diff --git a/.github/scripts/test_aw_issue_clustering_publish.cjs b/.github/scripts/test_aw_issue_clustering_publish.cjs
index 2e4b4e979bc..7b6da4c5598 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/test_aw_issue_clustering_publish.cjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/test_aw_issue_clustering_publish.cjs
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ test("live queue refuses an eleventh issue", async () => {
 
 test("new summaries use attributed issue creation and preserve managed metadata", async () => {
   const { setupGlobals, createIssue } = require("../../actions/setup/js/index.cjs");
+  const { renderIssueParameters } = require("../../actions/setup/js/issue_report.cjs");
   const data = corpus();
   const calls = [];
   const github = {
@@ -261,6 +262,13 @@ test("new summaries use attributed issue creation and preserve managed metadata"
     GH_AW_CALLER_WORKFLOW_ID: "github/gh-aw/aw-issue-clustering",
     GH_AW_PROMPTS_DIR: path.resolve(__dirname, "../../actions/setup/md"),
     GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUTS_STAGED: "false",
+    GITHUB_REPOSITORY: "github/gh-aw",
+    GITHUB_REPOSITORY_ID: "123",
+    GITHUB_SERVER_URL: "https://github.com",
+    GITHUB_RUN_ID: "123",
+    GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT: "1",
+    GITHUB_JOB: "safe_outputs",
+    GH_AW_JOB_CHECK_RUN_ID: "456",
   };
   const previousEnv = Object.fromEntries(Object.keys(env).map(key => [key, process.env[key]]));
   const globalKeys = ["core", "github", "context", "exec", "io", "getOctokit", "runtimeFeatures", "hasRuntimeFeature", "getRuntimeFeatureValue"];
@@ -271,7 +279,7 @@ test("new summaries use attributed issue creation and preserve managed metadata"
     setupGlobals(core, github, { repo: { owner: "github", repo: "gh-aw" }, runId: 123, payload: {} }, {}, {}, () => github);
     const result = await reconcile(github, "github", "gh-aw", [cluster()], data, false, core, createIssue);
     assert.equal(calls.length, 1);
-    assert.ok(calls[0].body.includes(island(cluster(), 1, repo)));
+    assert.ok(calls[0].body.includes(renderIssueParameters({ title: "Summary", body: island(cluster(), 1, repo) }).body.trimEnd()));
     assert.match(calls[0].body, /> Generated by \[AW Essential Issue Clustering\]/);
     assert.match(calls[0].body, /gh-aw-agentic-workflow: AW Essential Issue Clustering/);
     assert.ok(calls[0].body.includes("https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/123"));
diff --git a/actions/setup/README.md b/actions/setup/README.md
index 259d25f24cc..8a9b879087d 100644
--- a/actions/setup/README.md
+++ b/actions/setup/README.md
@@ -73,6 +73,65 @@ All files are copied from the committed `js/` and `sh/` directories which contai
 
 ## Development
 
+### Structured issue reports
+
+All JavaScript GitHub issue creators publish through `js/issue_report.cjs`.
+`createReportIssue(client, parameters, report?)` renders the report AST before
+calling the supplied authenticated client's issue API. Existing issue Markdown
+is imported when no document is supplied. GraphQL work-queue creation uses the
+same `renderIssueParameters` boundary, as do staged safe-output previews.
+Linear uses the Markdown renderer. Jira uses text-preserving normalization before
+converting its literal description to ADF, without replacing ordinary language
+characters with visually similar Latin letters.
+
+`js/report_ast.cjs` defines the typed inline and block nodes, normalization, and
+GitHub Markdown renderer. The renderer owns escaping, HTTPS link validation,
+heading levels, balanced details, code fences, and whitespace. It rejects raw
+HTML/Markdown nodes and redacts diagnostic secrets before choosing delimiters.
+
+`js/failure_report.cjs` builds reports from `md/agent_failure_issue.md`.
+`js/report_markdown.cjs` imports the runtime template dialect: headings,
+paragraphs, emphasis, links, images, bare HTTPS URLs, code, lists, task lists,
+tables, quotes, alerts, separators, and details. Link destinations retain balanced
+parentheses, and image sources use the same HTTPS validation as links.
+Source paragraph newlines and explicit Markdown hard breaks use typed break nodes;
+newlines in scalar metadata still normalize to spaces.
+Templates are parsed **before** scalar metadata is substituted. Diagnostic
+fragments enter through explicit block fields, with headings below the report
+sections; unsupported HTML remains literal text. New programmatic report content
+should use AST nodes rather than concatenated Markdown. Empty optional blocks
+are omitted and rendering is deterministic. Complete fragments are redacted before
+tokenization, and URL-domain policies apply to fully normalized content.
+
+`js/report_footer.cjs` builds the footer from the shared attribution template and
+model/cost metadata. Attribution, expiration, provenance, failure-match markers,
+and the detection preamble are rendered with the document, not appended afterward.
+Marker names and fields are validated; marker values cannot close an HTML comment
+or inject another metadata field. Ordinary double hyphens in identifiers remain
+unchanged. Unknown placeholders in user-configured footer templates remain literal;
+internal templates retain strict missing-field validation. Expiration remains a
+checked task-list item so existing cleanup and deduplication readers continue to work.
+
+The issue publication importer explicitly enables typed metadata comments to
+preserve grouping, execution provenance, managed islands, and work-queue IDs.
+Diagnostic imports do not enable them. JSON metadata is serialized without HTML
+delimiters while preserving decoded values. Configured mentions use explicit
+mention nodes after the existing safe-output allowlist and budget checks; other
+text cannot create notifications. Body limits apply after rendering, including
+escaping and attribution. A repository-wide regression guards against direct
+REST issue-creation calls outside the shared publisher.
+
+Special syntax has semantic nodes rather than interpolated strings:
+`closing_reference` records the closing action, issue number, optional
+`owner/repo`, and an explicit `enabled` flag. Disabled references render an
+escaped `#`, including in PR fallback issues; scalar text never becomes an active
+closing directive. `structured_data` accepts JSON values and renders a safely
+fenced JSON block. `xml_marker` holds a validated name, scalar value, and optional
+key/value fields; `json_marker` holds an actual data object, not serialized JSON.
+Footer provenance uses the same XML-marker node and renderer. Structured data
+preserves entity-looking strings, redacts secrets, and rejects cycles, getters,
+non-finite numbers, and other values JSON would silently drop or coerce.
+
 ### JSONL runtime helpers
 
 Use `js/jsonl_helpers.cjs` instead of splitting files or maintaining chunk buffers:
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/check_version_updates.cjs b/actions/setup/js/check_version_updates.cjs
index 2d3b9856e0d..0dbd86e857d 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/check_version_updates.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/check_version_updates.cjs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
  * Fails the activation job when validation fails.
  */
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { withRetry, isTransientError } = require("./error_recovery.cjs");
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { renderTemplateFromFile, getPromptPath } = require("./messages_core.cjs");
@@ -188,7 +190,7 @@ async function reportBlockedVersionIssue(compiledVersion) {
 
     const newIssue = await withRetry(
       () =>
-        github.rest.issues.create({
+        createReportIssue(github, {
           owner,
           repo,
           title,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/check_workflow_recompile_needed.cjs b/actions/setup/js/check_workflow_recompile_needed.cjs
index 19cb159e96c..39ca3300e3a 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/check_workflow_recompile_needed.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/check_workflow_recompile_needed.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { getFooterWorkflowRecompileMessage, getFooterWorkflowRecompileCommentMessage, generateXMLMarker, getDetectionCautionAlert } = require("./messages_footer.cjs");
 const fs = require("fs");
@@ -420,7 +422,7 @@ async function main() {
   issueBody += "\n\n---\n" + footer + "\n\n" + xmlMarker + "\n";
 
   try {
-    const newIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+    const newIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
       owner,
       repo,
       title: RECOMPILE_ISSUE_TITLE,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_forecast_issue.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_forecast_issue.cjs
index 753f99ea93d..275360d1162 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_forecast_issue.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_forecast_issue.cjs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 // @safe-outputs-exempt SEC-004
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const fs = require("node:fs");
 const { getPromptPath, renderTemplateFromFile } = require("./messages_core.cjs");
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
@@ -348,7 +350,7 @@ async function main() {
     await core.summary.addRaw(summary).write();
   }
 
-  const createdIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+  const createdIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
     owner: context.repo.owner,
     repo: context.repo.repo,
     title: isErrorOutcome ? FORECAST_ERROR_ISSUE_TITLE : FORECAST_ISSUE_TITLE,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_issue.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_issue.cjs
index 1f7bfe00ef3..0f3d5a1a042 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_issue.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_issue.cjs
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue, renderIssueParameters, buildIssueReport } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+const { normalizeReportText, normalizeReportTitle } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+
 const { sanitizeLabelContent } = require("./sanitize_label_content.cjs");
 const { sanitizeTitle, applyTitlePrefix } = require("./sanitize_title.cjs");
-const { sanitizeContent } = require("./sanitize_content.cjs");
+const { sanitizeContent, expandAllowedAliases } = require("./sanitize_content.cjs");
 const { normalizeCloseOlderKey } = require("./generate_footer.cjs");
 const { appendExecutionProvenance } = require("./execution_provenance.cjs");
 const { formatIssueBody } = require("./issue_body.cjs");
@@ -87,19 +90,17 @@ async function createIssue(parameters) {
   if (issueArrayLimitError) {
     throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: ${issueArrayLimitError}`);
   }
-  const body = formatIssueBody(parameters.body, { repo: { owner, repo } });
-  if (body.length > MAX_GITHUB_BODY_LENGTH) {
-    throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: Issue body exceeds GitHub's maximum length of ${MAX_GITHUB_BODY_LENGTH} characters including attribution`);
-  }
-  /** @type {IssueParameters} */
-  const request = { ...parameters, owner, repo, body };
+  const report = buildIssueReport(parameters.title, formatIssueBody(parameters.body, { repo: { owner, repo } }));
+  const rendered = renderIssueParameters({ title: parameters.title }, report);
+  /** @type {IssueParameters & {title: string, body: string}} */
+  const request = { ...parameters, owner, repo, ...rendered };
   if (labels) request.labels = labels;
   if (assignees) request.assignees = assignees;
   if (isStagedMode()) {
-    core.info(`Staged: would create issue in ${owner}/${repo} with title: ${parameters.title}`);
+    core.info(`Staged: would create issue in ${owner}/${repo} with title: ${request.title}`);
     return { staged: true, preview: request };
   }
-  const { data: issue } = await withRetry(() => github.rest.issues.create(request), RATE_LIMIT_RETRY_CONFIG, `create_issue in ${owner}/${repo}`);
+  const { data: issue } = await withRetry(() => createReportIssue(github, request, report), RATE_LIMIT_RETRY_CONFIG, `create_issue in ${owner}/${repo}`);
   core.info(`Created issue ${owner}/${repo}#${issue.number}: ${issue.html_url}`);
   return { staged: false, issue };
 }
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ async function findOrCreateParentIssue({ githubClient, groupId, owner, repo, tit
     const template = createParentIssueTemplate(groupId, titlePrefix, workflowName, workflowSourceURL, expiresHours);
     const { data: parentIssue } = await withRetry(
       () =>
-        githubClient.rest.issues.create({
+        createReportIssue(githubClient, {
           owner,
           repo,
           title: template.title,
@@ -994,7 +995,7 @@ async function main(config = {}) {
     processedBody = removeDuplicateTitleFromDescription(title, processedBody);
 
     // Sanitize body content to neutralize @mentions, URLs, and other security risks
-    processedBody = sanitizeContent(processedBody, { allowedAliases: allowedMentionAliases, maxMentions });
+    processedBody = sanitizeContent(normalizeReportText(processedBody), { allowedAliases: allowedMentionAliases, maxMentions });
 
     const bodyLines = processedBody.split("\n");
 
@@ -1021,7 +1022,7 @@ async function main(config = {}) {
     }
 
     // Apply title prefix (only if it doesn't already exist)
-    title = applyTitlePrefix(title, titlePrefix);
+    title = normalizeReportTitle(applyTitlePrefix(title, titlePrefix));
 
     const normalizedTitle = normalizeTitleForDedup(title);
 
@@ -1107,13 +1108,15 @@ async function main(config = {}) {
     const workflowId = process.env.GH_AW_WORKFLOW_ID ?? "";
     const callerWorkflowId = process.env.GH_AW_CALLER_WORKFLOW_ID ?? "";
     const runUrl = buildWorkflowRunUrl(context, context.repo);
-    const body = formatIssueBody(bodyLines.join("\n"), {
+    const formattedBody = formatIssueBody(bodyLines.join("\n"), {
       repo: repoParts,
       footer: includeFooter,
       bodyFooter: config.body_footer,
       expiresHours,
       closeOlderKey,
     });
+    const report = buildIssueReport(title, formattedBody, { allowedMentions: expandAllowedAliases(allowedMentionAliases) });
+    const { body } = renderIssueParameters({ title }, report);
 
     // Reserve a max-count slot synchronously before any async pre-creation work.
     // There is no await between check and increment, so concurrent invocations
@@ -1216,14 +1219,17 @@ async function main(config = {}) {
       }
       const { data: issue } = await withRetry(
         () =>
-          githubClient.rest.issues.create({
-            owner: repoParts.owner,
-            repo: repoParts.repo,
-            title,
-            body,
-            labels,
-            assignees,
-          }),
+          createReportIssue(
+            githubClient,
+            {
+              owner: repoParts.owner,
+              repo: repoParts.repo,
+              title,
+              labels,
+              assignees,
+            },
+            report
+          ),
         RATE_LIMIT_RETRY_CONFIG,
         `create_issue in ${qualifiedItemRepo}`
       );
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_issue.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_issue.test.cjs
index 22c1e681d95..c533cad15cd 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_issue.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_issue.test.cjs
@@ -113,6 +113,26 @@ describe("create_issue", () => {
   });
 
   describe("basic issue creation", () => {
+    it.each([{ allowedBotMentions: [] }, { allowedBotMentions: ["copilot"] }])("normalizes complete source fragments before URL policy with allowed mentions $allowedBotMentions", async ({ allowedBotMentions }) => {
+      vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_ALLOWED_DOMAINS", "github.com");
+      vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "REPORT_REFERENCE");
+      vi.stubEnv("SECRET_REPORT_REFERENCE", "report-secret#123");
+      const handler = await main({ allowedMentionAliases: allowedBotMentions, footer: false });
+      const result = await handler({
+        title: "Normalized report",
+        body: "Agent job: build  \nConclusion: failure\nreport-secret&#35;123 https:/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ZeroWidthSpace;/outside.invalid\n\n![Chart](https://github.com/o/r/chart(a).png)\n\nSee https://github.com/o/r/create_issue.cjs#L1118.\n\n@copilot @other",
+      });
+      expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+      const body = mockGithub.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0].body;
+      expect(body).not.toContain("report-secret");
+      expect(body).not.toContain("https://outside.invalid");
+      expect(body).not.toContain("ZeroWidthSpace");
+      expect(body).toContain("Agent job: build  \nConclusion: failure");
+      expect(body).toContain("![Chart](https://github.com/o/r/chart%28a%29.png)");
+      expect(body).toContain("](https://github.com/o/r/create_issue.cjs#L1118).");
+      expect(body).toContain(allowedBotMentions.length ? "@copilot `@other`" : "`@copilot` `@other`");
+    });
+
     it.each(requiredExecutionEnvKeys)("should not publish an issue when %s is missing", async key => {
       await expectMissingRuntimeFailure(async () => {
         const handler = await main({});
@@ -163,7 +183,7 @@ describe("create_issue", () => {
           title: "Tracker regression",
         })
       );
-      expect(request.body).toContain("Issue content with <b>safe HTML</b>");
+      expect(request.body).toContain("Issue content with &lt;b&gt;safe HTML&lt;/b&gt;");
       expect(request.body).not.toContain("<script>");
       expect(request.body).toContain("(script)");
       expectExecutionProvenance(request.body);
@@ -221,7 +241,7 @@ describe("create_issue", () => {
       });
 
       const createCall = mockGithub.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0];
-      expect(createCall.body).toContain("Test body content\n\nRequired footer from Test Workflow: https://github.com/test-owner/test-repo/actions/runs/12345");
+      expect(createCall.body).toContain("Test body content\n\nRequired footer from Test Workflow: [https://github.com/test-owner/test-repo/actions/runs/12345](https://github.com/test-owner/test-repo/actions/runs/12345)");
       expect(createCall.body).not.toContain("> Generated by");
       expect(createCall.body.indexOf("Required footer from Test Workflow")).toBeLessThan(createCall.body.indexOf("<!-- gh-aw-workflow-id:"));
     });
@@ -1588,6 +1608,17 @@ describe("create_issue", () => {
       expect(createCall.body).not.toContain("`@copilot`");
       expect(createCall.body).toContain("`@someone-else`");
     });
+
+    it.each([
+      ["copilot-swe-agent", "copilot"],
+      ["org/team.name", "org/team.name"],
+    ])("preserves configured alias %s through AST rendering", async (allowed, mention) => {
+      const handler = await main({ mentions: { allowTeamMembers: false, allowContext: false, allowed: [allowed, "someone-else"], max: 1 } });
+      await handler({ title: "Configured mention", body: `Ask @${mention} and @someone-else; code \`@${mention}\` stays inert.` });
+      const body = mockGithub.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0].body;
+      expect(body).toContain(`Ask @${mention} and \`@someone-else\``);
+      expect(body).toContain(`code \`@${mention}\` stays inert.`);
+    });
   });
 
   describe("retry on rate limit errors", () => {
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.cjs
index 85efeade622..c3e061324e5 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 /** @type {typeof import("fs")} */
 const fs = require("fs");
 /** @type {typeof import("crypto")} */
@@ -387,7 +389,7 @@ async function createFallbackIssue(githubClient, repoParts, title, body, labels,
   const innerCreate = async () => {
     try {
       assertUnchanged();
-      const response = await githubClient.rest.issues.create(payload);
+      const response = await createReportIssue(githubClient, payload);
       assertUnchanged();
       return { ...response, issueRepoParts: { owner: payload.owner, repo: payload.repo } };
     } catch (error) {
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.test.cjs
index 5a47c11e0bb..303ea75c56c 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_pull_request.test.cjs
@@ -2359,7 +2359,7 @@ ${diffs}
     expect(createCall.body).toContain("/compare/main...");
     expect(createCall.body).not.toContain("gh run download");
     expect(createCall.body).not.toContain("git am --3way");
-    expect(createCall.body).toContain("Your pull request is ready to create! 🎉 ✅");
+    expect(createCall.body).toContain("Your pull request is ready to create\\! 🎉 ✅");
     expect(createCall.body).toContain("The original pull request description is below.");
     expect(createCall.body.indexOf("Your pull request is ready to create! 🎉 ✅")).toBeLessThan(createCall.body.indexOf("Test body"));
     expect(createCall.body.indexOf("Test body")).toBeLessThan(createCall.body.indexOf("Protected files"));
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.cjs
index fda7d94dc0a..c9bad96ae2a 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { getPromptPath, renderTemplateFromFile } = require("./messages_core.cjs");
 const { buildGeneratedFooter } = require("./markdown_body_helpers.cjs");
 const { sanitizeTitle } = require("./sanitize_title.cjs");
@@ -30,7 +32,7 @@ async function main() {
   });
   const body = `${steeringBody}\n\n${footer}`;
 
-  const { data: issue } = await github.rest.issues.create({
+  const { data: issue } = await createReportIssue(github, {
     owner: context.repo.owner,
     repo: context.repo.repo,
     title,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.test.cjs
index 1cb2bb17db4..acde9859969 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_steering_issue.test.cjs
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ describe("create_steering_issue", () => {
     await main();
 
     const body = global.github.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0].body;
-    expect(body).toContain("> Generated by Test workflow: https://github.com/owner/repo/actions/runs/123");
+    expect(body).toContain("> Generated by Test workflow: [https://github.com/owner/repo/actions/runs/123](https://github.com/owner/repo/actions/runs/123)");
     expect(body).toContain("<!-- gh-aw-agentic-workflow: Test workflow, id: 123, run: https://github.com/owner/repo/actions/runs/123 -->");
   });
 
