diff --git a/bench/checker.test.ts b/bench/checker.test.ts
index ddaebe7..4f3fa36 100644
--- a/bench/checker.test.ts
+++ b/bench/checker.test.ts
@@ -340,6 +340,64 @@ describe("checkReadAnswer", () => {
 
     expect(result.pass).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  it("passes via pattern when filler words break every contiguous anyOf phrase", () => {
+    // A count fact is brittle when pinned to fixed phrases: a human padding the
+    // answer with filler words ("issues are currently") splits any contiguous
+    // rendering. The optional `pattern` — a case-insensitive regex source — spans
+    // that filler as a bounded run of alphabetic words between the number and
+    // "open", so the fact is satisfied even though no `anyOf` phrase appears verbatim.
+    const facts: RequiredFact[] = [
+      {
+        description: "count of open issues",
+        anyOf: ["5 open", "5 issues are open"],
+        pattern: "\\b5(?: [a-z]+){0,4} open\\b",
+      },
+    ];
+
+    // "issues are currently" is inserted between "5" and "open", so neither
+    // contiguous anyOf phrase matches — but the pattern's alphabetic filler run does.
+    const report = "5 issues are currently open (5 of 5 total).";
+
+    expect(checkReadAnswer(facts, report)).toEqual({ pass: true });
+  });
+
+  it("fails when a digit interrupts the number-to-open run, so a wrong count cannot slip through", () => {
+    // The same pattern-bearing fact as above. Here the report states a DIFFERENT
+    // open count (3), merely mentioning the number 5 elsewhere. The pattern's
+    // filler run is alphabetic only, so the digit "3" between the matched "5" and
+    // "open" is not spanned, and no anyOf phrase matches either — the fact fails.
+    const facts: RequiredFact[] = [
+      {
+        description: "count of open issues",
+        anyOf: ["5 open", "5 issues are open"],
+        pattern: "\\b5(?: [a-z]+){0,4} open\\b",
+      },
+    ];
+
+    // "5 issues in total, and 3 open" — the 5 is a total, the open count is 3.
+    const report = "There are 5 issues in total, and 3 open.";
+
+    const result = checkReadAnswer(facts, report);
+
+    expect(result.pass).toBe(false);
+    // The unmet fact must remain identifiable by its own description.
+    if (result.pass === false) {
+      expect(result.differences.some((d) => d.includes("count of open issues"))).toBe(true);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("still matches on anyOf alone when a fact carries no pattern", () => {
+    // A fact without `pattern` behaves exactly as before: only the contiguous
+    // anyOf renderings are consulted, unaffected by the new pattern support.
+    const facts: RequiredFact[] = [
+      { description: "count of open issues", anyOf: ["7 open issues", "seven open issues"] },
+    ];
+
+    const report = "The board shows 7 open issues right now.";
+
+    expect(checkReadAnswer(facts, report)).toEqual({ pass: true });
+  });
 });
 
 describe("score", () => {
diff --git a/bench/checker.ts b/bench/checker.ts
index c51a217..198a0ed 100644
--- a/bench/checker.ts
+++ b/bench/checker.ts
@@ -241,9 +241,7 @@ function matchByKey<T>(
  */
 export function checkReadAnswer(facts: RequiredFact[], report: string): CheckResult {
   const haystack = normalizeText(report);
-  const missing = facts.filter(
-    (fact) => !fact.anyOf.some((rendering) => haystack.includes(normalizeText(rendering))),
-  );
+  const missing = facts.filter((fact) => !factPresent(fact, haystack));
   if (missing.length === 0) {
     return { pass: true };
   }
@@ -253,6 +251,20 @@ export function checkReadAnswer(facts: RequiredFact[], report: string): CheckRes
   };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether a required fact is present in the normalized report: any `anyOf`
+ * rendering as a contiguous substring, or the optional `pattern` regex matching.
+ * The pattern is compiled case-insensitively over the already-normalized text, so
+ * it recognises a count padded with filler ("5 issues are currently open") that no
+ * fixed phrase would.
+ */
+function factPresent(fact: RequiredFact, haystack: string): boolean {
+  if (fact.anyOf.some((rendering) => haystack.includes(normalizeText(rendering)))) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  return fact.pattern !== undefined && new RegExp(fact.pattern, "i").test(haystack);
+}
+
 /**
  * Lower-case, drop markdown emphasis/code markers, and collapse runs of
  * whitespace so incidental phrasing and formatting do not matter — a report that
diff --git a/bench/scoring-spec.ts b/bench/scoring-spec.ts
index c8d9638..82dda8e 100644
--- a/bench/scoring-spec.ts
+++ b/bench/scoring-spec.ts
@@ -131,10 +131,21 @@ export interface RepoState {
  * whitespace and case normalization), so a count or a name can be phrased
  * variously without resorting to an LLM judge. `description` names the fact in
  * diagnostics when it is missing.
+ *
+ * `anyOf` matches a *contiguous* substring, which is brittle for facts a human
+ * naturally pads with filler — "5 issues are currently open" does not contain
+ * the fixed phrase "5 issues are open". For those, supply `pattern`: a regular
+ * expression (matched against the same normalized report) that satisfies the
+ * fact when it matches, so the count itself can be recognised rather than one
+ * exact wording. A fact is present when any `anyOf` rendering *or* `pattern`
+ * matches; `anyOf` stays the human-readable renderings even when `pattern`
+ * carries the real matcher.
  */
 export interface RequiredFact {
   description: string;
   anyOf: string[];
+  /** Optional regex (source, matched case-insensitively against the normalized report). */
+  pattern?: string;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/bench/seed.ts b/bench/seed.ts
index 7ad9a3b..531ef00 100644
--- a/bench/seed.ts
+++ b/bench/seed.ts
@@ -359,12 +359,122 @@ async function ensurePullRequest(
   await ensureReviews(access, coords, number, pr.reviews);
 }
 
