diff --git a/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index f53a334..323ec5f 100644
--- a/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "scribe",
   "description": "Scribe for Claude Code: connects the scribe MCP server, adds the hooks that deliver live project state and relevant records at the right moment, ships the shared client-neutral Scribe skills (using-scribe, writing-plans, reporting-back, systematic-debugging, verification, brainstorming, reusing-code, shape-accounting), and syncs your saved Scribe Processes as skills (/scribe:sync).",
-  "version": "2026.09.14.1723",
+  "version": "2026.09.14.2254",
   "author": {
     "name": "Bryan Van Deusen"
   },
diff --git a/plugin/PACKAGING.md b/plugin/PACKAGING.md
index a0919f6..fd96a0e 100644
--- a/plugin/PACKAGING.md
+++ b/plugin/PACKAGING.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ another one means adding files, not moving or rewriting any.
 |---|---|---|
 | **The skills** | `plugin/skills/*/SKILL.md` | Agent Skills (the open SKILL.md format). They state every Scribe reflex in full and name no client. `tests/test_guidance_ownership.py` fails if a skill names a particular client, or references anything outside its own folder. Every client package ships this folder verbatim. |
 | **The MCP server** | `<base URL>/mcp` | HTTP, `Authorization: Bearer <fmcp_ key>`. Its `_INSTRUCTIONS` is a client-neutral index (≤2,000 chars); each tool's description carries its contract; in-band responses (`placement`, `report_back`, `systems_hint`, the duplicate gate, the guessed-id refusal) fire in every client. |
-| **The adapter API** | `<base URL>/api/plugin/*` | Plain `GET` endpoints any client's hooks can call with the same key (read scope is enough): `context` (live session state), `retrieve` (rules, preferences and notes for a message), `prior-art` (records and shape-ledger hints for code being written), `tool-rules` (rules for a command about to run), `processes` (stored Processes to expose as skills). |
+| **The adapter API** | `<base URL>/api/plugin/*` | Plain `GET` endpoints any client's hooks can call with the same key (read scope is enough): `context` (live session state), `retrieve` (rules, preferences and notes for a message), `prior-art` (records and shape-ledger hints for code being written), `tool-rules` (rules for a command about to run), `report-check` (records a completion-report check and returns the reason for a block), `processes` (stored Processes to expose as skills). |
 | **The API key** | Scribe → Settings → API Keys | One `fmcp_` key per install. Read scope for hooks; write scope for the MCP tools. |
 
 ## Added by each client
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ another one means adding files, not moving or rewriting any.
 | `hooks/scribe_prior_art.sh` | PreToolUse on editor writes: `GET /api/plugin/prior-art`. |
 | `hooks/scribe_after_write.sh` | PostToolUse on shell commands: the same check for code written through the shell. |
 | `hooks/scribe_tool_rules.sh` | PreToolUse on shell commands: `GET /api/plugin/tool-rules`. |
+| `hooks/scribe_report_check.sh` | Stop: when the turn closed a task, checks the reply for the completion sections and reports to `GET /api/plugin/report-check`; blocks once, with the reason the server returns. |
 | `hooks/scribe_sync_processes.sh` + `commands/sync.md` | `GET /api/plugin/processes` → `~/.claude/skills/scribe-proc-*` stubs; `/scribe:sync` on demand. |
 | `hooks/scribe_defs.sh` | Shared shell helpers: config, dedup ledgers, outage line. |
 | `hooks/scribe_static_context.md` | The adapter static text. |
diff --git a/plugin/README.md b/plugin/README.md
index dea320e..cfd79e9 100644
--- a/plugin/README.md
+++ b/plugin/README.md
@@ -82,6 +82,15 @@ On install you'll be asked for:
   answer" line (8 s budget here — it runs after the tool, so it gates
   nothing). The extractor, the prose/data skip list, the local by-name
   duplicate arm and the outage line are shared in `hooks/scribe_defs.sh`.
+- `hooks/hooks.json` → Stop hook (`hooks/scribe_report_check.sh`): when the
+  turn closed a Scribe task (`update_task`/`create_task` with status done),
+  checks the reply that ends it for the completion sections — where the work
+  sits, what needs you, what comes next — and reports the outcome to
+  `GET /api/plugin/report-check`. If sections are missing it blocks once with
+  the reason the server returns, and records how the rewrite came out; it
+  never blocks twice, and never blocks when the instance did not record the
+  check (unconfigured or unreachable). Outcomes land in the admin logs under
+  category `plugin`, action `report_check`.
 - `skills/` → the universal process-skills, surfaced by description match.
 - `hooks/scribe_sync_processes.sh` (a 2nd SessionStart hook) + the `/scribe:sync`
   command → generate `~/.claude/skills/scribe-proc-*` stubs from your Scribe
diff --git a/plugin/hooks/hooks.json b/plugin/hooks/hooks.json
index 0bec8ea..c55be67 100644
--- a/plugin/hooks/hooks.json
+++ b/plugin/hooks/hooks.json
@@ -54,6 +54,16 @@
           }
         ]
       }
+    ],
+    "Stop": [
+      {
+        "hooks": [
+          {
+            "type": "command",
+            "command": "bash \"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/scribe_report_check.sh\""
+          }
+        ]
+      }
     ]
   }
 }
diff --git a/plugin/hooks/scribe_after_write.sh b/plugin/hooks/scribe_after_write.sh
index b474098..977c7fb 100644
--- a/plugin/hooks/scribe_after_write.sh
+++ b/plugin/hooks/scribe_after_write.sh
@@ -138,7 +138,8 @@ while IFS= read -r rel_path; do
     code=$(cat "$file_path" 2>/dev/null) || code=""
   fi
   [ -n "$code" ] || continue
-  names=$(printf '%s' "$code" | scribe_defs | sort -u | head -12) || names=""
+  # `|| true` inside: an early-exiting `head` must not void its own output (#4042).
+  names=$(printf '%s' "$code" | scribe_defs | sort -u | head -12 || true)
   # Nothing DEFINED in what was written (prose, data, a call-site edit) →
   # nothing to say; the arms are about shapes.
   [ -n "$names" ] || continue
diff --git a/plugin/hooks/scribe_defs.sh b/plugin/hooks/scribe_defs.sh
index 9da0088..86ea6bb 100644
--- a/plugin/hooks/scribe_defs.sh
+++ b/plugin/hooks/scribe_defs.sh
@@ -114,7 +114,12 @@ scribe_local_dups() {
       *)   pat="(function|def|class|func|fun|fn|sub|struct|trait|interface|enum|object|protocol|type)[[:space:]]+${name}[^A-Za-z0-9_]|func[[:space:]]*\([^)]*\)[[:space:]]*${name}[[:space:]]*\(|(const|let)[[:space:]]+${name}[[:space:]]*=" ;;
     esac
     # -I skips binaries; :(exclude) drops the file being written.
-    hits=$(git -C "$root" grep -I -l -E -e "$pat" -- . ":(exclude)${rel}" 2>/dev/null | head -4) || hits=""
+    # `|| true` INSIDE the substitution, not `|| hits=""` outside it (#4042):
+    # under the hooks' `pipefail`, `head` exiting after four lines kills a
+    # git grep that is still writing, the pipeline reports SIGPIPE, and an
+    # outer fallback then wipes the four hits head already printed. The name
+    # most duplicated — the one this arm exists for — was the one it dropped.
+    hits=$(git -C "$root" grep -I -l -E -e "$pat" -- . ":(exclude)${rel}" 2>/dev/null | head -4 || true)
     [ -n "$hits" ] || continue
     count=$(printf '%s\n' "$hits" | grep -c . 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
     label=$([ "$kind" = css ] && printf '.%s' "$name" || printf '%s' "$name")
diff --git a/plugin/hooks/scribe_prior_art.sh b/plugin/hooks/scribe_prior_art.sh
index 04f2cd7..d0dce6f 100755
--- a/plugin/hooks/scribe_prior_art.sh
+++ b/plugin/hooks/scribe_prior_art.sh
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ fi
 # in the repo? (scribe_local_dups in scribe_defs.sh carries the why.)
 names=""
 if [ -n "$code" ]; then
-  names=$(printf '%s' "$code" | scribe_defs | sort -u | head -12) || names=""
+  # `|| true` inside: an early-exiting `head` must not void its own output (#4042).
+  names=$(printf '%s' "$code" | scribe_defs | sort -u | head -12 || true)
 fi
 