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/failure_report.cjs b/actions/setup/js/failure_report.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..578149e9aab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/failure_report.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+const { parseReportMarkdown } = require("./report_markdown.cjs");
+
+/** @typedef {import("./report_ast.cjs").Report} Report */
+/** @typedef {import("./report_ast.cjs").ReportInline} ReportInline */
+/** @typedef {import("./report_ast.cjs").ReportBlock} ReportBlock */
+
+/**
+ * Keep legacy diagnostic templates at an explicit import boundary. Scalar metadata
+ * stays literal, and diagnostic headings cannot become top-level report sections.
+ * @param {string} template
+ * @param {string} title
+ * @param {Record<string, string>} values
+ * @returns {Report}
+ */
+function buildFailureReport(template, title, values) {
+  /** @type {import("./report_markdown.cjs").ReportContext} */
+  const context = {};
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(values)) {
+    context[key] = key.endsWith("_context") ? parseReportMarkdown(value, { minimumHeadingLevel: 4 }) : value;
+  }
+
+  /** @type {ReportInline[]} */
+  const links = [];
+  const addLink = (label, url) => {
+    if (links.length) links.push({ type: "text", value: " · " });
+    links.push({ type: "link", url, children: [{ type: "text", value: label }] });
+  };
+  if (values.run_url) addLink(/^\d+$/.test(values.run_id) ? `View run #${values.run_id}` : "View run", values.run_url);
+  else links.push({ type: "text", value: "Run link unavailable: run URL was not recorded." });
+  if (values.workflow_source_url && values.workflow_source_url !== "#") addLink("Workflow source", values.workflow_source_url);
+  if (values.history_url) addLink("Previous failures", values.history_url);
+  context.run_links_context = [{ type: "paragraph", children: links }];
+  context.pull_request_context = parseReportMarkdown(values.pull_request_info || "");
+
+  const evidence = [context.report_incomplete_context, context.failure_diagnostics_context].flatMap(value => (Array.isArray(value) ? value : []));
+  context.runtime_evidence_context = evidence.length ? [{ type: "details", summary: "Runtime evidence", children: evidence }] : [];
+
+  return { type: "report", title, children: parseReportMarkdown(template, { context, minimumHeadingLevel: 3 }) };
+}
+
+module.exports = { buildFailureReport };
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/failure_report.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/failure_report.test.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2cbf8238255
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/failure_report.test.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { createRequire } from "module";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { buildFailureReport } = require("./failure_report.cjs");
+const { normalizeReport, renderReport } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+const template = readFileSync(new URL("../md/agent_failure_issue.md", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+
+function values(overrides = {}) {
+  return {
+    ...Object.fromEntries(Array.from(template.matchAll(/\{(\w+)\}/g), match => [match[1], ""])),
+    workflow_name: "Smoke Codex",
+    workflow_id: "smoke-codex",
+    failure_summary: "is missing required tools",
+    run_id: "39046125927",
+    run_url: "https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/39046125927",
+    workflow_source_url: "https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/workflows/smoke-codex.md",
+    history_url: "https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Agithub%2Fgh-aw&type=issues",
+    branch: "copilot/bump-mcp-gateway-v0435",
+    pull_request_info: "**Pull Request:** [#69581](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/pull/69581)",
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+describe("failure report structure", () => {
+  it("has a fixed overview, next step, and details order with one debugging prompt", () => {
+    const ast = buildFailureReport(
+      template,
+      "[aw] Smoke Codex: is missing required tools",
+      values({
+        missing_tool_context: "> [!WARNING]\n> **Missing tools:** The GitHub MCP interface is unavailable.\n\n- **report\\_progress**: not exposed",
+      })
+    );
+    const { title, body } = renderReport(ast);
+    expect(title).toBe("[aw] Smoke Codex: is missing required tools");
+    expect(
+      normalizeReport(ast)
+        .children.filter(node => node.type === "heading")
+        .map(node => node.children)
+    ).toEqual([[{ type: "text", value: "What happened" }], [{ type: "text", value: "Next step" }], [{ type: "text", value: "Failure details" }]]);
+    expect(
+      normalizeReport(ast)
+        .children.filter(node => node.type === "heading")
+        .map(node => node.level)
+    ).toEqual([3, 3, 3]);
+    expect(body).not.toMatch(/^#{1,2} /m);
+    expect(body).toContain("**Smoke Codex** is missing required tools.");
+    expect(body).toContain("View run \\#39046125927");
+    expect(body).toContain("[Workflow source]");
+    expect(body).toContain("[Previous failures]");
+    expect(body).toContain("**Branch:** `copilot/bump-mcp-gateway-v0435`");
+    expect(body).toContain("[#69581](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/pull/69581)");
+    expect(body).toContain("**report\\_progress**");
+    expect(body.match(/<summary>Copy a debugging prompt<\/summary>/g)).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(body).not.toContain("Manually invoke the agent");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<summary>Runtime evidence");
+    expect(body).not.toMatch(/\{\w+\}/);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a classified cause visible while hiding secondary runtime evidence", () => {
+    const { body } = renderReport(
+      buildFailureReport(
+        template,
+        "[aw] AOAI: has no AI credits pricing",
+        values({
+          workflow_name: "Smoke Copilot - AOAI (Entra)",
+          failure_summary: "has no AI credits pricing for model (o4-mini-aw)",
+          missing_model_pricing_context: "> [!WARNING]\n> **Model has no AI credits pricing:** `o4-mini-aw` was rejected.\n\nThis is a configuration issue; retrying will not help.",
+          report_incomplete_context: "> [!WARNING]\n> Task completion could not be confirmed.",
+          failure_diagnostics_context: "### Failure Diagnostics\n\n**Failing step:** `Execute GitHub Copilot CLI`\n\n```text\nDriver exit code: 1\n```",
+        })
+      )
+    );
+    const evidencePosition = body.indexOf("<summary>Runtime evidence</summary>");
+    expect(body.indexOf("Model has no AI credits pricing")).toBeLessThan(evidencePosition);
+    expect(body.indexOf("retrying will not help")).toBeLessThan(evidencePosition);
+    expect(body.indexOf("Task completion could not be confirmed")).toBeGreaterThan(evidencePosition);
+    expect(body.indexOf("Driver exit code: 1")).toBeGreaterThan(evidencePosition);
+    expect(body).toContain("#### Failure Diagnostics");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("did not record a specific cause");
+  });
+
+  it("retains uncertainty and never promotes diagnostic headings into report sections", () => {
+    const ast = buildFailureReport(
+      template,
+      "[aw] Smoke Gemini: failed (cause unknown)",
+      values({
+        workflow_name: "Smoke Gemini",
+        failure_summary: "failed (cause unknown)",
+        failure_diagnostics_context: "## Unexpected heading\n\nThe runtime did not record a specific cause.",
+      })
+    );
+    const { body } = renderReport(ast);
+    expect(body).toContain("**Smoke Gemini** failed (cause unknown).");
+    expect(body).toContain("#### Unexpected heading");
+    expect(body.match(/^### /gm)).toHaveLength(3);
+  });
+
+  it("treats hostile workflow, branch, and prompt fields as data", () => {
+    const ast = buildFailureReport(
+      template,
+      "[aw] Smoke: failed",
+      values({
+        workflow_name: "Smoke**\n\n## Injected\n<img src=x>",
+        workflow_id: "smoke\n```\n</details>\n# Injected",
+        branch: "feature/`\n</details><img src=x>",
+      })
+    );
+    const { body } = renderReport(ast);
+    expect(body.match(/^### /gm)).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(body).toContain("&lt;img src=x&gt;");
+    expect(body).toContain("``feature/` </details><img src=x>``");
+    expect(body).toContain("````text\nDebug");
+    expect(body).not.toMatch(/^\{|\{\w+\}/m);
+    expect(body).toContain('````text\nDebug the agentic workflow "smoke\n```\n</details>\n# Injected" failure.');
+    expect(body.match(/^<details>$/gm)).toHaveLength(2);
+  });
+
+  it("omits absent optional links and reports missing run metadata explicitly", () => {
+    const { body } = renderReport(buildFailureReport(template, "[aw] Smoke: failed", values({ workflow_source_url: "#", history_url: "", pull_request_info: "", run_url: "" })));
+    expect(body).not.toContain("[Workflow source]");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("[Previous failures]");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("Pull Request");
+    expect(body).toContain("Run link unavailable: run URL was not recorded.");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs
index ef2c641c596..fb41afa8402 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.cjs
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { iterateJsonl, readJsonlFileEvents, iterateLines } = require("./jsonl_helpers.cjs");
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { sanitizeContent } = require("./sanitize_content.cjs");
 const { redactAndBoundDiagnostics } = require("./diagnostic_sanitization.cjs");
-const { getDetectionCautionAlert, getFooterAgentFailureIssueMessage, getFooterAgentFailureCommentMessage, generateXMLMarker } = require("./messages.cjs");
+const { getDetectionCautionAlert, getFooterAgentFailureCommentMessage } = require("./messages.cjs");
 const { renderTemplate, renderTemplateFromFile, getPromptPath, renderFilesList } = require("./messages_core.cjs");
+const { buildFailureReport } = require("./failure_report.cjs");
+const { normalizeReportTitle, renderReport } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+const { buildFailureReportFooter } = require("./report_footer.cjs");
+const { parseReportMarkdown } = require("./report_markdown.cjs");
 const { getCurrentBranch } = require("./get_current_branch.cjs");
 const { createExpirationLine, extractExpirationDate, generateFooterWithExpiration } = require("./ephemerals.cjs");
 const { MAX_SUB_ISSUES, getSubIssueCount } = require("./sub_issue_helpers.cjs");
@@ -459,75 +465,83 @@ function buildModelEndpointMismatchContext(mismatch, detectionJobResult = proces
  * @returns {string}
  */
 function buildFailureIssueTitle(options) {
-  const { workflowName } = options;
-  if (options.hasDailyAICExceeded) return `[aw] ${workflowName} exceeded daily AI credits budget`;
-  if (options.hasDailyAICGuardrailError) return `[aw] ${workflowName} could not verify daily AI credits`;
-  if (options.maxAICreditsExceeded) return `[aw] ${workflowName} exceeded max AI credits`;
-  if (options.aiCreditsRateLimitError) return `[aw] ${workflowName} hit AI credits rate limit`;
-  if (options.hasEngineRateLimit429) return `[aw] ${workflowName} hit engine rate limit (HTTP 429)`;
+  return normalizeReportTitle(`[aw] ${options.workflowName}: ${buildFailureIssueSummary(options)}`);
+}
+
+/** @param {Parameters<typeof buildFailureIssueTitle>[0]} options */
+function buildFailureIssueSummary(options) {
+  if (options.hasDailyAICExceeded) return "exceeded daily AI credits budget";
+  if (options.hasDailyAICGuardrailError) return "could not verify daily AI credits";
+  if (options.maxAICreditsExceeded) return "exceeded max AI credits";
+  if (options.aiCreditsRateLimitError) return "hit AI credits rate limit";
+  if (options.hasEngineRateLimit429) return "hit engine rate limit (HTTP 429)";
   // Missing model pricing is surfaced by the proxy as HTTP 400, so prefer the
   // specialized title before falling back to the generic transport-level error.
   if (options.missingModelPricingError) {
     const modelSuffix = options.missingModelPricingModelName ? ` (${options.missingModelPricingModelName})` : "";
-    return `[aw] ${workflowName} has no AI credits pricing for model${modelSuffix}`;
+    return `has no AI credits pricing for model${modelSuffix}`;
   }
-  if (options.hasModelEndpointMismatch) return `[aw] ${workflowName} has model/endpoint mismatch`;
-  if (options.modelNotSupportedError) return `[aw] ${workflowName} has an unavailable configured model`;
+  if (options.hasModelEndpointMismatch) return "has model/endpoint mismatch";
+  if (options.modelNotSupportedError) return "has an unavailable configured model";
   // Keep HTTP 400 below AI-credits signals: quota/rate-limit indicates an account-level
   // budget state that should take precedence when both classes are detected.
-  if (options.http400ResponseError) return `[aw] ${workflowName} hit HTTP 400 bad request`;
+  if (options.http400ResponseError) return "hit HTTP 400 bad request";
   // Unknown model pricing is a configuration error that may also trigger a timeout;
   // report it explicitly so the title is not misleadingly "timed out".
-  if (options.unknownModelAICredits) return `[aw] ${workflowName} has unknown model pricing`;
-  if (options.hasAppTokenMintingFailed) return `[aw] ${workflowName} failed to mint GitHub App token`;
-  if (options.hasLockdownCheckFailed) return `[aw] ${workflowName} failed lockdown check`;
-  if (options.hasOAuthTokenCheckFailed) return `[aw] ${workflowName} has OAuth token misconfiguration`;
-  if (options.hasStaleLockFileFailed) return `[aw] ${workflowName} has stale lock file`;
-  if (options.shellExpansionGuardRejected) return `[aw] ${workflowName} hit shell expansion guard rejection`;
-  if (options.copilotOrgBillingError) return `[aw] ${workflowName} hit Copilot organization billing error`;
+  if (options.unknownModelAICredits) return "has unknown model pricing";
+  if (options.hasAppTokenMintingFailed) return "failed to mint GitHub App token";
+  if (options.hasLockdownCheckFailed) return "failed lockdown check";
+  if (options.hasOAuthTokenCheckFailed) return "has OAuth token misconfiguration";
+  if (options.hasStaleLockFileFailed) return "has stale lock file";
+  if (options.shellExpansionGuardRejected) return "hit shell expansion guard rejection";
+  if (options.copilotOrgBillingError) return "hit Copilot organization billing error";
   if (options.copilotAgentNotFound) {
-    const agentName = sanitizeContent(options.copilotAgentNotFound, COPILOT_AGENT_NOT_FOUND_AGENT_MAX_LENGTH).replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
-    return `[aw] ${workflowName} could not find configured Copilot agent "${agentName}"`;
+    const agentName = Array.from(normalizeReportTitle(options.copilotAgentNotFound)).slice(0, COPILOT_AGENT_NOT_FOUND_AGENT_MAX_LENGTH).join("");
+    return `could not find configured Copilot agent "${agentName}"`;
   }
-  if (options.transportWedge) return `[aw] ${workflowName} stalled on an MCP tool call`;
-  if (options.isTimedOut) return `[aw] ${workflowName} timed out`;
-  if (options.hasToolDenialsExceeded) return `[aw] ${workflowName} exceeded tool denial limit`;
-  if (options.hasCacheMissMisconfiguration) return `[aw] ${workflowName} has cache-memory miss misconfiguration`;
+  if (options.transportWedge) return "stalled on an MCP tool call";
+  if (options.isTimedOut) return "timed out";
+  if (options.hasToolDenialsExceeded) return "exceeded tool denial limit";
+  if (options.hasCacheMissMisconfiguration) return "has cache-memory miss misconfiguration";
   const terminalOutputFailureTitle =
     typeof options.terminalOutputFailureCause === "string" && Object.hasOwn(EMPTY_OUTPUT_FAILURE_CAUSES, options.terminalOutputFailureCause) ? EMPTY_OUTPUT_FAILURE_CAUSES[options.terminalOutputFailureCause] : "";
-  if (terminalOutputFailureTitle) return `[aw] ${workflowName} ${terminalOutputFailureTitle}`;
+  if (terminalOutputFailureTitle) return options.terminalOutputFailureCause === "unknown" ? "failed (cause unknown)" : terminalOutputFailureTitle;
   const emptyOutputCauseTitle = typeof options.emptyOutputCause === "string" && Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(EMPTY_OUTPUT_CAUSES, options.emptyOutputCause) ? EMPTY_OUTPUT_CAUSES[options.emptyOutputCause] : "";
-  if (emptyOutputCauseTitle) return `[aw] ${workflowName} ${emptyOutputCauseTitle}`;
-  if (options.hasReportIncomplete) return `[aw] ${workflowName} reported incomplete result`;
-  if (options.hasMissingSafeOutputs) return `[aw] ${workflowName} produced no safe outputs`;
-  if (options.hasMissingTool) return `[aw] ${workflowName} is missing required tool`;
-  if (options.hasMissingData) return `[aw] ${workflowName} is missing required data`;
-  if (options.hasAssignmentErrors) return `[aw] ${workflowName} failed to assign agent`;
-  return `[aw] ${workflowName} failed`;
+  if (emptyOutputCauseTitle) return emptyOutputCauseTitle;
+  if (options.hasReportIncomplete) return "reported incomplete result";
+  if (options.hasMissingSafeOutputs) return "produced no safe outputs";
+  if (options.hasMissingTool) return "is missing required tools";
+  if (options.hasMissingData) return "is missing required data";
+  if (options.hasAssignmentErrors) return "failed to assign agent";
+  return "failed";
 }
 
 /**
- * Generate a precise failure-match marker for failure issue bodies.
+ * Build metadata for precise failure matching in failure issue bodies.
  * @param {Object} options - Marker options
  * @param {string} options.workflowId - Workflow identifier
  * @param {string} options.branch - Triggering branch
  * @param {number|undefined} options.pullRequestNumber - Triggering pull request number
  * @param {string[]} options.failureCategories - Sorted failure categories
  * @param {string} [options.failureCause] - Classified terminal-output failure cause
- * @returns {string} HTML comment marker
+ * @returns {{key: string, value: string}[]} Failure-match metadata fields
  */
-function generateFailureMatchMarker(options) {
+function buildFailureMatchMetadata(options) {
   const { workflowId, branch, pullRequestNumber, failureCategories } = options;
-  const parts = ["gh-aw-failure-issue: true", `workflow_id: ${workflowId}`, `branch: ${branch || ""}`, `failure_categories: ${failureCategories.join("|")}`];
+  const parts = [
+    { key: "workflow_id", value: workflowId },
+    { key: "branch", value: branch || "" },
+    { key: "failure_categories", value: failureCategories.join("|") },
+  ];
 
   if (typeof options.failureCause === "string" && Object.hasOwn(EMPTY_OUTPUT_FAILURE_CAUSES, options.failureCause)) {
-    parts.push(`failure_cause: ${options.failureCause}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "failure_cause", value: options.failureCause });
   }
   if (pullRequestNumber) {
-    parts.push(`pull_request: ${pullRequestNumber}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "pull_request", value: String(pullRequestNumber) });
   }
 
-  return `<!-- ${parts.join(", ")} -->`;
+  return parts;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -909,7 +923,7 @@ gh aw audit <run-id>
   const parentBody = footer;
 
   try {
-    const newIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+    const newIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
       owner,
       repo,
       title: parentTitle,
@@ -1903,7 +1917,7 @@ function buildFailureDiagnosticsContext({ failureCategories, failingStep, agentC
   } else if (checkoutError) {
     context += "Runtime checkout validation above is the failure cause.\n\n";
   } else {
-    context += "The runtime did not record a specific cause. Check the linked run for failure details.\n\n";
+    context += "No additional engine error was captured. Check the reported failure signals and linked run for details.\n\n";
   }
   if (attributionUnavailable) {
     context += `<details>\n<summary>Why step details are unavailable</summary>\n\n${attributionUnavailable}\n\n</details>\n\n`;
@@ -3748,7 +3762,7 @@ async function findOrCreateDailyCapRollupIssue(owner, repo) {
 
   try {
     await ensureLabelExists(owner, repo, DAILY_CAP_ROLLUP_LABEL);
-    const newIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+    const newIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
       owner,
       repo,
       title: DAILY_CAP_ROLLUP_TITLE,
@@ -3833,7 +3847,7 @@ async function detectAndHandleFailureCascade(owner, repo, triggeringIssueNumber)
       });
       core.info(`✓ Updated cascade rollup issue #${existing.number}: ${existing.html_url}`);
     } else {
-      const newRollup = await github.rest.issues.create({
+      const newRollup = await createReportIssue(github, {
         owner,
         repo,
         title: CASCADE_ROLLUP_TITLE,
@@ -4385,8 +4399,7 @@ async function main() {
     });
     const actionFailureIssueExpiresHours = getActionFailureIssueExpiresHours();
 
-    // Sanitize workflow name for title
-    const sanitizedWorkflowName = sanitizeContent(workflowName, { maxLength: 100 });
+    const normalizedWorkflowName = Array.from(normalizeReportTitle(workflowName)).slice(0, 100).join("");
     let transportWedge = false;
     if (agentConclusion === "failure") {
       try {
@@ -4412,7 +4425,7 @@ async function main() {
     );
     const hasReportedIncomplete = hasReportIncomplete && reportItems.some(item => item?.type === "report_incomplete");
     const issueTitle = buildFailureIssueTitle({
-      workflowName: sanitizedWorkflowName,
+      workflowName: normalizedWorkflowName,
       hasModelEndpointMismatch,
       modelNotSupportedError,
       transportWedge,
@@ -4980,11 +4993,13 @@ async function main() {
         // Build optimize token consumption context (shown when a guardrail was the failure root cause)
         const optimizeTokenConsumptionContext = buildOptimizeTokenConsumptionContext({ maxAICreditsExceeded, hasDailyAICExceeded, hasToolDenialsExceeded, isTimedOut, runUrl });
 
-        // Create template context with sanitized workflow name
         const templateContext = {
-          workflow_name: sanitizedWorkflowName,
+          workflow_name: workflowName,
+          failure_summary: issueTitle.slice(`[aw] ${normalizedWorkflowName}: `.length),
           workflow_id: workflowID,
           run_url: runUrl,
+          run_id: extractRunId(runUrl) || "logs",
+          history_url: historyUrl || "",
           workflow_source_url: workflowSourceURL || "#",
           branch: currentBranch,
           pull_request_info: pullRequest ? `  \n**Pull Request:** [#${pullRequest.number}](${pullRequest.html_url})` : "",
@@ -5032,10 +5047,8 @@ async function main() {
           optimize_token_consumption_context: optimizeTokenConsumptionContext,
         };
 
-        // Render the issue template
-        const issueBodyContent = renderTemplate(issueTemplate, templateContext);
+        const report = buildFailureReport(issueTemplate, issueTitle, templateContext);
 
-        // Generate footer for the issue using templated message
         const ctx = {
           workflowName,
           runUrl,
@@ -5045,28 +5058,20 @@ async function main() {
           aiCredits,
         };
         core.info(`Generating failure issue footer with aiCredits context: ${aiCredits || "(none)"}`);
-        const footer = getFooterAgentFailureIssueMessage(ctx);
-        const failureMatchMarker = generateFailureMatchMarker({
-          workflowId: workflowID,
-          branch: currentBranch,
-          pullRequestNumber: pullRequest?.number,
-          failureCategories,
-          failureCause: terminalOutputFailureCause,
-        });
-
-        // Add expiration marker inside the quoted footer section using helper
-        const footerWithExpires = generateFooterWithExpiration({
-          footerText: footer,
+        report.footer = buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, {
           expiresHours: actionFailureIssueExpiresHours,
-          suffix: `\n\n${generateXMLMarker(workflowName, runUrl)}\n${failureMatchMarker}`,
+          failureFields: buildFailureMatchMetadata({
+            workflowId: workflowID,
+            branch: currentBranch,
+            pullRequestNumber: pullRequest?.number,
+            failureCategories,
+            failureCause: terminalOutputFailureCause,
+          }),
         });
 
-        // Prepend detection caution alert (when present) so it appears first in the issue body
         const detectionCaution = getDetectionCautionAlert(workflowName, runUrl);
-
-        // Combine issue body with footer
-        const bodyLines = detectionCaution ? [detectionCaution, "", issueBodyContent, "", footerWithExpires] : [issueBodyContent, "", footerWithExpires];
-        const issueBody = bodyLines.join("\n");
+        report.preamble = parseReportMarkdown(detectionCaution, { allowFlagMarkers: true });
+        const { title: reportTitle, body: issueBody } = renderReport(report);
 
         let newIssue;
         if (failureIssue) {
@@ -5075,7 +5080,7 @@ async function main() {
             owner,
             repo,
             issue_number: failureIssue.number,
-            title: issueTitle,
+            title: reportTitle,
             body: issueBody,
             labels,
             state: "open",
@@ -5083,14 +5088,17 @@ async function main() {
           });
           core.info(`✓ Reused failure issue #${newIssue.data.number}: ${newIssue.data.html_url}`);
         } else {
-          newIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
-            owner,
-            repo,
-            title: issueTitle,
-            body: issueBody,
-            labels: ["agentic-workflows"],
-            headers: { "X-GitHub-Api-Version": GITHUB_API_VERSION },
-          });
+          newIssue = await createReportIssue(
+            github,
+            {
+              owner,
+              repo,
+              title: reportTitle,
+              labels: ["agentic-workflows"],
+              headers: { "X-GitHub-Api-Version": GITHUB_API_VERSION },
+            },
+            report
+          );
           core.info(`✓ Created new issue #${newIssue.data.number}: ${newIssue.data.html_url}`);
         }
 
@@ -5141,6 +5149,7 @@ module.exports = {
   buildTimeoutContext,
   shouldBuildEngineFailureContext,
   isReusableFailureIssue,
+  parseHTMLCommentMetadata,
   isIssueWritePermissionError,
   setFailureIssueOutputs,
   buildAssignCopilotFailureContext,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs
index eafce4f2499..a9d99e55f6b 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/handle_agent_failure.test.cjs
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       expect(rendered).toContain("### Runtime Checkout Rejected");
       expect(rendered).toContain("org/b is not permitted by allowed-repos");
       expect(rendered).toContain("Update the explicit repository list");
-      expect(rendered).not.toContain("The runtime did not record a specific cause.");
+      expect(rendered).not.toContain("No additional engine error was captured.");
     });
 
     it("includes the last failed agent step when available", async () => {
@@ -579,7 +579,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       expect(rendered).toContain("Failing step:** `Run agent`");
       expect(rendered).not.toContain("agent-generated root cause");
       expect(rendered).not.toContain("log excerpt");
-      expect(rendered).toContain("The runtime did not record a specific cause.");
+      expect(rendered).toContain("No additional engine error was captured.");
     });
 
     it("includes the first failing startup step for a recorded not_started agent", async () => {
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
 
       expect(result).toContain("Failing step:** `Run agent`");
       expect(result).toContain("**Driver exit code:** `1`");
-      expect(result).not.toContain("The runtime did not record a specific cause.");
+      expect(result).not.toContain("No additional engine error was captured.");
     });
 
     it("states when no cause was captured", () => {
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
         engineFailureContext: "",
       });
 
