diff --git a/.github/workflows/ai-pr-review-v2.yml b/.github/workflows/ai-pr-review-v2.yml
index 6ac054705..3da5fe040 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ai-pr-review-v2.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ai-pr-review-v2.yml
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Claude Code review
         id: review
+        # Advisory gate: an infra failure (turn exhaustion, rate limit, action
+        # outage) must never red-flag or block an otherwise healthy PR. The
+        # approve step below only runs on an explicit no-blockers verdict, so
+        # failing soft here degrades to "no automated approval", never to
+        # "silently approved".
+        continue-on-error: true
         uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
         with:
           # Subscription OAuth token (Pro/Max). Absent on fork PRs -> action no-ops.
@@ -98,10 +104,19 @@ jobs:
           # steps.review.outputs.structured_output.
           claude_args: |
             --model claude-opus-4-8
-            --max-turns 15
+            --max-turns 40
             --allowedTools "Read,Grep,Glob,Bash(gh pr diff:*),Bash(gh pr view:*),Bash(gh pr comment:*),mcp__github_inline_comment__create_inline_comment"
             --json-schema '{"type":"object","properties":{"has_blockers":{"type":"boolean"},"p0_count":{"type":"integer"},"summary":{"type":"string"}},"required":["has_blockers","p0_count","summary"],"additionalProperties":false}'
 
+      # Make a soft-failed review visible instead of silently green.
+      - name: Note when the review did not produce a verdict
+        if: steps.review.outcome != 'success' || steps.review.outputs.structured_output == ''
+        run: |
+          echo "AI review did not produce a machine-readable verdict (outcome: ${{ steps.review.outcome }})." \
+            | tee -a "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+          echo "This is advisory only and does not block the PR. Human review still applies." \
+            >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+
       # ── Deterministic verdict gate (NOT the model) ──────────────────────────
       # Reads the machine-readable verdict. On zero blockers: label + approve.
       # Approval uses the dedicated approver PAT and is best-effort: a missing
@@ -117,7 +132,11 @@ jobs:
           FALLBACK_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           PR: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
           REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
-          SUMMARY: ${{ fromJSON(steps.review.outputs.structured_output).summary }}
+          # NOTE: `env:` expressions are evaluated even when the step's `if:` is
+          # false, so this MUST be guarded independently. An unguarded
+          # fromJSON('') is a workflow *template* parse error ("Error reading
+          # JToken from JsonReader") that fails the whole run, not a skipped step.
+          SUMMARY: ${{ steps.review.outputs.structured_output != '' && fromJSON(steps.review.outputs.structured_output).summary || '' }}
         run: |
           set -uo pipefail
           # Label with the Actions token (can write issues). Best-effort.