diff --git a/docs/explore-notes/review-merge.md b/docs/explore-notes/review-merge.md
index f2c28f70..e8a47bd0 100644
--- a/docs/explore-notes/review-merge.md
+++ b/docs/explore-notes/review-merge.md
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ There is no separate "Merge all" entry.
   silently skipped there.
 - **Everything else** — a childless task, or a parent whose children were absorbed into its unit
   branch → `TaskMergeService.ApproveAndMergeAsync` on the task's own worktree. A conflict keeps
-  the task in `WaitingForReview`.
+  the task in `WaitingForReview`. A planning parent with any child not `Done` is `blocked` there
+  (`subtask X is not Done (status …)`, same as the orchestrator) — no half plan on the target.
 - **Child of a unit** (parent has an `Active` worktree) → `ApproveAndMergeAsync` absorbs it into
   the unit branch (`UnitBranchService.AbsorbChildAsync`, ff-only) instead of merging to the target.
 - **No active worktree** (sandbox run) → straight to `Done`.
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/CLAUDE.md b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/CLAUDE.md
index fa1735bf..09c8cadf 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/CLAUDE.md
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ review. The child row goes `Merged` with `MergeCommit` null (so `revert_merge` o
 whole unit), its worktree and branch are removed, the parent row's `HeadCommit`/`DiffStat` move
 along. A child that can't fast-forward (e.g. started in parallel via Run now) is `Failed` — no
 merge fallback; in the approve path it stays `WaitingForReview` with a `blocked` result.
+A planning parent is only approvable once **every** child is `Done` — `ApproveAndMergeAsync`
+blocks with `subtask X is not Done (status …)`, the orchestrator's rule, so a failed/cancelled child
+never lands half a plan on the target (improvement parents have no such gate, as before).
 `UnitBranchService` never writes task status (it would close a DI cycle through
 `PlanningChainCoordinator`). ⚠️ `QueuePicker` counts `worktrees.state='merged'` as a satisfied
 dependency, so an absorbed child satisfies a `dependsOn` edge although nothing reached `main` yet.
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs
index 9d99bbbd..00481abb 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Lifecycle/TaskMergeService.cs
@@ -1013,6 +1013,20 @@ public sealed class TaskMergeService
         if (task.Status != TaskStatus.WaitingForReview)
             return Blocked("task is not waiting for review");
 
+        // A plan lands whole or not at all -- same rule (and message) as PlanningMergeOrchestrator.StartAsync,
+        // which a unit-branch parent no longer passes through.
+        if (task.PlanningPhase != PlanningPhase.None)
+        {
+            using var ctx = _dbFactory.CreateDbContext();
+            var notDone = await ctx.Tasks.AsNoTracking()
+                .Where(c => c.ParentTaskId == taskId && c.Status != TaskStatus.Done)
+                .OrderBy(c => c.SortOrder)
+                .Select(c => new { c.Id, c.Status })
+                .FirstOrDefaultAsync(ct);
+            if (notDone is not null)
+                return Blocked($"subtask {notDone.Id} is not Done (status {notDone.Status})");
+        }
+
         // An interactive child of a unit lands in the unit branch, not on the target; the parent's
         // own approve merges the unit. A failed fast-forward keeps the child in review.
         if (task.ParentTaskId is not null && _unitBranch is not null)
diff --git a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Runner/UnitBranchService.cs b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Runner/UnitBranchService.cs
index 98d66b32..dd4edb35 100644
--- a/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Runner/UnitBranchService.cs
+++ b/src/ClaudeDo.Worker/Runner/UnitBranchService.cs
@@ -88,8 +88,9 @@ public sealed class UnitBranchService
         var (code, stderr) = await _git.MergeFastForwardOnlyAsync(parentWt.Path, childWt.BranchName, ct);
         if (code != 0)
             return new AbsorbResult(true,
-                $"Unit branch '{parentWt.BranchName}' cannot be fast-forwarded to '{childWt.BranchName}' — the child " +
-                $"did not start from the unit's current head (e.g. it was run in parallel via Run now). git: {stderr}");
+                $"Unit branch '{parentWt.BranchName}' cannot be fast-forwarded to '{childWt.BranchName}': {stderr.Trim()} " +
+                "(usually the child did not start from the unit's current head, e.g. run in parallel via Run now, " +
+                "or the unit worktree has local changes)");
 
         var head = await _git.RevParseHeadAsync(parentWt.Path, ct);
         var diffStat = await _git.DiffStatAsync(parentWt.Path, parentWt.BaseCommit, head, ct: ct);
diff --git a/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Runner/UnitBranchTests.cs b/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Runner/UnitBranchTests.cs
index a360478e..9fd0af51 100644
--- a/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Runner/UnitBranchTests.cs
+++ b/tests/ClaudeDo.Worker.Tests/Runner/UnitBranchTests.cs
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ public sealed class UnitBranchTests : IDisposable
         Assert.Equal(TaskStatus.Failed, child.Status);
         Assert.Equal(movedHead, GitRepoFixture.RunGit(_repo.RepoDir, "rev-parse", unit.BranchName).Trim());
         Assert.Contains("fast-forward", child.Result);
+        Assert.Contains("Not possible to fast-forward", child.Result); // git's own stderr is surfaced
         Assert.Equal(WorktreeState.Active, (await WorktreeOf(Child1))!.State);
     }
 
@@ -233,6 +234,23 @@ public sealed class UnitBranchTests : IDisposable
         Assert.Equal(WorktreeState.Merged, (await WorktreeOf(Parent))!.State);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Approving_a_planning_parent_with_an_unfinished_child_is_blocked()
+    {
+        await _unit.EnsureUnitWorktreeAsync(Parent, default);
+        await RunChild(Child1, Writes());
+        await SetStatus(Child2, TaskStatus.Failed);
+        await SetStatus(Parent, TaskStatus.WaitingForReview);
+
+        var result = await MergeService().ApproveAndMergeAsync(Parent, "main", default);
+
+        Assert.Equal(TaskMergeService.StatusBlocked, result.Status);
+        Assert.Equal($"subtask {Child2} is not Done (status Failed)", result.ErrorMessage);
+        Assert.Equal(TaskStatus.WaitingForReview, (await TaskOf(Parent)).Status);
+        Assert.Equal(WorktreeState.Active, (await WorktreeOf(Parent))!.State);
+        Assert.Equal(_repo.BaseCommit, GitRepoFixture.RunGit(_repo.RepoDir, "rev-parse", "main").Trim());
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public async Task Approving_an_interactive_child_absorbs_it_instead_of_merging_to_main()
     {