diff --git a/apps/api/src/jobs/awooop_ansible_candidate_backfill_job.py b/apps/api/src/jobs/awooop_ansible_candidate_backfill_job.py
index f23955fac..e89e2d5a2 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/jobs/awooop_ansible_candidate_backfill_job.py
+++ b/apps/api/src/jobs/awooop_ansible_candidate_backfill_job.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ from src.services.awooop_ansible_audit_service import (
     build_ansible_decision_audit_payload,
     preflight_ansible_candidate_generation,
     record_ansible_decision_audit,
+    verified_ansible_candidate_terminal_sql,
 )
 from src.services.awooop_ansible_check_mode_service import (
     preflight_failed_apply_retry_queue_once,
@@ -65,10 +66,12 @@ async def _fetch_missing_candidate_incidents(
     window_hours: int,
     scan_limit: int,
 ) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
+    terminal_candidate_sql = verified_ansible_candidate_terminal_sql(
+        "candidate"
+    )
     async with get_db_context(project_id) as db:
         await db.execute(text("SET LOCAL statement_timeout = '5000ms'"))
-        result = await db.execute(
-            text("""
+        query_sql = """
                 SELECT
                     incidents.incident_id,
                     incidents.project_id,
@@ -94,6 +97,8 @@ async def _fetch_missing_candidate_incidents(
                         AS latest_candidate_target_route_generation,
                     latest_candidate.source_occurrence_generation
                         AS latest_candidate_source_occurrence_generation,
+                    latest_candidate.is_terminal
+                        AS latest_candidate_is_terminal,
                     (
                         SELECT approval.id
                         FROM approval_records approval
@@ -134,7 +139,8 @@ async def _fetch_missing_candidate_incidents(
                         candidate.input ->> 'target_route_generation'
                             AS target_route_generation,
                         candidate.input ->> 'source_occurrence_generation'
-                            AS source_occurrence_generation
+                            AS source_occurrence_generation,
+                        ({terminal_candidate_sql}) AS is_terminal
                     FROM automation_operation_log candidate
                     WHERE candidate.operation_type = 'ansible_candidate_matched'
                       AND candidate.input ->> 'executor' = 'ansible'
@@ -163,7 +169,11 @@ async def _fetch_missing_candidate_incidents(
                       ) = current_recurrence.source_fingerprint
                 ORDER BY current_recurrence.received_at DESC
                 LIMIT :scan_limit
-            """),
+            """.replace(
+                "{terminal_candidate_sql}", terminal_candidate_sql
+            )
+        result = await db.execute(
+            text(query_sql),
             {
                 "project_id": project_id,
                 "window_hours": max(1, window_hours),
diff --git a/apps/api/tests/test_ansible_verified_closure.py b/apps/api/tests/test_ansible_verified_closure.py
index 966887f36..9770392c3 100644
--- a/apps/api/tests/test_ansible_verified_closure.py
+++ b/apps/api/tests/test_ansible_verified_closure.py
@@ -618,9 +618,11 @@ def test_terminal_candidate_contract_requires_verified_four_node_chain() -> None
     assert "repository_readback_verified" in predicate
     assert "{detail,execution_success}" in predicate
     assert "{detail,telegram_receipt_acknowledged}" in predicate
-    assert "ORDER BY latest.created_at DESC, latest.op_id DESC" in (
+    assert "ORDER BY candidate.created_at DESC, candidate.op_id DESC" in (
         recorder_source
     )
+    assert "target_route_generation" in recorder_source
+    assert "candidate_lane_lock_key" in recorder_source
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
@@ -1169,8 +1171,13 @@ def test_backfill_preserves_approval_and_replaces_terminal_skipped_candidate() -
     assert proposal["approval_id"] == "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000103"
     assert "approval_records" in query_source
     assert "verified_ansible_candidate_terminal_sql" in query_source
-    assert "AND NOT ({terminal_candidate_sql})" in query_source
-    assert "ORDER BY latest.created_at DESC, latest.op_id DESC" in query_source
+    assert "current_recurrence" in query_source
+    assert "target_route_generation" in query_source
+    assert "latest_candidate_is_terminal" in query_source
+    assert "preflight_ansible_candidate_generation" in inspect.getsource(
+        candidate_job.enqueue_missing_ansible_candidates_once
+    )
+    assert "ORDER BY candidate.created_at DESC, candidate.op_id DESC" in query_source
 
 
 def test_retry_projection_only_repairs_latest_candidate_run() -> None: