diff --git a/internal/human/reconcile.go b/internal/human/reconcile.go
index cd051d7..e021d71 100644
--- a/internal/human/reconcile.go
+++ b/internal/human/reconcile.go
@@ -54,6 +54,30 @@ type Reconciler struct {
 // decision and the handoff is not.
 const operatorInstructionSubject = "operator_instruction"
 
+// verifyPrefix is the one keyed form a human comment may take. Everything
+// else lands under operatorInstructionSubject, so an ordinary "looks good"
+// cannot satisfy a plan phase's manual gate.
+//
+// The comment names only the phase. Orchestra supplies the plan ref from the
+// task's own accepted plan, so the approval binds to the plan that was
+// current when the human wrote it and can never be aimed at another one.
+const verifyPrefix = "orchestra verify "
+
+// decisionSubject classifies one comment. A body whose first line is
+// "orchestra verify <phase-id>" approves that phase of this task's accepted
+// plan; anything else is an operator instruction.
+func decisionSubject(t domain.Task, body string) string {
+	first := strings.TrimSpace(strings.SplitN(body, "\n", 2)[0])
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToLower(first), verifyPrefix) {
+		return operatorInstructionSubject
+	}
+	phase := strings.TrimSpace(first[len(verifyPrefix):])
+	if phase == "" || t.PlanRef == "" {
+		return operatorInstructionSubject
+	}
+	return domain.PlanPhaseSubject(t.PlanRef, phase)
+}
+
 // Reconcile imports every input newer than the stored cursor, then advances
 // the cursor. It fails closed: any provider or append error returns an error
 // and leaves the cursor where it was, so the caller refuses the launch and a
@@ -141,7 +165,7 @@ func (r *Reconciler) record(task domain.Task, provider string, in Input) error {
 	payload := map[string]any{
 		"decision_id": domain.NewID(),
 		"kind":        string(domain.HumanDecisionCorrection),
-		"subject":     operatorInstructionSubject,
+		"subject":     decisionSubject(current, in.Body),
 		"value":       in.Body,
 		"source":      map[string]any{"provider": provider, "external_id": in.ExternalID},
 		"author":      in.Author,
diff --git a/internal/human/reconcile_test.go b/internal/human/reconcile_test.go
index 17bf8af..d462a6c 100644
--- a/internal/human/reconcile_test.go
+++ b/internal/human/reconcile_test.go
@@ -288,3 +288,36 @@ func TestReconcileUsesOnlyTheTaskOwnSource(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("an unowned task reached a source: owner %d, other %d", owner.calls, other.calls)
 	}
 }
+
+// A manual plan-phase gate is satisfied by a keyed comment and by nothing
+// else. Without a producer for this subject the gate was unreachable: every
+// imported comment landed under operator_instruction, so a phase with a
+// manual step could never become verified.
+func TestOnlyAKeyedCommentApprovesAPlanPhase(t *testing.T) {
+	task := domain.Task{ID: "t1", PlanRef: "plan-ref-a"}
+	want := domain.PlanPhaseSubject("plan-ref-a", "phase-2")
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		body    string
+		subject string
+	}{
+		{"looks good to me", operatorInstructionSubject},
+		{"orchestra verify phase-2", want},
+		{"Orchestra Verify phase-2", want},
+		{"orchestra verify phase-2\n\nthe json line read right", want},
+		{"orchestra verify ", operatorInstructionSubject},
+		{"please orchestra verify phase-2", operatorInstructionSubject},
+	} {
+		if got := decisionSubject(task, c.body); got != c.subject {
+			t.Errorf("decisionSubject(%q) = %q, want %q", c.body, got, c.subject)
+		}
+	}
+	// No accepted plan means no phase to approve.
+	if got := decisionSubject(domain.Task{ID: "t1"}, "orchestra verify phase-2"); got != operatorInstructionSubject {
+		t.Errorf("without a plan ref: got %q", got)
+	}
+	// The subject binds the plan, so the same words under a later plan do not
+	// satisfy a gate earned under the earlier one.
+	if decisionSubject(domain.Task{ID: "t1", PlanRef: "plan-ref-b"}, "orchestra verify phase-2") == want {
+		t.Error("a different plan ref produced the same subject")
+	}
+}