diff --git a/USAGE.md b/USAGE.md
index 69141cb..12bef41 100644
--- a/USAGE.md
+++ b/USAGE.md
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ value     := word | phrase                    -- tag / title / content / column
            | '#'? digit+                       -- id: a positive decimal integer
 word      := one or more characters, except whitespace and ( ) " : \ ;
              not equal to AND or OR
-phrase    := '"' any text '"'                 -- escapes: \" and \\
+phrase    := '"' one or more characters '"'   -- escapes: \" and \\
 ```
 
 ### Operators
@@ -198,6 +198,10 @@ phrase    := '"' any text '"'                 -- escapes: \" and \\
   `\\` for a backslash; any other backslash is an error.
 - Outside quotes, `\` is not allowed at all, and `:` always starts a
   qualifier. Quote any text containing them: `"C:\\temp"`, `"a:b"`.
+- A phrase cannot be empty, and must be separated from neighbouring words
+  and phrases by a space or a parenthesis: write `a "b"`, not `a"b"`.
+- A qualifier's phrase value follows the `:` directly: `tag:"needs review"`,
+  not `tag: "needs review"`.
 
 ### Case
 
@@ -227,6 +231,9 @@ These are invalid:
 | A qualifier without a value | `tag:` |
 | `AND` / `OR` as an unquoted qualifier value | `tag:AND` (write `tag:"AND"`) |
 | An unterminated phrase | `"dark mode` |
+| An empty phrase | `""`, `tag:""` |
+| A phrase touching other text | `a"b"`, `"a"b`, `"a""b"` |
+| A space between a qualifier and its phrase value | `tag: "needs review"` |
 | An invalid escape in a phrase | `tag:"a\x"` |
 | A backslash outside a phrase | `C:\temp` |
 | An unknown qualifier key | `label:bug`, `Tag:bug`, `http://x` |
diff --git a/YKanBan.Tests/Search/SearchQueryParserTests.cs b/YKanBan.Tests/Search/SearchQueryParserTests.cs
index 87c77d6..c28b77e 100644
--- a/YKanBan.Tests/Search/SearchQueryParserTests.cs
+++ b/YKanBan.Tests/Search/SearchQueryParserTests.cs
@@ -296,6 +296,42 @@ public class SearchQueryParserTests
         AssertSyntaxError("tag: bug");
     }
 
+    [TestMethod]
+    [DataRow("tag: \"x\"")]
+    [DataRow("title:  \"a b\"")]
+    public void SpacedQualifierPhraseValueIsAnError(string text)
+    {
+        AssertSyntaxError(text);
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    [DataRow("a\"b\"")]
+    [DataRow("\"a\"b")]
+    [DataRow("\"a\"\"b\"")]
+    [DataRow("tag:\"x\"y")]
+    [DataRow("tag:\"x\"\"y\"")]
+    public void PhraseGluedToOtherTextIsAnError(string text)
+    {
+        AssertSyntaxError(text);
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    [DataRow("\"\"")]
+    [DataRow("a \"\"")]
+    [DataRow("tag:\"\"")]
+    public void EmptyPhraseIsAnError(string text)
+    {
+        AssertSyntaxError(text);
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public void PhraseMayTouchParentheses()
+    {
+        AssertParsesTo(
+            new SearchNode.And([new SearchNode.FreeText("a b"), new SearchNode.FreeText("c")]),
+            "(\"a b\")(c)");
+    }
+
     [TestMethod]
     [DataRow("id:12x")]
     [DataRow("id:abc")]
diff --git a/YKanBan/Search/SearchLexer.cs b/YKanBan/Search/SearchLexer.cs
index cce642d..8964dd3 100644
--- a/YKanBan/Search/SearchLexer.cs
+++ b/YKanBan/Search/SearchLexer.cs
@@ -36,8 +36,11 @@ public abstract record SearchToken
 ///
 /// The lexer is strict: inside a phrase only <c>\"</c> and <c>\\</c> are valid
 /// escapes, a bare backslash or an unknown escape is rejected, a backslash in a
-/// bare word is rejected, and an unterminated phrase is rejected. Any input not covered by the token rules
-/// is rejected rather than silently ignored.
