diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-loop.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-loop.ts
index efbb31aee..85166ad58 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-loop.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/auto-loop.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ import type {
 import type { DispatchAction } from "./auto-dispatch.js";
 import type { WorktreeResolver } from "./worktree-resolver.js";
 import { debugLog } from "./debug-logger.js";
+import { gsdRoot } from "./paths.js";
+import { atomicWriteSync } from "./atomic-write.js";
+import { join } from "node:path";
 import type { CmuxLogLevel } from "../cmux/index.js";
 
 /**
@@ -1205,61 +1208,6 @@ export async function autoLoop(
       );
       const previousTier = s.currentUnitRouting?.tier;
 
-      // Closeout previous unit
-      if (s.currentUnit) {
-        await deps.closeoutUnit(
-          ctx,
-          s.basePath,
-          s.currentUnit.type,
-          s.currentUnit.id,
-          s.currentUnit.startedAt,
-          deps.buildSnapshotOpts(s.currentUnit.type, s.currentUnit.id),
-        );
-
-        if (s.currentUnitRouting) {
-          const isRetryForOutcome =
-            s.currentUnit.type === unitType && s.currentUnit.id === unitId;
-          deps.recordOutcome(
-            s.currentUnit.type,
-            s.currentUnitRouting.tier as "light" | "standard" | "heavy",
-            !isRetryForOutcome,
-          );
-        }
-
-        const closeoutKey = `${s.currentUnit.type}/${s.currentUnit.id}`;
-        const incomingKey = `${unitType}/${unitId}`;
-        const isHookUnit = s.currentUnit.type.startsWith("hook/");
-        const artifactVerified =
-          isHookUnit ||
-          deps.verifyExpectedArtifact(
-            s.currentUnit.type,
-            s.currentUnit.id,
-            s.basePath,
-          );
-        if (closeoutKey !== incomingKey && artifactVerified) {
-          s.completedUnits.push({
-            type: s.currentUnit.type,
-            id: s.currentUnit.id,
-            startedAt: s.currentUnit.startedAt,
-            finishedAt: Date.now(),
-          });
-          if (s.completedUnits.length > 200) {
-            s.completedUnits = s.completedUnits.slice(-200);
-          }
-          deps.clearUnitRuntimeRecord(
-            s.basePath,
-            s.currentUnit.type,
-            s.currentUnit.id,
-          );
-          s.unitDispatchCount.delete(
-            `${s.currentUnit.type}/${s.currentUnit.id}`,
-          );
-          s.unitRecoveryCount.delete(
-            `${s.currentUnit.type}/${s.currentUnit.id}`,
-          );
-        }
-      }
-
       s.currentUnit = { type: unitType, id: unitId, startedAt: Date.now() };
       deps.captureAvailableSkills();
       deps.writeUnitRuntimeRecord(
@@ -1436,6 +1384,52 @@ export async function autoLoop(
         break;
       }
 
+      // ── Immediate unit closeout (metrics, activity log, memory) ────────
+      // Run right after runUnit() returns so telemetry is never lost to a
+      // crash between iterations.
+      await deps.closeoutUnit(
+        ctx,
+        s.basePath,
+        unitType,
+        unitId,
+        s.currentUnit.startedAt,
+        deps.buildSnapshotOpts(unitType, unitId),
+      );
+
+      if (s.currentUnitRouting) {
+        deps.recordOutcome(
+          unitType,
+          s.currentUnitRouting.tier as "light" | "standard" | "heavy",
+          true, // success assumed; dispatch will re-dispatch if artifact missing
+        );
+      }
+
+      const isHookUnit = unitType.startsWith("hook/");
+      const artifactVerified =
+        isHookUnit ||
+        deps.verifyExpectedArtifact(unitType, unitId, s.basePath);
+      if (artifactVerified) {
+        s.completedUnits.push({
+          type: unitType,
+          id: unitId,
+          startedAt: s.currentUnit.startedAt,
+          finishedAt: Date.now(),
+        });
+        if (s.completedUnits.length > 200) {
+          s.completedUnits = s.completedUnits.slice(-200);
+        }
+        // Flush completed-units to disk so the record survives crashes
+        try {
+          const completedKeysPath = join(gsdRoot(s.basePath), "completed-units.json");
+          const keys = s.completedUnits.map((u) => `${u.type}/${u.id}`);
+          atomicWriteSync(completedKeysPath, JSON.stringify(keys, null, 2));
+        } catch { /* non-fatal: disk flush failure */ }
+
+        deps.clearUnitRuntimeRecord(s.basePath, unitType, unitId);
+        s.unitDispatchCount.delete(`${unitType}/${unitId}`);
+        s.unitRecoveryCount.delete(`${unitType}/${unitId}`);
+      }
+
       // ── Phase 5: Finalize ───────────────────────────────────────────────
 
       debugLog("autoLoop", { phase: "finalize", iteration });
@@ -1601,6 +1595,16 @@ export async function autoLoop(
           break;
         }
 
+        // Immediate closeout for sidecar unit
+        await deps.closeoutUnit(
+          ctx,
+          s.basePath,
+          item.unitType,
+          item.unitId,
+          sidecarStartedAt,
+          deps.buildSnapshotOpts(item.unitType, item.unitId),
+        );
+
         // Run pre-verification for the sidecar unit (lightweight path)
         const sidecarPreOpts: PreVerificationOpts = item.kind === "hook"
           ? { skipSettleDelay: true, skipDoctor: true, skipStateRebuild: true, skipWorktreeSync: true }