-      expect(result).toContain("The runtime did not record a specific cause.");
+      expect(result).toContain("No additional engine error was captured.");
     });
 
     it("keeps the job, step, and exit code together in one compact section", () => {
@@ -781,7 +781,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
 
     try {
       await main();
-      expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: "[aw] unknown hit AI credits rate limit" }));
+      expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: "[aw] unknown: hit AI credits rate limit" }));
     } finally {
       fs.rmSync(path.dirname(agentOutputPath), { recursive: true, force: true });
       delete process.env.GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT;
@@ -819,26 +819,26 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
     };
 
     const cases = [
-      { flag: "hasDailyAICExceeded", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow exceeded daily AI credits budget" },
-      { flag: "hasDailyAICGuardrailError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow could not verify daily AI credits" },
-      { flag: "maxAICreditsExceeded", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow exceeded max AI credits" },
-      { flag: "aiCreditsRateLimitError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow hit AI credits rate limit" },
-      { flag: "hasEngineRateLimit429", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow hit engine rate limit (HTTP 429)" },
-      { flag: "http400ResponseError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow hit HTTP 400 bad request" },
-      { flag: "unknownModelAICredits", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow has unknown model pricing" },
-      { flag: "hasAppTokenMintingFailed", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow failed to mint GitHub App token" },
-      { flag: "hasLockdownCheckFailed", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow failed lockdown check" },
-      { flag: "hasStaleLockFileFailed", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow has stale lock file" },
-      { flag: "shellExpansionGuardRejected", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow hit shell expansion guard rejection" },
-      { flag: "isTimedOut", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow timed out" },
-      { flag: "hasToolDenialsExceeded", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow exceeded tool denial limit" },
-      { flag: "hasCacheMissMisconfiguration", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow has cache-memory miss misconfiguration" },
-      { flag: "hasReportIncomplete", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow reported incomplete result" },
-      { flag: "hasMissingSafeOutputs", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow produced no safe outputs" },
-      { flag: "hasMissingTool", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow is missing required tool" },
-      { flag: "hasMissingData", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow is missing required data" },
-      { flag: "hasAssignmentErrors", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow failed to assign agent" },
-      { flag: "copilotOrgBillingError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow hit Copilot organization billing error" },
+      { flag: "hasDailyAICExceeded", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: exceeded daily AI credits budget" },
+      { flag: "hasDailyAICGuardrailError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: could not verify daily AI credits" },
+      { flag: "maxAICreditsExceeded", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: exceeded max AI credits" },
+      { flag: "aiCreditsRateLimitError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: hit AI credits rate limit" },
+      { flag: "hasEngineRateLimit429", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: hit engine rate limit (HTTP 429)" },
+      { flag: "http400ResponseError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: hit HTTP 400 bad request" },
+      { flag: "unknownModelAICredits", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: has unknown model pricing" },
+      { flag: "hasAppTokenMintingFailed", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed to mint GitHub App token" },
+      { flag: "hasLockdownCheckFailed", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed lockdown check" },
+      { flag: "hasStaleLockFileFailed", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: has stale lock file" },
+      { flag: "shellExpansionGuardRejected", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: hit shell expansion guard rejection" },
+      { flag: "isTimedOut", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: timed out" },
+      { flag: "hasToolDenialsExceeded", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: exceeded tool denial limit" },
+      { flag: "hasCacheMissMisconfiguration", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: has cache-memory miss misconfiguration" },
+      { flag: "hasReportIncomplete", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: reported incomplete result" },
+      { flag: "hasMissingSafeOutputs", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: produced no safe outputs" },
+      { flag: "hasMissingTool", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: is missing required tools" },
+      { flag: "hasMissingData", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: is missing required data" },
+      { flag: "hasAssignmentErrors", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed to assign agent" },
+      { flag: "copilotOrgBillingError", expected: "[aw] Test Workflow: hit Copilot organization billing error" },
     ];
 
     it.each(cases)("returns expected title for isolated $flag", ({ flag, expected }) => {
@@ -846,36 +846,36 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
     });
 
     it("falls back to generic failed title when no specific condition matches", () => {
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle(baseOptions)).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow failed");
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, transportWedge: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow stalled on an MCP tool call");
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle(baseOptions)).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: failed");
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, transportWedge: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: stalled on an MCP tool call");
     });
 
     it.each([
-      ["agent_startup_failure", "[aw] Test Workflow failed before agent execution started"],
-      ["engine_driver_failure", "[aw] Test Workflow engine driver failed before emitting a terminal safe output"],
-      ["safeoutputs_cli_error", "[aw] Test Workflow failed to invoke safeoutputs CLI"],
-      ["missing_terminal_safe_output", "[aw] Test Workflow finished without a terminal safe output"],
-      ["invalid_safe_outputs", "[aw] Test Workflow produced no valid safe outputs"],
+      ["agent_startup_failure", "[aw] Test Workflow: failed before agent execution started"],
+      ["engine_driver_failure", "[aw] Test Workflow: engine driver failed before emitting a terminal safe output"],
+      ["safeoutputs_cli_error", "[aw] Test Workflow: failed to invoke safeoutputs CLI"],
+      ["missing_terminal_safe_output", "[aw] Test Workflow: finished without a terminal safe output"],
+      ["invalid_safe_outputs", "[aw] Test Workflow: produced no valid safe outputs"],
     ])("distinguishes %s from generic incompletion", (emptyOutputCause, title) => {
       expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, hasReportIncomplete: true, emptyOutputCause })).toBe(title);
     });
 
     it.each([
-      ["agent_startup_failure", "[aw] Test Workflow failed before agent execution started"],
-      ["engine_outage", "[aw] Test Workflow experienced an engine outage"],
-      ["request_rejection", "[aw] Test Workflow had a request rejected"],
-      ["prompt_exhaustion", "[aw] Test Workflow reported incomplete result"],
-      ["missing_terminal_safe_output", "[aw] Test Workflow finished without a terminal safe output"],
-      ["unknown", "[aw] Test Workflow finished without a clear failure cause"],
+      ["agent_startup_failure", "[aw] Test Workflow: failed before agent execution started"],
+      ["engine_outage", "[aw] Test Workflow: experienced an engine outage"],
+      ["request_rejection", "[aw] Test Workflow: had a request rejected"],
+      ["prompt_exhaustion", "[aw] Test Workflow: reported incomplete result"],
+      ["missing_terminal_safe_output", "[aw] Test Workflow: finished without a terminal safe output"],
+      ["unknown", "[aw] Test Workflow: failed (cause unknown)"],
     ])("uses the classified terminal-output cause %s in the issue title", (terminalOutputFailureCause, title) => {
       expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, terminalOutputFailureCause })).toBe(title);
     });
 
     it.each([
-      [1, [], [], "[aw] Test Workflow finished without a clear failure cause"],
-      [137, [], [], "[aw] Test Workflow finished without a clear failure cause"],
-      [139, [], [], "[aw] Test Workflow finished without a clear failure cause"],
-      [1, ["capi_server_error"], [502], "[aw] Test Workflow experienced an engine outage"],
+      [1, [], [], "[aw] Test Workflow: failed (cause unknown)"],
+      [137, [], [], "[aw] Test Workflow: failed (cause unknown)"],
+      [139, [], [], "[aw] Test Workflow: failed (cause unknown)"],
+      [1, ["capi_server_error"], [502], "[aw] Test Workflow: experienced an engine outage"],
     ])("uses runtime evidence rather than a bare driver exit %s to choose an outage title", (exitCode, categories, errorCodes, title) => {
       const { buildEmptyOutputOutcome } = require("./empty_output_outcome.cjs");
       const { tmpdir } = require("os");
@@ -898,43 +898,43 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
           emptyOutputCause: "missing_terminal_safe_output",
           terminalOutputFailureCause: "prompt_exhaustion",
         })
-      ).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow reported incomplete result");
+      ).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: reported incomplete result");
     });
 
     it("prefers unknownModelAICredits over isTimedOut when both are true", () => {
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, unknownModelAICredits: true, isTimedOut: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow has unknown model pricing");
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, unknownModelAICredits: true, isTimedOut: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: has unknown model pricing");
     });
 
     it("prefers shellExpansionGuardRejected over isTimedOut when both are true", () => {
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, shellExpansionGuardRejected: true, isTimedOut: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow hit shell expansion guard rejection");
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, shellExpansionGuardRejected: true, isTimedOut: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: hit shell expansion guard rejection");
     });
 
     it("returns missing model pricing title with model name when missingModelPricingError is true", () => {
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, missingModelPricingError: true, missingModelPricingModelName: "claude-opus-5" })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow has no AI credits pricing for model (claude-opus-5)");
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, missingModelPricingError: true, missingModelPricingModelName: "claude-opus-5" })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: has no AI credits pricing for model (claude-opus-5)");
     });
 
     it("returns missing model pricing title without model name when model name is empty", () => {
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, missingModelPricingError: true, missingModelPricingModelName: "" })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow has no AI credits pricing for model");
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, missingModelPricingError: true, missingModelPricingModelName: "" })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: has no AI credits pricing for model");
     });
 
     it("sanitizes Copilot agent-not-found title content", () => {
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, copilotAgentNotFound: "agent` @octo\npayload" })).toBe('[aw] Test Workflow could not find configured Copilot agent "agent` ``@octo`` payload"');
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, copilotAgentNotFound: "agent` @octo\npayload" })).toBe('[aw] Test Workflow: could not find configured Copilot agent "agent` @octo payload"');
     });
 
     it("prefers missingModelPricingError over unknownModelAICredits when both are true", () => {
       expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, missingModelPricingError: true, missingModelPricingModelName: "claude-opus-5", unknownModelAICredits: true })).toBe(
-        "[aw] Test Workflow has no AI credits pricing for model (claude-opus-5)"
+        "[aw] Test Workflow: has no AI credits pricing for model (claude-opus-5)"
       );
     });
 
     it("prefers missingModelPricingError over http400ResponseError when both are true", () => {
       expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, missingModelPricingError: true, missingModelPricingModelName: "claude-opus-5", http400ResponseError: true })).toBe(
-        "[aw] Test Workflow has no AI credits pricing for model (claude-opus-5)"
+        "[aw] Test Workflow: has no AI credits pricing for model (claude-opus-5)"
       );
     });
 
     it("aiCreditsRateLimitError takes precedence over hasEngineRateLimit429 when both are true", () => {
-      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, aiCreditsRateLimitError: true, hasEngineRateLimit429: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow hit AI credits rate limit");
+      expect(buildFailureIssueTitle({ ...baseOptions, aiCreditsRateLimitError: true, hasEngineRateLimit429: true })).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: hit AI credits rate limit");
     });
   });
 
@@ -1784,7 +1784,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       expect(updateIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
         expect.objectContaining({
           issue_number: 42,
-          title: "[aw] Test Workflow produced no safe outputs",
+          title: "[aw] Test Workflow: produced no safe outputs",
           labels: ["agentic-workflows"],
           state: "open",
         })
@@ -1932,7 +1932,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       expect(body.match(/\*\*Driver exit code:\*\*/g)).toHaveLength(1);
       expect(body.match(/### Failure Diagnostics/g)).toHaveLength(1);
       expect(body).toContain("Completion signal: agent reported incomplete (reason and details excluded)");
-      expect(body).toContain("_Only runtime metadata is shown; agent-generated text is excluded._");
+      expect(body).toContain(`${existingIssue ? "_" : "*"}Only runtime metadata is shown; agent-generated text is excluded.${existingIssue ? "_" : "*"}`);
       expect(body).toContain("The workflow recorded a `report_incomplete` signal");
       expect(body).not.toContain("agent-generated diagnostic");
       expect(body).not.toContain("infrastructure_error");
@@ -1962,7 +1962,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
             items: [
               {
                 number: 42,
-                title: "[aw] Test Workflow failed",
+                title: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed",
                 html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42",
                 body: buildWorkflowMarkerOnlyIssueBody(),
               },
@@ -2161,7 +2161,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
             items: [
               {
                 number: 42,
-                title: "[aw] Test Workflow failed",
+                title: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed",
                 html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42",
                 body: buildExistingIssueBody({
                   workflowId,
@@ -2216,13 +2216,13 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
                   items: [
                     {
                       number: 42,
-                      title: "[aw] Test Workflow failed",
+                      title: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed",
                       html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42",
                       body: buildExistingIssueBody({ branch: "feature/other", categories: ["missing_safe_outputs"] }),
                     },
                     {
                       number: 43,
-                      title: "[aw] Test Workflow failed",
+                      title: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed",
                       html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/43",
                       body: buildExistingIssueBody({ branch: "feature/current", categories: ["agent_failure"] }),
                     },
@@ -2369,7 +2369,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
 
       expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
       const createCall = createIssueMock.mock.calls[0][0];
-      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow timed out");
+      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: timed out");
     });
 
     it("uses shell expansion guard title instead of timeout when both flags are present", async () => {
@@ -2406,7 +2406,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
 
       expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
       const createCall = createIssueMock.mock.calls[0][0];
-      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow hit shell expansion guard rejection");
+      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: hit shell expansion guard rejection");
       expect(createCall.body).toContain("SHELL GUARD TEMPLATE");
       expect(createCall.body).not.toContain("TIMEOUT TEMPLATE");
     });
@@ -2439,7 +2439,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
 
       expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
       const createCall = createIssueMock.mock.calls[0][0];
-      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow produced no safe outputs");
+      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: produced no safe outputs");
     });
 
     it("uses a precise report incomplete title", async () => {
@@ -2472,7 +2472,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
 
       expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
       const createCall = createIssueMock.mock.calls[0][0];
-      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow reported incomplete result");
+      expect(createCall.title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: reported incomplete result");
     });
 
     it.each([
@@ -2517,13 +2517,13 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
       const { title, body } = createIssueMock.mock.calls[0][0];
       if (budgetExceeded) {
-        expect(title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow exceeded max AI credits");
+        expect(title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: exceeded max AI credits");
         expect(body).toContain("AI Credits Budget Exceeded");
         expect(body).toContain("failure_categories: max_ai_credits_exceeded");
         expect(body).not.toContain("Copilot organization billing is unavailable");
         expect(body).not.toContain("copilot_org_billing_error");
       } else {
-        expect(title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow hit Copilot organization billing error");
+        expect(title).toBe("[aw] Test Workflow: hit Copilot organization billing error");
         expect(body).toContain("Copilot organization billing is unavailable");
         expect(body).not.toContain("max_ai_credits_exceeded");
       }
@@ -2610,7 +2610,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
                   items: [
                     {
                       number: 42,
-                      title: "[aw] Test Workflow failed",
+                      title: "[aw] Test Workflow: failed",
                       html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42",
                       body: buildExistingIssueBody({
                         branch: "feature/current",
@@ -2941,8 +2941,11 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       const commentTemplate = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, "../md/agent_failure_comment.md"), "utf8");
       const issueTemplate = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, "../md/agent_failure_issue.md"), "utf8");
 
-      for (const template of [commentTemplate, issueTemplate]) {
-        const rendered = renderTemplate(template, templateContext);
+      const { buildFailureReport } = require("./failure_report.cjs");
+      const { renderReport } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+      const issueContext = Object.fromEntries(Array.from(issueTemplate.matchAll(/\{(\w+)\}/g), match => [match[1], ""]));
+      const issueReport = buildFailureReport(issueTemplate, "[aw] Test Workflow: reported incomplete result", { ...issueContext, ...templateContext });
+      for (const rendered of [renderTemplate(commentTemplate, templateContext), renderReport(issueReport).body]) {
         expect(rendered).not.toContain(reportIncompleteMarker);
         expect(rendered).toContain("The workflow recorded a `report_incomplete` signal");
         expect(rendered).toContain("completion could not be confirmed");
@@ -6893,7 +6896,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       };
       const { main: mainFn } = require("./handle_agent_failure.cjs");
       await mainFn();
-      expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: `[aw] Test Workflow ${titleSuffix}` }));
+      expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: `[aw] Test Workflow: ${titleSuffix}` }));
       const categories = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("/tmp/gh-aw/failure_categories.json", "utf8"));
       expect(categories).toContain(reason);
       expect(categories).not.toContain("agent_failure");
@@ -6971,7 +6974,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       };
       const { main: mainFn } = require("./handle_agent_failure.cjs");
       await mainFn();
-      expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: "[aw] Test Workflow reported incomplete result" }));
+      expect(createIssueMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: "[aw] Test Workflow: reported incomplete result" }));
       const categories = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("/tmp/gh-aw/failure_categories.json", "utf8"));
       expect(categories).toContain("report_incomplete");
       expect(categories).not.toContain(reason);
@@ -7011,7 +7014,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       };
       const { main: mainFn } = require("./handle_agent_failure.cjs");
       await mainFn();
-      expect(create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: "[aw] Test Workflow reported incomplete result" }));
+      expect(create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ title: "[aw] Test Workflow: reported incomplete result" }));
       const body = create.mock.calls[0][0].body;
       expect(body).toContain("Failing step:** `Post Run agent`");
       expect(body).not.toContain("Failing step:** `Start MCP Gateway`");
@@ -7675,7 +7678,7 @@ describe("handle_agent_failure", () => {
       expect(capturedBody).toContain("⚠️ Failure Cascade Detected");
       expect(capturedBody).toContain("cascade-suspected");
       expect(capturedBody).toContain("#100");
-      expect(capturedBody).toContain("[aw] Workflow 0 failed");
+      expect(capturedBody).toContain("\\[aw\\] Workflow 0 failed");
     });
 
     it("filters out non-[aw] issues from findRecentFailureIssues", async () => {
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/handle_create_pr_error.cjs b/actions/setup/js/handle_create_pr_error.cjs
index 226c49faa92..d69fdb16b38 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/handle_create_pr_error.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/handle_create_pr_error.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { sanitizeContent } = require("./sanitize_content.cjs");
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { FAQ_CREATE_PR_PERMISSIONS_URL } = require("./constants.cjs");
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ async function main() {
       core.info("Added comment to existing issue #" + existingIssue.number);
     } else {
       // Create new issue
-      const { data: issue } = await github.rest.issues.create({
+      const { data: issue } = await createReportIssue(github, {
         owner,
         repo,
         title: issueTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/handle_detection_runs.cjs b/actions/setup/js/handle_detection_runs.cjs
index 0ce73714811..78058988d8f 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/handle_detection_runs.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/handle_detection_runs.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const fs = require("fs");
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { ERR_API, ERR_SYSTEM } = require("./error_codes.cjs");
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ async function ensureDetectionRunsIssue() {
     expiresHours: 24 * 30, // 30 days
   });
 
-  const { data: newIssue } = await github.rest.issues.create({
+  const { data: newIssue } = await createReportIssue(github, {
     owner,
     repo,
     title: parentTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/handle_noop_message.cjs b/actions/setup/js/handle_noop_message.cjs
index d4a5226f563..79934ce4c72 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/handle_noop_message.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/handle_noop_message.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const fs = require("fs");
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { ERR_API, ERR_SYSTEM } = require("./error_codes.cjs");
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ async function ensureAgentRunsIssue() {
     expiresHours: 24 * 30, // 30 days
   });
 
