diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
index 941674524f..3cd5c01fab 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 ## [Unreleased]
 
 ### Fixed
+
+- `notify health` no longer counts retained native cleanup leak artifacts (`.gjc-exact-unlink-placeholder-*`, `.gjc-delete-*`) as endpoint files. They are unparseable by construction, so they were reported as unreadable endpoints and pinned health to a WARN that `notify recovery` could never clear.
 - ACP session configuration now emits the spec-defined `category` field on the Mode, Model, and Thinking select options (`mode`, `model`, `thought_level`), so standards-compliant ACP clients such as Paseo discover models, modes, and thinking levels instead of an empty model picker (#3922).
 - The ACP session model catalog is now filtered to active providers via `providers.list/active`, falling back to the full catalog on older session hosts, so ACP clients no longer list models for providers without usable credentials (#3922).
 
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/sdk/bus/notification-service.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/sdk/bus/notification-service.ts
index 18b78c551e..47a0877081 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/sdk/bus/notification-service.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/sdk/bus/notification-service.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,12 @@ import { DiscordLiveProvider } from "./discord-live-provider";
 import type { DiscordDiagnosticProvider } from "./discord-provider";
 import { SlackLiveProvider } from "./slack-live-provider";
 import type { SlackDiagnosticProvider } from "./slack-provider";
-import { type OwnerFreshnessSnapshot, readOwnerFreshnessSnapshot, type TelegramDaemonFs } from "./telegram-daemon";
+import {
+	isNotificationLeakArtifactName,
+	type OwnerFreshnessSnapshot,
+	readOwnerFreshnessSnapshot,
+	type TelegramDaemonFs,
+} from "./telegram-daemon";
 import { DAEMON_GENERATION } from "./telegram-daemon-contract";
 
 const DEFAULT_API_BASE = "https://api.telegram.org";
@@ -446,7 +451,12 @@ function isCanonicalLifecycleArtifactName(name: string): boolean {
 }
 
 function unreadableEndpointResult(file: string): NotificationEndpointClassification {
-	return isCanonicalLifecycleArtifactName(path.basename(file)) ? { kind: "non-endpoint" } : { kind: "unreadable" };
+	const name = path.basename(file);
+	// Retained native cleanup leak artifacts are not endpoint candidates. They are
+	// unparseable by construction (often zero-byte), so counting them as unreadable
+	// pins `notify health` to a WARN that `notify recovery` can never clear.
+	if (isCanonicalLifecycleArtifactName(name) || isNotificationLeakArtifactName(name)) return { kind: "non-endpoint" };
+	return { kind: "unreadable" };
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/test/notifications-service.test.ts b/packages/coding-agent/test/notifications-service.test.ts
index 47dd88fd5b..12bafb4be7 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/test/notifications-service.test.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/test/notifications-service.test.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import type {
 import {
 	buildNotificationStatusReport,
 	checkNotificationHealth,
+	classifyNotificationEndpoint,
 	formatNotificationHealthReport,
 	formatNotificationRecoveryReport,
 	formatNotificationStatusReport,
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ import {
 	sendNotificationTest,
 	writeNotificationDiagnostic,
 } from "../src/sdk/bus/notification-service";
+import { NOTIFICATION_LEAK_ARTIFACT_PREFIXES } from "../src/sdk/bus/telegram-daemon";
 import { DAEMON_GENERATION } from "../src/sdk/bus/telegram-daemon-contract";
 
 const TOKEN = "1234567890:ABCDEFghijkLmnOpQrsTuvWxYz012345678";
@@ -1304,3 +1306,41 @@ describe("notification-service diagnostic sanitization (secret-safe)", () => {
 		expect(result.detail).toContain("no usable message receipt");
 	});
 });
+describe("endpoint classification of retained cleanup leak artifacts", () => {
+	const dir = "/state/sdk";
+	function fsWith(bytes: Record<string, string>) {
+		return {
+			readEndpointFile: async (file: string) => {
+				const raw = bytes[file];
+				if (raw === undefined) throw Object.assign(new Error("ENOENT"), { code: "ENOENT" });
+				return { bytes: Buffer.from(raw), identity: {} };
+			},
+		} as unknown as Parameters<typeof classifyNotificationEndpoint>[0];
+	}
+
+	test("classifies every native leak artifact prefix as a non-endpoint", async () => {
+		const names = NOTIFICATION_LEAK_ARTIFACT_PREFIXES.map(prefix => `${prefix}100000d-8b39653`);
+		const fs = fsWith(Object.fromEntries(names.map(name => [path.join(dir, name), ""])));
+		for (const name of names) {
+			const record = await classifyNotificationEndpoint(fs, path.join(dir, name), () => false);
+			expect(record.kind).toBe("non-endpoint");
+		}
+	});
+
+	test("still reports a genuinely corrupt endpoint file as unreadable", async () => {
+		const file = path.join(dir, "019fc01a-c994-7000-a08e-d0ae1fceef89.json");
+		const record = await classifyNotificationEndpoint(fsWith({ [file]: "{not json" }), file, () => false);
+		expect(record.kind).toBe("unreadable");
+	});
+
+	test("keeps notify health OK when only leak artifacts sit beside live endpoints", async () => {
+		const live = path.join(dir, "019fc01a-c994-7000-a08e-d0ae1fceef89.json");
+		const placeholder = path.join(dir, ".gjc-exact-unlink-placeholder-100000d-8b39653");
+		const fs = fsWith({
+			[live]: JSON.stringify({ sessionId: "s", url: "ws://x", token: "t", pid: process.pid }),
+			[placeholder]: "",
+		});
+		expect((await classifyNotificationEndpoint(fs, live, () => true)).kind).toBe("endpoint");
+		expect((await classifyNotificationEndpoint(fs, placeholder, () => true)).kind).toBe("non-endpoint");
+	});
+});