diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 1192d2c..9d77f18 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -200,9 +200,20 @@ loop toward a natural-language completion condition. Turn 1 prompts the raw
 condition; after **every** turn an independent, TOOL-LESS evaluator model
 (`GoalOptions.Evaluator`, resolved through the same `Config.Providers` registry,
 `MaxTokens` 256) is asked to answer `MET: <reason>` / `NOT MET: <reason>`
-(parsed leniently). A NOT MET verdict re-prompts with a fixed-template guidance
-message carrying the reason; MET returns `Achieved`. `MaxTurns` (0 = unlimited)
-bounds it. Evaluation is advisory: a retryable-class provider error from the
+(parsed leniently). The evaluator request always pins `message.EffortOff`
+(`runEvaluator`, `engine/goal.go`) — it is a classifier, not a reasoning task,
+and it never inherits the session's own effort level. On openaicompat,
+`EffortOff` sends the literal `"off"`; on anthropic, it emits no thinking
+block — both routes now spend none of the evaluator's 256-token budget on
+reasoning. (Issue #124.) The openai Responses route is a known residual:
+`reasoningEffort` (`provider/openai/transcode.go`) omits the `reasoning`
+object for `EffortOff` exactly as it does for `EffortUnset`, and a
+gpt-5-class model reasons by default with no adapter-level way to disable
+it — so an evaluator on that route can still spend its budget on reasoning.
+A NOT MET verdict re-prompts
+with a fixed-template guidance message carrying the reason; MET returns
+`Achieved`. `MaxTurns` (0 = unlimited) bounds it. Evaluation is advisory: a
+retryable-class provider error from the
 evaluator call rides the matching in-boundary backoff before the boundary
 counts as failed — the long weather-tier schedule
 (`goalRetryableMaxAttempts`, ~30min) for `overloaded`/`rate_limited`/
@@ -794,6 +805,34 @@ an empty string as "clear to provider default", and rejects an unknown session
 current level is read back on `GET /session/{id}` (`effort`), the same way the
 current model is.
 
+**Effort at the three request-build sites is NOT uniform, by design.** The
+main turn (`streamTurn`, `engine/engine.go`) sends `s.Effort()` — the
+session's current level, read fresh every request. The two internal
+tool-less calls diverge from that and from each other (issue #124): the
+goal-loop evaluator (`runEvaluator`, `engine/goal.go`) always pins
+`EffortOff` — see "Goal loop" above — because it is a classifier the model
+must answer in one line, and reasoning-by-default gateway models can burn
+its 256-token budget before ever emitting a verdict. The compaction
+summarizer (`runCompactionSummary`, `engine/compact.go`) instead inherits
+`s.Effort()`, the same as the main turn, because summarization is a real
+writing task that benefits from the session's own quality setting;
+`EffortUnset` stays `EffortUnset` there. Do not fold these two internal
+sites onto one shared rule — one is a classifier, the other is prose.
+Known residual (not addressed by issue #124, filed as issue #126): a
+non-off session effort can raise the summarizer's effective output cap
+above `compactionMaxTokens` (the anthropic and openai adapters both bump
+the cap for reasoning — up to ~20480 tokens at `EffortHigh`, versus the
+documented 1024 cap), and openaicompat applies no cap floor at all, so a
+reasoning-heavy summary can truncate silently — `runCompactionSummary` has
+no `StopReason` guard to catch it. A raised cap also delivers less context
+reduction from this call, at the layer whose own failure runs to a hard
+overflow that clears an active goal. A second, related residual (issue
+#127): the summarizer sends folded history containing `ToolCall` parts
+from turns that ran with no thinking block, and a non-off level here
+enables thinking over that same history — the documented ENABLE-direction
+"thinking blocks expected before tool_use" reject case, just reached from
+compaction instead of a live turn.
