diff --git a/agent/turn_api_request.py b/agent/turn_api_request.py
index 6aca189616..fbbb321a85 100644
--- a/agent/turn_api_request.py
+++ b/agent/turn_api_request.py
@@ -2,15 +2,15 @@
 reasoning echo pad and prompt-cache decoration for the CURRENT provider (a fallback may
 differ from the primary), build ``api_kwargs``, run the surrogate/ASCII chokepoints, Codex
 preflight, OpenRouter cache bypass, Copilot ``x-initiator``, the LLM request middleware,
-the ``pre_api_request`` hook and the debug dump. Extracted from ``run_conversation``;
-nothing here imports ``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level.
+the ``pre_api_request`` hook and the debug dump. Nothing here imports
+``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 import logging
-from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
+from typing import Any
 
 from agent.message_sanitization import (
     _sanitize_structure_non_ascii, _sanitize_structure_surrogates
@@ -34,6 +34,63 @@ class ApiRequestBuild:
     _llm_middleware_trace: Any
 
 
+def _set_extra_header(api_kwargs: Any, key: str, value: str) -> None:
+    """Copy-on-write header set (the dict may be shared with the transport's defaults)."""
+    _xh = dict(api_kwargs.get("extra_headers") or {})
+    _xh[key] = value
+    api_kwargs["extra_headers"] = _xh
+
+
+def _fire_pre_api_request_hook(
+    agent: Any, api_kwargs: Any, api_messages: Any, _llm_middleware_trace: Any, *, messages: Any,
+    original_user_message: Any, approx_tokens: Any, total_chars: Any, retry_count: Any,
+    api_call_count: Any, api_request_id: Any, api_start_time: Any, effective_task_id: Any,
+    turn_id: Any,
+) -> None:
+    from agent.conversation_loop import _system_prompt_for_hooks
+
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.lifecycle import has_hook, invoke_hook as _invoke_hook
+        if has_hook("pre_api_request"):
+            request_messages = api_kwargs.get("messages")
+            if not isinstance(request_messages, list):
+                request_messages = api_kwargs.get("input")
+            if not isinstance(request_messages, list):
+                request_messages = api_messages
+            # Shallow copies: plugins may retain the lists; deepcopy is costly.
+            # ``request_messages``/``conversation_history`` are raw langfuse passthroughs.
+            # Anthropic (``system``) and Responses/Codex (``instructions``) move the system
+            # prompt out of messages; pass it for observability.
+            _invoke_hook(
+                "pre_api_request",
+                task_id=effective_task_id,
+                turn_id=turn_id,
+                api_request_id=api_request_id,
+                session_id=agent.session_id or "",
+                user_message=original_user_message,
+                conversation_history=list(messages),
+                platform=agent.platform or "",
+                model=agent.model,
+                provider=agent.provider,
+                base_url=agent.base_url,
+                api_mode=agent.api_mode,
+                api_call_count=api_call_count,
+                retry_count=retry_count,
+                request_messages=list(request_messages) if isinstance(request_messages, list) else [],
+                system_prompt=_system_prompt_for_hooks(api_kwargs, request_messages),
+                message_count=len(api_messages),
+                tool_count=len(agent.tools or []),
+                approx_input_tokens=approx_tokens,
+                request_char_count=total_chars,
+                max_tokens=agent.max_tokens,
+                started_at=api_start_time,
+                middleware_trace=list(_llm_middleware_trace),
+                request=agent._api_request_payload_for_hook(api_kwargs),
+            )
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+
 def build_api_request(
     agent: Any, *, api_messages: Any, _moa_prepared_request: Any, tools_for_api: Any,
     system_message: Any, messages: Any, original_user_message: Any, approx_tokens: Any,
@@ -44,29 +101,15 @@ def build_api_request(
     middleware/hooks/debug dumps observe the payload)."""
     from agent.conversation_loop import (
         _moa_client_consumes_prepared_request, _redecorate_prompt_cache_for_provider,
-        _system_prompt_for_hooks,
     )
-    api_kwargs = None
-    _original_api_kwargs = None
-    _llm_middleware_trace = []
-
-    def _verdict(action: str, result: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> ApiRequestBuild:
-        return ApiRequestBuild(
-            action=action, api_messages=api_messages, _moa_prepared_request=_moa_prepared_request,
-            tools_for_api=tools_for_api, api_kwargs=api_kwargs,
-            _original_api_kwargs=_original_api_kwargs, _llm_middleware_trace=_llm_middleware_trace,
-        )
 
     agent._reset_stream_delivery_tracking()
-    # Per-attempt first-chunk timestamp so a stale value never leaks into
-    # post_api_request.
+    # Per-attempt first-chunk timestamp so a stale value never leaks into post_api_request.
     agent._last_api_first_chunk_at = None
-    # api_messages was built for the primary; a fallback (DeepSeek / Kimi /
-    # MiMo) may require reasoning_content. Re-apply the echo-back pad
-    # (idempotent).
+    # api_messages was built for the primary; a fallback (DeepSeek / Kimi / MiMo) may
+    # require reasoning_content — re-apply the echo-back pad (idempotent) and re-render
+    # the prompt-cache decoration for the current provider.
     agent._reapply_reasoning_echo_for_provider(api_messages)
-    # Same for prompt-cache decoration (#72626): strip the primary's
-    # breakpoints and re-render for the current provider.
     api_messages, _moa_prepared_request, tools_for_api = (
         _redecorate_prompt_cache_for_provider(
             agent, api_messages, system_message=system_message, moa_prepared=_moa_prepared_request,
@@ -76,12 +119,9 @@ def build_api_request(
     if tools_for_api == agent.tools:
         api_kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(api_messages)
     else:
-        api_kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(
-            api_messages, tools_for_api=tools_for_api
-        )
-    # Surrogate chokepoint (#50959): tool descriptions, extra_body and
-    # kwargs strings can carry invalid code points (HTTP 400). One walk
-    # makes the payload json.dumps()-safe.
+        api_kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(api_messages, tools_for_api=tools_for_api)
+    # Surrogate chokepoint: tool descriptions, extra_body and kwargs strings can carry
+    # invalid code points (HTTP 400). One walk makes the payload json.dumps()-safe.
     _sanitize_structure_surrogates(api_kwargs)
     if agent._force_ascii_payload:
         _sanitize_structure_non_ascii(api_kwargs)
@@ -90,18 +130,14 @@ def build_api_request(
             api_kwargs, allow_stream=False, is_github_responses=agent._is_copilot_url(),
             sanitize_harmony_tokens=agent._is_codex_backend(),
         )
-    # OpenRouter caching replays identical responses, even empty ones; an
-    # empty-response retry must bypass the cache.
+    # OpenRouter caching replays identical responses, even empty ones; an empty-response
+    # retry must bypass the cache.
     if agent._empty_content_retries > 0 and agent._is_openrouter_url():
-        _xh = dict(api_kwargs.get("extra_headers") or {})
-        _xh["X-OpenRouter-Cache"] = "false"
-        api_kwargs["extra_headers"] = _xh
-    # Copilot x-initiator: first call of a user turn is "user" (billed
-    # premium); tool-loop follow-ups keep the default "agent" (#3040).
+        _set_extra_header(api_kwargs, "X-OpenRouter-Cache", "false")
+    # Copilot x-initiator: first call of a user turn is "user" (billed premium);
+    # tool-loop follow-ups keep the default "agent".
     if getattr(agent, "_is_user_initiated_turn", False) and agent._is_copilot_url():
-        _xh = dict(api_kwargs.get("extra_headers") or {})
-        _xh["x-initiator"] = "user"
-        api_kwargs["extra_headers"] = _xh
+        _set_extra_header(api_kwargs, "x-initiator", "user")
         agent._is_user_initiated_turn = False
     try:
         from hermes_cli.middleware import apply_llm_request_middleware
@@ -119,66 +155,22 @@ def build_api_request(
         _original_api_kwargs = dict(api_kwargs)
         _llm_middleware_trace = []
 
