diff --git a/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go b/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go
index b68f0ad..c41984b 100644
--- a/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go
+++ b/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go
@@ -88,15 +88,15 @@ var querySources = []querySource{
 	// through every source to the web search (Vikunja #475). Its matcher needs
 	// an attention marker, and it falls through when Praxis is not configured.
 	{name: "attention", answer: (*reactiveHandler).queryAttention},
-	// Before the recall sources too: "сколько я потратил?" is a question about
-	// the money facts the poller wrote, and the notes pass would otherwise
-	// answer it from whatever he once said about spending. Its matcher needs a
-	// money noun plus an actual ask, so "я потратил весь день" is untouched.
 	// Next to "tasks" and for the same reason: "что мне купить?" is a question
 	// about the shopping list, and the recall pass would otherwise answer it
 	// from an old note about the shop. Its matcher needs an explicit list
 	// marker, so "надо бы съездить в магазин" is untouched.
 	{name: "list", answer: (*reactiveHandler).queryList},
+	// Before the recall sources too: "сколько я потратил?" is a question about
+	// the money facts the poller wrote, and the notes pass would otherwise
+	// answer it from whatever he once said about spending. Its matcher needs a
+	// money noun plus an actual ask, so "я потратил весь день" is untouched.
 	{name: "money", answer: (*reactiveHandler).queryMoney},
 	// Also above the recall sources: "что я тебе говорил?" is a question about
 	// the facts he tapped in, and the notes pass would answer it with whatever
@@ -428,6 +428,10 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryCalendar(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (stri
 	return f.FormatEntries(entries, date), true
 }
 
+// homeTimeout — the whole house read. Longer than the weather call because the
+// hub is polled over the LAN and answers for every device at once.
+const homeTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+
 // queryHome answers a question about the house. Read-only by construction: it
 // calls States and nothing else, so there is no confirm turn here — the only
 // way to CHANGE something is an enabled allowlist row through tool.Executor.
@@ -444,7 +448,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryHome(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string,
 		// unreachable case is different and homeSummary covers it.
 		return "", false
 	}
-	ctxH, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
+	ctxH, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, homeTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	return h.home.homeSummary(ctxH)
 }
@@ -468,6 +472,10 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryNetwork(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (strin
 	return h.netscan.scanSummary(ctx)
 }
 
+// weatherTimeout — one geocode plus one forecast read. He asked a question with
+// a one-line answer, so a provider that is slower than this is a failure.
+const weatherTimeout = 5 * time.Second
+
 func (h *reactiveHandler) queryWeather(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string, bool) {
 	if !h.turnIsAbout(ctx, t, topicWeather, isWeatherQuery) {
 		return "", false
@@ -478,7 +486,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryWeather(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (strin
 		// so is the only honest answer; picking a city would be inventing one.
 		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryWeatherWhere, nil), true
 	}
-	ctxWT, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
+	ctxWT, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, weatherTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	w, err := h.weatherProvider.CurrentWeather(ctxWT, loc)
 	if errors.Is(err, weather.ErrNotConfigured) {
@@ -529,6 +537,27 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryEmbed(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string,
 	return "", false
 }
 
