diff --git a/packages/react/.scripts/__tests__/check-untranslated-copy.test.ts b/packages/react/.scripts/__tests__/check-untranslated-copy.test.ts
index 73e908d731..5df6e9c7b4 100644
--- a/packages/react/.scripts/__tests__/check-untranslated-copy.test.ts
+++ b/packages/react/.scripts/__tests__/check-untranslated-copy.test.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,31 @@ describe("findInSource", () => {
     ).toEqual([])
   })
 
+  it("ignores a key cap, but not the sentence it sits in", () => {
+    // The pattern in F0AiChatTextArea: the cap reads what is printed on the
+    // key, the surrounding sentence is translated separately.
+    expect(
+      scanTsx(
+        "const A = () => <p><kbd>Enter</kbd> to select, or press <kbd>Esc</kbd></p>"
+      )
+    ).toEqual(['<jsx-text> = "to select, or press"'])
+  })
+
+  it.each(["code", "pre", "samp", "var"])(
+    "ignores machine text inside <%s>",
+    (tag) => {
+      expect(
+        scanTsx(`const A = () => <${tag}>Delete the row</${tag}>`)
+      ).toEqual([])
+    }
+  )
+
+  it("still flags prose in an element that merely contains a kbd", () => {
+    expect(
+      scanTsx("const A = () => <div>Press this key<kbd>Enter</kbd></div>")
+    ).toEqual(['<jsx-text> = "Press this key"'])
+  })
+
   it("does not look for JSX text in a .ts file", () => {
     // A .ts file parsed as TSX turns `<T>` casts and comparisons into elements,
     // and their contents into "JSX text".
diff --git a/packages/react/.scripts/check-untranslated-copy.ts b/packages/react/.scripts/check-untranslated-copy.ts
index a08aed2c48..04d72eb158 100644
--- a/packages/react/.scripts/check-untranslated-copy.ts
+++ b/packages/react/.scripts/check-untranslated-copy.ts
@@ -216,6 +216,17 @@ const STYLE_CONTAINERS = new Set([
   "whileInView",
 ])
 
+/**
+ * Elements whose text is machine or device text rather than product copy, so
+ * their children are skipped.
+ *
+ * `<kbd>` is the one that actually comes up: a key cap reads what is printed on
+ * the key, and the sentence around it is translated separately —
+ * `<kbd>Enter</kbd> {i18n.…navHint.select}`. The rest hold code, sample output
+ * and variable names, which are never translated either.
+ */
+const NON_COPY_ELEMENTS = new Set(["kbd", "code", "pre", "samp", "var"])
+
 export type FindingKind =
   | "jsx-text"
   | "jsx-attribute"
@@ -404,6 +415,19 @@ export function findInSource(filePath: string, source: string): Finding[] {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Is this text a direct child of a `<kbd>`, `<code>`, … element? Only the
+   * immediate parent counts: a `<kbd>` inside a translated sentence must not
+   * silence the sentence, and prose nested under a `<pre>` would be a bug in
+   * the markup rather than something to hide.
+   */
+  const inNonCopyElement = (node: ts.Node): boolean => {
+    const parent = node.parent
+    if (!parent || !ts.isJsxElement(parent)) return false
+    const tag = parent.openingElement.tagName.getText(sourceFile)
+    return NON_COPY_ELEMENTS.has(tag)
+  }
+
   const visit = (node: ts.Node): void => {
     if (ts.isJsxAttribute(node) && node.initializer) {
       const attrName = node.name.getText(sourceFile)
@@ -443,7 +467,12 @@ export function findInSource(filePath: string, source: string): Finding[] {
       }
     }
 
