diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index bd3113e69a6..f3e5adcf030 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -446,8 +446,8 @@ jobs:
           snapshot_output=$(/bin/bash tests/fm-fleet-snapshot-view.test.sh)
           printf '%s\n' "$snapshot_output"
           snapshot_count=$(printf '%s\n' "$snapshot_output" | grep -c '^ok - ')
-          [ "$snapshot_count" -eq 19 ] || {
-            echo "::error::expected 19 snapshot/fleet-view tests, got $snapshot_count"
+          [ "$snapshot_count" -eq 21 ] || {
+            echo "::error::expected 21 snapshot/fleet-view tests, got $snapshot_count"
             exit 1
           }
 
diff --git a/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh b/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh
index f483f6ab7a9..a906f6d5cd8 100755
--- a/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh
+++ b/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh
@@ -1545,7 +1545,27 @@ snapshot_cleanup() {
   snapshot_collection_cleanup
   cleanup_json_files
 }
+
+# Belt-and-suspenders for a prior run that was SIGKILL'd before its EXIT trap
+# could run: remove task temp directories older than a few hours before creating
+# this run's. The age gate keeps a live concurrent snapshot's directory safe,
+# while a leaked one ages out and is reaped by a later run. A reap failure is
+# never fatal to this snapshot.
+snapshot_reap_aged_task_dirs() {
+  local root=${TMPDIR:-/tmp} minutes=${FM_SNAPSHOT_TMP_REAP_MINUTES:-180}
+  case "$minutes" in ''|*[!0-9]*|0) return 0 ;; esac
+  find "$root" -maxdepth 1 -type d -name 'fm-fleet-tasks.*' -mmin +"$minutes" \
+    -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
+snapshot_reap_aged_task_dirs
+snapshot_on_signal() {  # <status>
+  snapshot_cleanup
+  exit "$1"
+}
 trap snapshot_cleanup EXIT
+trap 'snapshot_on_signal 130' INT
+trap 'snapshot_on_signal 143' TERM
 
 bounded_parent_activities_json() {  # <status-file>
   local f=$1 out rc reason script
diff --git a/bin/fm-watch.sh b/bin/fm-watch.sh
index 950fd2d7081..570bb4d21a0 100755
--- a/bin/fm-watch.sh
+++ b/bin/fm-watch.sh
@@ -272,8 +272,10 @@ fi
 POLL=${FM_POLL:-15}                   # seconds between cycles
 # The liveness beacon is touched once per cycle, immediately before the
 # terminal wait below (event_wait_or_sleep) as well as at the top of the next
-# one, so a healthy cycle's beacon can legitimately age up to POLL seconds
-# between touches. fm_poll_derived_grace (bin/fm-wake-lib.sh, already sourced
+# one, and again before each *.check.sh in the serial sweep, so a healthy
+# cycle's beacon can legitimately age up to POLL seconds between touches and a
+# long but healthy check sweep never reads as a stalled watcher.
+# fm_poll_derived_grace (bin/fm-wake-lib.sh, already sourced
 # transitively above) is the single owner of the max(300, poll+60)
 # derivation - see docs/turnend-guard.md "Guard grace and the poll cadence".
 # This recomputes the library default above now that the real configured
@@ -2754,6 +2756,10 @@ while :; do
     contribution_check_output=
     for c in "$STATE"/*.check.sh; do
       [ -e "$c" ] || continue
+      # A serial sweep of up to nine 30s checks can hold this watcher's beacon
+      # for minutes. Refresh it before each check so a healthy sweep never reads
+      # as a stalled watcher to the guard or a continuity supervisor.
+      touch "$STATE/.last-watcher-beat"
       is_pr_poll=0
       if [ "$(basename "$c")" = x-watch.check.sh ]; then
         if fmx_poll_shim_valid "$c" "$FM_HOME" "$FM_ROOT" \
diff --git a/bin/fm-watcher-continuity.sh b/bin/fm-watcher-continuity.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..b040714bbd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/fm-watcher-continuity.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# fm-watcher-continuity.sh - keep this home's watcher alive when the harness
+# re-arm owner can leave a gap (long OpenCode turns, Cursor park gaps).
