diff --git a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
index ab2074ce..203e11f6 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
@@ -299,17 +299,29 @@ def sync_journal
       return
     end
 
-    SyncJournalJob.perform_now(@project.id, clear: params[:clear] == "true")
+    result = SyncJournalJob.perform_now(@project.id, clear: params[:clear] == "true")
     audit!("project.journal_synced", target: @project)
-    redirect_to @project, notice: "Journal synced."
+
+    case result
+    when :invalid_repo
+      redirect_to @project, alert: "That repo link doesn't look like a GitHub, GitLab, or Codeberg URL."
+    when :fetch_failed
+      redirect_to @project, alert: "Couldn't find a JOURNAL.md in that repo. Check the repo link and branch."
+    else
+      redirect_to @project, notice: "Journal synced."
+    end
   end
 
   def export_devlogs
     authorize @project, :update?
 
     entries = @project.devlogs.order(id: :asc)
-    md = +"# #{@project.name}\n\n"
-    md << "#{@project.subtitle}\n\n" if @project.subtitle.present?
+    md = +"---\n"
+    md << "title: #{@project.name.to_json}\n"
+    md << "author: #{@project.user.display_name.to_json}\n"
+    md << "description: #{@project.subtitle.to_json}\n" if @project.subtitle.present?
+    md << "created_at: #{@project.created_at.strftime('%Y-%m-%d').to_json}\n"
+    md << "---\n\n"
 
     entries.each do |entry|
       md << "# #{entry.created_at.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')}: #{entry.title}\n\n"
@@ -317,7 +329,7 @@ def export_devlogs
       md << "#{entry.content}\n\n"
     end
 
-    send_data md, filename: "#{@project.name.parameterize}-journal.md", type: "text/markdown"
+    send_data md, filename: "JOURNAL.md", type: "text/markdown"
   end
 
   def set_devlog_mode
@@ -507,6 +519,7 @@ def serialize_project_detail(project)
       tags: project.tags,
       repo_link: project.repo_link,
       journal_branch: project.journal_branch,
+      journal_parse_failed: project.journal_parse_failed,
       status: project.status,
       devlog_mode: project.devlog_mode,
       uses_ai: project.uses_ai,
diff --git a/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Form.tsx b/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Form.tsx
index 3a57021a..5679c3d0 100644
--- a/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Form.tsx
+++ b/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Form.tsx
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export default function ProjectsForm({
   const [macondoImporting, setMacondoImporting] = useState(false)
   const [macondoError, setMacondoError] = useState('')
   const [showMacondoImport, setShowMacondoImport] = useState(false)
+  const [showGitSwitchWarning, setShowGitSwitchWarning] = useState(false)
   const isBuildReview = project.tier === 'tier_build_review' || !!project.build_review
 
   const form = useForm({
@@ -475,7 +476,14 @@ export default function ProjectsForm({
             <select
               id="devlog_mode"
               value={form.data.devlog_mode}
-              onChange={(e) => form.setData('devlog_mode', e.target.value)}
+              onChange={(e) => {
+                const value = e.target.value
+                if (value === 'git' && project.devlog_mode === 'website') {
+                  setShowGitSwitchWarning(true)
+                  return
+                }
+                form.setData('devlog_mode', value)
+              }}
               className="w-full bg-[#0e0e0e] border-none rounded-lg px-4 py-3 text-[#e5e2e1] focus:ring-1 focus:ring-[#ca5924]/30"
             >
               <option value="">Not chosen</option>
@@ -486,6 +494,55 @@ export default function ProjectsForm({
           </div>
         )}
 
