diff --git a/src/hippocampus/memory_search.rs b/src/hippocampus/memory_search.rs
index 672556d..c73c855 100644
--- a/src/hippocampus/memory_search.rs
+++ b/src/hippocampus/memory_search.rs
@@ -287,6 +287,39 @@ fn reflection_cycle(session: &Session, out: &mut String, log_f: &mut File) {
     let _ = writeln!(log_f, "reflect: spawned {:?}", pid);
 }
 
+/// Run the journal agent on its own cadence — every 20KB of transcript.
+/// Standalone agent that captures episodic memory independently of the
+/// surface-observe pipeline.
+fn journal_cycle(session: &Session, log_f: &mut File) {
+    let state_dir = crate::store::memory_dir()
+        .join("agent-output")
+        .join("journal");
+    fs::create_dir_all(&state_dir).ok();
+
+    let offset_path = state_dir.join("transcript-offset");
+    let transcript = session.transcript();
+
+    let last_offset: u64 = fs::read_to_string(&offset_path).ok()
+        .and_then(|s| s.trim().parse().ok())
+        .unwrap_or(0);
+
+    const JOURNAL_INTERVAL: u64 = 20_000;
+    if transcript.size.saturating_sub(last_offset) < JOURNAL_INTERVAL {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let live = crate::agents::knowledge::scan_pid_files(&state_dir, 300);
+    if !live.is_empty() {
+        let _ = writeln!(log_f, "journal: already running {:?}", live);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    fs::write(&offset_path, transcript.size.to_string()).ok();
+    let pid = crate::agents::knowledge::spawn_agent(
+        "journal", &state_dir, &session.session_id);
+    let _ = writeln!(log_f, "journal: spawned {:?}", pid);
+}
+
 fn cleanup_stale_files(dir: &Path, max_age: Duration) {
     let entries = match fs::read_dir(dir) {
         Ok(e) => e,
@@ -367,6 +400,7 @@ fn hook(session: &Session) -> String {
         if cfg.surface_hooks.iter().any(|h| h == &session.hook_event) {
             surface_observe_cycle(session, &mut out, &mut log_f);
             reflection_cycle(session, &mut out, &mut log_f);
+            journal_cycle(session, &mut log_f);
         }
     }