diff --git a/src/gate.ts b/src/gate.ts
index 528de07..1645faf 100644
--- a/src/gate.ts
+++ b/src/gate.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ function checkBuild(repoPath: string): GateResult {
   const scripts = (pkg?.scripts ?? {}) as Record<string, string>;
 
   if (hasTsConfig) {
+    // Only run tsc if typescript is actually installed (npx may fetch a wrong "tsc" package otherwise)
+    const hasTs = existsSync(resolve(repoPath, "node_modules", ".package-lock.json")) ||
+      existsSync(resolve(repoPath, "node_modules", "typescript"));
+    if (!hasTs) {
+      return { gate: "build", verdict: "pass", message: "tsconfig.json found but typescript not installed, skipped" };
+    }
     const result = shell("npx tsc --noEmit", repoPath, 180);
     if (!result.ok) {
       return { gate: "build", verdict: "fail", message: "TypeScript compilation failed", details: result.output };
diff --git a/src/llm.ts b/src/llm.ts
index 620ec71..6cbd974 100644
--- a/src/llm.ts
+++ b/src/llm.ts
@@ -69,11 +69,20 @@ export class LLM {
 
 	async isAvailable(): Promise<boolean> {
 		try {
-			const resp = await fetch(`${this.baseUrl}/models`, {
+			const resp = await fetch(`${this.baseUrl}/auth/key`, {
 				headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${this.apiKey}` },
 				signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000),
 			});
-			return resp.ok;
+			if (resp.ok) return true;
+			// Fallback: some providers don't have /auth/key
+			if (resp.status === 404) {
+				const modelsResp = await fetch(`${this.baseUrl}/models`, {
+					headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${this.apiKey}` },
+					signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000),
+				});
+				return modelsResp.ok;
+			}
+			return false;
 		} catch {
 			return false;
 		}
diff --git a/src/orchestrator.ts b/src/orchestrator.ts
index 80c1725..235f69b 100644
--- a/src/orchestrator.ts
+++ b/src/orchestrator.ts
@@ -177,11 +177,25 @@ async function loadOrCreatePlan(config: Config, llm: LLM): Promise<Plan> {
 
 function findTask(taskId: string, plan: Plan, config: Config): Task | null {
   const all = loadTasks(config.paths.queue);
+
+  // Direct ID match (queue task IDs match plan IDs)
   const found = all.find(t => t.id === taskId);
   if (found) return found;
 
+  // Planner often generates new IDs. Try to match by name against pending queue tasks.
   const planTask = plan.tasks.find(t => t.id === taskId);
   if (planTask) {
+    const pending = all.filter(t => t.status === "pending");
+    const nameMatch = pending.find(t =>
+      t.question.toLowerCase().includes(planTask.name.toLowerCase()) ||
+      planTask.name.toLowerCase().includes(t.question.toLowerCase().slice(0, 30)),
+    );
+    if (nameMatch) return nameMatch;
+
+    // Last resort: return first pending implement task if available
+    const firstPending = pending[0];
+    if (firstPending) return firstPending;
+
     const type = (planTask.type ?? "feasibility") as Task["type"];
     return createTask(planTask.name, type);
   }
diff --git a/src/planner.ts b/src/planner.ts
index 2775690..8673079 100644
--- a/src/planner.ts
+++ b/src/planner.ts
@@ -20,13 +20,15 @@ export interface Plan {
 export async function createPlan(tasks: Task[], config: Config, llm: LLM): Promise<Plan> {
   const taskList = tasks.map(t => `- [${t.id}] (${t.type}) ${t.question} [${t.status}]`).join("\n");
 
-  const prompt = `You are a task planner. Given these tasks, create a plan.
+  const prompt = `You are a task planner. Given these tasks, create an execution plan.
+
+CRITICAL: You MUST use the EXACT task IDs provided below. Do NOT generate new IDs.
 
