diff --git a/infrastructure/inference/llama_cpp/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/llama/cpp/LlamaCppInferenceProvider.kt b/infrastructure/inference/llama_cpp/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/llama/cpp/LlamaCppInferenceProvider.kt
index d4a498d3..8a29a8e2 100644
--- a/infrastructure/inference/llama_cpp/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/llama/cpp/LlamaCppInferenceProvider.kt
+++ b/infrastructure/inference/llama_cpp/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/llama/cpp/LlamaCppInferenceProvider.kt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import com.correx.core.inference.TokenUsage
 import com.correx.core.inference.Tokenizer
 import com.correx.core.inference.ToolCallFunction
 import com.correx.core.inference.ToolCallRequest
+import com.correx.core.inference.ToolDefinition
 import com.correx.infrastructure.inference.commons.ModelDescriptor
 import io.ktor.client.HttpClient
 import io.ktor.client.call.body
@@ -148,6 +149,9 @@ class LlamaCppInferenceProvider(
 
         val tools = request.tools.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() }
 
+        // #291: clamp the stage completion cap to the window's real runway (see clampMaxTokens).
+        val effectiveMaxTokens = clampMaxTokens(request.generationConfig.maxTokens, messages, tools)
+
         // llama.cpp rejects requests that carry BOTH a custom grammar and tools
         // ("Cannot use custom grammar constraints with tools"). When a stage has tools,
         // we drop the grammar and rely on post-hoc schema validation + retry to keep the
@@ -167,7 +171,7 @@ class LlamaCppInferenceProvider(
             messages = messages,
             temperature = request.generationConfig.temperature,
             topP = request.generationConfig.topP,
-            maxTokens = request.generationConfig.maxTokens,
+            maxTokens = effectiveMaxTokens,
             stopSequences = request.generationConfig.stopSequences,
             seed = request.generationConfig.seed,
             topK = request.generationConfig.topK,
@@ -222,6 +226,47 @@ class LlamaCppInferenceProvider(
         )
     }
 