 local_lines=""
@@ -105,11 +106,11 @@ shapes="$names"
 if [ -z "$shapes" ] && [ -f "$file_path" ] && command -v tac >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   old_first=$(printf '%s' "$event" \
     | jq -r '.tool_input.old_string // .tool_input.old_str // empty' 2>/dev/null \
-    | grep -m1 -v '^[[:space:]]*$') || old_first=""
+    | grep -m1 -v '^[[:space:]]*$' || true)
   if [ -n "$old_first" ]; then
     ln=$(grep -nF -m1 -- "$old_first" "$file_path" 2>/dev/null | cut -d: -f1) || ln=""
     if [ -n "$ln" ]; then
-      shapes=$(head -n "$ln" "$file_path" | tac | scribe_defs | head -1) || shapes=""
+      shapes=$(head -n "$ln" "$file_path" | tac | scribe_defs | head -1 || true)
     fi
   fi
 fi
diff --git a/plugin/hooks/scribe_report_check.sh b/plugin/hooks/scribe_report_check.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54cf313
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugin/hooks/scribe_report_check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Scribe plugin — Stop hook: a reply that closes a task carries the completion
+# sections (milestone 409 step 5).
+#
+# Everything else the plugin does happens BEFORE the agent writes: context,
+# retrieval, the reporting-back skill. This is the one moment the finished
+# reply exists, so it is both the last chance to fix a report the operator
+# cannot read and the only place adherence to the shape can be measured.
+#
+# DETERMINISTIC, NO MODEL CALL. Three questions, cheapest first:
+#
+#   1. Did this turn close a Scribe task? An `update_task` / `create_task` tool
+#      call with status "done" since the turn's prompt, whose result was not an
+#      error. Most turns stop here, silently.
+#   2. Does the reply that ends the turn have the completion sections? Loosely:
+#      where the work sits (a record named by id and title, or step N of M),
+#      what needs the operator, and what comes next. Matched on the words that
+#      carry the meaning rather than exact headings, so the skill's wording can
+#      change without breaking this.
+#   3. If sections are missing, block once with a reason naming them. The agent
+#      rewrites; the rewrite is checked and recorded, and never blocked again.
+#
+# MEASURED FROM THE FIRST CALL. Each checked reply is reported to the instance
+# (`/api/plugin/report-check`): passed, blocked, and after a rewrite either
+# passed_after_rewrite or missing_after_rewrite. Turns that closed no task are
+# not reported — they would cost a request on every turn and add nothing to
+# the rate step 6 reads (blocked among checked replies).
+#
+# IT BLOCKS ONLY WHEN THE BLOCK IS RECORDED, AND ONLY IN THE SERVER'S WORDS.
+# The report goes out first; the instance answers a recorded `blocked` with
+# the reason to send the agent back with, and the hook blocks only on that
+# reason. An unconfigured or unreachable instance therefore never stops a
+# session, every intervention is one the numbers can see, and the guidance
+# text lives on the server (plugin/PACKAGING.md: hooks carry timing and
+# transport).
+#
+# THE TRANSCRIPT FORMAT IS OBSERVED, NOT DOCUMENTED. Claude Code documents
+# `transcript_path` and `stop_hook_active` for Stop, not the JSONL inside. As
+# read from real transcripts (2026-09-14): one content block per line;
+# `type: "assistant"` lines carry `message.content[]` blocks of `text` /
+# `tool_use` ({id, name, input}); tool results arrive as `type: "user"` lines
+# whose content is a `tool_result` array ({tool_use_id, is_error}); a turn's
+# prompt — typed, or a background-task notification — is a `user` line whose
+# content is a plain string and which is not `isMeta`. Anything that does not
+# parse that way makes the hook stay out of the way rather than guess.
+#
+# Config (same as the other hooks):
+#   CLAUDE_PLUGIN_OPTION_API_ENDPOINT  base URL, no trailing slash
+#   CLAUDE_PLUGIN_OPTION_API_TOKEN     fmcp_ API key (sensitive)
+#   SCRIBE_URL / SCRIBE_TOKEN override for the settings.json dogfooding path.
+set -uo pipefail
+
+command -v jq   >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 0
+command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 0
+
+# shellcheck source=plugin/hooks/scribe_defs.sh
+. "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/scribe_defs.sh"
+
+# Stop delivers { session_id, transcript_path, cwd, hook_event_name, stop_hook_active }.
+event=$(cat 2>/dev/null || true)
+transcript=$(printf '%s' "$event" | jq -r '.transcript_path // empty' 2>/dev/null) || exit 0
+[ -n "$transcript" ] && [ -f "$transcript" ] || exit 0
+session_id=$(printf '%s' "$event" | jq -r '.session_id // empty' 2>/dev/null) || session_id=""
+active=$(printf '%s' "$event" | jq -r '.stop_hook_active // false' 2>/dev/null) || active="false"
+event_cwd=$(printf '%s' "$event" | jq -r '.cwd // empty' 2>/dev/null) || event_cwd=""
+
+safe_sid=$(printf '%s' "${session_id:-nosession}" | tr -c 'A-Za-z0-9._-' '_')
+state_dir="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/scribe-reportcheck"
+mkdir -p "$state_dir" 2>/dev/null || true
+marker="$state_dir/${safe_sid}.blocked"
+
+# Cheap prefilter: no task tool anywhere in the recent transcript → nothing to
+# check. Keeps the ordinary turn at one grep. Process substitution, NOT a pipe:
+# under `pipefail`, `grep -q` exiting on the first match kills `tail` with
+# SIGPIPE, and the pipeline then reports failure precisely when it matched.
+grep -q -E '"name":[[:space:]]*"([^"]*__)?(update|create)_task"' < <(tail -c 2000000 "$transcript" 2>/dev/null) || {
+  rm -f "$marker" 2>/dev/null || true
+  exit 0
+}
+
+# The turn, parsed once. A window of recent lines, slurped raw and split inside
+# jq (a line-by-line `-R` read is the #2198 trap). A first line cut mid-record
+# fails to parse and is dropped. If the window holds no prompt, the turn cannot
+# be bounded, so the hook reports nothing and stays out of the way.
+facts=$(tail -n 3000 "$transcript" 2>/dev/null | jq -sRc '
+  split("\n") | map(try fromjson catch empty)
+  | map(select((.isSidechain // false) | not))
+  | . as $lines
+  | [range(0; length) | select(
+      $lines[.].type == "user" and ($lines[.].isMeta // false | not)
+      and ($lines[.].message.content | type) == "string")] as $prompts
+  | if ($prompts | length) == 0 then {bounded: false} else
+    $lines[($prompts | last) + 1:] as $turn
+    | [ $turn[] | select(.type == "assistant") | .message.content[]?
+        | select(.type == "tool_use"
+                 and ((.name // "") | test("(^|__)(update|create)_task$"))
+                 and (.input.status? == "done"))
+        | {id, task: (.input.task_id? // null)} ] as $closes
+    | [ $turn[] | select(.type == "user") | .message.content[]?
+        | select(type == "object" and .type == "tool_result" and .is_error == true)
+        | .tool_use_id ] as $errors
+    | [ $closes[] | select(.id as $i | ($errors | index($i)) | not) ] as $closed
+    | ([range(0; $turn | length) | select(
+          $turn[.].type == "user"
+          or ($turn[.].type == "assistant"
+              and ([$turn[.].message.content[]?.type] | index("tool_use"))))]
+        | last // -1) as $last_act
+    | {bounded: true,
+       closed: ($closed | length),
+       task_ids: [$closed[].task | select(. != null)],
+       reply: ([ $turn[$last_act + 1:][] | select(.type == "assistant")
+                 | .message.content[]? | select(.type == "text") | .text ] | join("\n"))}
+    end' 2>/dev/null) || exit 0
+
+[ "$(printf '%s' "$facts" | jq -r '.bounded // false')" = "true" ] || exit 0
+closed=$(printf '%s' "$facts" | jq -r '.closed // 0')
+if [ "${closed:-0}" = "0" ]; then
+  rm -f "$marker" 2>/dev/null || true
+  exit 0
+fi
+reply=$(printf '%s' "$facts" | jq -r '.reply // ""')
+task_ids=$(printf '%s' "$facts" | jq -r '.task_ids | map(tostring) | join(",")')
+
+# The reply may not be written to the transcript yet when the hook fires. An
+# empty reply is "cannot tell", not "missing everything" — stay out of the way.
+[ -n "$(printf '%s' "$reply" | tr -d '[:space:]')" ] || exit 0
+
+missing=()
+# Where the work sits: a record named by id AND title (#12 "…", milestone 3 "…"),
+# or a step position. A bare id is exactly the homework this shape removes.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # backticks here are literal markdown, not an expansion
+grep -q -i -E '(#[0-9]+|milestone [0-9]+|task [0-9]+)[*_`]*[[:space:]]*[*_`]*["“]|step [0-9]+ of [0-9]+' <<< "$reply" \
+  || missing+=("where it sits")
+# What needs the operator — "needs you: nothing" counts; it is an answer.
+grep -q -i -E 'needs? (from )?you|nothing (is )?needed from you|your (call|decision)' <<< "$reply" \
+  || missing+=("needs you")
+# What comes next.
+grep -q -i -E '\bnext\b' <<< "$reply" \
+  || missing+=("next")
+
+# Reports the outcome; prints the instance's reply and returns 0 only if the
+# instance recorded it.
+report() {
+  scribe_config || return 1
+  local q repo enc m
+  q="outcome=$1&task_ids=${task_ids}"
+  m=$(IFS=,; printf '%s' "${missing[*]:-}")
+  if [ -n "$m" ]; then
+    enc=$(printf '%s' "$m" | jq -sRr '@uri' 2>/dev/null) || enc=""
+    q="${q}&missing=${enc}"
+  fi
+  repo=$(git -C "${event_cwd:-${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-$PWD}}" remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null || true)
+  if [ -n "$repo" ]; then
+    enc=$(printf '%s' "$repo" | jq -sRr '@uri' 2>/dev/null) || enc=""
+    [ -n "$enc" ] && q="${q}&repo=${enc}"
+  fi
+  curl -fsS --max-time 4 \
+    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${token}" \
+    "${url%/}/api/plugin/report-check?${q}" 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+if [ "$active" = "true" ]; then
+  # A Stop hook already blocked this stop. If it was this one, the reply is
+  # the rewrite: record how it came out, and let the session stop whatever
+  # the answer. If it was another plugin's block, this hook has nothing to add.
+  [ -f "$marker" ] || exit 0
+  rm -f "$marker" 2>/dev/null || true
+  if [ ${#missing[@]} -eq 0 ]; then report passed_after_rewrite >/dev/null; else report missing_after_rewrite >/dev/null; fi
+  exit 0
+fi
+rm -f "$marker" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+if [ ${#missing[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+  report passed >/dev/null
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# The words the agent is sent back with are the server's (plugin/PACKAGING.md:
+# a hook carries timing and transport). No reason back → nothing recorded →
+# no block.
+answer=$(report blocked) || exit 0
+reason=$(printf '%s' "$answer" | jq -r '.reason // empty' 2>/dev/null) || reason=""
+[ -n "$reason" ] || exit 0
+: > "$marker" 2>/dev/null || true
+jq -n --arg r "$reason" '{decision: "block", reason: $r}'
+exit 0
diff --git a/plugin/hooks/scribe_static_context.md b/plugin/hooks/scribe_static_context.md
index 5dac691..d20ddde 100644
--- a/plugin/hooks/scribe_static_context.md
+++ b/plugin/hooks/scribe_static_context.md
@@ -10,15 +10,14 @@ shape-accounting) carry their arcs.
 
