diff --git a/scripts/dream.py b/scripts/dream.py
index e97deb2..dd9b26e 100644
--- a/scripts/dream.py
+++ b/scripts/dream.py
@@ -485,10 +485,11 @@ def write_manifest(date_str, stage_data, corpus_data):
     auth = (NEXTCLOUD_USER, NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD)
     url = f"{DREAMS_WEBDAV}/dream-manifest-{date_str}.json"
     try:
-        requests.put(url, data=content.encode("utf-8"), auth=auth, timeout=30)
+        response = requests.put(url, data=content.encode("utf-8"), auth=auth, timeout=30)
+        response.raise_for_status()
         print(f"Manifest written: Journal/Dreams/dream-manifest-{date_str}.json")
     except Exception as e:
-        print(f"Manifest write failed (non-critical): {e}")
+        print(f"Manifest write failed — manifest not persisted: {e}")
 
 
 def dream_pipeline(type_filter=None):
@@ -618,8 +619,20 @@ def dream_pipeline(type_filter=None):
     # Write manifest
     all_session_sources = list(session_retrieved)
     all_session_folders = list({extract_folder(s) for s in all_session_sources})
+    total_chunks = 0
+    pg = None
+    try:
+        pg = get_pg()
+        cur = pg.cursor()
+        cur.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM embeddings")
+        total_chunks = cur.fetchone()[0]
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"total_chunks query failed (non-critical): {e}")
+    finally:
+        if pg is not None:
+            pg.close()
     corpus_data = {
-        "total_chunks": delta.get("new_chunks", 0),
+        "total_chunks": total_chunks,
         "new_chunks_since_last_dream": delta.get("new_chunks", 0),
         "days_since_last_dream": round(delta.get("days_since_dream", 0), 2),
         "substrate": "pgvector",