diff --git a/src/work_item_pipeline.rs b/src/work_item_pipeline.rs
index 594c0d82..d2414b19 100644
--- a/src/work_item_pipeline.rs
+++ b/src/work_item_pipeline.rs
@@ -106,24 +106,72 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for JudgeParseError {
     }
 }
 
+/// The first fenced code block in `reply` (` ```json ... ``` ` or a bare
+/// ` ``` ... ``` `), if any -- an explicit fence is an unambiguous boundary
+/// the judge only produces on purpose, so it's tried before brace-scanning.
+fn extract_fenced_block(reply: &str) -> Option<&str> {
+    let after_open = reply.find("```")? + 3;
+    let rest = &reply[after_open..];
+    // Skip an optional language tag (e.g. `json`) up to the fence's newline.
+    let body_start = rest.find('\n').map(|i| i + 1).unwrap_or(0);
+    let body = &rest[body_start..];
+    let end = body.find("```")?;
+    Some(body[..end].trim())
+}
+
+/// Scans forward from the first `{` for its own matching `}`, tracking
+/// nesting depth and skipping brace-like bytes inside JSON string literals
+/// (so a `{`/`}` embedded in a string value, or in unrelated commentary
+/// after the object, can't extend or corrupt the span). Returns the first
+/// complete top-level object instead of naively spanning from the first `{`
+/// to the *last* `}` anywhere in the reply, which a second unrelated
+/// brace-shaped span later in the text could throw off.
+fn extract_first_balanced_object(reply: &str) -> Option<&str> {
+    let start = reply.find('{')?;
+    let bytes = reply.as_bytes();
+    let mut depth = 0i32;
+    let mut in_string = false;
+    let mut escaped = false;
+    for (i, &b) in bytes.iter().enumerate().skip(start) {
+        if in_string {
+            match b {
+                _ if escaped => escaped = false,
+                b'\\' => escaped = true,
+                b'"' => in_string = false,
+                _ => {}
+            }
+            continue;
+        }
+        match b {
+            b'"' => in_string = true,
+            b'{' => depth += 1,
+            b'}' => {
+                depth -= 1;
+                if depth == 0 {
+                    return Some(&reply[start..=i]);
+                }
+            }
+            _ => {}
+        }
+    }
+    None
+}
+
 /// The judge is prompted to reply with exactly one JSON object; this
-/// tolerates a reply that wraps the object in a sentence by extracting the
-/// first `{...}` span before parsing, but does not otherwise repair
-/// malformed JSON — a genuine parse failure is a step Failure, retried by
-/// the step's own RetryPolicy.
+/// tolerates a reply that wraps the object in prose, a fenced code block, or
+/// trailing commentary containing its own unrelated braces, but does not
+/// otherwise repair malformed JSON — a genuine parse failure (including
+/// syntactically valid JSON missing a required field) is a step Failure,
+/// retried by the step's own RetryPolicy.
 pub(crate) fn parse_judge_decision(reply: &str) -> Result<JudgeDecision, JudgeParseError> {
-    let start = reply
-        .find('{')
-        .ok_or_else(|| JudgeParseError::InvalidJson("no '{' found".to_string()))?;
-    let end = reply
-        .rfind('}')
-        .ok_or_else(|| JudgeParseError::InvalidJson("no '}' found".to_string()))?;
-    if end < start {
-        return Err(JudgeParseError::InvalidJson(
-            "unbalanced braces".to_string(),
-        ));
+    if let Some(fenced) = extract_fenced_block(reply)
+        && let Ok(decision) = serde_json::from_str(fenced)
+    {
+        return Ok(decision);
     }
-    let candidate = &reply[start..=end];
+    let candidate = extract_first_balanced_object(reply).ok_or_else(|| {
+        JudgeParseError::InvalidJson("no balanced '{...}' object found".to_string())
+    })?;
     serde_json::from_str(candidate).map_err(|e| JudgeParseError::InvalidJson(e.to_string()))
 }
 
@@ -1344,6 +1392,55 @@ mod judge_decision_tests {
         let err = parse_judge_decision(reply).unwrap_err();
         assert!(matches!(err, JudgeParseError::InvalidJson(_)));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parses_decision_from_a_json_fenced_code_block() {
+        let reply = "Here's my decision:\n```json\n{\"action\":\"advance_task\",\"rationale\":\"spec met\",\"ledger_line\":\"Task 0: complete\",\"task_model_tier\":null}\n```\nThanks.";
+        let decision = parse_judge_decision(reply).expect("parses fenced block");
+        assert_eq!(decision.action, JudgeAction::AdvanceTask);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parses_decision_from_a_bare_fenced_code_block_with_no_language_tag() {
+        let reply = "```\n{\"action\":\"skip_task\",\"rationale\":\"x\",\"ledger_line\":\"x\",\"task_model_tier\":null}\n```";
+        let decision = parse_judge_decision(reply).expect("parses bare fenced block");
+        assert_eq!(decision.action, JudgeAction::SkipTask);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn extracts_only_the_first_object_when_trailing_prose_has_its_own_unrelated_braces() {
+        // A naive first-`{`-to-last-`}` span would run from the real
+        // object's opening brace all the way through the unrelated `{cfg}`
+        // in the trailing sentence, producing invalid combined JSON.
+        let reply = "{\"action\":\"advance_task\",\"rationale\":\"spec met\",\"ledger_line\":\"Task 0: complete\",\"task_model_tier\":null}\nNote: this respects the {cfg} override.";
+        let decision =
+            parse_judge_decision(reply).expect("parses despite trailing unrelated braces");
+        assert_eq!(decision.action, JudgeAction::AdvanceTask);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_brace_inside_a_json_string_value_does_not_confuse_balance_tracking() {
+        let reply = r#"{"action":"advance_task","rationale":"uses a {placeholder} pattern","ledger_line":"x","task_model_tier":null}"#;
+        let decision = parse_judge_decision(reply).expect("brace inside string value is inert");
+        assert_eq!(decision.action, JudgeAction::AdvanceTask);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn rejects_syntactically_valid_json_missing_a_required_field() {
+        // Reproduction of the live 2026-08-15 production failure (item
+        // #478): a well-formed JSON object that's simply missing `action`
+        // must still be a genuine, retried parse failure -- not silently
+        // defaulted.
+        let reply = r#"{"rationale":"x","ledger_line":"x","task_model_tier":null}"#;
+        let err = parse_judge_decision(reply).unwrap_err();
+        assert!(matches!(err, JudgeParseError::InvalidJson(msg) if msg.contains("action")));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn rejects_an_empty_reply() {
+        let err = parse_judge_decision("").unwrap_err();
+        assert!(matches!(err, JudgeParseError::InvalidJson(_)));
+    }
 }
 
 /// Shared fixtures for `sdd_loop_tests` (this task) and later plan tasks'