diff --git a/internal/purchase/errnotes.go b/internal/purchase/errnotes.go
index 2a1657b17..561045750 100644
--- a/internal/purchase/errnotes.go
+++ b/internal/purchase/errnotes.go
@@ -12,24 +12,26 @@ import (
 // notifications.go, plan_step_attach.go, stranded_redrive.go, step_cap.go,
 // due_age_cap.go, claim.go, ladder_execution_recheck.go and the api retry
 // handler's email reasons). Anything else in a stored error is treated as
-// provider text. Each pattern is anchored and closed: no pattern matches free text or a newline.
+// provider text. Each pattern is anchored and closed: every variable slot admits only
+// its writer's alphabet, so no slot matches whitespace, a line break or a control
+// or format character.
 // The em dash in the reaper note is written as \x{2014}.
 var serverNotePatterns = []string{
-	`history_write_failed: commitment [^;\s]+ purchased but its history record failed to save`,
+	`history_write_failed: commitment ` + commitmentIDPattern + ` purchased but its history record failed to save`,
 	`recovered after reap; provider purchase succeeded`,
 	`reaped after \d+m in [a-z_]+ state \x{2014} executor did not complete(?:; safe to retry)?`,
 	`execution was approved but its purchase run was interrupted before completing and never finalized; failed by the recovery sweep so it is not silently stuck \(issue #632\)\. (?:Verify on the cloud provider that no commitment was created, then Retry\.|Retry is refused for this purchase because a repeat could buy a second commitment\. Verify on the cloud provider whether the commitment was created; if it was not, start a new purchase\.)`,
 	`refusing to execute retry attempt \d+: (?:` + redriveReasonPattern + `)`,
 	`stale Azure recommendation pricing; refresh recommendations and submit a new purchase(?:: the latest collection state is missing, so Azure prices cannot be confirmed current)?`,
-	`(?:execution [^:\s]+: )?plan step has no recommendations attached, so it cannot buy anything(?: \(platform#631: plan steps cannot yet carry recommendations\))?`,
+	`(?:execution ` + uuidPattern + `: )?plan step has no recommendations attached, so it cannot buy anything(?: \(platform#631: plan steps cannot yet carry recommendations\))?`,
 	`plan step refused by commitment cap(?:: plan has no max_step_commitment set \(auto-purchase of steps with recommendations is refused until one is set\)|: step total commitment \d+\.\d{2} exceeds max_step_commitment \d+\.\d{2})?`,
 	`scheduled purchase skipped: it was due too long ago(?:: it was due at \d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T[0-9:.]+Z, [0-9a-z.]+ ago, which is more than the [0-9a-z.]+ limit \(SCHEDULED_PURCHASE_MAX_OVERDUE\); nothing was submitted, retry it if the purchase is still wanted)?`,
 	`purchase refused after claim: the claimed execution no longer passes the authorization checks`,
 	`refusing to execute ladder purchase: (?:global config unavailable|ladder planning is switched off|ladder execution is switched off|its tranche status is unknown|its tranche is [a-z_]+|its ladder config no longer exists|its ladder config is disabled|ladder config mode is "[a-z_]*", not auto_approve|its ladder run no longer exists|its ladder run was canceled)`,
 	`scheduled plan step reached its scheduled date without recommendations; no purchase was submitted`,
-	`no current recommendation matched plan [^;\s]+ step \d+ by \d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \(\d+-day grace after the plan date\)(?:; ` + skippedNotePattern + `)?`,
+	`no current recommendation matched plan ` + uuidPattern + ` step \d+ by \d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \(\d+-day grace after the plan date\)(?:; ` + skippedNotePattern + `)?`,
 	`target already met: target \d+, committed \d+(?:; ` + skippedNotePattern + `)?; \d+ failed row\(s\) of unknown outcome counted as committed`,
-	`selected recommendations do not resolve to a single cloud account: (?:\d+ selected recommendation\(s\) target \d+ cloud accounts \(` + idListPattern + `\); submit one purchase per account|\d+ selected recommendation\(s\) carry no cloud_account_id while \d+ target account ` + idPattern + `)`,
+	`selected recommendations do not resolve to a single cloud account: (?:\d+ selected recommendation\(s\) target \d+ cloud accounts \(` + uuidPattern + `(?:, ` + uuidPattern + `)*\); submit one purchase per account|\d+ selected recommendation\(s\) carry no cloud_account_id while \d+ target account ` + uuidPattern + `)`,
 	`purchase was not successful`,
 	regexp.QuoteMeta(skippedAccountRetryNote),
 	regexp.QuoteMeta(skippedAccountNoRetryNote),
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ var serverNotePatterns = []string{
 	regexp.QuoteMeta(redshiftHorizonRefusal),
 	regexp.QuoteMeta(redshiftNoStampRefusal),
 	regexp.QuoteMeta(redshiftRecentBuyRefusal),
-	`EC2 recommendation for \S+ has zonal scope but no AvailabilityZone: refusing to buy a zonal RI in an arbitrary AZ; re-fetch the recommendation`,
+	`EC2 recommendation for ` + resourceTypePattern + ` has zonal scope but no AvailabilityZone: refusing to buy a zonal RI in an arbitrary AZ; re-fetch the recommendation`,
 	`zonal RI offering needs an availability zone; re-fetch the recommendation`,
 	`email notifier not configured for this deployment`,
 	`no notification email set in Settings \x{2192} General(?: and no account contact emails configured)?`,
@@ -55,7 +57,7 @@ var bareNotePatterns = []string{
 	// The operator's stale-exchange resolve note (api/handler_ri_exchange_resolve.go
 	// note()): fixed fields in a fixed order, then the admin's own reason as a Go
 	// quoted string, which is text typed on purpose and closed by its quotes.