+#
+# Usage:
+#   fm-watcher-continuity.sh
+#
+# Singleton through the shared portable lock (no flock dependency). It keeps one
+# handling-successor watcher running (FM_WATCH_HANDLING_SUCCESSOR=1
+# bin/fm-watch.sh) and, when another arm already owns a live watcher, attaches
+# to that holder instead of starting a second one. A holder is stopped only when
+# BOTH its own uptime and the age of state/.last-watcher-beat exceed the stale
+# bound, so a fresh start is never killed for a beat left by a previous cycle.
+# Only the watcher process touches the beat; this supervisor never does.
+#
+# The stale bound is floored to max(300, poll+60) because the watcher's own
+# grace uses that same derivation and its serial *.check.sh sweep can
+# legitimately hold the beat for minutes. A bound below the floor is exactly the
+# 2026-09-30 kill loop (70 kills / 125 restarts): the supervisor TERM'd a
+# healthy watcher mid-sweep, the sweep never completed, and the next watcher
+# restarted the same sweep and was killed again.
+#
+# REPLACING THIS SCRIPT - read before touching a running supervisor:
+# bash parses a whole script into memory at startup, so editing this file does
+# NOT change a supervisor already running, and a stale supervisor with an older
+# bound can survive beside a new one. Replace it atomically instead: write the
+# new content to a temp file, `mv` it over this path, `kill -KILL` the old
+# supervisor (it holds state/.watcher-continuity.lock), then start exactly one
+# new holder. Never edit a running bash script in place.
+#
+# Env (all optional):
+#   FM_CONTINUITY_STALE_SECS    stuck bound in seconds; floored as above
+#   FM_CONTINUITY_POLL_SECS     seconds between liveness checks (default 5)
+#   FM_CONTINUITY_RESTART_SECS  seconds between watcher runs (default 2)
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(d=${BASH_SOURCE[0]%/*}; [ "$d" != "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" ] || d=.; cd "${d:-/}" && pwd)"
+FM_ROOT="${FM_ROOT_OVERRIDE:-$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)}"
+FM_HOME="${FM_HOME:-${FM_ROOT_OVERRIDE:-$FM_ROOT}}"
+STATE="${FM_STATE_OVERRIDE:-$FM_HOME/state}"
+WATCHER="$SCRIPT_DIR/fm-watch.sh"
+WATCH_LOCK="$STATE/.watch.lock"
+BEAT="$STATE/.last-watcher-beat"
+LOG="$STATE/.watcher-continuity.log"
+LOCK="$STATE/.watcher-continuity.lock"
+PIDFILE="$STATE/.watcher-continuity.pid"
+
+[ -x "$WATCHER" ] || { echo "fm-watcher-continuity: watcher not found: $WATCHER" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+# Portable lock acquisition and pid identity, plus the leaf mtime helper.
+# shellcheck source=bin/fm-wake-lib.sh
+FM_ROOT_OVERRIDE="$FM_ROOT" FM_HOME="$FM_HOME" FM_STATE_OVERRIDE="$STATE" \
+  . "$SCRIPT_DIR/fm-wake-lib.sh"
+# shellcheck source=bin/fm-lock-lib.sh
+. "$SCRIPT_DIR/fm-lock-lib.sh"
+
+positive_int_or() {  # <value> <default>
+  case "$1" in ''|*[!0-9]*|0) printf '%s\n' "$2" ;; *) printf '%s\n' "$1" ;; esac
+}
+POLL_SECS=$(positive_int_or "${FM_CONTINUITY_POLL_SECS:-5}" 5)
+RESTART_SECS=$(positive_int_or "${FM_CONTINUITY_RESTART_SECS:-2}" 2)
+STALE_FLOOR=$((POLL_SECS + 60))
+[ "$STALE_FLOOR" -ge 300 ] || STALE_FLOOR=300
+STALE_SECS=$(positive_int_or "${FM_CONTINUITY_STALE_SECS:-$STALE_FLOOR}" "$STALE_FLOOR")
+[ "$STALE_SECS" -ge "$STALE_FLOOR" ] || STALE_SECS=$STALE_FLOOR
+
+mkdir -p "$STATE"
+log() { printf '[%s] %s\n' "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" "$*" >> "$LOG"; }
+beat_age() {
+  local mtime
+  mtime=$(fm_lock_path_mtime "$BEAT" 2>/dev/null) || { printf 'none\n'; return 0; }
+  printf '%s\n' "$(( $(date +%s) - mtime ))"
+}
+lock_pid() { cat "$WATCH_LOCK/pid" 2>/dev/null || true; }
+
+if ! fm_lock_try_acquire "$LOCK"; then
+  exit 0
+fi
+printf '%s\n' "$$" > "$PIDFILE"
+cleanup() {
+  rm -f "$PIDFILE" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fm_lock_release "$LOCK" 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+on_signal() {  # <status>
+  cleanup
+  exit "$1"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+trap 'on_signal 130' INT
+trap 'on_signal 143' TERM
+trap 'on_signal 129' HUP
+
+log "continuity supervisor acquired lock stale=${STALE_SECS}s floor=${STALE_FLOOR}s poll=${POLL_SECS}s"
+
+while true; do
+  lp=$(lock_pid)
+  if fm_pid_alive "$lp"; then
+    # Another arm owns a live watcher. Attach and watch it, never start a second.
