diff --git a/.abcd/work/DECISIONS.md b/.abcd/work/DECISIONS.md
index 7e32908..e87d6a6 100644
--- a/.abcd/work/DECISIONS.md
+++ b/.abcd/work/DECISIONS.md
@@ -147,3 +147,11 @@ Architecture-shaping decisions graduate to an ADR under
 - 2026-07-18 — Demo/record banners derive the display URL via `demo.DisplayURL`
   instead of concatenating `-addr` after a literal "localhost", fixing the
   broken `http://localhost0.0.0.0:8737` shown for an explicit-host bind.
+- 2026-07-18 — `session.Create` uses `os.Mkdir` (after `MkdirAll(outRoot)`)
+  instead of `os.MkdirAll(dir)`, so two captures starting within the same
+  wall-clock second fail with EEXIST rather than silently sharing one directory
+  (which clobbered the first manifest's t0 and conflated append-only streams).
+- 2026-07-18 — `session.ReadJSONL` skips whitespace-only lines
+  (`bytes.TrimSpace`), matching `analyze.Load`, so an exchanged/hand-edited
+  session's blank line is skipped as documented rather than crashing merge/report
+  with "unexpected end of JSON input".
diff --git a/internal/session/session.go b/internal/session/session.go
index 4b5a9ed..fcccb15 100644
--- a/internal/session/session.go
+++ b/internal/session/session.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ package session
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -61,8 +62,16 @@ const dirLayout = "2006-01-02_150405"
 // created directory path. Both demo and record call this so the manifest is
 // written once, by one code path.
 func Create(outRoot string, now time.Time, m Manifest) (dir string, err error) {
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(outRoot, 0o755); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
 	dir = filepath.Join(outRoot, now.Format(dirLayout))
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o755); err != nil {
+	// os.Mkdir (not MkdirAll) fails with EEXIST if the directory already exists,
+	// so two captures starting within the same second-granularity instant cannot
+	// silently resolve to — and share — one directory. Reusing it would clobber
+	// the first session's manifest (its t0 anchor) and conflate the two sessions'
+	// append-only streams and capture files.
+	if err := os.Mkdir(dir, 0o755); err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 	m.Session = filepath.Base(dir)
@@ -173,7 +182,10 @@ func ReadJSONL[T any](path string) ([]T, error) {
 	for sc.Scan() {
 		line++
 		raw := sc.Bytes()
-		if len(raw) == 0 {
+		// Skip blank lines, including whitespace-only ones (as may appear in a
+		// hand-edited or exchanged session), matching analyze.Load so the two
+		// JSONL readers agree on what counts as blank.
+		if len(bytes.TrimSpace(raw)) == 0 {
 			continue
 		}
 		var v T
diff --git a/internal/session/session_test.go b/internal/session/session_test.go
index bbd0cce..e86e520 100644
--- a/internal/session/session_test.go
+++ b/internal/session/session_test.go
@@ -48,6 +48,53 @@ func TestCreate(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestCreateRefusesSameSecondCollision is the conflated-session regression: two
+// captures starting within the same wall-clock second derive the same
+// second-granularity directory name. Create must not silently reuse the first
+// session's directory (pre-fix os.MkdirAll returned it, clobbering the first
+// manifest and conflating the two sessions' append-only streams).
+func TestCreateRefusesSameSecondCollision(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	now := time.Date(2026, 7, 17, 15, 30, 45, 0, time.UTC)
+
+	if _, err := Create(root, now, Manifest{App: "first"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("first Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	dir2, err := Create(root, now, Manifest{App: "second"})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("second Create reused existing dir %q; want refusal", dir2)
+	}
+
+	// The first session's manifest must be intact, not overwritten by the second
+	// run's metadata.
+	m, err := LoadManifest(filepath.Join(root, now.Format(dirLayout)))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("LoadManifest: %v", err)
+	}
+	if m.App != "first" {
+		t.Fatalf("first manifest clobbered: App=%q, want %q", m.App, "first")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestReadJSONLSkipsWhitespaceOnlyLine is the blank-line regression: ReadJSONL
+// documents that blank lines are skipped, so a whitespace-only line (as may
+// appear in a hand-edited or exchanged session) must be skipped rather than fed
+// to json.Unmarshal (pre-fix it crashed with "unexpected end of JSON input").
+func TestReadJSONLSkipsWhitespaceOnlyLine(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), TimelineFile)
+	content := "{\"a\":1}\n   \n\t\n{\"a\":2}\n"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(content), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write: %v", err)
+	}
+	got, err := ReadJSONL[map[string]any](path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ReadJSONL: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(got) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d records, want 2 (whitespace lines skipped): %v", len(got), got)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestWriteJSONLRefusesSymlink is the arbitrary-file-overwrite regression: a
 // session artefact planted as a symlink (e.g. in a downloaded session) must not
 // be followed, so the write cannot escape the session directory. Pre-fix