diff --git a/crates/buzz-acp/src/lib.rs b/crates/buzz-acp/src/lib.rs
index fa348eeb3cf..8b433136ebd 100644
--- a/crates/buzz-acp/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/buzz-acp/src/lib.rs
@@ -2462,9 +2462,16 @@ async fn tokio_main() -> Result<()> {
                                 )
                                 .await;
                                 if !allowed {
-                                    tracing::debug!(
+                                    // INFO, not DEBUG: a gate rejection is invisible to the
+                                    // sender (their mention just sits there), so the operator's
+                                    // log is the only place the refusal exists at all. At debug
+                                    // level a blocked mention is indistinguishable from a
+                                    // working one under default logging — "@agent doesn't
+                                    // work" then has no evidence to find, only absence.
+                                    tracing::info!(
                                         channel_id = %buzz_event.channel_id,
                                         author = %buzz_event.event.pubkey.to_hex(),
+                                        event_id = %buzz_event.event.id.to_hex(),
                                         mode = %config.respond_to,
                                         is_dm,
                                         "inbound author gate — dropping event"
diff --git a/crates/buzz-acp/src/setup_mode.rs b/crates/buzz-acp/src/setup_mode.rs
index b1a9372ea46..c511aaf46d6 100644
--- a/crates/buzz-acp/src/setup_mode.rs
+++ b/crates/buzz-acp/src/setup_mode.rs
@@ -499,7 +499,9 @@ pub(crate) fn should_nudge_for_event(
     nudged_event_ids: &mut HashSet<EventId>,
 ) -> bool {
     if !author_allowed {
-        tracing::debug!("setup-mode: event filtered by author gate");
+        // INFO to match the normal-mode gate: a rejection produces no sender
+        // feedback, so the log line is the only evidence it happened.
+        tracing::info!(%event_id, "setup-mode: event filtered by author gate");
         return false;
     }
     if !filter_matched {