diff --git a/server/src/agents.rs b/server/src/agents.rs
index 7861bf9..325630e 100644
--- a/server/src/agents.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents.rs
@@ -249,11 +249,21 @@ impl AgentPool {
             }
         }
 
+        // Read story content from the project root (the worktree may not have
+        // .story_kit/work/) and inject it into the agent prompt so the coder
+        // knows what to implement.
+        let story_content = read_story_content(project_root, story_id);
+
         // Spawn the agent process
         let wt_path_str = wt_info.path.to_string_lossy().to_string();
         let (command, args, mut prompt) =
             config.render_agent_args(&wt_path_str, story_id, Some(&resolved_name), Some(&wt_info.base_branch))?;
 
+        // Prepend story content so the agent sees the requirements first.
+        if let Some(content) = story_content {
+            prompt = format!("## Story Requirements\n\n{content}\n\n---\n\n{prompt}");
+        }
+
         // Append resume context if this is a restart with failure information.
         if let Some(ctx) = resume_context {
             prompt.push_str(ctx);
@@ -1359,6 +1369,20 @@ fn item_type_from_id(item_id: &str) -> &'static str {
 }
 
 /// Return the source directory path for a work item (always work/1_upcoming/).
+/// Read story/bug content from any pipeline stage directory.
+/// Returns the file contents if found, or None if the file doesn't exist anywhere.
+fn read_story_content(project_root: &Path, story_id: &str) -> Option<String> {
+    let sk = project_root.join(".story_kit").join("work");
+    let filename = format!("{story_id}.md");
+    for stage in &["2_current", "1_upcoming", "3_qa", "4_merge"] {
+        let path = sk.join(stage).join(&filename);
+        if let Ok(content) = std::fs::read_to_string(&path) {
+            return Some(content);
+        }
+    }
+    None
+}
+
 fn item_source_dir(project_root: &Path, _item_id: &str) -> PathBuf {
     project_root.join(".story_kit").join("work").join("1_upcoming")
 }