diff --git a/server/src/agents/gates.rs b/server/src/agents/gates.rs
index e3ddbd26..23ada987 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/gates.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/gates.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,109 @@
 //! Acceptance gates — runs test suites and validation scripts in agent worktrees.
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::process::Command;
 use std::time::Duration;
 use wait_timeout::ChildExt;
 
+/// Typed classification of a gate failure, produced at the gate execution boundary.
+///
+/// Downstream decision logic (e.g. `is_self_evident_fix`) matches on the variant
+/// rather than scanning the raw output string for patterns.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub enum GateFailureKind {
+    /// `cargo fmt --check` or `rustfmt --check` detected formatting drift.
+    Fmt,
+    /// `cargo clippy` produced warnings or errors (promoted via `-D warnings`).
+    Lint,
+    /// Test suite (`script/test`, `cargo nextest`, `cargo test`) failed.
+    Test,
+    /// `source-map-check` gate found missing or incomplete doc comments.
+    SourceMapCheck,
+    /// Git content conflict detected during squash-rebase.
+    ContentConflict,
+    /// Build-level failure (duplicate module files E0761, compile error).
+    Build,
+    /// Unclassified gate failure.
+    Other,
+}
+
+impl GateFailureKind {
+    /// Classify a gate failure from its raw output at the gate execution boundary.
+    ///
+    /// Called once when a gate fails to produce a typed kind.  Downstream code
+    /// matches on the variant and must not call this on subsequent reads.
+    pub fn classify(output: &str) -> Self {
+        if output.contains("CONFLICT (content):") || output.contains("Merge conflict:") {
+            GateFailureKind::ContentConflict
+        } else if output.contains("Diff in ") || output.contains("would reformat") {
+            GateFailureKind::Fmt
+        } else if output.contains("missing-docs direction") {
+            GateFailureKind::SourceMapCheck
+        } else if output.contains("error[clippy::")
+            || output.contains("warning[clippy::")
+            || output.contains("missing_doc_comments")
+        {
+            GateFailureKind::Lint
+        } else {
+            GateFailureKind::Test
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Whether this failure class is a self-evident fix that a short coder session
+    /// can resolve without human intervention (fmt drift, lint warnings, missing docs).
+    pub fn is_self_evident_fix(&self) -> bool {
+        matches!(
+            self,
+            GateFailureKind::Fmt | GateFailureKind::Lint | GateFailureKind::SourceMapCheck
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+/// Outcome of running quality gates, produced at the gate execution boundary.
+///
+/// `failure_kind` drives routing decisions; `output` is retained for human-readable
+/// display and injection into agent retry prompts only — it must not be used as a
+/// decision source (story 986).
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct GateOutcome {
+    /// Whether all gates passed.
+    pub passed: bool,
+    /// Typed failure classification; `None` when `passed` is `true`.
+    pub failure_kind: Option<GateFailureKind>,
+    /// Human-readable combined gate output (display/prompt injection only).
+    pub output: String,
+}
+
+impl GateOutcome {
+    /// Passing outcome.
+    pub(crate) fn pass(output: String) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            passed: true,
+            failure_kind: None,
+            output,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Failing outcome — classifies `failure_kind` from the output at construction.
+    pub(crate) fn fail(output: String) -> Self {
+        let failure_kind = Some(GateFailureKind::classify(&output));
+        Self {
+            passed: false,
+            failure_kind,
+            output,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Failing outcome for a pre-classified build error (e.g. duplicate module files).
+    pub(crate) fn build_error(output: String) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            passed: false,
+            failure_kind: Some(GateFailureKind::Build),
+            output,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Maximum time any single test command is allowed to run before being killed.
 const TEST_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(1200); // 20 minutes
 
