From 15369b8366578d0fee35b15ecf72fdd470879911 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: willytop8 <will.ricchiuti@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 23:30:05 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] fix: improve completion marker compliance

---
 CHANGELOG.md             |  2 ++
 src/goal-plugin.js       |  9 +++++++--
 test/goal-plugin.test.js | 11 +++++++++--
 3 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 65b247a..e65eb10 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- Clarify the textual completion protocol so models keep evidence and completion on consecutive plain-text lines instead of wrapping markers in Markdown or separating them with blank lines.
+
 ## 0.6.2 — 2026-07-11
 
 - Keep paused, blocked, and crash-recovered goals inert in model turns with a stopped-goal system guard, and enforce status/history/list/pause/clear control turns as read-only through the host's tool-execution hook so routed command text cannot mutate or resurrect work.
diff --git a/src/goal-plugin.js b/src/goal-plugin.js
index b2a7396..ae127d3 100644
--- a/src/goal-plugin.js
+++ b/src/goal-plugin.js
@@ -1756,11 +1756,16 @@ function buildContinueMessage(
     )
   } else {
     lines.push(
-      "Continue with the next concrete step; inspect current state and repair failures.",
+      "Continue the next concrete step; inspect and repair failures.",
     )
   }
 
-  lines.push("Complete only after verification: `[goal:evidence] …` then `[goal:complete]`. If only user input can unblock work, state why then `[goal:blocked]`.")
+  lines.push(
+    "Completion format—consecutive plain lines; no Markdown/backticks/blank line:",
+    "[goal:evidence] <proof>",
+    "[goal:complete]",
+    "Need user input? State why before [goal:blocked].",
+  )
   const limitWarning = buildLimitWarning(goal)
   if (limitWarning) lines.push(limitWarning.trim())
 
diff --git a/test/goal-plugin.test.js b/test/goal-plugin.test.js
index 911061b..9f65ab8 100644
--- a/test/goal-plugin.test.js
+++ b/test/goal-plugin.test.js
@@ -409,8 +409,15 @@ test("continue message includes budget context and completion audit", () => {
   })
   assert.match(messageText, /<progress_budget>/)
   assert.match(messageText, /tokens_remaining: 75/)
-  assert.match(messageText, /Complete only after verification/)
-  assert.match(messageText, /\[goal:evidence\].*\[goal:complete\]/)
+  assert.match(messageText, /Completion format/)
+  assert.match(
+    messageText,
+    /consecutive plain lines; no Markdown\/backticks\/blank line/,
+  )
+  assert.match(
+    messageText,
+    /\[goal:evidence\] <proof>\n\[goal:complete\]/,
+  )
   assert.match(messageText, /Limits are near:/)
 })