diff --git a/src/v1/curator/curator-actor.ts b/src/v1/curator/curator-actor.ts
index 7bf950b..3aefafe 100644
--- a/src/v1/curator/curator-actor.ts
+++ b/src/v1/curator/curator-actor.ts
@@ -58,6 +58,19 @@ export const curatorActor = {
     throw new Error("curator_task_has_no_handoff");
   },
 
+  async completeTask(input: { userId: string; taskId: string; date?: string; reason?: string }) {
+    const date = input.date ?? todayIsoDate();
+    const task = (await buildCuratorTasks(input.userId, date)).find((item) => item.id === input.taskId);
+    if (!task) throw new Error("curator_task_not_found");
+    const event = await emitCuratorEvent({
+      userId: input.userId,
+      type: "curator.task.completed",
+      mission: { missionId: task.missionId, missionInstanceId: task.missionInstanceId, stageId: task.stageId },
+      payload: { taskId: task.id, date, reason: input.reason ?? "subtasks_completed" },
+    });
+    return { task: { ...task, status: "completed" as const }, eventId: event.id };
+  },
+
   async recordServiceImpact(input: { userId: string; eventId: string }) {
     const streak = await buildCuratorStreak(input.userId);
     return { matched: true, completedTasks: await buildCuratorTasks(input.userId, todayIsoDate()), streak };
diff --git a/src/v1/curator/curator-agent.ts b/src/v1/curator/curator-agent.ts
index 564ed4d..0024072 100644
--- a/src/v1/curator/curator-agent.ts
+++ b/src/v1/curator/curator-agent.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { generateObject } from "ai";
+import { generateText } from "ai";
 import { z } from "zod";
 import { addMessagePg, createConversationPg, ensureCuratorTaskConversationPg, getConversationMetadataPg, listMessagesPg } from "../../grow/persistence.js";
 import { generateConversationResponse, getConversationModel } from "../../actors/conversation/agent.js";
@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@ const chatExtractSchema = z.object({
   shouldPrepareHandoff: z.boolean().default(false),
 });
 
+function parseJsonObject(text: string) {
+  const trimmed = text.trim();
+  try {
+    return JSON.parse(trimmed);
+  } catch {
+    const match = trimmed.match(/\{[\s\S]*\}/);
+    if (!match) throw new Error("model_did_not_return_json");
+    return JSON.parse(match[0]);
+  }
+}
+
 function buildId(prefix: string) {
   return `${prefix}-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(16).slice(2)}`;
 }
@@ -209,6 +220,17 @@ function curatorTaskKey(taskId?: string, subtaskIndex?: number) {
   return `${taskId}:${subtaskIndex ?? "task"}`;
 }
 
+function firstTurnPrompt(input: {
+  subtask?: string;
+  task?: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof buildCuratorTasks>>[number];
+}) {
+  return [
+    `The user opened this focused subtask: ${input.subtask ?? input.task?.title ?? "curator task"}.`,
+    "Generate the first live conversational question for this exact subtask.",
+    "Ask only one question. Do not use fallback wording. Do not prepare any service handoff yet.",
+  ].join("\n");
+}
+
 async function ensureCuratorConversation(input: { userId: string; taskId?: string; date: string; subtaskIndex?: number; subtask?: string }) {
   if (!input.taskId) return createConversationPg(input.userId, "V1 Curator chat");
   const task = (await buildCuratorTasks(input.userId, input.date)).find((item) => item.id === input.taskId);
@@ -267,23 +289,40 @@ export async function runCuratorChat(input: {
 
