diff --git a/src/agent/runner.rs b/src/agent/runner.rs
index de3f659..eb4824c 100644
--- a/src/agent/runner.rs
+++ b/src/agent/runner.rs
@@ -967,17 +967,19 @@ impl Agent {
     fn do_compact(&mut self) {
         let conversation: Vec<Message> = self.context.entries.iter()
             .map(|e| e.api_message().clone()).collect();
-        let (messages, journal) = crate::agent::context::build_context_window(
+        let (messages, _) = crate::agent::context::build_context_window(
             &self.context,
             &conversation,
             &self.client.model,
             &self.tokenizer,
         );
-        self.context.journal = journal::parse_journal_text(&journal);
+        // Don't overwrite journal — it was loaded from the memory graph
+        // in load_startup_journal. The old build_context_window reads
+        // from a stale flat file. TODO: remove build_context_window.
         self.context.entries = messages.into_iter()
             .map(ConversationEntry::Message).collect();
         self.last_prompt_tokens = 0;
-        
+
         self.publish_context_state();
     }
 
@@ -1028,15 +1030,15 @@ impl Agent {
             .collect();
         dbglog!("[restore] {} messages after filtering system", conversation.len());
 
-        let (messages, journal) = crate::agent::context::build_context_window(
+        let (messages, _) = crate::agent::context::build_context_window(
             &self.context,
             &conversation,
             &self.client.model,
             &self.tokenizer,
         );
-        dbglog!("[restore] journal text: {} chars, {} lines",
-            journal.len(), journal.lines().count());
-        self.context.journal = journal::parse_journal_text(&journal);
+        dbglog!("[restore] journal preserved: {} entries",
+            self.context.journal.len());
+        // Don't overwrite journal — already loaded from memory graph
         self.context.entries = messages.into_iter()
             .map(ConversationEntry::Message).collect();
         dbglog!("[restore] built context window: {} entries", self.context.entries.len());