diff --git a/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/scripts/dispatch.py b/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/scripts/dispatch.py
index b8babc81..6b761598 100644
--- a/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/scripts/dispatch.py
+++ b/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/scripts/dispatch.py
@@ -101,11 +101,13 @@ VERDICT_SCHEMA_MATCHERS = tuple(
     (
         re.compile(rf"^##\s*{re.escape(heading)}[ \t]*$", re.MULTILINE),
         re.compile(
-            rf"^(?:-\s*)?(?:\*\*)?{re.escape(label)}(?:\*\*)?\s*:\s*(PASS|WARN|FAIL)[ \t]*$",
+            rf"^(?:-\s*)?(?:\*\*)?{re.escape(label)}(?:\*\*)?\s*:\s*"
+            rf"(?:(PASS|WARN|FAIL)|`(PASS|WARN|FAIL)`)[ \t]*$",
             re.MULTILINE,
         ),
         re.compile(
-            rf"^###\s+{re.escape(label)}[ \t]*$\s*^(?:\*\*)?(PASS|WARN|FAIL)(?:\*\*)?[ \t]*$",
+            rf"^###\s+{re.escape(label)}[ \t]*$\s*^(?:\*\*)?"
+            rf"(?:(PASS|WARN|FAIL)|`(PASS|WARN|FAIL)`)(?:\*\*)?[ \t]*$",
             re.MULTILINE,
         ),
     )
@@ -203,6 +205,7 @@ RUNTIME_FAILURE_PATTERNS = {
     "model-unavailable": [
         r"model.{0,40}(?:not found|unavailable)", r"overloaded",
         r"temporarily unavailable",
+        r"reasoning[_ ]effort must be one of",
     ],
     "provider-connection": [
         r"\bprovider[_ -]?tunnel[_ -]?error\b",
@@ -4349,7 +4352,12 @@ def verdict_from_text(text: str) -> str | None:
     inline_matches = list(line_re.finditer(section))
     block_matches = list(block_re.finditer(section))
     matches = inline_matches + block_matches
-    return matches[0].group(1) if len(matches) == 1 else None
+    if len(matches) != 1:
+        return None
+    return next(
+        (value for value in matches[0].groups() if value in {"PASS", "WARN", "FAIL"}),
+        None,
+    )
 
 
 def matching_archive_directories_by_name(
diff --git a/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/tests/test_dispatch.py b/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/tests/test_dispatch.py
index fe5f141b..3116f091 100644
--- a/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/tests/test_dispatch.py
+++ b/agent-ops/skills/common/orchestrate-agent-task-loop/tests/test_dispatch.py
@@ -456,6 +456,22 @@ class RuntimeCatalogDispatcherTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
 
 class GenericDispatcherContractTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_verdict_parser_accepts_inline_code_value(self):
+        text = "## Code Review Result\n\n- Overall Verdict: `FAIL`\n"
+
+        self.assertEqual(dispatch.verdict_from_text(text), "FAIL")
+
+    def test_invalid_reasoning_effort_is_target_unavailable(self):
+        output = (
+            '{"type":"error","error":{"data":{"message":'
+            '"reasoning_effort must be one of none, low, medium, or high"}}}'
+        )
+
+        failure, evidence = dispatch.classify_failure_with_evidence(output)
+
+        self.assertEqual(failure, "model-unavailable")
+        self.assertIn("reasoning_effort", evidence or "")
+
     def test_selfcheck_work_log_uses_worker_plan_artifact(self):
         with TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
             directory = Path(tmp) / "agent-task" / "group" / "01_task"