diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-prompts.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-prompts.ts
index 94d24facf..48bddc015 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-prompts.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-prompts.ts
@@ -986,7 +986,7 @@ export async function buildPlanSlicePrompt(
   const prefs = loadEffectiveGSDPreferences();
   const commitDocsEnabled = prefs?.preferences?.git?.commit_docs !== false;
   const commitInstruction = commitDocsEnabled
-    ? `Commit the plan files only: \`git add ${relSlicePath(base, mid, sid)}/ .gsd/DECISIONS.md .gitignore && git commit -m "docs(${sid}): add slice plan"\`. Do not stage .gsd/STATE.md or other runtime files — the system manages those.`
+    ? `Commit the plan files only: \`git add --force ${relSlicePath(base, mid, sid)}/ .gsd/DECISIONS.md .gitignore && git commit -m "docs(${sid}): add slice plan"\`. Do not stage .gsd/STATE.md or other runtime files — the system manages those.`
     : "Do not commit — planning docs are not tracked in git for this project.";
   return loadPrompt("plan-slice", {
     workingDirectory: base,
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/detection.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/detection.ts
index 9a0c159eb..3c01a277a 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/detection.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/detection.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,18 @@ export const PROJECT_FILES = [
   "mix.exs",
   "deno.json",
   "deno.jsonc",
+  // .NET
+  ".sln",
+  ".csproj",
+  "Directory.Build.props",
+  // Git submodules
+  ".gitmodules",
+  // Xcode
+  "project.yml",
+  ".xcodeproj",
+  ".xcworkspace",
+  // Docker
+  "Dockerfile",
 ] as const;
 
 const LANGUAGE_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
@@ -106,6 +118,13 @@ const LANGUAGE_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
   "mix.exs": "elixir",
   "deno.json": "typescript/deno",
   "deno.jsonc": "typescript/deno",
+  ".sln": "dotnet",
+  ".csproj": "dotnet",
+  "Directory.Build.props": "dotnet",
+  "project.yml": "swift/xcode",
+  ".xcodeproj": "swift/xcode",
+  ".xcworkspace": "swift/xcode",
+  "Dockerfile": "docker",
 };
 
 const MONOREPO_MARKERS = [
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/preferences.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/preferences.ts
index e369525cc..62df4726e 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/preferences.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/preferences.ts
@@ -200,12 +200,22 @@ function loadPreferencesFile(path: string, scope: "global" | "project"): LoadedG
 export function parsePreferencesMarkdown(content: string): GSDPreferences | null {
   // Use indexOf instead of [\s\S]*? regex to avoid backtracking (#468)
   const startMarker = content.startsWith('---\r\n') ? '---\r\n' : '---\n';
-  if (!content.startsWith(startMarker)) return null;
-  const searchStart = startMarker.length;
-  const endIdx = content.indexOf('\n---', searchStart);
-  if (endIdx === -1) return null;
-  const block = content.slice(searchStart, endIdx);
-  return parseFrontmatterBlock(block.replace(/\r/g, ''));
+  if (content.startsWith(startMarker)) {
+    const searchStart = startMarker.length;
+    const endIdx = content.indexOf('\n---', searchStart);
+    if (endIdx === -1) return null;
+    const block = content.slice(searchStart, endIdx);
+    return parseFrontmatterBlock(block.replace(/\r/g, ''));
+  }
+
+  // Fallback: heading+list format (e.g. "## Git\n- isolation: none") (#2036)
+  // GSD agents may write preferences files without frontmatter delimiters.
+  if (/^##\s+\w/m.test(content)) {
+    return parseHeadingListFormat(content);
+  }
+
+  console.warn("[parsePreferencesMarkdown] preferences.md exists but uses an unrecognized format — skipping.");
+  return null;
 }
 
