diff --git a/.correxignore b/.correxignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f1a6c0d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.correxignore
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Repo-map exclusions — silences generic-similarity noise in the semantic "Relevant files"
+# feed without touching CorrexConfig's ignore_globs. One pattern per line, matched by
+# RepoMapIndexer.isIgnored: bare name = matches at any depth, path with '/' = subtree prefix.
+
+# Dev/QA tooling, not project business logic.
+scripts
+
+# Fixture repo used by QA gate tests — deliberately fake code, not part of correx itself.
+qa/sample-repo
+
+# Frontend build config — boilerplate, never what a code-context query is actually after.
+frontend/tailwind.config.js
+frontend/vite.config.ts
+frontend/postcss.config.js
diff --git a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/Main.kt b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/Main.kt
index 4030a95b..ab0099d5 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/Main.kt
+++ b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/Main.kt
@@ -367,6 +367,7 @@ fun main() {
                 embedder = embedder,
                 l3MemoryStore = l3MemoryStore,
                 repoRoot = workspaceRoot.toString(),
+                eventStore = eventStore,
             )
         } else {
             null
diff --git a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/L3RepoKnowledgeRetriever.kt b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/L3RepoKnowledgeRetriever.kt
index 5a817e1d..42759b4f 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/L3RepoKnowledgeRetriever.kt
+++ b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/L3RepoKnowledgeRetriever.kt
@@ -1,25 +1,74 @@
 package com.correx.apps.server.memory
 
+import com.correx.core.events.events.EventMetadata
+import com.correx.core.events.events.NewEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoKnowledgeHit
+import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoKnowledgeHitsFilteredEvent
+import com.correx.core.events.stores.EventStore
+import com.correx.core.events.types.EventId
 import com.correx.core.events.types.SessionId
 import com.correx.core.inference.Embedder
 import com.correx.core.kernel.orchestration.RepoKnowledgeRetriever
 import com.correx.core.talkie.l3.L3MemoryStore
 import com.correx.core.talkie.l3.L3Query
+import kotlinx.coroutines.CancellationException
+import kotlinx.datetime.Clock
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory
+import java.util.UUID
+
+private val log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(L3RepoKnowledgeRetriever::class.java)
 
 private const val RETRIEVAL_OVERSAMPLE_FACTOR = 4
 
+// Real embedder scores for genuinely relevant repo-map hits cluster 0.68-0.80 (2026-07-03
+// live grounding); below this floor a hit is just the nearest thing in a small corpus, not
+// actually related to the query — rendering it as "relevant" is the same poisoning failure
+// mode as the markdown-in-L3 bug, just via low-signal cosine similarity instead of topic drift.
+private const val MIN_SIMILARITY_SCORE = 0.5f
+
 class L3RepoKnowledgeRetriever(
     private val embedder: Embedder,
     private val l3MemoryStore: L3MemoryStore,
     private val repoRoot: String,
+    private val eventStore: EventStore? = null,
 ) : RepoKnowledgeRetriever {
     override suspend fun retrieve(sessionId: SessionId, query: String, k: Int): List<RepoKnowledgeHit> {
         val vector = embedder.embed(query)
-        return l3MemoryStore.query(L3Query(vector = vector, k = k * RETRIEVAL_OVERSAMPLE_FACTOR))
+        val candidates = l3MemoryStore.query(L3Query(vector = vector, k = k * RETRIEVAL_OVERSAMPLE_FACTOR))
             // Trailing ':' so "/repo" does not also match "/repo2" turnIds (prefix collision).
             .filter { it.entry.turnId.startsWith("repomap:$repoRoot:") }
-            .take(k)
-            .map { RepoKnowledgeHit(path = it.entry.text.substringBefore(":"), text = it.entry.text, score = it.score) }
+        val (kept, dropped) = candidates.partition { it.score >= MIN_SIMILARITY_SCORE }
+        if (dropped.isNotEmpty()) recordDropped(sessionId, query, dropped.map { it.toHit() })
+        return kept.take(k).map { it.toHit() }
     }
+
+    private suspend fun recordDropped(sessionId: SessionId, query: String, dropped: List<RepoKnowledgeHit>) {
+        val store = eventStore ?: return
+        runCatching {
+            store.append(
+                NewEvent(
+                    metadata = EventMetadata(
+                        eventId = EventId(UUID.randomUUID().toString()),
+                        sessionId = sessionId,
+                        timestamp = Clock.System.now(),
+                        schemaVersion = 1,
+                        causationId = null,
+                        correlationId = null,
+                    ),
+                    payload = RepoKnowledgeHitsFilteredEvent(
+                        sessionId = sessionId,
+                        query = query,
+                        threshold = MIN_SIMILARITY_SCORE,
+                        dropped = dropped,
+                    ),
+                ),
+            )
+        }.exceptionOrNull()?.let { e ->
+            if (e is CancellationException) throw e
+            log.warn("failed to record filtered repo-knowledge hits for {}: {}", sessionId.value, e.message)
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun com.correx.core.talkie.l3.L3Hit.toHit() =
+        RepoKnowledgeHit(path = entry.text.substringBefore(":"), text = entry.text, score = score)
 }
diff --git a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/ProjectMemoryService.kt b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/ProjectMemoryService.kt
index be7b6515..924ab20f 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/ProjectMemoryService.kt
+++ b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/ProjectMemoryService.kt
@@ -117,7 +117,14 @@ class ProjectMemoryService(
         // Trailing ':' delimiter so a repoRoot prefix can't collide with a longer sibling
         // (/repo vs /repo2) under the retriever's startsWith filter.
         val tag = if (stateKey != null) "repomap:$repoRoot:$stateKey" else "repomap:$repoRoot:"
-        entries.forEach { entry ->
+        // Docs are already surfaced via the "Docs available" catalog built straight from
+        // RepoMapComputedEvent (SessionOrchestrator, 2026-07-07 doc-injection rework) — embedding
+        // them into the same L3 namespace as code let generic textual similarity (e.g. "analyst",
+        // "compression pipeline") outrank the actual code files for a code-focused query, silently
+        // crowding the semantic "Relevant files" feed with irrelevant markdown (2026-07-08 recurrence
+        // of the 2026-07-05 context-poisoning root cause, this time via L3RepoKnowledgeRetriever
+        // rather than the repo-map floor that was fixed then).
+        entries.filterNot { it.path.endsWith(".md", ignoreCase = true) }.forEach { entry ->
             runCatching {
                 val text = entry.path + if (entry.symbols.isEmpty()) "" else ": ${entry.symbols.joinToString(", ")}"
                 l3MemoryStore.store(
diff --git a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/RepoMapIndexer.kt b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/RepoMapIndexer.kt
index 3734bcc1..3cd3e50d 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/RepoMapIndexer.kt
+++ b/apps/server/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/apps/server/memory/RepoMapIndexer.kt
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ class RepoMapIndexer(
 ) : RepoMapIndexerPort {
     override fun index(repoRoot: Path): List<RepoMapEntry> {
         if (!repoRoot.isDirectory()) return emptyList()
-        val ignore = ignoreGlobs.toSet()
+        val ignore = ignoreGlobs.toSet() + loadCorrexIgnore(repoRoot)
 
         val files = Files.walk(repoRoot, maxDepth).use { stream ->
             stream.filter { it.isRegularFile() }
                 .filter { it.extension in SYMBOL_PATTERNS.keys }
-                .filter { path -> path.relativeTo(repoRoot).none { it.name in ignore } }
+                .filter { path -> !isIgnored(path.relativeTo(repoRoot), ignore) }
                 .toList()
         }
         if (files.isEmpty()) return emptyList()
@@ -58,6 +58,35 @@ class RepoMapIndexer(
             .sortedByDescending { it.score }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * A repo-local, gitignore-style opt-out for the repo map: patterns here apply on top of
+     * `[project] ignore_globs` (CorrexConfig) without needing a config edit, so anyone working in
+     * the repo can silence a noisy path for themselves. Same matching rules as [isIgnored] — one
+     * pattern per line, blank lines and `#` comments skipped. Missing file is not an error (most
+     * repos won't have one).
+     */
+    private fun loadCorrexIgnore(repoRoot: Path): List<String> {
+        val file = repoRoot.resolve(".correxignore")
+        if (!file.isRegularFile()) return emptyList()
+        return runCatching { file.readText() }.getOrNull()
+            ?.lines()
+            ?.map { it.trim() }
+            ?.filter { it.isNotEmpty() && !it.startsWith("#") }
+            ?: emptyList()
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * An ignore entry matches either a bare path-segment name (any depth, e.g. "node_modules") or a
+     * relative path prefix (e.g. "examples/workflows/prompts", to exclude just that subtree).
+     */
+    private fun isIgnored(relativePath: Path, ignore: Set<String>): Boolean {
+        val rel = relativePath.toString().replace('\\', '/')
+        return ignore.any { pattern ->
+            if ('/' in pattern) rel == pattern || rel.startsWith("$pattern/")
+            else relativePath.any { it.name == pattern }
+        }
+    }
+
     private fun extractSymbols(path: Path): List<String> {
         // Docs are indexed as a single "what is this" descriptor, not a table-of-contents dump: a
         // heading flood (40 h1–h3 per doc across a large docs/ tree) buries real source and force-feeds
diff --git a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/model.go b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/model.go
index 96a92974..f54b679e 100644
--- a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/model.go
+++ b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/model.go
@@ -89,6 +89,22 @@ type EventEntry struct {
 	Detail string
 }
 
