diff --git a/src/agents/definitions/contextSteps.ts b/src/agents/definitions/contextSteps.ts
index 858fef0b..78e9623a 100644
--- a/src/agents/definitions/contextSteps.ts
+++ b/src/agents/definitions/contextSteps.ts
@@ -124,6 +124,11 @@ export async function fetchWorkItemStep(params: FetchContextParams): Promise<Con
 			const provider = getPMProviderOrNull();
 			const limited = media.slice(0, MAX_IMAGES_PER_WORK_ITEM);
 
+			params.logWriter('INFO', 'fetchWorkItemStep: downloading work item images', {
+				workItemId: params.input.workItemId,
+				count: limited.length,
+			});
+
 			const { jiraClient } = await import('../../jira/client.js');
 			const { trelloClient } = await import('../../trello/client.js');
 
@@ -136,7 +141,12 @@ export async function fetchWorkItemStep(params: FetchContextParams): Promise<Con
 						} else {
 							downloaded = await trelloClient.downloadAttachment(ref.url);
 						}
-						if (!downloaded) return null;
+						if (!downloaded) {
+							params.logWriter('WARN', 'fetchWorkItemStep: image download returned null', {
+								url: ref.url.split('?')[0],
+							});
+							return null;
+						}
 						return {
 							base64Data: downloaded.buffer.toString('base64'),
 							mimeType: downloaded.mimeType,
@@ -144,7 +154,7 @@ export async function fetchWorkItemStep(params: FetchContextParams): Promise<Con
 						};
 					} catch (err) {
 						params.logWriter('WARN', 'fetchWorkItemStep: failed to download image', {
-							url: ref.url,
+							url: ref.url.split('?')[0],
 							error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
 						});
 						return null;
@@ -153,6 +163,12 @@ export async function fetchWorkItemStep(params: FetchContextParams): Promise<Con
 			);
 
 			const images = results.filter((r) => r !== null);
+			params.logWriter('INFO', 'fetchWorkItemStep: image download complete', {
+				workItemId: params.input.workItemId,
+				attempted: limited.length,
+				downloaded: images.length,
+				skipped: limited.length - images.length,
+			});
 			if (images.length > 0) {
 				injection.images = images;
 			}
diff --git a/src/agents/shared/builderFactory.ts b/src/agents/shared/builderFactory.ts
index 78f9d5bb..ebe9a5b7 100644
--- a/src/agents/shared/builderFactory.ts
+++ b/src/agents/shared/builderFactory.ts
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ export async function createConfiguredBuilder(options: CreateBuilderOptions): Pr
 			builder = builder.withBudget(remainingBudgetUsd);
 		} catch (err) {
 			if (err instanceof BudgetPricingUnavailableError) {
-				logWriter('warn', 'Budget enforcement unavailable for model', { model });
+				logWriter('WARN', 'Budget enforcement unavailable for model', { model });
 			} else {
 				throw err;
 			}
diff --git a/tests/unit/agents/definitions/contextSteps.test.ts b/tests/unit/agents/definitions/contextSteps.test.ts
index 96998075..86602498 100644
--- a/tests/unit/agents/definitions/contextSteps.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/agents/definitions/contextSteps.test.ts
@@ -275,12 +275,16 @@ describe('fetchWorkItemStep', () => {
 		expect(mockTrelloDownload).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 	});
 
-	it('skips failed downloads gracefully and logs warning', async () => {
+	it('logs WARN and skips when download returns null, stripping query params from URL', async () => {
 		mockReadWorkItemWithMedia.mockResolvedValue({
 			text: '# Card',
 			media: [
 				{ url: 'https://trello.com/ok.png', mimeType: 'image/png', source: 'description' },
-				{ url: 'https://trello.com/fail.png', mimeType: 'image/png', source: 'description' },
+				{
+					url: 'https://trello.com/fail.png?key=secret&token=abc',
+					mimeType: 'image/png',
+					source: 'description',
+				},
 			],
 		});
 		mockGetPMProviderOrNull.mockReturnValue({ type: 'trello' } as never);
@@ -294,12 +298,25 @@ describe('fetchWorkItemStep', () => {
 		// Only 1 successful image
 		expect(result[0].images).toHaveLength(1);
 		expect(result[0].images?.[0].base64Data).toBe(Buffer.from('ok').toString('base64'));
+
+		// WARN for the null return, URL sanitized (no query params)
+		expect(params.logWriter).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+			'WARN',
+			'fetchWorkItemStep: image download returned null',
+			{ url: 'https://trello.com/fail.png' },
+		);
 	});
 
-	it('logs warning when download throws an exception', async () => {
+	it('logs warning when download throws an exception, stripping query params from URL', async () => {
 		mockReadWorkItemWithMedia.mockResolvedValue({
 			text: '# Card',
-			media: [{ url: 'https://trello.com/err.png', mimeType: 'image/png', source: 'description' }],
+			media: [
+				{
+					url: 'https://trello.com/err.png?key=secret&token=abc',
+					mimeType: 'image/png',
+					source: 'description',
+				},
+			],
 		});
 		mockGetPMProviderOrNull.mockReturnValue({ type: 'trello' } as never);
 		mockTrelloDownload.mockRejectedValue(new Error('network failure'));
@@ -311,7 +328,37 @@ describe('fetchWorkItemStep', () => {
 		expect(params.logWriter).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
 			'WARN',
 			'fetchWorkItemStep: failed to download image',
-			expect.objectContaining({ error: 'network failure' }),
+			{ url: 'https://trello.com/err.png', error: 'network failure' },
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('emits INFO logs before and after download with correct counts', async () => {
+		mockReadWorkItemWithMedia.mockResolvedValue({
+			text: '# Card',
+			media: [
+				{ url: 'https://trello.com/a.png', mimeType: 'image/png', source: 'description' },
+				{ url: 'https://trello.com/b.png', mimeType: 'image/png', source: 'description' },
+				{ url: 'https://trello.com/c.png', mimeType: 'image/png', source: 'description' },
+			],
+		});
+		mockGetPMProviderOrNull.mockReturnValue({ type: 'trello' } as never);
+		mockTrelloDownload
+			.mockResolvedValueOnce({ buffer: Buffer.from('data'), mimeType: 'image/png' })
+			.mockResolvedValueOnce(null) // returns null
+			.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('timeout')); // throws
+
+		const params = makeParams({ workItemId: 'card-1' });
+		await fetchWorkItemStep(params);
+
+		expect(params.logWriter).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+			'INFO',
+			'fetchWorkItemStep: downloading work item images',
+			{ workItemId: 'card-1', count: 3 },
+		);
+		expect(params.logWriter).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+			'INFO',
+			'fetchWorkItemStep: image download complete',
+			{ workItemId: 'card-1', attempted: 3, downloaded: 1, skipped: 2 },
 		);
 	});