+/// bare word is rejected, and an unterminated phrase is rejected. A phrase
+/// must not be empty and must be separated from neighbouring words and
+/// phrases by whitespace or a parenthesis, except as a qualifier value glued to
+/// its key (<c>tag:"a b"</c>). Any input not covered by the token rules is
+/// rejected rather than silently ignored.
 /// </summary>
 public static class SearchLexer
 {
@@ -70,37 +73,101 @@ public static class SearchLexer
             .AtLeastOnce()
             .Select(chars => (SearchToken)new SearchToken.Word(new string(chars.ToArray())));
 
-    private static readonly Parser<char, SearchToken> TokenParser =
+    // Each token with its source span, so adjacency can be checked afterwards.
+    private static readonly Parser<char, PositionedToken> TokenParser =
         Parser.SkipWhitespaces.Then(
-            PhraseParser
+            from start in Parser<char>.CurrentOffset
+            from token in PhraseParser
                 .Or(OpenParenParser)
                 .Or(CloseParenParser)
-                .Or(WordParser));
+                .Or(WordParser)
+            from end in Parser<char>.CurrentOffset
+            select new PositionedToken(token, start, end));
 
     // Try(...) keeps a failed token non-consuming so Many stops gracefully; End
     // then rejects any leftover input, which turns dangling quotes or invalid
     // escapes into hard failures instead of silently dropped text.
-    private static readonly Parser<char, IReadOnlyList<SearchToken>> Lexer =
+    private static readonly Parser<char, IReadOnlyList<PositionedToken>> Lexer =
         Parser.Try(TokenParser).Many()
             .Before(Parser.SkipWhitespaces)
             .Before(Parser<char>.End)
-            .Select(tokens => (IReadOnlyList<SearchToken>)tokens.ToList());
+            .Select(tokens => (IReadOnlyList<PositionedToken>)tokens.ToList());
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Tokenizes the search text.
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="input">The raw search text.</param>
     /// <returns>The token stream.</returns>
-    /// <exception cref="SearchSyntaxException">The text contains an invalid escape or an unterminated phrase.</exception>
+    /// <exception cref="SearchSyntaxException">
+    /// The text contains an invalid escape, an unterminated or empty phrase, a
+    /// phrase glued to other text, or whitespace between a qualifier and its phrase value.
+    /// </exception>
     public static IReadOnlyList<SearchToken> Tokenize(string input)
     {
+        IReadOnlyList<PositionedToken> tokens;
         try
         {
-            return Lexer.ParseOrThrow(input);
+            tokens = Lexer.ParseOrThrow(input);
         }
         catch (ParseException exception)
         {
             throw new SearchSyntaxException(exception.Message, exception);
         }
+
+        EnsurePhrasesAreDelimited(tokens);
+        return tokens.Select(positioned => positioned.Token).ToList();
     }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Rejects the phrase placements the grammar does not allow but the token
+    /// rules alone would accept: an empty phrase, a phrase touching a word or
+    /// another phrase (<c>a"b"</c>, <c>"a"b</c>, <c>"a""b"</c>), and whitespace
+    /// between <c>key:</c> and its phrase value (<c>tag: "x"</c>). The only
+    /// legal contact is <c>key:"value"</c>.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="tokens">The positioned token stream.</param>
+    /// <exception cref="SearchSyntaxException">A phrase is misplaced.</exception>
