diff --git a/crates/lash-core/src/dependency/blocker_analyzer.rs b/crates/lash-core/src/dependency/blocker_analyzer.rs
index 68d7cb1..aff1544 100644
--- a/crates/lash-core/src/dependency/blocker_analyzer.rs
+++ b/crates/lash-core/src/dependency/blocker_analyzer.rs
@@ -1044,4 +1044,129 @@ mod tests {
         let blockers = analyzer.find_blockers("test#task1");
         assert_eq!(blockers.len(), 0);
     }
+
+    /// Walking a chain past its second link.
+    ///
+    /// `test_find_blocker_chains` stops at task1 → task2 → task3, which is one
+    /// hop: the walk pushes task3 and then exits because task3 is not itself
+    /// blocked. The loop's own "did I find anything this pass?" guard is never
+    /// what ends it, so breaking on that guard's inverse produced the same
+    /// two-element chain and nothing failed. A fourth node forces a second
+    /// hop, which is the first case that distinguishes them.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_blocker_chain_follows_more_than_one_hop() {
+        let mut graph = DependencyGraph::new();
+        for (id, title) in [
+            ("test#task1", "Task 1"),
+            ("test#task2", "Task 2"),
+            ("test#task3", "Task 3"),
+            ("test#task4", "Task 4"),
+        ] {
+            graph.add_node(
+                id.to_string(),
+                create_node(title, TaskStatus::Open, "test", 0),
+            );
+        }
+        for (from, to) in [
+            ("test#task1", "test#task2"),
+            ("test#task2", "test#task3"),
+            ("test#task3", "test#task4"),
+        ] {
+            graph.add_edge(
+                from.to_string(),
+                to.to_string(),
+                EdgeData::new(DependencyKind::ExplicitId, None),
+            );
+        }
+
+        let computer = StatusComputer::new(&graph);
+        let statuses = computer.compute_all();
+        let analyzer = BlockerAnalyzer::new(&graph, &statuses);
+
+        let chains = analyzer.find_blocker_chains("test#task1");
+        assert_eq!(chains.len(), 1);
+
+        let chain = &chains[0];
+        assert_eq!(
+            chain.len(),
+            3,
+            "the walk should follow task2 → task3 → task4, not stop after the first hop"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(chain.direct_blocker().unwrap().task_id, "test#task2");
+        assert_eq!(chain.root_blocker().unwrap().task_id, "test#task4");
+    }
+
+    fn blocker_with_status(task_id: &str, status: ComputedStatus) -> BlockerInfo {
+        BlockerInfo::new(
+            task_id.to_string(),
+            format!("Title of {task_id}"),
+            "test".to_string(),
+            0,
+            DependencyKind::ExplicitId,
+            status,
+        )
+    }
+
+    /// `BlockerReport::format` is rendered for the user but only its blocker
+    /// counts were asserted, so the per-blocker status word and the chains
+    /// section were unpinned.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_report_format_labels_each_blocker_status() {
+        let blocked = blocker_with_status("test#blocked", ComputedStatus::Blocked(Vec::new()));
+        let incomplete = blocker_with_status("test#incomplete", ComputedStatus::Incomplete);
+        let report = BlockerReport::new(
+            "test#task1".to_string(),
+            "Task 1".to_string(),
+            vec![blocked.clone(), incomplete.clone()],
+            vec![BlockerChain::new(
+                "test#task1".to_string(),
+                vec![blocked, incomplete.clone()],
+            )],
+            vec![incomplete],
+            Vec::new(),
+        );
+
+        let output = report.format();
+
+        assert!(
+            output.contains("[blocked]"),
+            "a blocker that is itself blocked should be labelled, got:\n{output}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            output.contains("[incomplete]"),
+            "a root blocker should be labelled incomplete, got:\n{output}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            output.contains("Blocker Chains:"),
+            "a report carrying chains should show the chains section, got:\n{output}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The other side of the chains-section condition: with no chains the
+    /// heading must not appear above an empty list.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_report_format_omits_chains_section_when_there_are_none() {
+        let report = BlockerReport::new(
+            "test#task1".to_string(),
+            "Task 1".to_string(),
+            vec![blocker_with_status(
+                "test#incomplete",
+                ComputedStatus::Incomplete,
+            )],
+            Vec::new(),
+            Vec::new(),
+            Vec::new(),
+        );
+
+        let output = report.format();
+
+        assert!(
+            !output.contains("Blocker Chains:"),
+            "no chains means no chains section, got:\n{output}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            output.contains("All Blockers:"),
+            "the blocker list itself should still render, got:\n{output}"
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/lash-core/src/formatter/mod.rs b/crates/lash-core/src/formatter/mod.rs
index 6fdb79f..7ee5f05 100644
--- a/crates/lash-core/src/formatter/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/lash-core/src/formatter/mod.rs
@@ -1061,4 +1061,84 @@ mod tests {
         // Multiple blank lines collapsed
         assert!(!result.contains("\n\n\n\n"));
     }
+
+    /// Format `source` with `normalize_whitespace` set either way.
+    ///
+    /// The parse is what production does — `format_file_in_place` parses the
+    /// same source it hands the formatter — so these tests exercise the real
+    /// path rather than a hand-built `TaskFile`.
+    fn format_with_normalize(source: &str, normalize: bool) -> String {
+        let config = LashConfig::default();
+        let file =
+            crate::parser::parse_file_from_string(source, &config).expect("fixture should parse");
+        let options = FormatOptions {
+            normalize_whitespace: normalize,
+            ..FormatOptions::default()
+        };
+        Formatter::new(config, options)
+            .format_file(source, &file)
+            .expect("formatting should succeed")
+    }
+
+    /// `test_whitespace_normalization` above calls `normalize_whitespace`
+    /// directly, so nothing pinned the flag that decides whether it runs at
+    /// all: inverting it left every test passing. This asserts both settings
+    /// produce their own result.
+    #[test]
+    fn normalize_whitespace_option_decides_whether_blank_runs_collapse() {
+        let source = "# Demo\n\n@id: demo\n\n## Notes\n\nalpha\n\n\n\n\nbeta\n\n## Tasks\n\n- [ ] First task\n";
+
+        let collapsed = format_with_normalize(source, true);
+        assert!(
+            !collapsed.contains("\n\n\n\n"),
+            "normalize_whitespace = true should collapse the blank run, got: {collapsed:?}"
+        );
+
+        let preserved = format_with_normalize(source, false);
+        assert!(
+            preserved.contains("\n\n\n\n"),
+            "normalize_whitespace = false should leave the blank run alone, got: {preserved:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The trailing-newline branch only runs when the output actually ends in
+    /// a blank line, which `normalize_whitespace` otherwise hides by stripping
+    /// trailing blanks first. With it off, the generated tasks section leaves a
+    /// blank line at EOF and this is the only thing that trims it.
+    #[test]
+    fn format_ends_file_with_exactly_one_newline() {
+        let source = "# Demo\n\n@id: demo\n\n## Tasks\n\n- [ ] First task\n";
+
+        let formatted = format_with_normalize(source, false);
+
+        assert!(
+            formatted.ends_with('\n'),
+            "formatted file should end with a newline, got: {formatted:?}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !formatted.ends_with("\n\n"),
+            "formatted file should not end with a blank line, got: {formatted:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// A file with no `## Tasks` heading gets one synthesized. The description
+    /// must not be synthesized alongside it when the source already had a
+    /// `## Description` section — the walk copied that through already, so
+    /// emitting it again duplicates it.
+    #[test]
+    fn synthesized_tasks_section_does_not_duplicate_an_existing_description() {
+        let source = "# Demo\n\n@id: demo\n\n## Description\n\nProse that belongs to the file.\n";
+
+        let formatted = format_with_normalize(source, true);
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            formatted.matches("Prose that belongs to the file.").count(),
+            1,
+            "description should appear exactly once, got: {formatted:?}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            formatted.contains("## Tasks"),
+            "a missing tasks section should still be synthesized, got: {formatted:?}"
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/lash-core/src/parser/mod.rs b/crates/lash-core/src/parser/mod.rs
index b28adfc..f38fb91 100644
--- a/crates/lash-core/src/parser/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/lash-core/src/parser/mod.rs
@@ -1903,6 +1903,31 @@ More text
         assert_eq!(task.metadata.docs.len(), 1);
     }
 
+    /// A blank line is allowed between a checkbox and its annotation block.
+    ///
+    /// The parsed *values* are not enough to pin this: when the block is not
+    /// consumed here, the annotations are still recovered downstream, so
+    /// `owner` and `labels` look correct either way. What breaks is
+    /// `annotation_line_count`, which drops to 0 because these lines were
+    /// never attributed to the task. That count is what the write paths use to
+    /// find where a task's annotations end, so a wrong count is how `lash add`
+    /// splices a new task into the middle of a previous task's block — the
+    /// data-loss class fixed in 0.3.1. Assert the count, not just the values.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_blank_line_before_annotations_still_counts_them() {
+        let content = "# Test File\n\n## Tasks\n\n- [ ] Task one\n\n@owner: bob\n@labels: x, y\n";
+        let config = LashConfig::default();
+
+        let file = parse_file_from_string(content, &config).expect("fixture should parse");
+        let task = file.tasks.tasks().first().expect("one task expected");
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            task.annotation_line_count, 2,
+            "both annotation lines belong to the task even across the blank line"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(task.metadata.owner, Some("bob".to_string()));
+    }
+
     // ==================== Description Section Integration Tests ====================
 
     #[test]