diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 775d89437..7e42b159a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 - **Pi/Tau stability:** RPC replies buffered until the assistant turn finishes; parsers return consistent `texts[]`; web auto-replies keep a warm Tau RPC process to avoid cold starts.
 - **Claude prompt flow:** One-time `sessionIntro` with per-message `/think:high` bodyPrefix; system prompt always sent on first turn even with `sendSystemOnce`.
 - **Heartbeat UX:** Backpressure skips reply heartbeats while other commands run; skips don’t refresh session `updatedAt`; web/Twilio heartbeats normalize array payloads and optional `heartbeatCommand`.
-- **Tau completion signal:** RPC now resolves on Tau’s `agent_end` event so late assistant messages (e.g., camera snap + weather) aren’t truncated.
+- **Tau completion signal:** RPC now resolves on Tau’s `agent_end` (or process exit) so late assistant messages aren’t truncated; 5-minute hard cap only as a failsafe.
 
 ### Reliability & UX
 - Outbound chunking prefers newlines/word boundaries and enforces caps (1600 WhatsApp/Twilio, 4000 web).
diff --git a/src/process/tau-rpc.ts b/src/process/tau-rpc.ts
index ed996d836..50d577a65 100644
--- a/src/process/tau-rpc.ts
+++ b/src/process/tau-rpc.ts
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ class TauRpcClient {
   private stderr = "";
   private buffer: string[] = [];
   private idleTimer: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
-  private sawToolActivity = false;
-  private seenAssistantEnd = false;
-  private seenAgentEnd = false;
   private readonly idleMs = 120;
   private pending:
     | {
@@ -54,12 +51,14 @@ class TauRpcClient {
       this.stderr += d.toString();
     });
     this.child.on("exit", (code, signal) => {
+      if (this.idleTimer) clearTimeout(this.idleTimer);
       if (this.pending) {
-        this.pending.reject(
-          new Error(`tau rpc exited (code=${code}, signal=${signal})`),
-        );
-        clearTimeout(this.pending.timer);
+        const pending = this.pending;
         this.pending = undefined;
+        const out = this.buffer.join("\n");
+        clearTimeout(pending.timer);
+        // Treat process exit as completion with whatever output we captured.
+        pending.resolve({ stdout: out, stderr: this.stderr, code: code ?? 0, signal });
       }
       this.dispose();
     });
@@ -70,31 +69,16 @@ class TauRpcClient {
     this.buffer.push(line);
     this.pending?.onEvent?.(line);
 
-    // Parse the line once to track agent/tool lifecycle signals.
+    // Parse the line once to track agent lifecycle signals.
     try {
       const evt = JSON.parse(line) as { type?: string; message?: unknown };
 
-      // Any tool activity (calls or execution events) means we should wait for agent_end,
-      // not the first assistant message_end, to avoid truncating follow-up replies.
-      if (
-        evt?.type === "tool_execution_start" ||
-        evt?.type === "tool_execution_end" ||
-        (evt?.type === "message" &&
-          evt.message &&
-          JSON.stringify(evt.message).includes('"toolCall"'))
-      ) {
-        this.sawToolActivity = true;
-      }
-
       if (evt?.type === "agent_end") {
-        this.seenAgentEnd = true;
-        if (this.idleTimer) clearTimeout(this.idleTimer);
+        // Tau signals the end of the prompt/response cycle; resolve with all buffered output.
         const pending = this.pending;
         this.pending = undefined;
         const out = this.buffer.join("\n");
         this.buffer = [];
-        this.sawToolActivity = false;
-        this.seenAssistantEnd = false;
         clearTimeout(pending.timer);
         pending.resolve({ stdout: out, stderr: this.stderr, code: 0 });
         return;
@@ -102,42 +86,6 @@ class TauRpcClient {
     } catch {
       // ignore malformed/non-JSON lines
     }
-
-    // Streamed JSON arrives line-by-line; mark when an assistant message finishes
-    // and resolve after a short idle to capture any follow-up events (e.g. tools)
-    // that belong to the same turn.
-    if (
-      line.includes('"type":"message_end"') &&
-      line.includes('"role":"assistant"')
-    ) {
-      this.seenAssistantEnd = true;
-    }
-
-    if (this.seenAssistantEnd) {
-      if (this.idleTimer) clearTimeout(this.idleTimer);
-      this.idleTimer = setTimeout(() => {
-        if (!this.pending) return;
-        const out = this.buffer.join("\n");
-        // If tools are in-flight, prefer waiting for agent_end to avoid dropping the
-        // post-tool assistant turn. The outer timeout still prevents hangs.
-        if (this.sawToolActivity && !this.seenAgentEnd) {
-          return;
-        }
-        // Only resolve once we have at least one assistant text payload; otherwise keep waiting.
-        const parsed = piSpec.parseOutput(out);
-        if (parsed.texts && parsed.texts.length > 0) {
-          const pending = this.pending;
-          this.pending = undefined;
-          this.buffer = [];
-          this.sawToolActivity = false;
-          this.seenAssistantEnd = false;
-          clearTimeout(pending.timer);
-          pending.resolve({ stdout: out, stderr: this.stderr, code: 0 });
-          return;
-        }
-        // No assistant text yet; wait for more lines.
-      }, this.idleMs); // small idle window to group streaming blocks
-    }
   }
 
   async prompt(
@@ -162,14 +110,13 @@ class TauRpcClient {
       if (!ok) child.stdin.once("drain", () => resolve());
     });
     return await new Promise<TauRpcResult>((resolve, reject) => {
+      // Hard cap to avoid stuck relays; agent_end or process exit should usually resolve first.
+      const capMs = Math.min(timeoutMs, 5 * 60 * 1000);
       const timer = setTimeout(() => {
         this.pending = undefined;
-        this.sawToolActivity = false;
-        this.seenAssistantEnd = false;
-        this.seenAgentEnd = false;
-        reject(new Error(`tau rpc timed out after ${timeoutMs}ms`));
+        reject(new Error(`tau rpc timed out after ${capMs}ms`));
         child.kill("SIGKILL");
-      }, timeoutMs);
+      }, capMs);
       this.pending = { resolve, reject, timer, onEvent };
     });
   }