diff --git a/src/voice/realtimeViewportPolicy.test.mjs b/src/voice/realtimeViewportPolicy.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b2d135597
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/voice/realtimeViewportPolicy.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import test from 'node:test';
+
+import { viewportContextDecision } from './realtimeViewport.js';
+
+const localContext = (overrides = {}) => ({
+  action: 'get_entity_context',
+  scene: { basemap: { viewScale: 'local' } },
+  ...overrides,
+});
+
+test('viewport context reasons preserve the existing escalation gate', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(viewportContextDecision({ action: 'get_current_view_state' }), {
+    send: false,
+    reason: 'not-entity-context',
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    viewportContextDecision(localContext(), { channelOpen: false }),
+    { send: false, reason: 'channel-closed' },
+  );
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    viewportContextDecision({
+      action: 'get_entity_context',
+      scene: { basemap: { viewScale: 'regional' } },
+    }),
+    {
+      send: false,
+      reason: 'view-scale-not-local',
+      viewScale: 'regional',
+    },
+  );
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    viewportContextDecision(
+      localContext({
+        selected: {
+          id: 'earthquake:1',
+          layerId: 'earthquakes',
+        },
+      }),
+    ),
+    {
+      send: false,
+      reason: 'structured-identity-sufficient',
+      viewScale: 'local',
+    },
+  );
+  assert.deepEqual(viewportContextDecision(localContext()), {
+    send: true,
+    reason: 'structured-identity-missing',
+    viewScale: 'local',
+  });
+});
+
+test('nearby structured place identity avoids visual escalation too', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    viewportContextDecision(
+      localContext({
+        scene: {
+          basemap: {
+            viewScale: 'local',
+            nearbyPlaces: [{ name: 'Austin' }],
+          },
+        },
+      }),
+    ),
+    {
+      send: false,
+      reason: 'structured-identity-sufficient',
+      viewScale: 'local',
+    },
+  );
+});