diff --git a/src/daily-cache.ts b/src/daily-cache.ts
index 3ded9cc7b..ea1609b99 100644
--- a/src/daily-cache.ts
+++ b/src/daily-cache.ts
@@ -673,6 +673,7 @@ const DATE_KEY_RE = /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/
 export const CARRIED_MODEL_NAME = 'Unknown (carried)'
 
 const REMAINDER_KEYS = ['calls', 'cost', 'savingsUSD', 'inputTokens', 'outputTokens', 'cacheReadTokens', 'cacheWriteTokens'] as const
+const TOKEN_KEYS = ['inputTokens', 'outputTokens', 'cacheReadTokens', 'cacheWriteTokens'] as const
 
 /// Money is compared at the cent every surface reports it in. Summing a day's
 /// model rows in a different order than its total was accumulated leaves a
@@ -704,6 +705,29 @@ function creditCarriedRemainder(
   setOwn(models, CARRIED_MODEL_NAME, acc)
 }
 
+/// A token-only slice used to read as a placeholder, so every merge over it
+/// added its tokens to the day again while the slice itself stayed whole. A day
+/// whose slices all carry token figures never holds more than their sum; one
+/// holding a pre-v14 slice without them keeps its own totals.
+function healTokenTotals(day: DailyEntry): void {
+  const slices = Object.values(day.providers)
+  if (slices.length === 0 || slices.some(s => TOKEN_KEYS.every(k => s[k] === undefined))) return
+  const sums = TOKEN_KEYS.map(k => slices.reduce((sum, s) => sum + (s[k] ?? 0), 0))
+  if (TOKEN_KEYS.every((k, i) => day[k] <= sums[i]!)) return
+  TOKEN_KEYS.forEach((k, i) => { day[k] = Math.min(day[k], sums[i]!) })
+  const rows: Record<string, ModelDayStats> = {}
+  for (const s of slices) {
+    for (const [name, m] of Object.entries(s.models ?? {})) {
+      const acc = Object.hasOwn(rows, name) ? rows[name]! : emptyModelStats()
+      for (const k of TOKEN_KEYS) acc[k] += m[k]
+      setOwn(rows, name, acc)
+    }
+  }
+  for (const [name, r] of Object.entries(rows)) {
+    if (Object.hasOwn(day.models, name)) for (const k of TOKEN_KEYS) day.models[name]![k] = Math.min(day.models[name]![k], r[k])
+  }
+}
+
 function migrateDays(days: Record<string, unknown>[]): DailyEntry[] {
   return days
     .filter(d => d && typeof d === 'object' && typeof d.date === 'string' && DATE_KEY_RE.test(d.date))
@@ -738,6 +762,7 @@ function migrateDays(days: Record<string, unknown>[]): DailyEntry[] {
     // split while one of its slices was written before slices carried one (or
     // the reverse), and a provider-scoped view reads the slice's map alone.
     .map(day => {
+      healTokenTotals(day)
       for (const slice of Object.values(day.providers)) creditCarriedRemainder(slice, slice.models ??= {})
       creditCarriedRemainder(day, day.models)
       return day
@@ -983,8 +1008,11 @@ function applyRetention(days: DailyEntry[], newestDate: string): DailyEntry[] {
   return days.filter(d => d.date >= cutoff)
 }
 
+/// Tokens count: a slice with usage but no call or cost (a Hermes session
+/// total) is already in the day's totals, so merging over it as a placeholder
+/// counts it twice.
 function hasSliceData(slice: ProviderDaySlice): boolean {
-  return slice.cost > 0 || slice.calls > 0 || (slice.savingsUSD ?? 0) > 0
+  return slice.cost > 0 || slice.calls > 0 || (slice.savingsUSD ?? 0) > 0 || TOKEN_KEYS.some(k => (slice[k] ?? 0) > 0)
 }
 
 /// A day from a pre-v5-era cache: day-level totals exist but the providers map
@@ -1180,7 +1208,8 @@ function subtractSlice(base: ProviderDaySlice, sub: ProviderDaySlice): ProviderD
     ...(categories ? { categories } : {}),
     ...(projects ? { projects } : {}),
   }
-  return hasSliceData(out) || (out.sessions ?? 0) > 0 ? out : null
+  // A token-only remainder is drift between two scans of the same calls, not usage.
+  return calls > 0 || cost > 0 || savingsUSD > 0 || sessions > 0 ? out : null
 }
 
