diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 98f5cf5..d484730 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "motifcode",
-  "version": "0.4.3",
+  "version": "0.4.4",
   "private": true,
   "description": "A coding agent harness built specifically for Motif-3",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index 10d1d53..4a5bff4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "motifcode",
-  "version": "0.4.3",
+  "version": "0.4.4",
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Unofficial coding agent harness built for Motif-3: a Claude Code-style terminal session over the hosted endpoint",
   "keywords": [
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/main.ts b/packages/cli/src/main.ts
index 8794a29..c0e65b3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/main.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/main.ts
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ import { expandSkillInput } from "./skill-input.js";
 import { localMcpAuthTarget } from "./mcp-connect.js";
 import { findCommand, parseSlash } from "./commands.js";
 
-const VERSION = "0.4.3";
+const VERSION = "0.4.4";
 
 interface Args {
   command: string;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/compaction.ts b/packages/core/src/compaction.ts
index 8b1fb1b..d9ef971 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/compaction.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/compaction.ts
@@ -103,8 +103,12 @@ export interface SummarizeOptions {
  *
  * The transcript goes as is, with the prompt as one more user turn. No tool
  * may be called — the prompt says so and the reply is read as text; a model
- * that answers with a tool call has produced an empty summary, and the caller
+ * that answers with a tool call has not written the handoff, and the caller
  * treats that as a failed compaction rather than as a history of nothing.
+ * That holds whatever prose came with the call: a model that carries on
+ * working opens with a line like "Let me check the current state first",
+ * and taking that line as the summary would replace the whole transcript
+ * with it.
  */
 export async function summarizeTranscript(opts: SummarizeOptions): Promise<string> {
   const prompt = opts.focus
@@ -119,7 +123,15 @@ export async function summarizeTranscript(opts: SummarizeOptions): Promise<strin
   // Reasoning is separated the way the loop separates it: by the server when
   // it does, and by the scrubber when the body carries the think block itself.
   const body = response.reasoningContent !== undefined ? response.content : splitThinking(response.rawText).content;
-  const text = body.replace(/<tool_call>[\s\S]*?<\/tool_call>/g, "").trim();
+  // A handoff about the parser can quote the marker itself, including in a
+  // source string. Exclude only that quoted token from detection; a quoted or
+  // fenced call with a payload still counts, as does an unfinished call.
+  // Keep the original body intact for the summary.
+  const callBody = body.replace(/(["'`])<tool_call>\1/g, "");
+  if ((response.toolCalls?.length ?? 0) > 0 || callBody.includes("<tool_call>")) {
+    throw new Error("the model called a tool instead of writing a summary; the context was left as it was");
+  }
+  const text = body.trim();
   if (text === "") throw new Error("the model returned no summary; the context was left as it was");
   return text;
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/test/compaction.test.ts b/packages/core/test/compaction.test.ts
index 8a7884e..6387d15 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/compaction.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/compaction.test.ts
@@ -58,13 +58,61 @@ describe("the summary request", () => {
     expect(String(last.content)).toContain("concentrate on: the failing test");
   });
 