+    log "attaching to existing watcher pid=$lp"
+    started_at=$(date +%s)
+    while fm_pid_alive "$lp"; do
+      now=$(date +%s)
+      up=$((now - started_at))
+      age=$(beat_age)
+      if [ "$up" -ge "$STALE_SECS" ] && [ "$age" != "none" ] && [ "$age" -ge "$STALE_SECS" ]; then
+        log "watcher pid=$lp stuck (up=${up}s beat=${age}s); TERM"
+        kill -TERM "$lp" 2>/dev/null || true
+        sleep 0.5
+        fm_pid_alive "$lp" && kill -KILL "$lp" 2>/dev/null || true
+        break
+      fi
+      sleep "$POLL_SECS"
+      lp=$(lock_pid)
+      [ -n "$lp" ] || break
+    done
+    sleep "$RESTART_SECS"
+    continue
+  fi
+
+  FM_HOME="$FM_HOME" FM_WATCH_HANDLING_SUCCESSOR=1 "$WATCHER" >> "$STATE/.watch-restart.log" 2>&1 &
+  wpid=$!
+  started_at=$(date +%s)
+  log "started watcher pid=$wpid"
+  while fm_pid_alive "$wpid"; do
+    now=$(date +%s)
+    up=$((now - started_at))
+    age=$(beat_age)
+    if [ "$up" -ge "$STALE_SECS" ] && [ "$age" != "none" ] && [ "$age" -ge "$STALE_SECS" ]; then
+      log "watcher pid=$wpid stuck (up=${up}s beat=${age}s); TERM"
+      kill -TERM "$wpid" 2>/dev/null || true
+      sleep 0.5
+      fm_pid_alive "$wpid" && kill -KILL "$wpid" 2>/dev/null || true
+      break
+    fi
+    sleep "$POLL_SECS"
+  done
+  wait "$wpid" 2>/dev/null || true
+  log "watcher pid=$wpid finished"
+  sleep "$RESTART_SECS"
+done
diff --git a/docs/scripts.md b/docs/scripts.md
index dbe2cde6dbb..575f6275aa2 100644
--- a/docs/scripts.md
+++ b/docs/scripts.md
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ The shared no-mistakes gate lifecycle boundary is summarized in [architecture.md
 | `fm-primary-scope-lib.sh` | Shared marker-or-plain-checkout primary-home predicate for tracked hooks             |
 | `fm-session-lock-lib.sh` | Shared session-lock ownership from harness ancestry or a trusted Claude session id for fm-lock.sh and the Claude Stop auto-arm, plus the read-only lock inspection behind `fm-lock.sh status` and `fm-inbox.sh ready` |
 | `fm-claude-stop-autoarm.sh` | Claude Stop `asyncRewake` hook owning tokenless watcher continuity with single-flight exit-2 rewake (docs/watcher-continuity.md) |
+| `fm-watcher-continuity.sh` | Belt-and-suspenders watcher supervisor for a home whose re-arm owner can leave a gap, with a floored stuck bound that never undercuts the watcher's own grace |
 | `fm-turnend-guard.sh`    | Shared primary turn-end guard predicate so no turn ends blind (docs/turnend-guard.md) |
 | `fm-turnend-guard-grok.sh` | Grok Stop-hook adapter for the primary turn-end guard                              |
 | `fm-kimi-turnend-hook.sh` | Surgically install or remove Kimi's guarded global crew turn-end hook                |
diff --git a/tests/fm-fleet-snapshot-view.test.sh b/tests/fm-fleet-snapshot-view.test.sh
index 2ce929c11ca..64dd01857aa 100755
--- a/tests/fm-fleet-snapshot-view.test.sh
+++ b/tests/fm-fleet-snapshot-view.test.sh
@@ -1195,9 +1195,93 @@ test_large_payloads_compose_through_files() {
   pass "snapshot composes >128KB payloads through files, not argv"
 }
 
+test_snapshot_term_cleanup_removes_temp_dir() {
+  # A SIGKILL leaves a task temp dir behind because the EXIT trap never runs.
