diff --git a/src/agent/log.rs b/src/agent/log.rs
index 1855545..7353d14 100644
--- a/src/agent/log.rs
+++ b/src/agent/log.rs
@@ -125,4 +125,26 @@ impl ConversationLog {
     pub fn path(&self) -> &Path {
         &self.path
     }
+
+    /// Get the timestamp of the oldest message in the log.
+    pub fn oldest_timestamp(&self) -> Option<chrono::DateTime<chrono::Utc>> {
+        let file = File::open(&self.path).ok()?;
+        let reader = BufReader::new(file);
+        for line in reader.lines().flatten() {
+            let line = line.trim().to_string();
+            if line.is_empty() { continue; }
+            if let Ok(msg) = serde_json::from_str::<Message>(&line) {
+                if let Some(ts) = &msg.timestamp {
+                    if let Ok(dt) = chrono::DateTime::parse_from_rfc3339(ts) {
+                        return Some(dt.to_utc());
+                    }
+                    // Try other formats
+                    if let Ok(dt) = chrono::NaiveDateTime::parse_from_str(ts, "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S") {
+                        return Some(dt.and_utc());
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        None
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/agent/runner.rs b/src/agent/runner.rs
index f0e926a..dee8bac 100644
--- a/src/agent/runner.rs
+++ b/src/agent/runner.rs
@@ -785,8 +785,55 @@ impl Agent {
     /// Uses the same budget logic as compaction but with empty conversation.
     /// Only parses the tail of the journal file (last 64KB) for speed.
     fn load_startup_journal(&mut self) {
-        let journal_path = journal::default_journal_path();
-        let entries = journal::parse_journal_tail(&journal_path, 64 * 1024);
+        let store = match crate::store::Store::load() {
+            Ok(s) => s,
+            Err(_) => return,
+        };
+
+        // Find oldest message timestamp in conversation log
+        let oldest_msg_ts = self.conversation_log.as_ref()
+            .and_then(|log| log.oldest_timestamp());
+
+        // Get journal entries from the memory graph
+        let mut journal_nodes: Vec<_> = store.nodes.values()
+            .filter(|n| n.node_type == crate::store::NodeType::EpisodicSession)
+            .collect();
+        journal_nodes.sort_by_key(|n| n.created_at);
+
+        // Filter: entries older than oldest conversation message,
+        // plus the first one that overlaps (no gap)
+        let entries: Vec<journal::JournalEntry> = if let Some(cutoff) = oldest_msg_ts {
+            let mut result = Vec::new();
+            let mut included_overlap = false;
+            for node in &journal_nodes {
+                let ts = chrono::DateTime::from_timestamp(node.created_at, 0)
+                    .unwrap_or_default();
+                if ts < cutoff || !included_overlap {
+                    result.push(journal::JournalEntry {
+                        timestamp: ts,
+                        content: node.content.clone(),
+                    });
+                    if ts >= cutoff {
+                        included_overlap = true;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            result
+        } else {
+            // No conversation yet — include recent entries for orientation
+            let n = 20;
+            let skip = journal_nodes.len().saturating_sub(n);
+            journal_nodes.iter().skip(skip).map(|node| {
+                journal::JournalEntry {
+                    timestamp: chrono::DateTime::from_timestamp(node.created_at, 0)
+                        .unwrap_or_default(),
+                    content: node.content.clone(),
+                }
+            }).collect()
+        };
+
         if entries.is_empty() {
             return;
         }