diff --git a/.changeset/fierce-pumas-dance.md b/.changeset/fierce-pumas-dance.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db5686c22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fierce-pumas-dance.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+type: Fixed
+pr: 4578
+---
+**`roadmap analyze` no longer mints a phantom phase from a mid-line mention** — a sentence, blockquote, or inline-code-span reference to a `### Phase N:`-shaped heading anywhere in the ROADMAP was previously counted as a real phase, inflating `phase_count` and able to collide on a phase number with a real heading nearby. The phase-heading extraction is now anchored to line start, matching this repo's other heading parsers.
diff --git a/src/roadmap.cts b/src/roadmap.cts
index de59dae3e..d3ff3e77f 100644
--- a/src/roadmap.cts
+++ b/src/roadmap.cts
@@ -465,8 +465,17 @@ function collectAnalyzePhases(
   // #3036: widen the id capture to accept non-numeric-leading ids (e.g. B7, P0.3-2)
   // that get-phase/execute-phase already resolve. An optional leading letter prefix
   // ([A-Za-z]?) covers letter-prefixed ids without breaking numeric-leading ones.
+  // #4478: line-anchored (`^ {0,3}`, `/m`) — unanchored, `#{2,4}` matched a
+  // `### Phase N:`-shaped mention ANYWHERE `exec()`'s scan reached: mid-sentence
+  // prose, inside a blockquote, inside an inline code span (backtick-quoted on
+  // the same line, not a fenced block `tokenizeHeadings` would exclude). Any
+  // such line minted a phantom phase entry, inflating phase_count and able to
+  // collide on a phase NUMBER with a real heading nearby. `{0,3}` leading
+  // spaces mirrors `tokenizeHeadings`'s own CommonMark ATX-heading tolerance
+  // (src/markdown-sectionizer.cts:453) so a legitimately-indented heading that
+  // matched before this fix still matches after it.
   // phase-id-owner: uses the [.-] (dot-or-dash) separator variant, not the canonical dot-only token; a swap to PHASE_NUMBER_TOKEN_SOURCE would drop hyphenated phase-id matches.
-  const phasePattern = new RegExp(`#{2,4}\\s*${phaseHeadingPrefixSrcFor(PHASE_HEADING_BASELINE.ANY_BRACKET, convention, true)}([A-Za-z]?\\d+[A-Z]?(?:[.-]\\d+)*)(?:\\s*\\([^)\\n]{0,200}\\))?\\s*:\\s*([^\\n]+)`, 'gi');
+  const phasePattern = new RegExp(`^ {0,3}#{2,4}\\s*${phaseHeadingPrefixSrcFor(PHASE_HEADING_BASELINE.ANY_BRACKET, convention, true)}([A-Za-z]?\\d+[A-Z]?(?:[.-]\\d+)*)(?:\\s*\\([^)\\n]{0,200}\\))?\\s*:\\s*([^\\n]+)`, 'gim');
   // The capturing intro inserts the bracket id at group 1 only under the
   // bracket convention; the token and name shift by the same offset.
   const G = convention === 'bracket' ? 1 : 0;
@@ -488,7 +497,13 @@ function collectAnalyzePhases(
     // #3691: `\d` → `\d[\d.]*` so decimal phase headings (e.g. `### Phase 02.3:`) are
     // recognised as section boundaries. #3036: `[A-Za-z]?\d` so non-numeric-leading ids
     // (e.g. B7) are also recognised.
-    const nextHeader = restOfContent.match(new RegExp(`\\n#{2,4}\\s+${phaseHeadingPrefixSrcFor(PHASE_HEADING_BASELINE.ANY_BRACKET, convention)}[A-Za-z]?\\d[\\d.-]*`, 'i'));
+    // #4478 follow-up (independent code review on this same fix): ` {0,3}` after
+    // the literal `\n` mirrors phasePattern's own new leading-space tolerance
+    // above -- without it, a legitimately-indented (1-3 space) NEXT phase
+    // heading was invisible to this boundary lookup, letting the PRIOR phase's
+    // goal/mode/depends_on extraction bleed across the section boundary into
+    // the next phase's own body.
+    const nextHeader = restOfContent.match(new RegExp(`\\n {0,3}#{2,4}\\s+${phaseHeadingPrefixSrcFor(PHASE_HEADING_BASELINE.ANY_BRACKET, convention)}[A-Za-z]?\\d[\\d.-]*`, 'i'));
     const sectionEnd = nextHeader ? sectionStart + nextHeader.index! : content.length;
     const section = content.slice(sectionStart, sectionEnd);
 
diff --git a/tests/roadmap.test.cjs b/tests/roadmap.test.cjs
index de1ecf3fc..03d544685 100644
--- a/tests/roadmap.test.cjs
+++ b/tests/roadmap.test.cjs
@@ -363,6 +363,127 @@ describe('roadmap analyze command', () => {
     assert.strictEqual(output.phases[1].goal, 'Colon outside bold', 'colon-outside goal works');
     assert.strictEqual(output.phases[1].depends_on, 'Phase 1', 'colon-outside depends_on works');
   });
+
+  // #4478: collectAnalyzePhases's phase-heading regex had no line anchor —
+  // #{2,4} could match a `### Phase N:`-shaped mention ANYWHERE the global
+  // regex scan reached: mid-sentence prose, inside a blockquote, inside an
+  // inline code span (backtick-quoted on the same line, not a fenced code
+  // block tokenizeHeadings would exclude). Any such line minted a phantom
+  // phase entry. Rows mirror the issue's own reproduction table exactly.