+  # A trapped TERM must run snapshot_cleanup and then exit, so a graceful stop
+  # never leaks the directory either.
+  local home tmp fakebin pid tempdir status i
+  home=$(make_home term-cleanup)
+  printf '## In flight\n' > "$home/data/backlog.md"
+  fm_write_meta "$home/state/blocker.meta" \
+    "window=firstmate:fm-blocker" \
+    "worktree=$home/worktree" \
+    "project=alpha" \
+    "harness=codex" \
+    "kind=ship" \
+    "mode=ship" \
+    "yolo=off"
+  printf 'working: probe\n' > "$home/state/blocker.status"
+  tmp="$TMP_ROOT/term-tmp"
+  mkdir -p "$tmp"
+  fakebin=$(make_fakebin "$TMP_ROOT/term-fakebin")
+  # A slow backend probe holds the snapshot in its task-observation wait long
+  # enough to signal it with its temp dir already created.
+  cat > "$fakebin/tmux" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+sleep 3
+exit 0
+SH
+  chmod +x "$fakebin/tmux"
+
+  PATH="$fakebin:$PATH" FM_HOME="$home" TMPDIR="$tmp" \
+    FM_SNAPSHOT_CREW_STATE_TIMEOUT=10 "$SNAPSHOT" --json \
+    > "$TMP_ROOT/term.out" 2>&1 &
+  pid=$!
+  tempdir=
+  i=0
+  while [ "$i" -lt 50 ]; do
+    tempdir=$(find "$tmp" -maxdepth 1 -type d -name 'fm-fleet-tasks.*' -print 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+    [ -n "$tempdir" ] && break
+    sleep 0.1
+    i=$((i + 1))
+  done
+  if [ -z "$tempdir" ]; then
+    kill -KILL "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fail "snapshot never created its task temp dir"
+  fi
+
+  kill -TERM "$pid"
+  i=0
+  while [ "$i" -lt 50 ]; do
+    kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null || break
+    sleep 0.1
+    i=$((i + 1))
+  done
+  if kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; then
+    kill -KILL "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fail "SIGTERM must run snapshot cleanup and exit, not no-op"
+  fi
+  wait "$pid" 2>/dev/null
+  status=$?
+  [ "$status" = 143 ] || fail "SIGTERM must exit 143 after cleanup (got $status)"
+  [ ! -e "$tempdir" ] || fail "snapshot TERM cleanup must remove its task temp dir"
+  pass "snapshot TERM cleanup removes its temp dir and exits"
+}
+
+test_snapshot_startup_reap_removes_aged_temp_dirs() {
+  # Belt-and-suspenders for a SIGKILL'd run: a later snapshot reaps an aged
+  # /tmp/fm-fleet-tasks.* directory while leaving a fresh concurrent one alone.