+    private static void EnsurePhrasesAreDelimited(IReadOnlyList<PositionedToken> tokens)
+    {
+        for (int index = 0; index < tokens.Count; index++)
+        {
+            if (tokens[index].Token is SearchToken.Phrase { Text.Length: 0 })
+            {
+                throw new SearchSyntaxException("Empty phrase \"\" is not allowed.");
+            }
+
+            if (index == 0)
+            {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            PositionedToken previous = tokens[index - 1];
+            PositionedToken current = tokens[index];
+            bool qualifierValue = previous.Token is SearchToken.Word word && word.Text.EndsWith(':')
+                && current.Token is SearchToken.Phrase;
+            bool touching = previous.End == current.Start;
+
+            if (qualifierValue && !touching)
+            {
+                throw new SearchSyntaxException(
+                    $"Qualifier '{((SearchToken.Word)previous.Token).Text}' must be followed directly by its value, without whitespace.");
+            }
+
+            bool phraseInvolved = previous.Token is SearchToken.Phrase || current.Token is SearchToken.Phrase;
+            bool parenInvolved = previous.Token is SearchToken.OpenParen or SearchToken.CloseParen
+                || current.Token is SearchToken.OpenParen or SearchToken.CloseParen;
+            if (touching && phraseInvolved && !parenInvolved && !qualifierValue)
+            {
+                throw new SearchSyntaxException("A phrase must be separated from adjacent text by whitespace.");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A token with its source span.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="Token">The token.</param>
+    /// <param name="Start">Offset of the first character.</param>
+    /// <param name="End">Offset just past the last character.</param>
+    private sealed record PositionedToken(SearchToken Token, int Start, int End);
 }
diff --git a/docs/PLAN.md b/docs/PLAN.md
index 346a547..92ced0d 100644
--- a/docs/PLAN.md
+++ b/docs/PLAN.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 - 网络共享明确不支持；命令行参数边界；macOS 无参启动行为写入文档（§2.3、§4.1、附录）
 - 补充：导出转义规则、卡片列表虚拟化、模态窗口 FlowDirection、`Resources` 类名使用规则、CI osx-x64 运行器（§5、§7、§8）
 - 依赖：Avalonia 11.3.6 → 11.3.22，Semi.Avalonia 11.2.1.10 → 11.3.22（§7）
-- 实现回补：搜索括号嵌套上限 64 层（§6.2）；初始化中途锁冲突进锁冲突页、数据库文件缺失不静默新建（§4.4）
+- 实现回补：搜索括号嵌套上限 64 层，空短语、短语紧贴文本、`key:` 后空白均为非法（§6.1、§6.2）；导出表格单元格转义 `\`（§5.8）；初始化中途锁冲突进锁冲突页、数据库文件缺失不静默新建（§4.4）
 - 里程碑：标注 M0–M4 已完成，新增 **M4R（v1.9 回补）**（§9）
 
 ## 1. 项目概述
@@ -279,10 +279,11 @@ key     := tag | title | content | id | column
 value   := word | phrase                    （tag/title/content/column）
          | '#'? digit+                       （id：十进制正整数，可带前缀 #）
 word    := 一个或多个字符，不含空白及 ( ) " : \  ；且不等于 AND / OR
-phrase  := '"' 任意文本 '"'   （内部支持转义：\" → 字面引号，\\ → 字面反斜杠）
+phrase  := '"' 一个或多个字符 '"'   （内部支持转义：\" → 字面引号，\\ → 字面反斜杠）
 ```
 
 - 裸词中出现 `:` 时其左侧必须是合法 key，否则为"未知限定符"错误；含 `:` `(` `)` `\` 等字符的搜索值须用引号（如 `"http://x"`）
+- 短语不得为空（`""`）；短语与相邻裸词/短语之间须有空白或括号（`a"b"`、`"a"b`、`"a""b"` 非法），唯一例外是紧贴 key 的限定符值 `key:"…"`；`key:` 与短语值之间不得有空白（`tag: "x"` 非法）
 
 ### 6.2 语义
 
@@ -297,6 +298,7 @@ phrase  := '"' 任意文本 '"'   （内部支持转义：\" → 字面引号，
   - 运算符悬空（`bug AND`）、连续运算符（`a AND OR b`）
   - 限定符无值（`tag:`）、限定符值为裸 `AND`/`OR`（`tag:AND`，须写 `tag:"AND"`）
   - 短语引号未闭合、无效转义（`tag:"a\x"`）、裸词中出现 `\`
+  - 空短语（`""`、`tag:""`）；短语紧贴其他文本（`a"b"`、`"a"b`）；`key:` 与短语值之间有空白（`tag: "x"`）
   - 未知限定符 key（合法 key 仅 tag / title / content / id / column）
   - `id:` 值不是十进制正整数（`id:abc`、`id:0`、`id:"61"`）
 - 错误对话框：模态、父窗口居中；文案 = 资源模板"查询表达式有误，详情：{0}"（i18n），{0} 处拼接解析器返回的**非 i18n 英文错误描述串**（对位置信息无要求）