   let reply = "";
   try {
-    const extract = await generateObject({
-      model: getConversationModel(),
-      schema: chatExtractSchema,
-      system: "Extract compact curator memory from the user's latest message. Use ASCII punctuation only.",
-      prompt: `Task: ${task?.title ?? "General curator chat"}\nSubtask: ${input.subtask ?? "none"}\nService: ${task?.serviceName ?? "none"}\nMessage: ${latest}`,
-    });
-    await emitCuratorEvent({
-      userId: input.userId,
-      type: "curator.chat.context_extracted",
-      mission: task ? { missionId: task.missionId, missionInstanceId: task.missionInstanceId, stageId: task.stageId } : undefined,
-      payload: { taskId: input.taskId, extract: extract.object },
-    });
+    try {
+      const extract = await generateText({
+        model: getConversationModel(),
+        system: [
+          "Extract compact curator memory from the user's latest message.",
+          "Return JSON only: {\"summary\": string, \"userGoal\"?: string, \"serviceIntent\"?: string, \"shouldPrepareHandoff\": boolean}.",
+          "Use ASCII punctuation only.",
+        ].join("\n"),
+        prompt: `Task: ${task?.title ?? "General curator chat"}\nSubtask: ${input.subtask ?? "none"}\nService: ${task?.serviceName ?? "none"}\nMessage: ${latest}`,
+      });
+      const parsedExtract = chatExtractSchema.parse(parseJsonObject(extract.text));
+      await emitCuratorEvent({
+        userId: input.userId,
+        type: "curator.chat.context_extracted",
+        mission: task ? { missionId: task.missionId, missionInstanceId: task.missionInstanceId, stageId: task.stageId } : undefined,
+        payload: { taskId: input.taskId, extract: parsedExtract },
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.warn("curator memory extraction failed; continuing chat", {
+        taskId: input.taskId,
+        subtaskIndex: input.subtaskIndex,
+        error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+      });
+    }
 
-    const result = await generateConversationResponse(conversationHistory.map((message) => ({
+    const modelMessages = conversationHistory.map((message) => ({
       role: message.role,
       content: message.content,
-    })), {
+    }));
+    if (/^start$/i.test(latest) && modelMessages.length === 0) {
+      modelMessages.push({ role: "user", content: firstTurnPrompt({ subtask: input.subtask, task }) });
+    }
+
+    const result = await generateConversationResponse(modelMessages, {
       userId: input.userId,
       conversationId: conversation.id,
       missionInstanceId: task?.missionInstanceId,
@@ -294,10 +333,16 @@ export async function runCuratorChat(input: {
     });
     reply = sanitize(result.text);
     if (/what should i capture next/i.test(reply) || !reply) {
-      reply = fallbackReply(task, latest, conversationHistory, input.subtask, input.subtaskIndex);
+      throw new Error("curator_generation_failed");
     }
   } catch (error) {
-    reply = fallbackReply(task, latest, conversationHistory, input.subtask, input.subtaskIndex);
+    console.warn("curator chat generation failed", {
+      taskId: input.taskId,
+      subtaskIndex: input.subtaskIndex,
+      subtask: input.subtask,
+      error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+    });
+    throw error;
   }
 
   await addMessagePg(input.userId, {
diff --git a/src/v1/curator/curator-routes.ts b/src/v1/curator/curator-routes.ts
index 4e14ac9..7ac7859 100644
--- a/src/v1/curator/curator-routes.ts
+++ b/src/v1/curator/curator-routes.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,12 @@ export function v1CuratorRoutes() {
     return c.json(await curatorActor.prepareTaskHandoff({ userId, taskId: c.req.param("taskId"), date: c.req.query("date") }));
   });
 
+  app.post("/tasks/:taskId/complete", async (c) => {
+    const userId = c.get("userId");
+    const body = z.object({ reason: z.string().optional() }).parse(await c.req.json().catch(() => ({})));
+    return c.json(await curatorActor.completeTask({ userId, taskId: c.req.param("taskId"), date: c.req.query("date"), reason: body.reason }));
+  });
+
   app.post("/events/service-impact", async (c) => {
     const userId = c.get("userId");
     const body = z.object({ eventId: z.string() }).parse(await c.req.json());
diff --git a/src/v1/curator/curator-store.ts b/src/v1/curator/curator-store.ts
index 98f1492..a56eac4 100644
--- a/src/v1/curator/curator-store.ts
+++ b/src/v1/curator/curator-store.ts
@@ -202,7 +202,6 @@ async function taskCopy(input: {
   role?: string;
   serviceId?: CuratorServiceId;
 }) {
-  const fallback = fallbackTaskCopy(input);
   const cacheKey = JSON.stringify({
     missionTitle: input.missionTitle,
     stageTitle: input.stageTitle,
@@ -235,7 +234,6 @@ async function taskCopy(input: {
         `Stage role: ${input.role ?? "none"}`,
         `Service: ${input.serviceId ? serviceName(input.serviceId) : "Mission Planner"}`,
         `Fallback intent: ${stageIntent(input)}`,
-        `Fallback copy to improve, not copy blindly: ${JSON.stringify(fallback)}`,
       ].join("\n"),
     });
     const copy = generatedTaskCopySchema.parse(parseJsonObject(result.text));
@@ -248,7 +246,7 @@ async function taskCopy(input: {
       serviceId: input.serviceId,
       error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
     });
-    return fallback;
+    throw error;
   }
 }