diff --git a/src/providers/codexCellEditorProvider/codexCellEditorMessagehandling.ts b/src/providers/codexCellEditorProvider/codexCellEditorMessagehandling.ts
index 760083a4f..4e8ed7fc4 100644
--- a/src/providers/codexCellEditorProvider/codexCellEditorMessagehandling.ts
+++ b/src/providers/codexCellEditorProvider/codexCellEditorMessagehandling.ts
@@ -315,6 +315,43 @@ async function getAudioFilePathForCell(
     return null;
 }
 
+/**
+ * True when the source notebook has a resolvable audio file for this cell (metadata or legacy paths).
+ * Used so we only show "Transcribing source audio…" when transcription can actually run — not when
+ * source text is missing from the index or empty with no audio.
+ */
+async function sourceCellHasResolvableAudioForTranscription(
+    sourceUri: vscode.Uri,
+    cellId: string,
+    workspaceFolder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder
+): Promise<boolean> {
+    const cancellationTokenSource = new vscode.CancellationTokenSource();
+    try {
+        const sourceDoc = await CodexCellDocument.create(
+            sourceUri,
+            undefined,
+            cancellationTokenSource.token
+        );
+        try {
+            const cell = sourceDoc.getCell(cellId);
+            const audioPath = await getAudioFilePathForCell(
+                cell ?? {},
+                cellId,
+                workspaceFolder,
+                sourceUri
+            );
+            return audioPath !== null;
+        } finally {
+            sourceDoc.dispose();
+        }
+    } catch (e) {
+        debug("sourceCellHasResolvableAudioForTranscription: could not read source or check audio", e);
+        return false;
+    } finally {
+        cancellationTokenSource.dispose();
+    }
+}
+
 // Individual message handlers
 const messageHandlers: Record<string, (ctx: MessageHandlerContext) => Promise<void> | void> = {
     webviewReady: () => { /* no-op */ },
@@ -816,6 +853,23 @@ const messageHandlers: Record<string, (ctx: MessageHandlerContext) => Promise<vo
                     sourceFileName
                 );
 
+                const hasAudioForTranscription =
+                    await sourceCellHasResolvableAudioForTranscription(
+                        sourcePath,
+                        cellId,
+                        workspaceFolder
+                    );
+                if (!hasAudioForTranscription) {
+                    const readyNoAudio = await provider.isLLMReady().catch(() => true);
+                    if (!readyNoAudio) {
+                        vscode.window.showWarningMessage(
+                            "LLM is not configured. Set an API key or sign in to generate predictions."
+                        );
+                    }
+                    await provider.addCellToSingleCellQueue(cellId, document, webviewPanel, addContentToValue);
+                    return;
+                }
+
                 await vscode.commands.executeCommand(
                     "vscode.openWith",
                     sourcePath,
diff --git a/src/test/suite/codexCellEditorProvider.test.ts b/src/test/suite/codexCellEditorProvider.test.ts
index 2f7530452..9ea61eed7 100644
--- a/src/test/suite/codexCellEditorProvider.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/suite/codexCellEditorProvider.test.ts
@@ -2922,6 +2922,100 @@ suite("CodexCellEditorProvider Test Suite", () => {
         }
     });
 
