diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index 1db6f2a..468cc10 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -794,6 +794,10 @@ AI получает JSON-массив:
 2026-07-30 один пост (`id=2348`) был платно отправлен в Sonnet 4.6 983 раза,
 потому что failed снова попадал в claim и цикл сразу продолжал работу. Failed
 посты нужно возвращать в `pending` только явным ручным действием.
+Sonnet 4.6 в этом кейсе возвращал `category_id=18` (`Не целевой контент`) и
+пустой `text`, объясняя отказ в `notes`; это валидный AI-отказ, а не ошибка
+рерайта. Проверка минимальной длины текста применяется только к целевым
+категориям.
 После failed AI batch worker помечает конкретные посты как `failed` и продолжает
 обрабатывать другие `pending` посты. Ошибка показывается на `/workers` из
 heartbeat meta и отправляется Telegram-уведомлением получателям
diff --git a/STATE.md b/STATE.md
index ea03f7d..4f4e46a 100644
--- a/STATE.md
+++ b/STATE.md
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ As of 2026-07-29:
 - Current live writer model setting checked on 2026-07-29: `ai_writer_model = anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6`.
 - Sonnet 4.6 can return `rewrites` as a JSON string instead of a list. `validate_rewrites()` in `src/vk_parser_app/workers/ai_writer.py` now parses stringified `rewrites` before validation.
 - 2026-07-30 incident: post `2348` was retried 983 times by AI writer because automatic claim included `rewrite_status='failed'`; estimated internal cost was `$16.465977`. Live setting `ai_writer_enabled` was switched to `false` manually to stop spend. Automatic AI qualifier/writer claims must not include `failed`; failed posts require an explicit manual reset to `pending`. AI writer/qualifier keep running after a failed batch, show the error on `/workers`, and send a Telegram alert via daily-report/TG-poster bot recipients.
+- Sonnet 4.6 may return `category_id=18` (`Не целевой контент`) with empty `text` and the explanation in `notes`. This is valid AI rejection, not a writer error; `validate_rewrites()` allows short/empty text only for non-target category.
 
 ## Prompt Architecture
 
diff --git a/src/vk_parser_app/workers/ai_writer.py b/src/vk_parser_app/workers/ai_writer.py
index 39c29f0..54b0bec 100644
--- a/src/vk_parser_app/workers/ai_writer.py
+++ b/src/vk_parser_app/workers/ai_writer.py
@@ -152,8 +152,6 @@ def validate_rewrites(
         if post_id not in expected_ids:
             raise ValueError(f"AI returned unexpected id={post_id}")
         text = strip_leading_emoji_markers(str(item.get("text") or "").strip())
-        if len(text) < 40:
-            raise ValueError(f"AI returned too short rewrite for id={post_id}")
         by_id = {int(c["id"]): c for c in categories if c.get("id") is not None}
         by_name = {str(c["name"]).lower(): c for c in categories if c.get("name")}
         if item.get("category_id") is not None:
@@ -170,6 +168,8 @@ def validate_rewrites(
         seen.add(post_id)
         category_tag = normalize_hash_tag(category_row.get("tag") or category_row.get("name") or "", "category")
         reject_by_category = int(category_row["id"]) == NON_TARGET_CATEGORY_ID or category_tag.lower() in NON_TARGET_CATEGORY_TAGS
+        if not reject_by_category and len(text) < 40:
+            raise ValueError(f"AI returned too short rewrite for id={post_id}")
         out.append(
             {
                 "id": post_id,