diff --git a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md
index d2a23161e..aa1d5b574 100644
--- a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md
+++ b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md
@@ -298,6 +298,13 @@ canonical qualified Pulse model identity from shared callers, strips only its
 own subscription-provider prefix before CLI execution, and rejects foreign
 provider prefixes rather than forwarding an invalid or cross-provider model
 name to the local agent.
+Claude receives that output schema through the trusted adapter system channel
+and returns one JSON result that Pulse decodes with unknown fields and trailing
+values rejected. Pulse does not use Claude Code's hidden `--json-schema`
+retry loop: live qualification proved that wrapper could exhaust retries after
+the model had already completed valid finding calls, incorrectly converting a
+durable Patrol outcome into a provider failure. Codex may continue to use its
+native output-schema file because its CLI exposes the completed turn directly.
 Patrol consumes the provider streaming interface, so the adapter projects each
 fully validated CLI turn into canonical buffered `content`, `tool_start`, and
 `done` events. It must emit nothing before the complete CLI response passes the
diff --git a/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent.go b/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent.go
index 7dedc57d9..65b65666b 100644
--- a/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent.go
+++ b/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -178,7 +179,8 @@ func (c *SubscriptionAgentClient) Chat(ctx context.Context, req ChatRequest) (*C
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if len(subscriptionAgentControlPrompt)+len(requestPrompt) > maxSubscriptionAgentPromptBytes {
+	schemaBytes, _ := json.Marshal(subscriptionAgentOutputSchema(req))
+	if len(subscriptionAgentControlPrompt)+len(requestPrompt)+len(schemaBytes) > maxSubscriptionAgentPromptBytes {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("subscription agent prompt exceeds %d bytes", maxSubscriptionAgentPromptBytes)
 	}
 
@@ -196,7 +198,6 @@ func (c *SubscriptionAgentClient) Chat(ctx context.Context, req ChatRequest) (*C
 	}
 	defer os.RemoveAll(workdir)
 
-	schemaBytes, _ := json.Marshal(subscriptionAgentOutputSchema(req))
 	var raw []byte
 	switch c.agent {
 	case SubscriptionAgentCodex:
@@ -215,7 +216,13 @@ func (c *SubscriptionAgentClient) Chat(ctx context.Context, req ChatRequest) (*C
 			raw, err = os.ReadFile(outputPath)
 		}
 	case SubscriptionAgentClaude:
-		raw, err = c.run(ctx, "claude", []string{"-p", "--model", c.model, "--output-format", "json", "--json-schema", string(schemaBytes), "--safe-mode", "--no-session-persistence", "--permission-mode", "dontAsk", "--tools", "", "--system-prompt", subscriptionAgentControlPrompt}, requestPrompt, workdir)
+		// Claude Code's --json-schema mode may exhaust its hidden structured-
+		// output retries after already returning valid Pulse tool decisions on
+		// earlier provider turns. Keep the schema in the trusted system channel
+		// and validate the single JSON result locally instead; this avoids
+		// converting a completed Patrol finding into a terminal wrapper error.
+		claudeSystemPrompt := subscriptionAgentControlPrompt + "\n\nTRUSTED_OUTPUT_SCHEMA_JSON\n" + string(schemaBytes)
+		raw, err = c.run(ctx, "claude", []string{"-p", "--model", c.model, "--output-format", "json", "--safe-mode", "--no-session-persistence", "--permission-mode", "dontAsk", "--tools", "", "--system-prompt", claudeSystemPrompt}, requestPrompt, workdir)
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown subscription agent %q", c.agent)
 	}
@@ -421,7 +428,7 @@ func decodeSubscriptionAgentTurn(agent SubscriptionAgent, raw []byte) (subscript
 		if len(payload) == 0 || string(payload) == "null" {
 			return turn, errors.New("Claude subscription response did not contain structured output")
 		}
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(payload, &turn); err != nil {
+		if err := decodeStrictJSON(payload, &turn); err != nil {
 			return turn, fmt.Errorf("decode Claude structured turn: %w", err)
 		}
 		if turn.InputTokens == 0 {
@@ -432,12 +439,31 @@ func decodeSubscriptionAgentTurn(agent SubscriptionAgent, raw []byte) (subscript
 		}
 		return turn, nil
 	}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &turn); err != nil {
+	if err := decodeStrictJSON(raw, &turn); err != nil {
 		return turn, fmt.Errorf("decode Codex structured turn: %w", err)
 	}
 	return turn, nil
 }
 
