diff --git a/internal/agentctx/agentctx_test.go b/internal/agentctx/agentctx_test.go
index 310c9c7..acc468d 100644
--- a/internal/agentctx/agentctx_test.go
+++ b/internal/agentctx/agentctx_test.go
@@ -277,3 +277,32 @@ func assertBefore(t *testing.T, ctx, first, second string) {
 		t.Fatalf("%q must precede %q:\n%s", first, second, ctx)
 	}
 }
+
+// Ingested acceptance criteria must reach the rendered task in order, and an
+// absent one must say so rather than be silently omitted.
+func TestAcceptanceCriteriaRenderInOrder(t *testing.T) {
+	in := input()
+	in.Task.Acceptance = []string{"labelled score does not regress", "targeted cases improve"}
+	in.Intent.Task = in.Task
+	got, err := Build(in)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	first := strings.Index(got.Task, "- labelled score does not regress")
+	second := strings.Index(got.Task, "- targeted cases improve")
+	if first < 0 || second < 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("acceptance criteria missing from rendered task:\n%s", got.Task)
+	}
+	if first > second {
+		t.Fatal("acceptance criteria rendered out of order")
+	}
+	in.Task.Acceptance = nil
+	in.Intent.Task = in.Task
+	got, err = Build(in)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got.Task, "## Acceptance\n\nNot stated.") {
+		t.Fatalf("absent acceptance did not render Not stated:\n%s", got.Task)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/provider/provider.go b/internal/provider/provider.go
index df86a77..83dbfd4 100644
--- a/internal/provider/provider.go
+++ b/internal/provider/provider.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -297,6 +298,57 @@ func (g Gitea) client() *http.Client {
 	}
 	return http.DefaultClient
 }
+
+// acceptanceHeading opens the one recognized acceptance section. The
+// convention is deliberately tiny: two spellings, markdown heading only. An
+// ingestion that infers acceptance from arbitrary prose eventually invents
+// requirements, and a fabricated acceptance criterion outranks every human
+// decision below it in the authority order.
+var acceptanceHeading = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^#{1,6}[ \t]*acceptance([ \t]+criteria)?[ \t]*:?[ \t]*$`)
+
+// acceptanceItem matches a bullet or checklist item and captures its text.
+var acceptanceItem = regexp.MustCompile(`^[ \t]*[-*+][ \t]+(?:\[[ xX]\][ \t]*)?(.*)$`)
+
+var markdownHeading = regexp.MustCompile(`^#{1,6}[ \t]+`)
+
+// splitAcceptance separates an issue body into the description and the
+// acceptance criteria the issue stated for itself. Everything from the
+// recognized heading to the next heading leaves the description, so a criterion
+// is never also read as instruction prose. An empty result is not an ingestion
+// failure: a task with no stated acceptance renders "Not stated." and the frame
+// phase is where that gets resolved, through the decision-request path.
+func splitAcceptance(body string) (string, []string) {
+	lines := strings.Split(body, "\n")
+	start := -1
+	for i, l := range lines {
+		if acceptanceHeading.MatchString(strings.TrimRight(l, " \t\r")) {
+			start = i
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if start < 0 {
+		return body, nil
+	}
+	var acceptance []string
+	end := len(lines)
+	for i := start + 1; i < len(lines); i++ {
+		line := strings.TrimRight(lines[i], " \t\r")
+		if markdownHeading.MatchString(line) {
+			end = i
+			break
+		}
+		m := acceptanceItem.FindStringSubmatch(line)
+		if m == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		if item := strings.TrimSpace(m[1]); item != "" {
+			acceptance = append(acceptance, item)
+		}
+	}
+	kept := append(append([]string{}, lines[:start]...), lines[end:]...)
+	return strings.Trim(strings.Join(kept, "\n"), "\n"), acceptance
+}
+
 func (g Gitea) event(issue giteaIssue, source, project string) domain.Event {
 	caps := []string{}
 	for _, l := range issue.Labels {
@@ -306,7 +358,11 @@ func (g Gitea) event(issue giteaIssue, source, project string) domain.Event {
 	// authority in every rendered context. Dropping it here made every
 	// Gitea-sourced task run on its title alone, with "Acceptance: Not stated."
 	// Found on the first burn-in task, 2026-08-26.
