diff --git a/hooks/ponytail-instructions.js b/hooks/ponytail-instructions.js
index 3ec3980a..2b0395f1 100644
--- a/hooks/ponytail-instructions.js
+++ b/hooks/ponytail-instructions.js
@@ -91,8 +91,21 @@ function getPonytailInstructions(mode) {
   }
 }
 
+// Subagents get the condensed fallback (not the full SKILL.md body) to keep
+// Task-worker context small. Independent modes keep their short pointer string.
+function getSubagentInstructions(mode) {
+  const configuredMode = normalizePersistedMode(mode) || DEFAULT_MODE;
+
+  if (INDEPENDENT_MODES.has(configuredMode)) {
+    return 'PONYTAIL MODE ACTIVE — level: ' + configuredMode + '. Behavior defined by /ponytail-' + configuredMode + ' skill.';
+  }
+
+  return getFallbackInstructions(normalizeMode(configuredMode) || DEFAULT_MODE);
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   filterSkillBodyForMode,
   getFallbackInstructions,
   getPonytailInstructions,
+  getSubagentInstructions,
 };
diff --git a/hooks/ponytail-subagent.js b/hooks/ponytail-subagent.js
index f2a7c776..076ad4e5 100644
--- a/hooks/ponytail-subagent.js
+++ b/hooks/ponytail-subagent.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 // regex is unanchored and case-insensitive — "explore|general" matches either,
 // "^general$" is exact. Unset means inject into every subagent, as before.
 
-const { getPonytailInstructions } = require('./ponytail-instructions');
+const { getSubagentInstructions } = require('./ponytail-instructions');
 const { readMode, writeHookOutput } = require('./ponytail-runtime');
 
 const mode = readMode();
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ if (!mode || mode === 'off') {
 
 function inject() {
   try {
-    writeHookOutput('SubagentStart', mode, getPonytailInstructions(mode));
+    // Subagents get the condensed fallback, not the full SKILL.md (issue #597).
+    writeHookOutput('SubagentStart', mode, getSubagentInstructions(mode));
   } catch (e) {
     // Silent fail — a stdout error at hook exit must not surface as a hook failure.
   }
diff --git a/tests/hooks.test.js b/tests/hooks.test.js
index bf4a8eb3..27812c5b 100644
--- a/tests/hooks.test.js
+++ b/tests/hooks.test.js
@@ -12,6 +12,38 @@ const root = path.join(__dirname, '..');
 // paths pass, paths carrying shell metacharacters are rejected so they never get
 // embedded in a shell command.
 const { DEFAULT_MODE, getDefaultMode, isShellSafe, writeDefaultMode } = require('../hooks/ponytail-config');
+const {
+  getFallbackInstructions,
+  getPonytailInstructions,
+  getSubagentInstructions,
+} = require('../hooks/ponytail-instructions');
+const condensedFullInstructions = getSubagentInstructions('full');
+const fallbackFullInstructions = getFallbackInstructions('full');
+const canonicalFullInstructions = getPonytailInstructions('full');
+
+assert.equal(
+  condensedFullInstructions,
+  fallbackFullInstructions,
+  'SubagentStart should use the condensed fallback instructions',
+);
+
+assert.notEqual(
+  condensedFullInstructions,
+  canonicalFullInstructions,
+  'SubagentStart should not use the full SKILL.md instructions',
+);
+
+assert.ok(
+  condensedFullInstructions.length < canonicalFullInstructions.length,
+  'condensed instructions should be shorter than the full instructions',
+);
+
+assert.equal(
+  getSubagentInstructions('review'),
+  getPonytailInstructions('review'),
+  'independent subagent modes should keep their short pointer instructions',
+);
+
 assert.equal(isShellSafe('C:\\Users\\x\\.claude\\plugins\\ponytail\\hooks\\ponytail-statusline.ps1'), true);
 assert.equal(isShellSafe('/home/u/.claude/plugins/ponytail/hooks/ponytail-statusline.sh'), true);
 assert.equal(isShellSafe('/tmp/a"&calc.exe&"/x.sh'), false);
@@ -231,9 +263,10 @@ result = run('ponytail-subagent.js', subEnv);
 assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
 output = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
 assert.equal(output.hookSpecificOutput.hookEventName, 'SubagentStart');
-assert.match(
+assert.equal(
   output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext,
-  /PONYTAIL MODE ACTIVE — level: full/,
+  getFallbackInstructions('full'),
+  'SubagentStart should inject the condensed fallback payload',
 );
 
