diff --git a/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml b/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
index 0883f3fec..a468100ae 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
@@ -120,28 +120,28 @@ jobs:
           elif [[ "$LABEL_NAME" == "agents:optimize" ]]; then
             # Skip if auto-pilot label is present (auto-pilot runs optimizer inline)
             # Use pipefail to ensure gh errors cause check to fail-closed
-            if gh issue view "${{ github.event.issue.number }}" --json labels \
+            if gh issue view "$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER" --json labels \
                 --jq '.labels[].name' | grep -qx 'agents:auto-pilot'; then
               echo "should_run=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
               echo "Skipping: auto-pilot label present (runs inline)"
             else
               {
                 echo "phase=analyze"
-                echo "issue_number=${{ github.event.issue.number }}"
+                echo "issue_number=$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER"
                 echo "should_run=true"
               } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             fi
           elif [[ "$LABEL_NAME" == "agents:apply-suggestions" ]]; then
             # Skip if auto-pilot label is present (auto-pilot manages this label for state)
             # Use pipefail to ensure gh errors cause check to fail-closed
-            if gh issue view "${{ github.event.issue.number }}" --json labels \
+            if gh issue view "$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER" --json labels \
                 --jq '.labels[].name' | grep -qx 'agents:auto-pilot'; then
               echo "should_run=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
               echo "Skipping: auto-pilot label present (manages apply inline)"
             else
               {
                 echo "phase=apply"
-                echo "issue_number=${{ github.event.issue.number }}"
+                echo "issue_number=$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER"
                 echo "should_run=true"
               } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             fi
diff --git a/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt b/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt
index 1dda6789c..ce69865f3 100644
--- a/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt
+++ b/config/template-drift-allowlist.txt
@@ -113,9 +113,9 @@ reason = Intentional divergence re-baselined 2026-06-30: root and consumer guard
 [pair.11]
 main = .github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
 template = templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
-main_sha256 = 32a4dd4b3b2c744fe11abf0cfe60e47464fe4ca63836af2560ac5002f3912441
-template_sha256 = 145e47655f8153d50970ea51e99aa833e74698fce915a2c124e1463f1b194e85
-reason = Intentional divergence re-baselined 2026-08-11: root remains in-tree (scripts/langchain + .github/scripts/issue_format.py); consumer vendors those via Workflows sparse-checkout under workflows-scripts/. Shared behavioral contract includes live format eligibility checks, format-lease release when those checks skip work, checkout-aware path validation, explicit guard retry dispatch, and quoted lowercase identifier acceptance. Do not align wholesale — that would strip consumer action pins/token setup.
+main_sha256 = 815372cd8a0981510741d0d30195f1c25d60e881c60c9d88bfc2ee730ffd73b0
+template_sha256 = 1b3567e764da3d7406ef3b0847953d734d94be685712b3f320601b9654d3fc57
+reason = Fingerprints refreshed 2026-08-23: both surfaces now read the issue number from the step-level EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER env var instead of interpolating ${{ github.event.issue.number }} into the run: body, removing a template-injection surface of the same shape that caused agents-71-codex-belt-dispatcher to be blocked as possibly malicious in consumer repos (#3127, 2026-08-16). Applied identically to root and consumer, so it introduces no new divergence. Underlying divergence unchanged: Intentional divergence re-baselined 2026-08-11: root remains in-tree (scripts/langchain + .github/scripts/issue_format.py); consumer vendors those via Workflows sparse-checkout under workflows-scripts/. Shared behavioral contract includes live format eligibility checks, format-lease release when those checks skip work, checkout-aware path validation, explicit guard retry dispatch, and quoted lowercase identifier acceptance. Do not align wholesale — that would strip consumer action pins/token setup.
 
 [pair.12]
 main = .github/workflows/agents-keepalive-loop-reporter.yml
diff --git a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
index eec484a4c..e8484318b 100644
--- a/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
+++ b/templates/consumer-repo/.github/workflows/agents-issue-optimizer.yml
@@ -120,28 +120,28 @@ jobs:
           elif [[ "$LABEL_NAME" == "agents:optimize" ]]; then
             # Skip if auto-pilot label is present (auto-pilot runs optimizer inline)
             # Use pipefail to ensure gh errors cause check to fail-closed
-            if gh issue view "${{ github.event.issue.number }}" --json labels \
+            if gh issue view "$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER" --json labels \
                 --jq '.labels[].name' | grep -qx 'agents:auto-pilot'; then
               echo "should_run=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
               echo "Skipping: auto-pilot label present (runs inline)"
             else
               {
                 echo "phase=analyze"
-                echo "issue_number=${{ github.event.issue.number }}"
+                echo "issue_number=$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER"
                 echo "should_run=true"
               } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             fi
           elif [[ "$LABEL_NAME" == "agents:apply-suggestions" ]]; then
             # Skip if auto-pilot label is present (auto-pilot manages this label for state)
             # Use pipefail to ensure gh errors cause check to fail-closed
-            if gh issue view "${{ github.event.issue.number }}" --json labels \
+            if gh issue view "$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER" --json labels \
                 --jq '.labels[].name' | grep -qx 'agents:auto-pilot'; then
               echo "should_run=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
               echo "Skipping: auto-pilot label present (manages apply inline)"
             else
               {
                 echo "phase=apply"
-                echo "issue_number=${{ github.event.issue.number }}"
+                echo "issue_number=$EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER"
                 echo "should_run=true"
               } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             fi