diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5e4a888b..985430a4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 - Project Hub Overview now opens with a compact Context card above the atlas instead of a header button. It links to Context when the Wiki index is fresh and to Health otherwise, so a stale or unavailable index no longer leads to a page that cannot load.
 
 ### Fixed
+- `mex impact` no longer drops grounding records first when the output budget runs out. They are admitted right after the target's definitions, ahead of transitive callers and source ranges, so a target with many callers still returns its knowledge links at the default budget; the response is still marked `truncated` when callers are cut. The accepted cost: on a target with many groundings, a few caller or source records that used to fit now give way to them (#225).
 - `mex graph status` no longer prints placeholder zeros as measurements when immutable inspection is skipped. While a stranded `graph.db-wal`, an unreadable sidecar, a containment failure or a failed invariant audit blocks the read, the text output now says `Last successful index: not inspected`, `Sources: not inspected` and `Parse health: not inspected` instead of `never` and `0 ok`, and `--json` carries an additive `inspected: false` so a consumer can tell an uninspected store from one that genuinely parsed nothing. The same applies when a `GRAPH_SNAPSHOT_CONTENT_MISMATCH` stops the source comparison before the index timestamps are read, and to the `mex check` fallback status when the loader itself throws. `parseHealth` and `changes` keep their shape (#204).
 - Agent population failures retain the real copyable manual prompt for retry or manual continuation. Integration pointer notes are visible as non-blocking guidance.
 - Setup and Overview share the computer's contact preference so completing or skipping the invitation does not immediately trigger another request.
diff --git a/src/graph/cli-agent.ts b/src/graph/cli-agent.ts
index 40f6051b..c56d4005 100644
--- a/src/graph/cli-agent.ts
+++ b/src/graph/cli-agent.ts
@@ -132,6 +132,20 @@ export function runImpact(
       }
     }
     const ordered = [...impacted.values()].sort((a, b) => a.depth - b.depth || a.node.id.localeCompare(b.node.id));
+
+    // Grounding is keyed by node, so an excluded node must not reappear
+    // through it. Nodes omitted only by the returned-node cap still count.
+    const affectedIds = [...new Set([...roots.map((node) => node.id), ...impacted.keys()])]
+      .filter((id) => !isDriftedFile(session, session.graph.getNode(id)?.filePath));
+    // Knowledge links are admitted before callers and source (#225): they are
+    // tiny and no other command returns them, so budget pressure cuts the
+    // callers other commands can reproduce instead. Output order is unchanged.
+    const groundingRecords: Rec[] = [];
+    for (const grounding of groundedFiles(session.db, affectedIds)) {
+      const record: Rec = { type: "grounding", node: grounding.node_id, file: grounding.scaffold_file };
+      if (ledger.tryAdd(record)) groundingRecords.push(record); else truncated = true;
+    }
+
     for (const entry of ordered) {
       if (emittedNodes.length >= opts.maxNodes) { truncated = true; break; }
       const fact = factFor(session, entry.node.id, opts.detail, opts.fingerprint);
@@ -147,16 +161,6 @@ export function runImpact(
 
     const sourceRecords = planSource(session, ledger, emittedNodes, rootDir, opts);
 
-    // Grounding is keyed by node, so an excluded node must not reappear
-    // through it. Nodes omitted only by the returned-node cap still count.
-    const affectedIds = [...new Set([...roots.map((node) => node.id), ...impacted.keys()])]
-      .filter((id) => !isDriftedFile(session, session.graph.getNode(id)?.filePath));
-    const groundingRecords: Rec[] = [];
-    for (const grounding of groundedFiles(session.db, affectedIds)) {
-      const record: Rec = { type: "grounding", node: grounding.node_id, file: grounding.scaffold_file };
-      if (ledger.tryAdd(record)) groundingRecords.push(record); else truncated = true;
-    }
-
     emitAll(write, meta, [
       ...configDriftRecords(session),
       ...headRecords, ...factRecords, ...sourceRecords, ...groundingRecords,
diff --git a/test/graph-cli-agent.test.ts b/test/graph-cli-agent.test.ts
index 2a6918f4..9a26e95b 100644
--- a/test/graph-cli-agent.test.ts
+++ b/test/graph-cli-agent.test.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,57 @@ describe("agent graph commands", () => {
     expect(fixture.close).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
   });
 
+  it("impact keeps grounding records when callers exhaust the default budget", () => {
+    const leaf = node("function:leaf", "leaf");
+    const callers = Array.from({ length: 60 }, (_, i) => node(`function:caller${i}`, `caller${i}`, `src/caller${i}.ts`, 4));
+    const nodes = [leaf, ...callers];
+    const graph: GraphEngine = {
+      build: vi.fn(), sync: vi.fn(), close: vi.fn(),
+      getNode: (id) => nodes.find((entry) => entry.id === id) ?? null,
+      searchNodes: (query) => nodes.filter((entry) => entry.name.toLowerCase() === query.toLowerCase()),
+      getCallers: (id) => id === leaf.id ? callers : [],
+      getCallees: () => [],
+      getIncoming: () => [],
+      getOutgoing: () => [],
+      getIndexedFiles: () => [],
+    };
+    const groundings = Array.from({ length: 6 }, (_, i) => ({
+      scaffold_file: `.mex/context/architecture-${i}.md`, node_id: i < 3 ? leaf.id : callers[i].id,
+    }));
+    const db = {
+      prepare: (sql: string) => ({
+        run: vi.fn(), get: vi.fn(), iterate: vi.fn(),
+        all: () => sql.includes("FROM nodes") ? [] : groundings,
+      }),
+      exec: vi.fn(), pragma: vi.fn(), transaction: <T>(fn: () => T) => fn(), close: vi.fn(), open: true,
+    };
+    const output: string[] = [];
+    runImpact("leaf", "/repo", { open: () => ({ graph, db, close: vi.fn() }), write: (line) => output.push(line) }, { maxNodes: 100 });
+    const rows = output.map((line) => JSON.parse(line));
+    expect(rows.at(-1)).toMatchObject({ type: "summary", truncated: true });
+    expect(rows.filter((row) => row.type === "caller").length).toBeLessThan(callers.length);
+    expect(rows.filter((row) => row.type === "grounding")).toEqual(
+      groundings.map((g) => ({ type: "grounding", node: g.node_id, file: g.scaffold_file })),
+    );
+    expect(rows.findIndex((row) => row.type === "grounding")).toBeLessThan(rows.findIndex((row) => row.type === "summary"));
+  });
+
+  it("impact stays well-formed and truncated when even grounding cannot fit", () => {
+    // The smallest accepted budget holds the protocol framing and nothing else.
+    const probe = deps();
+    runImpact("leaf", "/repo", probe.deps, { maxOutputTokens: 1 });
+    const floor = Number(/use at least (\d+)/.exec(JSON.parse(probe.output[0]!).message)?.[1]);
+    expect(floor).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+
+    const fixture = deps();
+    runImpact("leaf", "/repo", fixture.deps, { maxOutputTokens: floor });
+    const rows = fixture.output.map((line) => JSON.parse(line));
+    expect(rows[0]).toMatchObject({ type: "meta" });
+    expect(rows.at(-1)).toMatchObject({ type: "summary", truncated: true });
+    expect(rows.at(-1).estimatedOutputTokens).toBeLessThanOrEqual(floor);
+    expect(rows.filter((row) => row.type === "grounding")).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("impact accepts a file and reports each node it defines", () => {
     const fixture = deps();
     runImpact("src/a.ts", "/repo", fixture.deps);