diff --git a/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js b/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js
index 9a13c47e6..99231c2e1 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js
+++ b/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ function logWithCore(core, level, message) {
     core[level](message);
     return;
   }
-  const logFn = level === 'error' ? console.error : level === 'warning' ? console.warn : console.log;
+  const logFn = level === 'error' ? console.error : level === 'warning' ? console.warn : console.error;
   logFn(message);
 }
 
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ async function withRetry(fn, options = {}) {
           ? 'rate limit'
           : 'transient error';
 
-      console.log(
+      console.error(
         `${retryReason} (attempt ${attempt + 1}/${maxRetries + 1}). ` +
         `Retrying in ${Math.round(actualDelay / 1000)}s...`
       );
diff --git a/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml b/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml
index a4b692e27..3acb8f601 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Setup API client
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-api-client
+        with:
+          # This guard only reads issue comments with the workflow token. Do not
+          # expose the repository-wide secret bundle to the composite action.
+          github_token: ${{ github.token }}
+
       - name: Resolve issue
         id: issue
         env:
@@ -132,35 +139,66 @@ jobs:
           fi
           fingerprint="$(sha256sum body.md | cut -c1-12)"
           marker="<!-- format-guard:$fingerprint -->"
-          # Only trust exact HTML markers authored by automation bots (not user text).
-          trusted_marker=false
-          if gh issue view "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --json comments \
-              --jq '.comments[] | select((.author.login // "") | test("\\[bot\\]$|github-actions"; "i")) | .body' \
-              | grep -qF "$marker"; then
-            trusted_marker=true
-          fi
+          # Only trust exact HTML markers authored by github-actions[bot]
+          # (immutable account id 41898282 when the REST payload includes user.id).
+          trusted_marker="$(FORMAT_GUARD_MARKER="$marker" node - <<'NODE'
+          (async () => {
+            const { Octokit } = require('@octokit/rest');
+            const { createTokenAwareRetry } = require('./.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js');
+            const github = new Octokit({ auth: process.env.GH_TOKEN });
+            const core = { info: () => {}, warning: console.warn, debug: () => {} };
+            const { paginateWithRetry } = await createTokenAwareRetry({
+              github,
+              core,
+              env: process.env,
+              task: 'issue-format-guard',
+              capabilities: ['issues:read'],
+            });
+            const [owner, repo] = process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY.split('/');
+            const comments = await paginateWithRetry(
+              github.rest.issues.listComments,
+              { owner, repo, issue_number: Number(process.env.NUMBER), per_page: 100 }
+            );
+            const trusted = comments.some((comment) =>
+              comment.user?.login === 'github-actions[bot]'
+              && (comment.user?.id == null || comment.user.id === 41898282)
+              && (comment.body || '').includes(process.env.FORMAT_GUARD_MARKER)
+            );
+            process.stdout.write(trusted ? 'true' : 'false');
+          })().catch((error) => {
+            console.error(error);
+            process.exit(1);
+          });
+          NODE
+          )"
           has_format_label=false
           if jq -e '[.labels[].name] | any(. == "agents:format")' live.json >/dev/null; then
             has_format_label=true
           fi
-          # Dedup completed handoffs, but retry when a prior dispatch/optimizer run
-          # left agents:format set (marker without a finished optimizer pass).
+          # The marker is written only after dispatch succeeds.  Keep the label as
+          # the in-flight lease: a repeated guard run must not enqueue another
+          # optimizer while that lease is still present.  If the label was removed,
+          # retry the dispatch because the earlier handoff no longer owns the work.
           dispatch=true
-          if [[ "$trusted_marker" == true && "$has_format_label" != true ]]; then
-            echo "Identical invalid body was already routed; skipping duplicate dispatch."
+          if [[ "$trusted_marker" == true && "$has_format_label" == true ]]; then
+            echo "Identical invalid body is already routed and in flight; skipping duplicate dispatch."
             dispatch=false
-          elif [[ "$trusted_marker" == true && "$has_format_label" == true ]]; then
-            echo "Prior format-guard marker present but agents:format still set — retrying optimizer dispatch."
+          elif [[ "$trusted_marker" == true ]]; then
+            echo "Prior format-guard marker present but agents:format is absent — retrying optimizer dispatch."
           fi
           if jq -e '[.labels[].name] | any(. == "agents:formatted")' live.json >/dev/null; then
             gh issue edit "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --remove-label "agents:formatted" \
               || echo "::warning::could not remove agents:formatted"
           fi
-          gh issue edit "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --add-label "agents:format" \
-            || echo "::warning::could not apply agents:format (label missing in this repo?)"
           if [[ "$dispatch" != true ]]; then
             exit 0
           fi
+          # Acquiring the label is the handoff lease. Do not dispatch without it:
+          # otherwise a trusted marker alone could repeat the optimizer dispatch.
+          if ! gh issue edit "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --add-label "agents:format"; then
+            echo "::error::could not acquire agents:format lease; refusing optimizer dispatch"
+            exit 1
+          fi
           # GITHUB_TOKEN label edits do not start issues:labeled workflows; dispatch is explicit.
           # Persist the completion marker only after a successful workflow_dispatch so a
           # failed run remains retryable on the next guard pass.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml b/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
index 7d4ddbc2e..501bccb86 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ concurrency:
   group: >-
     agents-issue-optimizer-${{
     github.repository }}-${{
-    github.event.issue.number || github.run_id }}
+    github.event.issue.number || inputs.issue_number || github.run_id }}
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
@@ -106,11 +106,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           node-version: 24
 
