diff --git a/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/GraphWorkspace.tsx b/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/GraphWorkspace.tsx
index bed2d6af..4aa36e7a 100644
--- a/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/GraphWorkspace.tsx
+++ b/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/GraphWorkspace.tsx
@@ -1120,11 +1120,9 @@ export function GraphWorkspace({ externalFocusNodeId, externalFocusToken }: Grap
   const [activeNodeCount, setActiveNodeCount] = useState<number | null>(null);
   const [temporalBounds, setTemporalBounds] = useState<TemporalBounds | null>(null);
   const [scrubberTime, setScrubberTime] = useState<Date | null>(null);
-  // Tracks the millisecond value of the last time setScrubberTime was called,
-  // so the TimelinePanel onTimeChange callback can skip redundant updates when
-  // React 18 concurrent mode re-runs the effect with a new Date object for the
-  // same timestamp (issue #830: redundant setScrubberTime calls → temporalState
-  // churn → diagnostics effect loop in dev mode).
+  // Deduplicates setScrubberTime calls by millisecond value so that React 18
+  // concurrent-mode re-renders with a new Date object for the same timestamp
+  // do not churn temporalState and retrigger the diagnostics effect (issue #830).
   const lastScrubberMsRef = useRef<number | null>(null);
   const onTimeChange = useCallback((time: Date) => {
     const ms = time.getTime();
@@ -2293,12 +2291,11 @@ export function GraphWorkspace({ externalFocusNodeId, externalFocusToken }: Grap
       return;
     }
 
-    // Compare against the last accepted snapshot synchronously via a ref —
-    // this prevents React from entering the loop at all, rather than bailing
-    // out inside the functional updater after a render has already been
-    // scheduled (issue #830: calling setGraphDiagnosticsState with a new
-    // object on every effect run caused a render→effect→setState→render cycle
-    // that exceeded React's max update depth in dev mode).
+    // Compare against the last accepted snapshot synchronously before calling
+    // setState. buildEffectAvailability always returns a new object, so an
+    // unconditional setGraphDiagnosticsState on every call created a
+    // render → diagnostics effect → setState → render cycle that exceeded
+    // React's max update depth in dev mode (issue #830).
     const prev = lastDiagnosticsRef.current;
     if (prev !== null) {
       const EFFECT_KEYS = [
@@ -2328,8 +2325,8 @@ export function GraphWorkspace({ externalFocusNodeId, externalFocusToken }: Grap
         prev.structureLayer?.lastDrawAt !== diagnostics.structureLayer?.lastDrawAt ||
         prev.structureLayer?.enabled !== diagnostics.structureLayer?.enabled;
 
-      // distanceVisual comes from distanceVisualStateRef.current in GraphCanvas —
-      // same object reference when distances haven't changed.
+      // distanceVisual is compared by reference: GraphCanvas passes the same
+      // object when distances haven't changed.
       const distanceVisualChanged = prev.distanceVisual !== diagnostics.distanceVisual;
 
       if (!availabilityChanged && !edgeClassesChanged && !structureLayerChanged && !distanceVisualChanged) {
diff --git a/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/pluginRegistryPredicates.ts b/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/pluginRegistryPredicates.ts
index 3b059f97..e5a5331a 100644
--- a/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/pluginRegistryPredicates.ts
+++ b/explorer/src/workspaces/GraphWorkspace/pluginRegistryPredicates.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,9 @@
  * shouldLoad predicates for the GraphWorkspace lazy plugin registry.
  *
  * Extracted into a pure module so the predicates can be unit-tested without
- * importing the full GraphWorkspace React component (which depends on sigma,
- * React hooks, and browser globals). The corresponding registry entries in
- * GraphWorkspace.tsx must use these functions directly.
- *
- * These predicates gate WHEN each plugin's module is lazily imported.
- * None of them reference temporalState — temporal scrubber updates must not
- * retrigger plugin loading (see issue #830 for the render-loop that resulted
- * from the temporal-overlay entry originally reading temporalState?.currentTime).
+ * importing the full GraphWorkspace React component. Each predicate gates
+ * whether a plugin's module is lazily imported; none reference temporalState
+ * so temporal scrubber updates never retrigger plugin loading (issue #830).
  */
 
 export type PluginShouldLoadContext = {
diff --git a/explorer/tests/pluginRegistry.temporal.test.mjs b/explorer/tests/pluginRegistry.temporal.test.mjs
index 5bf5caeb..8d5e156d 100644
--- a/explorer/tests/pluginRegistry.temporal.test.mjs
+++ b/explorer/tests/pluginRegistry.temporal.test.mjs
@@ -1,33 +1,19 @@
 /**
- * Regression tests for Issue #830: plugin registry shouldLoad predicates.
+ * Regression tests for issue #830: plugin registry shouldLoad predicates.
  *
- * The original temporal-overlay shouldLoad was:
- *   ({ panelState, temporalState }) =>
- *     Boolean(panelState["temporal-panel"] || temporalState?.currentTime)
- *
- * This caused an infinite render loop because temporalState.currentTime is
- * non-null from startup (TimelinePanel fires onTimeChange on mount), so the
- * predicate returned true before the panel was ever opened, repeatedly
- * triggering the plugin-loading useEffect during every scrubber update and
- * cancelling in-flight load() calls before they could register the plugin.
- *
- * The fix: each predicate reads only panelState so plugin loading is
- * gated strictly on the user opening the corresponding panel.
- *
- * These tests import the PRODUCTION predicates from pluginRegistryPredicates.ts
- * via tsx so that a future regression in GraphWorkspace.tsx is detected here.
+ * Imports the production predicates from pluginRegistryPredicates.ts so that
+ * a regression in GraphWorkspace.tsx is detected here. The key invariant: no
+ * predicate may read temporalState — doing so caused a render loop because
+ * temporalState.currentTime is non-null from startup, which triggered eager
+ * plugin loads on every scrubber update and continuously cancelled in-flight
+ * load() calls before they could register the plugin.
  */
 import test from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 
-// tsx is available as a Node loader — use createRequire to exercise the
-// TypeScript module from this .mjs file.
 const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
 
-// tsx must be registered before requiring .ts files.  The test:plugin-registry
-// script calls this file via `node --import tsx --test`, so tsx is already
-// active in the process when this module runs.
 const {
   explorationEffectsShouldLoad,
   neighborhoodPanelShouldLoad,
@@ -44,9 +30,7 @@ test("temporal-overlay shouldLoad: false when panel is closed and no scrubber ti
 });
 
 test("temporal-overlay shouldLoad: false when panel is closed even if scrubber time is set", () => {
-  // Before the fix this returned true — TimelinePanel sets currentTime on mount,
-  // causing eager loads that continuously reset the cancelled flag and prevented
-  // plugin registration.
+  // Before the fix, a non-null currentTime caused an eager load on every scrubber update.
   assert.equal(
     temporalOverlayShouldLoad({
       panelState: { "temporal-panel": false },
@@ -86,8 +70,8 @@ test("neighborhood-panel shouldLoad: gates only on neighborhood-panel state", ()
 });
 
 test("all three shouldLoad conditions are consistent: none reference temporalState", () => {
-  // A predicate that regressed to reading temporalState?.currentTime would
-  // return true here even though every panel is closed — detecting the loop bug.
+  // A regressed predicate reading temporalState?.currentTime would return true
+  // for a closed panel when currentTime is set — detecting the loop bug.
   const nonNullTemporalState = { currentTime: new Date(), activeNodeCount: 6 };
 
   assert.equal(