-    try:
-        from hermes_cli.lifecycle import (
-            has_hook, invoke_hook as _invoke_hook
-        )
-        if has_hook("pre_api_request"):
-            request_messages = api_kwargs.get("messages")
-            if not isinstance(request_messages, list):
-                request_messages = api_kwargs.get("input")
-            if not isinstance(request_messages, list):
-                request_messages = api_messages
-            # Shallow copy: plugins may retain the list; deepcopy is costly.
-            # ``request_messages``/``conversation_history`` are raw langfuse
-            # passthroughs.
-            _request_payload = agent._api_request_payload_for_hook(api_kwargs)
-            # Anthropic (``system``) and Responses/Codex (``instructions``)
-            # move the system prompt out of messages; pass it for
-            # observability.
-            system_prompt_for_hooks = _system_prompt_for_hooks(
-                api_kwargs, request_messages
-            )
-            _invoke_hook(
-                "pre_api_request",
-                task_id=effective_task_id,
-                turn_id=turn_id,
-                api_request_id=api_request_id,
-                session_id=agent.session_id or "",
-                user_message=original_user_message,
-                conversation_history=list(messages),
-                platform=agent.platform or "",
-                model=agent.model,
-                provider=agent.provider,
-                base_url=agent.base_url,
-                api_mode=agent.api_mode,
-                api_call_count=api_call_count,
-                retry_count=retry_count,
-                request_messages=list(request_messages)
-                if isinstance(request_messages, list)
-                else [],
-                system_prompt=system_prompt_for_hooks,
-                message_count=len(api_messages),
-                tool_count=len(agent.tools or []),
-                approx_input_tokens=approx_tokens,
-                request_char_count=total_chars,
-                max_tokens=agent.max_tokens,
-                started_at=api_start_time,
-                middleware_trace=list(_llm_middleware_trace),
-                request=_request_payload,
-            )
-    except Exception:
-        pass
+    _fire_pre_api_request_hook(
+        agent, api_kwargs, api_messages, _llm_middleware_trace, messages=messages,
+        original_user_message=original_user_message, approx_tokens=approx_tokens,
+        total_chars=total_chars, retry_count=retry_count, api_call_count=api_call_count,
+        api_request_id=api_request_id, api_start_time=api_start_time,
+        effective_task_id=effective_task_id, turn_id=turn_id,
+    )
 
     if env_var_enabled("HERMES_DUMP_REQUESTS"):
         agent._dump_api_request_debug(api_kwargs, reason="preflight")
 
-    # Private to the in-process MoA facade; add after middleware/hooks/debug
-    # dumps so none serializes it into the provider payload.
+    # Private to the in-process MoA facade; added after middleware/hooks/debug dumps so
+    # none serializes it into the provider payload. Re-read the live client:
+    # rotation/fallback/cleanup rebuild agent.client between attempts; a native OpenAI
+    # client rejects this key (TypeError).
     if _moa_prepared_request is not None and agent.provider == "moa":
-        # Re-read the live client: rotation/fallback/cleanup rebuild
-        # agent.client between attempts; a native OpenAI client rejects this
-        # key (TypeError).
         if _moa_client_consumes_prepared_request(agent.client):
             api_kwargs["_moa_prepared_request"] = _moa_prepared_request
         else:
@@ -187,4 +179,7 @@ def build_api_request(
                 "prepared prompt without the MoA handshake",
                 type(agent.client).__name__,
             )
-    return _verdict("fallthrough")
+    return ApiRequestBuild(
+        "fallthrough", api_messages, _moa_prepared_request, tools_for_api, api_kwargs,
+        _original_api_kwargs, _llm_middleware_trace,
+    )
diff --git a/agent/turn_empty_response.py b/agent/turn_empty_response.py
index 75a8ab063f..7f4543f739 100644
--- a/agent/turn_empty_response.py
+++ b/agent/turn_empty_response.py
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 """Empty / thinking-only final-response recovery ladder for the conversation turn loop.
 
-Extracted from ``run_conversation``. Runs when the model returned no visible text after
-``<think>`` blocks. Ladder order is load-bearing: partial-stream recovery → reuse prior
-turn content (housekeeping tools only) → one post-tool-call nudge (#9400) → thinking-only
-prefill continuation (×2) → empty-response retries (budgeted, deterministic-empty
-short-circuit) → fallback provider → terminal ``(empty)`` sentinel. Nothing here imports
-``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level (cycle); loop-internal helpers resolve lazily.
+Runs when the model returned no visible text after ``<think>`` blocks. Ladder order is
+load-bearing: partial-stream recovery → reuse prior turn content (housekeeping tools only)
+→ one post-tool-call nudge → thinking-only prefill continuation (×2) → empty-response
+retries (budgeted, deterministic-empty short-circuit) → fallback provider → terminal
+``(empty)`` sentinel. Nothing here imports ``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -21,6 +20,8 @@ from agent.turn_recovery import interruptible_backoff_sleep
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("agent.conversation_loop")
 
+_INLINE_THINK_RE = re.compile(r'<think>|<thinking>|<reasoning>', re.IGNORECASE)
+
 
 @dataclass
 class EmptyResponseVerdict:
@@ -40,6 +41,112 @@ class EmptyResponseVerdict:
     preflight_compression_blocked: bool
 