+  const PHANTOM_PHASE_LOOKALIKE_ROWS = [
+    ['blockquote + inline code span', '> A note mentioning `### Phase 2:` in a blockquote.'],
+    ['blockquote, no code span', '> A note mentioning ### Phase 2: in a blockquote.'],
+    ['plain prose + inline code span', 'A note mentioning `### Phase 2:` in plain prose.'],
+    ['plain prose, no code span', 'A note mentioning ### Phase 2: in plain prose.'],
+    ['list item + inline code span', '- list item mentioning `### Phase 2:` here.'],
+  ];
+
+  for (const [label, lookalikeLine] of PHANTOM_PHASE_LOOKALIKE_ROWS) {
+    test(`#4478: does not mint a phantom phase — ${label}`, () => {
+      fs.writeFileSync(
+        path.join(tmpDir, '.planning', 'ROADMAP.md'),
+        `# Roadmap
+
+## Milestone v1.0 — Example
+
+${lookalikeLine}
+
+### Phase 1: Real First Phase
+
+**Goal**: Real.
+`
+      );
+      const result = runGsdTools('roadmap analyze', tmpDir);
+      assert.ok(result.success, `Command failed: ${result.error}`);
+      const output = JSON.parse(result.output);
+      assert.strictEqual(output.phase_count, 1, `expected only the real phase, got: ${JSON.stringify(output.phases)}`);
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(output.phases.map((p) => p.name), ['Real First Phase']);
+    });
+  }
+
+  test('#4478: a phantom does not shadow or collide with a real heading sharing its number', () => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(tmpDir, '.planning', 'ROADMAP.md'),
+      `# Roadmap
+
+## Milestone v1.0 — Example
+
+### Phase 1: Real First Phase
+
+**Goal**: Real.
+
+A note mentioning ### Phase 2: in plain prose.
+
+### Phase 2: Real Second Phase
+
+**Goal**: Also real.
+`
+    );
+    const result = runGsdTools('roadmap analyze', tmpDir);
+    assert.ok(result.success, `Command failed: ${result.error}`);
+    const output = JSON.parse(result.output);
+    assert.strictEqual(output.phase_count, 2, `expected exactly the two real phases, got: ${JSON.stringify(output.phases)}`);
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(
+      output.phases.map((p) => p.name).sort(),
+      ['Real First Phase', 'Real Second Phase'].sort(),
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('#4478: a legitimately-indented (1-3 space) real heading is still counted', () => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(tmpDir, '.planning', 'ROADMAP.md'),
+      `# Roadmap
+
+## Milestone v1.0 — Example
+
+  ### Phase 1: Indented but real
+
+**Goal**: Real.
+`
+    );
+    const result = runGsdTools('roadmap analyze', tmpDir);
+    assert.ok(result.success, `Command failed: ${result.error}`);
+    const output = JSON.parse(result.output);
+    assert.strictEqual(output.phase_count, 1, `expected the indented heading to still count, got: ${JSON.stringify(output.phases)}`);
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(output.phases.map((p) => p.name), ['Indented but real']);
+  });
+
+  // Follow-up (found by this fix's own independent code review): the "next
+  // heading" section-boundary lookup a few lines below phasePattern lacked
+  // the SAME {0,3} leading-space tolerance, so an indented NEXT phase heading
+  // was invisible to it, letting the prior phase's field extraction bleed
+  // across the section boundary. Uses **Depends on:** specifically because
+  // it is a field only the SECOND phase has — Goal alone can't demonstrate
+  // the bleed since both phases have one and the first (non-global) match
+  // still finds phase 1's own occurrence first either way.
+  test('#4478: an indented NEXT phase heading still bounds the prior phase\'s field extraction', () => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(tmpDir, '.planning', 'ROADMAP.md'),
+      `# Roadmap
+
+## Milestone v1.0 — Example
+
+### Phase 1: Real First Phase
+
+**Goal**: First goal.
+
+  ### Phase 2: Indented Next Phase
+
+**Goal**: Second goal.
+**Depends on:** Phase 1
+`
+    );
+    const result = runGsdTools('roadmap analyze', tmpDir);
+    assert.ok(result.success, `Command failed: ${result.error}`);
+    const output = JSON.parse(result.output);
+    const byNumber = Object.fromEntries(output.phases.map((p) => [p.number, p]));
+    assert.strictEqual(
+      byNumber['1'].depends_on,
+      null,
+      `phase 1 has no Depends on field of its own — it must not inherit phase 2's, got: ${JSON.stringify(byNumber['1'])}`,
+    );
+    assert.strictEqual(byNumber['2'].depends_on, 'Phase 1');
+  });
 });
 
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