diff --git a/src/agent/mod.rs b/src/agent/mod.rs
index b9b1d9b..d517534 100644
--- a/src/agent/mod.rs
+++ b/src/agent/mod.rs
@@ -155,6 +155,9 @@ pub struct AgentState {
     pub generation: u64,
     pub memory_scoring_in_flight: bool,
     pub active_tools: tools::ActiveTools,
+    /// Forked agents should not compact on overflow — it blows the
+    /// KV cache prefix and evicts the step prompts.
+    pub no_compact: bool,
     pub changed: Arc<tokio::sync::Notify>,
 }
 
@@ -214,6 +217,7 @@ impl Agent {
                 generation: 0,
                 memory_scoring_in_flight: false,
                 active_tools,
+                no_compact: false,
                 changed: Arc::new(tokio::sync::Notify::new()),
             }),
         });
@@ -249,6 +253,7 @@ impl Agent {
                 generation: 0,
                 memory_scoring_in_flight: false,
                 active_tools: tools::ActiveTools::new(),
+                no_compact: true,
                 changed: Arc::new(tokio::sync::Notify::new()),
             }),
         })
@@ -354,12 +359,17 @@ impl Agent {
             // Check for stream/parse errors
             match parser_handle.await {
                 Ok(Err(e)) => {
-                    if context::is_context_overflow(&e) && overflow_retries < 2 {
-                        overflow_retries += 1;
-                        agent.state.lock().await.notify(
-                            format!("context overflow — retrying ({}/2)", overflow_retries));
-                        agent.compact().await;
-                        continue;
+                    if context::is_context_overflow(&e) {
+                        if agent.state.lock().await.no_compact {
+                            return Err(e);
+                        }
+                        if overflow_retries < 2 {
+                            overflow_retries += 1;
+                            agent.state.lock().await.notify(
+                                format!("context overflow — retrying ({}/2)", overflow_retries));
+                            agent.compact().await;
+                            continue;
+                        }
                     }
                     return Err(e);
                 }
diff --git a/src/agent/oneshot.rs b/src/agent/oneshot.rs
index b228cb8..bc05d0a 100644
--- a/src/agent/oneshot.rs
+++ b/src/agent/oneshot.rs
@@ -186,8 +186,14 @@ impl AutoAgent {
         for _ in 0..max_turns {
             self.turn += 1;
 
-            let result = Agent::turn(backend.0.clone()).await
-                .map_err(|e| format!("{}: {}", self.name, e))?;
+            let result = match Agent::turn(backend.0.clone()).await {
+                Ok(r) => r,
+                Err(e) if super::context::is_context_overflow(&e) => {
+                    dbglog!("[auto] {} context full, stopping gracefully", self.name);
+                    return Ok(String::new());
+                }
+                Err(e) => return Err(format!("{}: {}", self.name, e)),
+            };
 
             if result.had_tool_calls {
                 continue;