diff --git a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
index b5441c4e..80216e9f 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@
   },
   "metadata": {
     "description": "The Cortex family of Claude Code plugins: home of hypermnesia-mcp (the persistent-memory server formerly named cortex, renamed in v4.15.0 over a directory name collision), zetetic-team-subagents, and hypermnesia-mcp-viz. The marketplace name stays cortex-plugins: it is the brand-level umbrella, while hypermnesia-mcp is one package inside it.",
-    "version": "4.19.0"
+    "version": "4.19.1"
   },
   "plugins": [
     {
       "name": "hypermnesia-mcp",
       "source": "./",
       "description": "Cortex — persistent memory and cognitive profiling for Claude Code (renamed from the 'cortex' plugin in v4.15.0 to match the PyPI/MCP-registry identity hypermnesia-mcp) — thermodynamic memory with heat/decay, intent-aware retrieval, biological plasticity, codebase intelligence, and cognitive profiling. 50 MCP tools (53 with the optional ai-architect-mcp-codebase + ai-architect-mcp-spec integrations) with enriched schemas (visualization extracted to the standalone Hypermnesia MCP Viz server). PostgreSQL + pgvector in CLI mode; automatic SQLite fallback in Cowork/sandboxed mode. v3.17.0 — autonomous per-project wiki: SessionStart auto-spawns a 6-hour consolidate cycle; a headless `claude -p` worker drains the curation-gap queue, calls codebase-intelligence MCP tools to ground each section in the real call graph, and authors missing anchor pages (architecture / services / api / data-flow / operations / decisions / PRD) per project from the source tree. 15 canonical scopes × 13 file sections; per-project dashboards under `wiki/_dashboards/`. Mermaid diagrams have a 🔍 lens with zoom + pan. Workflow graph with caller-qualified CALLS chains rendering full method-to-method dependencies (native tree-sitter, no AP required). Side panel humanized for non-technical users. Ingests codebase analysis (ai-architect-mcp-codebase) and PRDs (ai-architect-mcp-spec) into wiki + memory + knowledge graph. Docker image available.",
-      "version": "4.19.0",
+      "version": "4.19.1",
       "author": {
         "name": "Clement Deust",
         "email": "admin@ai-architect.tools"
diff --git a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 57a83b5d..77f9f7bb 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "hypermnesia-mcp",
   "description": "Cortex — persistent memory for Claude Code that remembers across sessions automatically. Install and forget. Scientific retrieval backed by 97 published references. (Renamed from the 'cortex' plugin to match the PyPI/MCP-registry identity.)",
-  "version": "4.19.0",
+  "version": "4.19.1",
   "author": {
     "name": "Clement Deust",
     "email": "admin@ai-architect.tools"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2be1fb3d..3926183a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,21 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [4.19.1] - 2026-09-03
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **SessionStart banner: checkpoint fields now truncated like every other
+  section** (#457). `_format_checkpoint_section` was the one part of the
+  Claude Code SessionStart hook writing raw, untruncated text
+  (`current_task`, `next_steps`, `active_errors`, `open_questions`), while
+  anchors/team-decisions/hot-memories already went through the file's own
+  `_short()` cap. Since this banner is re-injected on every turn of a
+  session, an unbounded field had no ceiling on per-turn token cost — and,
+  independently, could inject raw markdown structure (e.g. a `\n### `
+  sequence) into the banner. Both close with the same fix: every checkpoint
+  field now passes through `_short(str(...))`.
+
 ## [4.19.0] - 2026-09-03
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/assets/badge-version.svg b/assets/badge-version.svg
index f4d9962d..175b36c7 100644
--- a/assets/badge-version.svg
+++ b/assets/badge-version.svg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="104" height="20" viewBox="0 0 104 20" role="img" aria-label="Version 4.19.0">
-  <title>Version 4.19.0</title>
+<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="104" height="20" viewBox="0 0 104 20" role="img" aria-label="Version 4.19.1">
+  <title>Version 4.19.1</title>
   <!-- GENERATED by scripts/generate_repo_badges.py — do not hand-edit.