-  it("refuses an empty summary, and drops a tool call the model made anyway", async () => {
+  it("refuses an empty summary", async () => {
     const empty = new ScriptedTransport(["</think>"]);
     await expect(
       summarizeTranscript({ transport: empty, messages: [{ role: "user", content: "t" }], tools: [] }),
     ).rejects.toThrow(/no summary/);
-    const withCall = new ScriptedTransport([`</think>Summary here<tool_call>{"name":"bash","arguments":{"command":"ls"}}</tool_call>`]);
-    expect(await summarizeTranscript({ transport: withCall, messages: [{ role: "user", content: "t" }], tools: [] })).toBe("Summary here");
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    'Let me check first.<tool_call>{"name":"bash","arguments":{"command":"ls"}}</tool_call>',
+    'Let me check first.<tool_call>{"name":"bash","arguments":',
+    'Let me check first.<tool_call>',
+    'Let me check first.<tool_call>not JSON</tool_call>',
+    '```json\n<tool_call>{"name":"bash","arguments":{"command":"ls"}}</tool_call>\n```',
+    '`<tool_call>{"name":"bash","arguments":{"command":"ls"}}</tool_call>`',
+    'The parser recognizes `<tool_call>`. Now inspect.<tool_call>{"name":"bash","arguments":',
+  ])("refuses an inline call without stripping it into a summary: %s", async (body) => {
+    const inline = new ScriptedTransport([`</think>${body}`]);
+    await expect(
+      summarizeTranscript({ transport: inline, messages: [{ role: "user", content: "t" }], tools: [] }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/called a tool/);
+  });
+
+  it("refuses a parsed call even when the server provides nonempty summary text", async () => {
+    const parsed = new ScriptedTransport([{
+      content: "Let me check the state first.",
+      rawText: "Let me check the state first.",
+      reasoningContent: "",
+      toolCalls: [{ function: { name: "bash", arguments: { command: "git status" } } }],
+      ms: 1,
+    }]);
+    await expect(
+      summarizeTranscript({ transport: parsed, messages: [{ role: "user", content: "t" }], tools: [] }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/called a tool/);
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    'FILES AND CODE: the parser recognizes `<tool_call>`. NEXT STEPS: test it.',
+    'FILES AND CODE: the parser recognizes ``<tool_call>``. NEXT STEPS: test it.',
+    'FILES AND CODE: the opener is "<tool_call>". NEXT STEPS: test it.',
+    "FILES AND CODE: the opener is '<tool_call>'. NEXT STEPS: test it.",
+    'FILES AND CODE:\n```ts\nbody.includes("<tool_call>")\n```\nNEXT STEPS: test it.',
+  ])("preserves a handoff that quotes a marker instead of calling a tool: %s", async (summary) => {
+    for (const separated of [false, true]) {
+      const body = separated ? summary : `</think>${summary}`;
+      const t = new ScriptedTransport([{
+        content: body, rawText: body, ms: 1,
+        ...(separated ? { reasoningContent: "", toolCalls: [] } : {}),
+      }]);
+      expect(await summarizeTranscript({ transport: t, messages: [{ role: "user", content: "fix the parser" }], tools: [] })).toBe(summary);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("does not treat a marker in reasoning as a tool call", async () => {
+    const t = new ScriptedTransport(["Do not emit <tool_call> here.</think>HANDOFF SUMMARY"]);
+    expect(await summarizeTranscript({ transport: t, messages: [{ role: "user", content: "t" }], tools: [] })).toBe("HANDOFF SUMMARY");
   });
 });
 
@@ -137,4 +185,46 @@ describe("in the loop", () => {
     // The tool result is still there.
     expect(t.seen[2]!.messages.some((m) => m.role === "tool")).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it("keeps the transcript when the model starts working instead, and compacts on the next turn", async () => {
+    const t = new ScriptedTransport([
+      withUsage(toolCallBody("bash", { command: "ls" }), 5000),
+      {
+        content: "Let me check the current state first.",
+        rawText: "Let me check the current state first.",
+        reasoningContent: "",
+        toolCalls: [{ function: { name: "bash", arguments: { command: "git status" } } }],
+        ms: 1,
+      },
+      withUsage(toolCallBody("bash", { command: "pwd" }), 5000),
+      "</think>HANDOFF SUMMARY",
+      withUsage(doneBody("d"), 100),
+      withUsage(doneBody("d", { confirm: true }), 100),
+    ]);
+    const summaries: string[] = [];
+    const notices: string[] = [];
+    const executed: string[] = [];
+    const r = await runLoop({
+      ...base,
+      transport: t,
+      executor: { run: async (call) => {
+        executed.push(String(call.arguments.command));
+        return { ok: true, output: "ORIGINAL TOOL RESULT" };
+      } },
+      emit: (e) => {
+        if (e.type === "compaction") summaries.push(e.summary);
+        if (e.type === "notice") notices.push(e.text);
+      },
+      compaction: { limitTokens: 4000 },
+    });
+    expect(r.reason).toBe("done");
+    expect(notices.some((n) => n.includes("called a tool"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(summaries).toEqual(["HANDOFF SUMMARY"]);
+    expect(executed).toEqual(["ls", "pwd"]);
+    // After the refused reply the transcript is whole; after the real summary it is replaced.
+    expect(t.seen[2]!.messages).toEqual(t.seen[1]!.messages.slice(0, -1));
+    expect(t.seen[2]!.messages.some((m) => m.role === "tool")).toBe(true);
+    expect(t.seen[4]!.messages.some((m) => m.role === "tool")).toBe(false);
+    expect(String(t.seen[4]!.messages.at(-1)!.content)).toContain("HANDOFF SUMMARY");
+  });
 });