diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4e0e6f9..40539ea 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,15 @@ Release-tag policy: every `vX.Y` commit on `main` must be tagged and have a matc
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Double-paste under XWayland kitty, round two. The kitty `ctrl+v` interception is retired: under XWayland, `kitten @ ls` reports `is_focused=false` for every OS window and empty `foreground_processes`, so `kitty-paste-router.sh`'s tmux detection could never succeed. Every paste took the slow fallthrough (a background `launch` that lands seconds late under load), and the late second fire fell outside the daemon's 2.5 s dedup window — observed as identical 162-byte pastes 4 s apart. `config/keybindings.canonical` now requires kitty `ctrl+v` to be `UNBOUND` (new canonical keyword, enforced by `flashpaste-keybindings-check.sh`); tmux's `bind -n C-v` is the single Ctrl+V handler (~5 ms, pane id always from the pressing client). In non-tmux kitty windows the raw `0x16` reaches Claude Code, which reads the clipboard itself via the `wl-paste` shim; plain shells use kitty's native `ctrl+shift+v`.
+
+### Added
+
+- `flashpaste-keybindings-check.sh`: `UNBOUND` keyword in `keybindings.canonical` asserts a key must NOT be bound on a surface (previously only positive "must contain" rules existed).
+- `kitty-paste-router.sh` now traces to the shared clipboard-pipeline log (`paste-router` tag: invoked / suppressed / fallthrough / pane-resolved / done / image-fallback), closing the observability gap that made this regression invisible — the router was the only paste path that wrote no logs.
+
 ## [1.34] - 2026-05-21
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/bin/flashpaste-keybindings-check.sh b/bin/flashpaste-keybindings-check.sh
index 8a211a7..e4235af 100755
--- a/bin/flashpaste-keybindings-check.sh
+++ b/bin/flashpaste-keybindings-check.sh
@@ -23,10 +23,20 @@ while read -r surface key want; do
   # Escape ERE metacharacters in the key (e.g. the '+' in ctrl+v).
   key_re=$(printf '%s' "$key" | sed 's/[][\\.^$*+?(){}|]/\\&/g')
   case "$surface" in
-    kitty) conf="$KITTY_CONF"; line=$(grep -E "^[[:space:]]*map[[:space:]]+$key_re[[:space:]]" "$conf" 2>/dev/null | tail -1) ;;
-    tmux)  conf="$TMUX_CONF";  line=$(grep -E "^[[:space:]]*bind[[:space:]]+-n[[:space:]]+$key_re[[:space:]]" "$conf" 2>/dev/null | tail -1) ;;
+    kitty) conf="$KITTY_CONF"; line=$(grep -E "^[[:space:]]*map[[:space:]]+${key_re}[[:space:]]" "$conf" 2>/dev/null | tail -1) ;;
+    tmux)  conf="$TMUX_CONF";  line=$(grep -E "^[[:space:]]*bind[[:space:]]+-n[[:space:]]+${key_re}[[:space:]]" "$conf" 2>/dev/null | tail -1) ;;
     *) echo "  ? unknown surface '$surface' in canonical"; drift=1; continue ;;
   esac
+  if [ "$want" = "UNBOUND" ]; then
+    if [ -z "$line" ]; then
+      echo "  ✓ $surface $key -> unbound (as required)"
+    else
+      echo "  ✗ $surface $key: must be UNBOUND but a live binding exists"
+      echo "      live: $line"
+      drift=1
+    fi
+    continue
+  fi
   if [ -z "$line" ]; then
     echo "  ✗ $surface $key: no binding found in $conf"
     drift=1
diff --git a/bin/kitty-paste-router.sh b/bin/kitty-paste-router.sh
index e9f89e0..37af778 100755
--- a/bin/kitty-paste-router.sh
+++ b/bin/kitty-paste-router.sh
@@ -22,8 +22,22 @@
 # this adds zero latency to the actual paste. When NOT in tmux, kitty's
 # handler is the only one and ~30ms there is unnoticeable.
 # ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# STATUS (2026-06-10): RETIRED from the default keybindings. Under XWayland
+# kitty, `kitten @ ls` reports is_focused=false for every window and empty
+# foreground_processes, so focused_window_is_tmux() can never succeed; every
+# paste took the slow fallthrough (background launch, seconds under load) and
+# a late second fire landed outside the daemon's dedup window -> double paste.
+# config/keybindings.canonical now requires kitty ctrl+v to be UNBOUND; tmux's
+# own `bind -n C-v` is the single handler. This script remains for
+# native-Wayland setups that still map it explicitly.
 set -u
 
