diff --git a/docs/adr/0004-ios-snapshot-backend-strategy.md b/docs/adr/0004-ios-snapshot-backend-strategy.md
index b20b6d0faf..ec09844f69 100644
--- a/docs/adr/0004-ios-snapshot-backend-strategy.md
+++ b/docs/adr/0004-ios-snapshot-backend-strategy.md
@@ -164,6 +164,15 @@ nodes belong in the regular presentation, while publication adds refs and emits
 payload. An optional unscoped quality payload is validated for classification evidence and is never
 published.
 
+Semantic compaction may move an identifier; it may not un-make one. A structural `Other` wrapper
+carrying an identifier and nothing else is suppressed in favour of its content, which is a
+delegation: the identifier goes on living in whatever the wrapper stood for. A wrapper with no
+content has nothing to delegate to, so suppressing it deletes the identifier from every canonical
+view while `is`, `get`, and `click` still resolve it from the same capture. That deletion needs the
+node's own declared `hittable: false`, because it is the only verdict in the capture that says the
+wrapper is inert; a producer that reports no hittability for any node declares nothing, and an
+absent fact is not a negative answer (#2638).
+
 ## Regression Notes
 
 PR #639 made XCTest AX serialization failures explicit instead of swallowing them as empty
diff --git a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/mapping.test.ts b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/mapping.test.ts
index 885f3071c8..f265f274fd 100644
--- a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/mapping.test.ts
+++ b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/mapping.test.ts
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ test('publishes an exact representative for every semantic source index', () =>
       parentIndex: 4,
       type: 'Other',
       identifier: 'shared-but-not-a-representative',
+      hittable: false,
       rect: { x: 20, y: 240, width: 120, height: 40 },
     },
   ];
diff --git a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise-structural.ts b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise-structural.ts
index a7ae117622..cafa3847d4 100644
--- a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise-structural.ts
+++ b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise-structural.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,14 @@ export function collectIosStructuralIdentifierSuppression(
     if (!node.identifier?.trim()) {
       continue;
     }
-    context.suppressNode(node, collectSubtreeByParentLinks(node, childrenByParent));
+    const content = collectSubtreeByParentLinks(node, childrenByParent);
+    // Suppression delegates the identifier to the wrapper's content. With no content there is
+    // nothing to delegate to, and only the node's own declared `hittable: false` says the wrapper
+    // is inert; a producer that reports no hittability at all declares nothing (#2638).
+    if (content.length === 0 && node.hittable !== false) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    context.suppressNode(node, content);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise.test.ts b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise.test.ts
index fa6a3b277f..42c375adfc 100644
--- a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise.test.ts
+++ b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/noise.test.ts
@@ -77,6 +77,39 @@ describe('collectIosStructuralIdentifierSuppression', () => {
     expect(suppressed.sort((a, b) => a - b)).toEqual([1, 4, 7]);
   });
 
