diff --git a/changelog.d/fixes/sqljs-atomic-persist.md b/changelog.d/fixes/sqljs-atomic-persist.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..db50495f4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fixes/sqljs-atomic-persist.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- **fix(db):** the sql.js fallback now publishes the database atomically — temp file in the same directory, `fsync`, then `rename()` — instead of rewriting it in place with `writeFileSync`. sql.js has no incremental write path, so every save rewrote the whole image through an `O_TRUNC` open: for the duration of the write the on-disk database was 0 bytes and then partial, a window that scales with database size and recurs on every save. Unlike better-sqlite3 / node:sqlite, that window is not covered by SQLite's locking protocol, so it was visible to every OTHER process reading the same file (a backup job, a metrics exporter, an operator running `sqlite3`), which got `SQLITE_CORRUPT` — "database disk image is malformed" — while `PRAGMA integrity_check` passed moments later. It also closes a total-loss window: a crash mid-write used to leave the real database truncated, and now only leaves a stale temp file
diff --git a/src/lib/db/adapters/sqljsAdapter.ts b/src/lib/db/adapters/sqljsAdapter.ts
index 42abd2158a..886c52672b 100644
--- a/src/lib/db/adapters/sqljsAdapter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/db/adapters/sqljsAdapter.ts
@@ -127,10 +127,62 @@ export async function createSqlJsAdapter(filePath: string): Promise<SqliteAdapte
   let saveTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
   let _isOpen = true;
 
+  /**
+   * Writes the whole database image out atomically: temp file in the SAME
+   * directory, fsync, then `rename()` over the destination.
+   *
+   * WHY NOT `writeFileSync(filePath, …)` DIRECTLY
+   * ---------------------------------------------
+   * sql.js has no incremental write path — every save rewrites the entire image.
+   * `writeFileSync` opens the destination with `O_TRUNC`, so for the whole
+   * duration of the write the on-disk database is 0 bytes and then partial. The
+   * window scales with the database size and recurs on every save, so on a busy
+   * instance it is open a significant fraction of the time.
+   *
+   * Unlike better-sqlite3 / node:sqlite, that window is not protected by SQLite's
+   * locking protocol, so it is visible to every OTHER process that reads the same
+   * file — a backup job, a metrics exporter, an operator running `sqlite3`. Those
+   * readers get `SQLITE_CORRUPT` ("database disk image is malformed") even though
+   * `PRAGMA integrity_check` passes moments later, which makes the failure look
+   * random and points the blame at the reader.
+   *
+   * `rename()` within a directory is atomic on POSIX and on Windows for a
+   * same-volume replace, so a reader now sees either the previous image or the
+   * new one — never a truncated one. It also removes the total-loss window: a
+   * crash mid-write used to leave the real database truncated, while it now only
+   * leaves a stale temp file behind.
+   */
   function persist(): void {
     if (filePath === ":memory:") return;
     const data = db.export();
-    fs.writeFileSync(filePath, Buffer.from(data));
+    // Same directory, so `rename` stays within one filesystem — a temp file in
+    // os.tmpdir() would make it a cross-device copy, which is not atomic.
+    const tmpPath = `${filePath}.tmp-${process.pid}-${Date.now()}`;
+    let fd: number | null = null;
+    try {
+      fd = fs.openSync(tmpPath, "w");
+      fs.writeFileSync(fd, Buffer.from(data));
+      // The rename is atomic, but only orders against data that already reached
+      // the disk; without this an unclean shutdown can publish an empty file.
+      fs.fsyncSync(fd);
+      fs.closeSync(fd);
+      fd = null;
+      fs.renameSync(tmpPath, filePath);
+    } catch (err) {
+      if (fd !== null) {
+        try {
+          fs.closeSync(fd);
+        } catch {
+          /* already closed */
+        }
+      }
+      try {
+        fs.unlinkSync(tmpPath);
+      } catch {
+        /* never created, or already gone */
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
     dirty = false;
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/db-sqljs-atomic-persist.test.ts b/tests/unit/db-sqljs-atomic-persist.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bb61f2a5c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/db-sqljs-atomic-persist.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+// Regression guard: sql.js has no incremental write path, so every save rewrites
+// the whole database image. When that write went through
+// `fs.writeFileSync(filePath, …)`, the destination was opened with `O_TRUNC` —
+// for the whole duration of the write the on-disk database was 0 bytes and then
+// partial. Unlike better-sqlite3 / node:sqlite, that window is NOT covered by
+// SQLite's locking protocol, so it was visible to every other process reading the
+// same file (backup job, metrics exporter, an operator running `sqlite3`). Those
+// readers got SQLITE_CORRUPT — "database disk image is malformed" — while
+// `PRAGMA integrity_check` passed moments later, which made the failure look
+// random and blamed the reader. The window scales with database size and recurs
+// on every save.
