diff --git a/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/bluesky.py b/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/bluesky.py
index 6771052..d6e494d 100644
--- a/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/bluesky.py
+++ b/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/bluesky.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ from . import http, log
 
 BSKY_SESSION_URL = "https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.server.createSession"
 _DEFAULT_BSKY_SEARCH_HOST = "api.bsky.app"
-BSKY_SEARCH_URL = f"https://{_DEFAULT_BSKY_SEARCH_HOST}/xrpc/app.bsky.feed.searchPosts"
 
 
 def _resolve_search_url(config: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> str:
diff --git a/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/quality_nudge.py b/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/quality_nudge.py
index 4464903..d0f319a 100644
--- a/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/quality_nudge.py
+++ b/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/quality_nudge.py
@@ -86,6 +86,17 @@ def _is_instagram_silent_failure(config: dict, research_results: dict) -> bool:
     """
     if not config.get("SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY"):
         return False  # not configured — not a silent failure
+    # Honor EXCLUDE_SOURCES: a user who set EXCLUDE_SOURCES=instagram
+    # intentionally turned the source off, so a zero-item count is
+    # expected, not a silent failure. Mirror the canonical parsing
+    # pattern from pipeline.available_sources().
+    excluded = {
+        s.strip().lower()
+        for s in (config.get("EXCLUDE_SOURCES") or "").split(",")
+        if s.strip()
+    }
+    if "instagram" in excluded:
+        return False
     count = research_results.get("instagram_items_count")
     if count is None:
         return False  # source not run this invocation
diff --git a/tests/test_bluesky.py b/tests/test_bluesky.py
index c04afd5..6783199 100644
--- a/tests/test_bluesky.py
+++ b/tests/test_bluesky.py
@@ -231,13 +231,18 @@ class TestSearchEndpointHostResolution(unittest.TestCase):
         else:
             os.environ.pop("BSKY_SEARCH_HOST", None)
 
-    def test_module_constant_uses_canonical_appview(self):
-        # Regression guard against the public mirror reappearing as the default
-        self.assertIn("api.bsky.app", bluesky.BSKY_SEARCH_URL)
+    def test_resolver_default_uses_canonical_appview(self):
+        # Regression guard against the public mirror reappearing as the default.
+        # Anchored at the resolver because that is the code path search_bluesky
+        # actually calls; a module-level constant would not catch a resolver
+        # regression.
+        self.assertIn("api.bsky.app", bluesky._resolve_search_url())
 
-    def test_module_constant_does_not_use_public_mirror(self):
-        # Hard regression guard — the exact host that BunnyCDN was blocking
-        self.assertNotIn("public.api.bsky.app", bluesky.BSKY_SEARCH_URL)
+    def test_resolver_default_does_not_use_public_mirror(self):
+        # Hard regression guard — the exact host that BunnyCDN was blocking.
+        # Asserted at the resolver level (the runtime path) so a default-host
+        # regression in _resolve_search_url is actually caught.
+        self.assertNotIn("public.api.bsky.app", bluesky._resolve_search_url())
 
     def test_resolver_default_when_no_override(self):
         self.assertEqual(
diff --git a/tests/test_quality_nudge.py b/tests/test_quality_nudge.py
index 4f549af..0ef09d2 100644
--- a/tests/test_quality_nudge.py
+++ b/tests/test_quality_nudge.py
@@ -469,3 +469,49 @@ class TestInstagramSilentFailure:
         q = _compute()
         assert q.get("bonus_errored") == []
 
+    def test_exclude_sources_instagram_suppresses_silent_failure(self):
+        """User set EXCLUDE_SOURCES=instagram - the source intentionally did
+        not run, so the zero-count instagram_items_count written by
+        last30days.py is a non-event, not a silent failure. Pre-fix: the
+        nudge fired anyway because the gate only checked SC-key + count.
+        """
+        q = _compute(
+            config_overrides={
+                "AUTH_TOKEN": "tok123",
+                "SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY": "sc_key",
+                "EXCLUDE_SOURCES": "instagram",
+            },
+            ytdlp_installed=True,
+            result_overrides={"instagram_items_count": 0},
+        )
+        assert "instagram" not in q["bonus_errored"]
+        assert q["nudge_text"] is None
+
+    def test_exclude_sources_multi_value_with_instagram(self):
+        """Canonical parsing pattern is comma-separated; case-insensitive."""
+        q = _compute(
+            config_overrides={
+                "AUTH_TOKEN": "tok123",
+                "SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY": "sc_key",
+                "EXCLUDE_SOURCES": "threads, Instagram , pinterest",
+            },
+            ytdlp_installed=True,
+            result_overrides={"instagram_items_count": 0},
+        )
+        assert "instagram" not in q["bonus_errored"]
+
+    def test_exclude_sources_other_value_still_flags(self):
+        """EXCLUDE_SOURCES that does not mention instagram must not suppress
+        the silent-failure nudge for instagram.
+        """
+        q = _compute(
+            config_overrides={
+                "AUTH_TOKEN": "tok123",
+                "SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY": "sc_key",
+                "EXCLUDE_SOURCES": "threads",
+            },
+            ytdlp_installed=True,
+            result_overrides={"instagram_items_count": 0},
+        )
+        assert "instagram" in q["bonus_errored"]
+