@@ -214,8 +314,8 @@ fn run_command_with_timeout(
 
 /// Run `cargo clippy` and the project test suite (via `script/test` if present,
 /// otherwise `cargo nextest run` / `cargo test`) in the given directory.
-/// Returns `(gates_passed, combined_output)`.
-pub(crate) fn run_acceptance_gates(path: &Path) -> Result<(bool, String), String> {
+/// Returns a [`GateOutcome`] with a typed failure classification.
+pub(crate) fn run_acceptance_gates(path: &Path) -> Result<GateOutcome, String> {
     // Pre-flight: detect duplicate module files (E0761) before running the
     // full test suite so the failure message is immediately actionable.
     let duplicates = find_duplicate_module_files(path);
@@ -231,17 +331,17 @@ pub(crate) fn run_acceptance_gates(path: &Path) -> Result<(bool, String), String
                 mod_path.display()
             ));
         }
-        return Ok((false, msg));
+        return Ok(GateOutcome::build_error(msg));
     }
 
     // Run script/test (or fallback to cargo test). Project-specific linting
     // and test commands belong in script/test.
     let (test_success, test_out) = run_project_tests(path)?;
     if !test_success {
-        return Ok((false, test_out));
+        return Ok(GateOutcome::fail(test_out));
     }
 
-    Ok((true, test_out))
+    Ok(GateOutcome::pass(test_out))
 }
 
 /// Scan `root` recursively for Rust source files where both `path/X.rs` and
@@ -717,4 +817,135 @@ mod tests {
             "untracked file should be restored after cargo check"
         );
     }
+
+    // ── GateFailureKind::classify ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_fmt_from_diff_in() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify("Diff in server/src/lib.rs\n--- original\n+++ reformatted"),
+            GateFailureKind::Fmt
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_fmt_from_would_reformat() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify(
+                "Checking server/src/lib.rs\nwould reformat server/src/lib.rs"
+            ),
+            GateFailureKind::Fmt
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_lint_from_clippy_error() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify("error[clippy::unused_variable]: unused variable `x`"),
+            GateFailureKind::Lint
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_lint_from_clippy_warning() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify("warning[clippy::needless_return]: unneeded return"),
+            GateFailureKind::Lint
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_lint_from_missing_doc_comments() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify(
+                "error: missing_doc_comments: public item lacks documentation"
+            ),
+            GateFailureKind::Lint
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_source_map_check_from_missing_docs_direction() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify("missing-docs direction: server/src/foo.rs:42 pub fn bar"),
+            GateFailureKind::SourceMapCheck
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_content_conflict() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify("CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in server/src/lib.rs"),
+            GateFailureKind::ContentConflict
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn classify_test_failure_for_unrecognised_output() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            GateFailureKind::classify("test result: FAILED. 3 passed; 1 failed"),
+            GateFailureKind::Test
+        );
+    }
+
+    // ── GateFailureKind::is_self_evident_fix ─────────────────────────────────
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fmt_is_self_evident_fix() {
+        assert!(GateFailureKind::Fmt.is_self_evident_fix());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn lint_is_self_evident_fix() {
+        assert!(GateFailureKind::Lint.is_self_evident_fix());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn source_map_check_is_self_evident_fix() {
+        assert!(GateFailureKind::SourceMapCheck.is_self_evident_fix());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_failure_is_not_self_evident_fix() {
+        assert!(!GateFailureKind::Test.is_self_evident_fix());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn content_conflict_is_not_self_evident_fix() {
+        assert!(!GateFailureKind::ContentConflict.is_self_evident_fix());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn build_error_is_not_self_evident_fix() {
+        assert!(!GateFailureKind::Build.is_self_evident_fix());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn other_is_not_self_evident_fix() {
+        assert!(!GateFailureKind::Other.is_self_evident_fix());
+    }
+
+    // ── GateOutcome constructors ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gate_outcome_pass_has_no_failure_kind() {
+        let outcome = GateOutcome::pass("all tests passed".to_string());
+        assert!(outcome.passed);
+        assert!(outcome.failure_kind.is_none());
+        assert_eq!(outcome.output, "all tests passed");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gate_outcome_fail_classifies_kind() {
+        let outcome = GateOutcome::fail("Diff in server/src/lib.rs".to_string());
+        assert!(!outcome.passed);
+        assert_eq!(outcome.failure_kind, Some(GateFailureKind::Fmt));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gate_outcome_build_error_sets_build_kind() {
+        let outcome = GateOutcome::build_error("ERROR [E0761]: duplicate module files".to_string());
+        assert!(!outcome.passed);
+        assert_eq!(outcome.failure_kind, Some(GateFailureKind::Build));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/agents/lifecycle.rs b/server/src/agents/lifecycle.rs
index 658f52da..8835c1af 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/lifecycle.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/lifecycle.rs
@@ -264,13 +264,21 @@ pub fn transition_to_merge_failure(
 ) -> Result<TransitionFired, String> {
     let display = kind.display_reason();
     let gate_output = kind.to_gate_output();
+    // Serialise the typed kind BEFORE it is moved into the event so both the
+    // JSON key and the legacy string key can be written after the transition.
+    let kind_json = serde_json::to_string(&kind).unwrap_or_default();
 