-  const { data: newIssue } = await github.rest.issues.create({
+  const { data: newIssue } = await createReportIssue(github, {
     owner,
     repo,
     title: parentTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/index.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/index.test.cjs
index 15ec12ea64e..d6164f0fd58 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/index.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/index.test.cjs
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@ describe("custom safe-output issue API", () => {
     expect(result).toEqual({ staged: false, issue });
     const request = github.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0];
     expect(request).toMatchObject({ owner: "owner", repo: "repo", title: "Finding", labels: ["automation"], assignees: ["maintainer"], type: "Task" });
-    expect(request.body).toContain(body);
+    expect(request.body).toContain("Finding details");
+    expect(request.body).toContain("<!-- custom-managed-start -->");
     expect(request.body).toContain("> Generated by [Custom Finding]");
     expect(request.body).toContain("https://github.com/owner/repo/actions/runs/123");
     expect(request.body).toContain("<!-- gh-aw-workflow-id: custom-finding -->");
@@ -149,6 +150,18 @@ describe("custom safe-output issue API", () => {
     expect(github.rest.issues.create).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("uses the same normalized AST output in staged and live creation", async () => {
+    const parameters = { title: " e\u0301vidence\r\n report ", body: "## Details\n\n<img src=x>\n\n- [ ] Review\n\n<!-- custom-managed-start -->" };
+    process.env.GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUTS_STAGED = "true";
+    const staged = await createIssue(parameters);
+    expect(staged.preview.title).toBe("\u00e9vidence report");
+    expect(staged.preview.body).toContain("&lt;img src=x&gt;");
+    expect(staged.preview.body).toContain("- [ ] Review");
+    process.env.GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUTS_STAGED = "false";
+    await createIssue(parameters);
+    expect(github.rest.issues.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(staged.preview);
+  });
+
   it("rejects missing initialization or attribution metadata without API writes", async () => {
     delete global.core;
     await expect(createIssue({ title: "Finding", body: "Details" })).rejects.toThrow("index.cjs");
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/issue_report.cjs b/actions/setup/js/issue_report.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4cb04eab08d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/issue_report.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// @ts-check
+/// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
+
+const { renderReport } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+const { parseReportMarkdown } = require("./report_markdown.cjs");
+const { ERR_VALIDATION } = require("./error_codes.cjs");
+
+/**
+ * Import existing issue Markdown at the publication boundary. Metadata is opt-in
+ * here, not in diagnostic fragments; it remains typed and cannot close comments.
+ * @param {string} title
+ * @param {string} body
+ * @param {{allowedMentions?: string[]}} [options]
+ * @returns {import("./report_ast.cjs").Report}
+ */
+function buildIssueReport(title, body, { allowedMentions = [] } = {}) {
+  return { type: "report", title, children: parseReportMarkdown(body, { minimumHeadingLevel: 2, allowMetadata: true, allowedMentions }) };
+}
+
+/**
+ * @template {{title: string, body?: string}} T
+ * @param {T} parameters
+ * @param {import("./report_ast.cjs").Report} [report]
+ * @returns {T & {title: string, body: string}}
+ */
+function renderIssueParameters(parameters, report = buildIssueReport(parameters.title, parameters.body ?? "")) {
+  const rendered = renderReport(report);
+  if (rendered.body.length > 65536) throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: Issue body exceeds GitHub's maximum length of 65536 characters including attribution`);
+  return { ...parameters, ...rendered };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Keep authentication, retries, and API responses at the caller's existing boundary.
+ * @param {typeof github} client
+ * @param {NonNullable<Parameters<typeof github.rest.issues.create>[0]> & {title: string, body?: string}} parameters
+ * @param {import("./report_ast.cjs").Report} [report]
+ */
+function createReportIssue(client, parameters, report) {
+  return client.rest.issues.create(renderIssueParameters(parameters, report));
+}
+
+module.exports = { buildIssueReport, renderIssueParameters, createReportIssue };
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/issue_report.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/issue_report.test.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..38baf0e5001
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/issue_report.test.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import { createRequire } from "node:module";
+import { readdirSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { buildIssueReport, renderIssueParameters, createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+const { renderReport, normalizeReport } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+const { parseReportMarkdown } = require("./report_markdown.cjs");
+const { createExpirationLine, extractExpirationDate } = require("./ephemerals.cjs");
+const { mutateIssues } = require("./work_queue_issue_api.cjs");
+
+afterEach(() => vi.unstubAllEnvs());
+
+describe("issue report publication boundary", () => {
+  it("normalizes titles, escapes unsupported HTML, and preserves API parameters and responses", async () => {
+    const response = { data: { number: 42 } };
+    const client = { rest: { issues: { create: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(response) } } };
+    const parameters = { owner: "o", repo: "r", title: " e\u0301vidence\r\n failed ", body: "## Evidence\n\n<img src=x>\n\n[unsafe](javascript:alert)", labels: ["bug"], assignees: ["user"], headers: { version: "test" } };
+    const copy = structuredClone(parameters);
+    expect(await createReportIssue(client, parameters)).toBe(response);
+    expect(parameters).toEqual(copy);
+    expect(client.rest.issues.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      ...parameters,
+      title: "\u00e9vidence failed",
+      body: "## Evidence\n\n&lt;img src=x&gt;\n\nunsafe (link unavailable: invalid HTTPS URL)\n",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("publishes the fully interpolated PR-permission fallback template without truncating compare URLs", async () => {
+    const { renderTemplateFromFile } = require("./messages_core.cjs");
+    const branch = "fix(parser)";
+    const url = `https://github.com/o/r/compare/main...${encodeURIComponent(branch)}?expand=1&title=${encodeURIComponent("Fix (parser)")}`;
+    const body = renderTemplateFromFile(fileURLToPath(new URL("../md/pr_permission_denied_fallback.md", import.meta.url)), {
+      main_body: "Ready to review",
+      footer: "",
+      branch_name: branch,
+      create_pr_url: url,
+      faq_url: "https://github.com/github/gh-aw",
+      patch_preview: "",
+    });
+    const client = { rest: { issues: { create: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ data: {} }) } } };
+    await createReportIssue(client, { owner: "o", repo: "r", title: "Fallback", body });
+    const published = client.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0].body;
+    expect(published).toContain("**[Create the pull request](https://github.com/o/r/compare/main...fix%28parser%29?expand=1&title=Fix%20%28parser%29)**");
+    expect(renderIssueParameters({ title: "Fallback", body: published }).body).toBe(published);
+  });
+
+  it("preserves task lists, separators, collapsed evidence, code fences, and expiration readers", () => {
+    const expiresAt = new Date("2026-11-01T12:00:00Z");
+    const body = [
+      "## Work",
+      "",
+      "- [ ] Review",
+      "- [x] Done",
+      "",
+      "---",
+      "",
+      "<details><summary>Evidence</summary>",
+      "",
+      "````text",
+      "```",
+      "<!-- not-metadata: in-code -->",
+      "````",
+      "",
+      "</details>",
+      "",
+      `> ${createExpirationLine(expiresAt)}`,
+    ].join("\n");
+    const report = buildIssueReport("Work", body);
+    const rendered = renderReport(report);
+    expect(rendered.body).toContain("- [ ] Review\n- [x] Done");
+    expect(rendered.body).toContain("\n---\n");
+    expect(rendered.body).toContain("<details>\n<summary>Evidence</summary>");
+    expect(rendered.body).toContain("````text\n```\n<!-- not-metadata: in-code -->\n````");
+    expect(extractExpirationDate(rendered.body)?.toISOString()).toBe(expiresAt.toISOString());
+    expect(renderIssueParameters(rendered)).toEqual(rendered);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(report))).toEqual(normalizeReport(report));
+  });
+
+  it("retains managed islands, grouping, queue, provenance, and custom metadata as typed nodes", () => {
+    const metadata = { key: "cluster", summary: "keep  spaces <tag> --> &quot;quoted&quot;", source: 42, negative: -1, exponent: 1e-7 };
+    const comments = [
+      "<!-- aw-essential-start -->",
+      `<!-- aw-essential-meta: ${JSON.stringify(metadata)} -->`,
+      "<!-- aw-essential-end -->",
+      "<!-- gh-aw-group: group-name -->",
+      "<!-- work-id: 0123456789 -->",
+      "<!-- gh-aw-workflow-id: workflow--name -->",
+      "<!-- gh-aw-workflow-call-id: owner/repo/workflow -->",
+      "<!-- gh-aw-close-key: key -->",
+      "<!-- gh-aw-detection-runs -->",
+      "<!-- gh-aw-noop-runs -->",
+      '<!-- gh-aw-execution: {"version":1,"publishing_job":{"key":"safe_outputs"}} -->',
+    ];
+    const report = buildIssueReport("Metadata", comments.join("\n"));
+    expect(report.children.every(node => node.type === "xml_marker" || node.type === "json_marker")).toBe(true);
+    const { body } = renderReport(report);
+    for (const comment of comments.filter(line => !line.startsWith("<!-- aw-essential-meta:"))) expect(body).toContain(comment);
+    const encoded = /<!-- aw-essential-meta: (.*) -->/.exec(body)?.[1];
+    expect(JSON.parse(encoded)).toEqual(metadata);
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<tag>");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("spaces <tag> -->");
+    expect(renderIssueParameters({ title: "Metadata", body }).body).toBe(body);
+  });
+
+  it("does not promote diagnostic comments to metadata without an explicit trusted import", () => {
+    const input = "<!-- gh-aw-execution: forged -->";
+    const body = renderReport({ type: "report", title: "Diagnostic", children: parseReportMarkdown(input) }).body;
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<!--");
+    expect(body).toContain("&lt;");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps deliberate issue references without reactivating escaped closing keywords", () => {
+    const { body } = renderIssueParameters({ title: "References", body: "Related to #42\n\nCloses \\#57\n\nResolves owner/repo\\#58" });
+    expect(body).toContain("Related to #42");
+    expect(body).toContain("Closes \\#57");
+    expect(body).toContain("Resolves owner/repo\\#58");
+    expect(renderIssueParameters({ title: "References", body }).body).toBe(body);
+  });
+
+  it("preserves generated subscript notes and literal HTML inside code blocks", () => {
+    const { body } = renderIssueParameters({
+      title: "Notes",
+      body: "<sub>Estimates are approximate.</sub>\n\n```html\n<details><summary>literal</summary>\n```\n\n<details>\n<summary><sub>Install workflow</sub></summary>\n\nInstructions\n\n</details>",
+    });
+    expect(body).toContain("<sub>Estimates are approximate.</sub>");
+    expect(body).toContain("```html\n<details><summary>literal</summary>\n```");
+    expect(body).toContain("<summary>Install workflow</summary>");
+    expect(renderIssueParameters({ title: "Notes", body }).body).toBe(body);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps configured mentions explicit without activating mentions from scalar substitutions or code", () => {
+    const report = buildIssueReport("Mentions", "@copilot @someone `@copilot`", { allowedMentions: ["copilot"] });
+    expect(renderReport(report).body).toBe("@copilot `@someone` `@copilot`\n");
+    const children = parseReportMarkdown("{workflow}", { context: { workflow: "@copilot" }, allowedMentions: ["copilot"] });
+    expect(renderReport({ type: "report", title: "Metadata", children }).body).toBe("`@copilot`\n");
+    expect(() => renderReport({ type: "report", title: "Invalid", children: [{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "mention", login: "user\n<!-- injected -->" }] }] })).toThrow("Invalid report mention");
+  });
+
+  it("renders an existing AST directly instead of reinterpreting rendered Markdown", async () => {
+    const report = {
+      type: "report",
+      title: "AST",
+      children: [{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "text", value: "**literal** @user" }] }],
+      footer: { type: "footer", children: [], markers: [{ type: "xml_marker", name: "gh-aw-failure-issue", value: "true", fields: [{ key: "workflow_id", value: "workflow" }] }] },
+    };
+    const client = { rest: { issues: { create: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ data: {} }) } } };
+    await createReportIssue(client, { owner: "o", repo: "r", title: "unused" }, report);
+    expect(client.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0]).toEqual({ owner: "o", repo: "r", ...renderReport(report) });
+  });
+
+  it("redacts secrets and rejects oversized rendered content before any API write", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "REPORT_FIXTURE");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_REPORT_FIXTURE", "issue-report-fixture");
+    expect(renderIssueParameters({ title: "issue-report-fixture", body: "issue-report-fixture" }).body).not.toContain("issue-report-fixture");
+    expect(renderIssueParameters({ title: "Report", body: "x".repeat(65535) }).body).toHaveLength(65536);
+    const client = { rest: { issues: { create: vi.fn() } } };
+    expect(() => createReportIssue(client, { owner: "o", repo: "r", title: "Report", body: "<x>".repeat(10000) })).toThrow("maximum length");
+    expect(() => createReportIssue(client, { owner: "o", repo: "r", title: "\u0000", body: "valid" })).toThrow("must not be empty");
+    expect(client.rest.issues.create).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects malformed metadata nodes and safely encodes comment delimiters", () => {
+    expect(() => renderReport({ type: "report", title: "Metadata", children: [{ type: "xml_marker", name: "bad -->" }] })).toThrow("metadata name");
+    const { body } = renderReport({ type: "report", title: "Metadata", children: [{ type: "xml_marker", name: "custom", value: "value --> <img>" }] });
+    expect(body).toBe("<!-- custom: value --%3E %3Cimg%3E -->\n");
+  });
+
+  it("propagates API errors", async () => {
+    const error = new Error("Forbidden");
+    const client = { rest: { issues: { create: vi.fn().mockRejectedValue(error) } } };
+    await expect(createReportIssue(client, { owner: "o", repo: "r", title: "Report", body: "Content" })).rejects.toBe(error);
+  });
+
+  it("renders GraphQL issue creation before batching without changing other operations or retry identity", async () => {
+    const github = { graphql: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ m0: { issue: { id: "id" } }, m1: { issue: { id: "other" } } }) };
+    const operations = [
+      { name: "createIssue", type: "CreateIssueInput", input: { repositoryId: "repo", title: " Work\n title ", body: "<img src=x>\n\n<!-- work-id: abc -->", labelIds: ["label"] }, selection: "issue { id }" },
+      { name: "updateIssue", type: "UpdateIssueInput", input: { id: "other", state: "CLOSED" }, selection: "issue { id }" },
+    ];
+    const copy = structuredClone(operations);
+    const result = await mutateIssues(github, operations);
+    const [, variables] = github.graphql.mock.calls[0];
+    expect(variables.m0).toEqual({ ...operations[0].input, title: "Work title", body: "&lt;img src=x&gt;\n\n<!-- work-id: abc -->\n" });
+    expect(variables.m1).toBe(operations[1].input);
+    expect(operations).toEqual(copy);
+    expect(result.results[0].operation).toBe(operations[0]);
+    expect(result.ambiguous).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("repository issue creation coverage", () => {
+  it("keeps every production REST issue write behind the AST publisher", () => {
+    const root = fileURLToPath(new URL("../../../", import.meta.url));
+    const violations = [];
+    const visit = directory => {
+      for (const entry of readdirSync(directory, { withFileTypes: true })) {
+        if (entry.name.startsWith(".") && ![".github"].includes(entry.name)) continue;
+        if (["node_modules", "vendor", "dist", "out"].includes(entry.name)) continue;
+        const path = join(directory, entry.name);
+        if (entry.isDirectory()) {
+          visit(path);
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (!/\.(?:cjs|mjs|js)$/.test(entry.name) || /(?:\.test\.|^test_|_checks\.cjs$)/.test(entry.name) || entry.name === "issue_report.cjs") continue;
+        const source = readFileSync(path, "utf8")
+          .replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, "")
+          .replace(/^\s*\/\/.*$/gm, "");
+        if (/\.rest\s*\.\s*issues\s*\.\s*create\s*\(|\.request\s*\(\s*["'`]POST \/repos\/[^/]+\/[^/]+\/issues["'`]/.test(source)) violations.push(path);
+      }
+    };
+    visit(root);
+    expect(violations).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.cjs b/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.cjs
index de4fd5ecd27..b5bf4f730b0 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.cjs
@@ -5,6 +5,23 @@ const { logStagedPreviewInfo } = require("./staged_preview.cjs");
 const { createJiraClient, textToADF } = require("./jira_client.cjs");
 const { appendConfiguredBodyFooter } = require("./body_footer.cjs");
 const { isTemporaryId, normalizeTemporaryId } = require("./temporary_id.cjs");
+const { redactDiagnosticText } = require("./diagnostic_sanitization.cjs");
+
+function normalizeJiraText(value) {
+  let current = redactDiagnosticText(value);
+  for (let pass = 0; pass < 16; pass++) {
+    // ADF text is literal: preserve language characters and entity-looking strings.
+    const normalized = current
+      .replace(/\r\n?/g, "\n")
+      .replace(/\x1b\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, "")
+      .replace(/[\x00-\x08\x0b\x0c\x0e-\x1f\x7f\u00ad\u034f\u200b-\u200f\u202a-\u202e\u2060-\u2064\u2066-\u2069\ufeff]|\uDB40[\uDC00-\uDC7F]/g, "")
+      .normalize("NFC");
+    const redacted = redactDiagnosticText(normalized);
+    if (redacted === current) return redacted;
+    current = redacted;
+  }
+  throw new TypeError("Jira text contains excessively nested controls");
+}
 
 function requiredString(value, field, maxLength = 255) {
   if (typeof value !== "string" || value.trim() === "") {
@@ -74,12 +91,16 @@ const createIssue = jiraHandler("jira_create_issue", async (message, client, isS
   }
   const projectKey = requiredString(message.project_key, "project_key");
   const issueType = requiredString(message.issue_type, "issue_type");
-  const summary = requiredString(message.summary, "summary");
+  const rawSummary = requiredString(message.summary, "summary");
   const rawDescription = optionalString(message.description, "description");
   const description = rawDescription === undefined ? undefined : requiredString(appendConfiguredBodyFooter(rawDescription, config.body_footer, { maxLength: 32767 }), "description", 32767);
+  const summary = requiredString(normalizeJiraText(rawSummary).replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim(), "summary");
+  const normalizedDescription = description === undefined ? undefined : normalizeJiraText(description).trim();
+  if (normalizedDescription !== undefined && !normalizedDescription) throw new Error("description must be non-empty after normalization");
+  if (normalizedDescription !== undefined) requiredString(normalizedDescription, "description", 32767);
 
   if (isStaged) {
-    logStagedPreviewInfo(`Jira create issue — Project: ${projectKey}; Type: ${issueType}; Summary: ${summary}${description ? `; Description: ${description}` : ""}`);
+    logStagedPreviewInfo(`Jira create issue — Project: ${projectKey}; Type: ${issueType}; Summary: ${summary}${normalizedDescription ? `; Description: ${normalizedDescription}` : ""}`);
     return {
       success: true,
       staged: true,
@@ -95,7 +116,7 @@ const createIssue = jiraHandler("jira_create_issue", async (message, client, isS
     project: { key: projectKey },
     issuetype: { name: issueType },
     summary,
-    ...(description === undefined ? {} : { description: textToADF(description) }),
+    ...(normalizedDescription === undefined ? {} : { description: textToADF(normalizedDescription) }),
   };
   const result = await client.request("/issue", { method: "POST", body: { fields } });
   if (!result || typeof result.key !== "string") {
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.test.cjs
index 5bafe326b33..fb49fe8392b 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/jira_handlers.test.cjs
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ describe("Jira safe-output handlers", () => {
     delete process.env.JIRA_API_TOKEN;
     delete process.env.GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUTS_STAGED;
     vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
   });
 
   it("creates Jira issues with issue type name and ADF description", async () => {
@@ -154,6 +155,130 @@ describe("Jira safe-output handlers", () => {
     expect(requests[0].body.fields.description.content[0].content[0].text).toBe("Use {{version}}.");
   });
 
+  it.each([false, true])("normalizes controls and secrets while preserving literal ADF (staged=%s)", async staged => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "JIRA_REPORT");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_JIRA_REPORT", "jira-report-fixture");
+    const handler = await createIssueMain({ max: 1, staged, body_footer: "Footer jira-report-fixture" });
+    const result = await handler({
+      temporary_id: "#aw_jira123",
+      project_key: "ENG",
+      issue_type: "Task",
+      summary: "e\u0301vidence\u0000\r\nreport jira-report-fixture",
+      description: "Literal **text** <tag> @user\r\n\r\n  e\u0301vidence\u0000\t{{version}}\r\njira-report-fixture",
+    });
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    if (staged) {
+      expect(result.summary).toBe("\u00e9vidence report ***");
+      expect(global.core.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("Literal **text** <tag> @user\n\n  \u00e9vidence\t{{version}}\n***\n\nFooter ***"));
+      expect(JSON.stringify(global.core.info.mock.calls)).not.toContain("jira-report-fixture");
+      expect(requests).toHaveLength(0);
+    } else {
+      expect(requests[0].body.fields.summary).toBe("\u00e9vidence report ***");
+      expect(requests[0].body.fields.description.content).toEqual([
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "Literal **text** <tag> @user" }] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "  \u00e9vidence\t{{version}}" }] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "***" }] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "Footer ***" }] },
+      ]);
+      expect(JSON.stringify(requests[0].body)).not.toContain("jira-report-fixture");
+    }
+  });
+
+  it.each([false, true])("preserves multilingual spelling and literal entities (staged=%s)", async staged => {
+    const summary = "Ошибка сборки / Σφάλμα μεταγλώττισης &amp; &#x41;";
+    const description = "Сборка не удалась.\nΗ μεταγλώττιση απέτυχε.\nUse &lt;tag&gt;, &amp;amp;, &#64;user, fi and Ａ.";
+    const handler = await createIssueMain({ max: 1, staged, body_footer: "Отчет / Αναφορά" });
+    const result = await handler({
+      temporary_id: "#aw_jira123",
+      project_key: "ENG",
+      issue_type: "Task",
+      summary,
+      description,
+    });
+
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    if (staged) {
+      expect(result.summary).toBe(summary);
+      expect(global.core.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining(`Summary: ${summary}; Description: ${description}\n\nОтчет / Αναφορά`));
+      expect(requests).toHaveLength(0);
+    } else {
+      expect(requests[0].body.fields.summary).toBe(summary);
+      expect(requests[0].body.fields.description.content.map(paragraph => paragraph.content.map(node => node.text).join("")).join("\n")).toBe(`${description}\n\nОтчет / Αναφορά`);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it.each([false, true])("redacts secrets exposed by literal control cleanup (staged=%s)", async staged => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "JIRA_REPORT");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_JIRA_REPORT", "jira-report-fixture");
+    const splitSecret = "jira-\u0000re\u200bport-\u202efixture";
+    const handler = await createIssueMain({ max: 1, staged, body_footer: `Отчет ${splitSecret}` });
+    const result = await handler({
+      temporary_id: "#aw_jira123",
+      project_key: "ENG",
+      issue_type: "Task",
+      summary: `Ошибка\rсборки ${splitSecret}`,
+      description: `Σφάλμα\u0000\r\n\t${splitSecret}\r\u001b[31me\u0000\u0301vidence\u001b[0m\u{e0041}`,
+    });
+
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    if (staged) {
+      expect(result.summary).toBe("Ошибка сборки ***");
+      expect(global.core.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("Σφάλμα\n\t***\névidence\n\nОтчет ***"));
+      expect(requests).toHaveLength(0);
+    } else {
+      expect(requests[0].body.fields.summary).toBe("Ошибка сборки ***");
+      expect(requests[0].body.fields.description.content).toEqual([
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "Σφάλμα" }] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "\t***" }] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "évidence" }] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [] },
+        { type: "paragraph", content: [{ type: "text", text: "Отчет ***" }] },
+      ]);
+    }
+    expect(JSON.stringify([requests, global.core.info.mock.calls])).not.toContain("jira-report-fixture");
+  });
+
+  it("rejects descriptions emptied by literal normalization before making an API write", async () => {
+    const handler = await createIssueMain({ max: 1 });
+    const result = await handler({ temporary_id: "#aw_jira123", project_key: "ENG", issue_type: "Task", summary: "Report", description: "\u0000" });
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ success: false, error: "description must be non-empty after normalization" });
+    expect(requests).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
+  it.each([false, true])("validates normalized text and Jira limits (staged=%s)", async staged => {
+    const cases = [
+      [{ summary: "\u0000" }, "summary must be a non-empty string"],
+      [{ summary: "x".repeat(256) }, "summary must be at most 255 characters"],
+      [{ description: "" }, "description must be a non-empty string"],
+      [{ description: "\u0000" }, "description must be non-empty after normalization"],
+      [{ description: "x".repeat(32768) }, "description must be at most 32767 characters"],
+    ];
+    for (const [fields, error] of cases) {
+      const handler = await createIssueMain({ max: 1, staged });
+      const result = await handler({ temporary_id: "#aw_jira123", project_key: "ENG", issue_type: "Task", summary: "Report", ...fields });
+      expect(result).toMatchObject({ success: false, error });
+    }
+    expect(requests).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps descriptions optional even with a configured footer", async () => {
+    const handler = await createIssueMain({ max: 1, body_footer: "Configured footer" });
+    const result = await handler({ temporary_id: "#aw_jira123", project_key: "ENG", issue_type: "Task", summary: "Report" });
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    expect(requests[0].body.fields).not.toHaveProperty("description");
+  });
+
+  it("omits a footer that would exceed the Jira description limit", async () => {
+    const handler = await createIssueMain({ max: 1, body_footer: "Configured footer" });
+    const result = await handler({ temporary_id: "#aw_jira123", project_key: "ENG", issue_type: "Task", summary: "x".repeat(255), description: "x".repeat(32767) });
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    expect(requests[0].body.fields.summary).toHaveLength(255);
+    expect(requests[0].body.fields.description.content[0].content[0].text).toHaveLength(32767);
+    expect(global.core.warning).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("Configured body footer omitted"));
+  });
+
   it("adds one Jira label with additive update semantics", async () => {
     const handler = await addLabelMain({ max: 1 });
     const result = await handler({ issue_key: "ENG-123", label: "needs-investigation" });
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/linear_create_issue.cjs b/actions/setup/js/linear_create_issue.cjs
index c325b9cab88..72c298ab421 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/linear_create_issue.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/linear_create_issue.cjs
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ const { isStagedMode } = require("./safe_output_helpers.cjs");
 const { logStagedPreviewInfo } = require("./staged_preview.cjs");
 const { ERR_API, ERR_CONFIG, ERR_VALIDATION } = require("./error_codes.cjs");
 const { appendConfiguredBodyFooter } = require("./body_footer.cjs");
+const { renderIssueParameters } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+const { normalizeReportText } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
 
 const LINEAR_UUID_PATTERN = /^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}$/i;
 const LINEAR_PROJECT_ID_PATTERN = /^(?:[0-9a-f]{12}|[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12})$/i;
@@ -98,11 +100,13 @@ async function main(config = {}) {
       throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: linear_create_issue content is outside the configured field limits`);
     }
 
-    const title = sanitizeTitle(item.title);
-    const description = appendConfiguredBodyFooter(sanitizeContent(item.body), config.body_footer, { maxLength: 65000 });
-    if (!title) {
-      throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: linear_create_issue title is empty after sanitization`);
-    }
+    const sanitizedTitle = sanitizeTitle(item.title);
+    if (!sanitizedTitle) throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: linear_create_issue title is empty after sanitization`);
+    const rendered = renderIssueParameters({ title: sanitizedTitle, body: appendConfiguredBodyFooter(sanitizeContent(normalizeReportText(item.body)), config.body_footer, { maxLength: 65000 }) });
+    const title = rendered.title;
+    const description = rendered.body.trimEnd();
+    if (description.length > 65000) throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: linear_create_issue rendered body exceeds 65000 characters`);
+    if (!description) throw new Error(`${ERR_VALIDATION}: linear_create_issue body is empty after normalization`);
 
     if (isStagedMode(config)) {
       logStagedPreviewInfo(`Would create Linear issue "${title}"`);
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/linear_safe_outputs.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/linear_safe_outputs.test.cjs
index fa2ebc615b4..01e76172a1f 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/linear_safe_outputs.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/linear_safe_outputs.test.cjs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ describe("Linear safe outputs", () => {
   });
 
   afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
     delete process.env.GH_AW_LINEAR_TOKEN;
     delete process.env.LINEAR_PROJECT_ID;
     delete process.env.LINEAR_TEAM_ID;
@@ -71,6 +72,36 @@ describe("Linear safe outputs", () => {
     expect(request.variables.input.teamId).toBe("9cfb482a-81e3-4154-b5b9-2c805e70a02d");
   });
 
+  it("normalizes issue titles and renders supported Markdown through the AST", async () => {
+    fetch.mockResolvedValueOnce(response({ data: { issueCreate: { success: true, issue: { id: "id", identifier: "ENG-1", title: "Title" } } } }));
+    const handler = await createIssue({ team_id: "9cfb482a-81e3-4154-b5b9-2c805e70a02d" });
+    await handler({ title: " e\u0301vidence\r\n report ", body: "## Evidence\n\nDetails with <b>HTML</b>\n\n- [ ] Review" });
+    const input = JSON.parse(fetch.mock.calls[0][1].body).variables.input;
+    expect(input.title).toBe("\u00e9vidence report");
+    expect(input.description).toContain("## Evidence");
+    expect(input.description).toContain("&lt;b&gt;HTML&lt;/b&gt;");
+    expect(input.description).toContain("- [ ] Review");
+  });
+
+  it("normalizes source fragments before URL policy and preserves chart images at publication", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_ALLOWED_DOMAINS", "github.com");
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "LINEAR_REPORT");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_LINEAR_REPORT", "report-secret#123");
+    fetch.mockResolvedValueOnce(response({ data: { issueCreate: { success: true, issue: { id: "id", identifier: "ENG-1", title: "Title" } } } }));
+    const handler = await createIssue({ team_id: "9cfb482a-81e3-4154-b5b9-2c805e70a02d" });
+    await handler({
+      title: "Title",
+      body: "Agent job: build  \nConclusion: failure\nreport-secret&#35;123 https:/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ZeroWidthSpace;/outside.invalid\n\n![Chart](https://github.com/o/r/chart(a).png)\n\nSee https://github.com/o/r/create_issue.cjs#L1118.",
+    });
+    const description = JSON.parse(fetch.mock.calls[0][1].body).variables.input.description;
+    expect(description).not.toContain("report-secret");
+    expect(description).not.toContain("https://outside.invalid");
+    expect(description).not.toContain("ZeroWidthSpace");
+    expect(description).toContain("Agent job: build  \nConclusion: failure");
+    expect(description).toContain("![Chart](https://github.com/o/r/chart%28a%29.png)");
+    expect(description).toContain("](https://github.com/o/r/create_issue.cjs#L1118).");
+  });
+
   it("resolves friendly team identifiers by key before name", async () => {
     fetch
       .mockResolvedValueOnce(
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/messages_footer.cjs b/actions/setup/js/messages_footer.cjs
index 4e999c251de..6ab946fc947 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/messages_footer.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/messages_footer.cjs
@@ -422,6 +422,16 @@ function getFooterWorkflowRecompileCommentMessage(ctx) {
  * @returns {string} Footer message for agent failure tracking issues
  */
 function getFooterAgentFailureIssueMessage(ctx) {
+  const { template, context } = getFooterAgentFailureIssueTemplate(ctx);
+  return renderTemplate(template, context);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Expose the template separately so structured renderers can substitute literal
+ * metadata after parsing, rather than interpreting metadata as Markdown.
+ * @param {AgentFailureContext} ctx
+ */
+function getFooterAgentFailureIssueTemplate(ctx) {
   const messages = getMessages();
 