-	p := map[string]any{"source": source, "external_id": strconv.Itoa(issue.Number), "project": project, "title": issue.Title, "description": issue.Body, "capability": caps}
+	description, acceptance := splitAcceptance(issue.Body)
+	p := map[string]any{"source": source, "external_id": strconv.Itoa(issue.Number), "project": project, "title": issue.Title, "description": description, "capability": caps}
+	if len(acceptance) > 0 {
+		p["acceptance"] = acceptance
+	}
 	b, _ := json.Marshal(p)
 	return domain.Event{ID: domain.NewID(), TaskID: domain.NewID(), Type: "TaskCreated", Version: 1, Payload: b, Surface: string(authz.System)}
 }
diff --git a/internal/provider/provider_test.go b/internal/provider/provider_test.go
index 805410c..19c9a9b 100644
--- a/internal/provider/provider_test.go
+++ b/internal/provider/provider_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package provider
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"orchestra/internal/domain"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -22,3 +23,81 @@ func TestJSONLRejectsMalformedLine(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("n=%d err=%v", n, err)
 	}
 }
+
+// A Gitea issue states its own acceptance under one recognized heading. Before
+// this, every Gitea-sourced task rendered "Acceptance: Not stated." no matter
+// what the body said, because nothing on that path ever set the field.
+func TestGiteaIssueAcceptanceSection(t *testing.T) {
+	body := "improve ambiguous attribution.\n\n## acceptance\n- labelled score does not regress\n- targeted cases improve\n"
+	e := Gitea{}.event(giteaIssue{Number: 7, Title: "fix attribution", Body: body}, "gitea", "p")
+	var p struct {
+		Description string   `json:"description"`
+		Acceptance  []string `json:"acceptance"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(e.Payload, &p); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if p.Description != "improve ambiguous attribution." {
+		t.Fatalf("description=%q, want the prose without the acceptance section", p.Description)
+	}
+	want := []string{"labelled score does not regress", "targeted cases improve"}
+	if len(p.Acceptance) != len(want) {
+		t.Fatalf("acceptance=%q, want %q", p.Acceptance, want)
+	}
+	for i := range want {
+		if p.Acceptance[i] != want[i] {
+			t.Fatalf("acceptance[%d]=%q, want %q (order is preserved)", i, p.Acceptance[i], want[i])
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// A body with no recognized section yields no acceptance, and that is correct
+// rather than an ingestion failure: the task renders "Not stated." and the
+// frame phase resolves it through the decision-request path. Inferring
+// criteria from arbitrary prose would invent requirements that outrank every
+// human decision beneath them.
+func TestGiteaIssueWithoutAcceptanceSectionStaysEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	body := "just do the thing.\n\n## notes\n- not an acceptance criterion\n"
+	e := Gitea{}.event(giteaIssue{Number: 8, Title: "t", Body: body}, "gitea", "p")
+	var p map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(e.Payload, &p); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, ok := p["acceptance"]; ok {
+		t.Fatalf("acceptance=%v, want none", p["acceptance"])
+	}
+	if p["description"] != body {
+		t.Fatalf("description=%q, want the body unchanged", p["description"])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSplitAcceptanceConventions(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name string
+		body string
+		desc string
+		want []string
+	}{
+		{"checkboxes", "do it.\n\n## Acceptance\n- [ ] thing a works\n- [x] behaviour b unchanged\n", "do it.", []string{"thing a works", "behaviour b unchanged"}},
+		{"acceptance criteria spelling", "do it.\n\n### Acceptance Criteria\n* one\n", "do it.", []string{"one"}},
+		{"section ends at the next heading", "do it.\n\n## acceptance\n- one\n\n## notes\n- not acceptance\n", "do it.\n\n## notes\n- not acceptance", []string{"one"}},
+		{"empty items ignored", "do it.\n\n## acceptance\n-\n- [ ]\n- real\n", "do it.", []string{"real"}},
+		{"prose inside the section is not an item", "do it.\n\n## acceptance\nthese are the criteria:\n- one\n", "do it.", []string{"one"}},
+		{"heading only", "do it.\n\n## acceptance\n", "do it.", nil},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			desc, got := splitAcceptance(tc.body)
+			if desc != tc.desc {
+				t.Fatalf("description=%q, want %q", desc, tc.desc)
+			}
+			if len(got) != len(tc.want) {
+				t.Fatalf("acceptance=%q, want %q", got, tc.want)
+			}
+			for i := range tc.want {
+				if got[i] != tc.want[i] {
+					t.Fatalf("acceptance[%d]=%q, want %q", i, got[i], tc.want[i])
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}