diff --git a/coder_seam.py b/coder_seam.py
index 88ac953..2f6bd57 100644
--- a/coder_seam.py
+++ b/coder_seam.py
@@ -338,6 +338,13 @@ def __init__(
         # step; the slow part (the coder dispatch) still runs in parallel.
         self._wt_lock = asyncio.Lock()
         self._n = 0
+        # worktree_path -> the coder's own final reply (its clean PR summary, per
+        # `loop._build_prompt`'s "your FINAL message becomes the PR description"
+        # contract) — captured so `dispatch()` can use the WINNING candidate's real
+        # summary as the PR body instead of an internal rung/gens diagnostic string.
+        # Also what `_verify_goal`'s NO_TEST_NEEDED escape hatch reads. Fusion has no
+        # such reply (a plain completion, not a summary) — absent for fusion wins.
+        self._replies: dict[str, str] = {}
 
     async def _new_candidate_worktree(self) -> tuple[str, str]:
         self._n += 1
@@ -349,7 +356,11 @@ async def _new_candidate_worktree(self) -> tuple[str, str]:
 
     async def generate(self, task: str, *, feedback: str | None = None) -> str:
         wt, _branch = await self._new_candidate_worktree()
-        await worktree.dispatch_coder(self.coder, wt, _augment_prompt(task, feedback), timeout=self.dispatch_timeout)
+        reply = await worktree.dispatch_coder(
+            self.coder, wt, _augment_prompt(task, feedback), timeout=self.dispatch_timeout
+        )
+        if (reply or "").strip():
+            self._replies[wt] = reply
         return wt
 
     async def generate_fusion(self, task: str, *, feedback: str | None = None) -> str:
@@ -510,7 +521,10 @@ async def dispatch(
 
     Returns ``(worktree, branch, result_text)`` on a passing candidate — the SAME
     3-tuple shape ``_dispatch_max_mode`` returns, so the caller's downstream drive
-    (fixups, local gate, ``open_pr``) is unchanged. Raises :class:`SolveExhausted`
+    (fixups, local gate, ``open_pr``) is unchanged. ``result_text`` is the WINNING
+    candidate's own reply (its clean PR summary) when the ladder reached it via an
+    ACP rung; only a fusion win (no natural-language reply, just file content) falls
+    back to an internal rung/gens diagnostic string. Raises :class:`SolveExhausted`
     (a capability failure) when the budget is spent with no passing candidate, after
     reaping every candidate worktree it created.
 
@@ -628,7 +642,14 @@ async def dispatch(
         result.gens_spent,
         budget,
     )
-    result_text = f"[coder.solve rung={result.rung} gens={result.gens_spent}] {result.note}"
+    # The winning candidate's own reply (its clean PR summary, per the "your FINAL
+    # message becomes the PR description" contract every coder dispatch is given) is
+    # the real result — `loop.py` uses this verbatim as the PR body, and `_verify_goal`
+    # reads it for the NO_TEST_NEEDED escape hatch. Only fusion (a plain completion,
+    # no such reply) or an unexpectedly-empty one falls back to the diagnostic string.
+    result_text = (
+        adapter._replies.get(win_wt) or f"[coder.solve rung={result.rung} gens={result.gens_spent}] {result.note}"
+    )
     return canon_wt, canon_branch, result_text
 
 
diff --git a/protoagent.plugin.yaml b/protoagent.plugin.yaml
index 1e17280..ddffd73 100644
--- a/protoagent.plugin.yaml
+++ b/protoagent.plugin.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 id: project_board
 name: Project Board (coding orchestration)
-version: 0.29.1
+version: 0.29.2
 description: >-
   A board-driven coding-orchestration plugin: a lean 6-state board (backlog → ready
   → in_progress → in_review → done, + a blocked flag) backed by **beads** (`br`), an
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 20bd2c6..e335396 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "project-board"
-version = "0.29.1"
+version = "0.29.2"
 description = "Board-driven coding-orchestration plugin for protoAgent (beads board + ACP spawn loop + planning layer + console view)."
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
 
diff --git a/tests/test_coder_seam.py b/tests/test_coder_seam.py
index b0a703c..6fa4ca7 100644
--- a/tests/test_coder_seam.py
+++ b/tests/test_coder_seam.py
@@ -143,10 +143,58 @@ async def _fake_solve(task, *, generate, verify, budget, k, tree_depth, fusion_g
     assert promoted == [("/wt/feat-bd-1.g2", "feat/bd-1.g2", "bd-1")]
     assert removed == ["/wt/feat-bd-1.g1"]  # only the loser reaped
     assert (wt, branch) == ("/wt/feat-bd-1", "feat/bd-1")  # canonical name
-    assert "best-of-k" in result and "gens=2" in result
+    # The winning candidate's OWN reply is the result — not an internal rung/gens
+    # diagnostic string. loop.py uses this verbatim as the PR body; _verify_goal
+    # reads it for the NO_TEST_NEEDED escape hatch. Losing candidate g1's reply
+    # must NOT leak through — only g2 (the winner) is used.
+    assert result == "reply from /wt/feat-bd-1.g2"
     assert gens == [2]  # cost surfaced exactly once
 
 
+async def test_dispatch_falls_back_to_a_diagnostic_string_when_the_winner_has_no_reply(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """A fusion win (a plain completion, not a summary) — or any candidate whose
+    reply somehow never got captured — has nothing human-authored to report, so
+    dispatch() falls back to the rung/gens diagnostic string rather than an empty
+    PR body."""
+    _, removed, promoted = _stub_worktree(monkeypatch)
+
+    async def _create_in_tmp(repo, base, cid, root):
+        d = tmp_path / cid
+        d.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        return (str(d), f"feat/{cid}")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(worktree, "create_worktree", _create_in_tmp)
+
+    async def _fake_openai_dispatch(delegate, prompt, *, timeout=None):
+        return "### x.py\n```\nhi\n```"
+
+    async def _fake_solve(task, *, generate, verify, budget, k, tree_depth, fusion_generate=None, fusion_k=2):
+        c0 = await fusion_generate(task, feedback=None)  # the REAL adapter.generate_fusion
+        return _FakeResult(solution=c0, passed=True, rung="fusion", gens_spent=1, candidates_tried=1, note="solved")
+
+    _wt, _branch, result = await dispatch(
+        task="do the thing",
+        coder=object(),
+        repo="/repo",
+        base="main",
+        root=".worktrees",
+        fid="bd-2",
+        dispatch_timeout=None,
+        test_cmd="pytest -q",
+        test_timeout=30,
+        budget=6,
+        k=3,
+        tree_depth=2,
+        fusion_delegate=object(),
+        record_gens=lambda n: None,
+        _solve=_fake_solve,
+        _budget_cls=_FakeBudget,
+        _verdict_cls=_FakeVerdict,
+        _fusion_dispatch=_fake_openai_dispatch,
+    )
+    assert result == "[coder.solve rung=fusion gens=1] solved"
+
+
 async def test_dispatch_records_gens_even_on_a_single_greedy_win(monkeypatch):
     _stub_worktree(monkeypatch)