diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3ff39a63..577a78a5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ All notable changes to vouch are documented here. Format follows
 - demo image build: `hatch_build.py` (the build hook pyproject.toml
   declares for console bundling) is copied into the docker build context;
   the image had been unbuildable since the hook landed (#474).
+- `vouch recall` excludes archived pages from the session-start digest.
+  claims were filtered by status but pages were not, so an archived page's
+  title kept reaching every new session's opening context while its claims
+  stayed suppressed — the same asymmetry `synthesize` already avoids. draft
+  and stale pages are unaffected (#490).
 
 ## [1.3.0] — 2026-07-14
 
diff --git a/src/vouch/recall.py b/src/vouch/recall.py
index 911d512c..22328976 100644
--- a/src/vouch/recall.py
+++ b/src/vouch/recall.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 Claude session's context (memvid-style), via the SessionStart hook.
 
 Unlike ``kb.context`` (task-scoped retrieval), this emits EVERY live approved
-claim as a compact ``[id] text`` line plus every approved page title, so a
+claim as a compact ``[id] text`` line plus every live page title, so a
 fresh session is aware of the whole reviewed KB from the first turn. Page
 bodies are fetched on demand with ``kb_read_page`` / ``kb_search``.
 
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import yaml
 
 from .context import _RETRACTED_CLAIM_STATUSES
+from .models import PageStatus
 from .storage import KBStore
 
 DEFAULT_ENABLED = True
@@ -58,7 +59,11 @@ def build_digest(store: KBStore, *, max_chars: int = DEFAULT_MAX_CHARS) -> str:
         c for c in store.list_claims()
         if c.status not in _RETRACTED_CLAIM_STATUSES
     ]
-    pages = store.list_pages()
+    # archived pages are retracted knowledge, same as the archived claims
+    # filtered above — leaking a title back into every session's opening
+    # context would make the archive control decorative. DRAFT and STALE
+    # stay: unpolished or aging is still live.
+    pages = [p for p in store.list_pages() if p.status != PageStatus.ARCHIVED]
     if not claims and not pages:
         return ""
 
diff --git a/tests/test_recall.py b/tests/test_recall.py
index a08a02ce..2777fae7 100644
--- a/tests/test_recall.py
+++ b/tests/test_recall.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from vouch import recall
-from vouch.models import ClaimStatus
+from vouch.models import ClaimStatus, PageStatus
 from vouch.proposals import approve, propose_claim, propose_page
 from vouch.storage import KBStore, _starter_config
 
@@ -47,6 +47,32 @@ def test_digest_excludes_retracted_claims(store: KBStore) -> None:
     assert "archived fact" not in d
 
 
+def test_digest_excludes_archived_pages(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    _approve_page(store, "live page")
+    archived = _approve_page(store, "archived page")
+    archived.status = PageStatus.ARCHIVED
+    store.update_page(archived)
+    d = recall.build_digest(store)
+    assert "live page" in d
+    assert "archived page" not in d
+    assert "1 page(s)" in d
+
+
+def test_digest_keeps_stale_pages(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    """Only ARCHIVED is retracted — an aging page is still live knowledge."""
+    stale = _approve_page(store, "stale page")
+    stale.status = PageStatus.STALE
+    store.update_page(stale)
+    assert "stale page" in recall.build_digest(store)
+
+
+def test_digest_empty_when_only_archived_pages(store: KBStore) -> None:
+    archived = _approve_page(store, "archived page")
+    archived.status = PageStatus.ARCHIVED
+    store.update_page(archived)
+    assert recall.build_digest(store) == ""
+
+
 def test_empty_kb_digest_is_empty(store: KBStore) -> None:
     assert recall.build_digest(store) == ""