diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.test.ts
index 3786cf99571..350fc26fd9a 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.test.ts
@@ -757,6 +757,39 @@ describe('import failures', () => {
     expect(journal.epoch).toBe(before)
   })
 
+  // A transcript with no decodable messages recovers nothing. Publishing an
+  // empty replacement would roll the epoch and drop whatever the journal held —
+  // including a repair's own anchor and disclosure.
+  it('leaves the epoch untouched when the transcript decodes to no messages', async () => {
+    const journal = await open('codex', CODEX_SESSION)
+    await journal.appendItem(
+      { provider: 'codex', threadId: CODEX_SESSION, turnId: 'turn-1', ordinal: 1 },
+      { kind: 'message', role: 'assistant', blocks: [{ type: 'text', text: 'kept' }] },
+      { fence: 1 }
+    )
+    const before = journal.epoch
+    const metadataOnly = await writeFixture('metadata-only.jsonl', [
+      {
+        type: 'session_meta',
+        timestamp: '2026-08-05T10:00:00.000Z',
+        payload: { id: CODEX_SESSION, session_id: CODEX_SESSION, cwd: '/Users/dev/project' }
+      }
+    ])
+
+    const result = await importLegacyTranscriptIntoJournal({
+      journal,
+      agent: 'codex',
+      sessionId: CODEX_SESSION,
+      fence: 1,
+      options: { filePath: metadataOnly }
+    })
+
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ ok: true, imported: 0, replaced: false })
+    expect(journal.epoch).toBe(before)
+    expect(journal.snapshot().items).toHaveLength(1)
+    await journal.close()
+  })
+
   it('rejects an agent with no transcript decoder', async () => {
     const journal = await open('claude', CLAUDE_SESSION)
     const result = await importLegacyTranscriptIntoJournal({
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.ts
index 126196af38e..23eb755c1da 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-journal/journal-legacy-import.ts
@@ -49,7 +49,14 @@ export type LegacyImportOptions = ResolveSessionFileOptions & {
 const MAX_LEGACY_IMPORT_SOURCE_BYTES = 16 * 1024 * 1024
 
 export type LegacyImportResult =
-  | { ok: true; epoch: string; cursor: AgentJournalCursor; imported: number }
+  | {
+      ok: true
+      epoch: string
+      cursor: AgentJournalCursor
+      imported: number
+      /** False when the transcript held no messages and the epoch was left as it stood. */
+      replaced: boolean
+    }
   | { ok: false; error: string }
 
 export async function appendLegacyTranscriptMessages(input: {
@@ -142,8 +149,22 @@ export async function importLegacyTranscriptIntoJournal(input: {
       observedAt: message.timestamp ?? undefined
     })
   }
+  // A transcript that decodes to nothing reconstructs nothing, and an empty
+  // replacement is not a harmless no-op: it would delete the repair's anchor and
+  // its disclosure, leaving the quarantined rows with nothing asking for them
+  // again. The epoch stands so a later read can still rebuild it.
+  if (replacement.length === 0) {
+    const current = input.journal.cursor()
+    return { ok: true, epoch: current.epoch, cursor: current, imported: 0, replaced: false }
+  }
   const cursor = await input.journal.replaceEpochItems('legacy_import', input.fence, replacement)
-  return { ok: true, epoch: cursor.epoch, cursor, imported: decoded.messages.length }
+  return {
+    ok: true,
+    epoch: cursor.epoch,
+    cursor,
+    imported: decoded.messages.length,
+    replaced: true
+  }
 }
 
 const TRANSCRIPT_DECODERS = {
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.test.ts
index d5aa310d20b..3b20689bc27 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.test.ts
@@ -373,6 +373,64 @@ describe('openAgentSessionJournalWithRecovery', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  // An empty transcript is a plausible transient provider state, and it used to
+  // end recovery for good: the import published an empty replacement epoch that
+  // deleted the repair's anchor and disclosure, the next probe called that clean,
+  // and the user's rows stayed in quarantine with nothing asking for them again.
+  it('does not retire the repair marker when provider history exists but holds no messages', async () => {
+    await seedRepairableSession()
+    const empty = join(root, 'empty.jsonl')
+    await writeFile(empty, '', 'utf-8')
+
+    const first = await openAgentSessionJournalWithRecovery({
+      identity: IDENTITY,
+      journalDir,
+      fence: 1,
+      historyFilePath: empty
+    })
+    journals.track(first.journal)
+    expect(first.recovery).toMatchObject({ trigger: 'journal_corrupt', imported: 0 })
+    expect(first.recovery?.error).toBeTruthy()
+    // The anchor the repair published, and its disclosure, are still the epoch.
+    expect(first.journal.snapshot().items.map((entry) => entry.body.kind)).toEqual(['status'])
+    expect(
+      first.journal
+        .snapshot()
+        .items.some(
+          (entry) => entry.body.kind === 'status' && entry.body.text.includes('set aside')
+        )
+    ).toBe(true)
+    const epoch = first.journal.epoch
+    await first.journal.close()
+    await withJournalDatabase(journalDir, (db) => {
+      const rows = readJournalEpochRows(db, CODEX_SESSION, epoch)
+      expect(JSON.parse(rows[0]?.rowJson ?? '{}')).toMatchObject({
+        kind: 'epoch',
+        seq: 1,
+        reason: 'unreconcilable_prefix'
+      })
+    })
+
+    // The session still reports corrupt, so the next attach retries.
+    expect(await loadJournal(journalDir, CODEX_SESSION)).toMatchObject({ corrupt: true })
+
+    // And a transcript that DOES have content still rebuilds the timeline.
+    const retried = await openAgentSessionJournalWithRecovery({
+      identity: IDENTITY,
+      journalDir,
+      fence: 1,
+      historyFilePath
+    })
+    journals.track(retried.journal)
+    expect(retried.recovery?.imported).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    expect(JSON.stringify(retried.journal.snapshot().items.map((entry) => entry.body))).toContain(
+      'add a retry'
+    )
+    expect(
+      retried.journal.recoverQuarantinedRows().map((row) => JSON.parse(row.rowJson).kind)
+    ).toEqual(['submission', 'dispatch'])
+  })
+
   it('rebuilds the emptied epoch once provider history is readable again', async () => {
     await seedRepairableSession()
 
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.ts
index 9496d0d6da3..282600f6b02 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/agent-session-journal-recovery.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ export type AgentSessionJournalRecovery = {
   reset: AgentJournalResetReason
   epoch: string
   imported: number
-  /** Set when provider history could not be read; the intact journal prefix remains live. */
+  /** Set when provider history could not be read, or held nothing to restore; the
+   *  intact journal prefix remains live. */
   error?: string
 }
 
@@ -113,13 +114,16 @@ async function rehydrate(input: {
     fence: input.fence,
     ...(input.historyFilePath ? { options: { filePath: input.historyFilePath } } : {})
   })
-  if (!result.ok) {
+  // A transcript that held nothing is the same outcome as one that could not be
+  // read: nothing was restored, so the repair's marker has to stand and be
+  // retried on a later attach rather than being retired as a completed recovery.
+  if (!result.ok || !result.replaced) {
     return {
       trigger: input.trigger,
       reset,
       epoch: input.journal.epoch,
       imported: 0,
-      error: result.error
+      error: result.ok ? 'Provider history held no messages to restore' : result.error
     }
   }
   return {