+// PlanStageStatus tracks a stage's lifecycle in a locked execution plan.
+type PlanStageStatus int
+
+const (
+	PlanPending   PlanStageStatus = iota
+	PlanRunning
+	PlanCompleted
+	PlanFailed
+)
+
+// PlanStage is one stage in a locked execution plan, with live execution status.
+type PlanStage struct {
+	ID     string
+	Status PlanStageStatus
+}
+
 // ToolStatus mirrors the Kotlin ToolDisplayStatus.
 type ToolStatus int
 
@@ -194,6 +210,8 @@ type Session struct {
 	Name               string
 	LastEventAt        int64
 	CurrentStage       string
+	PlanGoal           string
+	PlanStages         []PlanStage
 	WorkspaceRoot      string // bound cwd, from session.workspace_bound
 	LastOutput         string
 	LastResponse       string
diff --git a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/render_matrix_test.go b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/render_matrix_test.go
index f5e2edab..486ed754 100644
--- a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/render_matrix_test.go
+++ b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/render_matrix_test.go
@@ -612,9 +612,11 @@ var nonRenderingEventTypes = map[string]string{
 	protocol.TypeSnapshotComplete: "control frame: ends the snapshot-buffering phase; no render",
 	protocol.TypeRouterResponse:   "recognized no-op: superseded by chat.turn on the global stream",
 	protocol.TypeProtocolError:    "transport diagnostic: explicit no-op, not surfaced",
-	protocol.TypeFileList:         "query reply: populates the @ file picker overlay, not the transcript",
-	protocol.TypeGrantList:        "query reply: populates the standing-grants overlay, not the transcript",
-	protocol.TypeHealthChecks:     "query reply: populates the health-checks overlay, not the transcript",
+	protocol.TypeFileList:           "query reply: populates the @ file picker overlay, not the transcript",
+	protocol.TypeGrantList:          "query reply: populates the standing-grants overlay, not the transcript",
+	protocol.TypeHealthChecks:       "query reply: populates the health-checks overlay, not the transcript",
+	protocol.TypeProjectProfile:     "query reply: populates the project profile overlay, not the transcript",
+	protocol.TypeOperatorProfile:    "query reply: populates the operator profile overlay, not the transcript",
 }
 
 // TestRenderMatrixCoversEveryEventType is the load-bearing matrix guarantee: it scans
diff --git a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/server.go b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/server.go
index ce0f4e67..0e97fe3d 100644
--- a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/server.go
+++ b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/server.go
@@ -153,16 +153,34 @@ func (m *Model) applyServer(msg protocol.ServerMessage) {
 			s.Tools = nil
 			s.StageTokensUsed = 0
 			s.addEvent(msg.OccurredAt, "StageStarted", msg.StageID)
+			for i := range s.PlanStages {
+				if s.PlanStages[i].ID == msg.StageID {
+					s.PlanStages[i].Status = PlanRunning
+					break
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	case protocol.TypeStageCompleted:
 		if s := m.session(msg.SessionID); s != nil {
 			s.CurrentStage = ""
 			s.addEvent(msg.OccurredAt, "StageCompleted", msg.StageID)
+			for i := range s.PlanStages {
+				if s.PlanStages[i].ID == msg.StageID {
+					s.PlanStages[i].Status = PlanCompleted
+					break
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	case protocol.TypeStageFailed:
 		if s := m.session(msg.SessionID); s != nil {
 			s.CurrentStage = ""
 			s.addEvent(msg.OccurredAt, "StageFailed", msg.StageID)
+			for i := range s.PlanStages {
+				if s.PlanStages[i].ID == msg.StageID {
+					s.PlanStages[i].Status = PlanFailed
+					break
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	case protocol.TypeInferenceStarted:
 		if s := m.session(msg.SessionID); s != nil {
@@ -303,6 +321,11 @@ func (m *Model) applyServer(msg protocol.ServerMessage) {
 		if s := m.session(msg.SessionID); s != nil {
 			s.addEvent(nowMillis(), "PlanLocked", strings.Join(msg.StageIDs, " → "))
 			s.LastOutput = "plan locked: " + strings.Join(msg.StageIDs, " → ")
+			s.PlanGoal = msg.Content
+			s.PlanStages = make([]PlanStage, 0, len(msg.StageIDs))
+			for _, id := range msg.StageIDs {
+				s.PlanStages = append(s.PlanStages, PlanStage{ID: id, Status: PlanPending})
+			}
 		}
 	case protocol.TypeWorkspaceBound:
 		if s := m.session(msg.SessionID); s != nil {
diff --git a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/view.go b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/view.go
index e31f0850..3595089b 100644
--- a/apps/tui-go/internal/app/view.go
+++ b/apps/tui-go/internal/app/view.go
@@ -790,6 +790,10 @@ func (m Model) buildTranscriptRows(w int) ([]string, []int) {
 	t := m.theme
 	msgs := m.routerMessages[m.selectedID]
 	var rows []string
+	// Prepend the live execution plan card when the session has locked plan stages.
+	if planRows := m.planCardLines(); len(planRows) > 0 {
+		rows = append(rows, planRows...)
+	}
 	msgStart := make([]int, len(msgs)) // first row index of each message, for scroll-to-selection
 	for mi, e := range msgs {
 		msgStart[mi] = len(rows)
@@ -847,6 +851,53 @@ func (m Model) buildTranscriptRows(w int) ([]string, []int) {
 	return rows, msgStart
 }
 
+// planCardLines renders the live execution plan card for the selected session.
+func (m Model) planCardLines() []string {
+	t := m.theme
+	s := m.session(m.selectedID)
+	if s == nil || len(s.PlanStages) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	goal := strings.TrimSpace(s.PlanGoal)
+	var out []string
+	if goal != "" {
+		out = append(out, t.span(goal, t.P.Faint))
+	}
+	stageLabel := "stage"
+	if len(s.PlanStages) != 1 {
+		stageLabel = "stages"
+	}
+	out = append(out, t.span("Plan \u00b7 "+itoa(len(s.PlanStages))+" "+stageLabel, t.P.Accent))
+	idW := 0
+	for _, ps := range s.PlanStages {
+		if len(ps.ID) > idW {
+			idW = len(ps.ID)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, ps := range s.PlanStages {
+		var badge, badgeStyle string
+		var badgeColor color.Color
+		switch ps.Status {
+		case PlanPending:
+			badge = "\u25cb"
+			badgeColor = t.P.Faint
+		case PlanRunning:
+			badge = "\u25cf"
+			badgeColor = t.P.Accent
+		case PlanCompleted:
+			badge = "\u2713"
+			badgeColor = t.P.OK
+		case PlanFailed:
+			badge = "\u2717"
+			badgeColor = t.P.Bad
+		}
+		badgeStyle = t.span(badge, badgeColor)
+		rest := t.span("  "+padRaw(ps.ID, idW), t.P.Fg)
+		out = append(out, "  "+badgeStyle+rest)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 func (m Model) eventRows(w, h int) []string {
 	t := m.theme
 	header := lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(t.P.Accent).Background(t.P.Bg).Bold(true).Render("event stream") +
diff --git a/core/config/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/config/CorrexConfig.kt b/core/config/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/config/CorrexConfig.kt
index 04fe4060..1b529324 100644
--- a/core/config/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/config/CorrexConfig.kt
+++ b/core/config/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/config/CorrexConfig.kt
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ data class ProjectConfig(
     companion object {
         val DEFAULT_IGNORES: List<String> = listOf(
             ".git", "node_modules", "build", "target", ".gradle", "dist", ".idea", ".opencode",
+            // Role-prompt templates: loaded by workflow config as LLM system prompts, not project
+            // docs — indexing them lets a stage `file_read` another role's prompt as if it were
+            // documentation.
+            "examples/workflows/prompts",
         )
     }
 }
diff --git a/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/builder/DefaultContextPackBuilder.kt b/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/builder/DefaultContextPackBuilder.kt
index 87dd2b22..03499627 100644
--- a/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/builder/DefaultContextPackBuilder.kt
+++ b/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/builder/DefaultContextPackBuilder.kt
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ import com.correx.core.events.types.ContextEntryId
 import com.correx.core.events.types.ContextPackId
 import com.correx.core.events.types.SessionId
 import com.correx.core.events.types.StageId
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.Json
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.jsonObject
+import kotlinx.serialization.json.jsonPrimitive
 
 /**
  * Runs the compression pipeline (docs/plans/correx-compression-pipeline.md) in fixed pipeline
@@ -80,13 +83,21 @@ class DefaultContextPackBuilder(
         // reorder freely and PromptRenderer can restore true turn order from the ordinal.
         val stamped = entries.mapIndexed { index, entry -> entry.copy(ordinal = index) }
 
+        // A stalled stage re-issuing the exact same call otherwise burns budget on N identical
+        // (tool, arguments) pairs that all say the same thing — collapse those to the most recent
+        // occurrence. Fingerprint is (name, arguments) verbatim, so a call whose arguments genuinely
+        // differ (different start_line/end_line, different path) is a distinct read and untouched.
+        // Must run before FORMAT_COMPRESS below: that stage reencodes assistantToolCall content from
+        // raw ToolCallRequest JSON into a dotted-line format the fingerprint parser can't read.
+        val deduped = dedupeRepeatedToolCalls(stamped)
+
         // Stage 1 (FORMAT_COMPRESS): lossless json→dotted-line compaction of structured entries.
         val formatted = if (policy.enabled(CompressionStage.FORMAT_COMPRESS)) {
-            stamped.map { entry ->
+            deduped.map { entry ->
                 if (classifier.classify(entry) == ContextClass.STRUCTURED) reencode(entry, formatCompressor.compress(entry.content))
                 else entry
             }
-        } else stamped
+        } else deduped
 