+  local home tmp fakebin
+  home=$(make_home reap-tmp)
+  printf '## In flight\n' > "$home/data/backlog.md"
+  tmp="$TMP_ROOT/reap-tmp"
+  mkdir -p "$tmp/fm-fleet-tasks.aged" "$tmp/fm-fleet-tasks.fresh"
+  touch -t 202001010000 "$tmp/fm-fleet-tasks.aged"
+  fakebin=$(make_fakebin "$home")
+  PATH="$fakebin:$PATH" FM_HOME="$home" TMPDIR="$tmp" "$SNAPSHOT" --json \
+    > /dev/null 2>&1 || fail "snapshot must succeed while reaping aged temp dirs"
+  [ ! -e "$tmp/fm-fleet-tasks.aged" ] \
+    || fail "startup reap must remove an aged task temp dir"
+  [ -e "$tmp/fm-fleet-tasks.fresh" ] \
+    || fail "startup reap must keep a fresh task temp dir"
+  pass "snapshot startup reap removes aged task temp dirs"
+}
+
 test_empty_fleet_json
 test_fixture_snapshot_json
 test_large_payloads_compose_through_files
+test_snapshot_term_cleanup_removes_temp_dir
+test_snapshot_startup_reap_removes_aged_temp_dirs
 test_home_summary_excludes_secondmate_from_child_inventory
 test_undated_captain_hold_phrasing_and_aging
 test_hold_buckets_are_total_and_text_blind
diff --git a/tests/fm-watcher-continuity.test.sh b/tests/fm-watcher-continuity.test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..023682b0ca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fm-watcher-continuity.test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# tests/fm-watcher-continuity.test.sh - behavior of bin/fm-watcher-continuity.sh.
+# Two contracts, both through the real script:
+#   - the stale bound is floored so a mis-set FM_CONTINUITY_STALE_SECS cannot
+#     recreate the 2026-09-30 kill loop, which TERM'd a healthy watcher whose
+#     beacon was merely old;
+#   - a graceful TERM removes the pidfile and actually exits.
+set -u
+
+# shellcheck source=tests/lib.sh
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+. "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/lib.sh"
+
+CONT="$ROOT/bin/fm-watcher-continuity.sh"
+TMP_ROOT=$(fm_test_tmproot fm-watcher-continuity)
+
+CONT_PIDS=()
+cleanup_test() {
+  local pid
+  for pid in "${CONT_PIDS[@]:-}"; do
+    [ -n "$pid" ] || continue
+    kill -KILL "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+  done
+  fm_test_cleanup
+}
+trap cleanup_test EXIT INT TERM
+
+wait_dead() {  # <pid> <limit-ticks>: 0 dead, 1 still alive
+  local pid=$1 limit=${2:-50} i=0
+  while [ "$i" -lt "$limit" ]; do
+    kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null || return 0
+    sleep 0.1
+    i=$((i + 1))
+  done
+  return 1
+}
+
+test_stale_bound_floor_and_graceful_term() {
+  local home state holder cpid
+  home="$TMP_ROOT/home"
+  state="$home/state"
+  mkdir -p "$state/.watch.lock"
+  # A live watcher singleton whose beacon is ancient. With the mis-set 1s bound
+  # applied literally the supervisor would TERM it on the first check, which is
+  # exactly the kill loop; the floor must hold it instead.
+  sleep 60 &
+  holder=$!
+  disown "$holder" 2>/dev/null || true
+  CONT_PIDS+=("$holder")
+  printf '%s\n' "$holder" > "$state/.watch.lock/pid"
+  touch -t 202001010000 "$state/.last-watcher-beat"
+
+  FM_HOME="$home" FM_CONTINUITY_STALE_SECS=1 FM_CONTINUITY_POLL_SECS=1 \
+    "$CONT" > "$TMP_ROOT/continuity.out" 2>&1 &
+  cpid=$!
+  CONT_PIDS+=("$cpid")
+
+  sleep 3
+  kill -0 "$holder" 2>/dev/null \
+    || fail "stale bound floor must not kill a live holder with an ancient beat"
+  kill -0 "$cpid" 2>/dev/null || fail "continuity supervisor exited before TERM"
+  grep -q 'attaching to existing watcher' "$state/.watcher-continuity.log" \
+    || fail "continuity supervisor must attach to a live holder instead of starting a second watcher"
+  grep -q 'stale=300s' "$state/.watcher-continuity.log" \
+    || fail "continuity supervisor must report the floored stale bound"
+
+  kill -TERM "$cpid"
+  wait_dead "$cpid" 50 \
+    || fail "TERM must stop the continuity supervisor (its handler must exit)"
+  [ ! -e "$state/.watcher-continuity.pid" ] \
+    || fail "TERM must remove the continuity pidfile"
+
+  pass "continuity stale bound is floored and TERM stops the supervisor"
+}
+
+test_stale_bound_floor_and_graceful_term