+/** How long the readiness gate polls before giving up, and how often it re-checks. */
+const READINESS_TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000;
+const READINESS_INTERVAL_MS = 750;
+
+/** Resolve after `ms` milliseconds. */
+function delay(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
+/** A search hit's minimal shape: the repository the matched issue/pull belongs to. */
+interface SearchHit {
+  repository?: { name?: string } | null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether the issue indexer has caught up: a full-text search for `title` of the
+ * given kind returns a hit in this repository. The endpoint spans every repo the
+ * owner can access (mirroring `gitea-axi search`), so a hit only counts when its
+ * repository matches. A non-2xx or a not-yet-indexed title reads as not-ready.
+ */
+async function searchIndexed(
+  access: BenchAccess,
+  coords: RepoCoords,
+  type: "issues" | "pulls",
+  title: string,
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  const query = new URLSearchParams({ q: title, type, owner: coords.owner, state: "all", limit: "50" });
+  const res = await request(access, "GET", `/repos/issues/search?${query.toString()}`);
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  const hits = (await res.json()) as SearchHit[];
+  return hits.some((hit) => hit.repository?.name === coords.repo);
+}
+
+/**
+ * The reason a freshly seeded repository is not yet ready for the agent, or `null`
+ * when it is. Ready means an independent read sees the repository and its full
+ * seeded issue and pull spread, and the issue indexer returns a seeded issue and
+ * pull — the two consistency windows (repo visibility and index lag) an agent
+ * would otherwise race and fail against. Every read is non-throwing, so a
+ * transient error reads as not-ready and is retried rather than propagated.
+ */
+async function readinessGap(access: BenchAccess, coords: RepoCoords): Promise<string | null> {
+  const repoPath = `/repos/${coords.owner}/${coords.repo}`;
+  const repoRes = await request(access, "GET", repoPath);
+  if (!repoRes.ok) {
+    return `repository read returned ${repoRes.status}`;
+  }
+  const issuesRes = await request(access, "GET", `${repoPath}/issues?type=issues&state=all&limit=100`);
+  if (!issuesRes.ok) {
+    return `issue list returned ${issuesRes.status}`;
+  }
+  const issues = (await issuesRes.json()) as GiteaIssue[];
+  if (issues.length < SEED_PLAN.issues.length) {
+    return `only ${issues.length}/${SEED_PLAN.issues.length} issues visible`;
+  }
+  const pullsRes = await request(access, "GET", `${repoPath}/pulls?state=all&limit=100`);
+  if (!pullsRes.ok) {
+    return `pull list returned ${pullsRes.status}`;
+  }
+  const pulls = (await pullsRes.json()) as GiteaPull[];
+  if (pulls.length < SEED_PLAN.pullRequests.length) {
+    return `only ${pulls.length}/${SEED_PLAN.pullRequests.length} pull requests visible`;
+  }
+  const sampleIssue = SEED_PLAN.issues[0]!.title;
+  if (!(await searchIndexed(access, coords, "issues", sampleIssue))) {
+    return `issue "${sampleIssue}" not yet indexed for search`;
+  }
+  const samplePull = SEED_PLAN.pullRequests[0]!.title;
+  if (!(await searchIndexed(access, coords, "pulls", samplePull))) {
+    return `pull request "${samplePull}" not yet indexed for search`;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Block until a freshly seeded repository is fully consistent for the agent, or
+ * fail loudly if it never settles within the timeout. Gitea makes a just-created
+ * repository and its just-written issues and pulls visible to the seed's own
+ * writes immediately, but an independent reader — the agent, a fresh process
+ * moments later — can hit a brief 404 window on the repository and a longer lag on
+ * the async issue indexer. Both are the benchmark's races, not the tool's, so
+ * closing them here keeps a scored run measuring gitea-axi rather than host
+ * propagation. A timeout is a harness failure surfaced to the maintainer, never a
+ * scored agent failure.
+ */
+export async function waitForSeedReady(
+  access: BenchAccess,
+  coords: RepoCoords,
+  timeoutMs = READINESS_TIMEOUT_MS,
+  intervalMs = READINESS_INTERVAL_MS,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
+  let gap = await readinessGap(access, coords);
+  while (gap !== null) {
+    if (Date.now() >= deadline) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `seeded repository ${coords.owner}/${coords.repo} not ready after ${timeoutMs}ms: ${gap}`,
+      );
+    }
+    await delay(intervalMs);
+    gap = await readinessGap(access, coords);
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Seed a freshly provisioned repository to the ground truth, idempotently. Labels
  * come first (so issues and pull requests can apply them), then the issue spread,
  * then the pull requests. Returns the deterministic ground-truth RepoState the
  * checker scores against; on a fresh repository the created numbers match it,
  * and a re-run leaves them unchanged.
+ *
+ * Before returning, it waits out the repository-visibility and issue-indexer
+ * consistency windows (see waitForSeedReady), so the agent that runs next never
+ * races a repository that is not yet readable or searchable.
  */
 export async function seedRepo(access: BenchAccess, coords: RepoCoords): Promise<RepoState> {
   const user = await currentUser(access);
@@ -384,6 +494,7 @@ export async function seedRepo(access: BenchAccess, coords: RepoCoords): Promise
     await ensurePullRequest(access, coords, pr, labelIds, pullsByTitle);
   }
 
+  await waitForSeedReady(access, coords);
   return groundTruth(user);
 }
 
diff --git a/bench/task-suite.ts b/bench/task-suite.ts
index 832e1f4..bbd25ad 100644
--- a/bench/task-suite.ts
+++ b/bench/task-suite.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,11 @@ function readTasks(): BenchTask[] {
         {
           description: "the repository has 5 open issues",
           anyOf: ["5 open", "five open", "open issues: 5", "open: 5", "5 issues are open"],
+          // "5" followed by "open" across up to four alphabetic filler words, so
+          // natural padding ("5 issues are currently open") is recognised while a
+          // digit between them (a wrong "5 issues, 3 open") is not: the filler run
+          // is alphabetic only, so it cannot span another count.
+          pattern: "\\b5(?: [a-z]+){0,4} open\\b",
         },
       ]),
     },