diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh
index bb568e9..89bf1bb 100755
--- a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/publish.sh
@@ -23,8 +23,15 @@ git config user.name  "$NAME"
 git config user.email "$NAME@ffaerber.duckdns.org"
 API="${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/api/v1/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
 hdr=(-H "Authorization: token $TOK" -H "Content-Type: application/json")
+# Hidden loop-prevention marker appended to every agent REPLY/STATUS comment. Gitea already shows
+# who authored a comment, so we don't repeat the agent's name in the body; but the trigger gate keys
+# on the '🤖' character to know "this is an agent's own comment, don't fire a new run". An HTML
+# comment renders as nothing, so the marker is invisible while still tripping the gate's guard.
+# NOTE: trigger comments (delegation / autopilot / bounce) are posted with inline curl, NOT post()/
+# prpost(), so they never get this marker and therefore DO fire the next run — that is intended.
+MARK=$'\n\n<!-- 🤖 agent reply — do not trigger -->'
 post() { curl -sS -w 'comment -> HTTP %{http_code}\n' -X POST "${hdr[@]}" \
-  "$API/issues/$NUM/comments" -d "$(jq -nc --arg b "$1" '{body:$b}')"; }
+  "$API/issues/$NUM/comments" -d "$(jq -nc --arg b "$1$MARK" '{body:$b}')"; }
 # Remove the 'autopilot' label from an issue by resolving its ID first (Gitea's DELETE label
 # endpoint is by ID, not name). Arg $1 = issue number. Used as the autopilot kill switch.
 del_autopilot_label() {
@@ -54,12 +61,15 @@ reply=$(awk '
   p{ if(/^[[:space:]]*END_PR_DESCRIPTION/){p=0}; next }
   {print}
 ' /tmp/agent_out.md 2>/dev/null)
-# Strip a leading self-header the model sometimes emits ("🤖 **@pm**" on its own line) so we don't
-# double it when we prepend our own. Removes a leading run of such header lines and blank lines.
-reply=$(printf '%s' "$reply" | awk '
+# Strip a leading self-identification header the model sometimes emits, e.g. "🤖 **@pm**",
+# "🔨 **@senior**", or a heading like "## 🔨 @senior — <title>". Gitea already attributes the comment
+# to its author, so we drop any leading line that references the agent's OWN @handle — or a bare
+# "**@name**" line — together with surrounding blank lines, up to the first real content line.
+reply=$(printf '%s' "$reply" | awk -v me="@$NAME" '
   BEGIN{s=1}
-  s && /^[^A-Za-z0-9]*\*\*@[A-Za-z]+\*\*[[:space:]]*$/ {next}
   s && /^[[:space:]]*$/ {next}
+  s && index($0, me) {next}
+  s && /^[^A-Za-z0-9]*\*\*@[A-Za-z]+\*\*[[:space:]]*$/ {next}
   {s=0; print}
 ')
 [ -z "$reply" ] && reply="_(Made changes without a text summary — see the diff below.)_"
@@ -113,9 +123,9 @@ if [ "$MODE" != "pr" ]; then
       echo "created sub-issue #${n:-?}: $title"
       [ -n "$n" ] && links="$links\n- #$n — $title"
     done < /tmp/subtasks.txt
-    subtext=$(printf '\n\n---\n🤖 **@%s** — created sub-issues%s (mention an agent on each when ready):%b' "$NAME" "${ms:+ under milestone **$ms**}" "$links")
+    subtext=$(printf '\n\n---\nCreated sub-issues%s (mention an agent on each when ready):%b' "${ms:+ under milestone **$ms**}" "$links")
   fi
-  post "$(printf '🤖 **@%s**\n\n%s%s' "$NAME" "$msg" "$subtext")"
+  post "$(printf '%s%s' "$msg" "$subtext")"
 