         // Stage 3 (TOKEN_PRUNE): prune freeform prose, preserving protected spans. When TIER_SPLIT
         // is on, the newest TIER0_TURNS freeform turns are left full-fidelity (tier 0).
@@ -151,7 +162,7 @@ class DefaultContextPackBuilder(
             result
         }
 
-        val retained = (pinned + compressed).sortedBy { it.ordinal }
+        val retained = reconcileToolPairs((pinned + compressed).sortedBy { it.ordinal })
         val layers = retained.groupBy { it.layer }
         val droppedCount = entries.size - retained.count { it.sourceType != "factSheet" }
         val truncatedLayers = if (droppedCount > 0) {
@@ -235,6 +246,65 @@ class DefaultContextPackBuilder(
         return rest + ranked
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Collapses assistantToolCall/toolResult pairs that repeat an earlier call's exact (name,
+     * arguments) — keeping only the most recent occurrence — so a stalled stage repeating the same
+     * read doesn't show the model N copies of an identical question-and-answer. Content is the
+     * `ToolCallRequest` JSON built in SessionOrchestrator; parsed generically here (not via the
+     * `core:inference` type) to avoid a cross-core dependency. Calls whose arguments differ (e.g.
+     * different start_line/end_line, a different path) fingerprint differently and are untouched —
+     * that's genuine incremental progress, not repetition.
+     */
+    private fun dedupeRepeatedToolCalls(entries: List<ContextEntry>): List<ContextEntry> {
+        val calls = entries.filter { it.sourceType == "assistantToolCall" }
+        val callsById = calls.associateBy { it.sourceId }
+        val fingerprints = calls.mapNotNull { entry ->
+            toolCallFingerprint(entry.content)?.let { entry.sourceId to it }
+        }
+        val dropIds = fingerprints.groupBy({ it.second }, { it.first })
+            .values
+            .filter { it.size > 1 }
+            .flatMapTo(mutableSetOf()) { sourceIds ->
+                val keepId = sourceIds.maxWith(compareBy(
+                    { id: String -> if (callsById.getValue(id).reasoning != null) 1 else 0 },
+                    { id: String -> callsById.getValue(id).ordinal }
+                ))
+                sourceIds.filterNot { it == keepId }
+            }
+        if (dropIds.isEmpty()) return entries
+        return entries.filterNot {
+            (it.sourceType == "assistantToolCall" || it.sourceType == "toolResult") && it.sourceId in dropIds
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun toolCallFingerprint(content: String): String? = runCatching {
+        val obj = Json.parseToJsonElement(content).jsonObject
+        val fn = obj["function"]?.jsonObject ?: return null
+        val name = fn["name"]?.jsonPrimitive?.content ?: return null
+        val arguments = fn["arguments"]?.jsonPrimitive?.content ?: ""
+        "$name:$arguments"
+    }.getOrNull()
+
+    /**
+     * A completed tool call is represented as two independently-IDed, independently-compressed
+     * entries — assistantToolCall + toolResult — linked only by [ContextEntry.sourceId]. Because
+     * `compressed` groups and trims by sourceType (see the `grouped` fold above), one side of a
+     * pair can survive its group's budget while the other is trimmed away. An orphaned
+     * assistantToolCall with no matching result renders as "I called this tool" with nothing after
+     * it — indistinguishable, to the model, from the call silently failing — which drove a live
+     * read-loop repro (2026-07-08: discovery stage re-issued the same file_read repeatedly once its
+     * result vanished from two consecutive rounds). Drop whichever side lost its pair so every
+     * tool-call entry that survives has its result, and vice versa.
+     */
+    private fun reconcileToolPairs(entries: List<ContextEntry>): List<ContextEntry> {
+        val callIds = entries.filter { it.sourceType == "assistantToolCall" }.mapTo(mutableSetOf()) { it.sourceId }
+        val resultIds = entries.filter { it.sourceType == "toolResult" }.mapTo(mutableSetOf()) { it.sourceId }
+        return entries.filterNot {
+            (it.sourceType == "assistantToolCall" && it.sourceId !in resultIds) ||
+                (it.sourceType == "toolResult" && it.sourceId !in callIds)
+        }
+    }
+
     private fun reencode(entry: ContextEntry, content: String): ContextEntry =
         if (content == entry.content) entry else entry.copy(content = content, tokenEstimate = estimateTokens(content))
 
diff --git a/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/model/ContextEntry.kt b/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/model/ContextEntry.kt
index f689868c..6883d6bf 100644
--- a/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/model/ContextEntry.kt
+++ b/core/context/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/context/model/ContextEntry.kt
@@ -32,4 +32,10 @@ data class ContextEntry(
     // Default OPTIONAL keeps prior behavior for callers that don't stamp buckets (router chat);
     // the orchestrator stamps REQUIRED on task/constraint/input/failure entries.
     val bucket: ContextBucket = ContextBucket.OPTIONAL,
+    // Chain-of-thought that preceded this ASSISTANT turn (assistantToolCall entries only), as
+    // captured on InferenceResponse.reasoning. Carried as a side channel, not JSON-encoded into
+    // `content`, so FORMAT_COMPRESS's dotted-line flatten of the tool-call JSON never touches it.
+    // Threaded back into the request as ChatMessage.reasoning so models that expect their own
+    // prior reasoning ahead of a tool-call turn (e.g. Gemma) don't degenerate into re-deriving it.
+    val reasoning: String? = null,
 )
diff --git a/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/events/RepoKnowledgeEvents.kt b/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/events/RepoKnowledgeEvents.kt
index b4fbc258..ffb2587f 100644
--- a/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/events/RepoKnowledgeEvents.kt
+++ b/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/events/RepoKnowledgeEvents.kt
@@ -25,3 +25,18 @@ data class RepoKnowledgeRetrievedEvent(
     val query: String,
     val hits: List<RepoKnowledgeHit>,
 ) : EventPayload
+
+/**
+ * Candidates that scored above the L3 index's own top-k cutoff but below the retriever's
+ * minimum-similarity floor, so were never rendered to the agent as "relevant." Without this,
+ * a hit below the floor is indistinguishable from one that was never a candidate — recorded
+ * per invariant #9 since the embedding-similarity score is itself an environment observation.
+ */
+@Serializable
+@SerialName("RepoKnowledgeHitsFiltered")
+data class RepoKnowledgeHitsFilteredEvent(
+    val sessionId: SessionId,
+    val query: String,
+    val threshold: Float,
+    val dropped: List<RepoKnowledgeHit>,
+) : EventPayload
diff --git a/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/serialization/Serialization.kt b/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/serialization/Serialization.kt
index d64e6e4a..5f282021 100644
--- a/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/serialization/Serialization.kt
+++ b/core/events/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/events/serialization/Serialization.kt
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ import com.correx.core.events.events.ModelUnloadedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.OrchestrationPausedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.OrchestrationResumedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RefinementIterationEvent
+import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoKnowledgeHitsFilteredEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoKnowledgeRetrievedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoMapComputedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RetryAttemptedEvent
@@ -154,6 +155,7 @@ val eventModule = SerializersModule {
         subclass(RepoMapComputedEvent::class)
         subclass(WorkspaceStateObservedEvent::class)
         subclass(RepoKnowledgeRetrievedEvent::class)
+        subclass(RepoKnowledgeHitsFilteredEvent::class)
         subclass(BriefGroundingCheckedEvent::class)
         subclass(BriefEchoMismatchEvent::class)
         subclass(StaticAnalysisCompletedEvent::class)
diff --git a/core/inference/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/inference/PromptRenderer.kt b/core/inference/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/inference/PromptRenderer.kt
index a170fb87..09aef2e7 100644
--- a/core/inference/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/inference/PromptRenderer.kt
+++ b/core/inference/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/inference/PromptRenderer.kt
@@ -10,6 +10,14 @@ import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable
 data class ChatMessage(
     val role: String,
     val content: String,
+    // Carries ContextEntry.reasoning forward for assistant tool-call turns — see that field's
+    // doc for why this exists (Gemma-family looping when its own prior reasoning is missing).
+    val reasoning: String? = null,
+    // Optional tool-call-id that links a role:tool response to the assistant's tool_calls entry
+    // (sourceId in the event store). Required by the Gemma4 Jinja template to render tool
+    // response blocks with the correct function name; without it every tool response is
+    // rendered as "unknown" and the thought/reasoning channel logic can break.
+    val toolCallId: String? = null,
 )
 
 object PromptRenderer {
@@ -61,5 +69,7 @@ object PromptRenderer {
             EntryRole.USER -> "user"
         },
         content = content,
+        reasoning = reasoning,
+        toolCallId = if (role == EntryRole.TOOL) sourceId else null,
     )
 }
diff --git a/core/journal/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRenderer.kt b/core/journal/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRenderer.kt
index 6c6189f7..50fdc105 100644
--- a/core/journal/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRenderer.kt
+++ b/core/journal/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRenderer.kt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import com.correx.core.journal.model.DecisionRecord
 class DecisionJournalRenderer(private val keepLast: Int = 40) {
     fun render(state: DecisionJournalState, summaryText: String? = null): String {
         if (state.records.isEmpty() && summaryText == null) return ""
-        val visible = foldResolvedRetries(state.records)
+        val visible = foldResolvedRetries(state.records).filter { it.kind in AGENT_RELEVANT_KINDS }
         return buildString {
             appendLine("## Decision history (chronological — ground truth)")
             if (summaryText != null) {
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class DecisionJournalRenderer(private val keepLast: Int = 40) {
                     appendLine("+${state.lowSalienceOmittedCount} routine transitions/retries omitted")
                 }
             }
-            visible.takeLast(keepLast).forEach { appendLine("- [${it.kind}] ${it.summary}") }
+            visible.takeLast(keepLast).forEach { appendLine("- ${it.summary}") }
         }.trimEnd()
     }
 