+  test('keeps a childless identifier wrapper whose capture reported no hittability', () => {
+    const nodes: RawSnapshotNode[] = [
+      { index: 0, type: 'Application', label: 'App' },
+      { index: 1, parentIndex: 0, type: 'Other', identifier: 'members.count' },
+    ];
+
+    const unreported: number[] = [];
+    collectIosStructuralIdentifierSuppression(nodes, {
+      ...makeRuleContext(nodes),
+      suppressNode: (source) => unreported.push(source.index),
+    });
+    expect(unreported).toEqual([]);
+
+    const declared: number[] = [];
+    collectIosStructuralIdentifierSuppression(
+      [{ ...nodes[0]! }, { ...nodes[1]!, hittable: false }],
+      { ...makeRuleContext(nodes), suppressNode: (source) => declared.push(source.index) },
+    );
+    expect(declared).toEqual([1]);
+  });
+
+  test('delegates an identifier wrapper to its content even without a hittability verdict', () => {
+    const { nodes } = makeStructuralTree(1, 2);
+    const suppressed: number[] = [];
+
+    collectIosStructuralIdentifierSuppression(nodes, {
+      ...makeRuleContext(nodes),
+      suppressNode: (source) => suppressed.push(source.index),
+    });
+
+    expect(suppressed).toEqual([1]);
+  });
+
   test('builds the child index once instead of per structural candidate', () => {
     const candidateCount = 40;
     const descendantsPerCandidate = 25;
diff --git a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/presentation.test.ts b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/presentation.test.ts
index ac6adfe851..0eed84e345 100644
--- a/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/presentation.test.ts
+++ b/packages/capture-kit/src/ios-snapshot-engine/presentation.test.ts
@@ -498,6 +498,7 @@ test('buildSnapshotState keeps React Native warning banner instead of full-scree
       parentIndex: 1,
       type: 'Other',
       identifier: 'SearchRouterPage',
+      hittable: false,
       rect: { x: 0, y: 0, width: 402, height: 874 },
     },
     {
@@ -719,6 +720,7 @@ test('buildSnapshotState suppresses structural iOS identifier-only nodes', () =>
       parentIndex: 0,
       type: 'Other',
       identifier: 'SearchRouterPage',
+      hittable: false,
       rect: { x: 0, y: 0, width: 402, height: 874 },
     },
     {
@@ -735,6 +737,7 @@ test('buildSnapshotState suppresses structural iOS identifier-only nodes', () =>
       parentIndex: 2,
       type: 'Other',
       identifier: 'ReportActionAvatars-SingleAvatar',
+      hittable: false,
       rect: { x: 20, y: 252, width: 40, height: 40 },
     },
   ];
diff --git a/src/daemon/__tests__/snapshot-publication-membership.test.ts b/src/daemon/__tests__/snapshot-publication-membership.test.ts
index 6d523ee32f..fafc415385 100644
--- a/src/daemon/__tests__/snapshot-publication-membership.test.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/__tests__/snapshot-publication-membership.test.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ const screen: RawSnapshotNode[] = [
     parentIndex: 0,
     type: 'Other',
     identifier: 'promo-banner',
+    hittable: false,
     rect: { x: 110, y: 130, width: 180, height: 44 },
   },
   // No label, identifier, or value: survival proves the interactive branch, not content.
diff --git a/src/daemon/adapters/maestro/__tests__/daemon-runtime-port-identifier-hook.test.ts b/src/daemon/adapters/maestro/__tests__/daemon-runtime-port-identifier-hook.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..01d2eeaf21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/daemon/adapters/maestro/__tests__/daemon-runtime-port-identifier-hook.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import { expect, test } from 'vitest';
+import { executeMaestroFlow, inspectMaestroFlow } from '@agent-device/maestro';
+import type { SnapshotNode } from '@agent-device/kernel/snapshot';
+import { noMaestroIncludeSources } from '../../../../__tests__/test-utils/replay-script-source.ts';
+import { createDaemonMaestroRuntimePort } from '../daemon-runtime-port.ts';
+import { makeBaseRequest, makeDependencies, makeSnapshot } from './daemon-runtime-port-fixtures.ts';
+
+const ON_SCREEN = { x: 18, y: 62, width: 366, height: 144 };
+const BELOW_VIEWPORT = { x: 18, y: 2000, width: 366, height: 144 };
+
+// React Native keeps a `testID` wrapper's text beside it instead of inside it, so the wrapper
+// reaches the fold childless with nothing to delegate its identifier to. Whether that is fatal then
+// depends on the wrapper's own declared hittability: the Apple runner answers for every node and
+// the Simulator AX bridge answers for none, and #2638 is the flow that passed on one producer and
+// failed on the other.
+function hookCapture(
+  rect: typeof ON_SCREEN,
+  hittable: boolean | undefined,
+): Array<Omit<SnapshotNode, 'ref'>> {
+  return [
+    { index: 0, type: 'Application', rect: { x: 0, y: 0, width: 402, height: 874 } },
+    {
+      index: 1,
+      parentIndex: 0,
+      type: 'Other',
+      identifier: 'members.count',
+      rect,
+      ...(hittable === undefined ? {} : { hittable }),
+    },
+  ];
+}
+
+async function replay(
+  assertion: 'assertVisible' | 'assertNotVisible',
+  hittable: boolean | undefined,
+  rect: typeof ON_SCREEN,
+) {
+  const port = createDaemonMaestroRuntimePort({
+    baseReq: makeBaseRequest({ flags: { platform: 'ios', replayBackend: 'maestro' } }),
+    invoke: async (request) =>
+      request.command === 'snapshot'
+        ? { ok: true, data: makeSnapshot(hookCapture(rect, hittable)) }
+        : { ok: true, data: {} },
+    dependencies: makeDependencies(),
+    platform: 'ios',
+  });
+  const flow = inspectMaestroFlow(
+    ['appId: com.example.app', '---', `- ${assertion}:`, '    id: members.count'].join('\n'),
+    '/flows/identifier-hook.yaml',
+  );
+  return await executeMaestroFlow(flow, port, { readSource: noMaestroIncludeSources });
+}
+
+test('resolves an on-screen identifier hook whose capture reported no hittability', async () => {
+  expect(await replay('assertVisible', undefined, ON_SCREEN)).toMatchObject({
+    ok: true,
+    replayed: 1,
+  });
+});
+
+test('keeps a declared non-hittable identifier hook out of the visible set', async () => {
+  expect(await replay('assertNotVisible', false, ON_SCREEN)).toMatchObject({
+    ok: true,
+    replayed: 1,
+  });
+});
+
+test('does not report a kept identifier hook as visible past the viewport', async () => {
+  expect(await replay('assertNotVisible', undefined, BELOW_VIEWPORT)).toMatchObject({
+    ok: true,
+    replayed: 1,
+  });
+});