diff --git a/.github/prompts/investigate.md b/.github/prompts/investigate.md
index 546cf5a70185..5bf4be145ecd 100644
--- a/.github/prompts/investigate.md
+++ b/.github/prompts/investigate.md
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 
 You are investigating a CockroachDB test failure. You are running
 autonomously in a GitHub Action — there is no interactive
-back-and-forth with a user. You must complete the full investigation
-and write your findings to `artifacts/findings.md` (a later workflow
-step posts it as a comment on the issue). Create the directory first
+back-and-forth with a user. Your sole deliverable is a written
+investigation report in the file `artifacts/findings.md`. Complete the
+full investigation and write that file; producing it is the entire job,
+and nothing you do outside it has any effect. Create the directory first
 with `mkdir -p artifacts`.
 
-The issue and your findings comment live in `ISSUE_REPO` (passed in the
+The issue you are investigating lives in `ISSUE_REPO` (passed in the
 prompt); `gh` defaults to it, so use plain `gh issue`/`gh pr`/`gh search`
 commands. The working tree is checked out from `CODE_REPO`; use that
 when building source links (blob/permalink URLs).
@@ -59,11 +60,11 @@ Key tools at your disposal:
   `$(go env GOMODCACHE)/<module>@<version>/`
 - **Output**: Write tool (to the workspace directory and below)
 
-NOT available: curl (use fetch-url or WebFetch instead), gh api,
-gh issue comment, gh pr comment, rm, sed, xargs, or any
-repo-modifying tool. Write your findings to `artifacts/findings.md`
-(create the directory with `mkdir -p artifacts` first) — do not
-attempt to post comments directly.
+This is a read-only environment. NOT available: curl (use fetch-url or
+WebFetch instead), gh api, rm, sed, xargs, or any repo-modifying tool.
+Anything that would write back to GitHub is blocked. Your only durable
+output is the `artifacts/findings.md` file you write with the `Write`
+tool (create the directory with `mkdir -p artifacts` first).
 
 ## Confidence and Tone
 
@@ -395,10 +396,6 @@ valuable during this investigation but were not available. Examples:
 a specific command that was blocked, a log or artifact source that
 was inaccessible, an API you couldn't query, etc. This helps
 improve future investigation runs.
-
----
-
-Was this investigation helpful? Leave a 👍 or 👎 on this comment.
 ```
 
 Important:
@@ -410,6 +407,12 @@ Important:
   ones).
 - If you cannot determine the failure SHA, investigate using the
   default branch and note this limitation.
-- End the findings with a link to the workflow run (from the
-  WORKFLOW RUN variable passed in the prompt), followed by the
-  feedback footer (the `---` / reaction prompt from the template).
+
+Finishing up — the report file is the whole point:
+
+- Writing `artifacts/findings.md` with the `Write` tool is your last and
+  most important action. The report only counts if it is in that file;
+  a report saved anywhere else (e.g. under `/tmp`), or left only in your
+  final message, does not count and is discarded.
+- Before finishing, confirm the file is in place, e.g. `ls -l
+  artifacts/findings.md`.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/investigate.yml b/.github/workflows/investigate.yml
index 63dbd4bc258b..4f308c0312fe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/investigate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/investigate.yml
@@ -260,6 +260,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
       - name: Investigate
+        id: investigate
         uses: cockroachdb/claude-code-action@v1
         env:
           ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID: ${{ env.HAS_API_KEY != 'true' && 'vertex-model-runners' || '' }}
@@ -299,6 +300,48 @@ jobs:
             at the default-branch tip instead. Do not run `git checkout` — the
             agent's git credentials cannot fetch from CODE_REPO.
 
+      # The agent is instructed to write its report to artifacts/findings.md,
+      # which the steps below upload and post. It occasionally finishes a
+      # successful investigation without writing the file — e.g. it tries to
+      # post the comment itself, which the sandbox denies, and gives up. Its
+      # final summary is still captured in the action's execution-output JSON,
+      # so recover it into artifacts/findings.md as a fallback. This keeps a
+      # single source of truth for the upload and post steps, and means a
+      # missing file reflects a genuinely empty investigation rather than the
+      # agent delivering its findings the wrong way.
+      - name: Recover findings from agent output
+        if: always()
+        env:
+          OUTPUT_FILE: ${{ steps.investigate.outputs.execution_file }}
+        run: |
+          set -uo pipefail
+
+          if [ -s artifacts/findings.md ]; then
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ -z "${OUTPUT_FILE:-}" ] || [ ! -s "$OUTPUT_FILE" ]; then
+            echo "No execution output file to recover findings from."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          # The file is a JSON array of turn objects; the agent's final summary
+          # is the `result` field of the terminating `result` turn.
+          summary=$(jq -r '[.[] | select(.type? == "result") | .result? // empty] | last // empty' \
+            "$OUTPUT_FILE" 2>/dev/null || true)
+          if [ -z "$summary" ]; then
+            echo "Execution output contained no result summary to recover."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          mkdir -p artifacts
+          {
+            echo "> **Note:** Recovered from the agent's final message; the"
+            echo "> investigation did not write \`artifacts/findings.md\` directly."
+            echo
+            echo "$summary"
+          } > artifacts/findings.md
+          echo "Recovered findings from execution output."
+
       - name: Upload findings
         if: always()
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
@@ -312,14 +355,23 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
+          run_url="${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
           if [ -s artifacts/findings.md ]; then
+            # Append the run link and feedback footer here rather than asking
+            # the agent to write them, so the prompt never has to describe the
+            # report as a posted comment (which tempted it to post directly).
+            {
+              cat artifacts/findings.md
+              printf '\n\n---\n\n'
+              printf '[Workflow run](%s) · Was this investigation helpful? Leave a 👍 or 👎 on this comment.\n' "$run_url"
+            } > "${RUNNER_TEMP:-/tmp}/comment_body.md"
             gh issue comment "$ISSUE_NUMBER" \
               --repo ${{ github.repository }} \
-              --body-file artifacts/findings.md
+              --body-file "${RUNNER_TEMP:-/tmp}/comment_body.md"
           else
             gh issue comment "$ISSUE_NUMBER" \
               --repo ${{ github.repository }} \
-              --body "Investigation did not produce findings. Check the [workflow run](${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}) for details."
+              --body "Investigation did not produce findings. Check the [workflow run]($run_url) for details."
           fi
 
       - name: Clean up EngFlow certificates