diff --git a/soul.el b/soul.el
index 1f1cdc7..3a9b489 100644
--- a/soul.el
+++ b/soul.el
@@ -584,17 +584,35 @@ println("[soul] boot - cgi=" + soul_cgi_id + " port=" + int_to_str(port))
 
 let using_http_engram: Bool = !str_eq(engram_url_raw, "")
 
-// Always try local snapshot first. If it has content (>50 nodes) it was
-// previously seeded from HTTP Engram and is kept up-to-date by the awareness
-// loop — use it. This preserves sessions and memories across restarts.
-// HTTP Engram is only used for the very first boot (empty/absent snapshot).
-engram_load(snapshot)
-let local_node_count: Int = engram_node_count()
-let snapshot_usable: Bool = local_node_count > 50
-
-if using_http_engram && !snapshot_usable {
-    // First boot or empty/corrupt snapshot: seed from HTTP Engram.
-    println("[soul] engram -> HTTP " + engram_url_raw + " (no local snapshot, first boot)")
+// THE ENGRAM IS THE CANONICAL STORE. The soul's resident graph is a working
+// copy of it, never a rival source of truth.
+//
+// This used to be inverted: "always try local snapshot first... HTTP Engram is
+// only used for the very first boot." The copy outranked the store. Everything
+// that followed is a cost of that one inversion:
+//   - the two graphs drifted (13,479 nodes/74,563 edges in the soul vs
+//     13,425/37,658 in the engram — nearly 2x the edges, silently)
+//   - write-through exists solely to reconcile them, and had never once run
+//   - /api/graph/edges serialized 128 MB to answer a read, because the soul's
+//     copy was not the engram's
+//   - a read route overwrote the engram's canonical snapshot.json with the
+//     soul's divergent copy
+//   - three copies of the same memory: neuron.egm, snapshot.json, soul RAM
+// None of those are features. They are all reconciliation debt.
+//
+// The engram itself already reached this conclusion for its own boot path:
+// "the durable owner is the paged store (neuron.egm + neuron.wal) ...
+// snapshot.json is never read again as the ongoing store. This closes the
+// 'restart reverted to a 17h-old snapshot' data-loss window." The soul kept
+// booting the legacy way the engram had already abandoned, and inherited
+// exactly the data-loss window that comment describes.
+//
+// So in HTTP-engram mode the soul seeds from the engram, EVERY boot, and never
+// consults or writes a local snapshot. The local file is not read even when
+// present — a stale copy that outranks the store is the bug, not a fallback.
+// (File mode, no ENGRAM_URL, is unchanged: there the soul IS the owner.)
+if using_http_engram {
+    println("[soul] engram -> HTTP " + engram_url_raw + " (canonical store; local snapshot ignored)")
     let nodes_json: String = http_get(engram_url_raw + "/api/nodes?limit=10000")
     let edges_json: String = http_get(engram_url_raw + "/api/edges")
     let nodes_part: String = if str_eq(nodes_json, "") { "[]" } else { nodes_json }
@@ -603,9 +621,21 @@ if using_http_engram && !snapshot_usable {
     let tmp_path: String = "/tmp/soul-engram-" + soul_cgi_id + ".json"
     fs_write(tmp_path, snapshot_data)
     engram_load(tmp_path)
-    println("[soul] loaded from HTTP Engram - nodes=" + int_to_str(engram_node_count()) + " edges=" + int_to_str(engram_edge_count()))
+    let seeded: Int = engram_node_count()
+    if seeded < 50 {
+        // Refuse to run blind. An empty seed in HTTP mode means the canonical
+        // store was unreachable or empty; continuing would let the soul rebuild
+        // a divergent graph from nothing, which is how the copies split before.
+        println("[soul] FATAL: engram at " + engram_url_raw + " returned " + int_to_str(seeded)
+                + " nodes. The canonical store is unreachable or empty; refusing to boot on a"
+                + " local copy. Fix the engram, then restart.")
+        exit_program(1)
+    }
+    println("[soul] loaded from engram - nodes=" + int_to_str(seeded) + " edges=" + int_to_str(engram_edge_count()))
 } else {
-    println("[soul] loaded from local snapshot - nodes=" + int_to_str(local_node_count) + " edges=" + int_to_str(engram_edge_count()))
+    engram_load(snapshot)
+    println("[soul] file mode (no ENGRAM_URL) - soul owns the store - nodes="
+            + int_to_str(engram_node_count()) + " edges=" + int_to_str(engram_edge_count()))
 }
 
 load_identity_context()