diff --git a/agent/finalize.go b/agent/finalize.go
index 7bc385d..88220af 100644
--- a/agent/finalize.go
+++ b/agent/finalize.go
@@ -158,6 +158,46 @@ func pointsAbove(t string) bool {
 	return loc != nil && loc[0] <= backRefHeadChars
 }
 
+// bareAbovePointer reports whether the terminal is a deictic back-reference and
+// essentially NOTHING ELSE — the form isWeakFinal may discard outright.
+//
+// pointsAbove alone is not enough for that, because a pointer can share a short
+// terminal with the answer: "That's the chain above. Ship Tuesday." is 37 bytes
+// and the decision is the four words the pointer is not. Discarding it in
+// favour of an earlier turn throws away the only thing the user needed. Same
+// shape as the summary-closer fix — a pointer says where the detail is, it does
+// not say the text beside it is disposable.
+//
+// So the reference's own clause is cut out and whatever remains must be filler:
+// nothing, punctuation, or a throat-clearing "Done —". Cutting the CLAUSE (from
+// the end of the previous sentence through the reference) rather than testing
+// position is also what makes a mixed terminal safe — "Anything above 100
+// boils. See the note above." keeps its first sentence and is correctly not
+// bare, and a comparative "above," with an interjection after it keeps the rest
+// of its own sentence for the same reason.
+func bareAbovePointer(t string) bool {
+	loc := aboveRefRe.FindStringIndex(t)
+	if loc == nil || loc[0] > backRefHeadChars {
+		return false
+	}
+	start := 0
+	if k := strings.LastIndexAny(t[:loc[0]], ".!?\n"); k >= 0 {
+		start = k + 1
+	}
+	rest := strings.TrimSpace(t[:start]) + " " + strings.TrimSpace(t[loc[1]:])
+	return bareRemainderRe.MatchString(strings.Trim(rest, pointerResidueCutset))
+}
+
+// pointerResidueCutset is trimmed from both ends of what survives cutting the
+// pointer's clause — the brackets, quotes, and punctuation a model wraps a
+// back-reference in ("(Already answered above.)").
+const pointerResidueCutset = " \t\r\n.,;:!?()[]{}\"'“”‘’*_-—"
+
+// bareRemainderRe matches a remainder that carries no answer: empty, or only
+// the filler a closer opens with. Shares fillerWords with summaryPreface so the
+// two lists cannot drift.
+var bareRemainderRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^(` + fillerWords + `[\s,.!:—-]*)*$`)
+
 // compressionMarkerRe matches a model announcing that what follows is the
 // short form of something longer ("Short version: …", "TL;DR: …", "In short,
 // …"). It is the second half of the deictic summary-closer test: the pointer
@@ -173,7 +213,12 @@ func pointsAbove(t string) bool {
 // A marker WITHOUT a pointer stays out of scope, as summaryCloserRe's own
 // comment explains: a user who asked for brevity is answered with exactly that
 // shape.
-var compressionMarkerRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\b(short version|shorter version|short answer|tl;?dr|in short|in brief|in summary|in sum|bottom line|net[- ]net|the gist)\b`)
+// The marker must OPEN a sentence. Mid-sentence the same words are ordinary
+// prose carrying new content — "Given the analysis above, the bottom line is
+// that we need a different vendor" states a conclusion, it does not announce a
+// condensation — and treating that as disposable is the very failure the
+// two-part test exists to prevent.
+var compressionMarkerRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)(^|[.!?:;—]\s*|\n\s*)(short version|shorter version|short answer|tl;?dr|in short|in brief|in summary|in sum|bottom line|net[- ]net|the gist)\b`)
 
 // summaryCloserRe matches a terminal turn that OPENS with a bookkeeping
 // acknowledgment of the citation round — "Citations are logged.", "Sources
@@ -190,7 +235,11 @@ var compressionMarkerRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\b(short version|shorter versi
 // behavior (fail closed). Assembled from named fragments so the alternations
 // stay legible and extendable.
 const (
-	summaryPreface = `((done|all set|ok(ay)?)[\s,.!:—-]+)?` // optional "Done —" style opener
+	// fillerWords are the throat-clearing tokens a closer opens with. Shared
+	// with bareRemainderRe, which has to recognise exactly the same set as
+	// "not answer content".
+	fillerWords    = `(done|all set|ok(ay)?)`
+	summaryPreface = `(` + fillerWords + `[\s,.!:—-]+)?` // optional "Done —" style opener
 	summaryNouns   = `(citations?|sources?|references?|claims?)`
 	// "all" appears here AND in summaryArticle on purpose: as a quantifier
 	// between noun and verb ("Citations all logged.") and as a determiner
@@ -278,12 +327,19 @@ const (
 // cap is what keeps a genuine answer that merely contains a back-reference
 // phrase mid-sentence out of the class; past the cap a deferring terminal is
 // isSummaryCloser's business, under the stricter dwarf bar.
+//
+// The deictic half additionally demands that the pointer be the WHOLE message
+// (bareAbovePointer), not merely present in it. Both classes now enforce the
+// same rule from opposite ends: a terminal is only disposable when it carries
+// no answer of its own — proved here by there being nothing beside the pointer,
+// and in isSummaryCloser by the model declaring what is beside it a
+// compression.
 func isWeakFinal(s string) bool {
 	t := strings.TrimSpace(s)
 	if t == "" {
 		return true
 	}
-	return len(t) <= weakFinalMaxChars && (backRefRe.MatchString(t) || pointsAbove(t))
+	return len(t) <= weakFinalMaxChars && (backRefRe.MatchString(t) || bareAbovePointer(t))
 }
 