+// memoryRecallWidth and noteRecallWidth — how many candidates each recall pass
+// pulls before the gate reads them. Both are small on purpose: the gate wants a
+// best hit and its runner-up, and every further row is a margin the top match
+// has to beat.
+const (
+	memoryRecallWidth = 3
+	noteRecallWidth   = 5
+)
+
+// recallOnTopic — the topic veto both recall sources apply after the score gate
+// (#470). A memory about his slow network scored high enough to answer "почему
+// небо синее?", because the right-note and must-be-silent score ranges overlap
+// and no threshold sits between them.
+func recallOnTopic(utterance, text string) bool {
+	if memory.RecallAllowed(utterance, text) {
+		return true
+	}
+	log.Printf("voice: recall %q rejected for %q: a world question and no shared topic word", text, utterance)
+	return false
+}
+
 // queryMemory — long-term memory first: ONE search over everything Maven
 // remembers (notes and facts share this index) and ONE confidence gate, so
 // the memory that is clearly the best match answers — a note just as much as
@@ -549,7 +578,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryMemory(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string
 		// a "there is nothing" answer — pass rather than gate the chain.
 		return "", false
 	}
-	hits, herr := h.recall.memStore.Search(ctx, t.vec, 3)
+	hits, herr := h.recall.memStore.Search(ctx, t.vec, memoryRecallWidth)
 	if herr != nil {
 		log.Printf("voice: memory search: %v", herr)
 		return "", false
@@ -559,12 +588,8 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryMemory(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string
 		return "", false
 	}
 	text := hit.Meta["text"]
-	// The score cleared the gate and the topic still has to match (#470). A
-	// note about his slow network scored high enough to answer "почему небо
-	// синее?", because the right-note and must-be-silent score ranges overlap
-	// and no threshold sits between them.
-	if !memory.RecallAllowed(t.dec.Utterance, text) {
-		log.Printf("voice: recall %q rejected for %q: a world question and no shared topic word", text, t.dec.Utterance)
+	// The score cleared the gate and the topic still has to match.
+	if !recallOnTopic(t.dec.Utterance, text) {
 		return "", false
 	}
 	// A note is phrased in Maven's voice; a fact is read back as it was
@@ -600,7 +625,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryNotes(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string,
 		// source could not look, and could-not-look passes.
 		return "", false
 	}
-	notes, err := h.api.QueryNotes(ctx, t.vec, 5)
+	notes, err := h.api.QueryNotes(ctx, t.vec, noteRecallWidth)
 	if err != nil {
 		// The store failed, so this source could not look either. It used to
 		// claim here, which stopped the search, the ZIMs and the model from
@@ -616,10 +641,9 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryNotes(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string,
 	if !memory.ConfidentScores(noteScores, h.recall.minScore, h.recall.minMargin) {
 		return "", false
 	}
-	// Same topic veto as queryMemory above: the best note must be about what
-	// he asked, not merely the nearest vector in the index.
-	if !memory.RecallAllowed(t.dec.Utterance, notes[0].Text) {
-		log.Printf("voice: note %q rejected for %q: a world question and no shared topic word", notes[0].Text, t.dec.Utterance)
+	// The best note must be about what he asked, not merely the nearest vector
+	// in the index.
+	if !recallOnTopic(t.dec.Utterance, notes[0].Text) {
 		return "", false
 	}
 	texts := make([]string, len(notes))
@@ -641,6 +665,23 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryNotes(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string,
 // prompt, the persona block and the reply.
 const webPageContextRunes = 1500
 
+// webFetchTimeout — the whole named-page source. Longer than the other outside
+// sources because he named this page himself, so waiting for it is what he asked
+// for, and there is nothing below that can answer instead.
+const webFetchTimeout = 30 * time.Second
+
+// readBackRunes — how much of the evidence is read out when the phraser gave
+// nothing back. It is spoken aloud, so it is a couple of sentences and not a
+// page.
+const readBackRunes = 300
+
+// readBack — what an outside source says when the phraser gave nothing back.
+// The evidence is read out plainly rather than dropped, because the fetch did
+// happen and its result is a better answer than silence.
+func readBack(evidence string) string {
+	return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryFound, map[string]string{"text": crawl.TrimRunes(evidence, readBackRunes)})
+}
+
 // queryWeb — "посмотри https://example.org/x — что там?" (Vikunja #259).
 //
 // It claims a turn ONLY when he named a URL, which is what keeps a fallback from
@@ -659,7 +700,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryWeb(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string, b
 		// guess dressed as an answer (Vikunja #479).
 		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryPageOff, nil), true
 	}
-	ctxFetch, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 30*time.Second)
+	ctxFetch, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, webFetchTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	page, err := h.crawler.Page(ctxFetch, link)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -680,7 +721,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryWeb(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string, b
 	if reply == "" {
 		// No phraser (or it failed): read back the top of the page rather than
 		// pretend the fetch did not happen.
-		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryPageText, map[string]string{"text": crawl.TrimRunes(page.Text, 300)}), true
+		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryPageText, map[string]string{"text": crawl.TrimRunes(page.Text, readBackRunes)}), true
 	}
 	return reply, true
 }
@@ -746,7 +787,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) querySearch(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string
 	if reply == "" {
 		// No phraser, or it failed. Read back the best evidence rather than
 		// pretend the search did not happen.
-		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryFound, map[string]string{"text": crawl.TrimRunes(resp.Snippets()[0], 300)}), true
+		return readBack(resp.Snippets()[0]), true
 	}
 	return reply, true
 }
@@ -835,7 +876,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryKiwix(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string,
 	if reply == "" {
 		// No phraser, or it failed. Read back the best hit rather than pretend
 		// the search did not happen.
-		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryFound, map[string]string{"text": crawl.TrimRunes(top.Title+" — "+page.Text, 300)}), true
+		return readBack(top.Title + " — " + page.Text), true
 	}
 	return reply, true
 }