diff --git a/flow-state/src/llm/llmTweak.js b/flow-state/src/llm/llmTweak.js
index b40bc1b..8a88a3b 100644
--- a/flow-state/src/llm/llmTweak.js
+++ b/flow-state/src/llm/llmTweak.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import { generateObject } from 'ai';
 import { createOpenAI } from '@ai-sdk/openai';
 import { getLlmConfig } from './config.js';
-import { canInvoke, recordInvocation, refundInvocation } from './budget.js';
+import { canInvoke, recordInvocation, refundInvocation, getBudgetCounts } from './budget.js';
 import { describeLook } from '../look/LookGenerator.js';
 import { validateLook } from '../look/composition-validator.js';
 import {
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ export async function requestSongTweak({ spec, track, look, hint = '', config =
     const proxyFetch = async (url, init = {}) => {
         const headers = new Headers(init.headers || {});
         if (isDev) headers.set('x-llm-gateway', cfg.gatewayUrl);
+        // Dev proxy forwards server-side; log what we send
+        console.info('[llm] fetch', isDev ? '→ /__llm (proxied to ' + cfg.gatewayUrl + ')' : '→ ' + cfg.gatewayUrl, String(url).slice(0, 120));
         return fetch(url, { ...init, headers });
     };
     const provider = createOpenAI({
@@ -100,7 +102,15 @@ export async function requestSongTweak({ spec, track, look, hint = '', config =
     });
     const modelId = cfg.model;
 
+    console.groupCollapsed(`[llm] requestSongTweak — ${modelId}${hint ? ` · hint: "${hint.slice(0, 80)}"` : ''}`);
+    console.info('[llm] model', modelId, 'gateway', cfg.gatewayUrl, isDev ? '(via /__llm dev proxy)' : '(direct)');
+    console.info('[llm] budget after record', getBudgetCounts());
+    console.log('[llm] messages', messages);
+    console.log('[llm] spec before', spec);
+    console.groupEnd();
+
     try {
+        const started = performance.now();
         const result = await generateObject({
             model: provider.chat(modelId),
             schema: TweakResultSchema,
@@ -109,12 +119,22 @@ export async function requestSongTweak({ spec, track, look, hint = '', config =
             maxRetries: 0,
             providerOptions: { openai: { strictJsonSchema: false } },
         });
+        const elapsed = ((performance.now() - started) / 1000).toFixed(1);
 
         const raw = result.object || {};
         const edits = clampEdits(raw.edits || {});
         const rationale = String(raw.rationale || '').trim().slice(0, 800) || 'No rationale provided.';
         const confidence = Number.isFinite(raw.confidence) ? clamp01(raw.confidence) : 0.5;
 
+        console.groupCollapsed(`[llm] response in ${elapsed}s — ${Object.keys(edits).length ? Object.keys(edits).join(', ') : 'no edits'}`);
+        console.log('[llm] raw', raw);
+        console.log('[llm] clamped edits', edits);
+        console.log('[llm] rationale', rationale);
+        console.log('[llm] confidence', confidence, 'usage', result.usage || null);
+        const changed = Object.keys(edits).map((k) => `${k}: ${spec[k]} → ${edits[k]}`).join(' · ') || '(none — all null)';
+        console.info('[llm] diff', changed);
+        console.groupEnd();
+
         if (!Object.keys(edits).length) {
             refundInvocation();
             const err = new Error('LLM suggested no changes — the current generation already looks good. Try a hint or reroll.');
@@ -127,7 +147,11 @@ export async function requestSongTweak({ spec, track, look, hint = '', config =
     } catch (err) {
         const msg = toErrorMessage(err);
         const lower = msg.toLowerCase();
-        if (err && err.code === 'NO_EDITS') throw err;
+        if (err && err.code === 'NO_EDITS') {
+            console.warn('[llm] no edits —', err.message, err.result);
+            throw err;
+        }
+        console.error('[llm] request failed', err, '\nmessage:', msg);
         if (!err.code) {
             if (lower.includes('401') || lower.includes('unauthorized') || lower.includes('invalid api key')) err.code = 'AUTH';
             else if (lower.includes('429') || lower.includes('rate')) err.code = 'RATE_LIMIT';
diff --git a/flow-state/src/main.js b/flow-state/src/main.js
index 77afc2e..fab3cd1 100644
--- a/flow-state/src/main.js
+++ b/flow-state/src/main.js
@@ -1053,6 +1053,14 @@ async function handleLlmTweak() {
     const btn = document.getElementById('btn-llm-tweak');
     const prevLabel = btn ? btn.textContent : '';
     if (btn) btn.textContent = '… tuning';
+    // Immediate feedback — budget had a one-frame lag before, so show progress explicitly.
+    showToast(`Contacting LLM (${cfg.model})…`, { ok: true });
+    console.info('[llm] handleLlmTweak start', {
+        model: cfg.model, gateway: cfg.gatewayUrl,
+        remaining, hint: hint || '(none)',
+        specBefore, trackSummary: trackBefore && trackBefore.summary,
+        lookDirector: lookBefore && lookBefore.director,
+    });
 
     try {
         const result = await requestSongTweak({
@@ -1063,6 +1071,17 @@ async function handleLlmTweak() {
             config: cfg,
         });
 
+        // Log what came back before any synthesis — this is the audit trail.
+        console.groupCollapsed(`[llm] got result — ${Object.keys(result.edits).join(', ') || 'no edits'} · confidence ${String(result.confidence)}`);
+        console.log('[llm] rationale:', result.rationale);
+        console.log('[llm] edits:', result.edits);
+        console.log('[llm] raw:', result.raw, 'usage:', result.usage);
+        console.groupEnd();
+        const editsSummary = Object.keys(result.edits).length
+            ? Object.entries(result.edits).map(([k, v]) => `${k}→${v == null ? '∅' : String(v)}`).join(' · ')
+            : '(no knobs changed)';
+        showToast(`LLM replied: ${result.rationale.slice(0, 160)} — edits: ${editsSummary}`, { ok: true, timeout: 5000 });
+
         const specAfter = { ...specBefore, ...result.edits };
         // Validate locally by re-synthesizing and measuring — show diff before applying.
         // Do a lightweight preview synthesis so we can report section/agitation delta
@@ -1083,12 +1102,15 @@ async function handleLlmTweak() {
             trackAfter = FeatureTrack.fromAudioBuffer(buf, { fps: state.show.fps });
             const previewSeed = specAfter.seed != null ? (specAfter.seed >>> 0) : (specBefore.seed != null ? (specBefore.seed >>> 0) + 1 : 1);
             lookAfter = generateLook(trackAfter, { seed: previewSeed });
+            console.info('[llm] preview look', lookAfter ? `${lookAfter.director} · ${lookAfter.sections.length} sections` : 'n/a',
+                trackAfter ? `sections ${trackAfter.sections.length}` : '');
         } catch (e) {
             console.warn('[llm] preview synthesis failed', e);
         }
 
         openLlmTweakDialog(result, specBefore, specAfter, trackBefore, trackAfter, lookBefore, lookAfter);
     } catch (err) {
+        console.warn('[llm] request failed', err && err.stack ? err.stack : err);
         const code = err && err.code;
         if (code === 'NO_EDITS') {
             showToast(err.message, { ok: true, timeout: 5000 });
@@ -1102,7 +1124,6 @@ async function handleLlmTweak() {
             openLlmConfigDialog();
         } else {
             showToast(`LLM tweak failed: ${err.message}`);
-            console.error('[llm] request failed', err);
         }
     } finally {
         llmTweakInFlight = false;