diff --git a/src/ai/insight_generator.rs b/src/ai/insight_generator.rs
index 2b8a9d7..2a98498 100644
--- a/src/ai/insight_generator.rs
+++ b/src/ai/insight_generator.rs
@@ -3732,13 +3732,28 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         };
 
         // 9. Build user message
-        // Compose a single Location: line with both the resolved name and the
-        // raw coordinates. Falls back to bare GPS when the geocoders failed,
-        // and to "Location: unknown" when there are no coordinates at all.
-        let location_info = match (resolved_location.as_deref(), exif.as_ref()) {
+        // The user message is restructured to lead with photo facts as a
+        // bulleted "## This photo" block (so small models can't skim past
+        // them), followed by an imperative "## What to do" recipe and a
+        // forcing line. Small models bail out of the agentic loop when the
+        // user message ends with "write a detailed insight" — they just
+        // write. The forcing line replaces the soft "aim to use 5 tools"
+        // floor with a hard "do not output text yet" gate.
+
+        // Date with weekday + canonical-date source so the model can hedge
+        // on filename- or fs_time-derived dates.
+        let date_bullet = format!(
+            "- Date: {} (source: {})",
+            date_taken.format("%A, %B %d, %Y"),
+            date_taken_source
+        );
+
+        // Location: full resolved string + raw coordinates when GPS is
+        // present, falling back to "unknown" when not.
+        let location_bullet = match (resolved_location.as_deref(), exif.as_ref()) {
             (Some(name), Some(e)) if e.gps_latitude.is_some() && e.gps_longitude.is_some() => {
                 format!(
-                    "Location: {} (GPS {:.4}, {:.4})",
+                    "- Location: {} (GPS {:.4}, {:.4})",
                     name,
                     e.gps_latitude.unwrap(),
                     e.gps_longitude.unwrap()
@@ -3746,61 +3761,65 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
             }
             (None, Some(e)) if e.gps_latitude.is_some() && e.gps_longitude.is_some() => {
                 format!(
-                    "Location: GPS {:.4}, {:.4} (geocoder unavailable)",
+                    "- Location: GPS {:.4}, {:.4} (geocoder unavailable)",
                     e.gps_latitude.unwrap(),
                     e.gps_longitude.unwrap()
                 )
             }
-            _ => "Location: unknown".to_string(),
+            _ => "- Location: unknown".to_string(),
         };
 
-        let tags_info = if tag_names.is_empty() {
-            "Tags: none".to_string()
-        } else {
-            format!("Tags: {}", tag_names.join(", "))
-        };
-
-        let contact_info = contact
+        let contact_bullet = contact
             .as_ref()
-            .map(|c| format!("Contact/Person: {}", c))
-            .unwrap_or_else(|| "Contact/Person: unknown".to_string());
+            .map(|c| format!("- Contact/Person: {}", c))
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| "- Contact/Person: unknown".to_string());
 
-        // Hybrid mode: the chat model never receives the image bytes, so we
-        // inline the visual description as text and explicitly tell the model
-        // not to call describe_photo (the tool is gated off in hybrid anyway).
-        let visual_block = hybrid_visual_description
+        let tags_bullet = if tag_names.is_empty() {
+            "- Tags: none".to_string()
+        } else {
+            format!("- Tags: {}", tag_names.join(", "))
+        };
+
+        let path_bullet = format!("- File path: {}", file_path);
+
+        // Hybrid: visual description is inlined as a bullet (no image bytes
+        // reach the chat model). Local: the image is attached to this
+        // message, no inline description bullet — describe_photo is the tool.
+        let visual_bullet = hybrid_visual_description
             .as_deref()
             .map(|d| {
                 format!(
-                    "Visual description (already generated for you — do not call describe_photo):\n{}\n\n",
-                    d
+                    "- Visual description (already generated — do not call describe_photo):\n  {}",
+                    d.lines().collect::<Vec<_>>().join("\n  ")
                 )
             })
             .unwrap_or_default();
 
-        // Format date with weekday + the canonical-date source so the model
-        // can temper claims when the date is filename- or fs_time-derived.
-        let date_line = format!(
-            "Date taken: {} (source: {})",
-            date_taken.format("%A, %B %d, %Y"),
-            date_taken_source
-        );
+        // Compose the photo block (omit empty visual bullet to avoid stray newline).
+        let photo_block = if visual_bullet.is_empty() {
+            format!(
+                "## This photo\n\n{}\n{}\n{}\n{}\n{}",
+                path_bullet, date_bullet, contact_bullet, location_bullet, tags_bullet
+            )
+        } else {
+            format!(
+                "## This photo\n\n{}\n{}\n{}\n{}\n{}\n{}",
+                path_bullet,
+                date_bullet,
+                contact_bullet,
+                location_bullet,
+                tags_bullet,
+                visual_bullet
+            )
+        };
 
         let user_content = format!(
-            "{visual_block}Please analyze this photo and gather any relevant context from the surrounding weeks.\n\n\
-             Photo file path: {}\n\
-             {}\n\
-             {}\n\
-             {}\n\
-             {}\n\n\
-             Use the available tools to gather more context about this moment (messages, calendar events, location history, etc.), \
-             then write a detailed insight with a title and summary.",
-            file_path,
-            date_line,
-            contact_info,
-            location_info,
-            tags_info,
-            visual_block = visual_block,
+            "{photo_block}\n\n\
+             ## What to do\n\n\
+             1. First, call recall_facts_for_photo and recall_entities to load any prior knowledge about subjects in this photo.\n\
+             2. Then call at least 3 of: search_rag, get_sms_messages (try once with the contact filter and once without), get_calendar_events, get_location_history — pick the ones most relevant to this photo's date and context.\n\
+             3. Only after you have tool results, write the final insight with a title and a detailed summary that references specific facts from the metadata above and from your tool results. Generic narration is not acceptable.\n\n\
+             YOUR FIRST RESPONSE MUST BE A TOOL CALL. Do not output any final answer text until you have called at least 5 tools."
         );
 
         // 10. Define tools. Hybrid mode omits `describe_photo` since the