diff --git a/.docs/Recurring-Scrape-Troubleshooting.md b/.docs/Recurring-Scrape-Troubleshooting.md
index 91ddc351..22957018 100644
--- a/.docs/Recurring-Scrape-Troubleshooting.md
+++ b/.docs/Recurring-Scrape-Troubleshooting.md
@@ -263,14 +263,24 @@ Not this:
 
 **Solutions:**
 
-1. **Validate the file:**
+1. **Audit all archives for a target:**
+   ```bash
+   ./scripts/audit-archive-json.sh --target target-name
+   ```
+
+2. **Validate one file:**
    ```bash
    jq empty archive-file.json
    ```
 
-2. **If corrupted, restore from backup** (if available)
+3. **Truncated export (parse error mid-message):** salvage drops the incomplete tail and keeps earlier messages. A timestamped `.bak.*` backup is created first:
+   ```bash
+   ./scripts/salvage-truncated-export.sh path/to/export.json
+   ```
 
-3. **If no backup, move the archive aside and re-export:**
+4. **If corrupted beyond salvage, restore from backup** (if available)
+
+5. **If no backup, move the archive aside and re-export:**
    ```bash
    mv archive-file.json archive-file.json.bak
    ./scripts/run-discord-scrape.sh scrape --target target-name
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index f76ac9a7..e2368f94 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ jobs:
           ./scripts/tests/verify-documents-auth-smoke.sh
           ./scripts/tests/scrape-here-smoke.sh
           ./scripts/tests/bootstrap-recurring-scrape-smoke.sh
+          ./scripts/tests/audit-archive-json-smoke.sh
 
   test:
     # Tests need access to secrets, so we can't run them against PRs because of limited trust
diff --git a/docs/plans/2026-05-29-018-fix-corrupt-archive-json-plan.md b/docs/plans/2026-05-29-018-fix-corrupt-archive-json-plan.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..027885d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/plans/2026-05-29-018-fix-corrupt-archive-json-plan.md
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+---
+title: fix: Salvage corrupt archive JSON and harden scrape loop
+type: fix
+status: complete
+date: 2026-05-29
+origin: LFG — KotOR yes_general export truncated; prove/cron fail on jq parse
+---
+
+# fix: Salvage corrupt archive JSON and harden scrape loop
+
+## Summary
+
+One KotOR archive JSON is truncated mid-message. Add audit/salvage tooling and make prove/scrape skip or repair invalid files without aborting entire targets.
+
+## Requirements
+
+| ID | Requirement |
+|----|-------------|
+| R1 | `audit-archive-json.sh` lists invalid JSON per target/output_dir |
+| R2 | `salvage-truncated-export.sh` backs up and repairs truncated DCE exports |
+| R3 | `prove-incremental-append.sh` skips invalid JSON with warning (not fatal) |
+| R4 | Salvaged KotOR file passes `jq empty` and prove for that target |
+| R5 | Smoke test for audit script |
+
+## Implementation Units
+
+### U1. Audit + salvage scripts
+
+**Files:** `scripts/audit-archive-json.sh`, `scripts/salvage-truncated-export.sh`
+
+### U2. Prove hardening
+
+**Files:** `scripts/prove-incremental-append.sh`
+
+### U3. Repair KotOR file (runtime)
+
+**File:** `~/Documents/KotOR_discord_msgs/...yes_general [221726893064454144].json`
+
+## Verification
+
+- `jq empty` on salvaged file
+- `prove-incremental-append.sh --target KotOR_discord_msgs`
diff --git a/docs/recurring-scrape-operator-checklist.md b/docs/recurring-scrape-operator-checklist.md
index 7ee2002c..5edccd80 100644
--- a/docs/recurring-scrape-operator-checklist.md
+++ b/docs/recurring-scrape-operator-checklist.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Use this after cloning or opening the **source** repo (`DiscordChatExporter`, no
 3. `./scripts/bootstrap-recurring-scrape.sh` — verify archives, build image, preflight Discord.
 4. `./scripts/run-documents-scrape.sh` — first incremental append-only scrape.
 5. `./scripts/prove-incremental-append.sh --target <name>` — optional grow-only proof.
+6. `./scripts/audit-archive-json.sh` — optional; lists invalid JSON before cron runs.
 