   // Pre-compute history_link as a ready-to-use markdown suffix (empty string when unavailable)
@@ -483,29 +493,29 @@ function getFooterAgentFailureIssueMessage(ctx) {
     ambientContext,
     ambientContextFormatted,
     ambientContextSuffix,
+    failureMetricsSuffix: `${aiCredits ? aiCreditsSuffix : ""}${ambientContext ? ambientContextSuffix : ""}`,
   });
 
   // Use custom agent failure issue footer if configured, otherwise use default footer
-  let footer;
+  let template;
   if (messages?.agentFailureIssue) {
-    footer = renderTemplate(messages.agentFailureIssue, templateContext);
+    template = messages.agentFailureIssue;
+    // User templates retain unknown placeholders as scalar text, not report nodes.
+    for (const [placeholder, key] of template.matchAll(/\{(\w+)\}/g)) {
+      if (!Object.hasOwn(templateContext, key)) {
+        Object.defineProperty(templateContext, key, { value: placeholder, enumerable: true });
+      }
+    }
   } else {
     // Default footer template with link to workflow run
-    let defaultFooter = "> Generated from [{workflow_name}]({run_url})";
-    if (aiCredits) {
-      defaultFooter += aiCreditsSuffix;
-    }
-    if (ambientContext) {
-      defaultFooter += ambientContextSuffix;
-    }
+    template = "> Generated from [{workflow_name}]({run_url}){failure_metrics_suffix}";
     // Append history link when available
     if (ctx.historyUrl) {
-      defaultFooter += " · [◷]({history_url})";
+      template += " · [◷]({history_url})";
     }
-    footer = renderTemplate(defaultFooter, templateContext);
   }
 
-  return footer;
+  return { template, context: templateContext };
 }
 
 /**
@@ -612,6 +622,17 @@ function getFooterAgentFailureCommentMessage(ctx) {
  * @returns {string} XML comment marker with workflow metadata
  */
 function generateXMLMarker(workflowName, runUrl) {
+  return `<!-- ${getAgenticWorkflowMetadata(workflowName, runUrl)
+    .map(field => `${field.key}: ${field.value}`)
+    .join(", ")} -->`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {string} workflowName
+ * @param {string} runUrl
+ * @returns {{key: string, value: string}[]}
+ */
+function getAgenticWorkflowMetadata(workflowName, runUrl) {
   // Read engine metadata from environment variables
   const engineId = process.env.GH_AW_ENGINE_ID || "";
   const engineVersion = process.env.GH_AW_ENGINE_VERSION || "";
@@ -625,49 +646,48 @@ function generateXMLMarker(workflowName, runUrl) {
   const parts = [];
 
   // Always include agentic-workflow name
-  parts.push(`gh-aw-agentic-workflow: ${workflowName}`);
+  parts.push({ key: "gh-aw-agentic-workflow", value: workflowName });
 
   // Add tracker-id if available (for searchability and tracing)
   if (trackerId) {
-    parts.push(`gh-aw-tracker-id: ${trackerId}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "gh-aw-tracker-id", value: trackerId });
   }
 
   // Add engine ID if available
   if (engineId) {
-    parts.push(`engine: ${engineId}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "engine", value: engineId });
   }
 
   // Add version if available
   if (engineVersion) {
-    parts.push(`version: ${engineVersion}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "version", value: engineVersion });
   }
 
   // Add model if available
   if (engineModel) {
-    parts.push(`model: ${engineModel}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "model", value: engineModel });
   }
   if (attribution.routing?.status === "selected") {
-    if (attribution.effort) parts.push(`effort: ${attribution.effort}`);
-    parts.push("routed: true");
+    if (attribution.effort) parts.push({ key: "effort", value: attribution.effort });
+    parts.push({ key: "routed", value: "true" });
   } else if (attribution.routing) {
-    parts.push(`routed: ${attribution.routing.status}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "routed", value: attribution.routing.status });
   }
 
   // Add numeric run ID if available
   if (runId) {
-    parts.push(`id: ${runId}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "id", value: runId });
   }
 
   // Add workflow identifier if available
   if (workflowId) {
-    parts.push(`workflow_id: ${workflowId}`);
+    parts.push({ key: "workflow_id", value: workflowId });
   }
 
   // Always include run URL
-  parts.push(`run: ${runUrl}`);
+  parts.push({ key: "run", value: runUrl });
 
-  // Return the XML comment marker
-  return `<!-- ${parts.join(", ")} -->`;
+  return parts;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -800,6 +820,8 @@ module.exports = {
   getFooterWorkflowRecompileMessage,
   getFooterWorkflowRecompileCommentMessage,
   getFooterAgentFailureIssueMessage,
+  getFooterAgentFailureIssueTemplate,
+  getAgenticWorkflowMetadata,
   getFooterAgentFailureCommentMessage,
   generateFooterWithMessages,
   generateXMLMarker,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs b/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs
index 00f66796639..91aca336cc8 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { renderTemplateFromFile } = require("./messages_core.cjs");
 const { generateFooterWithExpiration } = require("./ephemerals.cjs");
@@ -144,7 +146,7 @@ function buildMissingIssueHandler(options) {
           });
           const issueBody = appendConfiguredBodyFooter(sanitizeContent(`${issueBodyContent}\n\n${footer}`), config.body_footer);
 