-      - name: Install load balancer dependencies
-        if: steps.check.outputs.should_run == 'true'
-        run: |
-          set -euo pipefail
-          npm install --no-save --no-package-lock @octokit/rest @octokit/auth-app
 
       - name: Setup API client
         if: steps.check.outputs.should_run == 'true'
@@ -354,7 +349,7 @@ jobs:
           });
           NODE
 
-          python - <<'PY' || true
+          python - <<'PY'
           import json
           from scripts.langchain import issue_dedup
 
@@ -362,33 +357,37 @@ jobs:
               issue = json.load(f)
           with open('/tmp/open_issues.json', encoding='utf-8') as f:
               open_issues = json.load(f)
-            with open('/tmp/dedup_comments.json', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+          with open('/tmp/dedup_comments.json', encoding='utf-8') as f:
               comments = json.load(f)
 
-            marker = issue_dedup.SIMILAR_ISSUES_MARKER
-            for comment in comments or []:
+          marker = issue_dedup.SIMILAR_ISSUES_MARKER
+          for comment in comments or []:
               body = (comment or {}).get('body') or ''
               if marker in body:
-                raise SystemExit(0)
+                  raise SystemExit(0)
 
           # Conservative defaults; can be tuned later.
           threshold = 0.82
-            store = issue_dedup.build_issue_vector_store(open_issues)
-            if store is None:
+          store = issue_dedup.build_issue_vector_store(open_issues)
+          if store is None:
               raise SystemExit(0)
 
-            title = (issue.get('title') or '').strip()
-            body = (issue.get('body') or '').strip()
-            query = f"{title}\n{body}".strip() if body else title
-            if not query:
+          title = (issue.get('title') or '').strip()
+          body = (issue.get('body') or '').strip()
+          query = f"{title}\n{body}".strip() if body else title
+          if not query:
               raise SystemExit(0)
 
-            matches = issue_dedup.find_similar_issues(store, query, threshold=threshold, k=5)
-            comment = issue_dedup.format_similar_issues_comment(matches, max_items=5)
-            if comment:
+          matches = issue_dedup.find_similar_issues(store, query, threshold=threshold, k=5)
+          comment = issue_dedup.format_similar_issues_comment(matches, max_items=5)
+          if comment:
               with open('/tmp/dedup_comment.md', 'w', encoding='utf-8') as out:
-                out.write(comment)
+                  out.write(comment)
           PY
+          dedup_rc=$?
+          if [[ $dedup_rc -ne 0 ]]; then
+            echo "::warning::issue dedup python exited with $dedup_rc; continuing without similar-issues comment"
+          fi
 
           if [[ -f /tmp/dedup_comment.md ]]; then
             node - <<'NODE'
@@ -510,7 +509,7 @@ jobs:
 
           # Do not publish agents:formatted for apply-phase output that fails
           # the same fleet contract enforced by the issue-event guard.
-          python .github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/updated_body.md
+          python3 .github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/updated_body.md
 