 What only Claude Code needs said:
 
-- **Keep one copy — in Scribe, not Claude Code's local memory.** The
-  operator's rules, plans and project notes go to Scribe, not also to
-  `CLAUDE.md` or auto-memory. Leave auto-memory at its default setting: you
-  replace its job by doing the work in Scribe, not by switching it off.
+- **Keep one copy — in Scribe, not Claude Code's local memory.** Claude
+  Code's local memory is `CLAUDE.md` and auto-memory: the operator's rules,
+  plans and project notes go to Scribe instead, and using-scribe says how
+  Scribe works alongside them.
 - **Lines injected beside your work are retrieval.** When the operator sends a
   message, and before a write or a command, Scribe may add rules, preferences,
   notes and prior art that resemble what you are doing. Open the ones that
-  apply. They are what matched, never the whole set — using-scribe says how to
-  ask for the rest.
+  apply; using-scribe says what a quiet turn means.
 - **Compact at clean seams.** Because work is recorded as you go, a compaction
   is safe once in-flight state is logged. After finishing a block of work in a
   long session, log it to Scribe, then tell the operator it's a good moment to
diff --git a/plugin/skills/reporting-back/SKILL.md b/plugin/skills/reporting-back/SKILL.md
index f7718e3..90d91b5 100644
--- a/plugin/skills/reporting-back/SKILL.md
+++ b/plugin/skills/reporting-back/SKILL.md
@@ -41,6 +41,24 @@ it is wrong. So take placement from Scribe:
 - Work with no task behind it: say so plainly — "this wasn't tracked as a
   task" — and offer to record it. An honest "untracked" is a placement too.
 
+## The operator's own shapes come first
+
+The shapes below are defaults. An operator may have changed some of them — a
+section they always want, an order they read faster, a kind of reply they want
+shorter — and those changes are `preference` records. Where a preference and a
+default differ, the preference is what they asked for.
+
+- **A completion report brings its preferences with it.** Closing a task with
+  `update_task` returns them as **`reply_preferences`** when the operator has
+  any; the `report_back` line says so. Nothing to search for.
+- **Every other reply, ask before writing it.** A finding, a decision, a
+  handoff, a "where are we" — no tool call comes before these, so nothing
+  hands their preferences over. Once you know which kind of reply you are
+  writing, `search(content_type="rule")` for it in the words of that moment —
+  "writing a decision for the operator", "handing off to the operator" — and
+  follow any preference that comes back. Nothing coming back means the default
+  shape stands.
+
 ## Reports — work happened
 
 | Kind | Sections |
diff --git a/plugin/skills/using-scribe/SKILL.md b/plugin/skills/using-scribe/SKILL.md
index 33a8419..a63d758 100644
--- a/plugin/skills/using-scribe/SKILL.md
+++ b/plugin/skills/using-scribe/SKILL.md
@@ -13,23 +13,14 @@ asked for.
 
 ## Do this first (every session)
 
-**You are not holding the operator's rules, and no call loads them all.**
-There is no standing set to pull. A rule reaches you when what you are about to
-do matches it — a command, code you are writing, or what the operator just
-asked for — and on most turns none will. That is the surface working.
-
-**So the reflex is to ASK, not to load.** Before a consequential act — anything
-hard to reverse or outward-facing — `search(content_type="rule")` for the thing
-you are about to do. An empty session is not evidence of an empty rulebook.
-
 If the working repo maps to a Scribe project (you're in a known repo, or
 `list_repo_bindings` shows a binding), call `enter_project(id)` — it returns the
 project plus the rules bound to the areas it works in, open tasks, and recent
 notes in one shot.
 
-Do this actively. Nothing is handed to a session up front to stand in for it —
-rules arrive by retrieval, when your work or the operator's message matches
-one — so asking and entering the project are the reliable path.
+Then **ask before you act**: before anything hard to reverse or outward-facing,
+search the rules for what you are about to do. Reflex 2 below is why asking,
+not loading, is how the operator's rules reach you.
 
 ## Scribe holds these functions — keep one copy
 
@@ -59,12 +50,20 @@ Two constraints on *how* that's achieved:
    re-deriving it or opening a duplicate. When a project is in scope, pass its
    `project_id` so results stay scoped.
 
-2. **Rules are binding, and silence does not mean there are none.** Nothing
-   is preloaded, so "no rule arrived" means "nothing matched" — never "no rule
-   exists". Ask with `search(content_type="rule")` before a consequential act,
-   and pull a record's full statement with `get_rule(id)` when it is about to
-   bite. When a project is in scope, `enter_project(id)` also returns the rules
-   bound to its areas.
+2. **Rules are binding, and they reach you by retrieval.** No call loads the
+   operator's rules and no standing set is handed to a session. A rule arrives
+   when what you are about to do resembles what it is about — a command, the
+   code you are writing, the operator's message — and on most turns none will.
+   That is the surface working: it is what lets a rulebook keep growing, since
+   a rule costs nothing in a session it has nothing to do with. A rule binds
+   just as hard for never having been handed to you.
+
+   So "no rule arrived" means "nothing matched", never "no rule exists" — an
+   empty session is not evidence of an empty rulebook. Retrieval fires when
+   something asks: before a consequential act, `search(content_type="rule")` on
+   what you are about to do, and pull a record's full statement with
+   `get_rule(id)` when it is about to bite. When a project is in scope,
+   `enter_project(id)` also returns the rules bound to its areas.
 
