diff --git a/crates/intent/src/graph_references.rs b/crates/intent/src/graph_references.rs
index 7ad24fa..fff955c 100644
--- a/crates/intent/src/graph_references.rs
+++ b/crates/intent/src/graph_references.rs
@@ -701,11 +701,14 @@ fn req_traces_in(document: &Document) -> Vec<ReqTrace> {
                 {
                     cursor += 1;
                 }
-                let contains_placeholder = bytes.get(cursor) == Some(&b'<');
+                let followed_by_angle_bracket = bytes.get(cursor) == Some(&b'<');
                 while cursor > target_start && bytes[cursor - 1] == b'.' {
                     cursor -= 1;
                 }
-                if cursor > target_start && !contains_placeholder {
+                let target = &line[target_start..cursor];
+                let incomplete_placeholder =
+                    followed_by_angle_bracket && !is_complete_req_target(target);
+                if cursor > target_start && !incomplete_placeholder {
                     traces.push(ReqTrace {
                         written: line[target_start..cursor].to_string(),
                         range: line_start + found..line_start + cursor,
@@ -727,6 +730,23 @@ fn is_req_target_byte(byte: u8) -> bool {
     byte.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || matches!(byte, b'.' | b'_' | b'-' | b'/' | b'#')
 }
 
+fn is_complete_req_target(target: &str) -> bool {
+    let id = target
+        .rsplit_once('#')
+        .map_or(target, |(_, fragment)| fragment);
+    let normalized;
+    let id = if id.bytes().any(|byte| byte.is_ascii_lowercase()) {
+        normalized = id.to_ascii_uppercase();
+        normalized.as_str()
+    } else {
+        id
+    };
+    let bytes = id.as_bytes();
+    qualified_id_end(bytes, 0)
+        .or_else(|| local_id_end(bytes, 0))
+        .is_some_and(|end| end == bytes.len())
+}
+
 fn resolve_req_trace(
     corpus_root: &Path,
     repository_root: &Path,
diff --git a/crates/intent/tests/intent_check.rs b/crates/intent/tests/intent_check.rs
index 6c444e4..49705ae 100644
--- a/crates/intent/tests/intent_check.rs
+++ b/crates/intent/tests/intent_check.rs
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ fn graph_json_recognizes_all_supported_requirement_definition_forms() {
     .expect("requirements");
     fs::write(
         h.repo.join("context/intent/spec.md"),
-        "# Spec\n\nThis builds on [requirements](./requirements.md).\n\nAPP-R02 and R03 constrain the graph.\nreq: APP-R02\nreq: <ID>\nreq: <repo-relative-requirements-path>#<ID>\nreq: requirements.md#<ID>\nreq: APP-<ID>\n",
+        "# Spec\n\nThis builds on [requirements](./requirements.md).\n\nAPP-R02 and R03 constrain the graph.\nreq: APP-R02\nreq: APP-R02<br>\nreq: APP-R02<!-- note -->\nreq: app-r02<br>\nreq: <ID>\nreq: <repo-relative-requirements-path>#<ID>\nreq: requirements.md#<ID>\nreq: APP-<ID>\n",
     )
     .expect("spec");
 
@@ -517,10 +517,23 @@ fn graph_json_recognizes_all_supported_requirement_definition_forms() {
         .collect::<Vec<_>>();
     assert_eq!(
         traces.len(),
-        1,
+        4,
         "template placeholders must not become requirement traces: {traces:#?}"
     );
-    assert_eq!(traces[0]["written_target"], "APP-R02");
+    assert_eq!(
+        traces
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|trace| trace["written_target"] == "APP-R02")
+            .count(),
+        3,
+        "HTML immediately after a complete target must preserve the trace: {traces:#?}"
+    );
+    assert!(
+        traces.iter().any(|trace| {
+            trace["written_target"] == "app-r02" && trace["normalized_target"] == "APP-R02"
+        }),
+        "completeness must use the same case normalization as resolution: {traces:#?}"
+    );
 }
 
 #[test]