+
 ### Session affinity (prompt-cache routing hint)
 
 `provider.Request.SessionKey` carries a stable, opaque session identifier on
diff --git a/engine/compact.go b/engine/compact.go
index eae24cd..f394361 100644
--- a/engine/compact.go
+++ b/engine/compact.go
@@ -324,6 +324,35 @@ func (s *Session) runCompactionSummary(ctx context.Context, model message.ModelR
 		// SessionKey names this session for an adapter that forwards it as
 		// a routing/cache-affinity hint (see provider.Request.SessionKey).
 		SessionKey: s.ID,
+		// Unlike the goal evaluator (a classifier that always pins
+		// EffortOff — see runEvaluator), the summarizer benefits from the
+		// session's own quality setting: read it fresh from live session
+		// state, not the value the session started with. EffortUnset stays
+		// EffortUnset here — this only forwards, never overrides. (Issue
+		// #124.)
+		//
+		// Known residual, deliberately not addressed here (see AGENTS.md's
+		// scope-discipline rule): a non-off level lets the anthropic and
+		// openai adapters raise this request's effective output cap above
+		// compactionMaxTokens (anthropic's thinking-budget bump, openai's
+		// reasoningOutputFloor — up to ~20480 tokens at EffortHigh, versus
+		// the documented 1024 cap), and openaicompat sends reasoning_effort
+		// with no such floor at all, so a reasoning-heavy summary can be
+		// truncated at compactionMaxTokens with no StopReason guard here to
+		// catch it. A raised cap also delivers less context reduction from
+		// this call, at the layer whose own failure runs to a hard overflow
+		// that clears an active goal. Filed as issue #126 rather than
+		// expanded in this PR.
+		//
+		// Second known residual (issue #127): this call sends the folded
+		// range's real history, which can include assistant messages
+		// carrying ToolCall parts from turns that ran with no thinking
+		// block. A non-off level here enables thinking over that same
+		// history — the documented ENABLE-direction "thinking blocks
+		// expected before tool_use" reject case (see
+		// provider/anthropic/transcode.go), just reached from compaction
+		// instead of a live turn. Also filed rather than expanded here.
+		Effort: s.Effort(),
 	}
 	// The summarizer's stream gets the same idle watchdog worker turns get
 	// (see armIdleWatchdog): maybeAutoCompact runs at the top of every
diff --git a/engine/compact_test.go b/engine/compact_test.go
index f694cbb..1f25210 100644
--- a/engine/compact_test.go
+++ b/engine/compact_test.go
@@ -110,6 +110,39 @@ func TestCompactFoldsOldestPrefixKeepsRecentTurns(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestCompactSummaryRequestInheritsSessionEffort is the red-first test for
+// issue #124: unlike the goal evaluator (a classifier that pins off), the
+// compaction summarizer benefits from the session's own quality setting, so
+// its request must carry the session's CURRENT effort level (set via
+// SetEffort, read fresh, not the zero value the session started with).
+// Drives the production entry point (Session.Compact -> runCompactionSummary).
+func TestCompactSummaryRequestInheritsSessionEffort(t *testing.T) {
+	prov := &scriptedProvider{name: "test", turns: [][]provider.Event{
+		compactTurn("one", provider.Usage{InputTokens: 10}),
+		compactTurn("two", provider.Usage{InputTokens: 10}),
+		compactTurn("three", provider.Usage{InputTokens: 10}),
+		compactSummaryTurn("SUMMARY", provider.Usage{InputTokens: 10}),
+	}}
+	s := NewSession(Config{
+		Providers: provider.Registry{"test": prov},
+		Model:     message.ModelRef{Provider: "test", Model: "m1"},
+	})
+	s.SetEffort(message.EffortMedium)
+	runTurns(t, s, 3)
+
+	if _, err := s.Compact(context.Background(), CompactOptions{KeepTurns: 1}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if n := len(prov.requests); n == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("no requests captured")
+	}
+	summaryReq := prov.requests[len(prov.requests)-1]
+	if summaryReq.Effort != message.EffortMedium {
+		t.Errorf("summarizer request Effort = %q, want %q", summaryReq.Effort, message.EffortMedium)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestCompactSummaryBannerMarksSyntheticOrigin asserts the summary text
 // carries the visible synthesized-and-marked banner, mirroring
 // message.SyntheticOrphanResultText's spirit — a transcript reader can never
diff --git a/engine/goal.go b/engine/goal.go
index 5d17dfc..e9d4314 100644
--- a/engine/goal.go
+++ b/engine/goal.go
@@ -2255,6 +2255,18 @@ func (s *Session) runEvaluator(ctx context.Context, condition string, evaluator
 		// SessionKey names this session for an adapter that forwards it as
 		// a routing/cache-affinity hint (see provider.Request.SessionKey).