@@ -46,4 +46,15 @@ class DecisionJournalRenderer(private val keepLast: Int = 40) {
             record.copy(summary = "$stage: $count retr${if (count == 1) "y" else "ies"}, resolved — stage completed")
         }
     }
+
+    companion object {
+        /**
+         * What actually shapes an agent's next decision: the goal, human steering, and failures
+         * worth not repeating. APPROVAL/ARTIFACT/TRANSITION are bookkeeping for the audit trail —
+         * agents don't act on "Approval APPROVED (tier T2)" or "Advanced x → y", so they're
+         * dropped from the render (still present in [DecisionJournalState.records] for the journal).
+         */
+        private val AGENT_RELEVANT_KINDS =
+            setOf(DecisionKind.INTENT, DecisionKind.STEERING, DecisionKind.PREEMPT, DecisionKind.FAILURE, DecisionKind.RETRY)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/core/journal/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRendererTest.kt b/core/journal/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRendererTest.kt
index 3a5c1261..70c1220b 100644
--- a/core/journal/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRendererTest.kt
+++ b/core/journal/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/core/journal/DecisionJournalRendererTest.kt
@@ -27,11 +27,28 @@ class DecisionJournalRendererTest {
             records = listOf(record(1), record(2)),
         )
         val result = renderer.render(state)
-        assertTrue(result.contains("- [INTENT] summary-1"))
-        assertTrue(result.contains("- [INTENT] summary-2"))
+        assertTrue(result.contains("- summary-1"))
+        assertTrue(result.contains("- summary-2"))
         assertFalse(result.contains("omitted"))
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `approval, artifact and transition records are excluded from the render`() {
+        val state = DecisionJournalState(
+            records = listOf(
+                record(1, DecisionKind.APPROVAL, "Approval APPROVED (tier T2)"),
+                record(2, DecisionKind.ARTIFACT, "Validated artifact x at stage y"),
+                record(3, DecisionKind.TRANSITION, "Advanced a → b (t1)").copy(stageId = "b", fromStageId = "a"),
+                record(4, DecisionKind.FAILURE, "Stage b failed: boom"),
+            ),
+        )
+        val result = renderer.render(state)
+        assertFalse(result.contains("Approval APPROVED"))
+        assertFalse(result.contains("Validated artifact"))
+        assertFalse(result.contains("Advanced a"))
+        assertTrue(result.contains("- Stage b failed: boom"))
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `summaryText appears before records`() {
         val state = DecisionJournalState(
@@ -42,7 +59,7 @@ class DecisionJournalRendererTest {
         val lines = result.lines()
         val headerIdx = lines.indexOfFirst { it.startsWith("## Decision history") }
         val summaryIdx = lines.indexOfFirst { it == "Compaction summary here" }
-        val recordIdx = lines.indexOfFirst { it.startsWith("- [INTENT]") }
+        val recordIdx = lines.indexOfFirst { it.startsWith("- summary") }
         assertTrue(headerIdx >= 0)
         assertTrue(summaryIdx > headerIdx)
         assertTrue(recordIdx > summaryIdx)
@@ -75,7 +92,7 @@ class DecisionJournalRendererTest {
         assertTrue(result.contains("## Decision history"))
         assertTrue(result.contains("Compacted summary"))
         assertTrue(result.contains("+2 routine transitions/retries omitted"))
-        assertFalse(result.contains("- ["))
+        assertFalse(result.contains("- "))
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -90,8 +107,8 @@ class DecisionJournalRendererTest {
         )
         val result = renderer.render(state)
         assertFalse(result.contains("did not produce"), "resolved retry detail must not render")
-        assertTrue(result.contains("- [RETRY] scaffold: 2 retries, resolved — stage completed"))
-        assertTrue(result.contains("- [TRANSITION] Advanced scaffold → hook"))
+        assertTrue(result.contains("- scaffold: 2 retries, resolved — stage completed"))
+        assertFalse(result.contains("Advanced scaffold"), "TRANSITION records are audit-only, not agent-relevant")
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -102,7 +119,7 @@ class DecisionJournalRendererTest {
             ),
         )
         val result = renderer.render(state)
-        assertTrue(result.contains("- [RETRY] Retry 1/3 of hook: did not produce"))
+        assertTrue(result.contains("- Retry 1/3 of hook: did not produce"))
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -115,6 +132,6 @@ class DecisionJournalRendererTest {
             ),
         )
         val result = renderer.render(state)
-        assertTrue(result.contains("- [RETRY] Retry 1/3 of scaffold: regression"))
+        assertTrue(result.contains("- Retry 1/3 of scaffold: regression"))
     }
 }
diff --git a/core/kernel/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/kernel/orchestration/SessionOrchestrator.kt b/core/kernel/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/kernel/orchestration/SessionOrchestrator.kt
index c1704014..da7727af 100644
--- a/core/kernel/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/kernel/orchestration/SessionOrchestrator.kt
+++ b/core/kernel/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/core/kernel/orchestration/SessionOrchestrator.kt
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ import com.correx.core.events.events.EventMetadata
 import com.correx.core.events.events.EventPayload
 import com.correx.core.events.events.InferenceCompletedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoKnowledgeHit
+import com.correx.core.events.events.InitialIntentEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoKnowledgeRetrievedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.RepoMapComputedEvent
 import com.correx.core.events.events.InferenceFailedEvent
@@ -582,6 +583,11 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
         var toolRounds = 0
         var consecutiveReadOnlyRounds = 0
         var consecutiveRejectedRounds = 0
+        // Fingerprints ("tool:arguments") of every read-only call made during the current
+        // no-write streak. A round only counts against the read-loop breaker if it repeats calls
+        // already seen — a stage reading N distinct files before writing is legitimate context
+        // gathering, not a loop, and shouldn't trip the same counter as re-reading the same file.
+        val seenReadFingerprints = mutableSetOf<String>()
         // Set when the model produces its artifact via the emit_artifact tool instead of a final
         // JSON message; overrides the post-loop capture of the (then-empty) assistant text.
         var llmArtifactOverride: String? = null
@@ -697,7 +703,8 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
             }
             val toolEntries = dispatchToolCalls(sessionId, stageId,
                 inferenceResult.response.toolCalls, stageConfig, effectives,
-                approvalModeFor(session.state.boundProfile?.approvalMode))
+                approvalModeFor(session.state.boundProfile?.approvalMode),
+                inferenceResult.response.reasoning)
             val fatalEntry = toolEntries.firstOrNull { it.content.startsWith("FATAL:") }
             if (fatalEntry != null) {
                 emitProcessResultEvents(sessionId, stageId, stageConfig)
@@ -718,14 +725,23 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
             if (owesFileWrite() &&
                 inferenceResult.response.toolCalls.none { it.function.name in WRITE_TOOL_NAMES }
             ) {
-                consecutiveReadOnlyRounds++
-                if (consecutiveReadOnlyRounds >= READ_LOOP_NUDGE_THRESHOLD) {
+                val roundFingerprints = inferenceResult.response.toolCalls
+                    .map { "${it.function.name}:${it.function.arguments}" }
+                val madeProgress = roundFingerprints.any { it !in seenReadFingerprints }
+                seenReadFingerprints += roundFingerprints
+                if (madeProgress) {
                     consecutiveReadOnlyRounds = 0
-                    inferenceResult = pushBack(readLoopNudge, forceWriteOnly = true)
-                    continue
+                } else {
+                    consecutiveReadOnlyRounds++
+                    if (consecutiveReadOnlyRounds >= READ_LOOP_NUDGE_THRESHOLD) {
+                        consecutiveReadOnlyRounds = 0
+                        inferenceResult = pushBack(readLoopNudge, forceWriteOnly = true)
+                        continue
+                    }
                 }
             } else {
                 consecutiveReadOnlyRounds = 0
+                seenReadFingerprints.clear()
             }
             // Rejection-loop breaker (stage-type agnostic): every tool result this round was a
             // rejection (plane-2 BLOCKED or a stage/policy ERROR) and nothing succeeded. A stage that
@@ -1028,10 +1044,14 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
     // On a recoverable tool failure, append the tool's argument schema to the error fed back to the
     // model so it can self-correct its next attempt (it already sees its own malformed call in the
     // assistant entry above) rather than repeating the same mistake. Kept compact to bound context.
+    // NOTE: the "corrected arguments" phrasing was removed because it actively drives loops: a model
+    // that called list_dir frontend/ and got "directory not found" interprets "re-issue with corrected
+    // arguments" as "retry the same call" rather than "try a different path" — the arguments were
+    // valid, the path simply doesn't exist. The schema reference stays so malformed calls can still
+    // self-correct; the model must infer the tactic from the tool's error text.
     private fun toolArgsHint(tool: Tool?): String =
         tool?.let {
-            "\nThe '${it.name}' tool requires arguments matching this JSON schema — re-issue the " +
-                "call with corrected arguments: ${it.parametersSchema}"
+            "\nAccepted parameters for '${it.name}': ${it.parametersSchema}"
         }.orEmpty()
 
