diff --git a/main.ts b/main.ts
index 3463ea2..3960f0d 100644
--- a/main.ts
+++ b/main.ts
@@ -705,20 +705,21 @@ export async function main(): Promise<MainResult> {
       });
     }
 
-    // clean up stranded progress comments. two cases:
-    // 1. wasUpdated=false: nothing wrote to the comment ("Leaping into action" orphan)
-    // 2. tracker published a checklist but the agent never wrote a final summary
-    //    (hasPublished=true, finalSummaryWritten=false).
-    // in both cases, delete the comment so it doesn't linger with stale content.
-    // wasUpdated is intentionally NOT set here — cleanup is not a real progress update.
-    // uses finalSummaryWritten (not todoTracker.enabled) so cleanup survives API failures
-    // in report_progress where cancel() ran but the write didn't succeed.
-    const trackerWasLastWriter = todoTracker?.hasPublished && !toolState.finalSummaryWritten;
-    if (
-      toolContext &&
-      toolState.progressComment &&
-      (!toolState.wasUpdated || trackerWasLastWriter)
-    ) {
+    // clean up stranded progress comments. the comment is stale unless
+    // report_progress wrote a final summary to it — three sub-cases all reduce
+    // to !finalSummaryWritten:
+    // 1. nothing wrote to the comment ("Leaping into action" orphan)
+    // 2. tracker published a checklist but the agent never finalized it
+    // 3. the agent produced a substantive artifact via another MCP write tool
+    //    (create_issue_comment, update_pull_request_body, reply_to_review_comment)
+    //    and skipped report_progress — wasUpdated is true, but the progress
+    //    comment itself was never touched.
+    // create_pull_request_review owns its own deletion (see action/mcp/review.ts),
+    // so progressComment is already null by the time we get here for that path.
+    // uses finalSummaryWritten (not todoTracker.enabled or wasUpdated) so cleanup
+    // survives API failures in report_progress where cancel() ran but the write
+    // didn't succeed, and isn't fooled by writes to *other* artifacts.
+    if (toolContext && toolState.progressComment && !toolState.finalSummaryWritten) {
       await deleteProgressComment(toolContext).catch((error) => {
         log.debug(`stranded progress comment cleanup failed: ${error}`);
       });
diff --git a/mcp/comment.ts b/mcp/comment.ts
index c70a07f..a797375 100644
--- a/mcp/comment.ts
+++ b/mcp/comment.ts
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ export function CreateCommentTool(ctx: ToolContext) {
           body: bodyWithFooter,
         });
 
+        ctx.toolState.wasUpdated = true;
+
         if (result.data.node_id) {
           await patchWorkflowRunFields(ctx, { summaryCommentNodeId: result.data.node_id });
         }
@@ -110,6 +112,8 @@ export function CreateCommentTool(ctx: ToolContext) {
         body: bodyWithFooter,
       });
 
+      ctx.toolState.wasUpdated = true;
+
       if (commentType === "Plan") {
         if (result.data.node_id) {
           await patchWorkflowRunFields(ctx, { planCommentNodeId: result.data.node_id });
@@ -366,10 +370,6 @@ export function ReportProgressTool(ctx: ToolContext) {
       }
       const result = await reportProgress(ctx, reportParams);
 
-      if (!params.target_plan_comment) {
-        ctx.toolState.finalSummaryWritten = true;
-      }
-
       if (result.action === "skipped") {
         return {
           success: true,
@@ -378,6 +378,10 @@ export function ReportProgressTool(ctx: ToolContext) {
         };
       }
 
+      if (!params.target_plan_comment) {
+        ctx.toolState.finalSummaryWritten = true;
+      }
+
       return {
         success: true,
         ...result,
diff --git a/mcp/pr.ts b/mcp/pr.ts
index 841b21e..9110914 100644
--- a/mcp/pr.ts
+++ b/mcp/pr.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ export function UpdatePullRequestBodyTool(ctx: ToolContext) {
         body: bodyWithFooter,
       });
 
+      ctx.toolState.wasUpdated = true;
+
       return {
         success: true,
         number: result.data.number,
diff --git a/mcp/review.ts b/mcp/review.ts
index dedbf71..3b10cb8 100644
--- a/mcp/review.ts
+++ b/mcp/review.ts
@@ -537,6 +537,8 @@ export function CreatePullRequestReviewTool(ctx: ToolContext) {
         reviewedSha: actuallyReviewedSha,
       };
 
+      ctx.toolState.wasUpdated = true;
+
       // a submitted review obsoletes the progress comment — the review IS the
       // durable artifact. owned here (not in main.ts) so cleanup is atomic with
       // submission and survives any path out of the run (success, timeout,
diff --git a/utils/run.ts b/utils/run.ts
index b1cc201..6397cbb 100644
--- a/utils/run.ts
+++ b/utils/run.ts
@@ -19,14 +19,14 @@ export async function handleAgentResult(ctx: HandleAgentResultParams): Promise<M
     };
   }
 
-  // Review and IncrementalReview modes intentionally never set wasUpdated:
-  // the prompt forbids report_progress (the review IS the durable record),
-  // and IncrementalReview's non-substantive path produces no review at
-  // all by design. wasUpdated staying false is also load-bearing for the
-  // stranded-comment cleanup in main.ts which deletes the "Leaping into
-  // action" orphan via `(!wasUpdated || trackerWasLastWriter)`. Skip the
-  // strict completion check for these modes — the agent's exit code is
-  // the completion signal, not a progress-comment write.
+  // IncrementalReview's non-substantive path exits cleanly without
+  // submitting any review, so no MCP write tool flips wasUpdated and the
+  // strict completion check below would otherwise fail the run. The
+  // isReviewMode skip is load-bearing for that path: the agent's exit
+  // code is the completion signal, not a progress-comment write.
+  // (Review mode that submits a real review now flips wasUpdated via
+  // create_pull_request_review, so the skip is redundant for the
+  // substantive-review path but kept for symmetry with IncrementalReview.)
   // See plans/review_progress_comment_cleanup_b0120f6c.plan.md.
   const mode = ctx.toolState.selectedMode;
   const isReviewMode = mode === "Review" || mode === "IncrementalReview";