           # Update issue body
           node - <<'NODE'
@@ -580,7 +579,7 @@ jobs:
 
           # Do not advertise a formatted issue until it satisfies the same
           # fleet contract enforced by the issue-event guard.
-          python .github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/formatted_body.md
+          python3 .github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/formatted_body.md
 
           # Update issue body with formatted version
           node - <<'NODE'
@@ -718,3 +717,14 @@ jobs:
           NODE
             echo "Labels updated: removed format, added formatted"
           fi
+
+      - name: Release failed format lease
+        if: (failure() || cancelled()) && steps.check.outputs.should_run == 'true' && steps.check.outputs.phase == 'format'
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ steps.check.outputs.issue_number }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # A guard retry may proceed only after the failed format run releases its lease.
+          gh issue edit "$ISSUE_NUMBER" --remove-label "agents:format" \
+            || echo "::warning::could not release failed agents:format lease"
diff --git a/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt b/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt
index 9a23c65a4..a669a5967 100644
--- a/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt
+++ b/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt
@@ -113,9 +113,9 @@ reason = Intentional divergence re-baselined 2026-06-30: root and consumer guard
 [pair.11]
 main = .github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
 template = templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
-main_sha256 = d99f29c3433fa3430c68338cffe0c9ad7c6e22801303fea1916ddeab4040dc90
-template_sha256 = a4ab5b6f0039c1c20d3fb3133fed3a38902f7943cd46c951cf7695a0d3e41858
-reason = Intentional divergence re-baselined 2026-08-08: root and consumer issue-optimizer workflows keep different auth plumbing/action pin surfaces. Both validate format output before adding agents:formatted; the consumer explicitly sparse-checks out .github/scripts/issue_format.py plus config/scripts/langchain/tools from Workflows, while root runs those files in-tree. Do not align wholesale because that would strip consumer action pins/token setup.
+main_sha256 = ccf1cd3ccdba84c54743d2950367308df15c5928b95c1e7400a5d2858b7c1fa5
+template_sha256 = a4d50beb165724ff9266a18390d738105538fe0c13a5eb3a620fb8c9297fe80f
+reason = Intentional divergence re-baselined 2026-08-08b: root remains in-tree (scripts/langchain + .github/scripts/issue_format.py); consumer vendors those via Workflows sparse-checkout under workflows-scripts/. Shared behavioral contract this round: concurrency includes inputs.issue_number for workflow_dispatch dedupe, cancel-safe (failure()||cancelled()) agents:format lease release, and fixed issue_dedup Python indentation with visible non-zero exit warnings. Do not align wholesale — that would strip consumer action pins/token setup.
 
 [pair.12]
 main = .github/workflows/agents-keepalive-loop-reporter.yml
diff --git a/langsmith-fleet-worker-attempt.json b/langsmith-fleet-worker-attempt.json
index 51f4e9cbe..336c7a2e8 100644
--- a/langsmith-fleet-worker-attempt.json
+++ b/langsmith-fleet-worker-attempt.json
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 {
   "agent": "codex",
   "cli_version": "0.144.1",
-  "emitted_at": "2026-08-08T05:39:15.569084Z",
+  "emitted_at": "2026-08-08T11:32:33.483036Z",
   "execution_profile": "codex-default",
   "fallback_models": [
     "gpt-5.5"
   ],
   "operation_role": "worker",
-  "pr_number": "2982",
+  "pr_number": "2981",
   "requested_model": "gpt-5.6-terra",
   "runner": "reusable-codex-run",
   "schema": "langsmith-fleet/v1",
diff --git a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js
index 9a13c47e6..99231c2e1 100755
--- a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js
+++ b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ function logWithCore(core, level, message) {
     core[level](message);
     return;
   }
-  const logFn = level === 'error' ? console.error : level === 'warning' ? console.warn : console.log;
+  const logFn = level === 'error' ? console.error : level === 'warning' ? console.warn : console.error;
   logFn(message);
 }
 
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ async function withRetry(fn, options = {}) {
           ? 'rate limit'
           : 'transient error';
 