 function parseFrontmatterBlock(frontmatter: string): GSDPreferences {
@@ -221,6 +231,51 @@ function parseFrontmatterBlock(frontmatter: string): GSDPreferences {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Parse heading+list format into a nested object, then cast to GSDPreferences.
+ * Handles markdown like:
+ *   ## Git
+ *   - isolation: none
+ *   - commit_docs: true
+ *   ## Models
+ *   - planner: sonnet
+ */
+function parseHeadingListFormat(content: string): GSDPreferences {
+  const result: Record<string, Record<string, string>> = {};
+  let currentSection: string | null = null;
+
+  for (const rawLine of content.split('\n')) {
+    const line = rawLine.replace(/\r$/, '');
+    const headingMatch = line.match(/^##\s+(.+)$/);
+    if (headingMatch) {
+      currentSection = headingMatch[1].trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '_');
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (currentSection) {
+      const itemMatch = line.match(/^-\s+([^:]+):\s*(.*)$/);
+      if (itemMatch) {
+        if (!result[currentSection]) result[currentSection] = {};
+        const value = itemMatch[2].trim();
+        // Coerce "true"/"false" strings and numbers
+        result[currentSection][itemMatch[1].trim()] = value;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Convert string values to appropriate types via YAML parser for each section
+  const typed: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+  for (const [section, entries] of Object.entries(result)) {
+    const yamlLines = Object.entries(entries).map(([k, v]) => `${k}: ${v}`).join('\n');
+    try {
+      typed[section] = parseYaml(yamlLines);
+    } catch {
+      typed[section] = entries;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return typed as GSDPreferences;
+}
+
 // ─── Merging ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/session-lock.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/session-lock.ts
index eb9ea9fcc..dc19f86c4 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/session-lock.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/session-lock.ts
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ export function acquireSessionLock(basePath: string): SessionLockResult {
         const elapsed = Date.now() - _lockAcquiredAt;
         if (elapsed < 1_800_000) {
           process.stderr.write(
-            `[gsd] Lock heartbeat mismatch after ${Math.round(elapsed / 1000)}s — event loop stall, continuing.\n`,
+            `[gsd] Lock heartbeat caught up after ${Math.round(elapsed / 1000)}s — long LLM call, no action needed.\n`,
           );
           return; // Suppress false positive
         }
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ export function acquireSessionLock(basePath: string): SessionLockResult {
             const elapsed = Date.now() - _lockAcquiredAt;
             if (elapsed < 1_800_000) {
               process.stderr.write(
-                `[gsd] Lock heartbeat mismatch after ${Math.round(elapsed / 1000)}s — event loop stall, continuing.\n`,
+                `[gsd] Lock heartbeat caught up after ${Math.round(elapsed / 1000)}s — long LLM call, no action needed.\n`,
               );
               return;
             }
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/worktree-resolver.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/worktree-resolver.ts
index 4a7723eee..7eeeb634e 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/worktree-resolver.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/worktree-resolver.ts
@@ -410,10 +410,10 @@ export class WorktreeResolver {
       });
       // Surface a clear, actionable error. The worktree and milestone branch are
       // intentionally preserved — nothing has been deleted. The user can retry
-      // /complete-milestone or merge manually once the underlying issue is fixed
+      // /gsd dispatch complete-milestone or merge manually once the underlying issue is fixed
       // (e.g. checkout to wrong branch, unresolved conflicts). (#1668)
       ctx.notify(
-        `Milestone merge failed: ${msg}. Your worktree and milestone branch are preserved — retry /complete-milestone or merge manually.`,
+        `Milestone merge failed: ${msg}. Your worktree and milestone branch are preserved — retry /gsd dispatch complete-milestone or merge manually.`,
         "warning",
       );
 
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/mcp-client/index.ts b/src/resources/extensions/mcp-client/index.ts
index 904fbbcb4..2113540ff 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/mcp-client/index.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/mcp-client/index.ts
@@ -149,7 +149,11 @@ async function getOrConnect(name: string, signal?: AbortSignal): Promise<Client>
 			stderr: "pipe",
 		});
 	} else if (config.transport === "http" && config.url) {
-		transport = new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(new URL(config.url));
+		const resolvedUrl = config.url.replace(
+			/\$\{([^}]+)\}/g,
+			(_, name) => process.env[name] ?? "",
+		);
+		transport = new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(new URL(resolvedUrl));
 	} else {
 		throw new Error(`Server "${name}" has unsupported transport: ${config.transport}`);
 	}
diff --git a/src/web-mode.ts b/src/web-mode.ts
index 08696bcf1..42683a667 100644
--- a/src/web-mode.ts
+++ b/src/web-mode.ts
@@ -687,7 +687,12 @@ export async function launchWebMode(
       // Register in multi-instance registry
       registerInstance(options.cwd, { pid, port, url }, deps.registryPath)
     }
-    ;(deps.openBrowser ?? openBrowser)(`${url}/#token=${authToken}`)
+    const authenticatedUrl = `${url}/#token=${authToken}`
+    try {
+      ;(deps.openBrowser ?? openBrowser)(authenticatedUrl)
+    } catch (browserError) {
+      stderr.write(`[gsd] Could not open browser: ${browserError instanceof Error ? browserError.message : String(browserError)}\n`)
+    }
   } catch (error) {
     const failure: WebModeLaunchFailure = {
       mode: 'web',
@@ -706,6 +711,7 @@ export async function launchWebMode(
     return failure
   }
 
+  const authenticatedUrl = `${url}/#token=${authToken}`
   const success: WebModeLaunchSuccess = {
     mode: 'web',
     ok: true,
@@ -718,7 +724,7 @@ export async function launchWebMode(
     hostPath: resolution.entryPath,
     hostRoot: resolution.hostRoot,
   }
-  stderr.write(`[gsd] Ready → ${url}\n`)
+  stderr.write(`[gsd] Ready → ${authenticatedUrl}\n`)
   emitLaunchStatus(stderr, success)
   return success
 }