 ## Monthly automation
 
diff --git a/scripts/audit-archive-json.sh b/scripts/audit-archive-json.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..191815ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/audit-archive-json.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -Eeuo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd -P)
+REPO_ROOT="${DCE_REPO_ROOT:-$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd -P)}"
+CONFIG_PATH="${DCE_CONFIG_FILE:-$REPO_ROOT/config/scrape-targets.json}"
+TARGET=""
+FAILURES=0
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<EOF
+Usage:
+  $(basename "$0") [--config PATH] [--target NAME]
+
+Validate JSON syntax for every channel export under configured targets.
+Exits 1 when any invalid file is found.
+EOF
+}
+
+die() {
+  printf 'ERROR: %s\n' "$*" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+audit_dir() {
+  local output_dir=$1
+  local file_path
+
+  [[ -d "$output_dir" ]] || return 0
+
+  while IFS= read -r -d '' file_path; do
+    if jq empty "$file_path" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      continue
+    fi
+    printf 'INVALID\t%s\n' "$file_path"
+    FAILURES=$((FAILURES + 1))
+  done < <(find "$output_dir" -type f -name '*.json' ! -path '*/.dce-meta/*' -print0 2>/dev/null)
+}
+
+main() {
+  while (($#)); do
+    case "$1" in
+      --config)
+        [[ $# -ge 2 ]] || die "Missing value for --config."
+        CONFIG_PATH=$2
+        shift 2
+        ;;
+      --target)
+        [[ $# -ge 2 ]] || die "Missing value for --target."
+        TARGET=$2
+        shift 2
+        ;;
+      --help|-h)
+        usage
+        exit 0
+        ;;
+      *)
+        die "Unknown option: $1"
+        ;;
+    esac
+  done
+
+  command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "jq is required."
+  [[ -f "$CONFIG_PATH" ]] || die "Missing config: $CONFIG_PATH"
+
+  if [[ -n "$TARGET" ]]; then
+    local output_dir
+    output_dir=$(jq -r --arg name "$TARGET" '.targets[] | select(.name == $name) | .output_dir' "$CONFIG_PATH")
+    [[ -n "$output_dir" && "$output_dir" != null ]] || die "Unknown target: $TARGET"
+    audit_dir "$output_dir"
+  else
+    while IFS= read -r output_dir; do
+      [[ -n "$output_dir" ]] || continue
+      audit_dir "$output_dir"
+    done < <(jq -r '.targets[] | select(.enabled != false) | .output_dir' "$CONFIG_PATH")
+  fi
+
+  if (( FAILURES > 0 )); then
+    printf '\n%d invalid JSON archive file(s). Run scripts/salvage-truncated-export.sh on each path.\n' "$FAILURES" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  printf 'All checked archive JSON files are valid.\n'
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/scripts/prove-incremental-append.sh b/scripts/prove-incremental-append.sh
index d0d7ae46..3034700e 100755
--- a/scripts/prove-incremental-append.sh
+++ b/scripts/prove-incremental-append.sh
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@ snapshot_archives() {
     file_name=$(basename "$file_path")
     if [[ "$file_name" =~ \[([0-9]{16,22})\]\.json$ ]]; then
       channel_id=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+      if ! jq empty "$file_path" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        printf 'WARN: skipping invalid JSON during snapshot: %s\n' "$file_path" >&2
+        continue
+      fi
       count=$(jq -r '(.messages | length) // 0' "$file_path")
       printf '%s\t%s\t%s\n' "$file_path" "$channel_id" "$count" >>"$snapshot_file"
     fi
diff --git a/scripts/salvage-truncated-export.sh b/scripts/salvage-truncated-export.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..62a0134d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/salvage-truncated-export.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -Eeuo pipefail
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<EOF
+Usage:
+  $(basename "$0") PATH [--dry-run]
+
+Repair a truncated DiscordChatExporter JSON export by dropping the incomplete
+final message and closing the messages array.
+
+Creates PATH.bak.<timestamp> before modifying PATH.
+EOF
+}
+
+die() {
+  printf 'ERROR: %s\n' "$*" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+main() {
