diff --git a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/ApiClient.cs b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/ApiClient.cs
index 76051ba..022ffe0 100644
--- a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/ApiClient.cs
+++ b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/ApiClient.cs
@@ -128,11 +128,15 @@ public sealed class ApiClient
         };
         var res = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync(path, payload, Json, ct);
         if (res.IsSuccessStatusCode) return true;
-        if (res.StatusCode is HttpStatusCode.Conflict or HttpStatusCode.NotFound)
+        if (res.StatusCode is HttpStatusCode.Conflict or HttpStatusCode.NotFound or HttpStatusCode.UnprocessableEntity)
         {
+            // Conflict/NotFound: contradictory or vanished report — nothing to retry.
+            // UnprocessableEntity: the server rejected the payload shape itself, so
+            // resending the same bytes can only ever produce the same 422 — retrying
+            // just spams the log forever instead of surfacing the real problem.
             _log.LogWarning("Server permanently rejected {Kind} for job {JobId}: {Status} {Body}",
                 kind, jobId, (int)res.StatusCode, await res.Content.ReadAsStringAsync(ct));
-            return true; // don't retry contradictory/vanished reports
+            return true;
         }
         _log.LogWarning("Lifecycle report {Kind} for {JobId} failed with {Status}; will retry", kind, jobId, (int)res.StatusCode);
         return false;
diff --git a/lib/render-pipeline/deliveries.ts b/lib/render-pipeline/deliveries.ts
index d3cf0d6..a1d5f7f 100644
--- a/lib/render-pipeline/deliveries.ts
+++ b/lib/render-pipeline/deliveries.ts
@@ -437,8 +437,8 @@ export const deliveryReportSchema = z.object({
         status: z.enum(["COPIED", "VERIFIED", "FAILED"]),
         exrPath: z.string().max(1000).optional().nullable(),
         movPath: z.string().max(1000).optional().nullable(),
-        fileCount: z.number().int().nonnegative().optional(),
-        totalBytes: z.number().nonnegative().optional(),
+        fileCount: z.number().int().nonnegative().optional().nullable(),
+        totalBytes: z.number().nonnegative().optional().nullable(),
         checksum: z.string().max(200).optional().nullable(),
         linkMode: z.enum(["hardlink", "copy"]).optional().nullable(),
         errorMessage: z.string().max(2000).optional().nullable(),