diff --git a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/client-app-impl.ts b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/client-app-impl.ts
index 2d3bdec81..87845a694 100644
--- a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/client-app-impl.ts
+++ b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/client-app-impl.ts
@@ -4075,10 +4075,14 @@ export class _HexclaveClientAppImplIncomplete<HasTokenStore extends boolean, Pro
    * ancestors, mirroring resolveParentIds). `extraParents` adds explicit
    * per-request parents on top. Null when there is nothing to propagate.
    */
-  protected _getSpanPropagationContext(extraParents?: ParentRef[]): SpanPropagationContext | null {
+  protected _getSpanPropagationContext(extraParents?: ParentRef[], root?: boolean): SpanPropagationContext | null {
     const tracker = this._eventTracker;
     if (!tracker) return null;
-    const customParentSpanIds = flattenParentRefsToIds(tracker.getAmbientParentRefs(), extraParents);
+    // root drops the ambient custom parents (same meaning as TrackOptions.root) —
+    // the precise-control path for interleaved async flows, where the browser's
+    // shared sync stack could otherwise mix in another flow's frames. The session
+    // attribution (segment id) is identity, not parenting, so it always rides.
+    const customParentSpanIds = flattenParentRefsToIds(root ? [] : tracker.getAmbientParentRefs(), extraParents);
     const segmentId = tracker.getSessionReplaySegmentId();
     if (!segmentId && customParentSpanIds.length === 0) return null;
     return {
@@ -4088,8 +4092,8 @@ export class _HexclaveClientAppImplIncomplete<HasTokenStore extends boolean, Pro
     };
   }
 
-  getSpanPropagationHeaders(options?: { parentIds?: ParentRef[] }): Record<string, string> {
-    const context = this._getSpanPropagationContext(options?.parentIds);
+  getSpanPropagationHeaders(options?: { parentIds?: ParentRef[], root?: boolean }): Record<string, string> {
+    const context = this._getSpanPropagationContext(options?.parentIds, options?.root);
     if (!context) return {};
     return { [SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER]: encodeSpanContextHeader(context) };
   }
diff --git a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.test.ts b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.test.ts
index cec210d01..a901adc81 100644
--- a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.test.ts
+++ b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.test.ts
@@ -242,6 +242,24 @@ describe("installFetchSpanPropagation", () => {
     expect(sentHeader()).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  it("never overwrites an explicitly-set span-context header (init.headers)", async () => {
+    install({ projectId: "p", sessionReplaySegmentId: SEG });
+    const explicit = encodeSpanContextHeader({ projectId: "p", customParentSpanIds: [CUSTOM_A] });
+    await (globalThis as { fetch: typeof fetch }).fetch("/x", { headers: { [SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER]: explicit } });
+    // Passed through untouched: the wrapper must not clobber the caller's precise intent.
+    expect(new Headers(calls[0].init?.headers).get(SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER)).toBe(explicit);
+  });
+
+  it("never overwrites an explicitly-set span-context header (Request headers)", async () => {
+    install({ projectId: "p", sessionReplaySegmentId: SEG });
+    const explicit = encodeSpanContextHeader({ projectId: "p", customParentSpanIds: [CUSTOM_B] });
+    const req = new Request("https://app.example.com/x", { headers: { [SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER]: explicit } });
+    await (globalThis as { fetch: typeof fetch }).fetch(req);
+    // No init constructed — the Request (with its own header) passes through as-is.
+    expect(calls[0].init?.headers).toBeUndefined();
+    expect((calls[0].input as Request).headers.get(SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER)).toBe(explicit);
+  });
+
   it("is idempotent and uninstalls cleanly", async () => {
     install({ projectId: "p", sessionReplaySegmentId: SEG });
     const second = installFetchSpanPropagation({ getContext: () => null, getSelfOrigin: () => SELF, getAllowedOrigins: () => [] });
diff --git a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.ts b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.ts
index 30ec3a642..25fba8bb0 100644
--- a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.ts
+++ b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/implementations/span-propagation.ts
@@ -248,8 +248,13 @@ export function installFetchSpanPropagation(options: FetchSpanPropagationOptions
               ? init.headers
               : (isRequest ? (input as Request).headers : undefined);
             const headers = new Headers(base);
-            headers.set(SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER, encodeSpanContextHeader(context));
-            return callFetch(input, { ...init, headers });
+            // An explicitly-set header (getSpanPropagationHeaders) always wins
+            // over the ambient context — it is the caller's precise intent, e.g.
+            // pinning one request to one span under interleaved async flows.
+            if (!headers.has(SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER)) {
+              headers.set(SPAN_CONTEXT_HEADER, encodeSpanContextHeader(context));
+              return callFetch(input, { ...init, headers });
+            }
           }
         }
       }
diff --git a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/interfaces/client-app.ts b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/interfaces/client-app.ts
index f185b968e..f2a7178c6 100644
--- a/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/interfaces/client-app.ts
+++ b/packages/template/src/lib/hexclave-app/apps/interfaces/client-app.ts
@@ -167,8 +167,14 @@ export type StackClientApp<HasTokenStore extends boolean = boolean, ProjectId ex
      * event tracked right now would get: the per-tab replay segment, global spans,
      * and enclosing `withSpan()` frames — plus any explicit `parentIds`. Returns
      * `{}` when there is nothing to propagate (analytics off, non-browser).
+     *
+     * Setting this header on a `fetch` also overrides the automatic one, and
+     * `root: true` drops the ambient parents (only explicit `parentIds` apply) —
+     * together the precise-control path when overlapping async flows could mix
+     * ambient frames (the documented browser sync-stack fallback):
+     * `fetch(url, { headers: app.getSpanPropagationHeaders({ parentIds: [span], root: true }) })`.
      */
-    getSpanPropagationHeaders(options?: { parentIds?: ParentRef[] }): Record<string, string>,
+    getSpanPropagationHeaders(options?: { parentIds?: ParentRef[], root?: boolean }): Record<string, string>,
 
     // note: we don't special-case 'anonymous' here to return non-null, see GetPartialUserOptions for more details
     getPartialUser(options: GetCurrentPartialUserOptions<HasTokenStore> & { from: 'token' }): Promise<TokenPartialUser | null>,