+        {showGitSwitchWarning && (
+          <div className="fixed inset-0 bg-black/50 flex items-center justify-center z-50 p-4">
+            <div className="bg-[#1c1b1b] ghost-border max-w-md w-full p-8 space-y-6">
+              <div>
+                <h3 className="text-xl font-headline font-bold text-[#e5e2e1] mb-2">Switching to Git Journal</h3>
+                <p className="text-stone-400 text-sm mb-4">
+                  Git Journal syncs your devlog from a <code className="text-[#ffb595]">JOURNAL.md</code> file in
+                  your repo. If you later resync, any entry that isn't in that file can be cleared from Forge.
+                </p>
+                <p className="text-stone-400 text-sm">
+                  Download an export of your current entries, already formatted as a{' '}
+                  <code className="text-[#ffb595]">JOURNAL.md</code>, so you can commit it to your repo and build
+                  from it.
+                </p>
+              </div>
+
+              {project.id && (
+                <a
+                  href={`/projects/${project.id}/export_devlogs`}
+                  className="w-full ghost-border bg-[#0e0e0e] hover:bg-[#2a2a2a] text-stone-300 font-headline font-bold py-2 uppercase tracking-wider text-sm transition-colors flex items-center justify-center gap-2"
+                >
+                  <span className="material-symbols-outlined text-lg">download</span>
+                  Download JOURNAL.md
+                </a>
+              )}
+
+              <div className="flex gap-3 pt-2">
+                <button
+                  type="button"
+                  onClick={() => setShowGitSwitchWarning(false)}
+                  className="flex-1 bg-stone-700/40 hover:bg-stone-700/60 text-stone-400 font-headline font-bold py-2 uppercase tracking-wider text-sm transition-colors"
+                >
+                  Cancel
+                </button>
+                <button
+                  type="button"
+                  onClick={() => {
+                    form.setData('devlog_mode', 'git')
+                    setShowGitSwitchWarning(false)
+                  }}
+                  className="flex-1 signature-smolder text-[#4c1a00] font-headline font-bold py-2 uppercase tracking-wider text-sm active:scale-95 transition-transform"
+                >
+                  Switch to Git Journal
+                </button>
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        )}
+
         <div className="flex gap-3 pt-4">
           <button
             type="submit"
diff --git a/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Show.tsx b/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Show.tsx
index 3e0b11ac..e9f959e6 100644
--- a/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Show.tsx
+++ b/app/javascript/pages/Projects/Show.tsx
@@ -1190,6 +1190,24 @@ export default function ProjectsShow({
                 </div>
               </div>
 
+              {project.repo_link && project.journal_parse_failed && can.update && (
+                <div className="ghost-border bg-amber-950/30 border border-amber-700/40 p-4 mb-6 flex items-start gap-2">
+                  <span className="material-symbols-outlined text-amber-500 text-lg shrink-0 mt-0.5">warning</span>
+                  <div className="text-xs">
+                    <p className="text-amber-200 text-sm font-bold mb-1">Couldn't sync JOURNAL.md</p>
+                    <p className="text-amber-100/70">
+                      Forge couldn't find any journal entries to sync. This can happen if the repo link is invalid,{' '}
+                      <code className="text-amber-100">JOURNAL.md</code> is missing, or it doesn't follow the
+                      expected format. Check the{' '}
+                      <a href="/docs/design/journal-format" className="underline hover:text-amber-50">
+                        format guide
+                      </a>{' '}
+                      and re-sync.
+                    </p>
+                  </div>
+                </div>
+              )}
+
               {!project.repo_link && can.update && (
                 <div className="ghost-border bg-[#1c1b1b] p-8 text-center mb-6">
                   <span className="material-symbols-outlined text-3xl text-stone-700 mb-3">link_off</span>
@@ -1215,6 +1233,7 @@ export default function ProjectsShow({
                         Add a <code className="text-[#ffb595]">JOURNAL.md</code> to your repo and click "Sync
                         JOURNAL.md" above.
                       </p>
+                      <p className="text-stone-500 text-xs">If journals are missing, check the format guide.</p>
                       <a
                         href="/docs/design/journal-format"
                         className="text-[#ffb595] text-xs hover:underline mt-2 inline-block"
diff --git a/app/javascript/types/index.ts b/app/javascript/types/index.ts
index 65e7dc9f..86cefacc 100644
--- a/app/javascript/types/index.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/types/index.ts
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ export interface ProjectDetail {
   tags: string[]
   repo_link: string | null
   journal_branch: string | null
+  journal_parse_failed: boolean
   status: ProjectStatus
   devlog_mode: 'website' | 'git' | null
   review_feedback: string | null
diff --git a/app/jobs/sync_journal_job.rb b/app/jobs/sync_journal_job.rb
index d2702900..be7d321d 100644
--- a/app/jobs/sync_journal_job.rb
+++ b/app/jobs/sync_journal_job.rb
@@ -15,19 +15,43 @@ def self.sync_if_stale(project)
   def perform(project_id, clear: false)
     project = Project.find(project_id)
     project.update_columns(journal_synced_at: Time.current)
-    return unless project.repo_link.present?
+    return :no_repo unless project.repo_link.present?
+
+    # A plain sync never removes existing entries on failure - only an explicit
+    # resync (clear) does, unless there's nothing to preserve in the first place.
+    wipe_on_failure = clear || !project.devlogs.exists?
 
