diff --git a/graphify/llm.py b/graphify/llm.py
index 97e199b3..421fe25b 100644
--- a/graphify/llm.py
+++ b/graphify/llm.py
@@ -1036,6 +1036,12 @@ def _json_object_candidates(text: str) -> list[int]:
     model that narrates before answering — "Here's a thinking process: 1.
     **Analyze User Input:** …" with braces in the narration — does not have its
     real answer masked by the first brace in the text (#2882).
+
+    Known limit: each bucket is capped at ``_MAX_OBJECT_CANDIDATES`` from the
+    front, so a reply with more than that many *keyed* braces before the real
+    answer (a very verbose model that emits a ``{"nodes": …}`` sketch per file)
+    could drop the true answer's brace. This needs an implausibly chatty
+    preamble and is left as a known gap rather than complicating the scan.
     """
     preferred: list[int] = []
     rest: list[int] = []
@@ -1130,10 +1136,18 @@ def _parse_llm_json(raw: str) -> dict:
         if not isinstance(parsed, dict):
             continue
         if any(k in parsed for k in _FRAGMENT_KEYS):
-            if any(parsed.get(k) for k in _FRAGMENT_KEYS):
-                return _sanitize_fragment(parsed)
+            # Gate on the SANITIZED content, not the raw value. A reasoning
+            # sketch commonly lists ids as bare strings — `{"nodes": ["A", "B"]}`
+            # — whose arrays are truthy but hold no edge/node objects. Testing
+            # the raw value would let that sketch win and then sanitize down to
+            # empty, shadowing the real answer that follows and re-triggering the
+            # #2880 hollow-response bisection. Sanitizing first demotes it to the
+            # empty-fragment tier so the genuine fragment below still wins.
+            cand = _sanitize_fragment(parsed)
+            if any(cand.get(k) for k in _FRAGMENT_KEYS):
+                return cand
             if empty_fragment is None:
-                empty_fragment = parsed
+                empty_fragment = cand
         elif fallback is None:
             fallback = parsed
 
diff --git a/tests/test_llm_parser_reasoning.py b/tests/test_llm_parser_reasoning.py
index 5c16c7ba..d63bab99 100644
--- a/tests/test_llm_parser_reasoning.py
+++ b/tests/test_llm_parser_reasoning.py
@@ -136,3 +136,30 @@ def test_empty_fragment_outranks_a_non_fragment_object():
     result = llm._parse_llm_json(raw)
     assert "description" not in result
     assert result["nodes"] == []
+
+
+def test_string_list_sketch_does_not_shadow_the_real_answer():
+    """A reasoning sketch that lists ids as bare strings (`{"nodes": ["A","B"]}`)
+    has truthy arrays but no node/edge objects. Gating on the raw value would let
+    it win and then sanitize to empty, shadowing the real fragment that follows
+    and re-triggering the #2880 hollow-response bisection. The sanitized-content
+    gate must demote the sketch and return the real answer."""
+    raw = (
+        "Planning the graph. First a rough sketch of what I will emit:\n"
+        '{"nodes": ["FileA", "FileB"], "edges": ["FileA->FileB"]}\n\n'
+        "Now the actual fragment:\n"
+        '{"nodes": [{"id": "a", "label": "A"}], '
+        '"edges": [{"source": "a", "target": "b"}], "hyperedges": []}'
+    )
+    result = llm._parse_llm_json(raw)
+    assert result["nodes"] == [{"id": "a", "label": "A"}], result
+    assert result["edges"] == [{"source": "a", "target": "b"}]
+
+
+def test_string_list_sketch_alone_sanitizes_to_empty():
+    """With no real answer following, a string-list sketch must not masquerade as
+    content: its non-dict entries are stripped, leaving an empty fragment (which
+    then reads as hollow downstream)."""
+    result = llm._parse_llm_json('{"nodes": ["FileA", "FileB"], "edges": ["x"]}')
+    assert result["nodes"] == []
+    assert result["edges"] == []