diff --git a/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolver.java b/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolver.java
index 8d21ba2..202eab2 100644
--- a/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolver.java
+++ b/fleetd/src/main/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolver.java
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ public final class CompletionResolver implements TurnListener {
     /** A pane echo must be this large before it can replace a completion report. */
     static final int ECHO_MIN_CHARS = 400;
 
+    /** Normalised TUI chrome may add this many characters to an otherwise echoed brief. */
+    static final int MAX_ECHO_EXCESS_CHARS = 160;
+
     /** The explicit result returned instead of a lead's echoed injected brief. */
     public static final String NO_REPORT_PREFIX = "[no report — the member ended its turn without fleet_reply, "
             + "and the pane still shows the injected brief. Nothing was produced on the pane. Check the "
@@ -421,9 +424,9 @@ public final class CompletionResolver implements TurnListener {
     }
 
     /**
-     * A full echoed brief is at least 400 normalised characters and one normalised value contains the
-     * other. This accepts harmless TUI whitespace and punctuation changes, but preserves a real report
-     * that quotes only one part of the brief.
+     * A full echoed brief is at least 400 normalised characters. A scrape that contains the brief may
+     * add no more than 160 normalised characters of TUI chrome. This accepts harmless status text, but
+     * preserves a real report that restates the full brief before adding substantive content.
      */
     static boolean echoesInjectedBrief(String scrape, String injectedText) {
         String normalScrape = normalize(scrape);
@@ -431,7 +434,11 @@ public final class CompletionResolver implements TurnListener {
         if (normalScrape.length() < ECHO_MIN_CHARS || normalInjected.length() < ECHO_MIN_CHARS) {
             return false;
         }
-        return normalInjected.contains(normalScrape) || normalScrape.contains(normalInjected);
+        if (normalInjected.contains(normalScrape)) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        return normalScrape.contains(normalInjected)
+                && normalScrape.length() - normalInjected.length() <= MAX_ECHO_EXCESS_CHARS;
     }
 
     private static String normalize(String text) {
diff --git a/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolverTest.java b/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolverTest.java
index 36b4600..ad11a37 100644
--- a/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolverTest.java
+++ b/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/inject/CompletionResolverTest.java
@@ -196,6 +196,26 @@ class CompletionResolverTest {
         assertEquals("complete report", waiter.getNow(null).text());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void suppressesABareEchoWithOnlyTuiChrome() {
+        String injected = "Load the implementer skill. You own fleetd #999. ".repeat(12);
+        String scrape = injected + "\nDev auto - GPT-5.6 Terra OpenAI";
+
+        assertTrue(CompletionResolver.echoesInjectedBrief(scrape, injected));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void pinsTheMaximumTuiChromeExcess() {
+        String injected = "a".repeat(CompletionResolver.ECHO_MIN_CHARS);
+        String underMargin = injected + "b".repeat(CompletionResolver.MAX_ECHO_EXCESS_CHARS);
+        String overMargin = injected + "b".repeat(CompletionResolver.MAX_ECHO_EXCESS_CHARS + 1);
+
+        assertTrue(CompletionResolver.echoesInjectedBrief(underMargin, injected),
+                "the configured excess itself remains an echoed brief");
+        assertFalse(CompletionResolver.echoesInjectedBrief(overMargin, injected),
+                "one character beyond the excess must preserve the scrape as a real report");
+    }
+
     @Test
     void resolvesSynchronouslyBeforePostTurnContextClearing() {
         FakeHerdr herdr = new FakeHerdr().readText("⏺ previous answer\n❯ ");
diff --git a/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java b/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java
index f62684c..7e7af3c 100644
--- a/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java
+++ b/fleetd/src/test/java/dev/ltms/fleet/msg/MessageServiceTest.java
@@ -109,11 +109,11 @@ class MessageServiceTest {
     }
 
     @Test
-    void completionFallbackKeepsARealReportThatQuotesPartOfTheBrief() throws Exception {
-        String quotedAcceptance = "Acceptance: the new test passes and the build is green. ".repeat(4);
-        String brief = quotedAcceptance + "Implement the requested change. ".repeat(20);
-        String report = "I changed the fallback and added tests. " + quotedAcceptance
-                + "The final build passed.";
+    void completionFallbackKeepsARealReportThatRestatesTheWholeBrief() throws Exception {
+        String brief = "Load the implementer skill. You own fleetd #999. ".repeat(12);
+        String report = brief + "\n\n## Report\n"
+                + ("I implemented the fix in GitWorktrees.java, added five tests, ran mvn clean install "
+                + "and got 1168 tests with 0 failures. Commit 321d8dc pushed. ").repeat(8);
         CompletableFuture<MessageService.Reply> send = sendAsync(brief);
         awaitWaiting();
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ class MessageServiceTest {
 
         MessageService.Reply reply = send.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
         assertEquals(MessageService.Outcome.COMPLETED_UNREPLIED, reply.outcome());
-        assertEquals(report, reply.text(), "a report that quotes part of the brief must survive unchanged");
+        assertEquals(report.strip(), reply.text(), "a report that restates the whole brief must survive unchanged");
     }
 
     @Test