 
+def _retry_empty(
+    agent: Any, response: Any, finish_reason: str, empty_candidate: bool, *, messages: Any,
+    conversation_history: Any, api_call_count: int,
+) -> tuple:
+    """Budgeted empty-response retry. Each empty attempt re-bills the full input, so the
+    signature is recorded and deterministic empties stop burning paid retries (fails
+    open: missing usage or any output keeps the budget). Returns
+    ``(action_or_None, interrupt_result, deterministic_empty)``."""
+    from agent.conversation_loop import jittered_backoff
+
+    if empty_candidate:
+        _empty_guard.record_empty_attempt(agent, finish_reason=finish_reason, response=response)
+    budget = (
+        _empty_guard.empty_retry_budget(agent, response)
+        if empty_candidate else _empty_guard.DEFAULT_EMPTY_RETRY_BUDGET
+    )
+    deterministic = empty_candidate and _empty_guard.deterministic_empty(agent)
+    if not (empty_candidate and agent._empty_content_retries < budget and not deterministic):
+        return None, None, deterministic
+    agent._empty_content_retries += 1
+    n = agent._empty_content_retries
+    wait_time = jittered_backoff(n, base_delay=5.0, max_delay=60.0)
+    logger.warning(
+        "Empty response (no content or reasoning) — "
+        "retry %d/%d in %.1fs (model=%s)",
+        n, budget, wait_time, agent.model,
+    )
+    _budget_note = (
+        " — high-cost request, reduced retry budget"
+        if budget < _empty_guard.DEFAULT_EMPTY_RETRY_BUDGET else ""
+    )
+    agent._buffer_status(
+        f"⚠️ Empty response from model — retrying "
+        f"({n}/{budget}) "
+        f"in {wait_time:.0f}s{_budget_note}"
+    )
+    _interrupted = interruptible_backoff_sleep(
+        agent, wait_time, None,
+        messages=messages,
+        conversation_history=conversation_history,
+        api_call_count=api_call_count,
+        abort_message="Interrupt detected during empty-response retry wait, aborting.",
+        interrupt_text=(
+            f"Operation interrupted: retrying empty response from model "
+            f"(retry {n}/{budget})."
+        ),
+        activity_label=f"empty response retry backoff ({n}/{budget})",
+    )
+    if _interrupted is not None:
+        return "return", _interrupted, deterministic
+    return "continue", None, deterministic
+
+
+def _terminal_empty(agent: Any, assistant_message: Any, finish_reason: str, messages: Any) -> str:
+    """Retries and fallback exhausted: persist the ``(empty)`` sentinel row and return the
+    delivery text. Reasoning is surfaced ONLY here, for delivery — the persisted row keeps
+    the sentinel so later "continue" turns don't replay it and loop on empties."""
+    _streak_cost = _empty_guard.streak_cost_usd(agent)
+    if _streak_cost is not None:
+        agent._buffer_status(
+            f"ℹ️ Estimated cost of these empty attempts: "
+            f"~${_streak_cost:.2f} (input tokens are billed "
+            f"per attempt even when no answer is produced)"
+        )
+    agent._flush_status_buffer()
+    reasoning_text = agent._extract_reasoning(assistant_message)
+    agent._drop_trailing_empty_response_scaffolding(messages)
+    assistant_msg = agent._build_assistant_message(assistant_message, finish_reason)
+    assistant_msg["content"] = "(empty)"
+    assistant_msg["_empty_terminal_sentinel"] = True
+    append_message(messages, assistant_msg)
+
+    if not reasoning_text:
+        logger.warning(
+            "Empty response (no content or reasoning) "
+            "after %d retries. No fallback available. "
+            "model=%s provider=%s",
+            agent._empty_content_retries, agent.model,
+            agent.provider,
+        )
+        agent._emit_status(
+            "❌ Model returned no content after all retries"
+            + (" and fallback attempts." if agent._fallback_chain else
+               ". No fallback providers configured.")
+        )
+        return "(empty)"
+
+    reasoning_preview = reasoning_text[:500] + "..." if len(reasoning_text) > 500 else reasoning_text
+    logger.warning(
+        "Reasoning-only response (no visible content) "
+        "after exhausting retries and fallback. "
+        "Reasoning: %s", reasoning_preview,
+    )
+    agent._emit_status(
+        "⚠️ Model produced reasoning but no visible "
+        "response after all retries. Returning empty."
+    )
+    return (
+        "⚠️ The model produced only internal reasoning and "
+        "no final answer, despite retries"
+        + (" and fallback" if agent._fallback_chain else "")
+        + ". Its last reasoning, which may contain the "
+        "answer:\n\n" + reasoning_preview
+    )
+
+
 def recover_empty_response(
     agent: Any, assistant_message: Any, response: Any, finish_reason: str, *, final_response: Any,
     messages: List[Dict[str, Any]], api_messages: Any, conversation_history: Any,
@@ -48,12 +155,8 @@ def recover_empty_response(
 ) -> EmptyResponseVerdict:
     """Recover from a final response with no visible content (see module docstring for
     the ladder). Role alternation is preserved: the post-tool nudge appends the empty
-    assistant row BEFORE the user-level hint (APIs reject tool→user). Reasoning is
-    surfaced only at the terminal step, for delivery — the persisted row keeps the
-    ``(empty)`` sentinel."""
-    from agent.conversation_loop import (
-        _EMPTY_TOOL_RESPONSE_NUDGE, _sync_failover_system_message, jittered_backoff
-    )
+    assistant row BEFORE the user-level hint (APIs reject tool→user)."""
+    from agent.conversation_loop import _EMPTY_TOOL_RESPONSE_NUDGE, _sync_failover_system_message
 
     _turn_exit_reason = turn_exit_reason
     _preflight_compression_blocked = preflight_compression_blocked
@@ -65,11 +168,9 @@ def recover_empty_response(
             preflight_compression_blocked=_preflight_compression_blocked,
         )
 
-    # Partial stream recovery: content streamed before the connection
-    # died becomes the final response instead of fallback or retries.
-    _partial_streamed = (
-        getattr(agent, "_current_streamed_assistant_text", "") or ""
-    )
+    # Partial stream recovery: content streamed before the connection died becomes the
+    # final response instead of fallback or retries.
+    _partial_streamed = getattr(agent, "_current_streamed_assistant_text", "") or ""
     if agent._has_content_after_think_block(_partial_streamed):
         _turn_exit_reason = "partial_stream_recovery"
         _recovered = agent._strip_think_blocks(_partial_streamed).strip()
@@ -78,19 +179,16 @@ def recover_empty_response(
             "— using as final response",
             len(_recovered),
         )
-        agent._emit_status(
-            "↻ Stream interrupted — using delivered content " "as final response"
-        )
+        agent._emit_status("↻ Stream interrupted — using delivered content " "as final response")
         final_response = _recovered
-        # A streamed fragment isn't a confirmed preview: keep
-        # response_previewed false so gateway fallback delivery can
-        # send the text plus the abnormal-turn explanation.
+        # A streamed fragment isn't a confirmed preview: gateway fallback delivery
+        # sends the text plus the abnormal-turn explanation.
         agent._response_was_previewed = False
         return _verdict("break")
 
-    # Prior turn had real content + ONLY housekeeping tools: model is
-    # done, reuse it. With substantive tools it was mid-task narration
-    # and the empty reply is a choke; let the post-tool nudge handle it.
+    # Prior turn had real content + ONLY housekeeping tools: model is done, reuse it.
+    # With substantive tools it was mid-task narration and the empty reply is a choke;
+    # let the post-tool nudge handle it.
     fallback = getattr(agent, '_last_content_with_tools', None)
     if fallback and getattr(agent, '_last_content_tools_all_housekeeping', False):
         _turn_exit_reason = "fallback_prior_turn_content"
@@ -99,42 +197,28 @@ def recover_empty_response(
         agent._last_content_with_tools = None
         agent._last_content_tools_all_housekeeping = False
         agent._empty_content_retries = 0
-        # Do NOT modify the assistant message content (injected text
-        # poisoned history); use the fallback as the response and break.
+        # Do NOT modify the assistant message content (injected text poisoned history).
         final_response = agent._strip_think_blocks(fallback).strip()
         agent._response_was_previewed = True
         return _verdict("break")
 
