diff --git a/curate/curate.go b/curate/curate.go
index 7a112bf..7c54d0f 100644
--- a/curate/curate.go
+++ b/curate/curate.go
@@ -272,6 +272,8 @@ func (p *Pipeline) BuildExtractionPrompt(documents []DocumentContent) string {
 	var sb strings.Builder
 
 	sb.WriteString("You are a knowledge curator. Analyze the following documents and extract key knowledge.\n\n")
+	sb.WriteString("IMPORTANT: Be concise. Extract only the most significant and non-obvious knowledge items.\n")
+	sb.WriteString("Aim for 3-8 items per document maximum. Skip obvious or generic facts.\n\n")
 	sb.WriteString("For each piece of knowledge, classify it as one of:\n")
 	sb.WriteString("- **decision**: An explicit choice or agreement made\n")
 	sb.WriteString("- **pattern**: An approach, technique, or practice that worked\n")
@@ -282,28 +284,10 @@ func (p *Pipeline) BuildExtractionPrompt(documents []DocumentContent) string {
 	sb.WriteString("For each extracted item, provide:\n")
 	sb.WriteString("1. **tag**: A topic identifier (1-3 words, kebab-case, lowercase)\n")
 	sb.WriteString("2. **category**: One of decision/pattern/gotcha/context/reference\n")
-	sb.WriteString("3. **confidence**: One of:\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - high: Explicit statement, no contradictions, multiple sources agree\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - medium: Explicit but single-source\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - low: Implied or contradictions exist\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - flagged: Missing critical info or unresolvable contradictions\n")
-	sb.WriteString("4. **quality_flags**: Array of quality issues (may be empty). Each flag has:\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - type: missing_rationale | implied_assumption | incongruent | unsupported_claim\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - detail: Description of the issue\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - sources: Source documents involved (optional)\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - resolution: Suggested resolution (optional)\n")
-	sb.WriteString("5. **sources**: Array of source references. Each has:\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - source_id: The source identifier\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - document: The document name\n")
-	sb.WriteString("   - excerpt: Relevant text from the document\n")
-	sb.WriteString("6. **content**: The extracted knowledge as a clear, factual statement\n\n")
-
-	sb.WriteString("Quality analysis rules:\n")
-	sb.WriteString("- Flag 'missing_rationale' for decisions without explanation of why\n")
-	sb.WriteString("- Flag 'implied_assumption' for unstated assumptions\n")
-	sb.WriteString("- Flag 'incongruent' for contradictions between sources (include both source refs)\n")
-	sb.WriteString("- Flag 'unsupported_claim' for facts without evidence\n")
-	sb.WriteString("- For contradictions, prefer the newer source (temporal resolution)\n\n")
+	sb.WriteString("3. **confidence**: One of high/medium/low/flagged\n")
+	sb.WriteString("4. **quality_flags**: Empty array [] unless there is a clear contradiction\n")
+	sb.WriteString("5. **sources**: ONE source reference only (most relevant). Each has source_id, document, and a SHORT excerpt (max 20 words)\n")
+	sb.WriteString("6. **content**: The extracted knowledge as ONE clear sentence (max 30 words)\n\n")
 
 	sb.WriteString("Return a JSON array of objects. Example:\n")
 	sb.WriteString("```json\n")
@@ -351,11 +335,41 @@ func ParseExtractionResponse(response string) ([]KnowledgeFile, error) {
 	}
 	cleaned = strings.TrimSpace(cleaned)
 
-	var files []KnowledgeFile
-	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(cleaned), &files); err != nil {
+	// Parse into a raw intermediate to tolerate quality_flags being a string
+	// instead of an array (LLMs sometimes output "[]" or "none" as strings).
+	var rawFiles []json.RawMessage
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(cleaned), &rawFiles); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("parse LLM response as JSON array: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	var files []KnowledgeFile
+	for _, raw := range rawFiles {
+		// Try direct unmarshal first.
+		var f KnowledgeFile
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &f); err != nil {
+			// quality_flags may be a string (e.g. "none") instead of an
+			// array — some LLMs emit this. Drop the field and retry so
+			// the rest of the item still parses; empty quality_flags is
+			// an acceptable fallback for a value we can't model.
+			var fields map[string]json.RawMessage
+			if err2 := json.Unmarshal(raw, &fields); err2 != nil {
+				curateLogger.Warn("skipping unparseable knowledge item", "err", err2)
+				continue
+			}
+			delete(fields, "quality_flags")
+			retry, err2 := json.Marshal(fields)
+			if err2 != nil {
+				curateLogger.Warn("skipping unparseable knowledge item", "err", err2)
+				continue
+			}
+			if err2 := json.Unmarshal(retry, &f); err2 != nil {
+				curateLogger.Warn("skipping unparseable knowledge item", "err", err2)
+				continue
+			}
+		}
+		files = append(files, f)
+	}
+
 	// Validate required fields.
 	var valid []KnowledgeFile
 	for _, f := range files {
diff --git a/curate/curate_test.go b/curate/curate_test.go
index 5706a6a..22ec356 100644
--- a/curate/curate_test.go
+++ b/curate/curate_test.go
@@ -645,6 +645,36 @@ func TestParseExtractionResponse_QualityFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestParseExtractionResponse_QualityFlagsString(t *testing.T) {
+	// Some LLMs emit quality_flags as a bare string (e.g. "none") instead
+	// of an array. The parser should fall back to an empty slice rather
+	// than dropping the whole item.
+	response := `[
+		{
+			"tag": "auth",
+			"category": "decision",
+			"confidence": "high",
+			"quality_flags": "none",
+			"sources": [{"source_id": "disk-meetings", "document": "sprint-planning"}],
+			"content": "Use OAuth2."
+		}
+	]`
+
+	files, err := ParseExtractionResponse(response)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ParseExtractionResponse: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(files) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d files, want 1", len(files))
+	}
+	if files[0].Tag != "auth" {
+		t.Errorf("files[0].Tag = %q, want %q", files[0].Tag, "auth")
+	}
+	if len(files[0].QualityFlags) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("got %d quality flags, want 0", len(files[0].QualityFlags))
+	}
+}
+
 func TestParseExtractionResponse_ConfidenceValidation(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		confidence string
diff --git a/llm/vertex.go b/llm/vertex.go
index 3dca2ad..2912f71 100644
--- a/llm/vertex.go
+++ b/llm/vertex.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func NewVertexSynthesizer(project, region, model string) (*VertexSynthesizer, er
 		region:  region,
 		model:   model,
 		client: &http.Client{
-			Timeout: 120 * time.Second, // Match OllamaSynthesizer timeout.
+			Timeout: 300 * time.Second, // increased from 120s — large curation prompts (36K+ tokens) need ~120-180s
 		},
 		checkExpiry: 30 * time.Second,
 	}
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ func (v *VertexSynthesizer) defaultGetToken(ctx context.Context) (string, error)
 func (v *VertexSynthesizer) Synthesize(ctx context.Context, prompt string) (string, error) {
 	reqBody := vertexSynthRequest{
 		AnthropicVersion: "vertex-2023-10-16",
-		MaxTokens:        4096,
+		MaxTokens:        16000, // increased from 4096 — curation extractions routinely exceed 4K tokens
 		Messages: []vertexMessage{
 			{Role: "user", Content: prompt},
 		},