    **`kind` says how much force a record carries, and it is never something to
    infer.** A **rule** must be followed: ignoring it breaks something or
@@ -84,17 +83,6 @@ Two constraints on *how* that's achieved:
    asks. If what you learned is that something MUST be done a certain way,
    that is a rule to propose, not a preference to harden in place.
 
-   Every rule is RETRIEVED: one reaches you when a command, the code you are
-   writing or the operator's message resembles what it is about, and a rule
-   binds just as hard for never having been handed to you. So before a
-   consequential act, `search(content_type="rule")` on what you are about to
-   do. An empty session is not evidence that no rule applies; it is only
-   evidence that nothing has matched yet, and those are different claims.
-
-   Retrieval is what lets a rulebook keep growing — a rule costs nothing in a
-   session it has nothing to do with — but retrieval only fires if something
-   asks.
-
    **A retrieved rule outranks a default habit.** Before a hard-to-reverse or
    outward-facing act — changing shared state, publishing, deleting, sending
    something outside the session — the operator's rules decide what to do, not
diff --git a/scripts/check_plugin.py b/scripts/check_plugin.py
index d0da1ac..9e82042 100755
--- a/scripts/check_plugin.py
+++ b/scripts/check_plugin.py
@@ -208,6 +208,19 @@ PATTERNS: list[tuple[re.Pattern, str, str]] = [
         "produces separate encoded lines joined by raw newlines — an invalid "
         "URL. Use -s (slurp) as well, e.g. `jq -sRr '@uri'`.",
     ),
+    (
+        # `$(producer | head -N) || var=""` — the fallback OUTSIDE the
+        # substitution (#4042). Every hook runs under `pipefail`; once `head`
+        # (or `grep -m`/`-q`) has what it needs it exits, a producer still
+        # writing dies of SIGPIPE, the substitution fails, and the fallback
+        # wipes the output that was already captured. Silent, and only on big
+        # inputs — which for the duplicate arm meant the most-duplicated names.
+        re.compile(r"\|\s*(?:head\b|grep\s+-[A-Za-z]*[mq])[^)]*\)\s*\|\|\s*\w+=\"\""),
+        "early-exit consumer with the fallback outside the substitution",
+        "Under pipefail, `$(x | head -N) || v=\"\"` discards head's output whenever x "
+        "is still writing when head exits (SIGPIPE). Put the fallback inside: "
+        "`$(x | head -N || true)`.",
+    ),
     (
         re.compile(r"\|\s*cut\s+-c"),
         "line-oriented cut for a payload cap",
@@ -325,6 +338,13 @@ SMOKE_EVENTS: dict[str, str] = {
         {"session_id": "smoke", "cwd": ".", "tool_name": "Bash",
          "tool_input": {"command": "true"}, "tool_response": {}}
     ),
+    # The Stop-hook report check (milestone 409 step 5). A transcript that does
+    # not exist is the smoke case: nothing to read, so it must stay silent and
+    # never block, configured or not.
+    "scribe_report_check.sh": json.dumps(
+        {"session_id": "smoke", "transcript_path": "/nonexistent/smoke.jsonl",
+         "cwd": ".", "hook_event_name": "Stop", "stop_hook_active": False}
+    ),
     # The shared library is sourced, never run; executed bare it defines
     # functions and exits — silent by construction.
     "scribe_defs.sh": "",
diff --git a/src/scribe/mcp/tools/tasks.py b/src/scribe/mcp/tools/tasks.py
index 6e93a9a..72fe242 100644
--- a/src/scribe/mcp/tools/tasks.py
+++ b/src/scribe/mcp/tools/tasks.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from scribe.services.notes import minted_kind
 from scribe.services import placement as placement_svc
 from scribe.services import planning as planning_svc
 from scribe.services import record_batch as batch_svc
+from scribe.services import reply_preferences as reply_prefs_svc
 from scribe.services import rulebooks as rulebooks_svc
 from scribe.services import systems as systems_svc
 from scribe.services import task_logs as task_logs_svc
@@ -273,7 +274,13 @@ async def update_task(
     reads exactly like a real one when it is wrong.
 
     Closing a task (done or cancelled) also returns `report_back`: a one-line
-    reminder of what the reply to the operator should cover.
+    reminder of what the reply to the operator should cover. When the
+    operator has preferences for how a completion report is written, they
+    come back as `reply_preferences` ({id, title, statement, kind}) — found
+    by their `when_to_apply`, so a preference whose trigger is writing the
+    report after finishing a task is the one that arrives here. Where one
+    differs from the default shape, the preference is what the operator
+    asked for.
     """
     uid = current_user_id()
     fields: dict = {}
@@ -314,6 +321,14 @@ async def update_task(
     await placement_svc.attach_placement(uid, data, note)
     if status in _CLOSING_STATUSES:
         data["report_back"] = REPORT_BACK_CUE
+        # The operator's own adjustments to the completion report, retrieved
+        # at the one moment a server can see that report coming (milestone
+        # 409 step 4). Omitted rather than sent empty, like every decoration.
+        prefs = await reply_prefs_svc.completion_preferences(
+            uid, project_id=getattr(note, "project_id", None))
+        if prefs:
+            data["reply_preferences"] = prefs
+            data["report_back"] = REPORT_BACK_CUE + " " + REPLY_PREFERENCES_CUE
     return data
 
 
@@ -360,6 +375,12 @@ REPORT_BACK_CUE = (
     "Reporting this to the operator? Say where it sits (from `placement`), "
     "what now works, what needs them, and what comes next."
 )
+# Appended only when `reply_preferences` is present, so the key never arrives
+# unexplained and a session with no preferences reads exactly what it did.
+REPLY_PREFERENCES_CUE = (
+    "The operator has preferences for how this report is written — "
+    "follow `reply_preferences` over the default shape where they differ."
+)
 
 _ITEM_KEYS = {"title", "body", "type", "status", "priority", "kind", "tags", "system_ids"}
 
diff --git a/src/scribe/routes/plugin.py b/src/scribe/routes/plugin.py
index a0b1d6d..b812980 100644
--- a/src/scribe/routes/plugin.py
+++ b/src/scribe/routes/plugin.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ from scribe.auth import admin_required, get_current_user_id, login_required
 from scribe.config import Config
 from scribe.services import plugin_context as plugin_ctx_svc
 from scribe.services import repo_bindings as repo_bindings_svc
+from scribe.services import report_check as report_check_svc
 from scribe.services.settings import get_admin_setting, set_setting
 
 plugin_bp = Blueprint("plugin", __name__, url_prefix="/api/plugin")
@@ -257,6 +258,45 @@ def _parse_shapes(raw: str) -> list[tuple[str, str]]:
     return out
 
 
+@plugin_bp.get("/report-check")
+@login_required
+async def report_check():
+    """Record what a Stop hook found in a reply that closed a task (milestone 409 step 5).
+
+    The hook decides which completion sections the reply lacks — a local check
+    of text it can read — and reports the outcome here. For `blocked` the
+    response carries the `reason` to send the agent back with: the words are
+    the server's, so every client's hook says the same thing (plugin/PACKAGING.md).
+    A hook blocks only on a `reason` it received, which means only on a block
+    that was recorded.
+
+    A GET for the reason every plugin endpoint is one: a read-scoped key must
+    be enough to run the plugin, and this records telemetry the way /retrieve
+    records a retrieval log.
+
+    Query:
+        outcome (str)   — passed | blocked | passed_after_rewrite |
+                          missing_after_rewrite. Anything else is a 400.
+        missing (opt)   — comma-separated sections the reply lacked:
+                          "where it sits", "needs you", "next".
+        task_ids (opt)  — comma-separated ids of the tasks the turn closed.
+        repo (opt)      — working repo remote, resolved like the other arms.
+    """
+    outcome = (request.args.get("outcome") or "").strip()
+    if outcome not in report_check_svc.OUTCOMES:
+        return jsonify({"error": f"outcome must be one of {list(report_check_svc.OUTCOMES)}"}), 400
+    missing = [m for m in (request.args.get("missing") or "").split(",") if m.strip()]
+    task_ids = _int_list(request.args.get("task_ids"))[:20]
+    project_id, _repo, _unbound = await _project_scope()
+    await report_check_svc.record_report_check(
+        g.user.id, outcome, missing=missing, task_ids=task_ids, project_id=project_id or None,
+    )
+    body: dict = {"status": "ok"}
+    if outcome == "blocked":
+        body["reason"] = report_check_svc.block_reason(missing)
+    return jsonify(body)
+
+
 @plugin_bp.get("/processes")
 @login_required
 async def process_manifest():
diff --git a/src/scribe/services/plugin_context.py b/src/scribe/services/plugin_context.py
index 14fe9e5..6e3ff53 100644
--- a/src/scribe/services/plugin_context.py
+++ b/src/scribe/services/plugin_context.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import logging
 import re
+import textwrap
 import time
 