-    # ── Post-tool-call empty response nudge ───────────
-    # Empty after tool results (no prior content, or only mid-task
-    # narration): nudge once via a user-level hint. (#9400)
-    _prior_was_tool = any(
-        m.get("role") == "tool"
-        for m in messages[-5:]  # check recent messages
-    )
-    # Ollama puts <think> in content, not reasoning_content, so
-    # _has_structured misses it; detect here to route to prefill.
-    _has_inline_thinking = bool(
-        re.search( r'<think>|<thinking>|<reasoning>', final_response or "", re.IGNORECASE )
-    )
+    # Post-tool-call empty (no prior content, or only mid-task narration): nudge once.
+    _prior_was_tool = any(m.get("role") == "tool" for m in messages[-5:])
+    # Ollama puts <think> in content, not reasoning_content, so _has_structured misses
+    # it; detect here to route to prefill.
+    _has_inline_thinking = bool(_INLINE_THINK_RE.search(final_response or ""))
     if (
         _prior_was_tool
         and not getattr(agent, "_post_tool_empty_retried", False)
         and not _has_inline_thinking  # thinking model still working — let prefill handle
     ):
         agent._post_tool_empty_retried = True
-        # Clear stale narration so it doesn't resurface
-        # on a later empty response after the nudge.
+        # Clear stale narration so it doesn't resurface on a later empty response.
         agent._last_content_with_tools = None
         agent._last_content_tools_all_housekeeping = False
-        logger.info(
-            "Empty response after tool calls — nudging model " "to continue processing"
-        )
-        agent._buffer_status(
-            "⚠️ Model returned empty after tool calls — " "nudging to continue"
-        )
-        # Append the empty assistant first so the sequence stays valid:
-        # tool → assistant("(empty)") → user (APIs reject tool→user).
+        logger.info("Empty response after tool calls — nudging model " "to continue processing")
+        agent._buffer_status("⚠️ Model returned empty after tool calls — " "nudging to continue")
+        # tool → assistant("(empty)") → user keeps the sequence valid.
         _nudge_msg = agent._build_assistant_message(assistant_message, finish_reason)
         _nudge_msg["content"] = "(empty)"
         _nudge_msg["_empty_recovery_synthetic"] = True
@@ -144,9 +228,8 @@ def recover_empty_response(
         })
         return _verdict("continue")
 
-    # ── Thinking-only prefill continuation ──────────
-    # Reasoning but no text: append as-is and continue so the model sees
-    # its own reasoning and writes text. Covers _has_inline_thinking.
+    # Thinking-only prefill: append the reasoning as-is and continue so the model sees
+    # its own reasoning and writes text.
     _has_structured = bool(
         getattr(assistant_message, "reasoning", None)
         or getattr(assistant_message, "reasoning_content", None)
@@ -164,81 +247,22 @@ def recover_empty_response(
             f"↻ Thinking-only response — prefilling to continue "
             f"({agent._thinking_prefill_retries}/2)"
         )
-        interim_msg = agent._build_assistant_message(
-            assistant_message, "incomplete"
-        )
+        interim_msg = agent._build_assistant_message(assistant_message, "incomplete")
         interim_msg["_thinking_prefill"] = True
         append_message(messages, interim_msg)
         agent._session_messages = messages
         return _verdict("continue")
 
-    # ── Empty response retry ──────────────────────
-    # Retry up to 3 times before fallback; covers truly empty replies
-    # AND reasoning-only replies after prefill exhaustion.
-    _truly_empty = not agent._strip_think_blocks(
-        final_response
-    ).strip()
-    _prefill_exhausted = (
-        _has_structured and agent._thinking_prefill_retries >= 2
+    # Empty-response retries: truly empty replies AND reasoning-only replies after
+    # prefill exhaustion.
+    _truly_empty = not agent._strip_think_blocks(final_response).strip()
+    _empty_candidate = _truly_empty and (not _has_structured or agent._thinking_prefill_retries >= 2)
+    action, interrupt_result, _deterministic_empty = _retry_empty(
+        agent, response, finish_reason, _empty_candidate, messages=messages,
+        conversation_history=conversation_history, api_call_count=api_call_count,
     )
-    _empty_candidate = _truly_empty and (
-        not _has_structured or _prefill_exhausted
-    )
-    if _empty_candidate:
-        # Each empty attempt re-bills the full input; record its
-        # signature so deterministic empties stop burning paid retries.
-        # Fails open: missing usage or any output keeps the budget.
-        _empty_guard.record_empty_attempt(
-            agent, finish_reason=finish_reason, response=response
-        )
-    _empty_retry_budget = (
-        _empty_guard.empty_retry_budget(agent, response)
-        if _empty_candidate
-        else _empty_guard.DEFAULT_EMPTY_RETRY_BUDGET
-    )
-    _deterministic_empty = _empty_candidate and (
-        _empty_guard.deterministic_empty(agent)
-    )
-    if (
-        _empty_candidate
-        and agent._empty_content_retries < _empty_retry_budget
-        and not _deterministic_empty
-    ):
-        agent._empty_content_retries += 1
-        wait_time = jittered_backoff(
-            agent._empty_content_retries, base_delay=5.0, max_delay=60.0
-        )
-        logger.warning(
-            "Empty response (no content or reasoning) — "
-            "retry %d/%d in %.1fs (model=%s)",
-            agent._empty_content_retries,
-            _empty_retry_budget, wait_time, agent.model,
-        )
-        _budget_note = (
-            " — high-cost request, reduced retry budget"
-            if _empty_retry_budget < _empty_guard.DEFAULT_EMPTY_RETRY_BUDGET
-            else ""
-        )
-        agent._buffer_status(
-            f"⚠️ Empty response from model — retrying "
-            f"({agent._empty_content_retries}/{_empty_retry_budget}) "
-            f"in {wait_time:.0f}s{_budget_note}"
-        )
-        _interrupted = interruptible_backoff_sleep(
-            agent, wait_time, None,
-            messages=messages,
-            conversation_history=conversation_history,
-            api_call_count=api_call_count,
-            abort_message="Interrupt detected during empty-response retry wait, aborting.",
-            interrupt_text=(
-                f"Operation interrupted: retrying empty response from model "
-                f"(retry {agent._empty_content_retries}/{_empty_retry_budget})."
-            ),
-            activity_label=f"empty response retry backoff ({agent._empty_content_retries}/{_empty_retry_budget})",
-        )
-        if _interrupted is not None:
-            return _verdict("return", _interrupted)
-        return _verdict("continue")
+    if action is not None:
+        return _verdict(action, interrupt_result)
 
     if _truly_empty and _deterministic_empty:
         logger.warning(
@@ -254,8 +278,7 @@ def recover_empty_response(
             "to avoid repeat charges"
         )
 
-    # ── Exhausted retries — try fallback provider ──
-    # Before "(empty)", switch to the next provider in the chain.
+    # Exhausted retries — try the next provider in the chain before "(empty)".
     if _truly_empty and agent._fallback_chain:
         logger.warning(
             "Empty response after %d retries — "
@@ -263,85 +286,21 @@ def recover_empty_response(
             agent._empty_content_retries, agent.model,
             agent.provider,
         )
-        agent._buffer_status(
-            "⚠️ Model returning empty responses — " "switching to fallback provider..."
-        )
+        agent._buffer_status("⚠️ Model returning empty responses — " "switching to fallback provider...")
         if agent._try_activate_fallback():
-            active_system_prompt = _sync_failover_system_message(
-                agent, api_messages, active_system_prompt)
+            active_system_prompt = _sync_failover_system_message(agent, api_messages, active_system_prompt)
             agent._empty_content_retries = 0
-            agent._buffer_status(
-                f"↻ Switched to fallback: {agent.model} " f"({agent.provider})"
-            )
+            agent._buffer_status(f"↻ Switched to fallback: {agent.model} " f"({agent.provider})")
             logger.info(
                 "Fallback activated after empty responses: "
                 "now using %s on %s",
                 agent.model, agent.provider,
             )
-            # OUTER loop: `continue` re-runs preflight against the
-            # fallback's window; `break` would end the turn without
-            # calling the fallback. Clear the preflight block. (#84733)
+            # OUTER loop: `continue` re-runs preflight against the fallback's window;
+            # `break` would end the turn without calling the fallback.
             _preflight_compression_blocked = False
             return _verdict("continue")
 
