diff --git a/src/runner.rs b/src/runner.rs
index 531f0b6..ec32f41 100644
--- a/src/runner.rs
+++ b/src/runner.rs
@@ -788,10 +788,10 @@ where
                     cfg.rotation.cooldown_jitter_seconds,
                 );
                 // Personal limits cool this seat only. Credits and spend caps
-                // are per *workspace*: every seat sharing this seat's
-                // account_id is equally blocked, so cool them together rather
-                // than burning an attempt discovering it.
-                let affected = affected_seats(&cfg, &chosen, reason);
+                // are per *workspace*: the seats sharing this seat's
+                // account_id that the blocker really reaches are cooled
+                // together rather than burning an attempt discovering it.
+                let affected = affected_seats(&cfg, &state, &chosen, reason, Utc::now());
                 cool_seats(&mut state, &affected, cd, reason, Utc::now());
                 let entry = state.entry_mut(&chosen);
                 entry.consecutive_failures = entry.consecutive_failures.saturating_add(1);
@@ -1128,14 +1128,24 @@ fn redeem_reset(
     }
 }
 
-/// Seats to cool for a failure on `chosen`: just it for a personal limit;
-/// every seat in the same workspace for credits / spend caps.
-fn affected_seats(cfg: &SeatConfig, chosen: &str, reason: ratelimit::CooldownReason) -> Vec<String> {
+/// Seats to cool for a failure on `chosen`: just it for a personal limit.
+/// For a workspace blocker, the same-workspace seats the blocker actually
+/// reaches — every one of them for a spend cap, and for credits only those
+/// with no included quota left (`usage::blocker_targets`). `chosen` is always
+/// included: it just failed, whatever its recorded reading says.
+fn affected_seats(
+    cfg: &SeatConfig,
+    state: &SeatState,
+    chosen: &str,
+    reason: ratelimit::CooldownReason,
+    now: DateTime<Utc>,
+) -> Vec<String> {
     if reason.is_window_based() {
-        vec![chosen.to_string()]
-    } else {
-        workspace_siblings(cfg, chosen)
+        return vec![chosen.to_string()];
     }
+    // A workspace blocker does not necessarily block every seat: see
+    // `usage::blocker_targets`. `chosen` is always included — it just failed.
+    usage::blocker_targets(state, &workspace_siblings(cfg, chosen), reason, Some(chosen), now)
 }
 
 /// Compose the `Seat:` line: which seat ran, under which strategy (or pin),
diff --git a/src/usage.rs b/src/usage.rs
index 07d58f8..1b51fb2 100644
--- a/src/usage.rs
+++ b/src/usage.rs
@@ -1152,6 +1152,47 @@ pub fn quota_state(st: &SeatRuntimeState, now: DateTime<Utc>) -> QuotaState {
     }
 }
 
+/// True when the seat's recorded reading shows it still has included quota to
+/// run on. A seat with no reading at all does **not** count as having
+/// headroom: with no evidence either way a workspace blocker stands, and the
+/// next refresh corrects it.
+pub fn has_included_headroom(st: &SeatRuntimeState, now: DateTime<Utc>) -> bool {
+    st.usage
+        .as_ref()
+        .is_some_and(|snap| matches!(verdict(snap, now), UsageVerdict::Healthy))
+}
+
+/// Narrow a workspace-wide blocker to the seats it actually blocks.
+///
+/// `credits` only bites a seat that has used up its included quota. A sibling
+/// still inside its own windows runs for free and was never going to spend
+/// credits, so cooling it takes a usable seat out of rotation for nothing —
+/// and, because `credits` is neither lifted by a free reset nor given a real
+/// reset time, it would stay out for a full `default_cooldown_seconds` and be
+/// re-applied on every refresh for as long as the sibling stays blocked.
+///
+/// `spend_control` is an admin-set hard stop on the workspace, so it keeps
+/// cooling every member regardless of their own headroom.
+///
+/// `always` is the seat whose own failure produced the blocker: it is cooled
+/// whatever its (possibly stale) reading says.