+    test("llmCompletion skips source transcription when source is empty and no source audio exists", async function () {
+        this.timeout(15000);
+
+        const workspaceFolder = vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders?.[0];
+        if (!workspaceFolder) {
+            this.skip();
+        }
+
+        const baseName = `llm-skip-transcribe-${Date.now()}`;
+        const codexName = `${baseName}.codex`;
+        const sourcePath = vscode.Uri.joinPath(workspaceFolder.uri, ".project", "sourceTexts", `${baseName}.source`);
+        const codexPath = vscode.Uri.joinPath(workspaceFolder.uri, "files", "target", codexName);
+
+        fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(sourcePath.fsPath), { recursive: true });
+        fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(codexPath.fsPath), { recursive: true });
+
+        const sourceNotebook = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(codexSubtitleContent)) as CodexNotebookAsJSONData;
+        const firstCell = sourceNotebook.cells[0] as any;
+        firstCell.value = "";
+        if (firstCell.metadata) {
+            delete firstCell.metadata.attachments;
+            delete firstCell.metadata.selectedAudioId;
+        }
+
+        const encoder = new TextEncoder();
+        await vscode.workspace.fs.writeFile(
+            sourcePath,
+            encoder.encode(JSON.stringify(sourceNotebook, null, 2))
+        );
+        await vscode.workspace.fs.writeFile(
+            codexPath,
+            encoder.encode(JSON.stringify(codexSubtitleContent, null, 2))
+        );
+
+        const cellId = codexSubtitleContent.cells[0].metadata.id;
+
+        const testProvider = new CodexCellEditorProvider(context);
+        const document = await testProvider.openCustomDocument(
+            codexPath,
+            { backupId: undefined },
+            new vscode.CancellationTokenSource().token
+        );
+
+        const { panel: webviewPanel } = createMockWebviewPanel();
+        await testProvider.resolveCustomEditor(
+            document,
+            webviewPanel,
+            new vscode.CancellationTokenSource().token
+        );
+
+        const addQueueStub = sinon.stub(testProvider as any, "addCellToSingleCellQueue").resolves();
+
+        const originalExecuteCommand = vscode.commands.executeCommand;
+        let openWithCallCount = 0;
+        (vscode.commands as any).executeCommand = async (command: string, ...args: any[]) => {
+            if (command === "vscode.openWith") {
+                openWithCallCount++;
+                return undefined;
+            }
+            if (command === "codex-editor-extension.getSourceCellByCellIdFromAllSourceCells") {
+                return { cellId: args[0] as string, content: "" };
+            }
+            return originalExecuteCommand.apply(vscode.commands, [command, ...args]);
+        };
+
+        try {
+            await handleMessages(
+                { command: "llmCompletion", content: { currentLineId: cellId } } as any,
+                webviewPanel,
+                document,
+                () => { /* no-op */ },
+                testProvider as any
+            );
+            await sleep(300);
+
+            assert.strictEqual(
+                openWithCallCount,
+                0,
+                "Must not open the source editor for transcription when there is no source audio"
+            );
+            assert.strictEqual(
+                addQueueStub.called,
+                true,
+                "Should enqueue LLM completion directly when transcription is not possible"
+            );
+        } finally {
+            (vscode.commands as any).executeCommand = originalExecuteCommand;
+            addQueueStub.restore();
+            document.dispose();
+            await deleteIfExists(sourcePath);
+            await deleteIfExists(codexPath);
+        }
+    });
+
     test("validateCellContent persists validatedBy on latest edit", async () => {
         const provider = new CodexCellEditorProvider(context);
         const document = await provider.openCustomDocument(
diff --git a/src/test/suite/startupFlowProvider_updateSync.test.ts b/src/test/suite/startupFlowProvider_updateSync.test.ts
index eaa3f739b..f58e8c767 100644
--- a/src/test/suite/startupFlowProvider_updateSync.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/suite/startupFlowProvider_updateSync.test.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { createMockExtensionContext, swallowDuplicateCommandRegistrations } from
 
 import * as directoryConflicts from "../../projectManager/utils/merge/directoryConflicts";
 import * as mergeResolvers from "../../projectManager/utils/merge/resolvers";
+import * as connectivityChecker from "../../utils/connectivityChecker";
 import * as projectLocationUtils from "../../utils/projectLocationUtils";
 
 suite("StartupFlowProvider Update - triggers LFS-aware sync", () => {
@@ -45,6 +46,10 @@ suite("StartupFlowProvider Update - triggers LFS-aware sync", () => {
             vscode.Uri.file(tempProjectsDir)
         );
 
+        // Avoid indefinite wait: performProjectUpdate calls ensureConnectivity(), which polls until
+        // isOnline() succeeds — in tests fetch often fails, so the update never finishes.
+        const ensureConnectivityStub = sinon.stub(connectivityChecker, "ensureConnectivity").resolves();
+
         // Make merge steps no-op
         const buildConflictsStub = sinon.stub(directoryConflicts, "buildConflictsFromDirectories").resolves({
             textConflicts: [],
@@ -156,6 +161,7 @@ suite("StartupFlowProvider Update - triggers LFS-aware sync", () => {
         initStub.restore();
         getExtensionStub.restore();
         getCodexProjectsDirectoryStub.restore();
+        ensureConnectivityStub.restore();
         buildConflictsStub.restore();
         resolveConflictFilesStub.restore();
         if (fsStatStub) {