        Source: [project].version in pyproject.toml.
        Committed rather than hotlinked so the claim cannot be
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
   <g font-family="Verdana,DejaVu Sans,Geneva,sans-serif" font-size="11">
     <text x="27.5" y="15" fill="#000" fill-opacity="0.25" text-anchor="middle" textLength="41" lengthAdjust="spacingAndGlyphs">version</text>
     <text x="27.5" y="14" fill="#f8f7f2" text-anchor="middle" textLength="41" lengthAdjust="spacingAndGlyphs">version</text>
-    <text x="79.5" y="15" fill="#000" fill-opacity="0.25" text-anchor="middle" textLength="35" lengthAdjust="spacingAndGlyphs">4.19.0</text>
-    <text x="79.5" y="14" fill="#fff" text-anchor="middle" textLength="35" lengthAdjust="spacingAndGlyphs">4.19.0</text>
+    <text x="79.5" y="15" fill="#000" fill-opacity="0.25" text-anchor="middle" textLength="35" lengthAdjust="spacingAndGlyphs">4.19.1</text>
+    <text x="79.5" y="14" fill="#fff" text-anchor="middle" textLength="35" lengthAdjust="spacingAndGlyphs">4.19.1</text>
   </g>
 </svg>
diff --git a/gemini-extension.json b/gemini-extension.json
index ebd174d4..7fe8f6fc 100644
--- a/gemini-extension.json
+++ b/gemini-extension.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "cortex",
-  "version": "4.19.0",
+  "version": "4.19.1",
   "description": "Persistent local-first memory MCP server: remember/recall with thermodynamic heat and decay, knowledge graph, autonomous wiki, local SQLite store by default. Requires uv (uvx) on PATH; hooks-based auto-capture is Claude Code-only — on Gemini CLI memory is manual-tool-driven.",
   "mcpServers": {
     "cortex": {
diff --git a/manifest.json b/manifest.json
index e4c3b8d3..6e85e966 100644
--- a/manifest.json
+++ b/manifest.json
@@ -85,5 +85,5 @@
       "type": "string"
     }
   },
-  "version": "4.19.0"
+  "version": "4.19.1"
 }
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index ae51a617..fead12bd 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "hypermnesia-mcp",
-  "version": "4.19.0",
+  "version": "4.19.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "hypermnesia-mcp",
-      "version": "4.19.0",
+      "version": "4.19.1",
       "license": "MIT"
     }
   }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index eccd1015..3514e416 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "hypermnesia-mcp",
-  "version": "4.19.0",
+  "version": "4.19.1",
   "description": "Cross-platform persistent memory and cognitive profiling for AI coding agents",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/plugins/hypermnesia-mcp-codex/.codex-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/hypermnesia-mcp-codex/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
index eb39f805..1a973fa3 100644
--- a/plugins/hypermnesia-mcp-codex/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/hypermnesia-mcp-codex/.codex-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "hypermnesia-mcp-codex",
-  "version": "4.19.0",
+  "version": "4.19.1",
   "description": "Cortex persistent local-first memory for Codex, with Claude Code remaining the primary automatic integration.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Clement Deust",
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 67d221c3..5a929be3 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "hypermnesia-mcp"
-version = "4.19.0"
+version = "4.19.1"
 description = "Scientifically-grounded memory system based on computational neuroscience research"
 readme = "README.md"
 license = "MIT"
diff --git a/server.json b/server.json
index 0e1ad14a..b4632baa 100644
--- a/server.json
+++ b/server.json
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@
     "url": "https://github.com/cdeust/Cortex",
     "source": "github"
   },
-  "version": "4.19.0",
+  "version": "4.19.1",
   "websiteUrl": "https://ai-architect.tools",
   "packages": [
     {
       "registryType": "pypi",
       "identifier": "hypermnesia-mcp",
-      "version": "4.19.0",
+      "version": "4.19.1",
       "transport": {
         "type": "stdio"
       }
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 107d6713..9c09d90c 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1102,7 +1102,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "hypermnesia-mcp"
-version = "4.19.0"
+version = "4.19.1"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "anyio" },