     private suspend fun dispatchToolCalls(
@@ -1041,11 +1061,18 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
         stageConfig: StageConfig,
         effectives: RunEffectives,
         approvalMode: ApprovalMode,
+        // The reasoning that preceded this whole batch of tool calls (they all came from one
+        // inference response). Attached only to the first call's assistant entry — one thought
+        // block per model turn, matching how the response actually arrived.
+        reasoning: String? = null,
     ): List<ContextEntry> {
         val executor = effectives.executor ?: return emptyList()
         val processResultSlots = stageConfig.produces.filter { it.kind.id == "process_result" }
         val fileWrittenSlots = stageConfig.produces.filter { it.kind.id == "file_written" }
-        return toolCalls.flatMap { toolCall ->
+        return toolCalls.withIndex().flatMap { (toolCallIndex, toolCall) ->
+            // Only the first call's assistant entry carries the reasoning — the whole batch came
+            // from one model turn/one thought block, so later calls in the same batch get none.
+            val toolCallReasoning = reasoning.takeIf { toolCallIndex == 0 }
             val invocationId = ToolInvocationId(UUID.randomUUID().toString())
             val parameters = parseToolArguments(toolCall.function.arguments)
             val request = ToolRequest(
@@ -1099,6 +1126,7 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
                         content = Json.encodeToString(ToolCallRequest.serializer(), toolCall),
                         tokenEstimate = estimateTokens(toolCall.function.arguments),
                         role = EntryRole.ASSISTANT,
+                        reasoning = toolCallReasoning,
                     ),
                     ContextEntry(
                         id = ContextEntryId(UUID.randomUUID().toString()),
@@ -1155,6 +1183,7 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
                             content = Json.encodeToString(ToolCallRequest.serializer(), toolCall),
                             tokenEstimate = estimateTokens(toolCall.function.arguments),
                             role = EntryRole.ASSISTANT,
+                            reasoning = toolCallReasoning,
                         ),
                         ContextEntry(
                             id = ContextEntryId(UUID.randomUUID().toString()),
@@ -1223,6 +1252,7 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
                                 content = Json.encodeToString(ToolCallRequest.serializer(), toolCall),
                                 tokenEstimate = estimateTokens(toolCall.function.arguments),
                                 role = EntryRole.ASSISTANT,
+                                reasoning = toolCallReasoning,
                             ),
                             ContextEntry(
                                 id = ContextEntryId(UUID.randomUUID().toString()),
@@ -1282,6 +1312,7 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
                                 content = Json.encodeToString(ToolCallRequest.serializer(), toolCall),
                                 tokenEstimate = estimateTokens(toolCall.function.arguments),
                                 role = EntryRole.ASSISTANT,
+                                reasoning = toolCallReasoning,
                             ),
                             ContextEntry(
                                 id = ContextEntryId(UUID.randomUUID().toString()),
@@ -1353,6 +1384,7 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
                 content = Json.encodeToString(ToolCallRequest.serializer(), toolCall),
                 tokenEstimate = estimateTokens(toolCall.function.arguments),
                 role = EntryRole.ASSISTANT,
+                reasoning = toolCallReasoning,
             )
             val resultContent = when (result) {
                 is ToolResult.Success ->
@@ -1702,13 +1734,47 @@ abstract class SessionOrchestrator(
         return closestPathByFilename(guessed, map.entries.map { it.path })
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Resolves the actual prompt text a stage will see, for use as the repo-knowledge query.
+     * `metadata["prompt"]` holds a *path* to the prompt file (resolved into context separately,
+     * around line 431) — using that path string itself as the embedding query means the query the
+     * retriever compares against is a filesystem path, not the stage's real instructions, so
+     * similarity scores never reflect genuine relevance (2026-07-08 finding: no file scored a
+     * clear match, everything clustered in the embedder's baseline noise band for short strings).
+     */
+    private fun resolveStagePromptText(stageId: StageId, stageConfig: StageConfig): String {
+        stageConfig.metadata["promptInline"]?.trim()?.takeIf { it.isNotBlank() }?.let { return it }
+        stageConfig.metadata["prompt"]?.let { path ->
+            runCatching { promptResolver.resolve(path) }.getOrNull()
+                ?.trim()?.takeIf { it.isNotBlank() }
+                ?.let { return it }
+        }
+        return stageId.value
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The role's own prompt text (see [resolveStagePromptText]) is identical across every session
+     * that runs the stage — it carries zero session-specific signal, so similarity against it can
+     * only ever reflect generic lexical overlap with the role's boilerplate ("file_read", "ls",
+     * "grep"...), never what the user actually asked for. The one thing that IS session-specific
+     * is the initial user intent, so it's prepended here as the real anchor for the query (2026-07-08
+     * finding: without it, the query matched a tool script's own symbol names over the files the
+     * user's request actually named).
+     */
+    private fun repoKnowledgeQuery(sessionId: SessionId, stageId: StageId, stageConfig: StageConfig): String {
+        val intent = eventStore.read(sessionId)
+            .mapNotNull { it.payload as? InitialIntentEvent }
+            .firstOrNull()?.intent?.trim()
+        val stagePrompt = resolveStagePromptText(stageId, stageConfig)
+        return if (intent.isNullOrBlank()) stagePrompt else "$intent\n\n$stagePrompt"
+    }
+
     private suspend fun buildContextualRepoEntries(
         sessionId: SessionId,
         stageId: StageId,
         stageConfig: StageConfig,
     ): List<ContextEntry> {
-        val stagePrompt = (stageConfig.metadata["promptInline"] ?: stageConfig.metadata["prompt"] ?: stageId.value)
-            .trim().ifBlank { stageId.value }
+        val stagePrompt = repoKnowledgeQuery(sessionId, stageId, stageConfig)
         val recorded = eventStore.read(sessionId)
             .mapNotNull { it.payload as? RepoKnowledgeRetrievedEvent }
             .lastOrNull { it.stageId == stageId }
diff --git a/docs/ui/web-ui-design-spec.md b/docs/ui/web-ui-design-spec.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d6b268fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/ui/web-ui-design-spec.md
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Web UI Design Specification
+
+## Aesthetic
+- **Theme**: Soft Rounded + Blue Accent.
+- **Consistency**: Should align with the TUI layout plan.
+
+## Layout
+- **Sidebar**: Centralized navigation.
+- **Main Area**: Dynamic content based on selection.
+- **Event Log**: Easily accessible (Source of Truth).
+
+## Components
+- **Cards**: For task summaries, status updates.
+- **Badges**: For status (e.g., `CLAIMED`, `PENDING`, `COMPLETED`).
+- **Progress Bars**: For multi-step task progress.
+- **Service Layer**: Placeholders for `apps/server` endpoints.
+
+## UX Priorities
+- Clear hierarchy.
+- Intuitive navigation.
+- Avoid clutter (maintain information density).
diff --git a/examples/workflows/prompts/architect_freestyle.md b/examples/workflows/prompts/architect_freestyle.md
index 9d8021f1..2967b877 100644
--- a/examples/workflows/prompts/architect_freestyle.md
+++ b/examples/workflows/prompts/architect_freestyle.md
@@ -85,6 +85,27 @@ Emit a JSON object that validates against the `execution_plan` schema:
   Those fetch remote code and prompt on stdin; the run is unattended (no TTY) so they hang, and
   `shell` rejects them outright. `shell` in a scaffold stage is for `npm install` / `npm run
   build` on files that already exist, not for generating the project.
+- **Every stage prompt must describe its exact JSON output structure when using a
+  structured kind.** The model that runs the stage never sees the raw JSON schema — it only sees
+  the kind's name (e.g. `analysis`, `research_report`, `review_report`) and the prompt you write
+  here. Therefore each stage prompt must:
+  - Conclude with a `Call \`emit_artifact\` with a JSON object matching this shape:` line
+    followed by the literal JSON structure the kind expects (fields, types, required vs
+    optional).
+  - When the kind is `file_written` no `emit_artifact` is needed — the stage writes files
+    directly. For all other kinds, the prompt must spell out the exact JSON schema inline.
+  - Include at least one concrete example JSON object matching the schema, so the model has
+    a template to follow.
+  - For reference, the available JSON schemas and their shapes are: `discovery`
+    (`{ready: boolean, questions: [{prompt, options?, multiSelect?, header?}]}`),
+    `analysis` (`{goal, constraints: [{description, severity}], risks:
+    [{description, severity, mitigation?}], open_questions: [{question, answered?}]}`),
+    `design` (`{approach, architecture: [{component, responsibility, interfaces}],
+    plan: [{step, action, files: [path]}]}`),
+    `impl_plan` (`{overview, steps: [{action, target, details}]}`),
+    `research_report` (`{summary, findings: [string], sources: [string]}`),
+    `review_report` (`{verdict, notes}`). Use these shapes verbatim in the
+    prompt — do not paraphrase or omit fields.
 