     let fired = apply_transition(story_id, PipelineEvent::MergeFailed { kind }, None)
         .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
 
-    // Persist gate-output string so the CRDT projection can reconstruct the
-    // MergeFailureKind on server restart (display-only; scheduling uses the
-    // typed kind from the Stage variant).
+    // Persist the typed kind as JSON so the CRDT projection can reconstruct it
+    // without substring-scanning the gate output string (story 986).
+    crate::db::write_content(
+        crate::db::ContentKey::MergeFailureKind(story_id),
+        &kind_json,
+    );
+    // Persist legacy gate-output string for human-readable display and
+    // backward-compatible fallback on pre-986 data.
     crate::db::write_content(crate::db::ContentKey::GateOutput(story_id), &gate_output);
 
     // Persist human-readable description on the MergeJob CRDT entry so display
diff --git a/server/src/agents/merge/mod.rs b/server/src/agents/merge/mod.rs
index 5108d703..0f735b2e 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/merge/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/merge/mod.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,15 @@ pub struct MergeReport {
     pub conflicts_resolved: bool,
     pub conflict_details: Option<String>,
     pub gates_passed: bool,
+    /// Human-readable output from quality gates (display and retry-prompt injection only).
     pub gate_output: String,
+    /// Typed classification of the gate failure, produced at the gate boundary.
+    /// `None` when `gates_passed` is `true` or when there were no gate results.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub gate_failure_kind: Option<crate::agents::gates::GateFailureKind>,
+    /// `true` when the feature branch had zero commits ahead of the base branch.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub no_commits: bool,
     pub worktree_cleaned_up: bool,
     pub story_archived: bool,
 }
@@ -56,4 +64,9 @@ pub(crate) struct SquashMergeResult {
     /// due to a gate failure; callers can use this to distinguish gate failures
     /// from merge/commit/FF failures in the `MergeReport`.
     pub(crate) gates_passed: bool,
+    /// Typed gate failure kind produced at the gate boundary.  `None` when
+    /// `gates_passed` is `true` or when failure was not from the gate step.
+    pub(crate) gate_failure_kind: Option<crate::agents::gates::GateFailureKind>,
+    /// `true` when the feature branch had zero commits ahead of the base branch.
+    pub(crate) no_commits: bool,
 }
diff --git a/server/src/agents/merge/squash/mod.rs b/server/src/agents/merge/squash/mod.rs
index c0814628..1b7a1ebc 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/merge/squash/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/merge/squash/mod.rs
@@ -48,10 +48,19 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
             .parse()
             .unwrap_or(1); // parse failure → don't false-positive; let merge proceed
         if ahead == 0 {
-            return Err(format!(
-                "{story_id}: no commits to merge — feature branch '{branch}' \
-                 has 0 commits ahead of '{base_branch}'"
-            ));
+            return Ok(SquashMergeResult {
+                success: false,
+                had_conflicts: false,
+                conflicts_resolved: false,
+                conflict_details: None,
+                output: format!(
+                    "{story_id}: no commits to merge — feature branch '{branch}' \
+                     has 0 commits ahead of '{base_branch}'"
+                ),
+                gates_passed: false,
+                gate_failure_kind: None,
+                no_commits: true,
+            });
         }
     }
 