-      console.log(
+      console.error(
         `${retryReason} (attempt ${attempt + 1}/${maxRetries + 1}). ` +
         `Retrying in ${Math.round(actualDelay / 1000)}s...`
       );
diff --git a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml
index a4b692e27..3acb8f601 100644
--- a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml
+++ b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
+      - name: Setup API client
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-api-client
+        with:
+          # This guard only reads issue comments with the workflow token. Do not
+          # expose the repository-wide secret bundle to the composite action.
+          github_token: ${{ github.token }}
+
       - name: Resolve issue
         id: issue
         env:
@@ -132,35 +139,66 @@ jobs:
           fi
           fingerprint="$(sha256sum body.md | cut -c1-12)"
           marker="<!-- format-guard:$fingerprint -->"
-          # Only trust exact HTML markers authored by automation bots (not user text).
-          trusted_marker=false
-          if gh issue view "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --json comments \
-              --jq '.comments[] | select((.author.login // "") | test("\\[bot\\]$|github-actions"; "i")) | .body' \
-              | grep -qF "$marker"; then
-            trusted_marker=true
-          fi
+          # Only trust exact HTML markers authored by github-actions[bot]
+          # (immutable account id 41898282 when the REST payload includes user.id).
+          trusted_marker="$(FORMAT_GUARD_MARKER="$marker" node - <<'NODE'
+          (async () => {
+            const { Octokit } = require('@octokit/rest');
+            const { createTokenAwareRetry } = require('./.github/scripts/github-api-with-retry.js');
+            const github = new Octokit({ auth: process.env.GH_TOKEN });
+            const core = { info: () => {}, warning: console.warn, debug: () => {} };
+            const { paginateWithRetry } = await createTokenAwareRetry({
+              github,
+              core,
+              env: process.env,
+              task: 'issue-format-guard',
+              capabilities: ['issues:read'],
+            });
+            const [owner, repo] = process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY.split('/');
+            const comments = await paginateWithRetry(
+              github.rest.issues.listComments,
+              { owner, repo, issue_number: Number(process.env.NUMBER), per_page: 100 }
+            );
+            const trusted = comments.some((comment) =>
+              comment.user?.login === 'github-actions[bot]'
+              && (comment.user?.id == null || comment.user.id === 41898282)
+              && (comment.body || '').includes(process.env.FORMAT_GUARD_MARKER)
+            );
+            process.stdout.write(trusted ? 'true' : 'false');
+          })().catch((error) => {
+            console.error(error);
+            process.exit(1);
+          });
+          NODE
+          )"
           has_format_label=false
           if jq -e '[.labels[].name] | any(. == "agents:format")' live.json >/dev/null; then
             has_format_label=true
           fi
-          # Dedup completed handoffs, but retry when a prior dispatch/optimizer run
-          # left agents:format set (marker without a finished optimizer pass).
+          # The marker is written only after dispatch succeeds.  Keep the label as
+          # the in-flight lease: a repeated guard run must not enqueue another
+          # optimizer while that lease is still present.  If the label was removed,
+          # retry the dispatch because the earlier handoff no longer owns the work.
           dispatch=true
-          if [[ "$trusted_marker" == true && "$has_format_label" != true ]]; then
-            echo "Identical invalid body was already routed; skipping duplicate dispatch."
+          if [[ "$trusted_marker" == true && "$has_format_label" == true ]]; then
+            echo "Identical invalid body is already routed and in flight; skipping duplicate dispatch."
             dispatch=false
-          elif [[ "$trusted_marker" == true && "$has_format_label" == true ]]; then
-            echo "Prior format-guard marker present but agents:format still set — retrying optimizer dispatch."
+          elif [[ "$trusted_marker" == true ]]; then
+            echo "Prior format-guard marker present but agents:format is absent — retrying optimizer dispatch."
           fi
           if jq -e '[.labels[].name] | any(. == "agents:formatted")' live.json >/dev/null; then
             gh issue edit "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --remove-label "agents:formatted" \
               || echo "::warning::could not remove agents:formatted"
           fi
-          gh issue edit "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --add-label "agents:format" \
-            || echo "::warning::could not apply agents:format (label missing in this repo?)"
           if [[ "$dispatch" != true ]]; then
             exit 0
           fi
+          # Acquiring the label is the handoff lease. Do not dispatch without it:
+          # otherwise a trusted marker alone could repeat the optimizer dispatch.
+          if ! gh issue edit "$NUMBER" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" --add-label "agents:format"; then
+            echo "::error::could not acquire agents:format lease; refusing optimizer dispatch"
+            exit 1
+          fi
           # GITHUB_TOKEN label edits do not start issues:labeled workflows; dispatch is explicit.
           # Persist the completion marker only after a successful workflow_dispatch so a
           # failed run remains retryable on the next guard pass.
diff --git a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
index d070e9202..ab2f44db1 100644
--- a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
+++ b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,13 @@ on:
           - apply
           - format
 