+# Trace to the shared clipboard-pipeline log (same stream as paste_image.sh /
+# tmux-paste-dispatch.sh) so a real Ctrl+V shows which branch fired here.
+. "$(dirname -- "$0")/clip-pipeline-log.sh" 2>/dev/null || true
+type clog >/dev/null 2>&1 || clog() { :; }
+clog "paste-router" "event=invoked" "KITTY_LISTEN_ON='${KITTY_LISTEN_ON:-}'" "KITTY_WINDOW_ID='${KITTY_WINDOW_ID:-}'"
+
 PASTE_IMAGE_FALLBACK="${FLASHPASTE_IMAGE_FALLBACK:-/home/deadpool/paste_image.sh}"
 # Resolve kitty's remote-control socket.
 #
@@ -72,8 +86,10 @@ focused_window_is_tmux() {
 
 if focused_window_is_tmux; then
   # tmux's `bind -n C-v` owns this paste. Do nothing.
+  clog "paste-router" "event=suppressed" "reason=focused-window-is-tmux" "sock='$KITTY_SOCK'"
   exit 0
 fi
+clog "paste-router" "event=fallthrough" "reason=tmux-not-detected" "sock='$KITTY_SOCK'"
 
 # Not in tmux (or undetectable) — run the original kitty paste path. The
 # daemon dedups if this turns out to be a duplicate of tmux's fire.
@@ -81,7 +97,10 @@ pane="$(tmux display-message -p "#{pane_id}" 2>/dev/null)"
 # Only call the daemon trigger when we actually have a pane id. An empty
 # pane (no tmux at all) can't be a paste target, so go straight to the
 # image fallback instead of handing the daemon a blank pane.
+clog "paste-router" "event=pane-resolved" "pane='$pane'"
 if [ -n "$pane" ] && flashpaste-trigger "$pane" 2>/dev/null; then
+  clog "paste-router" "event=done" "via=flashpaste-trigger" "pane='$pane'"
   exit 0
 fi
+clog "paste-router" "event=image-fallback" "exec='$PASTE_IMAGE_FALLBACK'"
 exec "$PASTE_IMAGE_FALLBACK"
diff --git a/config/keybindings.canonical b/config/keybindings.canonical
index e0e2f02..060a0af 100644
--- a/config/keybindings.canonical
+++ b/config/keybindings.canonical
@@ -8,10 +8,18 @@
 # Format: one rule per non-comment line:  <surface> <key> <must-contain-substring>
 # The check passes when the live config's binding for <key> contains the
 # substring. Keep substrings stable (script basenames), not full command lines.
+# The special substring UNBOUND inverts the rule: the surface must NOT bind
+# the key at all.
 
-# kitty's Ctrl+V must route through the tmux-aware router (suppresses kitty's
-# handler inside tmux so only tmux's bind fires — see kitty-paste-router.sh).
-kitty  ctrl+v  kitty-paste-router.sh
+# kitty must NOT intercept Ctrl+V (retired 2026-06-10). The tmux-aware router
+# needed `kitten @ ls` focus + foreground-process detection, which XWayland
+# kitty does not provide (every window reports is_focused=false and empty
+# foreground_processes), so the router always took the slow fallthrough
+# (background launch, seconds under load) and its late second fire landed
+# outside the daemon's dedup window -> double paste. With no kitty map the
+# key reaches the application: tmux's own bind handles tmux windows (~5ms,
+# correct pane), and Claude Code reads the clipboard itself elsewhere.
+kitty  ctrl+v  UNBOUND
 
 # tmux's root Ctrl+V must hit the fast Rust trigger (daemon), falling back to
 # the bash dispatcher when the daemon is down.
diff --git a/tests/keybindings-check.test.sh b/tests/keybindings-check.test.sh
index b43d972..484ec7a 100755
--- a/tests/keybindings-check.test.sh
+++ b/tests/keybindings-check.test.sh
@@ -16,26 +16,40 @@ check() { # desc want_rc actual_rc
   else echo "FAIL - $1 : want rc=$2 got rc=$3"; fail=$((fail+1)); fi
 }
 