+    // Per-message chat-template framing (role tags, delimiters) the client can't see but the server
+    // adds; a small fixed estimate is enough headroom for a safety clamp. ponytail: constant, not a
+    // per-family table — bump if a template proves heavier.
+    private val templateTokensPerMessage = 8
+    private val safetyReserveTokens = 512
+    private val minCompletionTokens = 256
+
+    /**
+     * #291: returns min(requestedCap, contextSize − promptTokens − toolSchema − templateOverhead −
+     * reserve), floored so a nearly-full window still asks for *something* rather than a negative or
+     * absurd allowance. Prompt/tool tokens are counted with the model's own tokenizer (one extra
+     * /tokenize round-trip); a char/4 estimate is the fallback if that call fails. Live-path only —
+     * deterministic replay never calls [infer], so nothing here needs to be an event.
+     */
+    private suspend fun clampMaxTokens(
+        requestedCap: Int,
+        messages: List<LlamaCppChatMessage>,
+        tools: List<ToolDefinition>?,
+    ): Int {
+        val countable = buildString {
+            messages.forEach { m ->
+                append(m.role).append('\n')
+                m.content?.let { append(it).append('\n') }
+                m.reasoningContent?.let { append(it).append('\n') }
+                m.toolCalls.forEach { append(it.function.name).append(it.function.arguments).append('\n') }
+            }
+            tools?.let { append(json.encodeToString(it)) }
+        }
+        val promptTokens = runCatching { tokenizer.countTokens(countable) }
+            .getOrElse { countable.length / 4 }
+        val overhead = messages.size * templateTokensPerMessage
+        val runway = descriptor.contextSize - promptTokens - overhead - safetyReserveTokens
+        if (runway < minCompletionTokens) {
+            log.warn(
+                "context runway low: ctx={} prompt~{} overhead={} reserve={} runway={} (cap was {})",
+                descriptor.contextSize, promptTokens, overhead, safetyReserveTokens, runway, requestedCap,
+            )
+        }
+        return requestedCap.coerceAtMost(runway).coerceAtLeast(0)
+    }
+
     override suspend fun healthCheck(): ProviderHealth = try {
         val response = httpClient.get("$baseUrl/health")
         if (response.status.value in 200..299) {
diff --git a/infrastructure/inference/llama_cpp/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/llama/cpp/LlamaCppMaxTokensClampTest.kt b/infrastructure/inference/llama_cpp/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/llama/cpp/LlamaCppMaxTokensClampTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bec880dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/inference/llama_cpp/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/llama/cpp/LlamaCppMaxTokensClampTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+package com.correx.infrastructure.inference.llama.cpp
+
+import com.correx.core.context.model.ContextEntry
+import com.correx.core.context.model.ContextLayer
+import com.correx.core.context.model.ContextPack
+import com.correx.core.context.model.EntryRole
+import com.correx.core.events.types.ContextEntryId
+import com.correx.core.events.types.ContextPackId
+import com.correx.core.events.types.InferenceRequestId
+import com.correx.core.events.types.SessionId
+import com.correx.core.events.types.StageId
+import com.correx.core.inference.GenerationConfig
+import com.correx.core.inference.InferenceRequest
+import com.correx.infrastructure.inference.commons.ModelDescriptor
+import com.correx.infrastructure.inference.commons.ResidencyMode
+import io.ktor.client.HttpClient
+import io.ktor.client.engine.mock.MockEngine
+import io.ktor.client.engine.mock.respond
+import io.ktor.client.plugins.contentnegotiation.ContentNegotiation
+import io.ktor.serialization.kotlinx.json.json
+import io.ktor.http.ContentType
+import io.ktor.http.HttpHeaders
+import io.ktor.http.content.TextContent
+import io.ktor.http.headersOf
+import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
+import kotlin.test.assertEquals
+
+// #291: the provider must clamp the requested completion cap against the model context window so a
+// nearly-full prompt never asks for an impossible allowance (the traced Gemma4 truncation).
+class LlamaCppMaxTokensClampTest {
+
+    private val promptTokenCount = 1000
+    private val reserve = 512
+    private val overheadPerMessage = 8
+
+    private fun request(cap: Int) = InferenceRequest(
+        requestId = InferenceRequestId("req-1"),
+        sessionId = SessionId("s-1"),
+        stageId = StageId("stage-1"),
+        contextPack = ContextPack(
+            id = ContextPackId("pack-1"),
+            sessionId = SessionId("s-1"),
+            stageId = StageId("stage-1"),
+            layers = mapOf(
+                ContextLayer.L1 to listOf(
+                    ContextEntry(
+                        id = ContextEntryId("e-1"),
+                        layer = ContextLayer.L1,
+                        content = "do the thing",
+                        sourceType = "stagePrompt",
+                        sourceId = "e-1",
+                        tokenEstimate = 4,
+                        role = EntryRole.USER,
+                    ),
+                ),
+            ),
+            budgetUsed = 4,
+            budgetLimit = 24_576,
+        ),
+        generationConfig = GenerationConfig(temperature = 1.0, topP = 1.0, maxTokens = cap),
+    )
+
+    private fun provider(contextSize: Int, capture: (Int) -> Unit): LlamaCppInferenceProvider {
+        val engine = MockEngine { req ->
+            when {
+                req.url.encodedPath.endsWith("/tokenize") -> respond(
+                    content = """{"tokens":[${(1..promptTokenCount).joinToString(",")}]}""",
+                    headers = headersOf(HttpHeaders.ContentType, ContentType.Application.Json.toString()),
+                )
+                else -> {
+                    val body = (req.body as TextContent).text
+                    val maxTokens = Regex("\"max_tokens\":(\\d+)").find(body)!!.groupValues[1].toInt()
+                    capture(maxTokens)
+                    val usage =
+                        """"usage":{"prompt_tokens":$promptTokenCount,"completion_tokens":1,"total_tokens":1}"""
+                    respond(
+                        content = """{"id":"x","choices":[{"message":{"role":"assistant",""" +
+                            """"content":"ok"},"finish_reason":"stop"}],$usage}""",
+                        headers = headersOf(HttpHeaders.ContentType, ContentType.Application.Json.toString()),
+                    )
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        val descriptor = ModelDescriptor(
+            modelId = "test",
+            modelPath = "/dev/null",
+            residencyMode = ResidencyMode.EPHEMERAL,
+            contextSize = contextSize,
+        )
+        val client = HttpClient(engine) {
+            install(ContentNegotiation) { json(kotlinx.serialization.json.Json { ignoreUnknownKeys = true }) }
+        }
+        return LlamaCppInferenceProvider(descriptor, "http://localhost:10000", client)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `clamps completion cap to remaining context runway`(): Unit = runBlocking {
+        var sent = -1
+        // 1 message -> overhead 8. runway = 2000 - 1000 - 8 - 512 = 480, below the 24_576 cap.
+        provider(contextSize = 2000) { sent = it }.infer(request(cap = 24_576))
+        assertEquals(2000 - promptTokenCount - overheadPerMessage - reserve, sent)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `keeps the stage cap when the window has ample runway`(): Unit = runBlocking {
+        var sent = -1
+        provider(contextSize = 100_000) { sent = it }.infer(request(cap = 24_576))
+        assertEquals(24_576, sent)
+    }
+}