diff --git a/scripts/backfill_consolidation_cursor.py b/scripts/backfill_consolidation_cursor.py
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/scripts/backfill_consolidation_cursor.py
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+"""One-off: backfill last_consolidated_at + consolidation_count on embeddings
+from the dream-manifest-*.json files already in Journal/Dreams/.
+
+Why this exists: the consolidation cursor columns added by the dreamer
+redesign migration default to NULL / 0. Without history, the
+underprocessed-count signal in dream_observation.observe_corpus() reports
+"every chunk is underprocessed" (degenerate percentile), and NREM has no
+basis to bias replay toward least-recently-consolidated chunks.
+
+We have ~25 historical dream manifests in Nextcloud/Journal/Dreams/, each
+listing the sources retrieved per stage. For each (manifest, source) pair
+this script:
+  - finds matching embeddings rows by source (basename match)
+  - increments consolidation_count by 1
+  - updates last_consolidated_at to the manifest date (UTC midnight)
+
+Idempotent: re-running will not double-count because we drop existing
+cursor values to NULL/0 before backfilling. Pass --dry-run to print what
+would change without writing.
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+import psycopg2
+
+load_dotenv(Path.home() / "aaronai" / ".env", override=True)
+
+PG_DSN = os.getenv("PG_DSN")
+DREAMS_DIR = Path("/home/aaron/nextcloud/data/data/aaron/files/Journal/Dreams")
+DRY_RUN = "--dry-run" in sys.argv
+
+
+def get_pg():
+    return psycopg2.connect(PG_DSN)
+
+
+def collect_manifest_records():
+    """Return a list of (source_basename, manifest_date_utc) tuples from all
+    dream-manifest-*.json files. One pair per (manifest, source) appearance."""
+    pairs = []
+    if not DREAMS_DIR.exists():
+        return pairs
+    for path in sorted(DREAMS_DIR.glob("dream-manifest-*.json")):
+        try:
+            m = json.loads(path.read_text())
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"  skip {path.name}: {e}")
+            continue
+        date_str = m.get("date")
+        if not date_str:
+            continue
+        try:
+            dt = datetime.fromisoformat(date_str).replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+        except ValueError:
+            continue
+        stages = m.get("stages") or {}
+        for stage_name in ("nrem", "early_rem", "late_rem", "synthesis"):
+            stage = stages.get(stage_name) or {}
+            for src in (stage.get("sources") or []):
+                if src:
+                    pairs.append((src, dt))
+    return pairs
+
+
+def main():
+    print(f"Mode: {'DRY-RUN' if DRY_RUN else 'APPLY'}")
+    print(f"Scanning manifests in {DREAMS_DIR}")
+    pairs = collect_manifest_records()
+    print(f"Collected {len(pairs)} (source, manifest_date) pairs across all manifests")
+    if not pairs:
+        print("Nothing to backfill.")
+        return
+
+    # Aggregate per source: count + latest date
+    from collections import defaultdict
+    counts = defaultdict(int)
+    latest = {}
+    for src, dt in pairs:
+        counts[src] += 1
+        if src not in latest or dt > latest[src]:
+            latest[src] = dt
+    print(f"Unique sources to update: {len(counts)}")
+
+    # Sample what we'd write
+    print("Sample (top 5 by appearance count):")
+    for src, n in sorted(counts.items(), key=lambda kv: -kv[1])[:5]:
+        print(f"  {n:>3} appearances — {src} → last_consolidated_at = {latest[src].date()}")
+
+    if DRY_RUN:
+        print("\nDry-run only. Re-run without --dry-run to apply.")
+        return
+
+    pg = get_pg()
+    cur = pg.cursor()
+
+    # Reset cursor for any sources we're about to backfill so reruns are clean.
+    print("\nResetting cursor for sources we'll touch...")
+    sources = list(counts.keys())
+    cur.execute(
+        "UPDATE embeddings SET last_consolidated_at = NULL, consolidation_count = 0 "
+        "WHERE source = ANY(%s)",
+        (sources,),
+    )
+    print(f"  reset {cur.rowcount} embeddings rows")
+
+    # Apply per-source updates. For each source, set count and latest date.
+    print("Applying per-source backfill...")
+    updated_rows = 0
+    for src, n in counts.items():
+        cur.execute(
+            "UPDATE embeddings "
+            "SET consolidation_count = %s, last_consolidated_at = %s "
+            "WHERE source = %s",
+            (n, latest[src], src),
+        )
+        updated_rows += cur.rowcount
+    pg.commit()
+    pg.close()
+    print(f"Done. Updated {updated_rows} embeddings rows across {len(counts)} unique sources.")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()