diff --git a/skill/scripts/hook-before-edit.mjs b/skill/scripts/hook-before-edit.mjs
index cfe7f6ba8..5b8b13087 100644
--- a/skill/scripts/hook-before-edit.mjs
+++ b/skill/scripts/hook-before-edit.mjs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import path from 'node:path';
 
 import {
   ALLOWED_EXTS,
+  DEFAULT_CONFIG,
   EDIT_COUNT_THRESHOLD,
   GENERATED_PATH,
   SENSITIVE_PATH,
@@ -348,13 +349,26 @@ async function detectProposedHtml(detector, content, filePath, scanOptions) {
   }
 }
 
+// Cursor caps deny messages around 4000 chars. The cap feeds through the
+// renderer's clamp, which preserves the policy footer, rather than tail-
+// slicing the rendered text, which cut the footer off any message the
+// default 8000-char budget let past 4000.
+const CURSOR_DENY_LIMIT = 4000;
+const BLOCK_PREFIX = 'Impeccable design hook blocked this write before it landed. ';
+
 function cursorBlockMessage(findings, filePath, config, cwd, footerMode, reserveChars) {
-  const rendered = renderTemplate(findings, filePath, config, { cwd, footer: footerMode, reserveChars });
-  const blocked = rendered.replace(
+  const limits = config?.limits || DEFAULT_CONFIG.limits;
+  const budget = Math.min(
+    limits.maxChars || DEFAULT_CONFIG.limits.maxChars,
+    CURSOR_DENY_LIMIT - BLOCK_PREFIX.length,
+  );
+  const rendered = renderTemplate(findings, filePath,
+    { ...config, limits: { ...limits, maxChars: budget } },
+    { cwd, footer: footerMode, reserveChars });
+  return rendered.replace(
     '[impeccable@1] Design hook findings requiring review',
-    '[impeccable@1] Impeccable design hook blocked this write before it landed. Design hook findings requiring review',
+    `[impeccable@1] ${BLOCK_PREFIX}Design hook findings requiring review`,
   );
-  return blocked.length > 4000 ? `${blocked.slice(0, 3984)}\n...(truncated)` : blocked;
 }
 
 function findingSignature(findings) {
diff --git a/skill/scripts/hook-lib.mjs b/skill/scripts/hook-lib.mjs
index 260854a44..4768c7c87 100644
--- a/skill/scripts/hook-lib.mjs
+++ b/skill/scripts/hook-lib.mjs
@@ -1702,14 +1702,15 @@ export function designNoteReserve(scanOptions, cache, sessionId) {
 // emissions and Cursor denials share the session flag (`footerShown`), so a
 // session pays the full policy exactly once however it first fires. The mode
 // is a peek: the clamp can downgrade a requested full footer under a tight
-// budget, so the flag commits only when the full policy actually reached the
-// output (commitFooterShown, matched on the footer's opening words).
+// budget, so the flag commits only when the complete full policy actually
+// reached the output. Matching the whole footer text (not a sentinel) keeps
+// the flag honest against any truncation that spares the opening words.
 export function footerModeForSession(cache, sessionId) {
   return ensureSession(cache, sessionId).footerShown ? 'short' : 'full';
 }
 
 export function commitFooterShown(cache, sessionId, text) {
-  if (!text || !text.includes(FULL_FOOTER_SENTINEL)) return;
+  if (!text || !text.includes(directiveFooter())) return;
   const session = ensureSession(cache, sessionId);
   if (session.footerShown) return;
   session.footerShown = true;
@@ -1718,10 +1719,6 @@ export function commitFooterShown(cache, sessionId, text) {
 
 const HOOK_ADMIN_COMMAND = `node ${quoteCommandArg(path.join(__dirname, 'hook-admin.mjs'))}`;
 
-// Opening words of the full footer; commitFooterShown matches on it to tell
-// whether the full policy survived the clamp.
-const FULL_FOOTER_SENTINEL = 'Triage each finding';
-
 // The directive footer is the part of the hook output that steers model
 // behavior. Intentional moves, in order:
 //   1. **Imperative, not advisory.** "Triage each finding..." beats
@@ -1749,7 +1746,7 @@ function directiveFooter(opts = {}) {
     return 'Triage per the session policy: fix real problems; persist confident false-positive or sanctioned-exception ignores via `hook-admin.mjs ignore-value` and disclose them in your reply; unsure, ask in one line.';
   }
   return [
-    `${FULL_FOOTER_SENTINEL}, then state in your reply what you fixed, what you suppressed, and what you left standing:`,
+    'Triage each finding, then state in your reply what you fixed, what you suppressed, and what you left standing:',
     '- Real design problem: fix it. Keep intentional design as designed.',
     `- Confident false positive or sanctioned exception (an intentional demo or fixture, documentation of bad design, literal or domain-appropriate motion, a choice the user confirmed): persist the narrowest ignore yourself and disclose it. Run \`${HOOK_ADMIN_COMMAND} ignore-value <rule> "<value>" --reason "<who decided: evidence>"\` with the pair shown on the finding line, or value "*" plus \`--file <path>\` when the line shows none. Write "user confirmed" in a reason only when the user did.`,
     '- Unsure: leave it as is and ask the user in one line.',
diff --git a/tests/hook.test.mjs b/tests/hook.test.mjs
index 02aa454c7..150297fd0 100644
--- a/tests/hook.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/hook.test.mjs
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import {
   coLocatedStylesheets,
   runHook,
   runStopHook,
+  commitFooterShown,
   IMMEDIATE_TIER_RULES,
   splitFindingsByTier,
   perEditTieringActive,
@@ -2305,6 +2306,22 @@ describe('runHook() — session-scoped notices', () => {
     const cache = readCache(cwd);
     assert.ok(!cache.sessions['sid-1'].footerShown, 'a downgraded footer does not spend the session flag');
   });
+
+  it('commits the footer flag only for the complete full policy, not its opening words', () => {
+    const cache = { version: 1, sessions: {} };
+    const full = renderTemplate(
+      [finding('tiny-text', 1, { name: 'Tiny text' })],
+      '/x/a.css', DEFAULT_CONFIG, { cwd: '/x' },
+    );
+
+    // A tail truncation can spare "Triage each finding" while cutting the
+    // policy body. That must not count as delivered.
+    commitFooterShown(cache, 'sid-1', full.slice(0, full.length - 40));
+    assert.ok(!cache.sessions['sid-1']?.footerShown, 'a truncated policy must not spend the flag');
+
+    commitFooterShown(cache, 'sid-1', full);
+    assert.ok(cache.sessions['sid-1'].footerShown, 'the intact policy commits the flag');
+  });
 });
 
 describe('runHook() — clean-ack noise', () => {
@@ -3113,6 +3130,8 @@ describe('Cursor hook scripts', () => {
     assert.match(payload.user_message, /blocked this write/);
     assert.match(payload.user_message, /side-tab/);
     assert.match(payload.agent_message, /Triage each finding/);
+    assert.match(payload.agent_message, /Full suppression ladder/, 'the deny message carries the complete policy, not a truncated head');
+    assert.ok(payload.agent_message.length <= 4000, 'the deny message respects the Cursor cap');
 
     const entries = fs.readFileSync(logPath, 'utf-8').trim().split('\n').map((line) => JSON.parse(line));
     assert.equal(entries[0].event, 'preToolUse');