   # --- AUTOPILOT: @qa's narrow, label-gated merge / halt authority ---
   # Only @qa, only when 'autopilot' is set, and only on a PR thread. The MERGE_PR / HALT_AUTOPILOT
@@ -141,13 +151,13 @@ if [ "$MODE" != "pr" ]; then
             echo "closing origin issue #${ISSNUM:-$NUM}"
             curl -sS -X PATCH "${hdr[@]}" "$API/issues/${ISSNUM:-$NUM}" \
               -d '{"state":"closed"}' -w '\nclose -> HTTP %{http_code}\n' || true
-            post "$(printf '🤖 **@qa** — ✅ verified & merged PR #%s (autopilot). Closed issue #%s.' "$NUM" "${ISSNUM:-$NUM}")"
+            post "$(printf '✅ Verified & merged PR #%s (autopilot). Closed issue #%s.' "$NUM" "${ISSNUM:-$NUM}")"
             ;;
           *)
             # Merge failed (checks not green, conflicts, or TOKEN_QA lacks merge scope) — do NOT
             # silently proceed: drop the label so it reverts to human control and report.
             del_autopilot_label "${ISSNUM:-$NUM}"
-            post "$(printf '🤖 **@qa** — ⚠️ tried to merge PR #%s but the API returned HTTP %s (checks not green, a conflict, or missing merge permission on TOKEN_QA). Removed the `autopilot` label — @ffaerber please take a look.' "$NUM" "$mc")"
+            post "$(printf '⚠️ Tried to merge PR #%s but the API returned HTTP %s (checks not green, a conflict, or missing merge permission on TOKEN_QA). Removed the `autopilot` label — @ffaerber please take a look.' "$NUM" "$mc")"
             ;;
         esac
       fi
@@ -167,7 +177,7 @@ if [ "$MODE" != "pr" ]; then
         if [ "$prior" -ge 3 ]; then
           echo "@qa autopilot: 3 bounces already — halting"
           del_autopilot_label "${ISSNUM:-$NUM}"
-          post "$(printf '🤖 **@qa** — 🛑 still not right after 3 fix attempts. Stopping autopilot (removed the `autopilot` label). @ffaerber please take over — details in the comments above.')"
+          post "$(printf '🛑 Still not right after 3 fix attempts. Stopping autopilot (removed the `autopilot` label). @ffaerber please take over — details in the comments above.')"
         else
           n=$((prior + 1))
           echo "@qa autopilot: bounce $n/3 -> @$target"
@@ -180,7 +190,7 @@ if [ "$MODE" != "pr" ]; then
     elif grep -qiE '^[[:space:]]*HALT_AUTOPILOT[[:space:]]*$' /tmp/agent_out.md; then
       echo "@qa autopilot: HALT — removing 'autopilot' label from #${ISSNUM:-$NUM}"
       del_autopilot_label "${ISSNUM:-$NUM}"
-      post "$(printf '🤖 **@qa** — 🛑 this needs a human decision (not a dev fix). Removed the `autopilot` label (back to human control). @ffaerber please decide next steps (details above).')"
+      post "$(printf '🛑 This needs a human decision (not a dev fix). Removed the `autopilot` label (back to human control). @ffaerber please decide next steps (details above).')"
     fi
     exit 0
   fi
@@ -228,7 +238,7 @@ fi
 git push origin "HEAD:$BRANCH" || true
 git fetch -q origin 2>/dev/null || true
 
-prbody=$(printf '%s\n\n---\nResolves #%s · 🤖 @%s' "$prdesc" "$NUM" "$NAME")
+prbody=$(printf '%s\n\n---\nResolves #%s' "$prdesc" "$NUM")
 owner=${GITHUB_REPOSITORY%%/*}
 
 # Post the agent's activity trail (tool calls + reasoning) inline in the same comment so
@@ -248,7 +258,7 @@ br="$BRANCH"
 ahead=$(git rev-list --count "origin/main..origin/$br" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
 if [ "${ahead:-0}" -eq 0 ]; then
   # No changes on this branch — a plan / questions / analysis only.
-  post "$(printf '🤖 **@%s**\n\n%s%s' "$NAME" "$reply" "$activity")"
+  post "$(printf '%s%s' "$reply" "$activity")"
   exit 0
 fi
 