     parsed = parse_repo_url(project.repo_link)
-    return unless parsed
+    unless parsed
+      project.update_column(:journal_parse_failed, true)
+      project.devlogs.delete_all if wipe_on_failure
+      return :invalid_repo
+    end
 
     branch = project.journal_branch.presence
 
     journal_content = fetch_journal(parsed, branch)
-    return unless journal_content.present?
+    if journal_content.nil?
+      project.update_column(:journal_parse_failed, true)
+      project.devlogs.delete_all if wipe_on_failure
+      return :fetch_failed
+    end
+
+    if journal_content.blank?
+      project.update_column(:journal_parse_failed, false)
+      project.devlogs.delete_all if wipe_on_failure
+      return :empty
+    end
 
     entries = parse_journal_entries(journal_content)
 
-    return if entries.empty?
+    if entries.empty?
+      project.update_column(:journal_parse_failed, true)
+      project.devlogs.delete_all if wipe_on_failure
+      return :parse_failed
+    end
+
+    project.update_column(:journal_parse_failed, false)
 
     current_titles = entries.map { |e| e[:title] }
     preserved_lapse_urls = {}
@@ -94,6 +118,8 @@ def perform(project_id, clear: false)
     end
 
     author&.apply_streak_freezes!
+
+    :synced
   end
 
   private
diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index 9e49a173..e11938b4 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #  hackatime_projects           :string           default([]), not null, is an Array
 #  hidden                       :boolean          default(FALSE), not null
 #  journal_branch               :string
+#  journal_parse_failed         :boolean          default(FALSE), not null
 #  journal_synced_at            :datetime
 #  kudos_count                  :integer          default(0), not null
 #  name                         :string           not null
diff --git a/db/migrate/20260910120000_add_journal_parse_failed_to_projects.rb b/db/migrate/20260910120000_add_journal_parse_failed_to_projects.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..48e2dc66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20260910120000_add_journal_parse_failed_to_projects.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+class AddJournalParseFailedToProjects < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.1]
+  def change
+    add_column :projects, :journal_parse_failed, :boolean, default: false, null: false
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 006e6bcc..925068fa 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2026_09_05_153000) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2026_09_10_120000) do
   # These are extensions that must be enabled in order to support this database
   enable_extension "pg_catalog.plpgsql"
 
@@ -331,6 +331,7 @@
     t.string "hackatime_projects", default: [], null: false, array: true
     t.boolean "hidden", default: false, null: false
     t.string "journal_branch"
+    t.boolean "journal_parse_failed", default: false, null: false
     t.datetime "journal_synced_at"
     t.integer "kudos_count", default: 0, null: false
     t.bigint "linked_project_id"
diff --git a/test/fixtures/projects.yml b/test/fixtures/projects.yml
index 0758ffdd..0f5c71cb 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/projects.yml
+++ b/test/fixtures/projects.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #  hackatime_projects           :string           default([]), not null, is an Array
 #  hidden                       :boolean          default(FALSE), not null
 #  journal_branch               :string
+#  journal_parse_failed         :boolean          default(FALSE), not null
 #  journal_synced_at            :datetime
 #  kudos_count                  :integer          default(0), not null
 #  name                         :string           not null
diff --git a/test/models/project_test.rb b/test/models/project_test.rb
index 4fd608e3..8071f1ef 100644
--- a/test/models/project_test.rb
+++ b/test/models/project_test.rb
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #  hackatime_projects           :string           default([]), not null, is an Array
 #  hidden                       :boolean          default(FALSE), not null
 #  journal_branch               :string
+#  journal_parse_failed         :boolean          default(FALSE), not null
 #  journal_synced_at            :datetime
 #  kudos_count                  :integer          default(0), not null
 #  name                         :string           not null