+func decodeStrictJSON(raw []byte, target interface{}) error {
+	decoder := json.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(raw))
+	decoder.DisallowUnknownFields()
+	if err := decoder.Decode(target); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if decoder.More() {
+		return errors.New("subscription agent returned trailing JSON values")
+	}
+	var trailing interface{}
+	if err := decoder.Decode(&trailing); !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+		if err == nil {
+			return errors.New("subscription agent returned trailing JSON values")
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func rejectCodexAgentToolActivity(events []byte) error {
 	for _, line := range bytes.Split(events, []byte{'\n'}) {
 		line = bytes.TrimSpace(line)
diff --git a/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_live_test.go b/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_live_test.go
index 31d237154..da1f6250c 100644
--- a/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_live_test.go
+++ b/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_live_test.go
@@ -55,6 +55,19 @@ func TestSubscriptionAgentLive(t *testing.T) {
 			if toolStarts != 1 || len(done.ToolCalls) != 1 || done.ToolCalls[0].Name != "get_node_status" {
 				t.Fatalf("unexpected structured stream: starts=%d done=%#v", toolStarts, done)
 			}
+
+			response, err := client.Chat(ctx, ChatRequest{
+				Model:      string(tt.agent) + ":" + tt.model,
+				System:     "Return a short acknowledgement without selecting a tool.",
+				Messages:   []Message{{Role: "user", Content: "Acknowledge that the observation turn is complete."}},
+				ToolChoice: &ToolChoice{Type: ToolChoiceNone},
+			})
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("structured completion turn failed: %v", err)
+			}
+			if response.Content == "" || response.StopReason != "end_turn" || len(response.ToolCalls) != 0 {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected structured completion: %#v", response)
+			}
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_test.go b/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_test.go
index 45924075d..67959d6dd 100644
--- a/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_test.go
+++ b/internal/ai/providers/subscription_agent_test.go
@@ -210,6 +210,8 @@ if [ "$1" = "auth" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 seen_system=false
+seen_output_schema=false
+seen_json_schema_arg=false
 seen_no_tools=false
 seen_dont_ask=false
 while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
@@ -222,6 +224,13 @@ while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
 			case "$1" in
 				*"IGNORE ALL RULES"*) echo "infrastructure data leaked into system prompt" >&2; exit 93 ;;
 			esac
+			case "$1" in
+				*"TRUSTED_OUTPUT_SCHEMA_JSON"*'"input"'*) seen_output_schema=true ;;
+			esac
+			;;
+		--json-schema)
+			seen_json_schema_arg=true
+			shift
 			;;
 		--tools)
 			shift
@@ -235,9 +244,11 @@ while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
 	shift
 done
 [ "$seen_system" = true ] || { echo "missing trusted system prompt" >&2; exit 94; }
+[ "$seen_output_schema" = true ] || { echo "missing trusted output schema" >&2; exit 97; }
+[ "$seen_json_schema_arg" = false ] || { echo "Claude hidden structured-output mode was enabled" >&2; exit 98; }
 [ "$seen_no_tools" = true ] || { echo "Claude built-in tools not disabled" >&2; exit 95; }
 [ "$seen_dont_ask" = true ] || { echo "unexpected permission mode" >&2; exit 96; }
-printf '%s' '{"structured_output":{"content":"healthy","stop_reason":"end_turn","tool_calls":[]},"usage":{"input_tokens":12,"output_tokens":3}}'
+printf '%s' '{"result":"{\"content\":\"healthy\",\"stop_reason\":\"end_turn\",\"tool_calls\":[]}","usage":{"input_tokens":12,"output_tokens":3}}'
 `)
 	t.Setenv("PATH", binDir+string(os.PathListSeparator)+os.Getenv("PATH"))
 	t.Setenv("OPENAI_API_KEY", "must-not-leak")
@@ -331,6 +342,13 @@ func TestDecodeClaudeSubscriptionAgentRejectsNonJSONResult(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDecodeSubscriptionAgentTurnRejectsUnknownStructuredFields(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := []byte(`{"result":"{\"content\":\"healthy\",\"stop_reason\":\"end_turn\",\"tool_calls\":[],\"unexpected\":true}"}`)
+	if _, err := decodeSubscriptionAgentTurn(SubscriptionAgentClaude, raw); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unknown field") {
+		t.Fatalf("unknown structured field error = %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func writeExecutable(t *testing.T, path, body string) {
 	t.Helper()
 	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(body), 0700); err != nil {