diff --git a/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.test.ts b/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.test.ts
index 42c5371d0..70528b66a 100644
--- a/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.test.ts
+++ b/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,27 @@ import { unsafeTestValue } from "../../../test-support/unsafe-test-value"
 
 describe("buildBackgroundTaskNotificationText", () => {
   describe("#given one task still running after a completed task notification", () => {
+    test("#when building the partial notification #then it does not use the final completed heading", () => {
+      // given
+      const notification = buildBackgroundTaskNotificationText({
+        task: {
+          id: "task-1",
+          description: "Index repo",
+          status: "completed",
+        },
+        duration: "42s",
+        statusText: "COMPLETED",
+        allComplete: false,
+        remainingCount: 1,
+        completedTasks: [],
+      })
+
+      // then
+      expect(notification).not.toContain("[BACKGROUND TASK COMPLETED]")
+      expect(notification).toContain("[BACKGROUND TASK RESULT READY]")
+      expect(notification).toContain("You WILL be notified when ALL complete.")
+    })
+
     test("#when building the partial notification #then it preserves the existing completed-task format", () => {
       // given
       const notification = buildBackgroundTaskNotificationText({
@@ -21,7 +42,7 @@ describe("buildBackgroundTaskNotificationText", () => {
 
       // when
       const expectedNotification = `<system-reminder>
-[BACKGROUND TASK COMPLETED]
+[BACKGROUND TASK RESULT READY]
 **ID:** \`task-1\`
 **Description:** Index repo
 **Duration:** 42s
@@ -156,6 +177,32 @@ Use \`background_output(task_id="<id>")\` to retrieve each result.
   })
 
   describe("#given a completed task with retry attempt history", () => {
+    test("#when building the final notification #then it includes the final completed heading", () => {
+      // given
+      const notification = buildBackgroundTaskNotificationText({
+        task: {
+          id: "task-3",
+          description: "Fallback task",
+          status: "completed",
+        },
+        duration: "10s",
+        statusText: "COMPLETED",
+        allComplete: true,
+        remainingCount: 0,
+        completedTasks: [
+          {
+            id: "task-3",
+            description: "Fallback task",
+            status: "completed",
+          },
+        ],
+      })
+
+      // then
+      expect(notification).toContain("[BACKGROUND TASK COMPLETED]")
+      expect(notification).toContain("[ALL BACKGROUND TASKS COMPLETE]")
+    })
+
     test("#when building the final notification #then it renders the spec-aligned balanced attempt timeline", () => {
       // given
       const notification = buildBackgroundTaskNotificationText({
diff --git a/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.ts b/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.ts
index 7c71cd4e7..44a1f0730 100644
--- a/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.ts
+++ b/src/features/background-agent/background-task-notification-template.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ export function buildBackgroundTaskNotificationText(input: {
     const hasFailures = failedTasks.length > 0
     const header = hasFailures
       ? `[ALL BACKGROUND TASKS FINISHED - ${failedTasks.length} FAILED]`
-      : "[ALL BACKGROUND TASKS COMPLETE]"
+      : "[BACKGROUND TASK COMPLETED]\n[ALL BACKGROUND TASKS COMPLETE]"
 
     let body = ""
     if (succeededText) {
@@ -108,9 +108,10 @@ Use \`background_output(task_id="<id>")\` to retrieve each result.${hasFailures
   }
 
   const isFailure = statusText !== "COMPLETED"
+  const header = isFailure ? `[BACKGROUND TASK ${statusText}]` : "[BACKGROUND TASK RESULT READY]"
 
   return `<system-reminder>
-[BACKGROUND TASK ${statusText}]
+${header}
 **ID:** \`${task.id}\`
 **Description:** ${safeDescription(task)}
 **Duration:** ${duration}${errorInfo}
diff --git a/src/features/background-agent/task-completion-cleanup.test.ts b/src/features/background-agent/task-completion-cleanup.test.ts
index 1dcb9e809..01862e196 100644
--- a/src/features/background-agent/task-completion-cleanup.test.ts
+++ b/src/features/background-agent/task-completion-cleanup.test.ts
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ describe("BackgroundManager.notifyParentSession cleanup scheduling", () => {
       expect(promptAsyncCalls).toHaveLength(1)
       expect(promptAsyncCalls[0]?.body.noReply).toBe(true)
       const notificationPayload = JSON.stringify(promptAsyncCalls[0]?.body.parts)
-      expect(notificationPayload).toContain("BACKGROUND TASK COMPLETED")
+      expect(notificationPayload).toContain("BACKGROUND TASK RESULT READY")
       expect(notificationPayload).not.toContain("ALL BACKGROUND TASKS COMPLETE")
     })