+pub fn blocker_targets(
+    state: &SeatState,
+    members: &[String],
+    reason: CooldownReason,
+    always: Option<&str>,
+    now: DateTime<Utc>,
+) -> Vec<String> {
+    if reason != CooldownReason::Credits {
+        return members.to_vec();
+    }
+    members
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|m| always == Some(m.as_str()) || !has_included_headroom(&state.get(m), now))
+        .cloned()
+        .collect()
+}
+
 fn cooldown_until_for(
     reason: CooldownReason,
     resets_at: Option<DateTime<Utc>>,
@@ -1255,12 +1296,17 @@ pub fn reapply_cached_exhaustion(
 /// 2. A seat's own personal exhaustion (a window at 100% with no credits, a
 ///    per-seat reached flag) cools that seat, through `merge_cooldown`.
 /// 3. Per workspace, over the fetched members: a workspace-wide blocker
-///    (spend cap, or a credits-depleted flag) cools every member of the
-///    workspace — **blockers dominate regardless of order**; otherwise, if any
+///    (spend cap, or a credits-depleted flag) cools the members it actually
+///    blocks — every member for a spend cap, and for credits only those with
+///    no included quota left to run on (see [`blocker_targets`]).
+///    **Blockers dominate regardless of order**; otherwise, if any
 ///    member shows credits available, cooldowns that credits make moot
 ///    (`rate_limit`, `credits`) are cleared on every member. Clearing never
 ///    spends anything: the credit policy still gates `OnCredits` seats.
-/// 4. `needs_login` is never touched.
+/// 4. A seat whose fresh reading is `Healthy` while it still carries a
+///    `credits` cooldown has that cooldown cleared: credits are never that
+///    seat's own block, and nothing else would lift it.
+/// 5. `needs_login` is never touched.
 ///
 /// Returns `(seat, notice)` pairs for display and the events log.
 pub fn reconcile_snapshots(
@@ -1341,7 +1387,8 @@ pub fn reconcile_snapshots(
             .max_by_key(|(r, _)| r.strength());
         if let Some((reason, resets_at)) = blocker {
             let until = cooldown_until_for(reason, resets_at, &cfg.rotation, now);
-            let changed = seat::cool_seats(state, &members, until, reason, now);
+            let targets = blocker_targets(state, &members, reason, None, now);
+            let changed = seat::cool_seats(state, &targets, until, reason, now);
             if !changed.is_empty() {
                 notices.push((
                     first.clone(),
@@ -1402,19 +1449,46 @@ pub fn reconcile_snapshots(
             continue;
         }
         let st = state.get(name);
-        if let Some(u) = st.cooldown_until.filter(|u| *u > now) {
+        let Some(u) = st.cooldown_until.filter(|u| *u > now) else {
+            continue;
+        };
+        let reason = CooldownReason::parse(st.cooldown_reason.as_deref().unwrap_or(""));
+        // A `credits` cooldown is never about this seat's own limits: it was
+        // propagated from a workspace sibling, at a moment when this seat's
+        // own headroom was unknown or stale. A fresh `Healthy` reading proves
+        // it can run on included quota, and `cool_seats` only ever extends a
+        // cooldown, so without this nothing would ever lift it and the
+        // blocked-run probe would reach the same dead end every time.
+        //
+        // `Healthy` is the whole condition: an `OnCredits` seat has no
+        // included quota left and must keep the cooldown. `rate_limit`,
+        // `model_limit` and `spend_control` are left alone — those are the
+        // seat's own block, not one inherited from a sibling.
+        if reason == CooldownReason::Credits && matches!(v, UsageVerdict::Healthy) {
+            let entry = state.entry_mut(name);
+            entry.cooldown_until = None;
+            entry.cooldown_reason = None;
             notices.push((
                 name.clone(),
                 format!(
-                    "seat '{}' is cooling until {} ({}) but reports {}; clear with `codex-clean seat status --clear-cooldown {}`",
+                    "seat '{}' has included quota left ({}); cleared the credits cooldown propagated to it",
                     name,
-                    format_local(u),
-                    st.cooldown_reason.as_deref().unwrap_or("rate_limit"),
-                    st.usage.as_ref().map(summarize_usage_short).unwrap_or_else(|| "-".into()),
-                    name
+                    st.usage.as_ref().map(summarize_usage_short).unwrap_or_else(|| "-".into())
                 ),
             ));
+            continue;
         }
+        notices.push((
+            name.clone(),
+            format!(
+                "seat '{}' is cooling until {} ({}) but reports {}; clear with `codex-clean seat status --clear-cooldown {}`",
+                name,
+                format_local(u),
+                st.cooldown_reason.as_deref().unwrap_or("rate_limit"),
+                st.usage.as_ref().map(summarize_usage_short).unwrap_or_else(|| "-".into()),
+                name
+            ),
+        ));
     }
     notices
 }
@@ -2029,7 +2103,10 @@ mod tests {
         let cfg = cfg_ws(&[("a", "ws"), ("b", "ws")]);
         let mut blocked = snap_with(&[(10080, 50, Some(60))]);
         blocked.buckets[0].rate_limit_reached_type = Some("workspace_member_credits_depleted".into());
-        let credits = with_credits(snap_with(&[(10080, 50, Some(60))]));
+        // b has no included quota left, so the workspace blocker reaches it;
+        // its own reading still claims credits, which must not mask the
+        // blocker whichever order the pair arrives in.