 
@@ -41,6 +42,10 @@ _MAX_CHARS = 9000
 # Max chars of a Process body to fold into the auto-surface description.
 _PROC_PREVIEW_CHARS = 200
 
+# Max chars of the project goal on the session-start Goal line. The full goal is
+# one enter_project away; a cut says so rather than ending mid-word (#4036).
+_GOAL_CHARS = 200
+
 # --- Knowledge auto-inject (Path A: per-turn awareness push) -----------------
 # Per-user settings (keys live in the generic settings table). The threshold is
 # deliberately STRICTER than the pull-search default (embeddings
@@ -2140,6 +2145,23 @@ def _stamp_line(path: str, stamped: list[dict]) -> str:
 
 
 
+def _goal_line(goal: str, project_id: int) -> str:
+    """The Goal line, trimmed at a word break with a visible cut.
+
+    A raw slice ended mid-word with nothing to say more existed, so a reader
+    took half a sentence for the whole goal (#4036).
+    """
+    if not goal:
+        return ""
+    flat = " ".join(goal.split())
+    if len(flat) <= _GOAL_CHARS:
+        return f"Goal: {flat}"
+    short = textwrap.shorten(flat, width=_GOAL_CHARS, placeholder="…")
+    if short == "…":  # one unbroken word longer than the cap
+        short = flat[: _GOAL_CHARS - 1] + "…"
+    return f"Goal: {short} (full goal: `enter_project({project_id})`)"
+
+
 async def build_session_context(
     user_id: int, project_id: int = 0, unbound_repo: str = ""
 ) -> dict:
@@ -2185,7 +2207,7 @@ async def build_session_context(
             lines += [
                 "",
                 f"## Active project: {project.title} (id {project.id})",
-                f"Goal: {goal[:200]}" if goal else "",
+                _goal_line(goal, project.id),
                 f"Open todo tasks: {open_count}",
             ]
 