+//
+// The fix writes to a temp file in the same directory and `rename()`s it over the
+// destination. The property that distinguishes the two implementations, and the
+// one asserted below, is inode identity: `rename` publishes a NEW inode, so a
+// reader that already opened the file keeps reading a complete, coherent image,
+// whereas `writeFileSync` mutates the inode the reader is holding.
+//
+// This is deliberately not a timing race — a sleep-based test would be flaky and
+// would not prove anything about small databases that get written in one go.
+
+async function openAdapter(sqliteFile: string) {
+  const { createSqlJsAdapter } = await import("../../src/lib/db/adapters/sqljsAdapter");
+  return createSqlJsAdapter(sqliteFile);
+}
+
+test(
+  "sql.js persist() publishes the database atomically — a reader holding the file " +
+    "open never observes a truncated image (rename, not in-place O_TRUNC)",
+  async () => {
+    const dataDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "omniroute-sqljs-atomic-"));
+    const sqliteFile = path.join(dataDir, "storage.sqlite");
+    let adapter: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof openAdapter>> | null = null;
+    let readerFd: number | null = null;
+    try {
+      adapter = await openAdapter(sqliteFile);
+      adapter.exec("CREATE TABLE t (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, v TEXT)");
+      adapter.exec("INSERT INTO t (v) VALUES ('first')");
+      adapter.checkpoint();
+
+      assert.ok(fs.existsSync(sqliteFile), "first checkpoint should have written the database");
+      const firstBytes = fs.readFileSync(sqliteFile);
+      const firstInode = fs.statSync(sqliteFile).ino;
+
+      // A concurrent reader that opened the file before the next save. It keeps
+      // reading through THIS descriptor, exactly like another process mid-read.
+      readerFd = fs.openSync(sqliteFile, "r");
+
+      // Grow the image so the second save is unmistakably a different payload.
+      for (let i = 0; i < 200; i++) {
+        adapter.exec(`INSERT INTO t (v) VALUES ('row-${i}')`);
+      }
+      adapter.checkpoint();
+
+      // 1. The reader's descriptor still resolves to a COMPLETE image. Under
+      //    writeFileSync it resolves to the same inode that was truncated and
+      //    rewritten, so this read returns the new (or a torn) payload.
+      const viaReader = Buffer.alloc(firstBytes.length);
+      const read = fs.readSync(readerFd, viaReader, 0, firstBytes.length, 0);
+      assert.equal(read, firstBytes.length, "the pre-opened descriptor lost bytes mid-write");
+      assert.deepEqual(
+        viaReader,
+        firstBytes,
+        "a reader holding the file open observed the image change underneath it — " +
+          "persist() replaced the file in place instead of renaming a new one over it"
+      );
+      assert.equal(
+        viaReader.subarray(0, 15).toString("latin1"),
+        "SQLite format 3",
+        "the pre-opened descriptor no longer sees a valid SQLite header"
+      );
+
+      // 2. The published file is the NEW image, on a NEW inode — that is what
+      //    makes the swap atomic for everyone who opens it afterwards.
+      const secondInode = fs.statSync(sqliteFile).ino;
+      assert.notEqual(
+        secondInode,
+        firstInode,
+        "persist() reused the same inode — the write was not published by rename()"
+      );
+      assert.equal(
+        fs.readFileSync(sqliteFile).subarray(0, 15).toString("latin1"),
+        "SQLite format 3",
+        "the published file is not a valid SQLite image"
+      );
+
+      // 3. No temp file survives a successful save.
+      const leftovers = fs.readdirSync(dataDir).filter((n) => n.startsWith("storage.sqlite.tmp-"));
+      assert.deepEqual(leftovers, [], "persist() left a temporary file behind");
+    } finally {
+      if (readerFd !== null) fs.closeSync(readerFd);
+      if (adapter?.open) adapter.close();
+      fs.rmSync(dataDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  }
+);
+
+test("sql.js persist() is a no-op for :memory: databases (no temp file, no throw)", async () => {
+  const dataDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "omniroute-sqljs-atomic-mem-"));
+  let adapter: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof openAdapter>> | null = null;
+  try {
+    adapter = await openAdapter(":memory:");
+    adapter.exec("CREATE TABLE t (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)");
+    adapter.checkpoint();
+    assert.deepEqual(fs.readdirSync(dataDir), [], "an in-memory database wrote to disk");
+  } finally {
+    if (adapter?.open) adapter.close();
+    fs.rmSync(dataDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});