 Tasks:
 ${taskList || "(no tasks)"}
 
 Output JSON only:
-{"tasks": [{"id":"...","name":"...","type":"...","dependsOn":[],"estimatedHours":2,"status":"ready"}], "executionOrder": ["id1","id2"], "reasoning": "..."}`;
+{"tasks": [{"id":"<use exact ID from above>","name":"...","type":"...","dependsOn":[],"estimatedHours":2,"status":"ready"}], "executionOrder": ["id1","id2"], "reasoning": "..."}`;
 
   const response = await llm.chat(config.models.planner, [{ role: "user", content: prompt }], 0.3);
   return parseJSON(response);
diff --git a/src/sandbox.ts b/src/sandbox.ts
index 0c5b0ed..650d2c3 100644
--- a/src/sandbox.ts
+++ b/src/sandbox.ts
@@ -91,11 +91,30 @@ export class Sandbox {
     this.exec("cp -r /workspace /project");
     this.exec("cd /project && (grep -q node_modules .gitignore 2>/dev/null || echo -e 'node_modules/\\ndist/\\ncoverage/' >> .gitignore)");
     this.exec("cd /project && git add -A 2>/dev/null; git stash 2>/dev/null || true");
+
+    // Backup original tsconfig and replace with tsx-friendly version
+    // The project's tsconfig (e.g. "module": "Node16") can break tsx inside the sandbox.
+    // Original is restored before extracting diff so the PR won't include tsconfig changes.
+    this.exec("cp /project/tsconfig.json /project/tsconfig.original.json 2>/dev/null || true");
+    this.exec(`cat > /project/tsconfig.json << 'TSEOF'
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "target": "ES2022",
+    "module": "commonjs",
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "strict": true,
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "resolveJsonModule": true
+  }
+}
+TSEOF`);
     return id;
   }
 
   extractDiff(): string {
     if (!this.containerId) throw new Error("Sandbox not created");
+    // Restore original tsconfig before diffing so the PR won't include sandbox tsconfig changes
+    this.exec("cp /project/tsconfig.original.json /project/tsconfig.json 2>/dev/null && rm /project/tsconfig.original.json 2>/dev/null || true");
     this.exec("cd /project && git add -A 2>/dev/null");
     const result = this.exec("cd /project && git diff --cached HEAD -- . ':!node_modules' ':!package-lock.json' ':!pnpm-lock.yaml'");
     return result.stdout;
diff --git a/src/scout.ts b/src/scout.ts
index abefd0a..1fe354e 100644
--- a/src/scout.ts
+++ b/src/scout.ts
@@ -185,15 +185,15 @@ export async function runScout(task: Task, config: Config, llm: LLM): Promise<Sc
       const response = await llm.chat(model, messages);
       messages.push({ role: "assistant", content: response });
 
-      if (response.toUpperCase().includes("ESCALATE") && codeExecuted) {
+      if (response.toUpperCase().includes("ESCALATE") && codeExecuted && iterations >= 5) {
         escalated = true;
         escalationReason = response;
-        log(`[scout:${modeLabel}] Requests escalation`);
+        log(`[scout:${modeLabel}] Requests escalation at iteration ${iterations}`);
         break;
       }
-      if (response.toUpperCase().includes("ESCALATE") && !codeExecuted) {
-        log(`[scout:${modeLabel}] Ignoring premature ESCALATE (no code executed yet)`);
-        messages.push({ role: "user", content: "You must read the project code first before escalating. Start by listing files and reading the relevant source code. Use bash blocks: ```bash\nls /project/src/\n```" });
+      if (response.toUpperCase().includes("ESCALATE") && (!codeExecuted || iterations < 5)) {
+        log(`[scout:${modeLabel}] Ignoring premature ESCALATE (iteration ${iterations}/5, codeExecuted=${codeExecuted})`);
+        messages.push({ role: "user", content: "You must try harder before escalating. You need at least 5 iterations with code executed. Read the project code, write code, run it, and iterate. Use bash blocks: ```bash\nls /project/src/\n```" });
         continue;
       }