diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index ae5f658..00fb446 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ INTERNAL_MCP_TOKEN=
 METRICS_TOKEN=
 AI_RUN_RETENTION_DAYS=90
 AI_SLOW_RUN_THRESHOLD_SECONDS=20
-AI_AGENT_MODEL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=20
+AI_AGENT_MODEL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=60
 KNOWLEDGE_EMBEDDING_DEPLOYMENT_ID=0
 KNOWLEDGE_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS=1536
 KNOWLEDGE_EMBEDDING_ALLOW_HASH_FALLBACK=false
diff --git a/backend/apps/agents/management/commands/publish_trusted_ticket_intake.py b/backend/apps/agents/management/commands/publish_trusted_ticket_intake.py
index aceab1b..3b74dfa 100644
--- a/backend/apps/agents/management/commands/publish_trusted_ticket_intake.py
+++ b/backend/apps/agents/management/commands/publish_trusted_ticket_intake.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from apps.modelhub.models import ModelDeployment
 from apps.skills.models import SkillDefinition, SkillVersion
 
 RELEASE_MARKER = "trusted-ticket-intake-v5-structured-context"
+TRUSTED_INTAKE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS = 8192
 CATEGORY_CODES = [
     "business_issue",
     "operation_issue",
@@ -458,6 +459,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
                 "knowledge_context": [],
             },
             temperature_override=0.1,
+            max_output_tokens_override=TRUSTED_INTAKE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS,
             published_at=timezone.now(),
         )
         AgentStepBinding.objects.bulk_create(
diff --git a/backend/apps/agents/services.py b/backend/apps/agents/services.py
index 8291350..79d4be6 100644
--- a/backend/apps/agents/services.py
+++ b/backend/apps/agents/services.py
@@ -408,20 +408,30 @@ def _normalize_nested_output(output: Any, output_schema: dict) -> Any:
         nested_fields = output.get("fields")
         if isinstance(nested_fields, dict):
             fields = _complete_object_shape(nested_fields, field_schema)
+            normalized = dict(output)
         elif field_codes.intersection(output):
             fields = _complete_object_shape(
                 {code: output[code] for code in field_codes if code in output},
                 field_schema,
             )
+            normalized = {
+                code: value
+                for code, value in output.items()
+                if code not in field_codes
+            }
         else:
             fields = None
         if fields is not None:
             questions = output.get("questions", output.get("follow_up_questions", []))
-            return {
-                "fields": fields,
-                "missing_fields": list(output.get("missing_fields", [])),
-                "questions": list(questions) if isinstance(questions, list) else [],
-            }
+            normalized.pop("follow_up_questions", None)
+            normalized.update(
+                {
+                    "fields": fields,
+                    "missing_fields": list(output.get("missing_fields", [])),
+                    "questions": list(questions) if isinstance(questions, list) else [],
+                }
+            )
+            return normalized
     return output
 
 
diff --git a/backend/config/settings/base.py b/backend/config/settings/base.py
index a6924af..f69bd7e 100644
--- a/backend/config/settings/base.py
+++ b/backend/config/settings/base.py
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ INTERNAL_MCP_TOKEN = os.getenv("INTERNAL_MCP_TOKEN", "")
 METRICS_TOKEN = os.getenv("METRICS_TOKEN", "")
 AI_RUN_RETENTION_DAYS = int(os.getenv("AI_RUN_RETENTION_DAYS", "90"))
 AI_SLOW_RUN_THRESHOLD_SECONDS = int(os.getenv("AI_SLOW_RUN_THRESHOLD_SECONDS", "20"))
-AI_AGENT_MODEL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = int(os.getenv("AI_AGENT_MODEL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS", "20"))
+AI_AGENT_MODEL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = int(os.getenv("AI_AGENT_MODEL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS", "60"))
 KNOWLEDGE_EMBEDDING_DEPLOYMENT_ID = int(
     os.getenv("KNOWLEDGE_EMBEDDING_DEPLOYMENT_ID", "0")
 )