 **edges** — describe every transition between stages. Rules:
 - `from` and `to` must each be a declared stage `id` or the literal string `"done"`.
diff --git a/examples/workflows/prompts/implementer.md b/examples/workflows/prompts/implementer.md
index 54f4b63c..5d7305e4 100644
--- a/examples/workflows/prompts/implementer.md
+++ b/examples/workflows/prompts/implementer.md
@@ -1,23 +1,30 @@
 You are the **Implementer**.
 
-You receive the `impl_plan` artifact (above). Execute it using the tools available
-(`file_read`, `file_write`, `file_edit`, and shell). File writes land in the bound workspace.
+You receive the claimed task's acceptance criteria (injected above). Execute them using the tools
+available (`file_read`, `file_write`, `file_edit`, and shell). File writes are auto-scoped to the
+task's `affected_paths`; widen that scope via `propose_scope` when a needed path is outside it.
 
 Steps:
-1. If the analysis opened or referenced a task, `task_context` to load it and `task_update
-   action=claim` before you start (`task_create` one only if the work warrants tracking and none
-   exists). Skip this for a self-contained change.
-2. Work through the plan `steps` in order. Read before you edit.
+1. `task_context` to load the claimed task and confirm its acceptance criteria.
+2. Work toward satisfying every acceptance criterion. Read before you edit.
 3. Make the change with `file_write` / `file_edit`. Keep new code consistent with the
    surrounding style, naming, and patterns.
-4. Run the plan's `verification` commands (build/tests) via shell and fix what fails. Do not
+4. **If a `file_write`/`file_edit` is BLOCKED** (the tool result starts with `BLOCKED:`), the
+   intended path is outside the claimed task's `affected_paths`. The kernel may append a
+   "Did you mean: <path>" suggestion — that is a string-similarity hint, **not** permission to
+   write there. Never work around a block by writing the file to a sibling path that happens to
+   be writable: that creates a shadow/duplicate file that breaks builds and confuses the
+   reviewer. Instead call `propose_scope` to add the intended path (or its enclosing glob) to
+   the manifest, then retry the write to the *original* path. If `propose_scope` is denied or
+   unavailable, stop and report the block in your output — do not invent scope.
+5. Run the task's verification commands (build/tests) via shell and fix what fails. Do not
    leave a step in a broken state.
-5. When every step is done and verification passes, `task_update action=submit_for_review` on the
-   task (if any), then call the `stage_complete` tool.
+6. When every criterion is met and verification passes, `task_update action=submit_for_review`
+   on the task, then call `stage_complete`.
 
 The decision history above is ground truth. **If the reviewer requested changes** in a prior
 round, you will see that verdict and its notes above — address those specific points; do not
 re-do work that was already approved, and do not repeat a rejected approach.
 
-Implement only what the plan calls for (YAGNI). If a step is genuinely blocked or the plan is
-wrong, say so clearly rather than inventing scope.
+Implement only what the task's acceptance criteria call for (YAGNI). If something is genuinely
+blocked or the criteria are wrong, say so clearly rather than inventing scope.
diff --git a/examples/workflows/prompts/reviewer.md b/examples/workflows/prompts/reviewer.md
index 04d87e18..3f8d471a 100644
--- a/examples/workflows/prompts/reviewer.md
+++ b/examples/workflows/prompts/reviewer.md
@@ -1,18 +1,21 @@
 You are the **Reviewer** — the quality gate.
 
-You receive the `patch` (the implementer's work), the `impl_plan` it was meant to satisfy, and
-the `analysis` whose `requirements` are the **acceptance criteria** for this work.
+You receive the `patch` (the implementer's work) and the `analysis` artifact (broader context).
+First, use `task_context` to load the claimed task and read its `acceptance_criteria` — those
+are the implementer's actual brief, not the full analysis.
 
-Review the **diff against those acceptance criteria** — not whole files against personal taste.
-The narrow question is: *does this change satisfy each stated requirement, correctly?* A finding
-that doesn't map to a requirement, the plan, or a real defect is noise.
+Review the **diff against those task acceptance criteria** — not whole files against personal
+taste. The narrow question is: *does this change satisfy each stated criterion, correctly?* A
+finding that doesn't map to a task criterion, an analysis requirement, or a real defect is noise.
+The `analysis.requirements` are supplementary: use them for cross-checking, but the implementer
+may be scoped to only a subset of the full analysis.
 
 Review against the **current** ground truth, not a stale one: the decision history above
 includes any user steering and your own prior verdicts. If the user steered the implementer
 away from the original plan, judge against the steered direction — not the superseded plan.
 
 Check:
-1. Does the patch satisfy **every** requirement in `analysis.requirements` and step of `impl_plan`?
+1. Does the patch satisfy **every** task acceptance criterion?
 2. Is it correct, consistent with the codebase's patterns, and free of obvious defects?
 3. Did verification (build/tests) actually pass?
 4. No unrequested scope, no placeholders, no regressions.
@@ -21,16 +24,15 @@ Do **not** spend the review re-finding what deterministic tools already catch: c
 formatter/detekt/lint violations, and failing tests are reported by the build itself. If
 verification passed, trust it; if it failed, the failure is already on the record — point to it,
 don't re-derive it. Your value is the judgment the tools can't give: whether the change actually
-meets the requirements.
+meets the acceptance criteria.
 
 Emit your result as the `review_report` artifact (JSON, schema provided):
 - `verdict`: exactly `"approved"` or `"changes_requested"`.
 - `notes`: if `changes_requested`, list the specific, actionable changes needed (one per
-  line), each tied to the requirement or plan step it violates, so the implementer knows
-  exactly what to fix. If `approved`, briefly state which requirements the patch satisfies.
+  line), each tied to the task criterion or requirement it violates, so the implementer knows
+  exactly what to fix. If `approved`, briefly state which criteria the patch satisfies.
 
-If the work is tracked as a task, reflect your verdict on it (use `task_context` first if you
-need its own acceptance criteria): on `approved`, `task_update action=complete`; on
+Reflect your verdict on the task: on `approved`, `task_update action=complete`; on
 `changes_requested`, leave it claimed for the implementer — optionally add a `note` summarising
 what's needed.
 
diff --git a/examples/workflows/prompts/task_planner.md b/examples/workflows/prompts/task_planner.md
index 611884dd..f45a1fce 100644
--- a/examples/workflows/prompts/task_planner.md
+++ b/examples/workflows/prompts/task_planner.md
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ For `task_decompose`, provide:
   `affected_paths` (workspace-relative globs), and `depends_on` (refs to other tasks in this batch
   that must finish first).
 
+  **`affected_paths` globs must cover subdirectories recursively.** Use `**/*.tsx` instead of
+  `*.tsx`, `**/*.py` instead of `*.py`, etc. Sweep the actual directory tree with `list_dir` or
+  `shell find` before setting paths — if the target tree has subdirectories (e.g.
+  `components/ui/`, `components/layout/`), a non-recursive glob will jail the implementer to
+  only the top level and block writes to the real file locations.
+
 Keep the graph small. Over-splitting is worse than under-splitting — a session works one task at a
 time, and each child is a future claim. Aim for 2–5 children unless the request genuinely demands
 more.
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 65bbb22c..f0712812 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
@@ -142,9 +142,15 @@ class LlamaCppInferenceProvider(
 
         val baseMessages = PromptRenderer.render(request.contextPack)
         val messages = baseMessages.map { msg ->
+            val toolCalls = if (msg.role == "assistant") {
+                parseAssistantToolCalls(msg.content)
+            } else emptyList()
             LlamaCppChatMessage(
                 role = msg.role,
-                content = msg.content,
+                content = if (toolCalls.isNotEmpty()) null else msg.content,
+                reasoningContent = msg.reasoning,
+                toolCalls = toolCalls,
+                toolCallId = msg.toolCallId,
             )
         }
 