@@ -266,7 +276,7 @@ if [ -z "$url" ]; then
   url=$(printf '%s' "$resp" | jq -r '.html_url // empty' 2>/dev/null)
   prnum=$(printf '%s' "$resp" | jq -r '.number // empty' 2>/dev/null)
 fi
-[ -z "$url" ] && { echo "PR open/lookup failed for $br — posting reply on issue instead"; post "$(printf '🤖 **@%s**\n\n%s%s' "$NAME" "$reply" "$activity")"; exit 0; }
+[ -z "$url" ] && { echo "PR open/lookup failed for $br — posting reply on issue instead"; post "$(printf '%s%s' "$reply" "$activity")"; exit 0; }
 
 # Posts to the PR thread when we have a PR number, else to the origin issue ($NUM).
 prpost() {
@@ -274,11 +284,11 @@ prpost() {
   [ -n "$n" ] && [ "$n" != "$NUM" ] && t="$n"
   echo "posting to #$t"
   curl -sS -w 'comment -> HTTP %{http_code}\n' -X POST "${hdr[@]}" \
-    "$API/issues/$t/comments" -d "$(jq -nc --arg b "$1" '{body:$b}')"
+    "$API/issues/$t/comments" -d "$(jq -nc --arg b "$1$MARK" '{body:$b}')"
 }
 
 if [ "$NEW" = "true" ]; then
-  prpost "$prnum" "$(printf '🤖 **@%s** — ✅ PR ready for review — @ffaerber please review & merge:\n- %s%s' "$NAME" "$url" "$activity")"
+  prpost "$prnum" "$(printf '✅ PR ready for review — @ffaerber please review & merge:\n- %s%s' "$url" "$activity")"
   # AUTOPILOT: hand the fresh PR to @qa automatically (via TOK, so it fires a new run).
   # @qa then verifies and — if green — merges + closes via its MERGE_PR marker. The comment lands
   # on the PR thread ($prnum) so the next run resolves the origin issue's label from the branch
@@ -293,7 +303,7 @@ if [ "$NEW" = "true" ]; then
 else
   # Resume: just link the PR — its body and the diff already carry the description, so we don't
   # repeat the full write-up in the comment (the reasoning trail below shows what this run did).
-  prpost "$prnum" "$(printf '🤖 **@%s** — pushed an update to the PR:\n- %s%s' "$NAME" "$url" "$activity")"
+  prpost "$prnum" "$(printf 'Pushed an update to the PR:\n- %s%s' "$url" "$activity")"
   # AUTOPILOT: after a dev pushes a fix (e.g. following a @qa bounce), hand back to @qa to re-verify.
   if [ "$AUTOPILOT" = "true" ] && [ -n "$TTOK" ] && [ -n "$prnum" ]; then
     case "$NAME" in
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/route.sh b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/route.sh
index c595cea..8d1fe15 100755
--- a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/route.sh
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/route.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,9 @@ else                                         # comment on an issue, no branch ye
     git push -u origin "HEAD:ai/issue-$NUM" || true
     url="${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/src/branch/ai/issue-$NUM"
     curl -sS -X POST "${hdr[@]}" "$API/issues/$NUM/comments" \
-      -d "$(jq -nc --arg b "🔨 **@$name** is on it — building on branch [\`ai/issue-$NUM\`]($url). I'll open a PR when it's ready." '{body:$b}')" >/dev/null || true
+      -d "$(jq -nc --arg b "🔨 Building on branch [\`ai/issue-$NUM\`]($url) — I'll open a PR when it's ready.
+
+<!-- 🤖 agent reply — do not trigger -->" '{body:$b}')" >/dev/null || true
   fi
 fi
 
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/run-agent.sh b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/run-agent.sh
index 7abfc45..d7895b9 100755
--- a/.gitea/workflows/scripts/run-agent.sh
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/scripts/run-agent.sh
@@ -102,6 +102,10 @@ PROMPT="You are @${NAME}, a member of an AI dev team working on this Gitea repos
    YOUR CAPABILITIES: model ${MODEL}. ${CAP}
    ${NOTE}
 
+   Your reply is posted as a comment already attributed to you (@${NAME}) — your name and avatar are
+   shown by Gitea. Do NOT begin your reply with your own name, an '@${NAME}' header, or a '🤖/🔨 @you'
+   line; just write the content directly.
+
    TEAM ROSTER (who does what — hand off if a task isn't yours):
    ${ROSTER}