+concurrency:
+  group: >-
+    agents-issue-optimizer-${{
+    github.repository }}-${{
+    github.event.issue.number || inputs.issue_number || github.run_id }}
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
 jobs:
   optimize_issue:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -341,7 +348,7 @@ jobs:
           });
           NODE
 
-          python - <<'PY' || true
+          python - <<'PY'
           import json
           import sys
           sys.path.insert(0, 'workflows-scripts/scripts/langchain')
@@ -351,33 +358,37 @@ jobs:
               issue = json.load(f)
           with open('/tmp/open_issues.json', encoding='utf-8') as f:
               open_issues = json.load(f)
-            with open('/tmp/dedup_comments.json', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-                comments = json.load(f)
+          with open('/tmp/dedup_comments.json', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+              comments = json.load(f)
 
-            marker = issue_dedup.SIMILAR_ISSUES_MARKER
-            for comment in comments or []:
-                body = (comment or {}).get('body') or ''
-                if marker in body:
-                    raise SystemExit(0)
+          marker = issue_dedup.SIMILAR_ISSUES_MARKER
+          for comment in comments or []:
+              body = (comment or {}).get('body') or ''
+              if marker in body:
+                  raise SystemExit(0)
 
           # Conservative defaults; can be tuned later.
           threshold = 0.82
-            store = issue_dedup.build_issue_vector_store(open_issues)
-            if store is None:
-                raise SystemExit(0)
-
-            title = (issue.get('title') or '').strip()
-            body = (issue.get('body') or '').strip()
-            query = f"{title}\n{body}".strip() if body else title
-            if not query:
-                raise SystemExit(0)
-
-            matches = issue_dedup.find_similar_issues(store, query, threshold=threshold, k=5)
-            comment = issue_dedup.format_similar_issues_comment(matches, max_items=5)
-            if comment:
-                with open('/tmp/dedup_comment.md', 'w', encoding='utf-8') as out:
-                    out.write(comment)
+          store = issue_dedup.build_issue_vector_store(open_issues)
+          if store is None:
+              raise SystemExit(0)
+
+          title = (issue.get('title') or '').strip()
+          body = (issue.get('body') or '').strip()
+          query = f"{title}\n{body}".strip() if body else title
+          if not query:
+              raise SystemExit(0)
+
+          matches = issue_dedup.find_similar_issues(store, query, threshold=threshold, k=5)
+          comment = issue_dedup.format_similar_issues_comment(matches, max_items=5)
+          if comment:
+              with open('/tmp/dedup_comment.md', 'w', encoding='utf-8') as out:
+                  out.write(comment)
           PY
+          dedup_rc=$?
+          if [[ $dedup_rc -ne 0 ]]; then
+            echo "::warning::issue dedup python exited with $dedup_rc; continuing without similar-issues comment"
+          fi
 
           if [[ -f /tmp/dedup_comment.md ]]; then
             gh issue comment "${ISSUE_NUMBER}" --body-file /tmp/dedup_comment.md || true
@@ -559,3 +570,14 @@ jobs:
             body="${body//RUN_URL_PLACEHOLDER/${RUN_URL}}"
             gh issue comment "${ISSUE_NUMBER}" --body "$body" || true
           fi
+
+      - name: Release failed format lease
+        if: (failure() || cancelled()) && steps.check.outputs.should_run == 'true' && steps.check.outputs.phase == 'format'
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.token.outputs.token || github.token }}
+          ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ steps.check.outputs.issue_number }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # A guard retry may proceed only after the failed format run releases its lease.
+          gh issue edit "$ISSUE_NUMBER" --remove-label "agents:format" \
+            || echo "::warning::could not release failed agents:format lease"
diff --git a/tests/workflows/test_agents_issue_optimizer_format_trigger.py b/tests/workflows/test_agents_issue_optimizer_format_trigger.py
index 4e4972f64..021aa25fc 100644
--- a/tests/workflows/test_agents_issue_optimizer_format_trigger.py
+++ b/tests/workflows/test_agents_issue_optimizer_format_trigger.py
@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@
 import yaml
 