 		SessionKey: s.ID,
+		// The evaluator is a classifier, not a reasoning task: it always
+		// pins EffortOff, never the session's own level (see AGENTS.md's
+		// "Goal loop" section). Since a7c5cce, EffortOff sends the literal
+		// "off" on openaicompat and no thinking block on anthropic — both
+		// routes now spend none of the evaluator's MaxTokens 256 budget on
+		// reasoning. openai Responses is a known residual: reasoningEffort
+		// omits the reasoning object for EffortOff exactly as it does for
+		// EffortUnset (provider/openai/transcode.go), and a gpt-5-class
+		// model reasons by default with no adapter-level way to disable it
+		// — so an evaluator on that route can still spend its budget on
+		// reasoning. (Issue #124.)
+		Effort: message.EffortOff,
 	}
 	// The evaluator's stream gets the same idle watchdog worker turns get
 	// (see armIdleWatchdog): it runs at EVERY goal turn boundary, so a
diff --git a/engine/goal_test.go b/engine/goal_test.go
index cff2733..ded7195 100644
--- a/engine/goal_test.go
+++ b/engine/goal_test.go
@@ -323,6 +323,50 @@ func TestPursueGoalAchievedSecondTurn(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestPursueGoalEvaluatorRequestPinsEffortOff is the red-first test for
+// issue #124: the evaluator is a classifier, not a reasoning task, so its
+// request must pin message.EffortOff regardless of the session's own
+// effort level — never inherit it, and never leave it at EffortUnset. This
+// drives the production entry point (PursueGoal -> runEvaluator) rather
+// than calling runEvaluator directly, so it proves the wiring a real
+// evaluator call goes through.
+func TestPursueGoalEvaluatorRequestPinsEffortOff(t *testing.T) {
+	prov := &goalProvider{
+		worker: [][]provider.Event{
+			asstTurn(provider.StopEndTurn, &message.Text{Text: "all done"}),
+		},
+		eval: [][]provider.Event{
+			evalTurn("MET: done"),
+		},
+	}
+	s := goalSession(t, prov, t.TempDir())
+	// Give the session a non-off effort level so a bug that inherits it
+	// (instead of pinning off) would be observable.
+	s.SetEffort(message.EffortHigh)
+
+	res, err := s.PursueGoal(context.Background(), "finish it", GoalOptions{Evaluator: evalModel})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !res.Achieved {
+		t.Fatalf("result = %+v, want achieved", res)
+	}
+
+	var evalReqs int
+	for _, rq := range prov.requests {
+		if len(rq.Tools) != 0 {
+			continue // worker request
+		}
+		evalReqs++
+		if rq.Effort != message.EffortOff {
+			t.Errorf("evaluator request Effort = %q, want %q", rq.Effort, message.EffortOff)
+		}
+	}
+	if evalReqs != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("evaluator requests = %d, want 1", evalReqs)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestPursueGoalWorkerReasoningEmptyProviderData is the round-2 forensic
 // regression guard reconstructed at the goal-loop level: the actual shape
 // the incident logs show (two complete goal-supervised turns, then death