-	`operator:(?:completed|failed): account="\d{12}" region="[a-z0-9-]{1,32}" checked_at=\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T[0-9:.]+(?:Z|[+-]\d{2}:\d{2})(?: ack=true)?(?: exchange_id="[A-Za-z0-9-]{1,100}")? reason="(?:[^"\\\n]|\\.)*"`,
+	`operator:(?:completed|failed): account="\d{12}" region="[a-z0-9-]{1,32}" checked_at=\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T[0-9:.]+(?:Z|[+-]\d{2}:\d{2})(?: ack=true)?(?: exchange_id="[A-Za-z0-9-]{1,100}")? reason="` + quotedTextPattern + `"`,
 	`config load failed`,
 	`exchange record has no region; cannot execute safely`,
 	`(?:daily|per-exchange) spending cap is not configured \(RIExchange(?:MaxDaily|MaxPerExchange)USD is 0\)`,
@@ -81,10 +83,18 @@ func categoryNotePatterns() []string {
 const (
 	// amountPattern is a decimal amount; shortValuePattern is a short value with no
 	// whitespace, quotes or newline. Anything wider falls back to the fixed head.
-	amountPattern      = `\d+(?:\.\d+)?`
-	shortValuePattern  = `[A-Za-z0-9._+-]{1,32}`
-	idPattern          = `[^;\s,()]+`
-	idListPattern      = idPattern + `(?:, ` + idPattern + `)*`
+	amountPattern     = `\d+(?:\.\d+)?`
+	shortValuePattern = `[A-Za-z0-9._+-]{1,32}`
+	// uuidPattern is a Postgres UUID as it renders (plan, execution and cloud
+	// account IDs). commitmentIDPattern covers provider commitment IDs and ARNs;
+	// identityKeyPattern a RecIdentityKey with "/" separators (skippedNote).
+	uuidPattern         = `[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}`
+	commitmentIDPattern = `[A-Za-z0-9._:/-]{1,256}`
+	identityKeyPattern  = `[A-Za-z0-9._:/+-]{1,256}`
+	idListPattern       = identityKeyPattern + `(?:, ` + identityKeyPattern + `)*`
+	// quotedTextPattern is the body of a Go %q string: printable characters
+	// other than '"' and '\\', ASCII space, or an escape.
