diff --git a/runner/apps/authoring/src/App.tsx b/runner/apps/authoring/src/App.tsx
index 89a56e8f97..35e1542cf3 100644
--- a/runner/apps/authoring/src/App.tsx
+++ b/runner/apps/authoring/src/App.tsx
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ import {
 } from "./telemetry/metrics.js";
 import {
   consumeForkMarker,
-  browserCountsSave,
   exampleActionAttrs,
   exampleOpenAttrs,
   exampleOpenKey,
@@ -3136,8 +3135,6 @@ function Authoring({
       });
       await assertApiOk(res, `save failed (${res.status})`);
       if (filesRef.current === sentFiles) clearDirty();
-      // Fallback for an API without the marker; remove once every deployed API sends it.
-      if (browserCountsSave(await res.json().catch(() => null))) noteExampleAction("example.saved");
     } catch (e) {
       // Losing a save is the worst outcome in the app — the user's edits are only
       // in this tab's memory until the PATCH lands. Which is exactly why an
diff --git a/runner/apps/authoring/src/exampleAnalytics.ts b/runner/apps/authoring/src/exampleAnalytics.ts
index e2a5dbf4f9..5075e80403 100644
--- a/runner/apps/authoring/src/exampleAnalytics.ts
+++ b/runner/apps/authoring/src/exampleAnalytics.ts
@@ -150,10 +150,3 @@ export function consumeForkMarker(search: string): { isFork: boolean; search: st
 export function exampleOpenKey(lineage: string, version: string): string {
   return `${lineage}\u0000${version}`;
 }
-
-/** Whether the browser counts an editor Save itself: only when the Save
- *  response lacks the API's `exampleSaved` marker, i.e. an API that does not
- *  write `example.saved` (contract §5). Remove once every deployed API sends it. */
-export function browserCountsSave(saveResponse: unknown): boolean {
-  return !(typeof saveResponse === "object" && saveResponse !== null && "exampleSaved" in saveResponse);
-}
diff --git a/runner/docs/observability-contract.md b/runner/docs/observability-contract.md
index 6b8cd2d2be..e0d0568786 100644
--- a/runner/docs/observability-contract.md
+++ b/runner/docs/observability-contract.md
@@ -366,9 +366,7 @@ What gates the count is a successful rebuild whose request carries a valid
 field only while its own telemetry gate is open (§10). The rebuild and the point are
 registered with `ctx.waitUntil`, so a client disconnect within the 30 s grace does not
 cancel them. Every rebuild response carries `exampleSaved` (whether the point was
-written). The editor emits the browser `example.saved` only when a response lacks that
-key, i.e. an API that does not count saves; that fallback can be removed once every
-deployed API sends the marker.
+written). The API is the only emitter of `example.saved`; the editor never emits it.
 
 A build that fails on the demo's own input is client input (`isUserBuildError` in
 `workers/api/src/share.ts`), on any route that builds inline: `POST /api/demos`, `PATCH
diff --git a/runner/e2e/example-analytics.spec.ts b/runner/e2e/example-analytics.spec.ts
index 9ce2d02364..f341340523 100644
--- a/runner/e2e/example-analytics.spec.ts
+++ b/runner/e2e/example-analytics.spec.ts
@@ -385,8 +385,7 @@ test("landing on /edit/:id?fork=1 (onFork's own destination) fires example.open
 });
 
 // `example.saved` is the API worker's (contract §5): the browser hands it the
-// open example's `ht_major` in the Save request, and counts the Save itself
-// only when the response lacks the API's `exampleSaved` marker.
+// open example's `ht_major` in the Save request and never emits the event.
 const SAVED_DEMO_ID = "e2esave01";
 
 /** Opens a stubbed saved demo, edits and Saves it against a PATCH answering
@@ -433,7 +432,7 @@ async function saveOnce(page: Page, saveResponse: Record<string, unknown>) {
   return { patches, events, open };
 }
 
-test("a Save sends the open example's ht_major to the API and, with the API's marker, emits no example.saved itself", async ({ page }) => {
+test("a Save sends the open example's ht_major to the API and emits no example.saved itself", async ({ page }) => {
   const { patches, events, open } = await saveOnce(page, { ok: true, htVersion: "18.0.0", exampleSaved: true });
   expect(patches).toHaveLength(1);
   expect(patches[0]).toHaveProperty("files");
@@ -442,13 +441,10 @@ test("a Save sends the open example's ht_major to the API and, with the API's ma
   expect(events.filter((e) => e.name === "example.saved")).toHaveLength(0);
 });
 
-test("a Save answered without the exampleSaved marker (an API that does not count it) emits one browser example.saved", async ({ page }) => {
-  const { events } = await saveOnce(page, { ok: true, htVersion: "18.0.0" });
-  const saved = events.filter((e) => e.name === "example.saved");
-  expect(saved).toHaveLength(1);
-  expect(saved[0].attributes?.["hot.metric_kind"]).toBe("saved");
-  expect(saved[0].attributes?.["hot.ref"]).toBe(SAVED_DEMO_ID);
-  expect(saved[0].attributes?.["hot.ht_major"]).toBe("18");
+test("a Save answered without an exampleSaved marker emits no browser example.saved", async ({ page }) => {
+  const { patches, events } = await saveOnce(page, { ok: true, htVersion: "18.0.0" });
+  expect(patches).toHaveLength(1);
+  expect(events.filter((e) => e.name === "example.saved")).toHaveLength(0);
 });
 
 // A starter picked from the picker is a real, later `example.open` — never
diff --git a/runner/pipeline/example-analytics-taxonomy.test.mjs b/runner/pipeline/example-analytics-taxonomy.test.mjs
index c4f3b361e4..eac569880b 100644
--- a/runner/pipeline/example-analytics-taxonomy.test.mjs
+++ b/runner/pipeline/example-analytics-taxonomy.test.mjs
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 import test from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import {
-  browserCountsSave,
   consumeForkMarker,
   exampleActionAttrs,
   exampleOpenAttrs,
@@ -167,15 +166,3 @@ test("consumeForkMarker: one-shot -- reading the stripped search a second time n
   assert.equal(first.isFork, true);
   assert.equal(second.isFork, false, "a manual reload of the same (already-stripped) URL must not re-count as a fork");
 });
-
-// ---- browserCountsSave ---------------------------------------------------------
-
-test("browserCountsSave: a Save response carrying the API's exampleSaved marker is never counted by the browser", () => {
-  assert.equal(browserCountsSave({ ok: true, htVersion: "18.0.0", exampleSaved: true }), false);
-  assert.equal(browserCountsSave({ ok: true, htVersion: "18.0.0", exampleSaved: false }), false);
-});
-
-test("browserCountsSave: a Save response without the marker (an API that does not count saves) is counted once by the browser", () => {
-  assert.equal(browserCountsSave({ ok: true, htVersion: "18.0.0" }), true);
-  assert.equal(browserCountsSave(null), true);
-});