diff --git a/bin/fm-crosscheck-pi-reviewer.py b/bin/fm-crosscheck-pi-reviewer.py
index e72a1a27cec..4d0a782f9c1 100755
--- a/bin/fm-crosscheck-pi-reviewer.py
+++ b/bin/fm-crosscheck-pi-reviewer.py
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 from typing import Any
 
 
+VERDICT_REPAIR_EFFORT = "low"
+
+
 class ReviewError(RuntimeError):
     """A fail-closed Pi launch or verdict-protocol failure."""
 
@@ -331,7 +334,7 @@ def run(argv: list[str]) -> int:
             "--model",
             model,
             "--thinking",
-            effort if attempt == 0 else "minimal",
+            effort if attempt == 0 else VERDICT_REPAIR_EFFORT,
             "--tools",
             "submit_crosscheck_verdict",
             "--extension",
@@ -370,7 +373,7 @@ def run(argv: list[str]) -> int:
             repair_prompt.write_text(
                 "VERDICT PROTOCOL REPAIR (trusted controller instruction):\n"
                 "Perform the exact independent review packet below in this fresh "
-                "minimal-reasoning attempt. Do not end with prose and do not call "
+                f"{VERDICT_REPAIR_EFFORT}-reasoning attempt. Do not end with prose and do not call "
                 "the tool more than once. Submit the complete schema-valid verdict "
                 "through submit_crosscheck_verdict exactly once.\n\n"
                 + prompt.read_text(encoding="utf-8"),
diff --git a/docs/crosscheck.md b/docs/crosscheck.md
index d445ee769b5..1ba13a9ea5e 100644
--- a/docs/crosscheck.md
+++ b/docs/crosscheck.md
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ The regular-lane reviewer record binds `review_depth_passes: "2"`, `review_depth
 Successful current-contract `clear` and `blocking` records, including reusable records, fail validation when any of those fields is missing or contradictory.
 Failed `tool-failure`, `unreviewed`, and `cannot-certify` attempts may omit terminal and depth evidence they never earned, so their ledgers remain reloadable for a later retry; they are never reusable.
 Crosscheck accepts exactly one verdict tool call from each successful pass and preserves usage across Pi auto-retries.
-If an attempt reaches the model but ends without exactly one well-formed verdict call, including an output-limit or provider terminal error, one fresh ephemeral minimal-reasoning attempt receives a fixed repair instruction plus the identical exact-head review packet.
+If an attempt reaches the model but ends without exactly one well-formed verdict call, including an output-limit or provider terminal error, one fresh ephemeral low-reasoning attempt receives a fixed repair instruction plus the identical exact-head review packet.
 The repair is attempted once per pass, its usage is included in the run economics, and a second protocol miss fails closed instead of selecting a convenient call or rotating to another reviewer.
 Provider terminal-error diagnostics have credential-shaped values redacted, are whitespace-normalized and stripped of non-printable characters, and are limited to 512 characters before they reach operator-visible failure output.
 The model decides the provider slot through an explicit mapping derived from the lane registry that maps each registered model to its own slot, maps `gpt-5.6-sol` to `openai-codex`, and refuses an unmapped model rather than guessing.
diff --git a/tests/fm-crosscheck-azure.test.sh b/tests/fm-crosscheck-azure.test.sh
index 8ee4097e516..af404d467ef 100755
--- a/tests/fm-crosscheck-azure.test.sh
+++ b/tests/fm-crosscheck-azure.test.sh
@@ -2939,6 +2939,12 @@ scenario = os.environ["SCENARIO"]
 effective = scenario
 if scenario.endswith("-then-valid"):
     effective = scenario.removesuffix("-then-valid") if len(captures) == 1 else "valid"
+reasoning_effort = sys.argv[sys.argv.index("--thinking") + 1]
+provider_reasoning_efforts = {
+    "low", "medium", "high", "xhigh", "max", "none", "adaptive",
+}
+if reasoning_effort not in provider_reasoning_efforts:
+    effective = "invalid-reasoning-effort"
 if effective == "nonzero":
     print("bounded fake provider failure", file=sys.stderr)
     raise SystemExit(17)
@@ -3006,6 +3012,13 @@ elif effective == "terminal-error-secrets":
         "secret='secret-visible'; access_token=access-visible; opaque="
         + "Z" * 48
     )
+elif effective == "invalid-reasoning-effort":
+    message["content"] = []
+    message["stopReason"] = "error"
+    message["errorMessage"] = (
+        "reasoning_effort must be low, medium, high, xhigh, max, none, or adaptive; "
+        f"received {reasoning_effort!r}"
+    )
 print(json.dumps({"type": "turn_end", "message": message}))
 print(json.dumps({"type": "agent_end"}))
 if effective == "internal-retry":
@@ -3066,7 +3079,7 @@ def assert_launch(captured, account, prompt, schema, attempts=1):
         active_prompt = prompt if index == 0 else prompt.parent / "repair-prompt.txt"
         assert launch["argv"] == [
             "--mode", "json", "--offline", "--provider", provider,
-            "--model", model, "--thinking", "xhigh" if index == 0 else "minimal",
+            "--model", model, "--thinking", "xhigh" if index == 0 else "low",
             "--tools", "submit_crosscheck_verdict",
             "--extension", str(extension),
             "--system-prompt", system_prompt,
@@ -3074,13 +3087,14 @@ def assert_launch(captured, account, prompt, schema, attempts=1):
             "--no-skills", "--no-prompt-templates", "--no-themes",
             "--no-context-files", "--no-approve", f"@{active_prompt}",
         ], launch["argv"]
+        assert "minimal" not in launch["argv"], launch["argv"]
         assert launch["account"] == str(account), launch
         assert launch["schema"] == str(schema), launch
     if attempts == 2:
         repair = captured[1]["prompt_text"]
         assert repair.startswith("VERDICT PROTOCOL REPAIR"), repair
         assert repair.endswith("PROMPT BY FILE"), repair
-        assert "fresh minimal-reasoning attempt" in repair, repair
+        assert "fresh low-reasoning attempt" in repair, repair
         assert "submit_crosscheck_verdict exactly once" in repair, repair