$(cat <<EOF

Use Gemini JSON mode and add debug logging

- Enable response_mime_type=application/json for clean JSON output
- Add debug logging for raw Gemini responses
- Add error logging with problematic JSON on parse failures
- Should eliminate control character issues in Gemini synthesis

:robot: Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>
EOF
)

src/agents/synthesis_agent.py

@@ -234,15 +234,27 @@ IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON. No markdown, no code blocks, no extra text. U
 }
 """
 
-        # Call Gemini
+        # Call Gemini with JSON response mode
         logger.info(f"Calling Gemini 2.0 Flash for {request.ticker} synthesis...")
-        response = self.model.generate_content(prompt)
+
+        # Configure for JSON output
+        generation_config = {
+            "response_mime_type": "application/json"
+        }
+
+        response = self.model.generate_content(
+            prompt,
+            generation_config=generation_config
+        )
 
         # Parse response
         import json
         import re
         response_text = response.text.strip()
 
+        # Log raw response for debugging
+        logger.debug(f"Gemini raw response (first 500 chars): {response_text[:500]}")
+
         # Extract JSON from markdown code blocks if present
         if "```json" in response_text:
             response_text = response_text.split("```json")[1].split("```")[0].strip()
@@ -264,7 +276,13 @@ IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON. No markdown, no code blocks, no extra text. U
         response_text = re.sub(r'"\s*\n\s*', '" ', response_text)
         response_text = re.sub(r'\s*\n\s*"', ' "', response_text)
 
-        result = json.loads(response_text)
+        try:
+            result = json.loads(response_text)
+        except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
+            # Log the problematic JSON for debugging
+            logger.error(f"JSON decode error: {e}")
+            logger.error(f"Problematic JSON (first 1000 chars): {response_text[:1000]}")
+            raise
 
         # Convert to InvestmentRecommendation
         risks = [