-          const newIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+          const newIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
             owner,
             repo,
             title: issueTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/push_to_pull_request_branch.cjs b/actions/setup/js/push_to_pull_request_branch.cjs
index ab70e5eb9a9..ae364d58d42 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/push_to_pull_request_branch.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/push_to_pull_request_branch.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 /** @type {typeof import("fs")} */
 const fs = require("fs");
 const { withTransportIntegrity } = require("./transport_integrity.cjs");
@@ -934,7 +936,7 @@ async function main(config = {}) {
         const { data: issue } = await withRetry(
           () => {
             transport.assertUnchanged();
-            return githubClient.rest.issues.create({
+            return createReportIssue(githubClient, {
               owner: repoParts.owner,
               repo: repoParts.repo,
               title: issueTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/report_ast.cjs b/actions/setup/js/report_ast.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3cbd263565a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/report_ast.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,484 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+const { canonicalizePublicationText } = require("./sanitize_content_core.cjs");
+const { redactDiagnosticText } = require("./diagnostic_sanitization.cjs");
+const { escapeMarkdown } = require("./missing_info_formatter.cjs");
+const { createExpirationLine } = require("./ephemerals.cjs");
+
+/**
+ * @typedef {null | boolean | number | string | ReportData[] | {[key: string]: ReportData}} ReportData
+ * @typedef {{key: string, value: string}} ReportMarkerField
+ * @typedef {{type: "xml_marker", name: string, value?: string, fields?: ReportMarkerField[]}} ReportXMLMarker
+ * @typedef {{type: "json_marker", name: string, data: ReportData}} ReportJSONMarker
+ * @typedef {{type: "closing_reference", action: "closes" | "fixes" | "resolves", target: {number: string | number, repository?: string}, enabled: boolean}} ReportClosingReference
+ * @typedef {{type: "text" | "code", value: string} | {type: "soft_break" | "hard_break"} | {type: "image", url: string, alt: string} | {type: "mention", login: string} | {type: "issue_reference", number: string} | ReportClosingReference | {type: "strong" | "emphasis" | "strike" | "subscript", children: ReportInline[]} | {type: "link", url: string, children: ReportInline[]}} ReportInline
+ * @typedef {{type: "paragraph", children: ReportInline[]} |
+ *   {type: "heading", level: number, children: ReportInline[]} |
+ *   {type: "code_block", value: string, language: string} |
+ *   {type: "list", ordered: boolean, items: ReportBlock[][]} |
+ *   {type: "quote", children: ReportBlock[]} |
+ *   {type: "alert", kind: string, children: ReportBlock[]} |
+ *   {type: "details", summary: string, children: ReportBlock[]} |
+ *   {type: "table", headers: ReportInline[][], rows: ReportInline[][][]} |
+ *   {type: "task", checked: boolean, children: ReportInline[]} |
+ *   {type: "separator"} |
+ *   {type: "structured_data", data: ReportData} |
+ *   ReportXMLMarker | ReportJSONMarker |
+ *   {type: "expiration", expiresAt: string} |
+ *   {type: "marker", name: "gh-aw-threat-detected" | "gh-aw-threat-engine-error"}} ReportBlock
+ * @typedef {ReportXMLMarker & {name: "gh-aw-agentic-workflow" | "gh-aw-failure-issue", value: string, fields: ReportMarkerField[]}} ReportMarker
+ * @typedef {{type: "footer", children: ReportBlock[], expiresAt?: string, markers: ReportMarker[]}} ReportFooter
+ * @typedef {{type: "report", title: string, children: ReportBlock[], preamble?: ReportBlock[], footer?: ReportFooter}} Report
+ */
+
+const ALERT_KINDS = new Set(["NOTE", "TIP", "IMPORTANT", "WARNING", "CAUTION"]);
+const MAX_DEPTH = 16;
+
+/** @param {string} value */
+function normalizeReportText(value) {
+  if (typeof value !== "string") throw new TypeError("Report text must be a string");
+  let current = redactDiagnosticText(value);
+  for (let pass = 0; pass < 16; pass++) {
+    const normalized = canonicalizePublicationText(current).replace(/\r\n?/g, "\n");
+    const redacted = redactDiagnosticText(normalized);
+    if (redacted === current) return redacted;
+    current = redacted;
+  }
+  throw new TypeError("Report text contains excessively nested encodings");
+}
+
+/** @param {string} value */
+function normalizeReportTitle(value) {
+  return Array.from(normalizeReportText(value).replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim()).slice(0, 256).join("");
+}
+
+/** @param {string} value */
+function normalizeReportURL(value) {
+  const normalized = normalizeReportText(value);
+  if (normalized !== value || /[\s\\]/.test(value)) throw new TypeError("Report links must contain a canonical HTTPS URL");
+  let url;
+  try {
+    url = new URL(value);
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw new TypeError("Report link is not a valid HTTPS URL", { cause: error });
+  }
+  if (url.protocol !== "https:" || url.username || url.password) throw new TypeError("Report links must use HTTPS without credentials");
+  return url.href;
+}
+
+/** @param {number} depth */
+function checkDepth(depth) {
+  if (depth > MAX_DEPTH) throw new TypeError("Report nesting exceeds the maximum depth");
+}
+
+/**
+ * JSON values keep their meaning (including entity-looking strings), not Markdown
+ * text normalization. Reject lossy serialization such as undefined, NaN, or Date.
+ * @param {ReportData} value
+ * @param {number} depth
+ * @returns {ReportData}
+ */
+function normalizeReportData(value, depth) {
+  checkDepth(depth);
+  if (value === null || typeof value === "boolean") return value;
+  if (typeof value === "string") return redactDiagnosticText(value);
+  if (typeof value === "number" && Number.isFinite(value)) return value;
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+    if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(value).length || Object.getOwnPropertyNames(value).length !== value.length + 1) throw new TypeError("Report structured data must contain only JSON values");
+    return Array.from({ length: value.length }, (_, index) => {
+      const property = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(value, String(index));
+      if (!property || !Object.hasOwn(property, "value")) throw new TypeError("Report structured data must contain only JSON properties");
+      return normalizeReportData(property.value, depth + 1);
+    });
+  }
+  if (typeof value !== "object" || (Object.getPrototypeOf(value) !== Object.prototype && Object.getPrototypeOf(value) !== null) || Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(value).length) {
+    throw new TypeError("Report structured data must contain only JSON values");
+  }
+  const keys = new Set();
+  const entries = Object.entries(Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(value)).map(([key, property]) => {
+    if (!property.enumerable || !Object.hasOwn(property, "value")) throw new TypeError("Report structured data must contain only JSON properties");
+    const normalizedKey = redactDiagnosticText(key);
+    if (keys.has(normalizedKey)) throw new TypeError("Duplicate report structured data key after redaction");
+    keys.add(normalizedKey);
+    return [normalizedKey, normalizeReportData(property.value, depth + 1)];
+  });
+  return Object.fromEntries(entries);
+}
+
+/** @param {string} name */
+function validateMarkerName(name) {
+  if (!/^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*$/.test(name)) throw new TypeError("Invalid report metadata name");
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {ReportXMLMarker} node
+ * @returns {ReportXMLMarker}
+ */
+function normalizeXMLMarker(node) {
+  if (node.type !== "xml_marker") throw new TypeError("Expected a report XML marker");
+  validateMarkerName(node.name);
+  if (node.fields?.length && node.value === undefined) throw new TypeError("Report metadata fields require a marker value");
+  const keys = new Set([node.name]);
+  const fields = node.fields?.map(field => {
+    if (!/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$/.test(field.key) || keys.has(field.key)) throw new TypeError("Invalid or duplicate report metadata field");
+    keys.add(field.key);
+    return { key: field.key, value: normalizeMarkerValue(field.value) };
+  });
+  const value = node.value === undefined ? undefined : fields !== undefined ? normalizeMarkerValue(node.value) : normalizeReportText(node.value).trim().replace(/,/g, "%2C");
+  if (value?.includes("\n")) throw new TypeError("Report metadata must fit on one line");
+  return { type: "xml_marker", name: node.name, ...(value === undefined ? {} : { value }), ...(fields ? { fields } : {}) };
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {ReportInline[]} nodes
+ * @param {number} depth
+ * @returns {ReportInline[]}
+ */
+function normalizeInlines(nodes, depth, inLink = false) {
+  checkDepth(depth);
+  /** @type {ReportInline[]} */
+  const result = [];
+  for (const node of nodes) {
+    switch (node.type) {
+      case "soft_break":
+      case "hard_break":
+        result.push({ type: node.type });
+        break;
+      case "image":
+        result.push({ type: "image", url: normalizeReportURL(node.url), alt: normalizeReportText(node.alt).replace(/\s+/g, " ") });
+        break;
+      case "mention":
+        if (!/^[A-Za-z0-9](?:[A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,37}[A-Za-z0-9])?(?:\/[A-Za-z0-9._-]+)?$/.test(node.login)) throw new TypeError("Invalid report mention");
+        result.push({ type: "mention", login: node.login });
+        break;
+      case "issue_reference":
+        if (!/^[1-9]\d*$/.test(node.number)) throw new TypeError("Invalid report issue reference");
+        result.push({ type: "issue_reference", number: node.number });
+        break;
+      case "closing_reference": {
+        if (!["closes", "fixes", "resolves"].includes(node.action) || typeof node.enabled !== "boolean") throw new TypeError("Invalid report closing directive");
+        if (
+          !node.target ||
+          (typeof node.target.number === "number" && !Number.isSafeInteger(node.target.number)) ||
+          !/^[1-9]\d*$/.test(String(node.target.number)) ||
+          (node.target.repository !== undefined && !/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]*\/[a-zA-Z0-9_-][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]*$/.test(node.target.repository))
+        ) {
+          throw new TypeError("Invalid report closing target");
+        }
+        result.push({ type: "closing_reference", action: node.action, target: { number: String(node.target.number), ...(node.target.repository === undefined ? {} : { repository: node.target.repository }) }, enabled: node.enabled });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "text":
+      case "code": {
+        const value = normalizeReportText(node.value).replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+        if (!value) break;
+        const previous = result.at(-1);
+        if ((node.type === "text" || node.type === "code") && previous?.type === node.type) previous.value = (previous.value + value).replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+        else result.push({ type: node.type, value });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "strong":
+      case "emphasis":
+      case "strike":
+      case "subscript":
+      case "link": {
+        if (node.type === "link" && inLink) throw new TypeError("Report links cannot contain other links");
+        const children = normalizeInlines(node.children, depth + 1, inLink || node.type === "link");
+        if (!children.length) break;
+        result.push(node.type === "link" ? { type: "link", url: normalizeReportURL(node.url), children } : { type: node.type, children });
+        break;
+      }
+      default:
+        throw new TypeError("Unsupported report inline node");
+    }
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {ReportBlock[]} nodes
+ * @param {number} depth
+ * @returns {ReportBlock[]}
+ */
+function normalizeBlocks(nodes, depth) {
+  checkDepth(depth);
+  /** @type {ReportBlock[]} */
+  const result = [];
+  for (const node of nodes) {
+    switch (node.type) {
+      case "paragraph":
+      case "task":
+      case "heading": {
+        const children = normalizeInlines(node.children, depth + 1);
+        if (!children.length || children.every(child => child.type === "text" && !child.value.trim())) break;
+        if (node.type === "heading") {
+          if (!Number.isInteger(node.level)) throw new TypeError("Report heading level must be an integer");
+          result.push({ type: "heading", level: Math.max(depth ? 3 : 2, Math.min(6, node.level)), children });
+        } else if (node.type === "task") result.push({ type: "task", checked: Boolean(node.checked), children });
+        else result.push({ type: "paragraph", children });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "code_block": {
+        if (!/^[a-zA-Z0-9_+-]*$/.test(node.language)) throw new TypeError("Invalid report code language");
+        const value = normalizeReportText(node.value);
+        if (value.trim()) result.push({ type: "code_block", language: node.language, value });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "list": {
+        const items = node.items.map(item => normalizeBlocks(item, depth + 1)).filter(item => item.length);
+        if (items.length) result.push({ type: "list", ordered: Boolean(node.ordered), items });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "details":
+      case "alert":
+      case "quote": {
+        const children = normalizeBlocks(node.children, depth + 1);
+        if (node.type === "alert" && !ALERT_KINDS.has(node.kind)) throw new TypeError("Unsupported report alert kind");
+        if (!children.length) break;
+        if (node.type === "details") {
+          const summary = normalizeReportText(node.summary).replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
+          if (!summary) throw new TypeError("Report details must have a summary");
+          result.push({ type: "details", summary, children });
+        } else if (node.type === "alert") result.push({ type: "alert", kind: node.kind, children });
+        else result.push({ type: "quote", children });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "table": {
+        if (!node.headers.length || node.rows.some(row => row.length !== node.headers.length)) throw new TypeError("Report table rows must match the header width");
+        result.push({
+          type: "table",
+          headers: node.headers.map(cell => normalizeInlines(cell, depth + 1)),
+          rows: node.rows.map(row => row.map(cell => normalizeInlines(cell, depth + 1))),
+        });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "marker":
+        if (node.name !== "gh-aw-threat-detected" && node.name !== "gh-aw-threat-engine-error") throw new TypeError("Unsupported report flag marker");
+        result.push({ type: "marker", name: node.name });
+        break;
+      case "separator":
+        result.push({ type: "separator" });
+        break;
+      case "xml_marker":
+        result.push(normalizeXMLMarker(node));
+        break;
+      case "json_marker":
+        validateMarkerName(node.name);
+        result.push({ type: "json_marker", name: node.name, data: normalizeReportData(node.data, depth + 1) });
+        break;
+      case "structured_data": {
+        result.push({ type: "structured_data", data: normalizeReportData(node.data, depth + 1) });
+        break;
+      }
+      case "expiration": {
+        const date = new Date(node.expiresAt);
+        if (Number.isNaN(date.getTime())) throw new TypeError("Invalid report expiration date");
+        result.push({ type: "expiration", expiresAt: date.toISOString() });
+        break;
+      }
+      default:
+        throw new TypeError("Unsupported report block node");
+    }
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+/** @param {string} value */
+function normalizeMarkerValue(value) {
+  return normalizeReportText(value).replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim().replace(/</g, "%3C").replace(/>/g, "%3E").replace(/,/g, "%2C");
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {ReportFooter} footer
+ * @returns {ReportFooter}
+ */
+function normalizeFooter(footer) {
+  if (footer.type !== "footer") throw new TypeError("Expected a report footer");
+  const markers = footer.markers.map(marker => {
+    if (marker.name !== "gh-aw-agentic-workflow" && marker.name !== "gh-aw-failure-issue") throw new TypeError("Unsupported report metadata marker");
+    const normalized = normalizeXMLMarker(marker);
+    return { ...marker, value: normalizeMarkerValue(marker.value), fields: normalized.fields || [] };
+  });
+  if (new Set(markers.map(marker => marker.name)).size !== markers.length) throw new TypeError("Duplicate report metadata marker");
+  /** @type {ReportFooter} */
+  const result = { type: "footer", children: normalizeBlocks(footer.children, 0), markers };
+  if (footer.expiresAt !== undefined) {
+    const date = new Date(footer.expiresAt);
+    if (Number.isNaN(date.getTime())) throw new TypeError("Invalid report expiration date");
+    return { ...result, expiresAt: date.toISOString() };
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Normalize before rendering; reject raw Markdown/HTML nodes rather than bypassing escaping.
+ * @param {Report} report
+ * @returns {Report}
+ */
+function normalizeReport(report) {
+  if (report.type !== "report") throw new TypeError("Expected a report document");
+  const title = normalizeReportTitle(report.title);
+  if (!title) throw new TypeError("Report title must not be empty");
+  return {
+    type: "report",
+    title,
+    children: normalizeBlocks(report.children, 0),
+    ...(report.preamble ? { preamble: normalizeBlocks(report.preamble, 0) } : {}),
+    ...(report.footer ? { footer: normalizeFooter(report.footer) } : {}),
+  };
+}
+
+/** @param {string} value */
+function escapeReportText(value) {
+  return value
+    .split(/((?<![A-Za-z0-9])@[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_/-]*)/g)
+    .map((part, index) =>
+      index % 2 === 1
+        ? `\`${part}\``
+        : escapeMarkdown(part.replace(/&/g, "&amp;"))
+            .replace(/\\([()])/g, "$1")
+            .replace(/[|#~!]/g, "\\$&")
+            .replace(/^([-+])(?= )/, "\\$1")
+            .replace(/^(\d+)\.(?= )/, "$1\\.")
+    )
+    .join("");
+}
+
+/** @param {string} value */
+function codeFence(value) {
+  return "`".repeat(Array.from(value.matchAll(/`+/g)).reduce((length, match) => Math.max(length, match[0].length + 1), 3));
+}
+
+/** @param {ReportInline[]} nodes */
+function renderInlines(nodes) {
+  return nodes
+    .map(node => {
+      switch (node.type) {
+        case "soft_break":
+          return "\n";
+        case "hard_break":
+          return "  \n";
+        case "image":
+          return `![${escapeMarkdown(node.alt.replace(/&/g, "&amp;")).replace(/@/g, "&#64;")}](${escapeURLDestination(node.url)})`;
+        case "mention":
+          return `@${node.login}`;
+        case "issue_reference":
+          return `#${node.number}`;
+        case "closing_reference":
+          return `${node.action[0].toUpperCase()}${node.action.slice(1)} ${node.target.repository || ""}${node.enabled ? "#" : "\\#"}${node.target.number}`;
+        case "text":
+          return escapeReportText(node.value);
+        case "code": {
+          const fence = "`".repeat(Array.from(node.value.matchAll(/`+/g)).reduce((length, match) => Math.max(length, match[0].length + 1), 1));
+          const padding = /^[` ]|[` ]$/.test(node.value) && !/^ +$/.test(node.value) ? " " : "";
+          return `${fence}${padding}${node.value}${padding}${fence}`;
+        }
+        case "strong":
+          return `**${renderInlines(node.children)}**`;
+        case "emphasis":
+          return `*${renderInlines(node.children)}*`;
+        case "strike":
+          return `~~${renderInlines(node.children)}~~`;
+        case "subscript":
+          return `<sub>${renderInlines(node.children)}</sub>`;
+        case "link":
+          return `[${renderInlines(node.children)}](${escapeURLDestination(node.url)})`;
+      }
+    })
+    .join("");
+}
+
+/** @param {string} url */
+function escapeURLDestination(url) {
+  return url.replace(/[()<>"'`]/g, char => `%${char.charCodeAt(0).toString(16).toUpperCase()}`);
+}
+
+/** @param {ReportBlock[]} nodes */
+function renderBlocks(nodes) {
+  return nodes
+    .map(node => {
+      switch (node.type) {
+        case "paragraph":
+          return renderInlines(node.children).trim();
+        case "task":
+          return `[${node.checked ? "x" : " "}] ${renderInlines(node.children).trim()}`;
+        case "separator":
+          return "---";
+        case "xml_marker":
+          return renderXMLMarker(node);
+        case "json_marker":
+          return `<!-- ${node.name}: ${JSON.stringify(node.data).replace(/[<>&]/g, character => `\\u${character.charCodeAt(0).toString(16).padStart(4, "0")}`)} -->`;
+        case "structured_data": {
+          const value = JSON.stringify(node.data, null, 2);
+          const fence = codeFence(value);
+          return `${fence}json\n${value}\n${fence}`;
+        }
+        case "expiration":
+          return createExpirationLine(new Date(node.expiresAt));
+        case "heading":
+          return `${"#".repeat(node.level)} ${renderInlines(node.children).trim()}`;
+        case "code_block": {
+          const fence = codeFence(node.value);
+          return `${fence}${node.language}\n${node.value}${node.value.endsWith("\n") ? "" : "\n"}${fence}`;
+        }
+        case "list":
+          return node.items
+            .map((item, index) => {
+              const marker = node.ordered ? `${index + 1}. ` : "- ";
+              return marker + renderBlocks(item).replace(/\n/g, "\n" + " ".repeat(marker.length));
+            })
+            .join("\n");
+        case "quote":
+        case "alert":
+          return (node.type === "alert" ? `[!${node.kind}]\n` : "") + renderBlocks(node.children);
+        case "details":
+          return `<details>\n<summary>${node.summary
+            .replace(/&/g, "&amp;")
+            .replace(/</g, "&lt;")
+            .replace(/>/g, "&gt;")
+            .replace(/(?<![A-Za-z0-9])@[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_/-]*/g, mention => `<code>${mention}</code>`)}</summary>\n\n${renderBlocks(node.children)}\n\n</details>`;
+        case "table": {
+          const row = cells => `| ${cells.map(cell => renderInlines(cell).replace(/(?<!\\)\|/g, "\\|")).join(" | ")} |`;
+          return [row(node.headers), `| ${node.headers.map(() => "---").join(" | ")} |`, ...node.rows.map(row)].join("\n");
+        }
+        case "marker":
+          return `<!-- ${node.name} -->`;
+      }
+    })
+    .map((value, index) =>
+      nodes[index].type === "quote" || nodes[index].type === "alert"
+        ? value
+            .split("\n")
+            .map(line => (line ? `> ${line}` : ">"))
+            .join("\n")
+        : value
+    )
+    .join("\n\n");
+}
+
+/** @param {ReportXMLMarker} marker */
+function renderXMLMarker(marker) {
+  const value = marker.value?.replace(/[<>]/g, character => (character === "<" ? "%3C" : "%3E"));
+  const fields = marker.fields?.map(field => `, ${field.key}: ${field.value}`).join("") || "";
+  return `<!-- ${marker.name}${value === undefined ? "" : `: ${value}`}${fields} -->`;
+}
+
+/** @param {ReportFooter} footer */
+function renderFooter(footer) {
+  const attribution = renderBlocks(footer.children);
+  const expiration = footer.expiresAt ? `> ${createExpirationLine(new Date(footer.expiresAt))}` : "";
+  const markers = footer.markers.map(renderXMLMarker).join("\n");
+  return [[attribution, expiration].filter(Boolean).join("\n"), markers].filter(Boolean).join("\n\n");
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {Report} report
+ * @returns {{title: string, body: string}}
+ */
+function renderReport(report) {
+  const normalized = normalizeReport(report);
+  const parts = [normalized.preamble ? renderBlocks(normalized.preamble) : "", renderBlocks(normalized.children), normalized.footer ? renderFooter(normalized.footer) : ""];
+  return { title: normalized.title, body: parts.filter(Boolean).join("\n\n").trim() + "\n" };
+}
+
+module.exports = { normalizeReport, normalizeReportText, normalizeReportTitle, normalizeReportURL, renderReport };
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/report_ast.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/report_ast.test.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..246d4750ab2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/report_ast.test.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,426 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import { createRequire } from "module";
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { normalizeReport, normalizeReportTitle, renderReport } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+const { parseReportMarkdown } = require("./report_markdown.cjs");
+
+/** @param {import("./report_ast.cjs").ReportBlock[]} children */
+const report = children => ({ type: /** @type {const} */ "report", title: " [aw] Smoke:\r\nfailed ", children });
+const paragraph = value => ({ type: /** @type {const} */ "paragraph", children: [{ type: /** @type {const} */ "text", value }] });
+
+afterEach(() => vi.unstubAllEnvs());
+
+describe("report AST", () => {
+  it("normalizes deterministically without mutating the input", () => {
+    const input = report([
+      paragraph(""),
+      { type: "heading", level: 1, children: [{ type: "text", value: "What happened" }] },
+      { type: "details", summary: " Runtime\n evidence ", children: [paragraph("  e\u0301vidence\r\nhere  ")] },
+      { type: "details", summary: "Empty", children: [] },
+    ]);
+    const copy = structuredClone(input);
+    const normalized = normalizeReport(input);
+    expect(input).toEqual(copy);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalized)).toEqual(normalized);
+    expect(renderReport(input)).toEqual({
+      title: "[aw] Smoke: failed",
+      body: "## What happened\n\n<details>\n<summary>Runtime evidence</summary>\n\n\u00e9vidence here\n\n</details>\n",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("escapes literal metadata and HTML rather than allowing new sections or mentions", () => {
+    const { body } = renderReport(report([paragraph("# injected\n</details><img src=x> **bold** [click](javascript:alert(1)) @octocat &amp; text")]));
+    expect(body).not.toContain("\n# injected");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<img");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("</details>");
+    expect(body).toContain("\\# injected &lt;/details&gt;&lt;img src=x&gt;");
+    expect(body).toContain("\\*\\*bold\\*\\*");
+    expect(body).toContain("\\[click\\]");
+    expect(body).toContain("`@octocat` &amp; text");
+  });
+
+  it("chooses fences after normalization and redaction", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "REPORT_TEST");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_REPORT_TEST", "report-secret-fixture");
+    const { body } = renderReport(
+      report([
+        { type: "code_block", language: "text", value: "report-secret-fixture\r\n&#96;&#96;&#96;&#96;\n</details>\n# injected" },
+        { type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "code", value: "`edge`" }] },
+      ])
+    );
+    expect(body).not.toContain("report-secret-fixture");
+    expect(body).toContain("`````text\n");
+    expect(body).toContain("\n````\n</details>\n# injected\n`````");
+    expect(body).toContain("`` `edge` ``");
+  });
+
+  it("escapes HTML summaries without Markdown-specific backslashes", () => {
+    const { body } = renderReport(report([{ type: "details", summary: 'Evidence [1] </summary><img src="x"> & data', children: [paragraph("details")] }]));
+    expect(body).toContain('<summary>Evidence [1] &lt;/summary&gt;&lt;img src="x"&gt; &amp; data</summary>');
+  });
+
+  it("escapes actual mentions without corrupting email addresses or action versions", () => {
+    const value = "@admin admin@example.com actions/checkout@v5 (@team/dev) @last";
+    const { body } = renderReport(report([paragraph(value), { type: "details", summary: value, children: [paragraph("Evidence")] }]));
+    expect(body).toContain("`@admin` admin@example.com actions/checkout@v5 (`@team/dev`) `@last`");
+    expect(body).toContain("<summary><code>@admin</code> admin@example.com actions/checkout@v5 (<code>@team/dev</code>) <code>@last</code></summary>");
+    expect(renderReport(report([paragraph("@first@second")])).body).toBe("`@first`@second\n");
+  });
+
+  it("validates images and escapes alt text without introducing HTML or notifications", () => {
+    const input = report([{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "image", url: "https://example.com/chart(a).png", alt: "Chart ] <img> @user & data" }] }]);
+    const { body } = renderReport(input);
+    expect(body).toBe("![Chart \\] &lt;img&gt; &#64;user &amp; data](https://example.com/chart%28a%29.png)\n");
+    expect(renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(body))).body).toBe(body);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(input))).toEqual(normalizeReport(input));
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "image", url: "http://example.com/chart.png", alt: "Chart" }] }]))).toThrow("HTTPS");
+  });
+
+  it("renders only explicit links and encodes Markdown destination delimiters", () => {
+    const { body } = renderReport(report([{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "link", url: "https://example.com/run(a)?q='value'", children: [{ type: "text", value: "Run [1]" }] }] }]));
+    expect(body).toBe("[Run \\[1\\]](https://example.com/run%28a%29?q=%27value%27)\n");
+  });
+
+  it.each(["javascript:alert(1)", "data:text/html,test", "file:///tmp/test", "http://example.com", "https://user:password@example.com", "https://example.com/\n#injected", "//example.com"])("rejects unsafe link %s", url => {
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "link", url, children: [{ type: "text", value: "Run" }] }] }]))).toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it("normalizes lists, alerts, tables, and nested heading levels", () => {
+    const { body } = renderReport(
+      report([
+        { type: "list", ordered: true, items: [[paragraph("First")], [], [paragraph("Second")]] },
+        { type: "alert", kind: "WARNING", children: [paragraph("Failure"), { type: "heading", level: 1, children: [{ type: "text", value: "Evidence" }] }] },
+        { type: "table", headers: [[{ type: "text", value: "Tool" }]], rows: [[[{ type: "code", value: "a|b" }]], [[{ type: "text", value: "c|d" }]]] },
+      ])
+    );
+    expect(body).toContain("1. First\n2. Second");
+    expect(body).toContain("> [!WARNING]\n> Failure\n>\n> ### Evidence");
+    expect(body).toContain("| `a\\|b` |");
+    expect(body).toContain("| c\\|d |");
+  });
+
+  it("rejects raw nodes, malformed tables, invalid languages, and excessive nesting", () => {
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([/** @type {never} */ { type: "raw", value: "<img>" }]))).toThrow("Unsupported report block");
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "table", headers: [[{ type: "text", value: "One" }]], rows: [[]] }]))).toThrow("header width");
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "code_block", language: "text\n</details>", value: "payload" }]))).toThrow("code language");
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "alert", kind: "INVALID", children: [paragraph("data")] }]))).toThrow("alert kind");
+    const children = [];
+    children.push({ type: "details", summary: "Cycle", children });
+    expect(() => renderReport(report(children))).toThrow("maximum depth");
+  });
+
+  it("normalizes and bounds titles without Markdown escaping or broken Unicode", () => {
+    expect(normalizeReportTitle("[aw]\u202e Smoke\r\n[model]:\x1b[31m failed\x1b[0m")).toBe("[aw] Smoke [model]: failed");
+    expect(Array.from(normalizeReportTitle("\u{1f680}".repeat(300)))).toHaveLength(256);
+  });
+
+  it("stabilizes entity decoding, merged inline whitespace, and secrets exposed by controls", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "REPORT_TEST");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_REPORT_TEST", "report-secret-fixture");
+    const input = report([
+      {
+        type: "paragraph",
+        children: [
+          { type: "text", value: "&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;tag&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; " },
+          { type: "text", value: " report-secret-\u0000fixture" },
+          { type: "code", value: "one " },
+          { type: "code", value: " two" },
+        ],
+      },
+    ]);
+    const normalized = normalizeReport(input);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalized)).toEqual(normalized);
+    expect(renderReport(input).body).not.toContain("report-secret-fixture");
+    expect(renderReport(input).body).toContain("&lt;tag&gt;");
+    expect(renderReport(input).body).toContain("`one two`");
+  });
+
+  it("escapes ordered-list syntax in literal paragraphs and refuses nested links", () => {
+    expect(renderReport(report([paragraph("1. not a list")])).body).toBe("1\\. not a list\n");
+    expect(() =>
+      renderReport(
+        report([
+          {
+            type: "paragraph",
+            children: [{ type: "link", url: "https://example.com", children: [{ type: "link", url: "https://example.org", children: [{ type: "text", value: "nested" }] }] }],
+          },
+        ])
+      )
+    ).toThrow("cannot contain other links");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("report Markdown import boundary", () => {
+  it("parses template structure before substituting hostile scalar values", () => {
+    const children = parseReportMarkdown("## What happened\n\n**{workflow}** failed.\n\n**Branch:** `{branch}`\n\n[Run]({url})", {
+      minimumHeadingLevel: 2,
+      context: { workflow: "Smoke\n\n## Injected\n[evil](javascript:x)", branch: "`\n</details>", url: "https://example.com/run(test)" },
+    });
+
+    const { body } = renderReport(report(children));
+    expect(body.match(/^## /gm)).toEqual(["## "]);
+    expect(body).toContain("Smoke \\#\\# Injected");
+    expect(body).toContain("`` ` </details> ``");
+    expect(body).toContain("[Run](https://example.com/run%28test%29)");
+  });
+
+  it("preserves nested details, code, alerts, lists, tables, and inline formatting", () => {
+    const markdown = [
+      "<details>",
+      "<summary>Runtime</summary>",
+      "",
+      "> [!WARNING]",
+      "> **Missing tool:** `github.read`",
+      "",
+      "### Evidence",
+      "",
+      "- First",
+      "  - Nested",
+      "- Second",
+      "",
+      "| Tool | Result |",
+      "| --- | --- |",
+      "| `gh` | *missing* |",
+      "",
+      "````text",
+      "</details>",
+      "```",
+      "````",
+      "",
+      "</details>",
+    ].join("\n");
+    const { body } = renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(markdown)));
+    expect(body).toContain("> [!WARNING]\n> **Missing tool:** `github.read`");
+    expect(body).toContain("- First\n  \n  - Nested\n- Second");
+    expect(body).toContain("| `gh` | *missing* |");
+    expect(body).toContain("````text\n</details>\n```\n````");
+    expect(body.endsWith("\n</details>\n")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("does not promote diagnostic headings to report sections or permit arbitrary HTML", () => {
+    const { body } = renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown("## Injected\n\n<img src=x>\n\n</details>\n\n[unsafe](javascript:alert)\n\n[Run](https://example.com) · [Source](https://example.org)")));
+    expect(body).toContain("### Injected");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<img");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("\n</details>");
+    expect(body).toContain("link unavailable: invalid HTTPS URL");
+    expect(body).toContain("[Run](https://example.com/) · [Source](https://example.org/)");
+  });
+
+  it("preserves source soft breaks without allowing scalar values to introduce new lines", () => {
+    const children = parseReportMarkdown("Body\r\nRelated to #42\n**{value}**", { context: { value: "First\n# injected" } });
+    const input = report(children);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(input))).toEqual(normalizeReport(input));
+    expect(renderReport(input).body).toBe("Body\nRelated to #42\n**First \\# injected**\n");
+    expect(renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown("First\n1\\. literal text\n\\+ literal text"))).body).toBe("First\n1\\. literal text\n\\+ literal text\n");
+  });
+
+  it("preserves both Markdown hard-break forms while keeping scalar newlines literal", () => {
+    const children = parseReportMarkdown("Agent job: {job}  \nAgent job conclusion: failure\\\nFailing step: test", { context: { job: "build  \n# injected" } });
+    const input = report(children);
+    expect(children[0].children.filter(node => node.type === "hard_break")).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(renderReport(input).body).toBe("Agent job: build \\# injected  \nAgent job conclusion: failure  \nFailing step: test\n");
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(input))).toEqual(normalizeReport(input));
+    expect(renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(renderReport(input).body))).body).toBe(renderReport(input).body);
+  });
+
+  it.each(["report-secret#123", "report-secret**123**", "report-secret@user", "report-secret[run](https://example.com)"])("redacts a complete normalized fragment before tokenizing %s", secret => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "FRAGMENT_REPORT");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_FRAGMENT_REPORT", secret);
+    const body = renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(`Before ${secret.replace("#", "&#35;")} after`))).body;
+    expect(body).not.toContain("report-secret");
+    expect(body).toContain("Before ");
+    expect(body).toContain(" after");
+  });
+
+  it("imports balanced and escaped URL parentheses and rejects non-HTTPS images", () => {
+    const source = "[Compare](https://github.com/o/r/compare/main...fix(parser)?expand=1&title=Fix(parser)) [Escaped](https://example.com/a\\(b\\)) ![Chart](https://example.com/chart(a).png) ![Unsafe](javascript:alert(1))";
+    const { body } = renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(source)));
+    expect(body).toBe(
+      "[Compare](https://github.com/o/r/compare/main...fix%28parser%29?expand=1&title=Fix%28parser%29) [Escaped](https://example.com/a%28b%29) ![Chart](https://example.com/chart%28a%29.png) Unsafe (link unavailable: invalid HTTPS URL)\n"
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("imports bare URLs without absorbing surrounding punctuation or escaping destinations as prose", () => {
+    const url = "https://github.com/o/r/blob/main/create_issue.cjs#L1118";
+    const source = `See (${url}), https://example.com/run(a). https://example.com/query?a=1&b=2!`;
+    const { body } = renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(source)));
+    expect(body).toBe(
+      `See ([https://github.com/o/r/blob/main/create\\_issue.cjs\\#L1118](${url})), [https://example.com/run(a)](https://example.com/run%28a%29). [https://example.com/query?a=1&amp;b=2](https://example.com/query?a=1&b=2)\\!\n`
+    );
+    expect(renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(body))).body).toBe(body);
+  });
+
+  it("imports block fields explicitly and refuses missing fields or blocks in scalar positions", () => {
+    expect(() => parseReportMarkdown("{missing}", { context: {} })).toThrow("Missing report template field");
+    expect(() => parseReportMarkdown("{toString}", { context: {} })).toThrow("Missing report template field");
+    expect(() => parseReportMarkdown("**{blocks}**", { context: { blocks: [paragraph("data")] } })).toThrow("cannot appear inline");
+    const { body } = renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown("{one}{two}", { context: { one: [paragraph("First")], two: [] } })));
+    expect(body).toBe("First\n");
+  });
+
+  it("bounds recursive details and preserves unmatched inline delimiters as literal text", () => {
+    expect(() => parseReportMarkdown("<details>\n<summary>Nested</summary>\n".repeat(20) + "payload")).toThrow("maximum depth");
+    const { body } = renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown("An unmatched `` delimiter and a_b_c identifier")));
+    expect(body).toContain("An unmatched \\`\\` delimiter and a\\_b\\_c identifier");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("semantic report nodes", () => {
+  it("renders closing directives with explicit activation and validated targets", () => {
+    const input = report([
+      {
+        type: "paragraph",
+        children: [
+          { type: "closing_reference", action: "closes", target: { number: 42 }, enabled: true },
+          { type: "text", value: "; " },
+          { type: "closing_reference", action: "resolves", target: { repository: "owner/repo", number: "57" }, enabled: false },
+        ],
+      },
+    ]);
+    expect(renderReport(input).body).toBe("Closes #42; Resolves owner/repo\\#57\n");
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(input))).toEqual(normalizeReport(input));
+    expect(renderReport(report([paragraph("Closes #42")])).body).toBe("Closes \\#42\n");
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    { action: "deletes", target: { number: "1" }, enabled: true },
+    { action: "fixes", target: { number: "0" }, enabled: true },
+    { action: "fixes", target: { number: Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER + 1 }, enabled: true },
+    { action: "fixes", target: { number: "1\nCloses #2" }, enabled: true },
+    { action: "fixes", target: { number: "1", repository: "https://example.com/o/r" }, enabled: true },
+    { action: "fixes", target: { number: "1" }, enabled: "true" },
+  ])("rejects malformed closing directives: %j", fields => {
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "closing_reference", ...fields }] }]))).toThrow("Invalid report closing");
+  });
+
+  it("imports closing strings into semantic nodes without activating code or scalar fields", () => {
+    const children = parseReportMarkdown("Closes #42; resolves owner/repo\\#57; `Fixes #9`");
+    const paragraphNode = children[0];
+    expect(paragraphNode.type).toBe("paragraph");
+    expect(paragraphNode.children.filter(node => node.type === "closing_reference")).toEqual([
+      { type: "closing_reference", action: "closes", target: { number: "42" }, enabled: true },
+      { type: "closing_reference", action: "resolves", target: { repository: "owner/repo", number: "57" }, enabled: false },
+    ]);
+    expect(renderReport(report(children)).body).toBe("Closes #42; Resolves owner/repo\\#57; `Fixes #9`\n");
+    const scalar = parseReportMarkdown("{message}", { context: { message: "Closes #42" } });
+    expect(renderReport(report(scalar)).body).toBe("Closes \\#42\n");
+  });
+
+  it("renders actual structured data with lossless JSON values, redaction, and safe fences", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SECRET_NAMES", "DATA_REPORT");
+    vi.stubEnv("SECRET_DATA_REPORT", "structured-report-fixture");
+    const data = {
+      text: "&#96; is data, not an encoded delimiter\n````\n</details>",
+      values: [null, true, 1.25],
+      token: "structured-report-fixture",
+      "structured-report-fixture": "secret key",
+    };
+    const input = report([{ type: "structured_data", data }]);
+    const copy = structuredClone(input);
+    const { body } = renderReport(input);
+    expect(body.startsWith("`````json\n")).toBe(true);
+    expect(body.endsWith("\n`````\n")).toBe(true);
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(body.split("\n").slice(1, -2).join("\n"));
+    expect(parsed.text).toBe(data.text);
+    expect(parsed.values).toEqual(data.values);
+    expect(body).not.toContain("structured-report-fixture");
+    const redactedKey = Object.keys(parsed).find(key => parsed[key] === "secret key");
+    expect(redactedKey).toBeDefined();
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "structured_data", data: { "structured-report-fixture": 1, [redactedKey]: 2 } }]))).toThrow("Duplicate report structured data key");
+    expect(input).toEqual(copy);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(input))).toEqual(normalizeReport(input));
+  });
+
+  it.each([undefined, NaN, Infinity, 1n, new Date(), new Set(), () => "value", Symbol("value")])("rejects non-JSON structured data without silently dropping values: %s", data => {
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "structured_data", data }]))).toThrow("only JSON values");
+  });
+
+  it("bounds structured data, rejects getters and sparse arrays, and preserves prototype-looking data keys", () => {
+    const getter = vi.fn(() => "not executed");
+    const data = Object.defineProperty({}, "value", { get: getter, enumerable: true });
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "structured_data", data }]))).toThrow("only JSON properties");
+    expect(getter).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    const arrayGetter = Object.defineProperty([], "0", { get: getter, enumerable: true });
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "structured_data", data: arrayGetter }]))).toThrow("only JSON properties");
+    expect(getter).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "structured_data", data: new Array(1) }]))).toThrow("only JSON values");
+    const cyclic = {};
+    cyclic.self = cyclic;
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "structured_data", data: cyclic }]))).toThrow("maximum depth");
+    const special = JSON.parse('{"__proto__":{"safe":true},"constructor":"data"}');
+    const normalized = normalizeReport(report([{ type: "structured_data", data: special }]));
+    expect(Object.hasOwn(normalized.children[0].data, "__proto__")).toBe(true);
+    expect(JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(normalized.children[0].data))).toEqual(special);
+  });
+
+  it("renders hidden XML fields and JSON objects without letting values forge comments or fields", () => {
+    const data = { message: "literal --> <!-- forged --> &quot;", values: [false, null, -1, 1e-7, -1e-7] };
+    const input = report([
+      { type: "xml_marker", name: "gh-aw-custom", value: "workflow, forged: true", fields: [{ key: "branch", value: "main --> <!-- injected -->, forged: true" }] },
+      { type: "json_marker", name: "custom-data", data },
+    ]);
+    const { body } = renderReport(input);
+    expect(body.match(/<!-- /g)).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(body.match(/ -->/g)).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<!-- forged -->");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<!-- injected -->");
+    expect(body).toContain("workflow%2C forged: true");
+    expect(body).toContain("%2C forged: true");
+    expect(JSON.parse(/<!-- custom-data: (.*) -->/.exec(body)[1])).toEqual(data);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(input))).toEqual(normalizeReport(input));
+  });
+
+  it("preserves double-hyphen workflow IDs for existing failure metadata readers", () => {
+    const { parseHTMLCommentMetadata, isReusableFailureIssue } = require("./handle_agent_failure.cjs");
+    const markers = [
+      { type: /** @type {const} */ "xml_marker", name: /** @type {const} */ "gh-aw-agentic-workflow", value: "Nightly", fields: [{ key: "workflow_id", value: "nightly--build" }] },
+      {
+        type: /** @type {const} */ "xml_marker",
+        name: /** @type {const} */ "gh-aw-failure-issue",
+        value: "true",
+        fields: [
+          { key: "workflow_id", value: "nightly--build" },
+          { key: "failure_categories", value: "missing_tool" },
+        ],
+      },
+    ];
+    const input = { ...report([]), footer: { type: /** @type {const} */ "footer", children: [], markers } };
+    const { body } = renderReport(input);
+    expect(body).toContain("workflow_id: nightly--build");
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-agentic-workflow").workflow_id).toBe("nightly--build");
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-failure-issue").workflow_id).toBe("nightly--build");
+    expect(isReusableFailureIssue(body, { workflowId: "nightly--build", failureCategories: ["missing_tool"] })).toBe(true);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(input))).toEqual(normalizeReport(input));
+  });
+
+  it("imports reserved metadata into field and data nodes, while diagnostics keep comments literal", () => {
+    const source = '<!-- gh-aw-agentic-workflow: Workflow, workflow_id: workflow, run: https://example.com/run -->\n<!-- gh-aw-execution: {"version":1,"publishing_job":{"key":"safe_outputs"}} -->';
+    const nodes = parseReportMarkdown(source, { allowMetadata: true });
+    expect(nodes).toEqual([
+      {
+        type: "xml_marker",
+        name: "gh-aw-agentic-workflow",
+        value: "Workflow",
+        fields: [
+          { key: "workflow_id", value: "workflow" },
+          { key: "run", value: "https://example.com/run" },
+        ],
+      },
+      { type: "json_marker", name: "gh-aw-execution", data: { version: 1, publishing_job: { key: "safe_outputs" } } },
+    ]);
+    expect(renderReport(report(parseReportMarkdown(source))).body).not.toContain("<!--");
+    expect(() => parseReportMarkdown("<!-- gh-aw-execution: not-json -->", { allowMetadata: true })).toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects invalid or duplicate hidden XML fields and unstructured raw marker nodes", () => {
+    const field = { key: "branch", value: "main" };
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "xml_marker", name: "marker", fields: [field] }]))).toThrow("require a marker value");
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "xml_marker", name: "marker", value: "true", fields: [field, field] }]))).toThrow("duplicate report metadata field");
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "xml_marker", name: "marker", value: "true", fields: [{ key: "bad -->", value: "main" }] }]))).toThrow("metadata field");
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "json_marker", name: "bad -->", data: {} }]))).toThrow("metadata name");
+    expect(() => renderReport(report([{ type: "metadata", value: "<!-- raw -->" }]))).toThrow("Unsupported report block");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.cjs b/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.cjs
index fa976ead0f0..118c177a29b 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { SAFE_OUTPUT_E001 } = require("./error_codes.cjs");
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { fetchAndLogRateLimit } = require("./github_rate_limit_logger.cjs");
@@ -260,7 +262,7 @@ async function main() {
     core.info(`Creating failed jobs issue: "${issueTitle}"`);
 
