diff --git a/docs/dev/wiki.md b/docs/dev/wiki.md
index cd10450..ff324f7 100644
--- a/docs/dev/wiki.md
+++ b/docs/dev/wiki.md
@@ -212,7 +212,17 @@ Docs:
   profile) as the
   final user turn, runs `runHeadlessToolLoop` against
   `wikiToolbox`. Side effects (the `wiki_*` tool calls) ARE
-  the output; final text is discarded.
+  the persistent output; the model's final text is a one-or-
+  two-sentence operator-facing summary of its choices ("Updated
+  Nak article with March 2026 logo details" / "No edits -
+  generic Q&A with no user-centric subject") that the cycle
+  driver inlines as `reasoning="..."` on the finished-thread
+  log line, matching the journal worker's shape. The prompt's
+  "Final reply" block instructs the model to surface both
+  decisions made and decisions skipped (e.g. why a topic that
+  came up was deliberately NOT given its own article), so a
+  human skimming the log drawer can see WHY a cycle was a no-op
+  without having to re-read the conversation.
 - `WikiAgent.updateOne({ articleId, currentTitle,
   currentContent, userInstructions, signal })` - the
   main-thread per-article manual entry. Single Venice
@@ -437,6 +447,20 @@ JSON).
   pointer. Without this, every cycle would re-process the
   same "the model decided this conversation has nothing
   worth wiki-ing" conversation forever.
+- **Final-text is load-bearing now.** Both the per-conversation
+  wiki agent and the librarian historically ended with "reply
+  with a single word; the word is discarded" so the tool loop
+  would terminate cleanly. That changed: the final reply is now
+  the operator-facing reasoning surfaced as `reasoning="..."`
+  on the cycle's `finished thread` / `librarian finished` log
+  line. The prompts ask for one or two plain-text sentences
+  naming what the agent did or skipped and why; the loop
+  normalises whitespace and inlines that string. Do not revert
+  the prompt to "single word" without also dropping the
+  reasoning surface on the loop side - users debug "why did the
+  agent decide X" by reading those summaries in the log drawer,
+  and the librarian's "two articles I considered merging but
+  left alone" case is only visible there.
 - **`wiki_create` rephrases unique-violations.** The
   autonomous agent reads tool-error text as guidance; the
   raw Postgres `duplicate key value violates unique
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/agent.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/agent.ts
index b77439f..0f14548 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/agent.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/agent.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@
  * for each, and runs `runHeadlessToolLoop` against the
  * `wikiLibrarianToolbox` (wiki_search + wiki_update + wiki_delete +
  * conversation_search). Side effects from those tool calls ARE the
- * output; the model's final text is discarded.
+ * persistent output; the model's final text is its one-or-two-
+ * sentence operator summary of merges, deletions, and considered-
+ * but-left-alone cases (see WikiLibrarianOutput.finalText), surfaced
+ * in the log drawer by the cycle driver.
  *
  * No per-thread claim, no entry_date, no terminal-message slicing -
  * the librarian operates on the wiki as a whole, on a separate
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/loop.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/loop.ts
index 5e28827..6d14e8b 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/loop.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/loop.ts
@@ -149,9 +149,18 @@ export async function runOneCycle(ctx: CycleContext): Promise<CycleResult> {
     return 'error';
   }
 
+  // Reasoning is the agent's brief operator-facing summary of what
+  // it merged / deleted / left alone (see the "Final reply" block in
+  // ../wiki-librarian/prompt.ts). Normalise whitespace so a multi-
+  // line reply still fits on one log line, and fall back to a
+  // sentinel when the model returned empty (shouldn't happen in
+  // production but better surfaced as "(none)" than a dangling
+  // `reasoning=""`).
+  const reasoning =
+    runResult.output.finalText.replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim() || '(none)';
   log.info(
     `librarian finished (${runResult.toolCalls} tool calls over ` +
-      `${runResult.output.articleCount} articles)`
+      `${runResult.output.articleCount} articles, reasoning="${reasoning}")`
   );
   return 'reviewed';
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/prompt.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/prompt.ts
index f30bffe..44a7c33 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/prompt.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/prompt.ts
@@ -350,8 +350,26 @@ export function buildWikiLibrarianPrompt(opts: {
     "  directly (a first name, the project name) rather than \"the",
     '  user".',
     '',
-    'When you have nothing more to do, reply with a single word. The',
-    'word is discarded - only the tool calls matter. Zero edits is a',
-    'normal outcome on a small or already-coherent wiki.',
+    '**Final reply: one or two sentences explaining your choices.**',
+    'After your last tool call (or instead of any tool call, if you',
+    'decided the wiki was already coherent), reply with a brief',
+    'operator-facing summary of what you did and WHY. This text',
+    'surfaces in the user\'s log drawer as the cycle\'s outcome, so make',
+    'it useful to a human skimming the log - name the articles you',
+    'merged or deleted, and name the cases you considered but left',
+    'alone. The "considered but left alone" half is as valuable as the',
+    '"changed it" half: if two articles looked like duplicates but you',
+    'decided they cover different subjects, say so. Examples:',
+    '  "Deleted \'Kermit protocol\' as out-of-scope; merged the two',
+    '   \'Maya\' articles into one (the household one absorbed the',
+    '   sister article)."',
+    '  "Left \'Maya\' and \'household\' separate - they overlap on the',
+    '   household-finances paragraph but cover different subjects, and',
+    '   merging would make either article harder to find."',
+    '  "No edits - wiki is small and coherent."',
+    'Skip filler ("Great work!", "I have finished"); lead with the',
+    'decisions. Keep it under two sentences. Plain text, no Markdown.',
+    'Zero edits is a normal outcome on a small or already-coherent',
+    'wiki - say so plainly.',
   ].join('\n');
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/types.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/types.ts
index 355373b..e742907 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/types.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki-librarian/types.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,16 @@ export interface WikiLibrarianInput {
 }
 