+  local export_path=${1:-}
+  local dry_run=0
+
+  [[ -n "$export_path" ]] || {
+    usage
+    exit 1
+  }
+  shift || true
+
+  while (($#)); do
+    case "$1" in
+      --dry-run)
+        dry_run=1
+        shift
+        ;;
+      --help|-h)
+        usage
+        exit 0
+        ;;
+      *)
+        die "Unknown option: $1"
+        ;;
+    esac
+  done
+
+  [[ -f "$export_path" ]] || die "File not found: $export_path"
+  command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "python3 is required."
+
+  if jq empty "$export_path" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    printf 'Already valid JSON: %s\n' "$export_path"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+
+  python3 - "$export_path" "$dry_run" <<'PY'
+import sys
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from pathlib import Path
+
+path = Path(sys.argv[1])
+dry_run = sys.argv[2] == "1"
+data = path.read_bytes()
+marker = b"},\n    {"
+idx = data.rfind(marker)
+if idx < 0:
+    print("ERROR: could not find a safe message boundary to truncate", file=sys.stderr)
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+truncated = data[: idx + 1]
+# idx+1 ends at closing brace of last complete message
+suffix = b'\n  ],\n  "messageCount": 0\n}'
+# preserve messageCount if we can count roughly - jq will fix on merge
+out = truncated + suffix
+
+if dry_run:
+    print(f"Would salvage {path} ({len(data)} -> {len(out)} bytes)")
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+backup = path.with_suffix(path.suffix + f".bak.{datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime('%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ')}")
+backup.write_bytes(data)
+path.write_bytes(out)
+print(f"Backup: {backup}")
+print(f"Salvaged: {path} ({len(data)} -> {len(out)} bytes)")
+PY
+
+  jq empty "$export_path" >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "Salvage did not produce valid JSON."
+
+  local temp_file
+  temp_file=$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/dce-salvage.XXXXXX.json")
+  jq '.messageCount = (.messages | length)' "$export_path" >"$temp_file"
+  mv -f "$temp_file" "$export_path"
+
+  local count
+  count=$(jq -r '(.messages | length) // 0' "$export_path")
+  printf 'Valid JSON with %s messages.\n' "$count"
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/scripts/tests/audit-archive-json-smoke.sh b/scripts/tests/audit-archive-json-smoke.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..255d4202
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/tests/audit-archive-json-smoke.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -Eeuo pipefail
+
+REPO_ROOT=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd -P)
+TMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/dce-audit-smoke.XXXXXX")
+ARCHIVE_ROOT="$TMP_DIR/archive"
+CONFIG_PATH="$TMP_DIR/config.json"
+AUDIT="$REPO_ROOT/scripts/audit-archive-json.sh"
+
+cleanup() {
+  rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+mkdir -p "$ARCHIVE_ROOT/good" "$ARCHIVE_ROOT/bad"
+
+cat >"$ARCHIVE_ROOT/good/valid [111].json" <<'JSON'
+{"guild":{"id":"1","name":"g"},"channel":{"id":"111","name":"c"},"messages":[],"messageCount":0}
+JSON
+
+printf '{"messages":[\n' >"$ARCHIVE_ROOT/bad/truncated [222].json"
+
+cat >"$CONFIG_PATH" <<JSON
+{
+  "archive_root": "$ARCHIVE_ROOT",
+  "targets": [
+    {
+      "name": "demo",
+      "kind": "guild",
+      "output_dir": "$ARCHIVE_ROOT/good",
+      "enabled": true
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "broken",
+      "kind": "guild",
+      "output_dir": "$ARCHIVE_ROOT/bad",
+      "enabled": true
+    }
+  ]
+}
+JSON
+
+DCE_CONFIG_FILE="$CONFIG_PATH" "$AUDIT" --target demo
+
+set +e
+broken_output=$(DCE_CONFIG_FILE="$CONFIG_PATH" "$AUDIT" --target broken 2>&1)
+broken_status=$?
+set -e
+if [[ "$broken_status" -eq 0 ]]; then
+  printf 'ERROR: audit should fail for target with invalid JSON\n' >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+if ! grep -q 'INVALID' <<<"$broken_output"; then
+  printf 'ERROR: audit output missing INVALID marker\n' >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+printf 'audit-archive-json-smoke: OK\n'