diff --git a/docs/worker.md b/docs/worker.md
index 28db89a..48736a6 100644
--- a/docs/worker.md
+++ b/docs/worker.md
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@ cancellation; this component does not implement focus or delivery policy.
 The adapter requires an existing absolute, owner-private `$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR`
 (no symlink at the final component), creates its own 0700 `mkdtemp` directory,
 and writes only `clip.raw` with `O_EXCL|O_NOFOLLOW`, mode 0600. Clips are
-3200..320000 finite float samples, mono 16 kHz, stored as little-endian IEEE
-float32 (0.2..20 s). Files are unlinked after replies or shutdown, and the
+3200..320000 finite float samples in `[-1, 1]`, mono 16 kHz, stored as
+little-endian IEEE float32 (0.2..20 s). The microphone adapter saturates finite
+capture/resampler overshoot to this range without rescaling the rest of the
+clip; NaN/infinity are rejected. `Worker::submit` independently rejects samples
+outside this contract before writing a clip or request. Files are unlinked after replies or shutdown, and the
 private directory is removed. Private clips are not encrypted against the
 account owner/root; do not use an untrusted runtime directory. The caller
 should pass a trusted interpreter and script. By default audio/transcripts are
diff --git a/src/audio.cpp b/src/audio.cpp
index bdf43e8..e48bbb5 100644
--- a/src/audio.cpp
+++ b/src/audio.cpp
@@ -47,8 +47,13 @@ void Audio::drain() {
         if (bytes % sizeof(float)) throw std::runtime_error("Misaligned microphone samples");
         if (recording_) {
             const auto retain = std::min(std::size_t(bytes) / sizeof(float), 320000 - pcm_.size());
-            for (std::size_t i = 0; i < retain; ++i)
+            for (std::size_t i = 0; i < retain; ++i) {
                 if (!std::isfinite(chunk[i])) throw std::runtime_error("Invalid microphone samples");
+                // Floating-point capture/resampling can exceed full scale. The
+                // ASR API requires normalized PCM; saturate peaks, never scale
+                // the whole clip or silently turn nonfinite input into speech.
+                chunk[i] = std::clamp(chunk[i], -1.0f, 1.0f);
+            }
             pcm_.insert(pcm_.end(), chunk.begin(), chunk.begin() + retain);
         }
         last_data_ = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
diff --git a/src/audio.hpp b/src/audio.hpp
index 99288e8..a6e7f85 100644
--- a/src/audio.hpp
+++ b/src/audio.hpp
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ public:
     void prepare(); // open/resume once, while app is ready; never retain idle samples
     void start(); // arm the already-running stream without touching the device
     bool poll(); // drain even while idle; true at 20s limit; throws on loss/stall
-    std::vector<float> finish();
+    std::vector<float> finish(); // finite PCM saturated to [-1, 1] for the ASR API
     void cancel(); // discard current clip, leave the device running
     void close(); // release device on shutdown or capture failure
     bool recording() const { return recording_; }
diff --git a/src/worker.cpp b/src/worker.cpp
index a2d2e9d..59f3960 100644
--- a/src/worker.cpp
+++ b/src/worker.cpp
@@ -353,7 +353,9 @@ void Worker::submit(uint64_t id, const std::vector<float>& pcm) {
     auto& s = *state_;
     if (!ready() || s.pending) throw std::logic_error("worker not ready or request already pending");
     if (pcm.size() < 3200 || pcm.size() > 320000) throw std::invalid_argument("clip must be 0.2..20 seconds at 16 kHz");
-    for (float value : pcm) if (!std::isfinite(value)) throw std::invalid_argument("nonfinite PCM sample");
+    for (float value : pcm)
+        if (!std::isfinite(value) || value < -1.0f || value > 1.0f)
+            throw std::invalid_argument("PCM samples must be finite and in [-1, 1]");
     const std::string path = s.dir + "/clip.raw";
     int fd = ::open(path.c_str(), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL | O_NOFOLLOW | O_CLOEXEC, 0600);
     if (fd < 0) throw std::runtime_error("cannot create exclusive private clip");
diff --git a/tests/audio_test.cpp b/tests/audio_test.cpp
index a415107..a28a832 100644
--- a/tests/audio_test.cpp
+++ b/tests/audio_test.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <cassert>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <iostream>
+#include <limits>
 #include <stdexcept>
 
 namespace {
@@ -52,6 +53,31 @@ int main() {
         feed(0.9f, 100); audio.start(); feed(0.4f, 3200);
         clip = audio.finish(); assert(clip.size() == 3200 && clip.front() == 0.4f);
         assert(opens == 1 && closes == 0 && resumes == 1);
+        // Real float capture can exceed full scale. Both poll and finish must
+        // saturate finite peaks without changing ordinary samples or clip size.
+        audio.start();
+        feed(1.01f, 1600); feed(-1.25f, 1600); audio.poll();
+        feed(std::numeric_limits<float>::max(), 1);
+        feed(-std::numeric_limits<float>::max(), 1);
+        feed(1.f, 1); feed(-1.f, 1); feed(.25f, 1); feed(0.f, 1);
+        clip = audio.finish();
+        assert(clip.size() == 3206);
+        assert(std::all_of(clip.begin(), clip.begin() + 1600, [](float x) { return x == 1.f; }));
+        assert(std::all_of(clip.begin() + 1600, clip.begin() + 3200, [](float x) { return x == -1.f; }));
+        assert(clip[3200] == 1.f && clip[3201] == -1.f && clip[3202] == 1.f && clip[3203] == -1.f);
+        assert(clip[3204] == .25f && clip[3205] == 0.f);
+        for (float invalid : {std::numeric_limits<float>::infinity(),
+                              -std::numeric_limits<float>::infinity(),
+                              std::numeric_limits<float>::quiet_NaN()}) {
+            audio.start(); feed(.2f, 3200); feed(invalid, 1);
+            bool rejected = false;
+            try { (void)audio.finish(); } catch (const std::runtime_error&) { rejected = true; }
+            assert(rejected && !audio.recording() && current->queued.empty());
+            audio.start(); feed(.3f, 3200);
+            clip = audio.finish();
+            assert(clip.size() == 3200 && clip.front() == .3f); // no failed clip tail leaks
+        }
+        assert(opens == 1 && closes == 0 && resumes == 1);
         removed = true;
         bool failed = false;
         try { audio.poll(); } catch (const std::runtime_error&) { failed = true; }
diff --git a/tests/worker_test.cpp b/tests/worker_test.cpp
index d09cf3f..81e8f72 100644
--- a/tests/worker_test.cpp
+++ b/tests/worker_test.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <functional>
 #include <fstream>
+#include <limits>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
@@ -40,6 +41,15 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
         try { worker.submit(1, std::vector<float>(3199)); }
         catch (const std::invalid_argument&) { rejected = true; }
         assert(rejected);
+        for (float value : {1.01f, -1.01f, std::numeric_limits<float>::infinity(),
+                            std::numeric_limits<float>::quiet_NaN()}) {
+            auto invalid = clip; invalid.back() = value;
+            rejected = false;
+            try { worker.submit(99, invalid); }
+            catch (const std::invalid_argument&) { rejected = true; }
+            assert(rejected && worker.ready()); // rejection happens before clip/IPC mutation
+        }
+        clip.front() = -1.f; clip.back() = 1.f; // full-scale boundaries are valid
         worker.submit(100, clip);
         rejected = false;
         try { worker.submit(101, clip); }