@@ -230,5 +236,40 @@ class LlamaCppInferenceProvider(
         ProviderHealth.Unavailable("Health check failed: ${e.message}")
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Parses an assistant message's content back into [ToolCallRequest] objects.
+     *
+     * The context builder's FORMAT_COMPRESS stage converts raw ToolCallRequest JSON into a compact
+     * dotted-line format (id = ..., function.name = ...). If compression is disabled, the content
+     * is still valid JSON. This handles both forms so the Gemma4 Jinja template sees the native
+     * `tool_calls` array — which it requires to render `reasoning_content` as a `<|channel>thought`
+     * block (without `tool_calls` the reasoning field is silently dropped and the model re-enters
+     * thought mode from scratch, causing the degenerate `<|channel>thought`~16384-token loop).
+     */
+    private fun parseAssistantToolCalls(content: String): List<ToolCallRequest> {
+        // Try JSON parse first (FORMAT_COMPRESS disabled — raw ToolCallRequest JSON).
+        if (content.startsWith("{\"id\"")) {
+            runCatching {
+                return listOf(json.decodeFromString<ToolCallRequest>(content))
+            }
+        }
+        // Try dotted-line format (FORMAT_COMPRESS enabled).
+        if (!content.contains("function.name")) return emptyList()
+        val lines = content.split('\n')
+        var id: String? = null
+        var name: String? = null
+        var arguments: String? = null
+        for (line in lines) {
+            when {
+                line.startsWith("id = ") -> id = line.removePrefix("id = ").trim()
+                line.startsWith("function.name = ") -> name = line.removePrefix("function.name = ").trim()
+                line.startsWith("function.arguments = ") -> arguments = line.removePrefix("function.arguments = ").trim()
+            }
+        }
+        return if (name != null && arguments != null) {
+            listOf(ToolCallRequest(id = id, function = ToolCallFunction(name = name, arguments = arguments)))
+        } else emptyList()
+    }
+
     override fun capabilities(): Set<CapabilityScore> = descriptor.capabilities
 }
diff --git a/infrastructure/inference/openai_compat/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/openai/OpenAiCompatInferenceProvider.kt b/infrastructure/inference/openai_compat/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/openai/OpenAiCompatInferenceProvider.kt
index 4d68202a..34c26d4a 100644
--- a/infrastructure/inference/openai_compat/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/openai/OpenAiCompatInferenceProvider.kt
+++ b/infrastructure/inference/openai_compat/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/inference/openai/OpenAiCompatInferenceProvider.kt
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class OpenAiCompatInferenceProvider(
             // tool_calls turn (we don't carry tool_call_ids through the context pack). Fold any
             // non-standard role into a user turn so the model still sees the content.
             if (msg.role in STANDARD_ROLES) {
-                OpenAiChatMessage(role = msg.role, content = msg.content)
+                OpenAiChatMessage(role = msg.role, content = msg.content, reasoningContent = msg.reasoning)
             } else {
                 OpenAiChatMessage(role = "user", content = "[${msg.role}] ${msg.content}")
             }
diff --git a/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileEditTool.kt b/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileEditTool.kt
index 46e125bd..009e9374 100644
--- a/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileEditTool.kt
+++ b/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileEditTool.kt
@@ -135,8 +135,18 @@ class FileEditTool(
             operation == "patch" && !request.parameters.containsKey("patch") ->
                 ValidationResult.Invalid("Missing 'patch' parameter for 'patch' operation.")
 
+            // Don't point the model at 'file_read'/'list_dir' here — this rejection is commonly hit
+            // in exactly the round those tools have been deliberately withheld (the read-loop
+            // breaker forces a write-only round after repeated reads with no write), so telling it
+            // to go use tools that aren't in its tool list this round would just compound the stall.
+            operation == "read" ->
+                ValidationResult.Invalid(
+                    "'edit_file' has no 'read' operation. It only supports 'append', 'replace', or 'patch' — " +
+                        "proceed with one of those using what you already know about the file.",
+                )
+
             operation !in listOf("append", "replace", "patch") ->
-                ValidationResult.Invalid("Unknown operation: $operation")
+                ValidationResult.Invalid("Unknown operation: $operation. Expected 'append', 'replace', or 'patch'.")
 
             else -> ValidationResult.Valid
         }
diff --git a/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileWriteTool.kt b/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileWriteTool.kt
index a9a7a9f5..e7e78310 100644
--- a/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileWriteTool.kt
+++ b/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/FileWriteTool.kt
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ class FileWriteTool(
         val originalContent = runCatching { Files.readString(path) }.getOrDefault("")
 
         val result = runCatching {
+            Files.createDirectories(path.parent)
             AtomicFileWriter.write(path, content.toByteArray(Charsets.UTF_8))
             ToolResult.Success(
                 invocationId = request.invocationId,
diff --git a/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/ListDirTool.kt b/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/ListDirTool.kt
index c306fc35..17394622 100644
--- a/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/ListDirTool.kt
+++ b/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/tools/filesystem/ListDirTool.kt
@@ -97,8 +97,17 @@ class ListDirTool(
         val recursive = request.parameters["recursive"]?.toString()?.toBoolean() ?: false
         val root = resolvePath(pathString)
         when {
-            !Files.exists(root) ->
-                ToolResult.Failure(request.invocationId, "Directory not found: $pathString", recoverable = true)
+            !Files.exists(root) -> {
+                val suggestions = similarEntries(root)
+                val msg = buildString {
+                    append("Directory not found: $pathString")
+                    if (suggestions.isNotEmpty()) {
+                        append(". Did you mean ")
+                        append(suggestions.joinToString(", ", postfix = "?"))
+                    }
+                }
+                ToolResult.Failure(request.invocationId, msg, recoverable = true)
+            }
             !Files.isDirectory(root) ->
                 ToolResult.Failure(request.invocationId, "Not a directory: $pathString", recoverable = true)
             else -> runCatching { walk(root, recursive, request) }.getOrElse {
@@ -109,8 +118,13 @@ class ListDirTool(
 
     private fun walk(root: Path, recursive: Boolean, request: ToolRequest): ToolResult {
         val matcher = GitignoreMatcher(workingDir ?: root, root)
+        // The caller explicitly targeted `root` — if a rule already covers it (e.g. an entire
+        // subtree gitignored as scaffold output), don't let that same rule keep pruning everything
+        // found underneath; other, unrelated rules (node_modules/ inside it, etc.) still apply.
+        matcher.exemptRulesMatching(root)
         val out = ArrayList<String>()
         var truncated = false
+        var ignoredCount = 0
         // Emit one entry; TERMINATE the walk once the cap is hit so a huge tree can't run away.
         fun emit(path: Path, isDir: Boolean): FileVisitResult {
             val slash = if (isDir) "/" else ""
@@ -121,8 +135,11 @@ class ListDirTool(
         val maxDepth = if (recursive) Int.MAX_VALUE else 1
         Files.walkFileTree(root, emptySet(), maxDepth, object : SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
             override fun preVisitDirectory(dir: Path, attrs: BasicFileAttributes): FileVisitResult {
-                if (dir != root && (dir.name == ".git" || matcher.ignored(dir, isDir = true)))
+                if (dir != root && dir.name == ".git") return FileVisitResult.SKIP_SUBTREE
+                if (dir != root && matcher.ignored(dir, isDir = true)) {
+                    ignoredCount++
                     return FileVisitResult.SKIP_SUBTREE
+                }
                 matcher.loadFrom(dir)
                 return if (dir == root) FileVisitResult.CONTINUE else emit(dir, isDir = true)
             }
@@ -130,15 +147,83 @@ class ListDirTool(
                 // A directory sitting exactly at maxDepth is delivered here (walkFileTree won't
                 // descend it), so honour its dir-ness for both the ignore check and the trailing '/'.
                 val isDir = attrs.isDirectory
-                return if (matcher.ignored(file, isDir)) FileVisitResult.CONTINUE else emit(file, isDir)
+                if (matcher.ignored(file, isDir)) {
+                    ignoredCount++
+                    return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE
+                }
+                return emit(file, isDir)
             }
             override fun visitFileFailed(file: Path, exc: java.io.IOException) = FileVisitResult.CONTINUE
         })
         out.sort()
-        val body = out.joinToString("\n").ifEmpty { "(empty)" }
-        val note =
-            if (truncated) "\n… truncated at $MAX_ENTRIES entries; narrow the path or list a sub-directory." else ""
-        return ToolResult.Success(request.invocationId, output = body + note)
+        return ToolResult.Success(request.invocationId, output = render(root, out, truncated, ignoredCount))
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * `<path>/<type>/<entries>` wrapper (matching the shape other coding-agent tools use) instead of
+     * a bare newline list — the count and explicit `directory` tag let a small model tell "empty
+     * listing" from "malformed output" and know how many entries to expect. Notes on truncation/
+     * gitignore-pruning are surfaced here too, so a shorter-than-expected listing isn't mistaken for
+     * the real tree.
+     */
+    private fun render(root: Path, entries: List<String>, truncated: Boolean, ignoredCount: Int): String {
+        val notes = buildList {
+            if (truncated) add("truncated at $MAX_ENTRIES entries; narrow the path or list a sub-directory")
+            if (ignoredCount > 0) add("$ignoredCount ${if (ignoredCount == 1) "entry" else "entries"} hidden by .gitignore")
+        }
+        return buildString {
+            appendLine("<path>$root</path>")
+            appendLine("<type>directory</type>")
+            appendLine("<entries>")
+            appendLine(entries.joinToString("\n").ifEmpty { "(empty)" })
+            if (notes.isNotEmpty()) appendLine(notes.joinToString("; "))
+            append("(${entries.size} ${if (entries.size == 1) "entry" else "entries"})")
+            appendLine()
+            append("</entries>")
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun similarEntries(target: Path): List<String> {
+        val parent = target.parent ?: return emptyList()
+        if (!Files.isDirectory(parent)) return emptyList()
+        val targetName = target.fileName?.toString() ?: return emptyList()
+        return try {
+            Files.list(parent).use { stream ->
+                stream.map { it.fileName.toString() }
+                    .filter { it != targetName && isSimilarName(it, targetName) }
+                    .toList()
+                    .sortedWith(compareByDescending<String> { commonPrefixLen(it, targetName) }.thenBy { it })
+                    .take(3)
+            }
+        } catch (_: Exception) { emptyList() }
+    }
+
+    private fun isSimilarName(a: String, b: String): Boolean {
+        val prefix = commonPrefixLen(a, b)
+        return prefix >= 2 || levenshtein(a, b) <= 3
+    }
+
+    private fun commonPrefixLen(a: String, b: String): Int {
+        var i = 0
+        val minLen = minOf(a.length, b.length)
+        while (i < minLen && a[i].lowercaseChar() == b[i].lowercaseChar()) i++
+        return i
+    }
+
+    private fun levenshtein(a: String, b: String): Int {
+        val dp = Array(a.length + 1) { IntArray(b.length + 1) }
+        for (i in 0..a.length) dp[i][0] = i
+        for (j in 0..b.length) dp[0][j] = j
+        for (i in 1..a.length) {
+            for (j in 1..b.length) {
+                dp[i][j] = minOf(
+                    dp[i - 1][j] + 1,
+                    dp[i][j - 1] + 1,
+                    dp[i - 1][j - 1] + if (a[i - 1].lowercaseChar() == b[i - 1].lowercaseChar()) 0 else 1
+                )
+            }
+        }
+        return dp[a.length][b.length]
     }
 
     private companion object {
@@ -176,10 +261,17 @@ internal class GitignoreMatcher(anchor: Path, target: Path) {
         }
     }
 