-    if (isTsx && ts.isJsxText(node) && readsAsCopy(node.text)) {
+    if (
+      isTsx &&
+      ts.isJsxText(node) &&
+      !inNonCopyElement(node) &&
+      readsAsCopy(node.text)
+    ) {
       record(node, "<jsx-text>", node.text, "jsx-text")
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/react/.scripts/untranslated-copy-debt.json b/packages/react/.scripts/untranslated-copy-debt.json
index d9204d6adf..e4d2f19349 100644
--- a/packages/react/.scripts/untranslated-copy-debt.json
+++ b/packages/react/.scripts/untranslated-copy-debt.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "note": "Untranslated user-visible copy in packages/react/src — string literals that should come from the i18n layer (src/lib/providers/i18n) instead. Enforced by .scripts/check-untranslated-copy.ts. This list may only shrink: translate a string and remove it from here (or run \"--update\"), never add one.",
-  "total": 133,
+  "total": 128,
   "files": {
     "src/components/F0Card/components/CardMetadata.tsx": [
       "Unsupported property type:"
@@ -12,10 +12,6 @@
       "Increase"
     ],
     "src/components/F0Slider/F0SliderSkeleton.tsx": ["Loading slider"],
-    "src/components/F0VideoPlayer/components/AudioDescriptionToggleIcons.tsx": [
-      "AD",
-      "AD"
-    ],
     "src/components/OneChip/index.tsx": ["Close"],
     "src/components/RichText/F0NotesTextEditor/F0NotesTextEditor.tsx": [
       "Add paragraph"
@@ -103,7 +99,6 @@
     "src/kits/ai/F0AiChat/components/markdownRenderers/components/Image.tsx": [
       "Download"
     ],
-    "src/kits/ai/F0AiChatTextArea/F0AiChatTextArea.tsx": ["Enter", "Esc"],
     "src/kits/Charts/CategoryBarChart/index.tsx": ["Category bar chart"],
     "src/kits/surveys/SurveyAnsweringForm/SurveyAnsweringForm.tsx": ["Value"],
     "src/kits/surveys/SurveyFormBuilder/lib.ts": ["New option 1"],
@@ -111,7 +106,6 @@
       "Emojis"
     ],
     "src/lib/F0GridStack/components/grid-stack-provider.tsx": ["No content"],
-    "src/lib/xray.tsx": ["XRay"],
     "src/patterns/F0AnalyticsDashboard/components/DashboardGrid/DashboardGrid.tsx": [
       "Drag to reorder"
     ],
diff --git a/packages/react/src/components/F0VideoPlayer/components/AudioDescriptionToggleIcons.tsx b/packages/react/src/components/F0VideoPlayer/components/AudioDescriptionToggleIcons.tsx
index 4f6a039414..f8a3e396cd 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/components/F0VideoPlayer/components/AudioDescriptionToggleIcons.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/components/F0VideoPlayer/components/AudioDescriptionToggleIcons.tsx
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export const AudioDescriptionLineIcon = forwardRef<
       vectorEffect="non-scaling-stroke"
     />
     <text {...AD_TEXT_PROPS} fill="currentColor">
+      {/* i18n-exempt: glyph in the icon artwork, like the CC badge */}
       AD
     </text>
   </svg>
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@ export const AudioDescriptionFilledIcon = forwardRef<
       <mask id={maskId} maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
         <rect x={3} y={6} width={18} height={12} rx={3} fill="white" />
         <text {...AD_TEXT_PROPS} fill="black">
+          {/* i18n-exempt: glyph in the icon artwork, like the CC badge */}
           AD
         </text>
       </mask>
diff --git a/packages/react/src/lib/xray.tsx b/packages/react/src/lib/xray.tsx
index e866c169ad..d4875bc483 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/lib/xray.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/lib/xray.tsx
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ export const XRayProvider: React.FC<{ children: ReactNode }> = ({
         typeof document !== "undefined" &&
         createPortal(
           <div className="bg-white fixed right-2 top-2 z-50 flex flex-col space-y-2 rounded-2xs border-solid border-f1-border p-4 opacity-80 shadow-md">
+            {/* i18n-exempt: name of the dev-only inspector overlay */}
             <div className="text-md z-50 font-semibold">XRay</div>
             <div className="flex flex-col space-y-2">
               {componentTypes.map((type) => (