diff --git a/docs/current-handoff.md b/docs/current-handoff.md
index 8ab76d4..f4370a5 100644
--- a/docs/current-handoff.md
+++ b/docs/current-handoff.md
@@ -385,6 +385,14 @@ RAW USER EVIDENCE
 - Current Understanding and Investigation Report are architecturally distinct artefacts. Report interpretations remain explicit, not evidence.
 - The `≤5` processing bound was experimental apparatus constraint, NOT product requirement.
 
+## Investigation overview synthesis — provider envelope defect confirmed
+
+- `synthesizeInvestigationOverview()` previously passed the full provider envelope (`{ response: { understanding, plausibleInterpretations }, providerApiPath, providerExecution }`) directly into `validateOverviewResponse()`, which expected only `{ understanding, plausibleInterpretations }`. This caused "Missing or invalid required fields" on real providers.
+- Fix now unwraps `.response` before overview validation, matching the proven pattern in `lib/graph/current-understanding-synthesis.js` (line 296: `validateSynthesisResponse(providerResult.response)`).
+- Owning regression (`tests/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.test.js`) now mirrors real provider envelope shape (`{ response: { understanding, plausibleInterpretations }, providerApiPath }`). Regression fails against pre-fix seam and passes after fix.
+- No live proof yet. Zero live calls made in this handoff.
+- Next boundary: one bounded live product-launch overview Call A before resuming A/B epistemic input control comparison.
+
 ## HISTORICAL — initial-decomposition v0.61 status
 
 Initial decomposition experiments (v0.61) ran four successful runs plus one validation failure against the same manufacturing scenario. Key findings:
diff --git a/lib/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.js b/lib/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.js
index 22ac144..c597601 100644
--- a/lib/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.js
+++ b/lib/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.js
@@ -240,9 +240,9 @@ export async function synthesizeInvestigationOverview(params, deps) {
   // Build overview-specific prompt (keeps evidence/interpretation separate)
   const prompt = buildOverviewSynthesisPrompt(situationGraph, findings, plausibleInterpretations);
 
-  let rawResponse;
+  let providerResult;
   try {
-    rawResponse = await provider.generateReconstruction(
+    providerResult = await provider.generateReconstruction(
       prompt,
       modelName,
     );
@@ -250,8 +250,8 @@ export async function synthesizeInvestigationOverview(params, deps) {
     throw new Error(`Overview synthesis provider call failed: ${err.message}`);
   }
 
-  // Validate against overview-specific contract
-  const validated = validateOverviewResponse(rawResponse);
+  // Validate against overview-specific contract — unwrap provider envelope
+  const validated = validateOverviewResponse(providerResult.response);
   if (!validated.valid) {
     throw new Error(`Overview synthesis validation failed: ${validated.reason}`);
   }
diff --git a/tests/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.test.js b/tests/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.test.js
index a34f912..033c2c2 100644
--- a/tests/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.test.js
+++ b/tests/graph/investigation-overview-synthesis.test.js
@@ -39,10 +39,13 @@ const fakeProvider = (defaultResponse) => ({
   generateReconstruction: vi.fn(() => {
     return typeof defaultResponse === "function"
       ? defaultResponse()
-      : JSON.stringify({
-          understanding: "Synthesized understanding from evidence.",
-          plausibleInterpretations: "Remaining plausible explanations.",
-        });
+      : {
+          response: {
+            understanding: "Synthesized understanding from evidence.",
+            plausibleInterpretations: "Remaining plausible explanations.",
+          },
+          providerApiPath: "/api/chat",
+        };
   }),
 });
 
@@ -459,4 +462,61 @@ describe("synthesizeInvestigationOverview — full seam", () => {
     expect(eligible.map((f) => f.id)).toEqual(["f1", "f2"]);
     expect(eligible).toHaveLength(2);
   });
+
+  // ── Regression: overview synthesis unwraps provider envelope before validation ───────────────
+
+  describe("overview synthesis — provider envelope unwrapping regression", () => {
+    it("fake provider returns real-provider envelope shape (response + providerApiPath)", async () => {
+      const fake = fakeProvider();
+      await synthesizeInvestigationOverview(
+        { situationGraph: graph, findings: [], plausibleInterpretations: [] },
+        { provider: fake }
+      );
+      const callResult = fake.generateReconstruction.mock.calls[0][2];
+      expect(fake.generateReconstruction).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    it("valid envelope response is unwrapped and validated successfully", async () => {
+      const fake = fakeProvider(() => ({
+        response: JSON.stringify({
+          understanding: "Test understanding.",
+          plausibleInterpretations: "Test interpretations.",
+        }),
+        providerApiPath: "/v1/responses",
+      }));
+      const result = await synthesizeInvestigationOverview(
+        { situationGraph: graph, findings: [], plausibleInterpretations: [] },
+        { provider: fake }
+      );
+      expect(result.understanding).toBe("Test understanding.");
+      expect(result.plausibleInterpretations).toBe("Test interpretations.");
+    });
+
+    it("invalid response inside envelope fails validation (regression guard)", async () => {
+      const fake = fakeProvider(() => ({
+        response: JSON.stringify({ wrongField: "value" }),
+        providerApiPath: "/v1/responses",
+      }));
+      await expect(
+        synthesizeInvestigationOverview(
+          { situationGraph: graph, findings: [], plausibleInterpretations: [] },
+          { provider: fake }
+        )
+      ).rejects.toThrow(/validation failed/);
+    });
+
+    it("provider returns .response as raw valid JSON string inside envelope", async () => {
+      const json = JSON.stringify({
+        understanding: "Raw JSON test.",
+        plausibleInterpretations: "String payload.",
+      });
+      const fake = fakeProvider(() => ({ response: json, providerApiPath: "/api/chat" }));
+      const result = await synthesizeInvestigationOverview(
+        { situationGraph: graph, findings: [], plausibleInterpretations: [] },
+        { provider: fake }
+      );
+      expect(result.understanding).toBe("Raw JSON test.");
+      expect(fake.generateReconstruction).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+  });
 });