+	quotedTextPattern  = `(?:[^"\\\p{C}\p{Z}]| |\\[ -~])*`
 	skippedNotePattern = `\d+ recommendation\(s\) without a frozen baseline skipped \(under-buy\): ` + idListPattern
 )
 
@@ -109,7 +119,7 @@ var exchangeNoteHeads = []string{
 }
 
 var redriveReasonPattern = regexp.QuoteMeta(redriveReasonAWSNoGuard) + `|` + regexp.QuoteMeta(redriveReasonAzureSavingsPlan) +
-	`|provider "[^"]*" is not known to reject a duplicate purchase, so re-driving this could buy a second commitment`
+	`|provider "[A-Za-z0-9._+-]{0,32}" is not known to reject a duplicate purchase, so re-driving this could buy a second commitment`
 
 // resourceTypePattern is the "<resourceType>: " head the executor's per-rec join
 // adds (execution.go: fmt.Sprintf("%s: %v", rec.ResourceType, err)). The head is
diff --git a/internal/purchase/errnotes_test.go b/internal/purchase/errnotes_test.go
index 7898eddf2..562f9cf2e 100644
--- a/internal/purchase/errnotes_test.go
+++ b/internal/purchase/errnotes_test.go
@@ -44,11 +44,11 @@ func TestSanitizeStoredError_AllowlistedNotesPassThroughVerbatim(t *testing.T) {
 		"refusing to execute ladder purchase: global config unreadable",
 		"scheduled plan step reached its scheduled date without recommendations; no purchase was submitted",
 		"no current recommendation matched plan 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 step 2 by 2026-01-02 (3-day grace after the plan date)",
-		"no current recommendation matched plan p step 2 by 2026-01-02 (3-day grace after the plan date); " + skippedNote([]string{"a\x1fb", "c"}),
+		"no current recommendation matched plan 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 step 2 by 2026-01-02 (3-day grace after the plan date); " + skippedNote([]string{"a\x1fb", "c"}),
 		"target already met: target 10, committed 12; 0 failed row(s) of unknown outcome counted as committed",
 		"target already met: target 10, committed 12; " + skippedNote([]string{"a"}) + "; 1 failed row(s) of unknown outcome counted as committed",
-		fmt.Errorf("%w: 2 selected recommendation(s) target 2 cloud accounts (a, b); submit one purchase per account", errAmbiguousAccountScope).Error(),
-		fmt.Errorf("%w: 1 selected recommendation(s) carry no cloud_account_id while 2 target account a", errAmbiguousAccountScope).Error(),
+		fmt.Errorf("%w: 2 selected recommendation(s) target 2 cloud accounts (00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000000a, 00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000000b); submit one purchase per account", errAmbiguousAccountScope).Error(),
+		fmt.Errorf("%w: 1 selected recommendation(s) carry no cloud_account_id while 2 target account 00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000000a", errAmbiguousAccountScope).Error(),
 		"purchase was not successful",
 		skippedAccountRetryNote,
 		skippedAccountNoRetryNote,
@@ -219,3 +219,45 @@ func TestSanitizeStoredError_RedshiftGateRefusalsAreClosed(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// Every variable slot in a closed note admits only its writer's alphabet, so
+// whitespace, a line break or a control or format character never passes
+// verbatim, whichever writer later fills the slot.
+func TestSanitizeStoredError_SlotsRejectWhitespaceAndControls(t *testing.T) {
+	const id = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+	resolve := `operator:completed: account="` + "1234" + "56789012" + `" region="us-east-1" checked_at=2026-01-02T03:04:05Z reason="%s"`
+	slots := []string{
+		"history_write_failed: commitment %s purchased but its history record failed to save",
+		"execution %s: " + ErrPlanStepNoRecommendations.Error(),
+		"no current recommendation matched plan %s step 2 by 2026-01-02 (3-day grace after the plan date)",
+		"no current recommendation matched plan " + id + " step 2 by 2026-01-02 (3-day grace after the plan date); 1 recommendation(s) without a frozen baseline skipped (under-buy): %s",
+		errAmbiguousAccountScope.Error() + ": 2 selected recommendation(s) target 2 cloud accounts (%s, " + id + "); submit one purchase per account",
+		errAmbiguousAccountScope.Error() + ": 1 selected recommendation(s) carry no cloud_account_id while 2 target account %s",
+		"EC2 recommendation for %s has zonal scope but no AvailabilityZone: refusing to buy a zonal RI in an arbitrary AZ; re-fetch the recommendation",
+		`refusing to execute retry attempt 1: provider "%s" is not known to reject a duplicate purchase, so re-driving this could buy a second commitment`,
+		resolve,
+	}
+	for _, bad := range []string{"a b", "a\nb", "a\rb", "a\tb", "a\vb", "a\fb", "a\u0085b", "a\u00a0b", "a\u2028b", "a\u200bb", "a\x00b"} {
+		for _, slot := range slots {
+			if slot == resolve && bad == "a b" {
+				continue // %q keeps an ASCII space; the admin's reason may have one
+			}
+			in := fmt.Sprintf(slot, bad)
+			assert.NotEqual(t, in, SanitizeStoredError(in), "%q", in)
+		}
+	}
+	// The real alphabets still pass verbatim.
+	for _, in := range []string{
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[0], "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:reserved/ri-0a1b.c_2"),
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[1], id),
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[2], id),
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[3], id+"/ec2/us-east-1/m5.large//1/no-upfront//Linux/UNIX/default"),
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[4], id),
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[5], id),
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[6], "m5.large"),
+		fmt.Sprintf(slots[7], "oracle-cloud"),
+		fmt.Sprintf(resolve, `done, see ticket \"7\"\n`),
+	} {
+		assert.Equal(t, in, SanitizeStoredError(in), in)
+	}
+}