     try {
-      const newIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+      const newIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
         owner,
         repo,
         title: issueTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.test.cjs
index 3a565cf8f07..f09d55aa8d7 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/report_failed_jobs.test.cjs
@@ -336,7 +336,10 @@ describe("getFailedNonBuiltinJobs", () => {
     const body = global.github.rest.issues.create.mock.calls[0][0].body;
     expect(body).toContain("non-fast-forward");
     expect(body).not.toMatch(/password|encoded-value|<!-- @someone -->/);
-    expect((body.match(/```/g) || []).length).toBe(2);
+    const fences = [...body.matchAll(/^(`{3,})(?:text)?$/gm)].map(match => match[1]);
+    expect(fences).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(fences[0]).toBe(fences[1]);
+    expect(fences[0].length).toBeGreaterThan(3);
   });
 
   it("warns and preserves the failure issue when the log response is not text or bytes", async () => {
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/report_footer.cjs b/actions/setup/js/report_footer.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..40e27b0faba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/report_footer.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+const { getFooterAgentFailureIssueTemplate, getAgenticWorkflowMetadata } = require("./messages_footer.cjs");
+const { parseReportMarkdown } = require("./report_markdown.cjs");
+
+/**
+ * @param {import("./messages_footer.cjs").AgentFailureContext} ctx
+ * @param {{expiresHours: number, failureFields: {key: string, value: string}[], now?: Date}} options
+ * @returns {import("./report_ast.cjs").ReportFooter}
+ */
+function buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours, failureFields, now = new Date() }) {
+  if (!Number.isFinite(expiresHours) || expiresHours < 0) throw new TypeError("Report expiration hours must be nonnegative");
+  const { template, context: values } = getFooterAgentFailureIssueTemplate(ctx);
+  /** @type {import("./report_markdown.cjs").ReportContext} */
+  const context = Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(values).map(([key, value]) => [key, value ?? ""]));
+  /** @type {import("./report_markdown.cjs").ReportInlineSlot} */
+  const history = {
+    type: "inline_slot",
+    children: ctx.historyUrl
+      ? [
+          { type: "text", value: " · " },
+          { type: "link", url: ctx.historyUrl, children: [{ type: "text", value: "◷" }] },
+        ]
+      : [],
+  };
+  context.history_link = history;
+  context.historyLink = history;
+  const [workflow, ...fields] = getAgenticWorkflowMetadata(ctx.workflowName, ctx.runUrl);
+  /** @type {import("./report_ast.cjs").ReportFooter} */
+  const footer = {
+    type: "footer",
+    children: parseReportMarkdown(template, { context }),
+    markers: [
+      { type: "xml_marker", name: "gh-aw-agentic-workflow", value: workflow.value, fields },
+      { type: "xml_marker", name: "gh-aw-failure-issue", value: "true", fields: failureFields },
+    ],
+  };
+  return expiresHours ? { ...footer, expiresAt: new Date(now.getTime() + expiresHours * 60 * 60 * 1000).toISOString() } : footer;
+}
+
+module.exports = { buildFailureReportFooter };
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/report_footer.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/report_footer.test.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d1136afe672
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/report_footer.test.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, vi } from "vitest";
+import { createRequire } from "module";
+
+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { buildFailureReportFooter } = require("./report_footer.cjs");
+const { normalizeReport, renderReport } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+const { parseReportMarkdown } = require("./report_markdown.cjs");
+const { getFooterAgentFailureIssueTemplate, getFooterAgentFailureIssueMessage } = require("./messages_footer.cjs");
+const { extractExpirationDate } = require("./ephemerals.cjs");
+const { parseHTMLCommentMetadata, isReusableFailureIssue } = require("./handle_agent_failure.cjs");
+
+const ctx = {
+  workflowName: "Smoke Copilot",
+  runUrl: "https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/123",
+  historyUrl: "https://github.com/search?q=smoke",
+  aiCredits: "1.25",
+};
+const fields = [
+  { key: "workflow_id", value: "smoke-copilot" },
+  { key: "branch", value: "main" },
+  { key: "failure_categories", value: "missing_tool|report_incomplete" },
+];
+const now = new Date("2099-01-01T12:00:00.000Z");
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+});
+
+function document(footer) {
+  return { type: /** @type {const} */ "report", title: "[aw] Smoke Copilot: failed", children: parseReportMarkdown("## What happened\n\nFailure"), footer };
+}
+
+describe("structured report footer", () => {
+  it("renders attribution, model/cost context, expiration, and machine markers in one document", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_WORKFLOW_ID", "smoke-copilot");
+    vi.stubEnv("GITHUB_RUN_ID", "123");
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_ENGINE_ID", "copilot");
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_ENGINE_MODEL", "claude-sonnet-4.6");
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_AMBIENT_CONTEXT", "900");
+    const ast = document(buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours: 12, failureFields: fields, now }));
+    const { body } = renderReport(ast);
+    expect(normalizeReport(normalizeReport(ast))).toEqual(normalizeReport(ast));
+    expect(renderReport(ast).body).toBe(body);
+    expect(body).toContain("> Generated from [Smoke Copilot](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/123) · copilot · sonnet46 · 1.25 AIC · ⊞ 900");
+    expect(body).toContain("> - [x] expires <!-- gh-aw-expires: 2099-01-02T00:00:00.000Z -->");
+    expect(extractExpirationDate(body)?.toISOString()).toBe("2099-01-02T00:00:00.000Z");
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-agentic-workflow")).toMatchObject({ "gh-aw-agentic-workflow": "Smoke Copilot", workflow_id: "smoke-copilot", id: "123", engine: "copilot" });
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-failure-issue")).toMatchObject({ workflow_id: "smoke-copilot", branch: "main", failure_categories: "missing_tool|report_incomplete" });
+    expect(isReusableFailureIssue(body, { workflowId: "smoke-copilot", failureCategories: ["missing_tool", "report_incomplete"] })).toBe(true);
+    expect(body.indexOf("Generated from")).toBeGreaterThan(body.indexOf("What happened"));
+    expect(body.indexOf("gh-aw-failure-issue")).toBeGreaterThan(body.indexOf("gh-aw-expires"));
+  });
+
+  it("preserves custom footer templates and both history-link field spellings", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUT_MESSAGES", JSON.stringify({ agentFailureIssue: "> Report by **{workflow_name}**{history_link}{historyLink} · {ai_credits_formatted} {ai_credits_unit}" }));
+    const { body } = renderReport(document(buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours: 0, failureFields: fields })));
+    expect(body).toContain("> Report by **Smoke Copilot** · [◷](https://github.com/search?q=smoke) · [◷](https://github.com/search?q=smoke) · 1.25 AIC");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("gh-aw-expires");
+    expect(extractExpirationDate(body)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("preserves unknown custom footer fields as literal text alongside known fields and metadata", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_WORKFLOW_ID", "smoke-copilot");
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUT_MESSAGES", JSON.stringify({ agentFailureIssue: "> {workflow_name}: {triggering_number} {unknownField} {__proto__} {constructor}{history_link}\n\n{unknown_block}" }));
+    const footer = buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours: 0, failureFields: fields });
+    const { body } = renderReport(document(footer));
+    expect(body).toContain("> Smoke Copilot: {triggering\\_number} {unknownField} {\\_\\_proto\\_\\_} {constructor} · [◷](https://github.com/search?q=smoke)");
+    expect(body).toContain("{unknown\\_block}");
+    expect(footer.children).toEqual([
+      {
+        type: "quote",
+        children: [
+          {
+            type: "paragraph",
+            children: [
+              { type: "text", value: "Smoke Copilot: {triggering_number} {unknownField} {__proto__} {constructor}" },
+              { type: "text", value: " · " },
+              { type: "link", url: ctx.historyUrl, children: [{ type: "text", value: "◷" }] },
+            ],
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+      { type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "text", value: "{unknown_block}" }] },
+    ]);
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-agentic-workflow")?.workflow_id).toBe("smoke-copilot");
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-failure-issue")?.failure_categories).toBe("missing_tool|report_incomplete");
+    expect(getFooterAgentFailureIssueMessage(ctx)).toContain("{triggering_number} {unknownField} {__proto__} {constructor}");
+  });
+
+  it("does not reparse placeholder-like attribution values into fields or Markdown", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUT_MESSAGES", JSON.stringify({ agentFailureIssue: "> Name: {workflow_name} {triggering_number}" }));
+    const workflowName = "{history_link} **injected** [bad](https://evil.example) <!-- injected -->";
+    const footer = buildFailureReportFooter({ ...ctx, workflowName }, { expiresHours: 0, failureFields: fields });
+    expect(footer.children).toEqual([{ type: "quote", children: [{ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "text", value: `Name: ${workflowName} {triggering_number}` }] }] }]);
+    const { body } = renderReport(document(footer));
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<!-- injected -->");
+    expect(body.split("\n\n<!-- gh-aw-agentic-workflow:")[0]).not.toContain("[bad](https://evil.example)");
+    expect(body).not.toContain("[◷]");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps internal templates strict about missing fields even when a custom footer is configured", () => {
+    expect(() => parseReportMarkdown("> {triggering_number}", { context: getFooterAgentFailureIssueTemplate(ctx).context })).toThrow("Missing report template field");
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUT_MESSAGES", JSON.stringify({ agentFailureIssue: "> {triggering_number}" }));
+    expect(() => buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours: 0, failureFields: fields })).not.toThrow();
+    expect(() => parseReportMarkdown("> {triggering_number}", { context: {} })).toThrow("Missing report template field");
+  });
+
+  it("escapes hostile attribution and marker values without accepting spoofed metadata fields", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GH_AW_WORKFLOW_ID", "smoke-copilot");
+    const hostile = "Smoke](https://evil.example)\n<!-- injected -->, workflow_id: forged";
+    const ast = document(
+      buildFailureReportFooter(
+        { ...ctx, workflowName: hostile },
+        {
+          expiresHours: 0,
+          failureFields: fields.map(field => (field.key === "branch" ? { ...field, value: "feature/--> <!-- injected -->, failure_cause: forged" } : field)),
+        }
+      )
+    );
+    const { body } = renderReport(ast);
+    expect(body).not.toContain("<!-- injected -->");
+    const attribution = body.split("\n\n<!-- gh-aw-agentic-workflow:")[0];
+    expect(attribution).not.toMatch(/(?<!\\)\]\(https:\/\/evil\.example\)/);
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-agentic-workflow")?.workflow_id).toBe("smoke-copilot");
+    expect(parseHTMLCommentMetadata(body, "gh-aw-failure-issue")?.failure_cause).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(body).toContain("--%3E");
+    expect(body).toContain("%2C failure_cause: forged");
+    expect(body.match(/<!-- gh-aw-agentic-workflow:/g)).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(body.match(/<!-- gh-aw-failure-issue:/g)).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  it("renders detection markers as typed preamble nodes, never trusts diagnostic HTML comments", () => {
+    const report = document(buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours: 0, failureFields: fields }));
+    const caution = "> [!CAUTION]\n> Review required\n> <!-- gh-aw-threat-detected -->";
+    report.preamble = parseReportMarkdown(caution, { allowFlagMarkers: true });
+    const { body } = renderReport(report);
+    expect(body.startsWith("> [!CAUTION]\n")).toBe(true);
+    expect(body).toContain("> <!-- gh-aw-threat-detected -->");
+    expect(body.indexOf("gh-aw-threat-detected")).toBeLessThan(body.indexOf("## What happened"));
+    expect(renderReport({ ...report, preamble: parseReportMarkdown(caution) }).body).not.toContain("<!-- gh-aw-threat-detected -->");
+  });
+
+  it("rejects invalid expiration, duplicate fields, and unknown markers", () => {
+    expect(() => buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours: -1, failureFields: fields })).toThrow("nonnegative");
+    const footer = buildFailureReportFooter(ctx, { expiresHours: 0, failureFields: fields });
+    expect(() => renderReport(document({ ...footer, expiresAt: "not a date" }))).toThrow("expiration date");
+    expect(() => renderReport(document({ ...footer, markers: [...footer.markers, ...footer.markers] }))).toThrow("Duplicate report metadata marker");
+    expect(() => renderReport(document({ ...footer, markers: [{ name: "unrecognized", value: "", fields: [] }] }))).toThrow("Unsupported report metadata marker");
+    expect(() => renderReport(document({ ...footer, markers: [{ type: "xml_marker", name: "gh-aw-failure-issue", value: "true", fields: [fields[0], fields[0]] }] }))).toThrow("duplicate report metadata field");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/report_markdown.cjs b/actions/setup/js/report_markdown.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3227e05b005
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/setup/js/report_markdown.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+// @ts-check
+
+const { normalizeReportText, normalizeReportURL } = require("./report_ast.cjs");
+
+/**
+ * Scan destinations before substitution, so scalar values cannot close a link.
+ * @param {string} source
+ */
+function markdownLink(source) {
+  const image = source.startsWith("!");
+  const start = image ? 1 : 0;
+  if (source[start] !== "[") return undefined;
+  let labelDepth = 1;
+  let index = start + 1;
+  for (; index < source.length && source[index] !== "\n"; index++) {
+    if (source[index] === "\\") index++;
+    else if (source[index] === "[") labelDepth++;
+    else if (source[index] === "]" && --labelDepth === 0) break;
+  }
+  if (labelDepth !== 0 || source.slice(index, index + 2) !== "](") return undefined;
+  const label = source.slice(start + 1, index);
+  const destinationStart = index + 2;
+  let destinationDepth = 1;
+  for (index = destinationStart; index < source.length; index++) {
+    if (/\s/.test(source[index])) return undefined;
+    if (source[index] === "\\") index++;
+    else if (source[index] === "(") destinationDepth++;
+    else if (source[index] === ")" && --destinationDepth === 0) {
+      return { raw: source.slice(0, index + 1), label, destination: source.slice(destinationStart, index).replace(/\\([\\()])/g, "$1"), image };
+    }
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+/** @param {string} source */
+function bareURL(source) {
+  const match = /^https:\/\/[^\s<>"'`*]+/i.exec(source);
+  if (!match) return undefined;
+  let url = match[0];
+  for (;;) {
+    const previous = url;
+    url = url.replace(/[.,!?;:]+$/, "");
+    for (const [open, close] of [
+      ["(", ")"],
+      ["[", "]"],
+      ["{", "}"],
+    ]) {
+      if (url.endsWith(close) && url.split(close).length > url.split(open).length) url = url.slice(0, -1);
+    }
+    if (previous === url) return url;
+  }
+}
+
+/** @typedef {import("./report_ast.cjs").ReportInline} ReportInline */
+/** @typedef {import("./report_ast.cjs").ReportBlock} ReportBlock */
+/** @typedef {{type: "inline_slot", children: ReportInline[]}} ReportInlineSlot */
+/** @typedef {Record<string, string | number | boolean | ReportBlock[] | ReportInlineSlot | undefined>} ReportContext */
+
+/**
+ * Import the small Markdown dialect used by runtime report templates into typed nodes.
+ * Templates are parsed before scalar substitution; values cannot introduce markup.
+ * Existing diagnostic fragments are imported separately, never passed through as raw HTML.
+ * @param {string} markdown
+ * @param {{context?: ReportContext, minimumHeadingLevel?: number, depth?: number, allowFlagMarkers?: boolean, allowMetadata?: boolean, allowedMentions?: string[]}} [options]
+ * @returns {ReportBlock[]}
+ */
+function parseReportMarkdown(markdown, { context, minimumHeadingLevel = 3, depth = 0, allowFlagMarkers = false, allowMetadata = false, allowedMentions = [] } = {}) {
+  if (depth > 16) throw new TypeError("Report template nesting exceeds the maximum depth");
+  /** @param {string} key */
+  function valueFor(key) {
+    const value = context && Object.hasOwn(context, key) ? context[key] : undefined;
+    if (context && value === undefined) throw new TypeError("Missing report template field");
+    return value;
+  }
+  /** @param {string} source */
+  function substitute(source) {
+    return source.replace(/\{(\w+)\}/g, (match, key) => {
+      const value = valueFor(key);
+      if (typeof value === "object") throw new TypeError("Report nodes cannot appear in scalar fields");
+      return value === undefined ? match : String(value);
+    });
+  }
+  /**
+   * @param {string} source
+   * @param {number} [inlineDepth]
+   * @param {boolean} [inLink]
+   * @returns {ReportInline[]}
+   */
+  function inline(source, inlineDepth = 0, inLink = false) {
+    if (inlineDepth > 16) throw new TypeError("Report inline nesting exceeds the maximum depth");
+    // Redact the complete fragment before references or formatting split a secret.
+    source = normalizeReportText(source);
+    const original = source;
+    /** @type {ReportInline[]} */
+    const nodes = [];
+    const text = value => {
+      const previous = nodes.at(-1);
+      if (previous?.type === "text") previous.value += value;
+      else nodes.push({ type: "text", value });
+    };
+    while (source) {
+      let match;
+      const link = markdownLink(source);
+      const autolink = bareURL(source);
+      if ((match = /^(?: {2,}|\\)\n/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "hard_break" });
+      } else if ((match = /^\n/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "soft_break" });
+      } else if ((match = /^\\([\\`*_[\]{}()#+.!|>~-])/.exec(source))) {
+        text(match[1]);
+      } else if ((match = /^(close[sd]?|fix(?:es|ed)?|resolve[sd]?)\s+((?:[a-zA-Z0-9_-][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]*\/[a-zA-Z0-9_-][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]*)?)(\\?)#([1-9]\d*)\b/i.exec(source)) && !/\w/.test(original[original.length - source.length - 1] || "")) {
+        const verb = match[1].toLowerCase();
+        nodes.push({
+          type: "closing_reference",
+          action: verb.startsWith("clos") ? "closes" : verb.startsWith("fix") ? "fixes" : "resolves",
+          target: { number: match[4], ...(match[2] ? { repository: match[2] } : {}) },
+          enabled: !match[3],
+        });
+      } else if ((match = /^#([1-9]\d*)\b/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "issue_reference", number: match[1] });
+      } else if ((match = /^\{(\w+)\}/.exec(source))) {
+        const value = valueFor(match[1]);
+        if (Array.isArray(value)) throw new TypeError("Report blocks cannot appear inline");
+        if (typeof value === "object") nodes.push(...value.children);
+        else text(value === undefined ? match[0] : String(value));
+      } else if (
+        (match = /^@([A-Za-z0-9](?:[A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,37}[A-Za-z0-9])?(?:\/[A-Za-z0-9._-]+)?)(?![a-zA-Z0-9_/-])/.exec(source)) &&
+        !/[A-Za-z0-9]/.test(original[original.length - source.length - 1] || "") &&
+        allowedMentions.some(alias => alias.replace(/^@/, "").toLowerCase() === match[1].toLowerCase())
+      ) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "mention", login: match[1] });
+      } else if ((match = /^(`+)(?!`)([\s\S]*?)(?<!`)\1(?!`)/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "code", value: substitute(match[2]) });
+      } else if (link && (!inLink || link.image)) {
+        /** @type {ReportInline[]} */
+        const label = link.image ? [{ type: "text", value: substitute(link.label) }] : inline(link.label, inlineDepth + 1, true);
+        const url = substitute(link.destination);
+        try {
+          nodes.push(link.image ? { type: "image", url: normalizeReportURL(url), alt: substitute(link.label.replace(/\\([\\`*_[\]{}()#+.!|>~-])/g, "$1")) } : { type: "link", url: normalizeReportURL(url), children: label });
+        } catch (error) {
+          if (!(error instanceof TypeError)) throw error;
+          nodes.push(...label, { type: "text", value: " (link unavailable: invalid HTTPS URL)" });
+        }
+        source = source.slice(link.raw.length);
+        continue;
+      } else if (!inLink && (match = /^<(https:\/\/[^<>\s]+)>/.exec(source))) {
+        const url = substitute(match[1]);
+        try {
+          nodes.push({ type: "link", url: normalizeReportURL(url), children: [{ type: "text", value: url }] });
+        } catch (error) {
+          if (!(error instanceof TypeError)) throw error;
+          text("Link unavailable: invalid HTTPS URL");
+        }
+      } else if (!inLink && autolink && !/[A-Za-z0-9_]/.test(original[original.length - source.length - 1] || "")) {
+        const url = substitute(autolink);
+        try {
+          nodes.push({ type: "link", url: normalizeReportURL(url), children: [{ type: "text", value: url }] });
+        } catch (error) {
+          if (!(error instanceof TypeError)) throw error;
+          text("Link unavailable: invalid HTTPS URL");
+        }
+        source = source.slice(autolink.length);
+        continue;
+      } else if ((match = /^<sub>([\s\S]*?)<\/sub>/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "subscript", children: inline(match[1], inlineDepth + 1, inLink) });
+      } else if ((match = /^~~(?=\S)([\s\S]*?\S)~~/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "strike", children: inline(match[1], inlineDepth + 1, inLink) });
+      } else if ((match = /^(\*{3}|_{3})(?=\S)([\s\S]*?\S)\1/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "strong", children: [{ type: "emphasis", children: inline(match[2], inlineDepth + 2, inLink) }] });
+      } else if ((match = /^(\*\*|__)(?=\S)([\s\S]*?\S)\1/.exec(source))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "strong", children: inline(match[2], inlineDepth + 1, inLink) });
+      } else if ((match = /^([*_])(?=\S)([^*_\n]*?\S)\1/.exec(source)) && (match[1] !== "_" || !/\w/.test(original[original.length - source.length - 1] || ""))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "emphasis", children: inline(match[2], inlineDepth + 1, inLink) });
+      } else {
+        text(source[0]);
+        source = source.slice(1);
+        continue;
+      }
+      source = source.slice(match[0].length);
+    }
+    return nodes;
+  }
+
+  const lines = markdown.replace(/\r\n?/g, "\n").split("\n");
+  let index = 0;
+  const nested = source => parseReportMarkdown(source, { context, minimumHeadingLevel: Math.max(3, minimumHeadingLevel), depth: depth + 1, allowFlagMarkers, allowMetadata, allowedMentions });
+  const isFieldLine = line => /^(?:\{\w+\}\s*)+$/.test(line.trim());
+  const isBlockStart = line =>
+    /^(?:#{1,6}\s|```|~~~|>|<details>(?:\s*$|\s*<summary>)|<\/details>\s*$|[-*+]\s|\d+\.\s|---\s*$)/.test(line) ||
+    isFieldLine(line) ||
+    (allowMetadata && /^<!--/.test(line.trim())) ||
+    (allowFlagMarkers && /^<!-- (?:gh-aw-threat-detected|gh-aw-threat-engine-error) -->$/.test(line.trim()));
+  /** @param {string} line */
+  function cells(line) {
+    return line
+      .trim()
+      .replace(/^\|/, "")
+      .replace(/(?<!\\)\|$/, "")
+      .split(/(?<!\\)\|/)
+      .map(cell => inline(cell.trim()));
+  }
+  /**
+   * @param {boolean} inDetails
+   * @param {number} detailsDepth
+   * @returns {ReportBlock[]}
+   */
+  function blocks(inDetails = false, detailsDepth = depth) {
+    if (detailsDepth > 16) throw new TypeError("Report details nesting exceeds the maximum depth");
+    /** @type {ReportBlock[]} */
+    const nodes = [];
+    while (index < lines.length) {
+      const line = lines[index];
+      if (!line.trim()) {
+        index++;
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (inDetails && line.trim() === "</details>") {
+        index++;
+        break;
+      }
+      let match;
+      if (allowMetadata && (match = /^- \[[xX]\] expires <!-- gh-aw-expires: ([^<>]+) --> on .+$/.exec(line.trim()))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "expiration", expiresAt: match[1].trim() });
+        index++;
+      } else if (allowMetadata && (match = /^<!-- ([a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*)(?:: ([\s\S]*))? -->$/.exec(line.trim()))) {
+        if (["gh-aw-execution", "aw-essential-meta"].includes(match[1])) {
+          if (match[2] === undefined) throw new TypeError("JSON report metadata requires a value");
+          nodes.push({ type: "json_marker", name: match[1], data: JSON.parse(match[2]) });
+        } else if (["gh-aw-agentic-workflow", "gh-aw-failure-issue"].includes(match[1]) && match[2] !== undefined) {
+          const [value, ...parts] = match[2].split(/,\s+(?=[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+: )/);
+          const fields = parts.map(part => {
+            const separator = part.indexOf(": ");
+            return { key: part.slice(0, separator), value: part.slice(separator + 2) };
+          });
+          nodes.push({ type: "xml_marker", name: match[1], value, fields });
+        } else {
+          nodes.push({ type: "xml_marker", name: match[1], ...(match[2] === undefined ? {} : { value: match[2] }) });
+        }
+        index++;
+      } else if (/^(?:-{3,}|\*{3,}|_{3,})\s*$/.test(line)) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "separator" });
+        index++;
+      } else if (context && isFieldLine(line)) {
+        for (const field of line.matchAll(/\{(\w+)\}/g)) {
+          const value = valueFor(field[1]);
+          if (Array.isArray(value)) nodes.push(...value);
+          else if (typeof value === "object") nodes.push({ type: "paragraph", children: value.children });
+          else if (String(value).trim()) nodes.push({ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "text", value: String(value) }] });
+        }
+        index++;
+      } else if (allowFlagMarkers && (match = /^<!-- (gh-aw-threat-detected|gh-aw-threat-engine-error) -->$/.exec(line.trim()))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "marker", name: match[1] === "gh-aw-threat-detected" ? "gh-aw-threat-detected" : "gh-aw-threat-engine-error" });
+        index++;
+      } else if ((match = /^\s*(`{3,}|~{3,})(.*)$/.exec(line))) {
+        const fence = match[1];
+        const language = match[2].trim();
+        const content = [];
+        index++;
+        while (index < lines.length) {
+          const closing = /^\s*(`+|~+)\s*$/.exec(lines[index]);
+          if (closing && closing[1][0] === fence[0] && closing[1].length >= fence.length) break;
+          content.push(lines[index++]);
+        }
+        if (index < lines.length) index++;
+        nodes.push({ type: "code_block", language: /^[a-zA-Z0-9_+-]*$/.test(language) ? language : "text", value: substitute(content.join("\n")) });
+      } else if ((match = /^(#{1,6})\s+(.+)$/.exec(line))) {
+        nodes.push({ type: "heading", level: Math.max(minimumHeadingLevel, match[1].length), children: inline(match[2]) });
+        index++;
+      } else if ((match = /^<details>\s*<summary>(.*)<\/summary>$/.exec(line.trim()))) {
+        index++;
+        nodes.push({ type: "details", summary: substitute(match[1].replace(/^<sub>(.*)<\/sub>$/, "$1")), children: blocks(true, detailsDepth + 1) });
+      } else if (line.trim() === "<details>" && /^<summary>.*<\/summary>$/.test(lines[index + 1]?.trim() || "")) {
+        const summary = lines[index + 1].trim().slice("<summary>".length, -"</summary>".length);
+        index += 2;
+        nodes.push({ type: "details", summary: substitute(summary.replace(/^<sub>(.*)<\/sub>$/, "$1")), children: blocks(true, detailsDepth + 1) });
+      } else if (/^>/.test(line)) {
+        const quoted = [];
+        while (index < lines.length && /^>/.test(lines[index])) quoted.push(lines[index++].replace(/^> ?/, ""));
+        const alert = /^\[!(NOTE|TIP|IMPORTANT|WARNING|CAUTION)\]$/.exec(quoted[0]);
+        nodes.push(alert ? { type: "alert", kind: alert[1], children: nested(quoted.slice(1).join("\n")) } : { type: "quote", children: nested(quoted.join("\n")) });
+      } else if ((match = /^([-*+]|\d+\.)\s+(.+)$/.exec(line))) {
+        const ordered = /^\d/.test(match[1]);
+        /** @type {ReportBlock[][]} */
+        const items = [];
+        while (index < lines.length) {
+          const item = /^([-*+]|\d+\.)\s+(.+)$/.exec(lines[index]);
+          if (!item || /^\d/.test(item[1]) !== ordered) break;
+          const content = [item[2]];
+          index++;
+          while (index < lines.length && /^\s{2,}\S/.test(lines[index])) content.push(lines[index++].replace(/^ {2,4}/, ""));
+          const task = /^\[([ xX])\] (.*)$/.exec(content[0]);
+          if (task) items.push([{ type: "task", checked: task[1] !== " ", children: inline(task[2]) }, ...nested(content.slice(1).join("\n"))]);
+          else items.push(nested(content.join("\n")));
+        }
+        nodes.push({ type: "list", ordered, items });
+      } else if (line.includes("|") && /^\|?[\s:|-]+\|[\s:|-]*$/.test(lines[index + 1] || "")) {
+        const tableLines = [line, lines[index + 1]];
+        const headers = cells(line);
+        /** @type {ReportInline[][][]} */
+        const rows = [];
+        index += 2;
+        while (index < lines.length && lines[index].includes("|") && lines[index].trim()) {
+          tableLines.push(lines[index]);
+          rows.push(cells(lines[index++]));
+        }
+        if (rows.every(row => row.length === headers.length)) nodes.push({ type: "table", headers, rows });
+        else nodes.push({ type: "paragraph", children: [{ type: "text", value: substitute(tableLines.join("\n")) }] });
+      } else {
+        const content = [line];
+        index++;
+        while (index < lines.length && lines[index].trim() && !isBlockStart(lines[index])) {
+          if (lines[index].includes("|") && /^\|?[\s:|-]+\|[\s:|-]*$/.test(lines[index + 1] || "")) break;
+          content.push(lines[index++]);
+        }
+        nodes.push({ type: "paragraph", children: inline(content.join("\n")) });
+      }
+    }
+    return nodes;
+  }
+  return blocks();
+}
+
+module.exports = { parseReportMarkdown };
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/run_activity_report.cjs b/actions/setup/js/run_activity_report.cjs
index 27cd0cb920a..669212d4e6d 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/run_activity_report.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/run_activity_report.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { getErrorMessage, isRateLimitError } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { resolveExecutionOwnerRepo } = require("./repo_helpers.cjs");
 const { sanitizeContent } = require("./sanitize_content.cjs");
@@ -134,7 +136,7 @@ async function main() {
   const sectionLines = sections.flatMap(section => ["<details>", `<summary>${section.heading}</summary>`, "", section.body, "", "</details>", ""]);
   const body = [...headerLines, ...sectionLines].join("\n");
 
