diff --git a/plugin/claude-code/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh b/plugin/claude-code/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh
index a6e31396..333c2d81 100755
--- a/plugin/claude-code/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh
+++ b/plugin/claude-code/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh
@@ -148,9 +148,14 @@ parse_epoch() {
     date -j -u -f "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" "$Z_TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null && return 0
   fi
 
-  date -j -f "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
-    || date -j -f "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
-    || date -d "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null
+  # No timezone marker at all — these are naive timestamps from sqlite's
+  # datetime('now'), which is always UTC. Must parse with -u; parsing as
+  # local time skews the result by the host's UTC offset (e.g. on a UTC-6
+  # host, session age comes out ~6h in the future, so it's always seen as
+  # "just started" and the save-nudge can never fire).
+  date -j -u -f "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
+    || date -j -u -f "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
+    || date -u -d "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null
 }
 
 # Default: no injection
@@ -238,20 +243,24 @@ fi
 
 LAST_SAVE_AT=$(echo "$LAST_SAVE_JSON" | jq -r '.[0].created_at // empty' 2>/dev/null)
 
-if [ -z "$LAST_SAVE_AT" ]; then
-  # No observations yet — no nudge (session might just be starting)
-  echo "$OUTPUT"
-  exit 0
-fi
+NOW_EPOCH=$(date "+%s")
 
-# Parse last save timestamp and compare to now
-LAST_EPOCH=$(parse_epoch "$LAST_SAVE_AT")
-if [ -z "$LAST_EPOCH" ]; then
-  echo "$OUTPUT"
-  exit 0
+if [ -z "$LAST_SAVE_AT" ]; then
+  # No observations exist yet for this project. This is the "never saved"
+  # case, not "session just started" (session age was already gated to
+  # >= 5 minutes above) — treat it as maximally stale so the nudge can fire
+  # and break the cycle where a project with zero observations can never
+  # reach its first one.
+  ELAPSED=901
+else
+  # Parse last save timestamp and compare to now
+  LAST_EPOCH=$(parse_epoch "$LAST_SAVE_AT")
+  if [ -z "$LAST_EPOCH" ]; then
+    echo "$OUTPUT"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  ELAPSED=$(( NOW_EPOCH - LAST_EPOCH ))
 fi
-NOW_EPOCH=$(date "+%s")
-ELAPSED=$(( NOW_EPOCH - LAST_EPOCH ))
 
 # Nudge if last save was > 15 minutes ago (900 seconds), but debounce so we do
 # not repeat the reminder on every message while the agent has nothing to save.
diff --git a/plugin/codex/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh b/plugin/codex/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh
index fd7c3c95..ab7efc3c 100755
--- a/plugin/codex/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh
+++ b/plugin/codex/scripts/user-prompt-submit.sh
@@ -79,9 +79,14 @@ parse_epoch() {
     date -j -u -f "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" "$Z_TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null && return 0
   fi
 
-  date -j -f "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
-    || date -j -f "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
-    || date -d "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null
+  # No timezone marker at all — these are naive timestamps from sqlite's
+  # datetime('now'), which is always UTC. Must parse with -u; parsing as
+  # local time skews the result by the host's UTC offset (e.g. on a UTC-6
+  # host, session age comes out ~6h in the future, so it's always seen as
+  # "just started" and the save-nudge can never fire).
+  date -j -u -f "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
+    || date -j -u -f "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null \
+    || date -u -d "$TS" "+%s" 2>/dev/null
 }
 
 # Default: no injection
@@ -169,20 +174,24 @@ fi
 
 LAST_SAVE_AT=$(echo "$LAST_SAVE_JSON" | jq -r '.[0].created_at // empty' 2>/dev/null)
 
-if [ -z "$LAST_SAVE_AT" ]; then
-  # No observations yet — no nudge (session might just be starting)
-  echo "$OUTPUT"
-  exit 0
-fi
+NOW_EPOCH=$(date "+%s")
 
-# Parse last save timestamp and compare to now
-LAST_EPOCH=$(parse_epoch "$LAST_SAVE_AT")
-if [ -z "$LAST_EPOCH" ]; then
-  echo "$OUTPUT"
-  exit 0
+if [ -z "$LAST_SAVE_AT" ]; then
+  # No observations exist yet for this project. This is the "never saved"
+  # case, not "session just started" (session age was already gated to
+  # >= 5 minutes above) — treat it as maximally stale so the nudge can fire
+  # and break the cycle where a project with zero observations can never
+  # reach its first one.
+  ELAPSED=901
+else
+  # Parse last save timestamp and compare to now
+  LAST_EPOCH=$(parse_epoch "$LAST_SAVE_AT")
+  if [ -z "$LAST_EPOCH" ]; then
+    echo "$OUTPUT"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  ELAPSED=$(( NOW_EPOCH - LAST_EPOCH ))
 fi
-NOW_EPOCH=$(date "+%s")
-ELAPSED=$(( NOW_EPOCH - LAST_EPOCH ))
 
 # Nudge if last save was > 15 minutes ago (900 seconds), but debounce so we do
 # not repeat the reminder on every message while the agent has nothing to save.
diff --git a/plugin/opencode/engram.ts b/plugin/opencode/engram.ts
index c5567087..a6f19ef8 100644
--- a/plugin/opencode/engram.ts
+++ b/plugin/opencode/engram.ts
@@ -478,11 +478,14 @@ export const Engram: Plugin = async (ctx) => {
           return
         }
 
-        // No observations yet — nothing to nudge about
-        if (lastObsEpoch === 0) return
-
-        // Only nudge if last save was more than 15 minutes ago
-        if (nowSecs - lastObsEpoch < 900) return
+        // No observations exist yet for this project. This is the "never
+        // saved" case, not "session just started" (session age was already
+        // gated to >= 5 minutes above) — treat it as maximally stale so the
+        // nudge can fire and break the cycle where a project with zero
+        // observations can never reach its first one.
+        //
+        // Only nudge if last save was more than 15 minutes ago (or never).
+        if (lastObsEpoch !== 0 && nowSecs - lastObsEpoch < 900) return
 
         // Append the nudge to the last system message
         const nudge =