diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 149894ad849..4d1776254d8 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -520,8 +520,8 @@ Preserve durable structured identifiers, dependencies, and completion artifact l
 ## 11. Crewmate briefs
 
 `bin/fm-brief.sh` and its help own scaffold syntax, generated variants, status protocol, delivery-mode definitions of done, and exact safety mechanics.
-Use its scaffold as the contract, then fill `## Captain's intent` (`{TASK}`) with the captain's own ask plus only the context needed to read it, and fill `## Firstmate spec` (`{FIRSTMATE_SPEC}`) with Firstmate's build instructions.
-`bin/fm-dod-lib.sh` owns what a no-mistakes worker may pass as `--intent`.
+Use its scaffold as the contract, then fill `## Captain's intent` (`{TASK}`) with the captain's own ask plus the context needed to read it, including the substance of any report, decision, or PR the ask refers to, and fill `## Firstmate spec` (`{FIRSTMATE_SPEC}`) with Firstmate's build instructions.
+`bin/fm-dod-lib.sh` owns what a no-mistakes worker may pass as `--intent` and its rule that the string must be self-sufficient.
 Keep additions task-specific rather than repeating lifecycle instructions, and alter generated sections only when the task genuinely differs from the standard shape.
 
 Every ship brief must retain the worktree-isolation assertion and stop if launched in the primary checkout.
diff --git a/bin/fm-brief.sh b/bin/fm-brief.sh
index 3a80a701678..3a557f5ea01 100755
--- a/bin/fm-brief.sh
+++ b/bin/fm-brief.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 # For ordinary tasks, the standard Setup/Rules/Definition-of-done contract is
 # filled in. Ship and scout `# Task` sections have two subsections Firstmate
 # fills before dispatch: `{TASK}` under `## Captain's intent` (the captain's
-# own ask plus only the context needed to read it) and `{FIRSTMATE_SPEC}`
+# own ask plus the context needed to read it, including the substance of any
+# report, decision, or PR the ask refers to) and `{FIRSTMATE_SPEC}`
 # under `## Firstmate spec` (build instructions, which are never the captain's
 # intent). bin/fm-dod-lib.sh owns the no-mistakes `--intent` contract those
 # subsections feed; bin/fm-spawn.sh refuses leftover placeholders. Secondmate
diff --git a/bin/fm-dod-lib.sh b/bin/fm-dod-lib.sh
index d7d0f3ccc6e..557bcf981a9 100755
--- a/bin/fm-dod-lib.sh
+++ b/bin/fm-dod-lib.sh
@@ -12,10 +12,14 @@
 # line that bin/fm-spawn.sh checks a ship brief against.
 # This file is the one owner of the no-mistakes `--intent` contract: only the
 # brief's `## Captain's intent` subsection plus later captain words, never
-# `## Firstmate spec` and never the worker's own tradeoffs. bin/fm-brief.sh
-# scaffolds those two `# Task` subsections; bin/fm-spawn.sh and bin/fm-promote.sh
-# refuse leftover `{TASK}` / `{FIRSTMATE_SPEC}` placeholders through the helpers
-# below. Other mentions of `--intent` point here rather than restating the rule.
+# `## Firstmate spec` and never the worker's own tradeoffs.
+# The string passed must be self-sufficient - it plus the codebase reconstructs
+# roughly the same specification - so a report, decision, or PR the intent
+# refers to is written into it as substance, never left as a pointer.
+# bin/fm-brief.sh scaffolds those two `# Task` subsections; bin/fm-spawn.sh and
+# bin/fm-promote.sh refuse leftover `{TASK}` / `{FIRSTMATE_SPEC}` placeholders
+# through the helpers below. Other mentions of `--intent` point here rather than
+# restating the rule.
 # Every heredoc here stays outside a command substitution: `VAR=$(cat <<EOF ...)`
 # breaks parsing of the whole file on Bash 3.2 (tests/fm-brief.test.sh).
 