-# Consistent fixtures.
-printf 'map ctrl+v launch -- /x/kitty-paste-router.sh\n' > "$T/kitty.ok"
+# Consistent fixtures: kitty leaves ctrl+v unbound (canonical: UNBOUND since
+# 2026-06-10 — XWayland kitty broke the router's tmux detection), tmux binds
+# C-v to the trigger.
+printf '# ctrl+v intentionally unmapped\nmap ctrl+shift+v paste_from_clipboard\n' > "$T/kitty.ok"
 printf 'bind -n C-v run-shell -b "flashpaste-trigger %%pane"\n' > "$T/tmux.ok"
 CANONICAL="$CANON" KITTY_CONF="$T/kitty.ok" TMUX_CONF="$T/tmux.ok" bash "$CHECK" >/dev/null 2>&1
 check "consistent configs -> rc 0" 0 $?
 
-# Drift: kitty routes through the OLD inline path, not the router.
-printf 'map ctrl+v launch -- sh -c flashpaste-trigger\n' > "$T/kitty.drift"
+# Drift: kitty still intercepts ctrl+v (any binding violates UNBOUND).
+printf 'map ctrl+v launch -- /x/kitty-paste-router.sh\n' > "$T/kitty.drift"
 CANONICAL="$CANON" KITTY_CONF="$T/kitty.drift" TMUX_CONF="$T/tmux.ok" bash "$CHECK" >/dev/null 2>&1
-check "kitty drift (no router) -> rc 1" 1 $?
+check "kitty ctrl+v bound despite UNBOUND -> rc 1" 1 $?
 
 # Missing tmux binding entirely.
 printf '# no C-v here\n' > "$T/tmux.missing"
 CANONICAL="$CANON" KITTY_CONF="$T/kitty.ok" TMUX_CONF="$T/tmux.missing" bash "$CHECK" >/dev/null 2>&1
 check "missing tmux binding -> rc 1" 1 $?
 
-# The literal '+' in ctrl+v must match literally, not as an ERE quantifier.
+# The literal '+' in ctrl+v must match literally, not as an ERE quantifier:
+# a 'ctrlv' binding must NOT count as a ctrl+v binding, so UNBOUND still
+# passes (rc 0) — proving the key regex didn't degrade into 'ctrl.v'.
 printf 'map ctrlv launch -- /x/kitty-paste-router.sh\n' > "$T/kitty.plusbug"
 CANONICAL="$CANON" KITTY_CONF="$T/kitty.plusbug" TMUX_CONF="$T/tmux.ok" bash "$CHECK" >/dev/null 2>&1
-check "ctrl+v not matched by 'ctrlv' (literal +) -> rc 1" 1 $?
+check "literal + : 'ctrlv' binding does not violate ctrl+v UNBOUND -> rc 0" 0 $?
+
+# Positive-substring rules still work: a canonical that REQUIRES the router
+# must fail when kitty routes elsewhere, and pass when it matches.
+printf 'kitty  ctrl+v  kitty-paste-router.sh\ntmux   C-v     flashpaste-trigger\n' > "$T/canon.positive"
+printf 'map ctrl+v launch -- /x/kitty-paste-router.sh\n' > "$T/kitty.router"
+CANONICAL="$T/canon.positive" KITTY_CONF="$T/kitty.router" TMUX_CONF="$T/tmux.ok" bash "$CHECK" >/dev/null 2>&1
+check "positive rule: router binding matches -> rc 0" 0 $?
+printf 'map ctrl+v launch -- sh -c flashpaste-trigger\n' > "$T/kitty.inline"
+CANONICAL="$T/canon.positive" KITTY_CONF="$T/kitty.inline" TMUX_CONF="$T/tmux.ok" bash "$CHECK" >/dev/null 2>&1
+check "positive rule: non-router binding drifts -> rc 1" 1 $?
 
 echo "--- keybindings-check: PASS=$pass FAIL=$fail"
 [ "$fail" = "0" ]