 WORKFLOW_PATH = Path(".github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml")
+CONSUMER_WORKFLOW_PATH = Path(
+    "templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml"
+)
+GUARD_PATH = Path(".github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml")
+CONSUMER_GUARD_PATH = Path(
+    "templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml"
+)
 
 
 def _load_workflow() -> dict:
@@ -26,20 +33,62 @@ def test_issue_optimizer_checks_for_format_label() -> None:
 
 def test_issue_optimizer_validates_format_and_apply_bodies() -> None:
     text = WORKFLOW_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-    assert "issue_format.py /tmp/formatted_body.md" in text
-    assert "issue_format.py /tmp/updated_body.md" in text
-    consumer = Path("templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml")
-    consumer_text = consumer.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-    assert "issue_format.py /tmp/formatted_body.md" in consumer_text
-    assert "issue_format.py /tmp/updated_body.md" in consumer_text
-
-
-def test_format_guard_retries_incomplete_optimizer_dispatch() -> None:
-    guard = Path(".github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-    assert "Re-fetch before side effects" in guard
-    assert "no completion marker written so later runs can retry" in guard
-    assert 'marker="<!-- format-guard:$fingerprint -->"' in guard
-    consumer = Path(
-        "templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-format-guard.yml"
-    ).read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-    assert "no completion marker written so later runs can retry" in consumer
+    consumer_text = CONSUMER_WORKFLOW_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "python3 .github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/formatted_body.md" in text
+    assert "python3 .github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/updated_body.md" in text
+    # Consumer template vendors issue_format.py from the Workflows sparse checkout.
+    assert (
+        "python workflows-scripts/.github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/formatted_body.md"
+        in consumer_text
+    )
+    assert (
+        "python workflows-scripts/.github/scripts/issue_format.py /tmp/updated_body.md"
+        in consumer_text
+    )
+
+
+def test_format_guard_deduplicates_inflight_optimizer_dispatch() -> None:
+    guard = GUARD_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    consumer = CONSUMER_GUARD_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    for text in (guard, consumer):
+        assert "Re-fetch before side effects" in text
+        assert "no completion marker written so later runs can retry" in text
+        assert 'marker="<!-- format-guard:$fingerprint -->"' in text
+        assert "comment.user?.login === 'github-actions[bot]'" in text
+        assert "comment.user?.id == null || comment.user.id === 41898282" in text
+        assert "createTokenAwareRetry" in text
+        assert "paginateWithRetry" in text
+        assert "github.rest.issues.listComments" in text
+        assert "per_page: 100" in text
+        assert "github_token: ${{ github.token }}" in text
+        assert "secrets: ${{ toJSON(secrets) }}" not in text
+        assert '"$trusted_marker" == true && "$has_format_label" == true' in text
+        assert "already routed and in flight; skipping duplicate dispatch" in text
+        # Trusted marker is written only after a successful workflow_dispatch.
+        assert text.index("gh workflow run agents-issue-optimizer.yml") < text.index(
+            'echo "$marker"'
+        )
+
+
+def test_format_lease_is_required_and_released_after_failure() -> None:
+    guard = GUARD_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    consumer_guard = CONSUMER_GUARD_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    for text in (guard, consumer_guard):
+        assert "could not acquire agents:format lease" in text
+        lease_idx = text.index("could not acquire agents:format lease")
+        dispatch_idx = text.index("gh workflow run agents-issue-optimizer.yml")
+        assert lease_idx < dispatch_idx
+        assert "exit 1" in text[lease_idx:dispatch_idx]
+        # Dispatch must stay inside the success path after lease acquisition.
+        assert '--add-label "agents:format"' in text[:dispatch_idx]
+
+    for text in (
+        WORKFLOW_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8"),
+        CONSUMER_WORKFLOW_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8"),
+    ):
+        assert "Release failed format lease" in text
+        assert (
+            "(failure() || cancelled()) && steps.check.outputs.should_run == 'true' "
+            "&& steps.check.outputs.phase == 'format'"
+        ) in text
+        assert 'gh issue edit "$ISSUE_NUMBER" --remove-label "agents:format"' in text