@@ -125,6 +134,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
             conflict_details,
             output: all_output,
             gates_passed: false,
+            gate_failure_kind: None,
+            no_commits: false,
         });
     }
     let had_conflicts = false;
@@ -165,6 +176,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
                 conflict_details: None,
                 output: all_output,
                 gates_passed: true,
+                gate_failure_kind: None,
+                no_commits: false,
             });
         }
         cleanup_merge_workspace(project_root, &merge_wt_path, &merge_branch);
@@ -175,6 +188,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
             conflict_details,
             output: all_output,
             gates_passed: false,
+            gate_failure_kind: None,
+            no_commits: false,
         });
     }
 
@@ -207,6 +222,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
                 ),
                 output: all_output,
                 gates_passed: false,
+                gate_failure_kind: None,
+                no_commits: false,
             });
         }
     }
@@ -251,13 +268,13 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
     // Run gates in the merge worktree so that failures abort before master moves.
     all_output.push_str("=== Running quality gates before fast-forward ===\n");
     match run_merge_quality_gates(&merge_wt_path) {
-        Ok((true, gate_out)) => {
-            all_output.push_str(&gate_out);
+        Ok(outcome) if outcome.passed => {
+            all_output.push_str(&outcome.output);
             all_output.push('\n');
             all_output.push_str("=== Quality gates passed ===\n");
         }
-        Ok((false, gate_out)) => {
-            all_output.push_str(&gate_out);
+        Ok(outcome) => {
+            all_output.push_str(&outcome.output);
             all_output.push('\n');
             all_output.push_str(
                 "=== Quality gates FAILED — aborting fast-forward, master unchanged ===\n",
@@ -270,6 +287,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
                 conflict_details,
                 output: all_output,
                 gates_passed: false,
+                gate_failure_kind: outcome.failure_kind,
+                no_commits: false,
             });
         }
         Err(e) => {
@@ -282,6 +301,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
                 conflict_details,
                 output: all_output,
                 gates_passed: false,
+                gate_failure_kind: None,
+                no_commits: false,
             });
         }
     }
@@ -323,6 +344,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
             )),
             output: all_output,
             gates_passed: true,
+            gate_failure_kind: None,
+            no_commits: false,
         });
     }
 
@@ -358,6 +381,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
             )),
             output: all_output,
             gates_passed: true,
+            gate_failure_kind: None,
+            no_commits: false,
         });
     }
 
@@ -392,6 +417,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
             ),
             output: all_output,
             gates_passed: true,
+            gate_failure_kind: None,
+            no_commits: false,
         });
     }
 
@@ -410,6 +437,8 @@ pub(crate) fn run_squash_merge(
         conflict_details,
         output: all_output,
         gates_passed: true,
+        gate_failure_kind: None,
+        no_commits: false,
     })
 }
 
@@ -435,7 +464,11 @@ pub(crate) fn cleanup_merge_workspace(
         .output();
 }
 
-fn run_merge_quality_gates(project_root: &Path) -> Result<(bool, String), String> {
+fn run_merge_quality_gates(
+    project_root: &Path,
+) -> Result<crate::agents::gates::GateOutcome, String> {
+    use crate::agents::gates::GateOutcome;
+
     let mut all_output = String::new();
     let mut all_passed = true;
 