 // No flag → ponytail off → inject nothing (empty stdout, no failure).
@@ -253,7 +286,11 @@ output = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
 assert.equal(output.systemMessage, 'PONYTAIL:FULL');
 assert.equal(output.additionalContext, undefined, 'Codex must not emit additionalContext at top level (#573)');
 assert.equal(output.hookSpecificOutput.hookEventName, 'SubagentStart');
-assert.match(output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext, /PONYTAIL MODE ACTIVE — level: full/);
+assert.equal(
+  output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext,
+  getFallbackInstructions('full'),
+  'Codex SubagentStart should inject the condensed fallback payload',
+);
 
 // SubagentStart scoping (issue #506): PONYTAIL_SUBAGENT_MATCHER limits the
 // injection to agent types whose name matches the regex. Unset keeps the
@@ -274,7 +311,11 @@ result = run(
 assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
 output = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
 assert.equal(output.hookSpecificOutput.hookEventName, 'SubagentStart');
-assert.match(output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext, /PONYTAIL MODE ACTIVE — level: full/);
+assert.equal(
+  output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext,
+  getFallbackInstructions('full'),
+  'a matched subagent should receive the condensed fallback payload',
+);
 
 // agent_type the matcher rejects → stay silent.
 result = run(
@@ -303,7 +344,11 @@ result = run(
 );
 assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
 output = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
-assert.match(output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext, /PONYTAIL MODE ACTIVE — level: full/);
+assert.equal(
+  output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext,
+  getFallbackInstructions('full'),
+  'missing agent_type should fail open with the condensed fallback payload',
+);
 
 // Invalid regex → must not crash; fall back to injecting everywhere.
 result = run(
@@ -312,8 +357,11 @@ result = run(
   JSON.stringify({ agent_type: 'anything' }),
 );
 assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
-output = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
-assert.equal(output.hookSpecificOutput.hookEventName, 'SubagentStart');
+assert.equal(
+  output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext,
+  getFallbackInstructions('full'),
+  'an invalid matcher should fail open with the condensed fallback payload',
+);
 
 // The default (no matcher) path must not depend on stdin: even with stdin
 // closed empty it injects synchronously, preserving the #252 behavior on
@@ -321,7 +369,11 @@ assert.equal(output.hookSpecificOutput.hookEventName, 'SubagentStart');
 result = run('ponytail-subagent.js', scopeEnv, '');
 assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
 output = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
-assert.match(output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext, /PONYTAIL MODE ACTIVE — level: full/);
+assert.equal(
+  output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext,
+  getFallbackInstructions('full'),
+  'the default no-matcher path should inject the condensed fallback payload',
+);
 
 // Qoder: no SessionStart event, so UserPromptSubmit does double duty —
 // it activates the default mode on first prompt (writes flag), then injects
@@ -388,9 +440,10 @@ result = run('ponytail-subagent.js', qoderEnv);
 assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
 output = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
 assert.equal(output.hookSpecificOutput.hookEventName, 'SubagentStart');
-assert.match(
+assert.equal(
   output.hookSpecificOutput.additionalContext,
-  /PONYTAIL MODE ACTIVE — level: full/,
+  getFallbackInstructions('full'),
+  'Qoder SubagentStart should inject the condensed fallback payload',
 );
 // writeDefaultMode must merge into existing config, not overwrite it (#490).
 const mergeHome = path.join(temp, 'merge-home');