diff --git a/.claude/templates/coding_prompt.template.md b/.claude/templates/coding_prompt.template.md
index bce9a14..d72b933 100644
--- a/.claude/templates/coding_prompt.template.md
+++ b/.claude/templates/coding_prompt.template.md
@@ -202,17 +202,23 @@ Use the feature_mark_passing tool with feature_id=42
 
 ### STEP 7: COMMIT YOUR PROGRESS
 
-Make a descriptive git commit:
+Make a descriptive git commit.
+
+**Git Commit Rules:**
+- ALWAYS use simple `-m` flag for commit messages
+- NEVER use heredocs (`cat <<EOF` or `<<'EOF'`) - they fail in sandbox mode with "can't create temp file for here document: operation not permitted"
+- For multi-line messages, use multiple `-m` flags:
 
 ```bash
 git add .
-git commit -m "Implement [feature name] - verified end-to-end
+git commit -m "Implement [feature name] - verified end-to-end" -m "- Added [specific changes]" -m "- Tested with browser automation" -m "- Marked feature #X as passing"
+```
 
-- Added [specific changes]
-- Tested with browser automation
-- Marked feature #X as passing
-- Screenshots in verification/ directory
-"
+Or use a single descriptive message:
+
+```bash
+git add .
+git commit -m "feat: implement [feature name] with browser verification"
 ```
 
 ### STEP 8: UPDATE PROGRESS NOTES
diff --git a/security.py b/security.py
index 44507a4..c14f420 100644
--- a/security.py
+++ b/security.py
@@ -140,6 +140,45 @@ def split_command_segments(command_string: str) -> list[str]:
     return result
 
 
+def _extract_primary_command(segment: str) -> str | None:
+    """
+    Fallback command extraction when shlex fails.
+
+    Extracts the first word that looks like a command, handling cases
+    like complex docker exec commands with nested quotes.
+
+    Args:
+        segment: The command segment to parse
+
+    Returns:
+        The primary command name, or None if extraction fails
+    """
+    # Remove leading whitespace
+    segment = segment.lstrip()
+
+    if not segment:
+        return None
+
+    # Skip env var assignments at start (VAR=value cmd)
+    words = segment.split()
+    while words and "=" in words[0] and not words[0].startswith("="):
+        words = words[1:]
+
+    if not words:
+        return None
+
+    # Extract first token (the command)
+    first_word = words[0]
+
+    # Match valid command characters (alphanumeric, dots, underscores, hyphens, slashes)
+    match = re.match(r"^([a-zA-Z0-9_./-]+)", first_word)
+    if match:
+        cmd = match.group(1)
+        return os.path.basename(cmd)
+
+    return None
+
+
 def extract_commands(command_string: str) -> list[str]:
     """
     Extract command names from a shell command string.
@@ -156,7 +195,7 @@ def extract_commands(command_string: str) -> list[str]:
     commands = []
 
     # shlex doesn't treat ; as a separator, so we need to pre-process
-    import re
+    # (re is already imported at module level)
 
     # Split on semicolons that aren't inside quotes (simple heuristic)
     # This handles common cases like "echo hello; ls"
@@ -171,8 +210,11 @@ def extract_commands(command_string: str) -> list[str]:
             tokens = shlex.split(segment)
         except ValueError:
             # Malformed command (unclosed quotes, etc.)
-            # Return empty to trigger block (fail-safe)
-            return []
+            # Try fallback extraction instead of blocking entirely
+            fallback_cmd = _extract_primary_command(segment)
+            if fallback_cmd:
+                commands.append(fallback_cmd)
+            continue
 
         if not tokens:
             continue