diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/ast-helpers.ts b/packages/compiler/src/ast-helpers.ts
index 0b784608..0204a22e 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/ast-helpers.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/ast-helpers.ts
@@ -313,7 +313,8 @@ export function extractDictExpression(
     }
   }
 
-  return Object.keys(result).length > 0 ? result : undefined;
+  // An empty dictionary is a value, including inside other dictionaries or lists.
+  return result;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/compiler/test/ast-helpers.test.ts b/packages/compiler/test/ast-helpers.test.ts
index d2c81d3d..26b1237a 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/test/ast-helpers.test.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/test/ast-helpers.test.ts
@@ -10,10 +10,17 @@ import { DiagnosticSeverity } from '@agentscript/types';
 import {
   type Expression,
   AtIdentifier,
+  DictLiteral,
+  ListLiteral,
+  StringLiteral,
   Identifier,
   MemberExpression,
 } from '@agentscript/language';
-import { resolveAtReference } from '../src/ast-helpers.js';
+import {
+  resolveAtReference,
+  extractDictExpression,
+  extractExpressionValue,
+} from '../src/ast-helpers.js';
 import { CompilerContext } from '../src/compiler-context.js';
 
 let ctx: CompilerContext;
@@ -72,3 +79,74 @@ describe('resolveAtReference', () => {
     ).toBe(true);
   });
 });
+
+describe('issue #101: dictionary extraction contract', () => {
+  it('extracts an empty dictionary as an object', () => {
+    expect(extractDictExpression(new DictLiteral([]))).toStrictEqual({});
+  });
+
+  it('keeps missing dictionary input undefined', () => {
+    expect(extractDictExpression(undefined)).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('keeps non-dictionary input undefined', () => {
+    expect(extractDictExpression(new StringLiteral('value'))).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('keeps unsupported expressions undefined', () => {
+    expect(
+      extractExpressionValue(new Identifier('unresolved'))
+    ).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('preserves empty dictionary values while omitting unsupported values', () => {
+    const expression = new DictLiteral([
+      {
+        key: new StringLiteral('empty'),
+        value: new DictLiteral([]),
+        __diagnostics: [],
+      },
+      {
+        key: new StringLiteral('unsupported'),
+        value: new Identifier('unresolved'),
+        __diagnostics: [],
+      },
+      {
+        key: new StringLiteral('kept'),
+        value: new StringLiteral('value'),
+        __diagnostics: [],
+      },
+    ]);
+
+    expect(extractExpressionValue(expression)).toStrictEqual({
+      empty: {},
+      kept: 'value',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('preserves empty list elements while omitting unsupported expressions', () => {
+    const expression = new ListLiteral([
+      new DictLiteral([]),
+      new Identifier('unresolved'),
+      new StringLiteral('value'),
+      new DictLiteral([]),
+    ]);
+
+    expect(extractExpressionValue(expression)).toStrictEqual([{}, 'value', {}]);
+  });
+
+  it('preserves empty plain-array elements while omitting unsupported expressions', () => {
+    const expressions = [
+      new DictLiteral([]),
+      new Identifier('unresolved'),
+      new StringLiteral('value'),
+      new DictLiteral([]),
+    ];
+
+    expect(extractExpressionValue(expressions)).toStrictEqual([
+      {},
+      'value',
+      {},
+    ]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/compiler/test/live.test.ts b/packages/compiler/test/live.test.ts
index 56cb81ee..45748a7f 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/test/live.test.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/test/live.test.ts
@@ -152,3 +152,30 @@ live:
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe('issue #101: empty objects in live parameters', () => {
+  it.each([
+    { name: 'an empty dictionary value', literal: '{}', expected: {} },
+    {
+      name: 'empty objects at their original list positions',
+      literal: '[{}, {"n": 1}, {}]',
+      expected: [{}, { n: 1 }, {}],
+    },
+  ])('preserves $name', ({ literal, expected }) => {
+    const { output, diagnostics } = compile(