+        let credits = with_credits(snap_with(&[(10080, 100, Some(60))]));
         for order in [
             vec![("a".to_string(), blocked.clone()), ("b".to_string(), credits.clone())],
             vec![("b".to_string(), credits.clone()), ("a".to_string(), blocked.clone())],
@@ -2043,6 +2120,83 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn credits_blocker_spares_a_sibling_that_still_has_included_quota() {
+        // The workspace has no credits and `b` is flagged for it, but `a` is
+        // only part-way through its own windows: `a` runs for free and must
+        // stay usable. Cooling it would take the last good seat out of
+        // rotation, for a reason no free reset lifts, on every refresh.
+        let cfg = cfg_ws(&[("a", "ws"), ("b", "ws")]);
+        let a = snap_with(&[(300, 46, Some(7200)), (10080, 7, Some(600_000))]);
+        let mut b = snap_with(&[(300, 100, Some(9000)), (10080, 31, Some(600_000))]);
+        b.buckets[0].rate_limit_reached_type = Some("workspace_member_credits_depleted".into());
+
+        let mut state = SeatState::default();
+        let n = reconcile_snapshots(
+            &cfg,
+            &mut state,
+            vec![("a".into(), a), ("b".into(), b)],
+            now(),
+        );
+        assert!(state.get("a").cooldown_until.is_none(), "in-quota sibling left usable");
+        assert_eq!(state.get("b").cooldown_reason.as_deref(), Some("credits"), "the flagged seat still cools");
+        assert!(
+            n.iter().any(|(_, m)| m.starts_with("credits is workspace-wide; cooling b until ")),
+            "the notice names only the seat actually cooled: {:?}",
+            n
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !n.iter().any(|(_, m)| m.contains("--clear-cooldown a")),
+            "no 'cooling but reports fine' advice for a seat that was never cooled: {:?}",
+            n
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn credits_blocker_cools_a_sibling_with_no_reading_of_its_own() {
+        // No evidence of headroom: the blocker stands, and the blocked-run
+        // probe lifts it again once `a` has a reading.
+        let cfg = cfg_ws(&[("a", "ws"), ("b", "ws")]);
+        let mut b = snap_with(&[(300, 100, Some(9000))]);
+        b.buckets[0].rate_limit_reached_type = Some("workspace_member_credits_depleted".into());
+        let mut state = SeatState::default();
+        reconcile_snapshots(&cfg, &mut state, vec![("b".into(), b)], now());
+        assert_eq!(state.get("a").cooldown_reason.as_deref(), Some("credits"), "unknown sibling cooled");
+
+        // Now `a` reports headroom. The propagated cooldown must be lifted by
+        // that evidence alone: cool_seats only ever extends, so if this does
+        // not clear it, nothing does, and the blocked-run probe dead-ends here
+        // every time.
+        let a = snap_with(&[(300, 46, Some(7200))]);
+        let n = reconcile_snapshots(&cfg, &mut state, vec![("a".into(), a)], now());
+        assert!(state.get("a").cooldown_until.is_none(), "fresh headroom lifts the propagated cooldown");
+        assert!(
+            n.iter().any(|(s, m)| s == "a" && m.contains("cleared the credits cooldown propagated to it")),
+            "{:?}",
+            n
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn spend_control_still_cools_every_member_whatever_their_headroom() {
+        // An admin-set hard stop is not about included quota, so headroom
+        // does not spare a sibling the way it does for credits.