 /// Entries are subtracted key by key, so content the fresh parse files under a
diff --git a/tests/daily-cache-carry-forward.test.ts b/tests/daily-cache-carry-forward.test.ts
index 5c36288e4..86972d589 100644
--- a/tests/daily-cache-carry-forward.test.ts
+++ b/tests/daily-cache-carry-forward.test.ts
@@ -761,6 +761,47 @@ describe('adoption union across older cache files', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('token-only slices across migrations', () => {
+  const tokens = (inputTokens: number, outputTokens: number) => ({ inputTokens, outputTokens, cacheReadTokens: 0, cacheWriteTokens: 0 })
+  const model = (calls: number, cost: number, inputTokens: number, outputTokens: number) => ({ calls, cost, savingsUSD: 0, ...tokens(inputTokens, outputTokens) })
+  const tokenOnlyDay = (inputScale = 1) => day('2026-08-28', {
+    claude: slice(650, 3607, { sessions: 4, ...tokens(16569, 2000), models: { 'Opus 4.8': model(3607, 650, 16569, 2000) } }),
+    hermes: slice(0, 0, { sessions: 1, ...tokens(2898477, 16118), models: { 'minimax/MiniMax-M3': model(0, 0, 2898477, 16118) } }),
+  }, {
+    sessions: 5,
+    ...tokens(16569 + 2898477 * inputScale, 2000 + 16118 * inputScale),
+    models: { 'Opus 4.8': model(3607, 650, 16569, 2000), 'minimax/MiniMax-M3': model(0, 0, 2898477 * inputScale, 16118 * inputScale) },
+  })
+  const fileFor = (version: number, days: DailyEntry[]) => ({ version, savingsConfigHash: '', tzKey: currentTzKey(), lastComputedDate: '2026-08-28', complete: true, days })
+  const totals = (d: DailyEntry) => ({ cost: d.cost, calls: d.calls, inputTokens: d.inputTokens, outputTokens: d.outputTokens, minimax: d.models['minimax/MiniMax-M3'], hermes: d.providers['hermes'] })
+
+  it('keeps a carried day with a 0-call model row identical over two version bumps', async () => {
+    for (const v of [DAILY_CACHE_VERSION - 3, DAILY_CACHE_VERSION - 2]) {
+      await writeFile(join(TMP_CACHE_ROOT, `daily-cache.v${v}.json`), JSON.stringify(fileFor(v, [tokenOnlyDay()])), 'utf-8')
+    }
+    const expected = totals(tokenOnlyDay())
+
+    const first = await loadDailyCache()
+    expect(totals(first.days[0]!)).toEqual(expected)
+
+    // The next bump: the file just written becomes an older generation too.
+    const written = JSON.parse(await readFile(dailyCachePath(), 'utf-8'))
+    await writeFile(join(TMP_CACHE_ROOT, `daily-cache.v${DAILY_CACHE_VERSION - 1}.json`), JSON.stringify({ ...written, version: DAILY_CACHE_VERSION - 1 }), 'utf-8')
+    await rm(dailyCachePath())
+    const second = await loadDailyCache()
+    expect(totals(second.days[0]!)).toEqual(expected)
+  })
+
+  it('heals a day already inflated by it and leaves a pre-v14 day alone', async () => {
+    const preV14 = day('2026-06-16', { claude: slice(1.34, 267) }, { ...tokens(53249, 74664), models: { 'claude-sonnet-4-6': model(252, 1.34, 53249, 74664) } })
+    await writeFile(dailyCachePath(), JSON.stringify(fileFor(DAILY_CACHE_VERSION, [preV14, tokenOnlyDay(10)])), 'utf-8')
+    const cache = await loadDailyCache()
+    expect(cache.days[0]!.inputTokens).toBe(53249)
+    expect(cache.days[0]!.models['claude-sonnet-4-6']!.inputTokens).toBe(53249)
+    expect(totals(cache.days[1]!)).toEqual(totals(tokenOnlyDay()))
+  })
+})
+
 // ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
 // #946 validation round 5, item 2: the migration carried the copilot slice
 // verbatim instead of re-deriving it.