 // isCitationsOnly reports whether a terminal turn is essentially just a
diff --git a/agent/finalize_test.go b/agent/finalize_test.go
index f69f555..3a999f1 100644
--- a/agent/finalize_test.go
+++ b/agent/finalize_test.go
@@ -27,9 +27,20 @@ func TestIsWeakFinal(t *testing.T) {
 		{"crisp-status", "It's down, restarting now.", false},
 		{"long-with-as-i-said", long, false}, // >120 chars: not weak despite the phrase
 
-		// The deictic half of the class (aboveRefRe), inside the length cap.
+		// The deictic half of the class, inside the length cap. A pointer only
+		// counts when it is ALL there is — see bareAbovePointer.
 		{"bare-above-pointer", "That's the full chain above.", true},
 		{"above-pointer-in-parens", "(the breakdown is above)", true},
+		{"bare-pointer-with-filler-opener", "Done. See the chain above.", true},
+
+		// A pointer sharing the terminal with real content is NOT weak: the
+		// content beside it is the answer, and discarding the terminal would
+		// throw it away.
+		{"pointer-plus-a-decision", "That's the chain above. Ship Tuesday.", false},
+		{"pointer-plus-a-choice", "See the summary above. Option B wins.", false},
+		{"pointer-mid-sentence-then-answer", "As shown above, the answer is sixty minutes.", false},
+		{"prepositional-then-deictic-with-content", "Anything above 100 boils. See the note above.", false},
+		{"comparative-with-an-interjection", "Anything above, say, 40 degrees is a problem for the pump.", false},
 		{"prepositional-above-not-weak", "Anything above 100 degrees boils off.", false},
 		{"1611-closer-too-long-for-weak", closer1611, false}, // 220 bytes: isSummaryCloser's job
 	}
@@ -200,6 +211,13 @@ func TestIsSummaryCloser(t *testing.T) {
 		{"above-pointer-plus-tldr", "That's the whole picture above. In short: the merger fell through.", true},
 		{"prepositional-above-is-not-a-closer", "Anything above 100 degrees boils off, which is why the sample evaporated.", false},
 
+		// The compression marker has to OPEN a sentence. Mid-sentence the same
+		// words are prose carrying NEW content, not an announcement that what
+		// follows is a condensation.
+		{"marker-mid-sentence-is-new-content", "Given the analysis above, the bottom line is that we need a different vendor entirely.", false},
+		{"marker-mid-sentence-in-short", "That is the chain above, and in short supply of alternatives we went with B.", false},
+		{"marker-opening-after-a-colon", "That's the chain above: in short, the merger fell through.", true},
+
 		// A deictic pointer WITHOUT a compression marker is not a summary
 		// closer: these state a conclusion the earlier turn never contained,
 		// so replacing them with that turn would discard the answer.
@@ -254,12 +272,16 @@ func TestFinalOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	bothMatchCloser := "Citations are logged. As I mentioned above, the full detail on the money sources is in my earlier message."
 	// The #1611 pair: a front-loaded analysis that dwarfs its 220-byte closer.
 	analysis := analysis1611()
-	// A 98-byte deictic closer: inside the weak-final cap (120), and sized so
-	// the two bars actually DISAGREE about it — 3x98 = 294 > longAnswer's 275,
-	// so the summary closer's dwarf ratio would reject longAnswer while the
-	// modeBackRef bar (>=200 bytes, no ratio) accepts it. A shorter closer
-	// would pass under either bar and prove nothing.
-	shortAbovePointer := "Done. The whole chain is above, so there is no point repeating all of that detail down here again."
+	// A 96-byte BARE deictic closer: nothing but filler and the pointer's own
+	// clause, inside the weak-final cap (120), and sized so the two bars
+	// actually DISAGREE — 3x96 = 288 > longAnswer's 275, so the summary
+	// closer's dwarf ratio would reject longAnswer while the modeBackRef bar
+	// (>=200 bytes, no ratio) accepts it. A shorter closer would pass under
+	// either bar and prove nothing. It must also stay BARE: an earlier draft
+	// ended "…so there is no point repeating it", and prose after the
+	// reference is indistinguishable from an answer, so bareAbovePointer
+	// correctly stopped treating it as disposable.
+	shortAbovePointer := "Done — that is the complete chain, start to finish, exactly as I worked it out for you, above."
 	// A deictic pointer followed by a NEW conclusion (no compression marker):
 	// >120 bytes so isWeakFinal cannot claim it, and it must not be treated as
 	// a summary closer either.
@@ -570,6 +592,21 @@ func TestFinalOutput(t *testing.T) {
 			terminal: shortAbovePointer,
 			want:     longAnswer,
 		},
+		{
+			// The isWeakFinal twin of the case below: a SHORT pointer that
+			// shares its terminal with the decision. Before bareAbovePointer
+			// this was weak, so a >=200-byte prior turn replaced it and "Ship
+			// Tuesday" — the only thing the user needed — was discarded.
+			name: "short above-pointer sharing the terminal with the answer is not discarded",
+			msgs: []llm.Message{
+				llm.UserText("when do we ship?"),
+				asst(hugeAnswer, cite...),
+				llm.ToolResultsMessage(llm.ToolResult{ID: "c1", Name: "cite", Content: "ok"}),
+				asst("That's the chain above. Ship Tuesday."),
+			},
+			terminal: "That's the chain above. Ship Tuesday.",
+			want:     "That's the chain above. Ship Tuesday.",
+		},
 		{
 			// A pointer plus a NEW conclusion is not a compression, so it must
 			// survive verbatim even though a much longer prior turn exists —