+        let cfg = cfg_ws(&[("a", "ws"), ("b", "ws")]);
+        let a = snap_with(&[(300, 46, Some(7200))]);
+        let mut b = snap_with(&[(300, 12, Some(7200))]);
+        b.spend_control_reached = Some(true);
+        let mut state = SeatState::default();
+        reconcile_snapshots(&cfg, &mut state, vec![("a".into(), a), ("b".into(), b)], now());
+        for seat in ["a", "b"] {
+            assert_eq!(
+                state.get(seat).cooldown_reason.as_deref(),
+                Some("spend_control"),
+                "{} cooled",
+                seat
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn reconcile_snapshot_is_the_probe_after_expiry() {
         let cfg = cfg_ws(&[("a", "ws")]);
diff --git a/tests/seat_integration.rs b/tests/seat_integration.rs
index c65621a..5f64bf1 100644
--- a/tests/seat_integration.rs
+++ b/tests/seat_integration.rs
@@ -1588,6 +1588,55 @@ fn workspace_cooldown_never_shortens_a_siblings_longer_cooldown() {
     assert_eq!(st.get("main").cooldown_reason.as_deref(), Some("credits"));
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn credits_failure_leaves_a_sibling_with_cached_headroom_runnable() {
+    // The run path, not the snapshot path: `main` fails with a credits error
+    // and `backup1` shares its workspace but has a cached reading showing
+    // plenty of included quota. `backup1` runs on that quota for free, so the
+    // credits blocker must not reach it. Before the blocker was scoped, it
+    // was cooled alongside `main` and the run ended 75 with a usable seat
+    // sitting idle.
+    let _g = ENV_LOCK.lock().unwrap_or_else(|e| e.into_inner());
+    let env = TestEnv::new();
+    let mut cfg = cfg_with_seats(&[("main", "ws-1"), ("backup1", "ws-1")]);
+    cfg.seats[0].user_id = Some("user-alice".into());
+    cfg.seats[1].user_id = Some("user-bob".into());
+    env.save_config(&cfg);
+    let seat_dir = env.clean_home_path.join("seats");
+    fs::create_dir_all(seat_dir.join("main")).unwrap();
+    fs::create_dir_all(seat_dir.join("backup1")).unwrap();
+    fs::write(seat_dir.join("main/auth.json"), seat::fake_auth_json_for_tests("ws-1", "user-alice", "a")).unwrap();
+    fs::write(seat_dir.join("backup1/auth.json"), seat::fake_auth_json_for_tests("ws-1", "user-bob", "b")).unwrap();
+
+    let mut state = SeatState::default();
+    // backup1 used more recently, so LRU reaches for main first.
+    state.entry_mut("backup1").last_used = Some(chrono::Utc::now());
+    state.entry_mut("backup1").usage = Some(snapshot(10, 10));
+    env.save_state(&state);
+
+    // First attempt (main) fails for credits; the second (backup1) succeeds.
+    let calls = RefCell::new(0usize);
+    let attempt = move |_args: &[String], _prompt: &str, _mode: &Mode, _scrub: bool| -> anyhow::Result<AttemptResult> {
+        *calls.borrow_mut() += 1;
+        if *calls.borrow() == 1 {
+            let mut a = rate_limit_attempt();
+            a.output.errors = vec!["Your workspace is out of credits. Add credits to continue.".to_string()];
+            return Ok(a);
+        }
+        Ok(ok_attempt())
+    };
+    let exit = runner::run_codex_with(&[], "hi", Mode::Exec, attempt).unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(exit, 0, "the run falls through to the seat that still has quota");
+    let st = env.load_state();
+    assert_eq!(st.get("main").cooldown_reason.as_deref(), Some("credits"), "the seat that failed is cooled");
+    assert!(
+        st.get("backup1").cooldown_until.is_none(),
+        "a sibling with included quota left is not cooled by the workspace credits blocker"
+    );
+    assert!(st.get("backup1").is_eligible(chrono::Utc::now()), "and stays eligible for the next run");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn status_propagates_workspace_wide_exhaustion_to_siblings() {
     let _g = ENV_LOCK.lock().unwrap_or_else(|e| e.into_inner());