-    # Retries and fallback exhausted — fall through to "(empty)".
-    # Surface the buffered retry trace and, if known, what the empty
-    # streak cost (each attempt re-billed the full input).
-    _streak_cost = _empty_guard.streak_cost_usd(agent)
-    if _streak_cost is not None:
-        agent._buffer_status(
-            f"ℹ️ Estimated cost of these empty attempts: "
-            f"~${_streak_cost:.2f} (input tokens are billed "
-            f"per attempt even when no answer is produced)"
-        )
-    agent._flush_status_buffer()
     _turn_exit_reason = "empty_response_exhausted"
-    reasoning_text = agent._extract_reasoning(assistant_message)
-    agent._drop_trailing_empty_response_scaffolding(messages)
-    assistant_msg = agent._build_assistant_message(assistant_message, finish_reason)
-    assistant_msg["content"] = "(empty)"
-    # Gateway failure sentinel, not content: persisting it lets later
-    # "continue" turns replay assistant("(empty)") and loop on empties.
-    assistant_msg["_empty_terminal_sentinel"] = True
-    append_message(messages, assistant_msg)
-
-    if reasoning_text:
-        reasoning_preview = reasoning_text[:500] + "..." if len(reasoning_text) > 500 else reasoning_text
-        logger.warning(
-            "Reasoning-only response (no visible content) "
-            "after exhausting retries and fallback. "
-            "Reasoning: %s", reasoning_preview,
-        )
-        agent._emit_status(
-            "⚠️ Model produced reasoning but no visible "
-            "response after all retries. Returning empty."
-        )
-    else:
-        logger.warning(
-            "Empty response (no content or reasoning) "
-            "after %d retries. No fallback available. "
-            "model=%s provider=%s",
-            agent._empty_content_retries, agent.model,
-            agent.provider,
-        )
-        agent._emit_status(
-            "❌ Model returned no content after all retries"
-            + (" and fallback attempts." if agent._fallback_chain else
-               ". No fallback providers configured.")
-        )
-
-    # Delivery-only: show labeled reasoning instead of bare "(empty)"
-    # when the model thought but wrote no text. The persisted row keeps
-    # the sentinel; reasoning is never promoted earlier in the ladder.
-    if reasoning_text:
-        final_response = (
-            "⚠️ The model produced only internal reasoning and "
-            "no final answer, despite retries"
-            + (" and fallback" if agent._fallback_chain else "")
-            + ". Its last reasoning, which may contain the "
-            "answer:\n\n" + reasoning_preview
-        )
-    else:
-        final_response = "(empty)"
+    final_response = _terminal_empty(agent, assistant_message, finish_reason, messages)
     return _verdict("break")
-    return _verdict("fallthrough")
diff --git a/agent/turn_request_assembly.py b/agent/turn_request_assembly.py
index d5c18d06e3..cb5490e368 100644
--- a/agent/turn_request_assembly.py
+++ b/agent/turn_request_assembly.py
@@ -2,17 +2,16 @@
 from the transcript, append MoA context, inject prefills, run the context-engine selection
 hook and the send-time sanitizers, canonicalize for bit-perfect cache prefixes, build the
 request-local prompt-cache plan LAST (after every transcript mutation), prepare the
-persistent-MoA request, then measure request pressure. Extracted from
-``run_conversation``; nothing here imports ``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level
-(cycle) — loop-internal helpers resolve lazily so ``patch("agent.conversation_loop.X")``
-sites keep intercepting.
+persistent-MoA request, then measure request pressure. Nothing here imports
+``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level (cycle) — loop-internal helpers resolve lazily
+so ``patch("agent.conversation_loop.X")`` sites keep intercepting.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 import logging
-from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
+from typing import Any
 
 from agent.message_sanitization import _sanitize_messages_surrogates
 from agent.model_metadata import anchored_context_tokens
@@ -38,6 +37,72 @@ class AssembledRequest:
     total_chars: Any
 
 
+def _append_moa_context(agent: Any, api_messages: Any, moa_config: Any, original_user_message: Any) -> None:
+    """Run the MoA reference models and append their aggregated context to the last user
+    message (as a trailing text part on multimodal turns). Fail-open."""
+    try:
+        from agent.message_content import flatten_message_text as _flatten_mt
+        from agent.moa_loop import _preset_temperature, aggregate_moa_context
+
+        _moa_context = aggregate_moa_context(
+            user_prompt=(
+                original_user_message
+                if isinstance(original_user_message, str)
+                # Multimodal content list: extract visible text rather than
+                # str()-ing parts, which would leak base64 image payloads.
+                else _flatten_mt(original_user_message)
+            ),
+            api_messages=api_messages,
+            reference_models=moa_config.get("reference_models") or [],
+            aggregator=moa_config.get("aggregator") or {},
+            temperature=_preset_temperature(moa_config, "reference_temperature"),
+            aggregator_temperature=_preset_temperature(moa_config, "aggregator_temperature"),
+            reference_max_tokens=moa_config.get("reference_max_tokens"),
+            # None = no per-preset override; inherit auxiliary.moa_reference.timeout.
+            reference_timeout=(
+                float(moa_config["reference_timeout"])
+                if moa_config.get("reference_timeout")
+                else None
+            ),
+            degraded_reference_policy=str(
+                moa_config.get("degraded_reference_policy") or "loud"
+            ),
+            agent=agent,
+        )
+        if not _moa_context:
+            return
+        for _msg in reversed(api_messages):
+            if _msg.get("role") == "user":
+                _base = _msg.get("content", "")
+                if isinstance(_base, str):
+                    _msg["content"] = _base + "\n\n" + _moa_context
+                elif isinstance(_base, list):
+                    _msg["content"] = [*_base, {"type": "text", "text": "\n\n" + _moa_context}]
+                break
+    except Exception as _moa_exc:
+        logger.warning("MoA context aggregation failed: %s", _moa_exc)
+
+
+def _prepare_moa_request(agent: Any, api_messages: Any, pending_moa_prepared_request: Any) -> tuple:
+    """Persistent-MoA request: rebase the pending prepared request onto the new messages
+    when the client supports it, else prepare a fresh one. Returns
+    ``(prepared_request, api_messages, pending_moa_prepared_request)``."""
+    _moa_completions = getattr(getattr(agent.client, "chat", None), "completions", None)
+    prepared: Any = None
+    if pending_moa_prepared_request is not None:
+        _rebase = getattr(_moa_completions, "rebase_prepared_request", None)
+        if callable(_rebase):
+            prepared = _rebase(pending_moa_prepared_request, api_messages)
+        pending_moa_prepared_request = None
+    if prepared is None:
+        _prepare = getattr(_moa_completions, "prepare", None)
+        if callable(_prepare):
+            prepared = _prepare(api_messages)
+    if prepared is not None:
+        api_messages = prepared["messages"]
+    return prepared, api_messages, pending_moa_prepared_request
+
+
 def assemble_api_request(
     agent: Any, *, messages: Any, current_turn_user_idx: Any, _ext_prefetch_cache: Any,
     _plugin_user_context: Any, moa_config: Any, active_system_prompt: Any,
@@ -51,19 +116,6 @@ def assemble_api_request(
         _midturn_request_pressure_tokens, estimate_messages_tokens_rough,
     )
 