diff --git a/src/scribe/services/reply_preferences.py b/src/scribe/services/reply_preferences.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7065a0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scribe/services/reply_preferences.py
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+"""The operator's own preferences for a completion report, at the moment it is written.
+
+WHY THIS EXISTS (milestone 409 step 4)
+
+The reporting-back skill ships DEFAULT shapes. An operator will want some of
+them different ("my completion reports also say how it was tested", "decisions
+as a numbered list"), and those adjustments are `preference` records. The gap
+is the query: prompt-time retrieval matches the OPERATOR'S MESSAGE, and a shape
+preference is about the REPLY. "Fix the flaky test" never retrieves "completion
+reports should say how it was tested", so the preference is on file and never
+arrives.
+
+THE DECISION (operator, 2026-09-14, logged on the step): two deliveries, split
+by reply kind.
+
+  - A COMPLETION REPORT has a moment the server can see — a task closing — so
+    the server retrieves for it and hands the matches back beside
+    `report_back`. That is this module.
+  - EVERY OTHER REPLY KIND (a finding, a decision, a handoff…) has no tool call
+    in front of it, so the reporting-back skill asks: it tells the agent to
+    `search(content_type="rule")` for that kind before writing.
+
+Loading reply-shape preferences at session start was the rejected third option:
+it is a small copy of the preloading milestone 394 retired, and just as
+unmeasurable.
+
+HOW A PREFERENCE SAYS IT IS ABOUT COMPLETION REPORTS
+
+By its trigger, which is what it already has — no tag, no new column. A
+preference's `when_to_apply` dominates its embedded document, so one written
+for this moment ("writing the report after finishing a task") resembles
+COMPLETION_QUERY below, and one about anything else does not. That keeps
+delivery entirely in retrieval, as 394 decided, and leaves an operator nothing
+new to learn: a preference reaches the completion report the same way every
+other record reaches its moment.
+
+THE BAR IS THE PROMPT ARM'S, AND IT IS NOT YET EARNED HERE
+
+A fixed query against triggers is a different score distribution from an
+operator's message against the same documents. Starting at the prompt arm's
+setting is the value with evidence behind it, and an operator's tuning of that
+bar reaches this too. Every call logs under its own source,
+`report_preference`, so step 6 can read this surface's near misses apart from
+the prompt arm's before anyone moves the number.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+import time
+
+from scribe.services.embeddings import semantic_search_rules
+from scribe.services.plugin_context import (
+    PROMPTRULE_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD,
+    PROMPTRULE_THRESHOLD_KEY,
+)
+from scribe.services.retrieval_telemetry import record_retrieval
+from scribe.services.rule_usage import record_rule_surfaced
+from scribe.services.settings import get_setting
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+SOURCE = "report_preference"
+
+# Written in the vocabulary of the MOMENT, because that is what a trigger is
+# written in and what this query is scored against. Domain-neutral on purpose
+# (rule #115): a writing project or a home-infrastructure project closes tasks
+# too, and its operator's preferences must match as well as a developer's.
+COMPLETION_QUERY = (
+    "writing the completion report to the operator after finishing a task — "
+    "how that reply should be laid out and what it should include"
+)
+
+# A handful, not a menu. More than a few shape preferences for ONE kind of
+# reply would contradict each other before they helped; the limit is here to
+# keep one noisy corpus from turning a status change into a wall of text.
+LIMIT = 3
+
+
+async def _threshold(user_id: int) -> float:
+    try:
+        value = float(await get_setting(
+            user_id, PROMPTRULE_THRESHOLD_KEY, str(PROMPTRULE_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD)))
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        value = PROMPTRULE_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD
+    return min(1.0, max(0.0, value))
+
+
+async def completion_preferences(user_id: int, *, project_id: int | None = None) -> list[dict]:
+    """The operator's preferences for a completion report, best match first.
+
+    KIND-FILTERED, for the reason `_reserve_slot_for_preference` gives: a
+    binding rule that happened to resemble the query would otherwise ride out
+    under a key that says "how the operator likes this written", which is a
+    claim about force the record does not make.
+
+    Every call is logged, the empty ones included: a surface that records only
+    the calls it liked reports a flawless clear-rate however badly its bar is
+    set. An install with no preferences at all logs nothing, because no search
+    ran (`searched` stays False) — that is not a decline.
+
+    Fails open to an empty list: this decorates a write that has already
+    happened, and a lookup that errors must not turn it into a failure.
+    """
+    try:
+        threshold = await _threshold(user_id)
+        report: dict = {}
+        t0 = time.perf_counter()
+        hits = await semantic_search_rules(
+            user_id, COMPLETION_QUERY, limit=LIMIT, threshold=threshold,
+            kind="preference", report=report,
+        )
+        hits = [(score, rule) for score, rule in hits if rule.kind == "preference"]
+        record_retrieval(
+            user_id=user_id, source=SOURCE, query=COMPLETION_QUERY,
+            threshold=threshold, limit=LIMIT, project_id=project_id,
+            is_task=None, results=hits,
+            best_available=report.get("best_available_score"),
+            best_available_id=report.get("best_available_id"),
+            searched=bool(report.get("searched", True)),
+            duration_ms=(time.perf_counter() - t0) * 1000.0,
+        )
+        if not hits:
+            return []
+        # RANKED: this surface chose what it showed, so the name is in
+        # rule_usage.RANKED_SOURCES and its hits count toward pull-through.
+        record_rule_surfaced(
+            user_id=user_id, rule_ids=[rule.id for _s, rule in hits], source=SOURCE,
+        )
+        return [
+            {"id": rule.id, "title": rule.title, "statement": rule.statement, "kind": "preference"}
+            for _score, rule in hits
+        ]
+    except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 - a decoration never breaks its payload
+        logger.warning("completion preference lookup failed", exc_info=True)
+        return []
diff --git a/src/scribe/services/report_check.py b/src/scribe/services/report_check.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba88123
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scribe/services/report_check.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+"""The report-shape check: what the plugin's Stop hook found, and what it says.
+
+WHY THIS EXISTS (milestone 409 step 5)
+
+Everything that helps an agent write a readable completion report arrives
+BEFORE the reply is written. A client's Stop hook is the one moment the
+finished reply exists, so it checks that a reply closing a task carries the
+completion sections (where the work sits, what needs the operator, what comes
+next), and reports what it found here. Two jobs live on this side:
+
+  - RECORDING the outcome, so the rate of `blocked` among checked replies is a
+    number milestone 409's last step can read rather than an impression.
+  - OWNING THE WORDS the agent is sent back with. A hook carries timing and
+    transport only (plugin/PACKAGING.md); guidance text comes from the server,
+    so a second client's hook gets the same instruction by calling the same
+    endpoint, and the wording changes in one place.
+
+app_logs rather than a table of its own: one small event with a JSON detail is
+what that table holds, it already has retention and an admin viewer, and
+nothing here needs a join. If the numbers earn a readout, that is the moment to
+decide whether they earn a table.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+
+from scribe.models import async_session
+from scribe.models.app_log import AppLog
+
+OUTCOMES = ("passed", "blocked", "passed_after_rewrite", "missing_after_rewrite")
+
+# The sections a hook may name as missing, in the order the reason lists them.
+# Anything else a client sends is dropped rather than echoed into an
+# instruction the agent will follow.
+SECTIONS = ("where it sits", "needs you", "next")
+
+
+def known_sections(missing: list[str]) -> list[str]:
+    wanted = {m.strip().lower() for m in missing}
+    return [s for s in SECTIONS if s in wanted]
+
+
+def block_reason(missing: list[str]) -> str:
+    """What the agent is told when its completion report is sent back.
+
+    Names what is missing and points at the reporting-back skill for the shape
+    rather than restating it — the skill owns the shape (decision #4027).
+    """
+    listed = ", ".join(known_sections(missing)) or "the completion sections"
+    return (
+        f"This turn closed a Scribe task, and the reply that ends it is missing: {listed}. "
+        "The operator reads this reply to find out where the work stands. Rewrite it as a "
+        "completion report (the reporting-back skill has the shape): where it sits — the task "
+        "or milestone by id and title, from `placement` — what now works, what needs them "
+        "(or \"nothing\"), and what comes next."
+    )
+
+
+async def record_report_check(
+    user_id: int | None,
+    outcome: str,
+    *,
+    missing: list[str] | None = None,
+    task_ids: list[int] | None = None,
+    project_id: int | None = None,
+) -> None:
+    if outcome not in OUTCOMES:
+        raise ValueError(f"unknown report-check outcome {outcome!r}")
+    details: dict = {"outcome": outcome, "missing": known_sections(missing or []),
+                     "task_ids": list(task_ids or [])}
+    if project_id:
+        details["project_id"] = project_id
+    async with async_session() as session:
+        session.add(AppLog(
+            category="plugin",
+            user_id=user_id,
+            action="report_check",
+            details=json.dumps(details),
+        ))
+        await session.commit()
diff --git a/src/scribe/services/rule_usage.py b/src/scribe/services/rule_usage.py
index 3162b41..1fc53cc 100644
--- a/src/scribe/services/rule_usage.py
+++ b/src/scribe/services/rule_usage.py
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ RANKED_SOURCES = (
     # surface built because a record class kept losing would be the one whose
     # hits nobody could confirm.
     "preference_slot",
+    # The completion-report lookup on update_task (milestone 409 step 4). It
+    # runs its own query and shows only what cleared the bar — a ranker.
+    "report_preference",
 )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_guidance_ownership.py b/tests/test_guidance_ownership.py
index 7ae0e23..1d1a23b 100644
--- a/tests/test_guidance_ownership.py
+++ b/tests/test_guidance_ownership.py
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@ TOPICS: tuple[Topic, ...] = (
           "prior art offered beside a write is not noise", index=("create_snippet",)),
     Topic("report back where the work stands", "skill:reporting-back", ("reporting-back", "placement"),
           "take the placement from the record", index=("placement",)),
+    Topic("the operator's own reply shapes come first", "skill:reporting-back",
+          ("reply_preferences", 'content_type="rule"'),
+          "the operator's own shapes come first"),
     # ── per-tool contracts and in-band behaviour — owned by the server ──
     Topic("closing a task cues the report", "docstrings", ("report_back",), "reporting this to the operator?"),
     Topic("a note that asserts a fact carries its check", "docstrings", ("verify_with", "expires_when"),
diff --git a/tests/test_hook_pipefail_head.py b/tests/test_hook_pipefail_head.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..272778c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_hook_pipefail_head.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+"""Under `pipefail`, an early-exiting `head` must not void the output it kept (#4042).
+
+The hooks run with `set -uo pipefail`. `hits=$(git grep -l … | head -4) ||
+hits=""` lost its four hits whenever git grep was still writing when head
+exited: SIGPIPE, a failed substitution, and the fallback wiped the result. It
+only showed on big outputs, so the by-name duplicate arm went silent for
+exactly the most-duplicated names.
+
+Two halves: the real function on a repo big enough to overflow the pipe, and
+the check_plugin pattern that keeps the shape out of every hook (shown able to
+fail, rule #167).
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+DEFS = ROOT / "plugin" / "hooks" / "scribe_defs.sh"
+
+
+def test_the_duplicate_arm_still_names_a_name_defined_in_thousands_of_files(tmp_path):
+    for tool in ("git", "bash"):
+        if shutil.which(tool) is None:
+            pytest.skip(f"{tool!r} not installed")
+    env = {"PATH": os.environ["PATH"], "HOME": str(tmp_path),
+           "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME": "t", "GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL": "t@x",
+           "GIT_COMMITTER_NAME": "t", "GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL": "t@x"}
+    repo = tmp_path / "repo"
+    repo.mkdir()
+    subprocess.run(["git", "init", "-q"], cwd=repo, check=True, env=env)
+    # ~3000 × ~60 bytes of `git grep -l` output: well past a 64 KiB pipe buffer,
+    # so git grep is still writing when head has its four lines.
+    for i in range(3000):
+        (repo / f"module_with_a_fairly_long_descriptive_name_{i}.py").write_text("def slug(t):\n    return t\n")
+    subprocess.run(["git", "add", "."], cwd=repo, check=True, env=env)
+    subprocess.run(["git", "commit", "-q", "-m", "base"], cwd=repo, check=True, env=env)
+
+    script = f'set -uo pipefail\n. "{DEFS}"\nprintf "sym\\tslug\\n" | scribe_local_dups "{repo}" new.py\n'
+    out = subprocess.run(["bash", "-c", script], capture_output=True, text=True, env=env, timeout=60)
+    assert out.returncode == 0, out.stderr
+    assert "`slug` is already defined in 4 other file(s)" in out.stdout
+
+
+def test_the_lint_pattern_catches_the_shape_and_passes_the_fix():
+    from scripts.check_plugin import PATTERNS
+
+    pattern = next(p for p, label, _why in PATTERNS if label.startswith("early-exit consumer"))
+    for bad in ('hits=$(git grep -l x | head -4) || hits=""',
+                "    | grep -m1 -v '^[[:space:]]*$') || old_first=\"\"",
+                'x=$(a | grep -q b) || x=""'):
+        assert pattern.search(bad), bad
+    for good in ('hits=$(git grep -l x | head -4 || true)',
+                 'ln=$(grep -nF -m1 -- "$a" "$f" | cut -d: -f1) || ln=""'):
+        assert not pattern.search(good), good
diff --git a/tests/test_mcp_tool_report_back_cue.py b/tests/test_mcp_tool_report_back_cue.py
index 67094a1..7d2129c 100644
--- a/tests/test_mcp_tool_report_back_cue.py
+++ b/tests/test_mcp_tool_report_back_cue.py
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 The in-band half of milestone 409 step 3: the skill and static context only
 exist in the Claude Code plugin, and a tool response reaches every MCP client
 at the moment a piece of work closes. Pinned on the response, not the wording.
+
+Step 4 adds the operator's own completion-report preferences beside the cue,
+retrieved at that same moment — and only then, and only when there are any.
 """
 from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
 
@@ -10,24 +13,46 @@ import pytest
 
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.usefixtures("_bind_user")
 