 export interface WikiLibrarianOutput {
-  /** Final post-tool-loop text. Discarded by production callers. */
+  /**
+   * The model's final (post-tool-loop) text. Used as the operator-
+   * facing reasoning surfaced in the log drawer - the prompt's "Final
+   * reply" block instructs the librarian to emit a one-or-two-sentence
+   * summary of what it merged, deleted, or considered-but-left-alone
+   * (e.g. "Merged the two Maya articles; left 'Maya' and 'household'
+   * separate because they cover different subjects."). The loop trims
+   * and inlines this as `reasoning="..."` on the librarian-finished
+   * log line, matching the shape the journal and wiki workers use.
+   */
   finalText: string;
   /** Number of articles in the snapshot. Surface for observability. */
   articleCount: number;
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki/agent.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki/agent.ts
index 4d98412..4eb9fac 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki/agent.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki/agent.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
  *     settled thread, appends `WIKI_AUTONOMOUS_PROMPT` as the final
  *     user turn, and runs the headless tool loop with `wikiToolbox`.
  *     The loop's side effects (wiki_search / wiki_create /
- *     wiki_update / wiki_delete calls) ARE the output; final text is
- *     discarded after being captured for logs.
+ *     wiki_update / wiki_delete calls) ARE the persistent output;
+ *     the final text is the model's one-or-two-sentence operator
+ *     summary of its choices (see WikiOutput.finalText), surfaced
+ *     in the log drawer by the cycle driver.
  *
  *   - **Manual**: `updateOne()` runs synchronously on the main thread
  *     when the user clicks "Ask agent to update" on a single article.
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki/loop.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki/loop.ts
index 459859b..69156f5 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki/loop.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki/loop.ts
@@ -126,9 +126,19 @@ export async function runOneCycle(ctx: CycleContext): Promise<CycleResult> {
     return 'error';
   }
   if (marked) {
+    // Reasoning is the agent's brief operator-facing summary of what
+    // it did and why (see WIKI_AUTONOMOUS_BODY_LINES' "Final reply"
+    // block in ../wiki/prompt.ts). Normalise whitespace so a stray
+    // newline does not break the single-line log convention, and
+    // fall back to a sentinel when the model returned an empty
+    // string (shouldn't happen in production, but a missing summary
+    // is still better surfaced as "(none)" than a dangling `reasoning=""`).
+    const reasoning =
+      runResult.output.finalText.replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim() || '(none)';
     log.info(
       `finished thread ${claim.threadId} ` +
-        `(${runResult.toolCalls} tool calls over ${runResult.output.inputMessageCount} messages) ${titleTag}`
+        `(${runResult.toolCalls} tool calls over ${runResult.output.inputMessageCount} messages, ` +
+        `reasoning="${reasoning}") ${titleTag}`
     );
     return 'processed';
   }
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki/prompt.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki/prompt.ts
index 3d9603d..25f339a 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki/prompt.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki/prompt.ts
@@ -483,8 +483,22 @@ const WIKI_AUTONOMOUS_BODY_LINES = [
   'the subject". The bar for creating is "this is a coherent subject',
   'the user will want to look up by name later", not "this came up".',
   '',
-  'When you have nothing more to write, reply with a single word. The',
-  'word is discarded - only the tool calls matter.',
+  '**Final reply: one or two sentences explaining your choices.** After',
+  'your last tool call (or instead of any tool call, if you decided no',
+  'edits were warranted), reply with a brief operator-facing summary of',
+  'what you did and WHY. This text surfaces in the user\'s log drawer as',
+  'the cycle\'s outcome, so make it useful to a human skimming the log -',
+  'name the article(s) you touched, or name the reason you skipped.',
+  'Examples of good summaries:',
+  '  "Updated the Nak article with March 2026 logo-brainstorm details;',
+  '   added a Markdown link out to the Kermit Wikipedia entry."',
+  '  "No edits - the conversation was generic technical Q&A about regex',
+  '   with no user-centric subject."',
+  '  "No edits - the conversation discussed Kermit at length, but it is',
+  '   not user-centric and no existing Nak article was available to link',
+  '   it from."',
+  'Skip filler ("Great work!", "I have finished"); lead with the',
+  'decision. Keep it under two sentences. Plain text, no Markdown.',
 ];
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/lib/agents/wiki/types.ts b/src/lib/agents/wiki/types.ts
index e52cfd4..def294b 100644
--- a/src/lib/agents/wiki/types.ts
+++ b/src/lib/agents/wiki/types.ts
@@ -20,9 +20,14 @@ export interface WikiInput {
 
 export interface WikiOutput {
   /**
-   * The model's final (post-tool-loop) text. Always discarded by
-   * production callers - "reply with a single word" per the prompt -
-   * but returned here for debug logs and test assertions.
+   * The model's final (post-tool-loop) text. Used as the operator-
+   * facing reasoning surfaced in the log drawer - the prompt's "Final
+   * reply" block instructs the model to emit a one-or-two-sentence
+   * summary of what it did and why (e.g. "Updated the Nak article
+   * with March 2026 logo details." / "No edits - generic Q&A with no
+   * user-centric subject."). The loop trims and inlines this as
+   * `reasoning="..."` on the finished-thread log line, matching the
+   * shape the journal worker uses.
    */
   finalText: string;
   /**