@@ -449,7 +482,11 @@ fn run_merge_quality_gates(project_root: &Path) -> Result<(bool, String), String
         if !success {
             all_passed = false;
         }
-        return Ok((all_passed, all_output));
+        return if all_passed {
+            Ok(GateOutcome::pass(all_output))
+        } else {
+            Ok(GateOutcome::fail(all_output))
+        };
     }
 
     // No script/test — fall back to cargo gates for Rust projects.
@@ -481,7 +518,11 @@ fn run_merge_quality_gates(project_root: &Path) -> Result<(bool, String), String
         }
     }
 
-    Ok((all_passed, all_output))
+    if all_passed {
+        Ok(GateOutcome::pass(all_output))
+    } else {
+        Ok(GateOutcome::fail(all_output))
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/reconcile.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/reconcile.rs
index cfc6c936..db509a00 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/reconcile.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/reconcile.rs
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ impl AgentPool {
             .await;
 
             let (gates_passed, gate_output) = match gates_result {
-                Ok(Ok(pair)) => pair,
+                Ok(Ok(outcome)) => (outcome.passed, outcome.output),
                 Ok(Err(e)) => {
                     eprintln!("[startup:reconcile] Gate check error for '{story_id}': {e}");
                     let _ = progress_tx.send(ReconciliationEvent {
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/legacy.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/legacy.rs
index 75d428d0..fd699ca0 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/legacy.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/legacy.rs
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@ impl AgentPool {
         let path = worktree_path.clone();
 
         // Run gate checks in a blocking thread to avoid stalling the async runtime.
-        let (gates_passed, gate_output) = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+        let outcome = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
             // Step 1: Reject if worktree is dirty.
             crate::agents::gates::check_uncommitted_changes(&path)?;
-            // Step 2: Run clippy + tests and return (passed, output).
+            // Step 2: Run acceptance gates and return a typed GateOutcome.
             crate::agents::gates::run_acceptance_gates(&path)
         })
         .await
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ impl AgentPool {
 
         let report = CompletionReport {
             summary: summary.to_string(),
-            gates_passed,
-            gate_output,
+            gates_passed: outcome.passed,
+            gate_output: outcome.output,
             needs_commit_recovery: false,
         };
 