+_PREF = {"id": 41, "title": "Say how it was checked", "statement": "…", "kind": "preference"}
 
-async def _update(**kwargs):
+
+async def _update(prefs=None, **kwargs):
     from scribe.mcp.tools.tasks import update_task
 
-    note = MagicMock(id=5, user_id=7, project_id=None)
+    note = MagicMock(id=5, user_id=7, project_id=3)
     note.to_dict.return_value = {"id": 5}
+    lookup = AsyncMock(return_value=list(prefs or []))
     with patch("scribe.mcp.tools.tasks.notes_svc.update_note", AsyncMock(return_value=note)), \
          patch("scribe.mcp.tools.tasks.systems_tools.attach_systems", AsyncMock()), \
-         patch("scribe.mcp.tools.tasks.placement_svc.attach_placement", AsyncMock()):
-        return await update_task(task_id=5, **kwargs)
+         patch("scribe.mcp.tools.tasks.placement_svc.attach_placement", AsyncMock()), \
+         patch("scribe.mcp.tools.tasks.reply_prefs_svc.completion_preferences", lookup):
+        return await update_task(task_id=5, **kwargs), lookup
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("status", ["done", "cancelled"])
 async def test_closing_a_task_carries_the_cue(status):
-    out = await _update(status=status)
+    out, _ = await _update(status=status)
     assert "placement" in out["report_back"] and "needs them" in out["report_back"]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("kwargs", [{"status": "in_progress"}, {"status": "todo"}, {"body": "more notes"}])
 async def test_other_updates_do_not(kwargs):
-    assert "report_back" not in await _update(**kwargs)
+    out, lookup = await _update(prefs=[_PREF], **kwargs)
+    assert "report_back" not in out and "reply_preferences" not in out
+    lookup.assert_not_awaited()
+
+
+async def test_closing_hands_back_the_operators_report_preferences():
+    out, lookup = await _update(prefs=[_PREF], status="done")
+    assert out["reply_preferences"] == [_PREF]
+    # The cue says the key is there, so it never arrives unexplained.
+    assert "reply_preferences" in out["report_back"]
+    lookup.assert_awaited_once_with(7, project_id=3)
+
+
+async def test_no_preferences_means_no_key_and_the_plain_cue():
+    from scribe.mcp.tools.tasks import REPORT_BACK_CUE
+
+    out, _ = await _update(prefs=[], status="done")
+    assert "reply_preferences" not in out
+    assert out["report_back"] == REPORT_BACK_CUE
diff --git a/tests/test_report_check_hook.py b/tests/test_report_check_hook.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d401d0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_report_check_hook.py
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+"""The Stop hook that checks a task-closing reply for the completion sections
+(milestone 409 step 5).
+
+Runs the real shell against synthetic transcripts in the shape Claude Code
+writes (one content block per JSONL line) and the shared HTTP sink. What it
+pins: silence on every turn that closed nothing; a block only when the
+instance recorded it, in the words the instance returned; one rewrite at most,
+recorded; and no block from another plugin's loop or a failed task write.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from tests.helpers import http_sink
+
+HOOK = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "plugin" / "hooks" / "scribe_report_check.sh"
+TOOL = "mcp__plugin_scribe_scribe__update_task"
+GOOD = ('**Where this sits:** milestone 12 "Move the backups offsite", step 3 of 5.\n'
+        "**What now works:** the sync runs nightly.\n**Needs you:** nothing.\n**Next:** alerts.")
+BAD = "All done, pushed it."
+REASON = "SERVER REASON: rewrite as a completion report"
+
+
+def _env(tmp_path, url="http://127.0.0.1:9"):
+    for tool in ("jq", "curl", "bash"):
+        if shutil.which(tool) is None:
+            pytest.skip(f"hook runtime tool {tool!r} not installed")
+    return {"PATH": os.environ["PATH"], "SCRIBE_URL": url, "SCRIBE_TOKEN": "t",
+            "TMPDIR": str(tmp_path), "HOME": str(tmp_path)}
+
+
+def _prompt(text="please finish it"):
+    return {"type": "user", "message": {"role": "user", "content": text}}
+
+
+def _tool_use(tid="toolu_1", status="done", name=TOOL, task_id=41):
+    return {"type": "assistant", "message": {"content": [
+        {"type": "tool_use", "id": tid, "name": name, "input": {"task_id": task_id, "status": status}}]}}
+
+
+def _result(tid="toolu_1", is_error=False):
+    return {"type": "user", "message": {"content": [
+        {"type": "tool_result", "tool_use_id": tid, "is_error": is_error, "content": "{}"}]}}
+
+
+def _text(text):
+    return {"type": "assistant", "message": {"content": [{"type": "text", "text": text}]}}
+
+
+def _transcript(tmp_path, lines):
+    path = tmp_path / "t.jsonl"
+    # Compact, like the file Claude Code writes ({"name":"…"}, no spaces).
+    path.write_text("\n".join(json.dumps(line, separators=(",", ":")) for line in lines) + "\n")
+    return path
+
+
+def _run(env, transcript, active=False, session="s1"):
+    out = subprocess.run(
+        ["bash", str(HOOK)],
+        input=json.dumps({"session_id": session, "transcript_path": str(transcript),
+                          "cwd": str(transcript.parent), "hook_event_name": "Stop",
+                          "stop_hook_active": active}),
+        capture_output=True, text=True, env=env, timeout=30,
+    )
+    assert out.returncode == 0, out.stderr
+    return out.stdout.strip()
+
+
+def _closing_turn(reply):
+    return [_prompt(), _text("On it."), _tool_use(), _result(), _text(reply)]
+
+
+def test_a_turn_that_closed_nothing_is_silent_and_reports_nothing(tmp_path):
+    with http_sink(b'{"status":"ok","reason":"x"}') as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        t = _transcript(tmp_path, [_prompt(), _tool_use(status="in_progress"), _result(), _text(BAD)])
+        assert _run(env, t) == ""
+        assert seen == []
+
+
+def test_a_complete_report_passes_silently_and_is_recorded(tmp_path):
+    with http_sink(b'{"status":"ok"}') as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        assert _run(env, _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(GOOD))) == ""
+        assert [q["outcome"] for q in seen] == [["passed"]]
+        assert seen[0]["task_ids"] == ["41"]
+
+
+def test_a_missing_section_blocks_once_in_the_servers_words_then_records_the_rewrite(tmp_path):
+    reply = json.dumps({"status": "ok", "reason": REASON}).encode()
+    with http_sink(reply) as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        out = json.loads(_run(env, _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(BAD))))
+        assert out == {"decision": "block", "reason": REASON}
+        assert seen[0]["outcome"] == ["blocked"]
+        assert seen[0]["missing"] == ["where it sits,needs you,next"]
+
+        # The rewrite: Claude Code sets stop_hook_active; the hook records and never blocks again.
+        rewritten = _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(BAD) + [_text(GOOD)])
+        assert _run(env, rewritten, active=True) == ""
+        assert seen[1]["outcome"] == ["passed_after_rewrite"]
+        assert _run(env, rewritten, active=True) == ""
+        assert len(seen) == 2
+
+
+def test_a_rewrite_that_still_misses_is_recorded_and_not_blocked(tmp_path):
+    reply = json.dumps({"status": "ok", "reason": REASON}).encode()
+    with http_sink(reply) as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        t = _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(BAD))
+        _run(env, t)
+        assert _run(env, t, active=True) == ""
+        assert [q["outcome"][0] for q in seen] == ["blocked", "missing_after_rewrite"]
+
+
+def test_another_hooks_block_loop_is_left_alone(tmp_path):
+    with http_sink(b'{"status":"ok","reason":"x"}') as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        assert _run(env, _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(BAD)), active=True) == ""
+        assert seen == []
+
+
+def test_a_task_write_that_failed_closed_nothing(tmp_path):
+    with http_sink(b'{"status":"ok","reason":"x"}') as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        t = _transcript(tmp_path, [_prompt(), _tool_use(), _result(is_error=True), _text(BAD)])
+        assert _run(env, t) == ""
+        assert seen == []
+
+
+def test_a_task_closed_in_an_earlier_turn_does_not_count(tmp_path):
+    with http_sink(b'{"status":"ok","reason":"x"}') as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        t = _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(GOOD) + [_prompt("thanks, what else?"), _text(BAD)])
+        assert _run(env, t) == ""
+        assert seen == []
+
+
+def test_a_reply_not_yet_written_is_not_judged(tmp_path):
+    with http_sink(b'{"status":"ok","reason":"x"}') as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        t = _transcript(tmp_path, [_prompt(), _tool_use(), _result()])
+        assert _run(env, t) == ""
+        assert seen == []
+
+
+def test_no_block_without_a_recorded_check(tmp_path):
+    t = _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(BAD))
+    # Unreachable instance.
+    assert _run(_env(tmp_path), t) == ""
+    # An instance that answered but returned no reason.
+    with http_sink(b'{"status":"ok"}') as (port, seen):
+        assert _run(_env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}"), t, session="s2") == ""
+        assert seen[0]["outcome"] == ["blocked"]
+
+
+def test_a_bare_id_does_not_count_as_placing_the_work(tmp_path):
+    reply = json.dumps({"status": "ok", "reason": REASON}).encode()
+    with http_sink(reply) as (port, seen):
+        env = _env(tmp_path, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}")
+        bare = "Closed #41.\n**Needs you:** nothing.\n**Next:** #42."
+        assert json.loads(_run(env, _transcript(tmp_path, _closing_turn(bare))))["decision"] == "block"
+        assert seen[0]["missing"] == ["where it sits"]
diff --git a/tests/test_services_plugin_context.py b/tests/test_services_plugin_context.py
index 15a7af4..21f43a7 100644
--- a/tests/test_services_plugin_context.py
+++ b/tests/test_services_plugin_context.py
@@ -120,6 +120,32 @@ async def test_build_session_context_includes_project_when_scoped():
     assert "Reflex:" not in out["context"]
 