-  const createdIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+  const createdIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
     owner,
     repo,
     title: ISSUE_TITLE,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/run_operation_update_upgrade.cjs b/actions/setup/js/run_operation_update_upgrade.cjs
index 4f2c4019d46..c05018467d5 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/run_operation_update_upgrade.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/run_operation_update_upgrade.cjs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 // @safe-outputs-exempt SEC-004 — PR/issue body values in this handler are static internal templates (plus allowlisted changed-file paths), not untrusted user content.
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { ERR_CONFIG, ERR_SYSTEM } = require("./error_codes.cjs");
 
@@ -356,7 +358,7 @@ ${AUTO_UPGRADE_ISSUE_MARKER}
   core.info(`Creating upgrade notification issue: "${issueTitle}"`);
   let createdIssue;
   try {
-    createdIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+    createdIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
       owner,
       repo,
       title: issueTitle,
@@ -368,7 +370,7 @@ ${AUTO_UPGRADE_ISSUE_MARKER}
     const errorAny = /** @type {any} */ error;
     if (errorAny?.status === 422) {
       core.warning("Failed to create issue with label 'agentic-workflows'; retrying without labels");
-      createdIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+      createdIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
         owner,
         repo,
         title: issueTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/run_validate_workflows.cjs b/actions/setup/js/run_validate_workflows.cjs
index 5a8073c465d..153cd59425c 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/run_validate_workflows.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/run_validate_workflows.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 /// <reference types="@actions/github-script" />
 
+const { createReportIssue } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { getErrorMessage } = require("./error_helpers.cjs");
 const { generateXMLMarker } = require("./messages_footer.cjs");
 const { buildWorkflowRunUrl } = require("./workflow_metadata_helpers.cjs");
@@ -188,7 +190,7 @@ ${xmlMarker}
 `;
 
   try {
-    const newIssue = await github.rest.issues.create({
+    const newIssue = await createReportIssue(github, {
       owner,
       repo,
       title: issueTitle,
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.cjs b/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.cjs
index 727a21c5ddf..7fc572236c7 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.cjs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ const {
   neutralizeBotTriggers,
   neutralizeTemplateDelimiters,
   applyTruncation,
-  hardenUnicodeText,
+  canonicalizePublicationText,
 } = require("./sanitize_content_core.cjs");
 
 const { balanceCodeRegions } = require("./markdown_code_region_balancer.cjs");
@@ -37,6 +37,29 @@ const RUNTIME_TO_MENTION_ALIAS_MAP = {
   "copilot-swe-agent": ["copilot"],
 };
 
+/**
+ * Expand allowlisted runtime aliases into accepted mention aliases.
+ * @param {string[]} aliases
+ * @returns {string[]}
+ */
+function expandAllowedAliases(aliases) {
+  const expanded = new Set();
+  for (const alias of aliases) {
+    if (typeof alias !== "string" || alias.length === 0) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const normalized = alias.toLowerCase();
+    expanded.add(normalized);
+    const mentionAliases = RUNTIME_TO_MENTION_ALIAS_MAP[normalized];
+    if (Array.isArray(mentionAliases)) {
+      for (const mentionAlias of mentionAliases) {
+        expanded.add(mentionAlias.toLowerCase());
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return [...expanded];
+}
+
 /**
  * @typedef {Object} SanitizeOptions
  * @property {number} [maxLength] - Maximum length of content (default: 524288)
@@ -101,7 +124,7 @@ function sanitizeContent(content, maxLengthOrOptions) {
   let sanitized = content;
 
   // Apply Unicode hardening first to normalize text representation
-  sanitized = hardenUnicodeText(sanitized);
+  sanitized = canonicalizePublicationText(sanitized);
 
   // Remove ANSI escape sequences and control characters early
   sanitized = sanitized.replace(/\x1b\[[0-9;]*[mGKH]/g, "");
@@ -171,29 +194,6 @@ function sanitizeContent(content, maxLengthOrOptions) {
     return [];
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Expand allowlisted runtime aliases into accepted mention aliases.
-   * @param {string[]} aliases
-   * @returns {string[]}
-   */
-  function expandAllowedAliases(aliases) {
-    const expanded = new Set();
-    for (const alias of aliases) {
-      if (typeof alias !== "string" || alias.length === 0) {
-        continue;
-      }
-      const normalized = alias.toLowerCase();
-      expanded.add(normalized);
-      const mentionAliases = RUNTIME_TO_MENTION_ALIAS_MAP[normalized];
-      if (Array.isArray(mentionAliases)) {
-        for (const mentionAlias of mentionAliases) {
-          expanded.add(mentionAlias.toLowerCase());
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    return [...expanded];
-  }
-
   /**
    * Neutralize @mentions with selective filtering
    * @param {string} s - The string to process
@@ -225,4 +225,4 @@ function sanitizeContent(content, maxLengthOrOptions) {
   }
 }
 
-module.exports = { sanitizeContent, getRedactedDomains, clearRedactedDomains, writeRedactedDomainsLog };
+module.exports = { sanitizeContent, expandAllowedAliases, getRedactedDomains, clearRedactedDomains, writeRedactedDomainsLog };
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.test.cjs
index 67fea4f985e..f4336ebabc9 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content.test.cjs
@@ -50,6 +50,21 @@ describe("sanitize_content.cjs", () => {
     it("should preserve normal text", () => {
       expect(sanitizeContent("Hello, this is normal text.")).toBe("Hello, this is normal text.");
     });
+
+    it.each([{ options: {} }, { options: { allowedAliases: ["allowed"], maxMentions: 1 } }, { options: { deferMentions: true } }])("stabilizes encodings before URL-domain policy with $options", ({ options }) => {
+      process.env.GH_AW_ALLOWED_DOMAINS = "github.com";
+      const content = "https:/&am\u0000p;amp;amp;amp;amp;ZeroWidthSpace;/outside.invalid https:/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ZeroWidthSpace;/github.com/o/r";
+      const sanitized = sanitizeContent(content, options);
+      expect(sanitized).toBe("(outside.invalid/redacted) https://github.com/o/r");
+      expect(sanitizeContent(sanitized, options)).toBe(sanitized);
+    });
+
+    it("keeps normalized URLs in code only when the configured domain policy permits it", () => {
+      process.env.GH_AW_ALLOWED_DOMAINS = "github.com";
+      process.env.GH_AW_SAFE_OUTPUTS_URLS = "allowed-or-code-region";
+      const encoded = "https:/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ZeroWidthSpace;/outside.invalid";
+      expect(sanitizeContent(`\`${encoded}\` ${encoded}`)).toBe("`https://outside.invalid` (outside.invalid/redacted)");
+    });
   });
 
   describe("command neutralization", () => {
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content_core.cjs b/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content_core.cjs
index b110542399c..fff7b168a0f 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content_core.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/sanitize_content_core.cjs
@@ -1517,6 +1517,22 @@ function hardenUnicodeText(text) {
   return result;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Stabilize encodings before applying policies that downstream renderers must not bypass.
+ * @param {string} text
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+function canonicalizePublicationText(text) {
+  for (let pass = 0; pass < 16; pass++) {
+    const normalized = hardenUnicodeText(text)
+      .replace(/\x1b\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, "")
+      .replace(/[\x00-\x08\x0b\x0c\x0e-\x1f\x7f]/g, "");
+    if (normalized === text) return normalized;
+    text = normalized;
+  }
+  throw new TypeError("Publication text contains excessively nested encodings");
+}
+
 /**
  * Core sanitization function without mention filtering
  * @param {string} content - The content to sanitize
@@ -1544,7 +1560,7 @@ function sanitizeContentCore(content, maxLength, maxBotMentions) {
 
   // Apply Unicode hardening first to normalize text representation
   // This prevents Unicode-based attacks and ensures consistent processing
-  sanitized = hardenUnicodeText(sanitized);
+  sanitized = canonicalizePublicationText(sanitized);
 
   // Remove ANSI escape sequences and control characters early
   // This must happen before mention neutralization to avoid creating bare mentions
@@ -1650,5 +1666,6 @@ module.exports = {
   neutralizeTemplateDelimiters,
   applyTruncation,
   hardenUnicodeText,
+  canonicalizePublicationText,
   decodeHtmlEntities,
 };
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issue_api.cjs b/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issue_api.cjs
index c8e97783dd6..e26cf10b7e0 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issue_api.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issue_api.cjs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // @ts-check
 "use strict";
 
+const { renderIssueParameters } = require("./issue_report.cjs");
+
 const { queueError } = require("./work_queue_codec.cjs");
 const { nativeId } = require("./work_queue_native.cjs");
 const { withRetry } = require("./error_recovery.cjs");
@@ -199,7 +201,7 @@ async function mutateIssues(github, operations, { sleep = delay => new Promise(r
   const selections = [];
   operations.forEach((operation, index) => {
     declarations.push(`$m${index}:${operation.type}!`);
-    variables[`m${index}`] = operation.input;
+    variables[`m${index}`] = operation.name === "createIssue" ? renderIssueParameters(operation.input) : operation.input;
     selections.push(`m${index}: ${operation.name}(input:$m${index}) { ${operation.selection} }`);
   });
   let result;
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_acceptance_checks.cjs b/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_acceptance_checks.cjs
index 82d08eb896d..3229b274f8a 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_acceptance_checks.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_acceptance_checks.cjs
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ function registerTests({ describe, it, beforeEach, afterEach }) {
     });
 
     it("uses withRetry for a proven pre-execution creation rejection without retrying ambiguous writes", async () => {
-      const operation = { key: "work", name: "createIssue", type: "CreateIssueInput", input: {}, selection: "issue { id }" };
+      const operation = { key: "work", name: "createIssue", type: "CreateIssueInput", input: { repositoryId: "repo", title: "Work", body: "Work details" }, selection: "issue { id }" };
       let attempts = 0;
       const success = await mutateIssues(
         {
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_checks.cjs b/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_checks.cjs
index 7452e086749..d1e3b72152e 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_checks.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/work_queue_issues_checks.cjs
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ function registerTests({ describe, it, beforeEach, afterEach }) {
       };
       const batch = await mutateIssues(
         client,
-        [0, 1].map(key => ({ key, name: "createIssue", type: "CreateIssueInput", input: {}, selection: "issue { id }" }))
+        [0, 1].map(key => ({ key, name: "createIssue", type: "CreateIssueInput", input: { repositoryId: "repo", title: `Work ${key}`, body: "Work details" }, selection: "issue { id }" }))
       );
       assert.equal(batch.results[0].pending, false);
       assert.equal(batch.results[1].pending, true);
diff --git a/actions/setup/md/agent_failure_issue.md b/actions/setup/md/agent_failure_issue.md
index 5b2d677d979..9831d07c062 100644
--- a/actions/setup/md/agent_failure_issue.md
+++ b/actions/setup/md/agent_failure_issue.md
@@ -1,48 +1,50 @@
-### Workflow Failure
+### What happened
 
-**Workflow:** [{workflow_name}]({workflow_source_url})  
-**Branch:** {branch}  
-**Run:** {run_url}{pull_request_info}
+**{workflow_name}** {failure_summary}.
 
-{secret_verification_context}{copilot_org_billing_error_context}{copilot_agent_not_found_context}{credential_auth_error_context}{inference_access_error_context}{mcp_policy_error_context}{model_not_supported_error_context}{model_endpoint_mismatch_context}{http_400_response_error_context}{ai_credits_rate_limit_error_context}{unknown_model_ai_credits_context}{missing_model_pricing_context}{shell_expansion_guard_rejected_context}{app_token_minting_failed_context}{lockdown_check_failed_context}{oauth_token_check_failed_context}{stale_lock_file_failed_context}{daily_ai_credits_exceeded_context}{daily_ai_credits_guardrail_error_context}{assignment_errors_context}{assign_copilot_failure_context}{skill_install_failure_context}{create_discussion_errors_context}{code_push_failure_context}{repo_memory_validation_context}{push_repo_memory_failure_context}{missing_data_context}{missing_tool_context}{permission_denied_context}{tool_denials_exceeded_context}{report_incomplete_context}{failure_diagnostics_context}{missing_safe_outputs_context}{engine_failure_context}{timeout_context}{fork_context}
+{run_links_context}
 
-### Action Required
+**Branch:** `{branch}`
 
-**Assign this issue to an agent** to debug and fix the issue.
+{pull_request_context}
+
+### Next step
+
+Review the failure details below for a targeted fix, or **assign this issue to a coding agent** to investigate.
+
+### Failure details
+
+{secret_verification_context}{copilot_org_billing_error_context}{copilot_agent_not_found_context}{credential_auth_error_context}{inference_access_error_context}{mcp_policy_error_context}{model_not_supported_error_context}{model_endpoint_mismatch_context}{http_400_response_error_context}{ai_credits_rate_limit_error_context}{unknown_model_ai_credits_context}{missing_model_pricing_context}{shell_expansion_guard_rejected_context}{app_token_minting_failed_context}{lockdown_check_failed_context}{oauth_token_check_failed_context}{stale_lock_file_failed_context}{daily_ai_credits_exceeded_context}{daily_ai_credits_guardrail_error_context}{assignment_errors_context}{assign_copilot_failure_context}{skill_install_failure_context}{create_discussion_errors_context}{code_push_failure_context}{repo_memory_validation_context}{push_repo_memory_failure_context}{missing_data_context}{missing_tool_context}{permission_denied_context}{tool_denials_exceeded_context}{missing_safe_outputs_context}{engine_failure_context}{timeout_context}{fork_context}
+
+{runtime_evidence_context}
 
 {optimize_token_consumption_context}
+
 <details>
-<summary>Debug with any coding agent</summary>
+<summary>Copy a debugging prompt</summary>
 
-Use this prompt with any coding agent (GitHub Copilot, Claude, Gemini, etc.):
+Paste this into your coding agent:
 
-````
-Debug the agentic workflow failure using https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gh-aw/main/debug.md
+```text
+Debug the agentic workflow "{workflow_id}" failure.
+Follow https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gh-aw/main/debug.md
+Failed run: {run_url}
+```
 
-The failed workflow run is at {run_url}
-````
+If the repository includes the `agentic-workflows` skill, load it before investigating.
 
 </details>
 
 <details>
-<summary>Manually invoke the agent</summary>
+<summary>Manage failure notifications</summary>
 
-Debug this workflow failure using your favorite Agent CLI and the `agentic-workflows` prompt.
+To stop creating failure issues for this workflow, set this in its frontmatter and recompile:
 
-- Start your agent
-- Load the `agentic-workflows` skill from `.github/skills/agentic-workflows/SKILL.md` or <https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/skills/agentic-workflows/SKILL.md>
-- Type `debug the agentic workflow {workflow_id} failure in {run_url}`
+```yaml
+safe-outputs:
+  report-failure-as-issue: false
+```
 
-</details>
+This only disables issue reporting; it does not fix the failure.
 
-> [!TIP]
-> <details>
-> <summary>Stop reporting this workflow as a failure</summary>
->
-> To stop a workflow from creating failure issues, set `report-failure-as-issue: false` in its frontmatter:
-> ```yaml
-> safe-outputs:
->   report-failure-as-issue: false
-> ```
->
-> </details>
+</details>