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/server.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/server.rs
index 573592df..438e68fd 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/server.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion/server.rs
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ pub(in crate::agents::pool) async fn run_server_owned_completion(
                     false,
                 ));
             }
-            let (passed, output) = crate::agents::gates::run_acceptance_gates(&path)?;
+            let outcome = crate::agents::gates::run_acceptance_gates(&path)?;
             // Restore stashed uncommitted changes.
             if stashed {
                 let _ = std::process::Command::new("git")
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ pub(in crate::agents::pool) async fn run_server_owned_completion(
                     .current_dir(&path)
                     .output();
             }
-            Ok((passed, output, false))
+            Ok((outcome.passed, outcome.output, false))
         })
         .await
         {
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/runner.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/runner.rs
index 82def784..f1ffceb3 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/runner.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/runner.rs
@@ -5,24 +5,6 @@ use crate::worktree;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-/// Return `true` when `gate_output` matches a self-evident-fix class of failure
-/// that a short fixup coder session can resolve without human intervention.
-///
-/// Patterns covered: fmt drift (`cargo fmt --check`), clippy warnings promoted
-/// to errors (`-D warnings`), and missing doc comments detected by clippy or
-/// the source-map-check gate.
-fn is_self_evident_fix(gate_output: &str) -> bool {
-    let patterns: &[&str] = &[
-        "Diff in ",               // cargo fmt --check output
-        "would reformat",         // rustfmt --check output
-        "error[clippy::",         // clippy error
-        "warning[clippy::",       // clippy warning (treated as error via -D warnings)
-        "missing_doc_comments",   // clippy missing-doc lint
-        "missing-docs direction", // source-map-check gate
-    ];
-    patterns.iter().any(|p| gate_output.contains(p))
-}
-
 use super::super::super::AgentPool;
 use super::time::{
     decode_server_start_time, encode_server_start_time, server_start_time, unix_now,
@@ -130,31 +112,28 @@ impl AgentPool {
             // On any failure: record merge_failure in CRDT and emit notification.
             if !success {
                 let kind = match &report {
+                    Ok(r) if r.no_commits => crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::NoCommits,
+                    Ok(r) if r.had_conflicts => {
+                        crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::ConflictDetected(
+                            r.conflict_details.clone(),
+                        )
+                    }
                     Ok(r) => {
-                        if r.had_conflicts {
-                            crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::ConflictDetected(
-                                r.conflict_details.clone(),
-                            )
-                        } else {
-                            crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::GatesFailed(
-                                r.gate_output.clone(),
-                            )
-                        }
+                        crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::GatesFailed(r.gate_output.clone())
                     }
                     Err(e) => crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::Other(e.clone()),
                 };
-                let is_no_commits = matches!(
-                    &kind,
-                    crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::Other(r) if r.contains("no commits to merge")
-                );
-                // Self-evident fix: gate-only failure whose output matches a pattern
-                // a fixup coder can resolve in one short session (story 981).
-                let fixup_output = match &kind {
-                    crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::GatesFailed(o) => o.as_str(),
-                    _ => "",
-                };
-                let is_fixup =
-                    !is_no_commits && !fixup_output.is_empty() && is_self_evident_fix(fixup_output);
+                let is_no_commits =
+                    matches!(&kind, crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::NoCommits);
+                // Self-evident fix: gate-only failure whose typed kind a fixup coder
+                // can resolve in one short session (story 981, 986).
+                let is_fixup = !is_no_commits
+                    && report
+                        .as_ref()
+                        .ok()
+                        .and_then(|r| r.gate_failure_kind.as_ref())
+                        .map(|k| k.is_self_evident_fix())
+                        .unwrap_or(false);
 
                 if is_no_commits {
                     let reason = kind.display_reason();
@@ -301,6 +280,8 @@ impl AgentPool {
                 conflict_details: merge_result.conflict_details,
                 gates_passed: merge_result.gates_passed,
                 gate_output: merge_result.output,
+                gate_failure_kind: merge_result.gate_failure_kind,
+                no_commits: merge_result.no_commits,
                 worktree_cleaned_up: false,
                 story_archived: false,
             });
@@ -330,6 +311,8 @@ impl AgentPool {
             conflict_details: merge_result.conflict_details,
             gates_passed: true,
             gate_output: merge_result.output,
+            gate_failure_kind: None,
+            no_commits: false,
             worktree_cleaned_up,
             story_archived,
         })
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/status.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/status.rs
index 34e5ee74..5e5a5c03 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/status.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/status.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ impl AgentPool {
                         conflict_details: None,
                         gates_passed: false,
                         gate_output: String::new(),
+                        gate_failure_kind: None,
+                        no_commits: false,
                         worktree_cleaned_up: false,
                         story_archived: false,
                     });
diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/tests.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/tests.rs
index 0be7ed86..3f853ee0 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/tests.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge/tests.rs
@@ -590,23 +590,27 @@ async fn merge_agent_work_zero_commits_ahead_stays_in_merge_stage() {
     let pool = Arc::new(AgentPool::new_test(3001));
     let job = run_merge_to_completion(&pool, repo, "675_zero_commits").await;
 