-    fun ignored(path: Path, isDir: Boolean): Boolean = rules.any { r ->
+    fun ignored(path: Path, isDir: Boolean): Boolean = rules.any { matches(it, path, isDir) }
+
+    /** Drop whichever rules currently cover [path] — used so an explicitly-targeted (already
+     * gitignored) listing root doesn't have that same rule keep pruning its own children. */
+    fun exemptRulesMatching(path: Path) {
+        rules.removeAll { matches(it, path, isDir = true) }
+    }
+
+    private fun matches(r: Rule, path: Path, isDir: Boolean): Boolean =
         (!r.dirOnly || isDir) && path.startsWith(r.base) &&
             r.regex.matches(r.base.relativize(path).toString().replace('\\', '/'))
-    }
 
     private fun compile(base: Path, raw: String): Rule {
         var pat = raw
diff --git a/infrastructure/workflow/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinter.kt b/infrastructure/workflow/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinter.kt
index 5ce6a176..921a5d81 100644
--- a/infrastructure/workflow/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinter.kt
+++ b/infrastructure/workflow/src/main/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinter.kt
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ object PlanLinter {
 
     fun lint(graph: WorkflowGraph, seeds: Set<String> = seedArtifacts): PlanLintResult =
         PlanLintResult(
-            hardFailures = unproducedNeeds(graph, seeds) + trapStates(graph),
+            hardFailures = unproducedNeeds(graph, seeds) + trapStates(graph) + unreferencedPromptArtifacts(graph, seeds),
             softFindings = stageCount(graph) + fanOut(graph) + emptyBriefs(graph) + duplicateBriefs(graph),
         )
 
@@ -89,6 +89,35 @@ object PlanLinter {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * H3: a stage's inline prompt mentions an artifact ID that is produced by the plan or
+     * provided by a seed, but the stage does not declare it in its `needs`. The stage will
+     * not have access to that artifact at runtime, so any reference in the prompt is a dangling
+     * assumption that will confuse or stall the model — force the architect to either add the
+     * artifact to `needs` or reword the prompt.
+     */
+    private fun unreferencedPromptArtifacts(graph: WorkflowGraph, seeds: Set<String>): List<PlanLintFinding> {
+        val produced = graph.stages.values.flatMap { it.produces }.map { it.name.value }.toSet() + seeds
+        return graph.stages.entries.flatMap { (id, stage) ->
+            val prompt = briefOf(stage)
+            val needIds = stage.needs.map { it.value }.toSet()
+            val ownProduces = stage.produces.map { it.name.value }.toSet()
+            produced.filter { prodId ->
+                prompt.isNotBlank() &&
+                    prodId.length >= 2 && // skip single-char IDs (false-positive risk with substring matching)
+                    Regex("\\b${Regex.escape(prodId)}\\b").containsMatchIn(prompt) &&
+                    prodId !in needIds &&
+                    prodId !in ownProduces
+            }.map { prodId ->
+                PlanLintFinding(
+                    code = "unreferenced_prompt_artifact",
+                    stageId = id.value,
+                    detail = "prompt mentions '$prodId' but it is not declared in needs",
+                )
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     /** S1: more stages than the ceiling. */
     private fun stageCount(graph: WorkflowGraph): List<PlanLintFinding> =
         if (graph.stages.size > STAGE_CEILING) {
diff --git a/infrastructure/workflow/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinterTest.kt b/infrastructure/workflow/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinterTest.kt
index f0c19451..df556f20 100644
--- a/infrastructure/workflow/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinterTest.kt
+++ b/infrastructure/workflow/src/test/kotlin/com/correx/infrastructure/workflow/PlanLinterTest.kt
@@ -92,6 +92,37 @@ class PlanLinterTest {
         assertTrue(result.passed, "analysis is a planning-phase seed, not an unproduced need")
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `a stage mentioning its own produced artifact in the prompt is not a failure`() {
+        val g = graph(
+            stages = mapOf(
+                "a" to stage(produces = listOf("plan"), prompt = "write the plan artifact"),
+                "b" to stage(needs = listOf("plan"), prompt = "build"),
+            ),
+            edges = listOf("a" to "b", "b" to "done"),
+            start = "a",
+        )
+        val result = PlanLinter.lint(g)
+        assertTrue(result.passed, "expected pass, hard=${result.hardFailures}")
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a prompt mentioning another stage's artifact not in needs is a hard failure`() {
+        val g = graph(
+            stages = mapOf(
+                "a" to stage(produces = listOf("plan"), prompt = "write the plan artifact"),
+                "b" to stage(produces = listOf("report"), prompt = "use plan to build"),
+            ),
+            edges = listOf("a" to "b", "b" to "done"),
+            start = "a",
+        )
+        val result = PlanLinter.lint(g)
+        assertFalse(result.passed)
+        val h = result.hardFailures.single { it.code == "unreferenced_prompt_artifact" }
+        assertEquals("b", h.stageId)
+        assertTrue(h.detail.contains("plan"))
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `a cycle with no exit is a trap-state hard failure`() {
         val g = graph(
diff --git a/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/DefaultContextPackBuilderTest.kt b/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/DefaultContextPackBuilderTest.kt
index 497cb24b..de3d4449 100644
--- a/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/DefaultContextPackBuilderTest.kt
+++ b/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/DefaultContextPackBuilderTest.kt
@@ -134,10 +134,10 @@ class DefaultContextPackBuilderTest {
         // layer reads call, result, call, result — not all calls then all results.
         val entries = listOf(
             entry("task", ContextLayer.L1, 10).copy(sourceType = "agentPrompt"),
-            entry("call1", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "assistantToolCall"),
-            entry("result1", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "toolResult"),
-            entry("call2", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "assistantToolCall"),
-            entry("result2", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "toolResult"),
+            entry("call1", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "assistantToolCall", sourceId = "tool1"),
+            entry("result1", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "toolResult", sourceId = "tool1"),
+            entry("call2", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "assistantToolCall", sourceId = "tool2"),
+            entry("result2", ContextLayer.L2, 10).copy(sourceType = "toolResult", sourceId = "tool2"),
         )
         val pack = builder.build(packId, sessionId, stageId, entries, TokenBudget(limit = 4000))
         val l2Ids = pack.layers[ContextLayer.L2]!!.map { it.id.value }
diff --git a/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/PromptRendererOrderingTest.kt b/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/PromptRendererOrderingTest.kt
index e0cbf1a0..79b44ba8 100644
--- a/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/PromptRendererOrderingTest.kt
+++ b/testing/deterministic/src/test/kotlin/PromptRendererOrderingTest.kt
@@ -18,15 +18,16 @@ class PromptRendererOrderingTest {
     private val sessionId = SessionId("s1")
     private val stageId = StageId("stage-1")
 
-    private fun entry(id: String, layer: ContextLayer, role: EntryRole, sourceType: String) = ContextEntry(
-        id = ContextEntryId(id),
-        layer = layer,
-        content = id,
-        sourceType = sourceType,
-        sourceId = id,
-        tokenEstimate = 10,
-        role = role,
-    )
+    private fun entry(id: String, layer: ContextLayer, role: EntryRole, sourceType: String, sourceId: String = id) =
+        ContextEntry(
+            id = ContextEntryId(id),
+            layer = layer,
+            content = id,
+            sourceType = sourceType,
+            sourceId = sourceId,
+            tokenEstimate = 10,
+            role = role,
+        )
 
     @Test
     fun `stage tool loop renders chronologically with the task before tool turns`() = kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking {
@@ -36,10 +37,10 @@ class PromptRendererOrderingTest {
         val entries = listOf(
             entry("sys", ContextLayer.L0, EntryRole.SYSTEM, "systemPrompt"),
             entry("task", ContextLayer.L1, EntryRole.USER, "agentPrompt"),
-            entry("call1", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.ASSISTANT, "assistantToolCall"),
-            entry("result1", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.TOOL, "toolResult"),
-            entry("call2", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.ASSISTANT, "assistantToolCall"),
-            entry("result2", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.TOOL, "toolResult"),
+            entry("call1", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.ASSISTANT, "assistantToolCall", sourceId = "tool1"),
+            entry("result1", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.TOOL, "toolResult", sourceId = "tool1"),
+            entry("call2", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.ASSISTANT, "assistantToolCall", sourceId = "tool2"),
+            entry("result2", ContextLayer.L2, EntryRole.TOOL, "toolResult", sourceId = "tool2"),
         )
         val pack = builder.build(ContextPackId("p"), sessionId, stageId, entries, TokenBudget(limit = 4000))