diff --git a/cmd/validatord/main.go b/cmd/validatord/main.go
index 0753c34..6179a9c 100644
--- a/cmd/validatord/main.go
+++ b/cmd/validatord/main.go
@@ -247,12 +247,18 @@ func (h *handlers) handleIterate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// Pull the per-request trace id from the langfuse middleware. If
 	// the caller forwarded an upstream trace via X-Lakehouse-Trace-Id
 	// the middleware reuses that one; otherwise it minted a fresh trace
-	// at HTTP entry. Either way, we propagate it so chat hops nest
-	// under the same parent and operators can pivot from the iterate
-	// response's trace_id straight into the full Langfuse tree.
+	// at HTTP entry. When Langfuse isn't configured at all the
+	// middleware skips the mint, so we generate a fallback id locally —
+	// session_id MUST always be populated so the JSONL log + Langfuse
+	// (when later configured) can correlate by id across logs.
+	// Surfaced 2026-05-02 deploy: empty session_id breaks DuckDB
+	// joins on coordinator_sessions.jsonl ↔ replay_runs.jsonl.
 	if req.TraceID == "" {
 		req.TraceID = shared.TraceIDFromCtx(r.Context())
 	}
+	if req.TraceID == "" {
+		req.TraceID = newFallbackTraceID()
+	}
 
 	chat := h.chatCaller()
 	validate := func(kind string, artifact map[string]any) (validator.Report, error) {
@@ -443,6 +449,18 @@ func (h *handlers) iterTracer(ctx context.Context) validator.Tracer {
 	}
 }
 
+// newFallbackTraceID generates a time-ordered hex id used when no
+// upstream trace id was forwarded AND the langfuse middleware didn't
+// mint one (Langfuse unconfigured). Same shape Langfuse accepts so
+// future Langfuse-enabled deployments don't break correlation. Avoids
+// pulling in a uuid crate dep; nanosecond precision + a randomness
+// suffix is unique enough at the rates iterate runs.
+func newFallbackTraceID() string {
+	ns := time.Now().UTC().UnixNano()
+	rand := uint32(time.Now().UnixNano() % (1 << 32))
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%016x-%08x", ns, rand)
+}
+
 func writeJSON(w http.ResponseWriter, status int, body any) {
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
 	w.WriteHeader(status)
diff --git a/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/session_log_parity.md b/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/session_log_parity.md
index 8040702..b57205a 100644
--- a/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/session_log_parity.md
+++ b/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/session_log_parity.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # session_log parity probe — Rust gateway vs Go validatord
 
-**Date:** 2026-05-02T10:38:10Z
+**Date:** 2026-05-02T10:53:00Z
 **Rust helper:** `/home/profit/lakehouse/target/release/parity_session_log`
 **Go helper:** `./bin/parity_session_log_go`
 
diff --git a/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/validator_parity.md b/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/validator_parity.md
index 4e76637..ac680dc 100644
--- a/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/validator_parity.md
+++ b/reports/cutover/gauntlet_2026-05-02/parity/validator_parity.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Validator parity probe — Rust :3100 vs Go :4110
 
-**Date:** 2026-05-02T09:47:49Z
+**Date:** 2026-05-02T10:52:59Z
 **Rust gateway:** `http://127.0.0.1:3100`  ·  **Go gateway:** `http://127.0.0.1:4110`
 
 Identical `POST /v1/validate` request → both runtimes. Match