diff --git a/planning/claude-code-channel.md b/planning/claude-code-channel.md
index 6ab3a63..7fb3a32 100644
--- a/planning/claude-code-channel.md
+++ b/planning/claude-code-channel.md
@@ -334,7 +334,10 @@ put that backlog into context on every Claude Code restart. Decided (§14 C):
 - An event whose `created_at` is older than the process start time minus 60 seconds is consumed
   without a push. Instead, once the stream has caught up (the first heartbeat after replay), push
   one `kind="backlog"` control event: how many messages were skipped, per topic id, and the oldest
-  and newest timestamps. The skill tells the sponsor, as it does today.
+  and newest timestamps. The skill tells the sponsor, as it does today. The heartbeat is the
+  boundary because the server sends a `: ping` only while it has nothing past the client's
+  position. A `cursor` frame is a skip marker, not a boundary: it can arrive mid-replay, or not
+  at all.
 - In-process reconnects resume from the cursor and push everything, since nothing they replay is
   from before the session.
 - With no cursor file, `rooms watch` starts from the beginning of the retained stream (`--since`
diff --git a/src/pepper_cli/api_client.py b/src/pepper_cli/api_client.py
index 7c5d72e..45ecb03 100644
--- a/src/pepper_cli/api_client.py
+++ b/src/pepper_cli/api_client.py
@@ -485,7 +485,12 @@ class FeedFrame:
 
     ``"comment"`` (empty ``payload``) stands for an SSE comment line, the
     server's ``: connected`` / ``: ping`` heartbeat: it carries nothing to act
-    on but tells the caller the connection is healthy.
+    on but tells the caller the connection is healthy. A ``: ping`` is also the
+    replay boundary: the server sends one only while it has nothing past the
+    caller's position, so the first ping after connecting means the stream has
+    caught up. A ``cursor`` frame is not a boundary: it can arrive mid-replay,
+    or not at all. A ``start=head`` stream opens with its head ``cursor`` frame
+    (after ``scope``) before any event or ping.
 
     ``id`` is the frame's SSE ``id:``: for an event frame the event id, for a
     ``cursor`` frame the cursor, ``None`` on ``error`` and ``scope``. Either