diff --git a/cli/src/quality.rs b/cli/src/quality.rs
index 81d88b0b..c7c21ee6 100644
--- a/cli/src/quality.rs
+++ b/cli/src/quality.rs
@@ -4,8 +4,13 @@ use std::sync::OnceLock;
 static NOISY_PATTERNS: OnceLock<Regex> = OnceLock::new();
 static JARGON_PATTERNS: OnceLock<Regex> = OnceLock::new();
 
+// Pre-sized capacity for line-deduplication sets
 const INITIAL_LINE_CAPACITY: usize = 128;
 
+// Frontmatter delimiters emitted by the resolver's Markdown synthesiser
+const FRONTMATTER_DELIMITER: &str = "---";
+const FRONTMATTER_CLOSE: &str = "\n---";
+
 // Quality scoring thresholds
 const THRESHOLD_NOISE: usize = 6;
 const THRESHOLD_JARGON: usize = 3;
@@ -72,11 +77,25 @@ pub fn score_content(markdown: &str, links: &[String], threshold: f32) -> Qualit
         .count();
     let jargon_heavy = jargon_count > THRESHOLD_JARGON;
 
-    let has_frontmatter = trimmed.starts_with("---")
-        && trimmed.contains("relevance_score:")
-        && trimmed.contains("intent_category:")
-        && trimmed.contains("token_estimate:")
-        && trimmed.contains("last_updated:");
+    let has_frontmatter = if let Some(rest) = trimmed.strip_prefix(FRONTMATTER_DELIMITER) {
+        // Restrict the checks to the frontmatter block so that a body line
+        // cannot spoof the bonus. `rest` begins just after the opening
+        // delimiter, so the closing delimiter ends at
+        // prefix + offset + len(close). With no closing delimiter we fall back
+        // to scanning the whole document, matching the previous behaviour.
+        let header_end = rest
+            .find(FRONTMATTER_CLOSE)
+            .map(|offset| FRONTMATTER_DELIMITER.len() + offset + FRONTMATTER_CLOSE.len())
+            .unwrap_or(trimmed.len());
+        let header_slice = &trimmed[..header_end];
+        header_slice.contains("relevance_score:")
+            && header_slice.contains("intent_category:")
+            && header_slice.contains("token_estimate:")
+            && header_slice.contains("last_updated:")
+    } else {
+        false
+    };
+
     let has_structural_anchors = trimmed.contains("[ANCHOR: SUMMARY]")
         && trimmed.contains("[ANCHOR: TECHNICAL_DETAILS]")
         && trimmed.contains("[ANCHOR: COMPARISON]")
diff --git a/cli/src/synthesis.rs b/cli/src/synthesis.rs
index e4db6a07..6568df01 100644
--- a/cli/src/synthesis.rs
+++ b/cli/src/synthesis.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ use crate::types::ResolvedResult;
 use serde_json::json;
 use std::sync::LazyLock;
 
+static LINK_REGEX: LazyLock<regex::Regex> = LazyLock::new(|| {
+    regex::Regex::new(r"https?://[^\s)>\]]+").expect("Invalid link regex pattern")
+});
+
 /// Patterns that may indicate prompt injection attempts
 static INJECTION_PATTERNS: LazyLock<Vec<regex::Regex>> = LazyLock::new(|| {
     vec![
@@ -239,7 +243,7 @@ pub fn deterministic_merge(results: &[ResolvedResult]) -> String {
         )
     } else {
         let mut body = String::new();
-        let mut seen_lines = std::collections::HashSet::new();
+        let mut seen_lines = std::collections::HashSet::with_capacity(128);
 
         for (i, res) in results.iter().enumerate() {
             let idx = i + 1;
@@ -249,7 +253,7 @@ pub fn deterministic_merge(results: &[ResolvedResult]) -> String {
                 let mut unique_content = String::new();
                 for line in content.lines() {
                     let trimmed = line.trim();
-                    if !trimmed.is_empty() && seen_lines.insert(trimmed.to_string()) {
+                    if !trimmed.is_empty() && seen_lines.insert(trimmed) {
                         unique_content.push_str(line);
                         unique_content.push('\n');
                     } else if trimmed.is_empty() {
@@ -286,8 +290,7 @@ pub fn deterministic_merge(results: &[ResolvedResult]) -> String {
     };
 
     // Extract links for quality scoring
-    let link_re = regex::Regex::new(r"https?://[^\s)>\]]+").unwrap();
-    let links: Vec<String> = link_re
+    let links: Vec<String> = LINK_REGEX
         .find_iter(&body_content)
         .map(|m| m.as_str().to_string())
         .take(10)
diff --git a/cli/tests/quality.rs b/cli/tests/quality.rs
index 5c699139..be04ae65 100644
--- a/cli/tests/quality.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/quality.rs
@@ -26,3 +26,43 @@ fn test_noisy_content() {
     let score = score_content(&noisy_content, &links, 0.65);
     assert!(score.noisy);
 }
+
+/// Body lines that are unique (so they do not trip duplicate detection) and
+/// long enough overall to clear the minimum-length threshold.
+fn padded_body() -> String {
+    (0..20)
+        .map(|i| format!("Unique body line {i} used only for length padding.\n"))
+        .collect()
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_frontmatter_bonus_requires_fields_inside_the_block() {
+    // Empty links apply the missing-links penalty, which keeps the base score
+    // below 1.0 so the +0.05 frontmatter bonus survives the final clamp.
+    let links: Vec<String> = vec![];
+    let body = padded_body();
+
+    // Genuine frontmatter: all four fields sit inside the opening/closing block.
+    let real_frontmatter = format!(
+        "---\nrelevance_score: 1.0\nintent_category: docs\n\
+         token_estimate: 100\nlast_updated: 2026-10-01\n---\n{body}"
+    );
+
+    // The same four fields, but only in the body *after* the closing delimiter.
+    let spoofed = format!(
+        "---\n{body}---\nrelevance_score: 1.0\nintent_category: docs\n\
+         token_estimate: 100\nlast_updated: 2026-10-01\n"
+    );
+
+    let real = score_content(&real_frontmatter, &links, 0.65);
+    let fake = score_content(&spoofed, &links, 0.65);
+
+    // Both bodies are structurally identical, so the only difference is the
+    // frontmatter bonus: the spoofed variant must not earn it.
+    assert!(
+        (real.score - fake.score - 0.05).abs() < f32::EPSILON,
+        "expected frontmatter bonus only for the real block: real={} fake={}",
+        real.score,
+        fake.score
+    );
+}