diff --git a/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md b/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md
index b7cf1fade..14cc4cc48 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md
@@ -488,6 +488,18 @@ Revisit both only with a portal that demonstrably fails without them.
 
 ### Regression coverage
 
+**Writing tests against this section:** the decision chain has several exits —
+no flag evidence, unresolvable command shape, `series` set, foreign host,
+session unusable — and more than one of them can satisfy the same assertion.
+Four tests in the PR that introduced this were found passing through an exit
+other than the one they named (a foreign-host command reaches neither the
+handshake nor `create_link`, so it silently stands in for "simple portal" or
+"handshake failed"). Mutation testing does not catch it: it proves a test is
+coupled to its target, not that it reached the mechanism in its name. Check the
+mock setup against the execution path, and assert the step you mean was
+actually taken — `expect(ensureToken).toHaveBeenCalled()` rather than only the
+returned URL.
+
 - `stalker-link-semantics.utils.spec.ts` — the decision table above.
 - `stalker-vod.utils.spec.ts` — both flags survive
   `buildStalkerSelectedVodItem` / `normalizeStalkerVodDetailsItem` /
diff --git a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stores/utils/stalker-player-request.utils.spec.ts b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stores/utils/stalker-player-request.utils.spec.ts
index 021332c5b..302f33ce5 100644
--- a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stores/utils/stalker-player-request.utils.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stores/utils/stalker-player-request.utils.spec.ts
@@ -318,14 +318,20 @@ describe('stalker-player-request.utils', () => {
         });
 
         it('skips the handshake for a simple portal', async () => {
-            await fetchStalkerPlaybackLink(deps(), {
+            // The command has to be PORTAL-OWNED, or the foreign-host early
+            // return would skip the handshake by itself and this would pass
+            // without saying anything about portal mode. `PLAYLIST` is a
+            // simple portal, so the skip here can only come from the mode.
+            const streamUrl = await fetchStalkerPlaybackLink(deps(), {
                 playlist: PLAYLIST,
                 selectedContentType: 'itv',
-                cmd: 'ffrt3 http://cdn.example/live/42.m3u8',
+                cmd: 'ffrt3 http://demo.example/live/42.m3u8',
                 linkFlags: { use_http_tmp_link: '0' },
             });
 
+            expect(streamUrl).toBe('http://demo.example/live/42.m3u8');
             expect(stalkerSession.ensureToken).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+            expect(dataService.sendIpcEvent).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
         });
 
         it('falls back to create_link when the handshake throws', async () => {