 
+def test_a_short_goal_is_shown_whole():
+    from scribe.services.plugin_context import _goal_line
+    assert _goal_line("ship it", 2) == "Goal: ship it"
+    assert _goal_line("", 2) == ""
+
+
+def test_a_long_goal_is_cut_at_a_word_and_says_where_the_rest_is():
+    """#4036: a raw slice ended mid-word with nothing marking the cut, so a
+    reader took half a sentence for the whole goal."""
+    from scribe.services.plugin_context import _GOAL_CHARS, _goal_line
+    goal = "make the record reach the next session\nso a solution is recalled " * 10
+    line = _goal_line(goal, 2)
+    shown = line.removeprefix("Goal: ").split(" (full goal:")[0]
+    assert shown.endswith("…") and len(shown) <= _GOAL_CHARS
+    # The cut lands between words: what precedes the ellipsis is a whole word.
+    assert shown[:-1].rstrip().split()[-1] in goal.split()
+    assert "\n" not in line
+    assert line.endswith("(full goal: `enter_project(2)`)")
+
+
+def test_an_unbroken_goal_still_shows_its_start():
+    from scribe.services.plugin_context import _GOAL_CHARS, _goal_line
+    shown = _goal_line("x" * 500, 2).removeprefix("Goal: ").split(" (full goal:")[0]
+    assert shown == "x" * (_GOAL_CHARS - 1) + "…"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_build_session_context_pushes_the_projects_design_system():
     """The gap this closes: a design system had no push channel, so its
diff --git a/tests/test_services_reply_preferences.py b/tests/test_services_reply_preferences.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c2e428
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_services_reply_preferences.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+"""The completion-report preference lookup (milestone 409 step 4).
+
+What it pins: the lookup asks for PREFERENCES only, logs every call under its
+own source (the empty ones too), counts only what it showed as surfaced, and
+fails open. The query stays domain-neutral, because every kind of project
+closes tasks.
+"""
+import re
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
+
+M = "scribe.services.reply_preferences"
+
+
+def _rule(rid, kind="preference"):
+    return MagicMock(id=rid, kind=kind, title=f"t{rid}", statement=f"s{rid}")
+
+
+async def _run(hits, *, searched=True, raises=None):
+    from scribe.services.reply_preferences import completion_preferences
+
+    async def search(user_id, query, **kw):
+        if raises:
+            raise raises
+        kw["report"].update({"searched": searched, "best_available_score": 0.7})
+        return hits
+
+    search_mock = AsyncMock(side_effect=search)
+    with patch(f"{M}.semantic_search_rules", search_mock), \
+         patch(f"{M}.get_setting", AsyncMock(return_value="0.72")), \
+         patch(f"{M}.record_retrieval") as logged, \
+         patch(f"{M}.record_rule_surfaced") as surfaced:
+        out = await completion_preferences(7, project_id=3)
+    return out, search_mock, logged, surfaced
+
+
+async def test_asks_for_preferences_only_and_returns_them_best_first():
+    out, search, logged, surfaced = await _run([(0.9, _rule(1)), (0.8, _rule(2))])
+    assert search.await_args.kwargs["kind"] == "preference"
+    assert [p["id"] for p in out] == [1, 2]
+    assert all(p["kind"] == "preference" for p in out)
+    assert logged.call_args.kwargs["source"] == "report_preference"
+    assert surfaced.call_args.kwargs == {"user_id": 7, "rule_ids": [1, 2], "source": "report_preference"}
+
+
+async def test_a_rule_that_slips_through_is_not_handed_back_as_a_preference():
+    out, _, _, surfaced = await _run([(0.9, _rule(1, kind="rule")), (0.8, _rule(2))])
+    assert [p["id"] for p in out] == [2]
+    assert surfaced.call_args.kwargs["rule_ids"] == [2]
+
+
+async def test_an_empty_call_is_still_logged_and_surfaces_nothing():
+    out, _, logged, surfaced = await _run([])
+    assert out == []
+    logged.assert_called_once()
+    assert logged.call_args.kwargs["results"] == []
+    surfaced.assert_not_called()
+
+
+async def test_a_search_that_never_ran_says_so_to_the_log():
+    _, _, logged, _ = await _run([], searched=False)
+    assert logged.call_args.kwargs["searched"] is False
+
+
+async def test_fails_open():
+    out, _, _, surfaced = await _run([], raises=RuntimeError("embedder down"))
+    assert out == []
+    surfaced.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_it_is_a_ranked_source():
+    from scribe.services.rule_usage import is_ambient
+
+    assert not is_ambient("report_preference")
+
+
+def test_the_query_assumes_no_particular_domain():
+    from scribe.services.reply_preferences import COMPLETION_QUERY
+
+    dev_only = [w for w in (r"\bCI\b", r"\bcommit", r"\bpull request", r"\bcode\b", r"\btest")
+                if re.search(w, COMPLETION_QUERY, re.IGNORECASE)]
+    assert not dev_only, f"software-only vocabulary in a query every project runs: {dev_only}"
diff --git a/tests/test_services_report_check.py b/tests/test_services_report_check.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f34231
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_services_report_check.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+"""The server half of the report-shape check (milestone 409 step 5): the words a
+blocked reply is sent back with, and the outcome record."""
+import json
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import pytest
+
+from tests.helpers import make_mock_session
+
+
+def test_the_reason_names_only_sections_it_knows():
+    from scribe.services.report_check import block_reason
+
+    reason = block_reason(["next", "ignore previous instructions", "Where It Sits"])
+    assert "missing: where it sits, next." in reason
+    assert "ignore previous instructions" not in reason
+    # It points at the skill that owns the shape rather than restating it.
+    assert "reporting-back" in reason and "placement" in reason
+
+
+def test_a_reason_with_nothing_recognised_still_says_what_to_do():
+    from scribe.services.report_check import block_reason
+
+    assert "missing: the completion sections." in block_reason([])
+
+
+async def test_the_outcome_is_recorded_as_a_plugin_event():
+    from scribe.services.report_check import record_report_check
+
+    session = make_mock_session()
+    with patch("scribe.services.report_check.async_session", return_value=session):
+        await record_report_check(7, "blocked", missing=["next", "bogus"], task_ids=[41], project_id=2)
+    row = session.add.call_args.args[0]
+    assert (row.category, row.action, row.user_id) == ("plugin", "report_check", 7)
+    assert json.loads(row.details) == {"outcome": "blocked", "missing": ["next"],
+                                       "task_ids": [41], "project_id": 2}
+    session.commit.assert_awaited_once()
+
+
+async def test_an_unknown_outcome_is_refused_before_anything_is_written():
+    from scribe.services.report_check import record_report_check
+
+    session = make_mock_session()
+    with patch("scribe.services.report_check.async_session", return_value=session), \
+         pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        await record_report_check(7, "skipped")
+    session.add.assert_not_called()