs never end
-    /// by design: a stashed session only ever grows.
+    /// tool can open. On when unset, matching the coding agent's
+    /// default; `transcript: false` sends the whole history every
+    /// step.
     pub transcript: Option<bool>,
     /// Bearer token for the `/v1` routes. Unset means the surface is
     /// open on its interface; set it when the port is reachable from
diff --git a/crates/rhema-claw/src/handler.rs b/crates/rhema-claw/src/handler.rs
index 8962ed2..78554c9 100644
--- a/crates/rhema-claw/src/handler.rs
+++ b/crates/rhema-claw/src/handler.rs
@@ -234,9 +234,11 @@ impl ClawHandler {
     /// the view its history would ride whole on every step.
     fn agent_config(&self, model: &str, workspace: &Path) -> CodingAgentConfig {
         let mut config = CodingAgentConfig::new(model, workspace);
-        if self.transcript {
-            config.transcript = Some(rhema_transcript::TranscriptSettings::default());
-        }
+        // Write the resolved value, not an override: the coding agent's
+        // own default is on now, and the config's `false` must win.
+        config.transcript = self
+            .transcript
+            .then(rhema_transcript::TranscriptSettings::default);
         config
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/rhema-claw/src/jobs.rs b/crates/rhema-claw/src/jobs.rs
index f351d86..48bf87a 100644
--- a/crates/rhema-claw/src/jobs.rs
+++ b/crates/rhema-claw/src/jobs.rs
@@ -200,11 +200,13 @@ impl CodingJobHandler {
         let (provider, model) = self.backends.current();
         let mut config = CodingAgentConfig::new(model, &workspace);
         config.max_turn_steps = self.max_turn_steps;
-        if self.transcript {
-            // A job's stashed session carries across runs and only ever
-            // grows; the view is what keeps a repeat run's steps cheap.
-            config.transcript = Some(rhema_transcript::TranscriptSettings::default());
-        }
+        // A job's stashed session carries across runs and only ever
+        // grows; the view is what keeps a repeat run's steps cheap.
+        // Write the resolved value, not an override: the coding agent's
+        // own default is on now, and the config's `false` must win.
+        config.transcript = self
+            .transcript
+            .then(rhema_transcript::TranscriptSettings::default);
         let stashed = self
             .store
             .session(&instance_name)