-    // The job must have failed with a "no commits to merge" error.
+    // The job must have completed with success=false and no_commits=true.
+    // Since story 986 the "no commits" path returns Ok(result) not Err, so the
+    // job status is Completed (not Failed).
     match &job.status {
-        MergeJobStatus::Failed(e) => {
+        MergeJobStatus::Completed(report) => {
             assert!(
-                e.contains("no commits to merge"),
-                "error must contain 'no commits to merge', got: {e}"
+                !report.success,
+                "merge must not have succeeded when feature branch is empty"
             );
             assert!(
-                e.contains("675_zero_commits"),
-                "error must name the story_id, got: {e}"
+                report.no_commits,
+                "report.no_commits must be true for a zero-ahead branch"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                report.gate_output.contains("no commits to merge"),
+                "gate_output must contain 'no commits to merge', got: {}",
+                report.gate_output
             );
         }
-        MergeJobStatus::Completed(report) => {
-            panic!(
-                "expected Failed status, got Completed with success={}: {}",
-                report.success, report.gate_output
-            );
+        MergeJobStatus::Failed(e) => {
+            panic!("expected Completed(success=false) status, got Failed: {e}");
         }
         MergeJobStatus::Running => panic!("should not still be running"),
     }
diff --git a/server/src/crdt_state/read.rs b/server/src/crdt_state/read.rs
index 62234c8b..bd522aa7 100644
--- a/server/src/crdt_state/read.rs
+++ b/server/src/crdt_state/read.rs
@@ -443,11 +443,18 @@ fn project_stage_for_view(
             commits_ahead: NonZeroU32::new(1).expect("1 is non-zero"),
         }),
         "merge_failure" => {
-            // Reconstruct the typed kind from ContentKey::GateOutput so the
-            // auto-assigner can match on the variant after a server restart.
-            // This is the sole persistence backing for MergeFailureKind.
-            let kind = crate::db::read_content(crate::db::ContentKey::GateOutput(story_id))
-                .map(|s| crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::infer_from_gate_output(&s))
+            // Story 986: read the typed kind directly from ContentKey::MergeFailureKind
+            // (written since 986) so no substring-scanning is needed.
+            // Fall back to infer_from_gate_output for data persisted pre-986.
+            let kind = crate::db::read_content(crate::db::ContentKey::MergeFailureKind(story_id))
+                .and_then(|s| {
+                    serde_json::from_str::<crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind>(&s).ok()
+                })
+                .or_else(|| {
+                    crate::db::read_content(crate::db::ContentKey::GateOutput(story_id)).map(|s| {
+                        crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::infer_from_gate_output(&s)
+                    })
+                })
                 .unwrap_or(crate::pipeline_state::MergeFailureKind::Other(String::new()));
             Some(Stage::MergeFailure {
                 kind,
diff --git a/server/src/db/content_store.rs b/server/src/db/content_store.rs
index a12668f6..f9f0f6e0 100644
--- a/server/src/db/content_store.rs
+++ b/server/src/db/content_store.rs
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ pub enum ContentKey<'a> {
     /// can route the fixup coder's completion directly back to merge instead of
     /// through the normal QA path (story 981).
     MergeFixupPending(&'a str),
+    /// JSON-serialised `MergeFailureKind` written alongside `GateOutput` so the
+    /// CRDT projection layer can reconstruct the typed kind on server restart
+    /// without substring-scanning the gate output string (story 986).
+    MergeFailureKind(&'a str),
 }
 
 impl<'a> ContentKey<'a> {
@@ -49,6 +53,7 @@ impl<'a> ContentKey<'a> {
             ContentKey::RunTestsOk(id) => format!("{id}:run_tests_ok"),
             ContentKey::CommitRecoveryPending(id) => format!("{id}:commit_recovery_pending"),
             ContentKey::MergeFixupPending(id) => format!("{id}:merge_fixup_pending"),
+            ContentKey::MergeFailureKind(id) => format!("{id}:merge_failure_kind"),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/service/merge/status.rs b/server/src/service/merge/status.rs
index bc854d3b..64113dca 100644
--- a/server/src/service/merge/status.rs
+++ b/server/src/service/merge/status.rs
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ mod tests {
             conflict_details: None,
             gates_passed,
             gate_output: String::new(),
+            gate_failure_kind: None,
+            no_commits: false,
             worktree_cleaned_up: false,
             story_archived: false,
         }