diff --git a/LifeOS/install/LIFEOS/TOOLS/MemoryWriter.ts b/LifeOS/install/LIFEOS/TOOLS/MemoryWriter.ts
index f33f5424f..e2cbde40c 100755
--- a/LifeOS/install/LIFEOS/TOOLS/MemoryWriter.ts
+++ b/LifeOS/install/LIFEOS/TOOLS/MemoryWriter.ts
@@ -222,13 +222,26 @@ function parseFile(content: string): ParsedFile {
   const endIdx = afterFm.indexOf(END_MARKER);
 
   if (beginIdx === -1 || endIdx === -1 || endIdx < beginIdx) {
-    // Markers missing or malformed — treat as empty entries with the whole
-    // body as preEntries; this preserves principal content if they edited.
+    // Self-heal: markers missing or malformed (e.g. a template that shipped
+    // without a BEGIN marker, or a file where prior writes appended stray END
+    // markers). Recover every well-formed entry line, drop ALL stray markers,
+    // preserve the intro text before the first entry, and rebuild a single
+    // clean BEGIN/END scaffold. Without this, each write compounded corruption.
+    const recovered: string[] = [];
+    const introLines: string[] = [];
+    let sawEntry = false;
+    for (const line of afterFm.split("\n")) {
+      const t = line.trim();
+      if (t === BEGIN_MARKER || t === END_MARKER) continue;
+      if (PREFIX_PATTERN.test(t)) { recovered.push(t); sawEntry = true; continue; }
+      if (!sawEntry) introLines.push(line);
+    }
+    const intro = introLines.join("\n").replace(/\n+$/, "");
     return {
       frontmatter,
-      preEntriesBody: afterFm,
-      entries: [],
-      postEntriesBody: "",
+      preEntriesBody: (intro ? intro + "\n" : "") + BEGIN_MARKER,
+      entries: recovered,
+      postEntriesBody: END_MARKER,
     };
   }
 
diff --git a/LifeOS/install/USER/DIGITAL_ASSISTANT/DA_MEMORY.md b/LifeOS/install/USER/DIGITAL_ASSISTANT/DA_MEMORY.md
index 0487c3f38..3151c4316 100644
--- a/LifeOS/install/USER/DIGITAL_ASSISTANT/DA_MEMORY.md
+++ b/LifeOS/install/USER/DIGITAL_ASSISTANT/DA_MEMORY.md
@@ -12,3 +12,5 @@ convention: pai-freshness-v1
 > 🎯 SAMPLE TEMPLATE — auto-curated hot-layer memory your DA keeps about how it works with you. Starts empty; the memory reviewer populates it over time. Nothing to fill in manually. Pulse's memory panel reads this file.
 
 <!-- Entries are appended automatically by the memory curation loop. Empty on a fresh install — this is expected. -->
+<!-- BEGIN ENTRIES -->
+<!-- END ENTRIES -->
diff --git a/LifeOS/install/USER/PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPAL_MEMORY.md b/LifeOS/install/USER/PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPAL_MEMORY.md
index 015e76935..1d4b27b40 100644
--- a/LifeOS/install/USER/PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPAL_MEMORY.md
+++ b/LifeOS/install/USER/PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPAL_MEMORY.md
@@ -12,3 +12,5 @@ convention: pai-freshness-v1
 > 🎯 SAMPLE TEMPLATE — auto-curated hot-layer memory about you. It starts empty and the memory reviewer writes durable facts here as you work with your DA. Nothing to fill in manually. Pulse's memory panel reads this file.
 
 <!-- Entries are appended automatically by the memory curation loop. Empty on a fresh install — this is expected. -->
+<!-- BEGIN ENTRIES -->
+<!-- END ENTRIES -->