-    def _verdict(action: str, result: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> AssembledRequest:
-        return AssembledRequest(
-            action=action,
-            api_messages=api_messages,
-            tools_for_api=tools_for_api,
-            _moa_prepared_request=_moa_prepared_request,
-            pending_moa_prepared_request=pending_moa_prepared_request,
-            approx_tokens=approx_tokens,
-            request_pressure_tokens=request_pressure_tokens,
-            total_chars=total_chars,
-
-        )
-
     api_messages, effective_system = build_api_messages(
         agent, messages, current_turn_user_idx=current_turn_user_idx,
         ext_prefetch_cache=_ext_prefetch_cache, plugin_user_context=_plugin_user_context,
@@ -71,54 +123,9 @@ def assemble_api_request(
     )
 
     if moa_config:
-        try:
-            from agent.message_content import flatten_message_text as _flatten_mt
-            from agent.moa_loop import _preset_temperature, aggregate_moa_context
+        _append_moa_context(agent, api_messages, moa_config, original_user_message)
 
-            _moa_context = aggregate_moa_context(
-                user_prompt=(
-                    original_user_message
-                    if isinstance(original_user_message, str)
-                    # Multimodal content list: extract visible text rather than
-                    # str()-ing parts, which would leak base64 image payloads.
-                    else _flatten_mt(original_user_message)
-                ),
-                api_messages=api_messages,
-                reference_models=moa_config.get("reference_models") or [],
-                aggregator=moa_config.get("aggregator") or {},
-                temperature=_preset_temperature(moa_config, "reference_temperature"),
-                aggregator_temperature=_preset_temperature(moa_config, "aggregator_temperature"),
-                reference_max_tokens=moa_config.get("reference_max_tokens"),
-                # None = no per-preset override; inherit
-                # auxiliary.moa_reference.timeout via call_llm.
-                reference_timeout=(
-                    float(moa_config["reference_timeout"])
-                    if moa_config.get("reference_timeout")
-                    else None
-                ),
-                degraded_reference_policy=str(
-                    moa_config.get("degraded_reference_policy") or "loud"
-                ),
-                agent=agent,
-            )
-            if _moa_context:
-                for _msg in reversed(api_messages):
-                    if _msg.get("role") == "user":
-                        _base = _msg.get("content", "")
-                        if isinstance(_base, str):
-                            _msg["content"] = _base + "\n\n" + _moa_context
-                        elif isinstance(_base, list):
-                            # Multimodal turn: append MoA context as a trailing text
-                            # part instead of silently dropping it.
-                            _msg["content"] = [
-                                *_base, {"type": "text", "text": "\n\n" + _moa_context}
-                            ]
-                        break
-        except Exception as _moa_exc:
-            logger.warning("MoA context aggregation failed: %s", _moa_exc)
-
-    # Inject ephemeral prefill messages right after the system prompt
-    # but before conversation history. Same API-call-time-only pattern.
+    # Ephemeral prefill messages go right after the system prompt, API-call-time only.
     if agent.prefill_messages:
         sys_offset = 1 if (api_messages and api_messages[0].get("role") == "system") else 0
         for idx, pfm in enumerate(agent.prefill_messages):
@@ -140,17 +147,14 @@ def assemble_api_request(
     api_messages = agent._sanitize_api_messages(api_messages)
 
     # One-time repeated-heal notice goes out via the status/warning callback, NEVER
-    # appended to messages: the cached prompt prefix stays byte-identical (#96870).
+    # appended to messages: the cached prompt prefix stays byte-identical.
     try:
-        from agent.agent_runtime_helpers import (
-            consume_pending_sanitizer_heal_notice,
-        )
+        from agent.agent_runtime_helpers import consume_pending_sanitizer_heal_notice
 
         _heal_notice = consume_pending_sanitizer_heal_notice()
         if _heal_notice:
             agent._emit_warning(_heal_notice)
     except Exception:
-        # A notice hiccup must never break the send path.
         logger.debug("sanitizer heal notice delivery failed", exc_info=True)
 
     # Drop thinking-only assistant turns + merge adjacent users, API copy only:
@@ -171,24 +175,21 @@ def assemble_api_request(
     _sanitize_messages_surrogates(api_messages)
 
     # No send-time pad loop here: ``repair_empty_non_final_messages`` (inside
-    # ``_sanitize_api_messages``) is the single owner of empty-turn repair, and its
-    # non-whitespace placeholder survives normalization regardless of ordering.
+    # ``_sanitize_api_messages``) is the single owner of empty-turn repair.
 
     # Build the request-local cache sections LAST, after every transcript mutation;
     # the canonical tool registry stays undecorated. Marked ``content`` becomes text
     # blocks the whitespace pass skips, so the same row's bytes vary across turns.
     tools_for_api = agent.tools
     if agent._use_prompt_caching and agent.provider != "moa":
-        from agent.prompt_caching import (
-            envelope_tool_part_cache_markers_supported,
-        )
+        from agent.prompt_caching import envelope_tool_part_cache_markers_supported
 
         _static_system_prefix = getattr(agent, "_cached_system_prompt_static", None)
         _initial_cache_plan = build_prompt_cache_plan(
             api_messages,
             tools_for_api,
             # Clamp per-destination: a configured 1h regresses to 5m on
-            # Qwen/Alibaba routes, whose context cache is 5m-only (#84733).
+            # Qwen/Alibaba routes, whose context cache is 5m-only.
             cache_ttl=effective_cache_ttl(
                 agent._cache_ttl, provider=agent.provider, model=agent.model
             ),
@@ -198,7 +199,7 @@ def assemble_api_request(
             ),
             direct_native_tool_cache=agent._direct_native_anthropic_tool_cache_capability(),
             # LiteLLM-style envelope routes forward part-level markers into
-            # tool_result.content[] → non-retryable 400 (#89886).
+            # tool_result.content[] → non-retryable 400.
             tool_part_markers=envelope_tool_part_cache_markers_supported(
                 getattr(agent, "provider", ""), getattr(agent, "base_url", "")
             ),
@@ -211,50 +212,35 @@ def assemble_api_request(
     # prepared request instead of running the advisors again.
     _moa_prepared_request = None
     if agent.provider == "moa":
-        _moa_completions = getattr(getattr(agent.client, "chat", None), "completions", None)
-        if pending_moa_prepared_request is not None:
-            _rebase_moa_request = getattr(_moa_completions, "rebase_prepared_request", None)
-            if callable(_rebase_moa_request):
-                _moa_prepared_request = _rebase_moa_request(
-                    pending_moa_prepared_request, api_messages
-                )
-            pending_moa_prepared_request = None
-        if _moa_prepared_request is None:
-            _prepare_moa_request = getattr(_moa_completions, "prepare", None)
-            if callable(_prepare_moa_request):
-                _moa_prepared_request = _prepare_moa_request(api_messages)
-        if _moa_prepared_request is not None:
-            api_messages = _moa_prepared_request["messages"]
+        _moa_prepared_request, api_messages, pending_moa_prepared_request = _prepare_moa_request(
+            agent, api_messages, pending_moa_prepared_request
+        )
 