@@ -138,6 +142,7 @@ EOF
   cat <<'EOF'
 
 Firstmate-authored constraints, acceptance criteria, implementation details, decisions, and tradeoffs are specification, not captain intent.
+The Definition of done's rule that `--intent` must be self-sufficient still governs the string you pass: resolve any report, decision, or PR the intent above refers to into its substance rather than passing the pointer.
 EOF
 }
 
@@ -197,6 +202,8 @@ Follow the guidance no-mistakes itself provides for the mechanics: it loads when
 When starting no-mistakes, pass \`--intent\` as only this brief's \`## Captain's intent\` subsection plus any later words the captain actually said.
 For a legacy brief with no such subsection, include only words explicitly labeled \`Captain:\`, \`Captain's words:\`, \`Captain's ask:\`, or \`Captain's intent:\`; never copy its mixed \`# Task\` wholesale. If it has no provenance-marked captain words, stop and ask firstmate instead of starting no-mistakes.
 Do not include \`## Firstmate spec\`, later Firstmate build constraints, or your own decisions and tradeoffs.
+The \`--intent\` string you pass must be self-sufficient: that string plus the codebase must let a reader reconstruct roughly the same specification, without depending on a separate report, a PR, or context that lives only in this conversation.
+When the captain's intent refers to a report, decision, or PR ("do items 1, 2, 3, and 7 of the report"), write the substance of the referenced items into \`--intent\` in the captain's terms, not only the pointer; that substance is the captain's ask by reference, while Firstmate's build instructions and your own decisions still stay out.
 This replaces the no-mistakes skill's advice to enrich \`--intent\` with decisions and tradeoffs; that advice does not apply to Firstmate-dispatched work.
 Do not hand-edit, commit, or fix findings yourself while a run is active - the pipeline applies every fix.
 
diff --git a/tests/fm-brief.test.sh b/tests/fm-brief.test.sh
index 283b969fa10..dabff8d67de 100755
--- a/tests/fm-brief.test.sh
+++ b/tests/fm-brief.test.sh
@@ -351,6 +351,13 @@ test_no_mistakes_dod_wording() {
     "no-mistakes DOD must keep worker tradeoffs out of --intent"
   assert_grep "This replaces the no-mistakes skill's advice to enrich \`--intent\`" "$brief" \
     "no-mistakes DOD must override the external skill's enrich-with-decisions guidance"
+  # A bare reference cannot preserve the captain's ask, so the rendered DOD states
+  # the self-sufficiency rule and requires referenced material to be resolved into
+  # its substance.
+  assert_grep "The \`--intent\` string you pass must be self-sufficient" "$brief" \
+    "no-mistakes DOD must require a self-sufficient --intent string"
+  assert_grep "write the substance of the referenced items into \`--intent\`" "$brief" \
+    "no-mistakes DOD must tell the worker to resolve report, decision, and PR references into substance"
 
   # The --yes ban is a fleet-wide prohibition, not a preference, and it must not
   # claim an enforcement the tool does not provide: this is instruction only.
diff --git a/tests/fm-task-delivery.test.sh b/tests/fm-task-delivery.test.sh
index d6f8ecf9898..50c266fe25a 100755
--- a/tests/fm-task-delivery.test.sh
+++ b/tests/fm-task-delivery.test.sh
@@ -540,6 +540,9 @@ EOF
   assert_grep "plus any later words the captain actually supplied" \
     "$home/data/$id/launch-brief.md" \
     "migrated launch contract excluded later captain clarifications"
+  assert_grep "The Definition of done's rule that \`--intent\` must be self-sufficient still governs" \
+    "$home/data/$id/launch-brief.md" \
+    "migrated launch contract's overlay dropped the self-sufficiency pointer"
 
   id=delivery-legacy-unmarked-no-mistakes
   mkdir -p "$home/data/$id"