diff --git a/apps/web/src/services/ai/__tests__/element-tools-dispatcher.test.ts b/apps/web/src/services/ai/__tests__/element-tools-dispatcher.test.ts
index 3ea91f9c7..6c0ec5448 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/services/ai/__tests__/element-tools-dispatcher.test.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/services/ai/__tests__/element-tools-dispatcher.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { ELEMENT_TOOL_NAMES } from '@zseven-w/pen-mcp';
-import { dispatchElementToolCall, dispatchElementToolCalls } from '../element-tools-dispatcher';
+import {
+  dispatchElementToolCall,
+  dispatchElementToolCalls,
+  looksLikeJsonl,
+} from '../element-tools-dispatcher';
 import { SUPPORTED_EMBEDDED_ELEMENT_TOOLS } from '../element-tool-shims';
 import { useHistoryStore } from '@/stores/history-store';
 import { useDocumentStore } from '@/stores/document-store';
@@ -693,3 +697,64 @@ describe('dispatchElementToolCall — M2 shim + M3 HTTP fallback', () => {
 
 // afterEach is imported implicitly via vitest globals; re-import for clarity
 import { afterEach } from 'vitest';
+
+describe('looksLikeJsonl', () => {
+  // Each weak/mid-tier model puts the JSONL in a slightly different
+  // wrapper. The detector has to recognize ALL of them so the
+  // dispatcher can re-route to applyBatchDesignAsJsonl instead of
+  // failing the whole subtask via the DSL parser.
+
+  it('matches pure JSONL (one node per line, starts with {)', () => {
+    const jsonl =
+      '{"_parent":null,"id":"r","type":"frame","children":[]}\n' +
+      '{"_parent":"r","id":"t","type":"text","content":"hi"}';
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl(jsonl)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('matches JSON-array-of-nodes (M2.7 food-app shape)', () => {
+    // Real failure from the M2.7 food-app run: model emitted the full
+    // subtask design wrapped in a single JSON array literal. The
+    // previous gate only checked `startsWith('{')` so this fell
+    // through to the DSL parser, every line of `[`/`{`/`}` failed,
+    // and the subtask returned empty → orchestrator retry → minimal-
+    // skills fallback → still empty → user got a single-frame
+    // placeholder with one section instead of the full design.
+    const jsonArray = `[
+  {
+    "id": "filterChips-root",
+    "type": "frame",
+    "name": "Filter Chips Section",
+    "role": "section",
+    "_parent": null,
+    "children": []
+  }
+]`;
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl(jsonArray)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('matches array shape with leading whitespace (newlines / indent)', () => {
+    const padded = '\n\n  [{"_parent":null,"id":"x","type":"frame"}]';
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl(padded)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects DSL-style assignment lines (foo=I("parent",{...}))', () => {
+    // Real DSL: dispatch should NOT re-route to JSONL apply.
+    const dsl = 'root=I(null,{"type":"frame"})\nlabel=I(root,{"type":"text"})';
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl(dsl)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects empty / non-bracketed strings', () => {
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl('')).toBe(false);
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl('   ')).toBe(false);
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl('hello world')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('rejects bracketed-but-non-JSONL content (e.g. JSON array of strings)', () => {
+    // A `[ ... ]` literal that doesn't carry JSONL shape keys (no
+    // `_parent`, no PenNode `type`) should NOT match — otherwise
+    // we'd reroute legit non-design array operations into the
+    // JSONL apply path.
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl('["foo", "bar"]')).toBe(false);
+    expect(looksLikeJsonl('[{"foo": "bar"}]')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/web/src/services/ai/element-tools-dispatcher.ts b/apps/web/src/services/ai/element-tools-dispatcher.ts
index 5ad7a2877..6da4262c8 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/services/ai/element-tools-dispatcher.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/services/ai/element-tools-dispatcher.ts
@@ -448,19 +448,30 @@ async function applyElementTool(
 /**
  * Detect whether `operations` looks like flat JSONL nodes rather than the
  * `foo=I("parent",{...})` assignment-based DSL. Weak / mid-tier models
- * (GPT-5.5 standard tier observed) emit their full design as raw JSONL
- * but stuff it inside `<op_tool>{name:"batch_design",arguments:{operations}}`
- * because the ELEMENT_TOOL_OUTPUT_FORMAT prompt teaches `<op_tool>`-only
- * output but doesn't show DSL syntax. The DSL parser then rejects every
- * line. Detect this case at dispatch time and route through the JSONL
- * apply path instead of failing.
+ * (GPT-5.5 standard tier, MiniMax M2.7 basic tier observed) emit their
+ * full design as JSONL but stuff it inside
+ * `<op_tool>{name:"batch_design",arguments:{operations}}` because the
+ * ELEMENT_TOOL_OUTPUT_FORMAT prompt teaches `<op_tool>`-only output
+ * but doesn't show DSL syntax. The DSL parser then rejects every line.
+ * Detect this case at dispatch time and route through the JSONL apply
+ * path instead of failing.
  *
- * Signature: starts with `{` AND contains JSONL-shape keys (`_parent`
- * or a `type:"frame|text|…"` field) within the first chunk.
+ * Two shapes count:
+ *   - Pure JSONL: starts with `{`, one node per line.
+ *   - JSON array: starts with `[`, all nodes wrapped in a single
+ *     array literal. M2.7 reflexively does this because its training
+ *     data includes a lot of "here's a JSON array of things" patterns;
+ *     the food-app run shipped a 1300-byte single-line `[{…}, {…}]`
+ *     that DSL parsed to "[" + "{" + "}" + "]" each on its own line,
+ *     all rejected, the whole subtask returned empty.
+ *
+ * Either shape carries the same JSONL-style keys (`_parent` /
+ * `type:"frame|text|…"`) — that's the actual signature, the
+ * leading-character check just disambiguates from real DSL.
  */
-function looksLikeJsonl(operations: string): boolean {
+export function looksLikeJsonl(operations: string): boolean {
   const trimmed = operations.trim();
-  if (!trimmed.startsWith('{')) return false;
+  if (!trimmed.startsWith('{') && !trimmed.startsWith('[')) return false;
   return /"_parent"\s*:|"type"\s*:\s*"(frame|text|rectangle|ellipse|icon_font|image|path|line|polygon|group)"/.test(
     trimmed.slice(0, 800),
   );