diff --git a/agent/context_references.py b/agent/context_references.py
index 1b8ac9481a..7ecb90c497 100644
--- a/agent/context_references.py
+++ b/agent/context_references.py
@@ -13,8 +13,9 @@ from typing import Awaitable, Callable
 
 from agent.model_metadata import estimate_tokens_rough
 
+_QUOTED_REFERENCE_VALUE = r'(?:`[^`\n]+`|"[^"\n]+"|\'[^\'\n]+\')'
 REFERENCE_PATTERN = re.compile(
-    r"(?<![\w/])@(?:(?P<simple>diff|staged)\b|(?P<kind>file|folder|git|url):(?P<value>\S+))"
+    rf"(?<![\w/])@(?:(?P<simple>diff|staged)\b|(?P<kind>file|folder|git|url):(?P<value>{_QUOTED_REFERENCE_VALUE}(?::\d+(?:-\d+)?)?|\S+))"
 )
 TRAILING_PUNCTUATION = ",.;!?"
 _SENSITIVE_HOME_DIRS = (".ssh", ".aws", ".gnupg", ".kube", ".docker", ".azure", ".config/gh")
@@ -81,14 +82,10 @@ def parse_context_references(message: str) -> list[ContextReference]:
         value = _strip_trailing_punctuation(match.group("value") or "")
         line_start = None
         line_end = None
-        target = value
+        target = _strip_reference_wrappers(value)
 
         if kind == "file":
-            range_match = re.match(r"^(?P<path>.+?):(?P<start>\d+)(?:-(?P<end>\d+))?$", value)
-            if range_match:
-                target = range_match.group("path")
-                line_start = int(range_match.group("start"))
-                line_end = int(range_match.group("end") or range_match.group("start"))
+            target, line_start, line_end = _parse_file_reference_value(value)
 
         refs.append(
             ContextReference(
@@ -375,6 +372,38 @@ def _strip_trailing_punctuation(value: str) -> str:
     return stripped
 
 
+def _strip_reference_wrappers(value: str) -> str:
+    if len(value) >= 2 and value[0] == value[-1] and value[0] in "`\"'":
+        return value[1:-1]
+    return value
+
+
+def _parse_file_reference_value(value: str) -> tuple[str, int | None, int | None]:
+    quoted_match = re.match(
+        r'^(?P<quote>`|"|\')(?P<path>.+?)(?P=quote)(?::(?P<start>\d+)(?:-(?P<end>\d+))?)?$',
+        value,
+    )
+    if quoted_match:
+        line_start = quoted_match.group("start")
+        line_end = quoted_match.group("end")
+        return (
+            quoted_match.group("path"),
+            int(line_start) if line_start is not None else None,
+            int(line_end or line_start) if line_start is not None else None,
+        )
+
+    range_match = re.match(r"^(?P<path>.+?):(?P<start>\d+)(?:-(?P<end>\d+))?$", value)
+    if range_match:
+        line_start = int(range_match.group("start"))
+        return (
+            range_match.group("path"),
+            line_start,
+            int(range_match.group("end") or range_match.group("start")),
+        )
+
+    return _strip_reference_wrappers(value), None, None
+
+
 def _remove_reference_tokens(message: str, refs: list[ContextReference]) -> str:
     pieces: list[str] = []
     cursor = 0
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_context_references.py b/tests/agent/test_context_references.py
index 92712c4d20..ea5579c568 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_context_references.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_context_references.py
@@ -83,6 +83,24 @@ def test_parse_references_strips_trailing_punctuation():
     assert refs[1].target == "https://example.com/docs"
 
 
+def test_parse_quoted_references_with_spaces_and_preserve_unquoted_ranges():
+    from agent.context_references import parse_context_references
+
+    refs = parse_context_references(
+        'review @file:"C:\\Users\\Simba\\My Project\\main.py":7-9 '
+        'and @folder:"docs and specs" plus @file:src/main.py:1-2'
+    )
+
+    assert [ref.kind for ref in refs] == ["file", "folder", "file"]
+    assert refs[0].target == r"C:\Users\Simba\My Project\main.py"
+    assert refs[0].line_start == 7
+    assert refs[0].line_end == 9
+    assert refs[1].target == "docs and specs"
+    assert refs[2].target == "src/main.py"
+    assert refs[2].line_start == 1
+    assert refs[2].line_end == 2
+
+
 def test_expand_file_range_and_folder_listing(sample_repo: Path):
     from agent.context_references import preprocess_context_references
 
@@ -106,6 +124,30 @@ def test_expand_file_range_and_folder_listing(sample_repo: Path):
     assert not result.warnings
 
 
+def test_expand_quoted_file_reference_with_spaces(tmp_path: Path):
+    from agent.context_references import preprocess_context_references
+
+    workspace = tmp_path / "repo"
+    folder = workspace / "docs and specs"
+    folder.mkdir(parents=True)
+    file_path = folder / "release notes.txt"
+    file_path.write_text("line 1\nline 2\nline 3\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    result = preprocess_context_references(
+        'Review @file:"docs and specs/release notes.txt":2-3',
+        cwd=workspace,
+        context_length=100_000,
+    )
+
+    assert result.expanded
+    assert result.message.startswith("Review")
+    assert "line 1" not in result.message
+    assert "line 2" in result.message
+    assert "line 3" in result.message
+    assert "release notes.txt" in result.message
+    assert not result.warnings
+
+
 def test_expand_git_diff_staged_and_log(sample_repo: Path):
     from agent.context_references import preprocess_context_references