     # One image-stripped estimate feeds both figures; tools counted separately (50+
     # tools ≈ 20-30K tokens); total_chars is a rough proxy for logs/hooks only.
-    # Charge stale thinking only when the active route replays it (#84371).
+    # Charge stale thinking only when the active route replays it.
     from agent.turn_context import _agent_stale_thinking_on_wire
 
     if _agent_stale_thinking_on_wire(agent):
         approx_tokens = estimate_messages_tokens_rough(api_messages)
     else:
-        approx_tokens = estimate_messages_tokens_rough(
-            api_messages, charge_stale_thinking=False
-        )
+        approx_tokens = estimate_messages_tokens_rough(api_messages, charge_stale_thinking=False)
     # Route-aware: native Responses compaction prunes the wire payload, so the raw
-    # history figure overstates it and fires needless local compression (#96995).
+    # history figure overstates it and fires needless local compression.
     request_pressure_tokens = _midturn_request_pressure_tokens(
         agent, api_messages, effective_system or "", approx_tokens
     )
     # Usage-anchored override: real prompt_tokens (incl. system + tool schemas) +
     # delta estimate replaces the whole-history heuristic when the anchor is fresh.
-    _anchored_pressure = anchored_context_tokens(
-        messages, getattr(agent, "_usage_anchor", None)
-    )
+    _anchored_pressure = anchored_context_tokens(messages, getattr(agent, "_usage_anchor", None))
     if _anchored_pressure is not None:
         request_pressure_tokens = _anchored_pressure
-    total_chars = approx_tokens * 4
     # Stash the rough estimate so update_from_response() can pair it with the real
     # count (should_defer_preflight_to_real_usage). getattr: test doubles lack it.
-    _note_rough = getattr(
-        agent.context_compressor, "note_request_rough_estimate", None
-    )
+    _note_rough = getattr(agent.context_compressor, "note_request_rough_estimate", None)
     if callable(_note_rough):
         _note_rough(request_pressure_tokens)
-    return _verdict("fallthrough")
+    return AssembledRequest(
+        "fallthrough", api_messages, tools_for_api, _moa_prepared_request,
+        pending_moa_prepared_request, approx_tokens, request_pressure_tokens, approx_tokens * 4,
+    )
diff --git a/agent/turn_response_intake.py b/agent/turn_response_intake.py
index 8ea50d6fce..8c4b5949ea 100644
--- a/agent/turn_response_intake.py
+++ b/agent/turn_response_intake.py
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 """Response intake for the conversation turn loop: normalize the raw provider response into
 the assistant message, splice agent-as-provider projections, fire ``post_api_request``, relay
 reasoning to the progress callback, and apply the incomplete-scratchpad / Codex-incomplete
-continuation guards. Extracted from ``run_conversation``; nothing here imports
-``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level (cycle).
+continuation guards. Nothing here imports ``agent.conversation_loop`` at module level (cycle).
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -15,10 +14,12 @@ from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 
 from agent.provider_projection import splice_provider_projection
 from agent.trajectory import has_incomplete_scratchpad
-from agent.turn_truncation import continue_codex_incomplete
+from agent.turn_truncation import continue_codex_incomplete, normalize_response_for_agent, partial_result
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("agent.conversation_loop")
 
+_REASONING_TAG_RE = re.compile(r'</?(?:REASONING_SCRATCHPAD|think|reasoning)>')
+
 
 @dataclass
 class ResponseIntakeVerdict:
@@ -32,68 +33,34 @@ class ResponseIntakeVerdict:
     result: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
 
 
-def normalize_model_response(
-    agent: Any, *, response: Any, messages: Any, api_messages: Any, conversation_history: Any,
+def _coerce_content_text(raw: Any) -> str:
+    """Some OpenAI-compatible servers (llama-server) return content as dict/list, which
+    crashes downstream ``.strip()``; normalize to str (multimodal lists → text parts)."""
+    if isinstance(raw, dict):
+        return raw.get("text", "") or raw.get("content", "") or json.dumps(raw)
+    if isinstance(raw, list):
+        parts = []
+        for part in raw:
+            if isinstance(part, str):
+                parts.append(part)
+            elif isinstance(part, dict) and part.get("type") == "text":
+                parts.append(part.get("text", ""))
+            elif isinstance(part, dict) and "text" in part:
+                parts.append(str(part["text"]))
+        return "\n".join(parts)
+    return str(raw)
+
+
+def _fire_post_api_request_hook(
+    agent: Any, response: Any, assistant_message: Any, finish_reason: Any, *, api_messages: Any,
     api_call_count: Any, api_duration: Any, api_start_time: Any, api_request_id: Any,
     effective_task_id: Any, turn_id: Any,
-) -> ResponseIntakeVerdict:
-    """Normalize ``response`` into ``assistant_message`` (str content, never dict/list) and run
-    the post-response hooks and continuation guards, in the original order."""
-    from agent.conversation_loop import (
-        _moa_reference_metrics_for_hook,
-    )
-    assistant_message = None
-    finish_reason = None
-
-    def _verdict(action: str, result: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> ResponseIntakeVerdict:
-        return ResponseIntakeVerdict(
-            action=action, assistant_message=assistant_message, finish_reason=finish_reason,
-            result=result,
-        )
-
-    _transport = agent._get_transport()
-    _normalize_kwargs = {}
-    if agent.api_mode == "anthropic_messages":
-        _normalize_kwargs["strip_tool_prefix"] = agent._is_anthropic_oauth
-    normalized = _transport.normalize_response(response, **_normalize_kwargs)
-    assistant_message = normalized
-    finish_reason = normalized.finish_reason
-
-    # Some OpenAI-compatible servers (llama-server) return content as dict/list,
-    # which crashes downstream .strip(); normalize to str.
-    if assistant_message.content is not None and not isinstance(assistant_message.content, str):
-        raw = assistant_message.content
-        if isinstance(raw, dict):
-            assistant_message.content = raw.get("text", "") or raw.get("content", "") or json.dumps(raw)
-        elif isinstance(raw, list):
-            # Multimodal content list — extract text parts
-            parts = []
-            for part in raw:
-                if isinstance(part, str):
-                    parts.append(part)
-                elif isinstance(part, dict) and part.get("type") == "text":
-                    parts.append(part.get("text", ""))
-                elif isinstance(part, dict) and "text" in part:
-                    parts.append(str(part["text"]))
-            assistant_message.content = "\n".join(parts)
-        else:
-            assistant_message.content = str(raw)
-
-    # ── Agent-as-provider projection ──────────────────────────────
-    # Splice the provider-agent's own tool work in as call/result rows before
-    # this turn's assistant message; no-op for ordinary providers.
-    splice_provider_projection(agent, response, messages)
+) -> None:
+    from agent.conversation_loop import _moa_reference_metrics_for_hook
 
     try:
-        from hermes_cli.lifecycle import (
-            has_hook, invoke_hook as _invoke_hook
-        )
+        from hermes_cli.lifecycle import has_hook, invoke_hook as _invoke_hook
         if has_hook("post_api_request"):
-            _assistant_tool_calls = (
-                getattr(assistant_message, "tool_calls", None) or []
-            )
-            _assistant_text = assistant_message.content or ""
-            _api_ended_at = api_start_time + api_duration
             _invoke_hook(
                 "post_api_request",
                 task_id=effective_task_id,
@@ -108,13 +75,10 @@ def normalize_model_response(
                 api_call_count=api_call_count,
                 api_duration=api_duration,
                 started_at=api_start_time,
-                ended_at=_api_ended_at,
-                # First stream chunk time (epoch s) from
-                # interruptible_streaming_api_call; None if not streamed / no
-                # chunk. TTFB = first_chunk_at - started_at.
-                first_chunk_at=getattr(
-                    agent, "_last_api_first_chunk_at", None
-                ),
+                ended_at=api_start_time + api_duration,
+                # First stream chunk time (epoch s); None if not streamed / no chunk.
+                # TTFB = first_chunk_at - started_at.
+                first_chunk_at=getattr(agent, "_last_api_first_chunk_at", None),
                 finish_reason=finish_reason,
                 message_count=len(api_messages),
                 response_model=getattr(response, "model", None),
@@ -123,73 +87,86 @@ def normalize_model_response(
                 ),
                 usage=agent._usage_summary_for_api_request_hook(response),
                 assistant_message=assistant_message,
-                assistant_content_chars=len(_assistant_text),
-                assistant_tool_call_count=len(_assistant_tool_calls),
+                assistant_content_chars=len(assistant_message.content or ""),
+                assistant_tool_call_count=len(getattr(assistant_message, "tool_calls", None) or []),
                 moa_references=_moa_reference_metrics_for_hook(agent),
             )
     except Exception:
         pass
 