+      parseSource(
+        agent(`
+live:
+    enabled: True
+    params:
+        profile: ${literal}
+`)
+      )
+    );
+
+    expect(diagnostics.filter(d => d.severity === 1)).toEqual([]);
+    expect(output.agent_version.live?.params).toStrictEqual({
+      profile: expected,
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/compiler/test/model-config-inheritance.test.ts b/packages/compiler/test/model-config-inheritance.test.ts
index 03885a3e..9311123c 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/test/model-config-inheritance.test.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/test/model-config-inheritance.test.ts
@@ -525,3 +525,61 @@ subagent topic4:
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe('issue #101: empty model parameter values', () => {
+  it('preserves nested empty values inherited from global parameters', () => {
+    const { output, diagnostics } = compileSource(`
+config:
+    developer_name: "TestAgent"
+model_config:
+    model: "model://gpt-4"
+    params:
+        profile: {"empty": {}, "full": {"n": 1}}
+start_agent main:
+    description: "Entry point"
+subagent support:
+    description: "Support"
+    reasoning:
+        instructions: ->
+            | Help with requests
+`);
+
+    expect(diagnostics.filter(d => d.severity === 1)).toEqual([]);
+    expect(
+      findNode(output, 'support', 'subagent').model_configuration
+    ).toStrictEqual({
+      model_ref: 'gpt-4',
+      configuration: { profile: { empty: {}, full: { n: 1 } } },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('allows an empty topic parameter to override a populated global value', () => {
+    const { output, diagnostics } = compileSource(`
+config:
+    developer_name: "TestAgent"
+model_config:
+    model: "model://gpt-4"
+    params:
+        profile: {"n": 1}
+        temperature: 0.7
+start_agent main:
+    description: "Entry point"
+subagent support:
+    description: "Support"
+    model_config:
+        params:
+            profile: {}
+    reasoning:
+        instructions: ->
+            | Help with requests
+`);
+
+    expect(diagnostics.filter(d => d.severity === 1)).toEqual([]);
+    expect(
+      findNode(output, 'support', 'subagent').model_configuration
+    ).toStrictEqual({
+      model_ref: 'gpt-4',
+      configuration: { profile: {}, temperature: 0.7 },
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/compiler/test/state-variables.test.ts b/packages/compiler/test/state-variables.test.ts
index 9aeb2153..3fd00cc5 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/test/state-variables.test.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/test/state-variables.test.ts
@@ -1253,3 +1253,51 @@ variables:
     expect(findStateVar(result, 'obj_no_default')!.default).toBeUndefined();
   });
 });
+
+describe('issue #101: empty objects in variable defaults', () => {
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: 'an empty child beside a populated child',
+      type: 'object',
+      literal: '{"empty": {}, "full": {"n": 1}}',
+      expected: { empty: {}, full: { n: 1 } },
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'a recursive chain ending in an empty object',
+      type: 'object',
+      literal: '{"a": {"b": {}}}',
+      expected: { a: { b: {} } },
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'empty objects at their original list positions',
+      type: 'list[object]',
+      literal: '[{}, {"n": 1}, {}]',
+      expected: [{}, { n: 1 }, {}],
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'a list containing only empty objects',
+      type: 'list[object]',
+      literal: '[{}, {}]',
+      expected: [{}, {}],
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'an empty object inside a nested list',
+      type: 'object',
+      literal: '{"a": [{}]}',
+      expected: { a: [{}] },
+    },
+  ])('preserves $name', ({ type, literal, expected }) => {
+    const result = compileSource(
+      agentSource(`
+variables:
+    payload: mutable ${type} = ${literal}`)
+    );
+
+    expect(
+      result.diagnostics.filter(d => d.severity === DiagnosticSeverity.Error)
+    ).toEqual([]);
+    const variable = findStateVar(result, 'payload');
+    expect(variable).toBeDefined();
+    expect(variable!.default).toStrictEqual(expected);
+  });
+});