-    # Handle assistant response
-    if assistant_message.content and not agent.quiet_mode:
+
+def _relay_thinking(agent: Any, content: str) -> None:
+    """Relay the model's text to the progress callback: subagents send the first line to
+    the parent display; any agent with a structured callback gets ``reasoning.available``."""
+    _think_text = _REASONING_TAG_RE.sub('', content.strip()).strip()
+    first_line = _think_text.split('\n')[0][:80] if _think_text else ""
+    if first_line and getattr(agent, '_delegate_depth', 0) > 0:
+        try:
+            agent.tool_progress_callback("_thinking", first_line)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+    elif _think_text:
+        try:
+            agent.tool_progress_callback("reasoning.available", "_thinking", _think_text[:500], None)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+
+def normalize_model_response(
+    agent: Any, *, response: Any, messages: Any, api_messages: Any, conversation_history: Any,
+    api_call_count: Any, api_duration: Any, api_start_time: Any, api_request_id: Any,
+    effective_task_id: Any, turn_id: Any,
+) -> ResponseIntakeVerdict:
+    """Normalize ``response`` into ``assistant_message`` (str content, never dict/list) and run
+    the post-response hooks and continuation guards, in the original order."""
+    assistant_message = normalize_response_for_agent(agent, response)
+    finish_reason = assistant_message.finish_reason
+
+    def _verdict(action: str, result: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> ResponseIntakeVerdict:
+        return ResponseIntakeVerdict(
+            action=action, assistant_message=assistant_message, finish_reason=finish_reason,
+            result=result,
+        )
+
+    if assistant_message.content is not None and not isinstance(assistant_message.content, str):
+        assistant_message.content = _coerce_content_text(assistant_message.content)
+
+    # Agent-as-provider projection: splice the provider-agent's own tool work in as
+    # call/result rows before this turn's assistant message; no-op for ordinary providers.
+    splice_provider_projection(agent, response, messages)
+
+    _fire_post_api_request_hook(
+        agent, response, assistant_message, finish_reason, api_messages=api_messages,
+        api_call_count=api_call_count, api_duration=api_duration, api_start_time=api_start_time,
+        api_request_id=api_request_id, effective_task_id=effective_task_id, turn_id=turn_id,
+    )
+
+    content = assistant_message.content
+    if content and not agent.quiet_mode:
         if agent.verbose_logging:
-            agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🤖 Assistant: {assistant_message.content}")
+            agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🤖 Assistant: {content}")
         else:
-            agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🤖 Assistant: {assistant_message.content[:100]}{'...' if len(assistant_message.content) > 100 else ''}")
+            agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}🤖 Assistant: {content[:100]}{'...' if len(content) > 100 else ''}")
+    if content and agent.tool_progress_callback:
+        _relay_thinking(agent, content)
 
-    # Notify progress callback of model's thinking (used by subagent
-    # delegation to relay the child's reasoning to the parent display).
-    if (assistant_message.content and agent.tool_progress_callback):
-        _think_text = assistant_message.content.strip()
-        # Strip reasoning XML tags that shouldn't leak to parent display
-        _think_text = re.sub(
-            r'</?(?:REASONING_SCRATCHPAD|think|reasoning)>', '', _think_text
-        ).strip()
-        # For subagents: relay first line to parent display (existing behaviour).
-        # For all agents with a structured callback: emit reasoning.available event.
-        first_line = _think_text.split('\n')[0][:80] if _think_text else ""
-        if first_line and getattr(agent, '_delegate_depth', 0) > 0:
-            try:
-                agent.tool_progress_callback("_thinking", first_line)
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-        elif _think_text:
-            try:
-                agent.tool_progress_callback("reasoning.available", "_thinking", _think_text[:500], None)
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-
-    # Check for incomplete <REASONING_SCRATCHPAD> (opened but never closed)
-    # This means the model ran out of output tokens mid-reasoning — retry up to 2 times
-    if has_incomplete_scratchpad(assistant_message.content or ""):
+    # Incomplete <REASONING_SCRATCHPAD> (opened, never closed): the model ran out of
+    # output tokens mid-reasoning — retry up to 2 times, then save as partial.
+    if has_incomplete_scratchpad(content or ""):
         agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries += 1
-
         agent._buffer_vprint("⚠️  Incomplete <REASONING_SCRATCHPAD> detected (opened but never closed)")
-
         if agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries <= 2:
             agent._buffer_vprint(f"🔄 Retrying API call ({agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries}/2)...")
-            # Don't add the broken message, just retry
-            return _verdict("continue")
-        else:
-            # Max retries - discard this turn and save as partial
-            agent._flush_status_buffer()
-            agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Max retries (2) for incomplete scratchpad. Saving as partial.", force=True)
-            agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries = 0
-
-            rolled_back_messages = agent._get_messages_up_to_last_assistant(messages)
-            agent._cleanup_task_resources(effective_task_id)
-            agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
-
-            return _verdict("return", {
-                "final_response": "Incomplete REASONING_SCRATCHPAD after 2 retries",
-                "messages": rolled_back_messages,
-                "api_calls": api_call_count,
-                "completed": False,
-                "partial": True,
-                "error": "Incomplete REASONING_SCRATCHPAD after 2 retries"
-            })
-
-    # Reset incomplete scratchpad counter on clean response
+            return _verdict("continue")  # don't add the broken message
+        agent._flush_status_buffer()
+        agent._vprint(f"{agent.log_prefix}❌ Max retries (2) for incomplete scratchpad. Saving as partial.", force=True)
+        agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries = 0
+        rolled_back_messages = agent._get_messages_up_to_last_assistant(messages)
+        agent._cleanup_task_resources(effective_task_id)
+        agent._persist_session(messages, conversation_history)
+        return _verdict("return", partial_result(
+            rolled_back_messages, api_call_count, "Incomplete REASONING_SCRATCHPAD after 2 retries"
+        ))
     agent._incomplete_scratchpad_retries = 0
 
     if agent.api_mode == "codex_responses" and finish_reason == "incomplete":
@@ -200,6 +177,6 @@ def normalize_model_response(
         if _codex_result is not None:
             return _verdict("return", _codex_result)
         return _verdict("continue")
-    elif hasattr(agent, "_codex_incomplete_retries"):
+    if hasattr(agent, "_codex_incomplete_retries"):
         agent._codex_incomplete_retries = 0
     return _verdict("fallthrough")