diff --git a/docs/plans/state.json b/docs/plans/state.json
index 970b845..12441a5 100644
--- a/docs/plans/state.json
+++ b/docs/plans/state.json
@@ -5423,6 +5423,21 @@
         "docs/plans/state.json"
       ],
       "test_status": "pnpm test:run src/models/retry.test.ts src/models/router.test.ts src/backends/native/agent.test.ts + pnpm typecheck passing"
+    },
+    "graceful-shutdown-awaits-session-end-memory": {
+      "status": "completed",
+      "date": "2026-02-18",
+      "updated": "2026-02-18",
+      "summary": "Improved Ctrl+C/SIGTERM shutdown reliability: daemon now performs bounded graceful signal shutdown with force-exit fallback, gateway now awaits async session disconnect so session-end summaries/memory writes finish before process exit, and TUI signal cleanup now awaits lifecycle shutdown before closing storage.",
+      "files_modified": [
+        "src/daemon/services.ts",
+        "src/gateway/session-bridge.ts",
+        "src/gateway/server.ts",
+        "src/gateway/session-bridge.test.ts",
+        "src/cli/tui.ts",
+        "docs/plans/state.json"
+      ],
+      "test_status": "pnpm test:run src/gateway/session-bridge.test.ts src/gateway/server.test.ts src/models/router.test.ts src/models/retry.test.ts + pnpm typecheck passing"
     }
   },
   "overall_progress": {
diff --git a/src/cli/tui.ts b/src/cli/tui.ts
index 5d653da..519fae3 100644
--- a/src/cli/tui.ts
+++ b/src/cli/tui.ts
@@ -227,15 +227,29 @@ export function registerTuiCommand(program: Command): void {
         },
       });
 
-      const cleanup = () => {
-        void lifecycle.shutdown();
-        sessionStore.close();
+      let cleanupPromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
+      const cleanup = async () => {
+        if (!cleanupPromise) {
+          cleanupPromise = (async () => {
+            await lifecycle.shutdown();
+            sessionStore.close();
+          })();
+        }
+        return cleanupPromise;
       };
 
-      process.on('SIGINT', () => {
-        cleanup();
-        process.exit(0);
-      });
+      const signalHandler = (signal: NodeJS.Signals) => {
+        console.log(`\nReceived ${signal}; shutting down TUI...`);
+        void cleanup()
+          .then(() => process.exit(0))
+          .catch((error) => {
+            console.error('TUI shutdown failed:', error);
+            process.exit(1);
+          });
+      };
+
+      process.on('SIGINT', signalHandler);
+      process.on('SIGTERM', signalHandler);
 
       const transferSessionToTarget = (target: string): string => {
         const normalizedTarget = target.trim().toLowerCase();
@@ -274,7 +288,9 @@ export function registerTuiCommand(program: Command): void {
           modelProviderConfigs,
           contextThresholdPct: config.compaction.threshold_pct,
           onTransfer: transferSessionToTarget,
-          onExit: cleanup,
+          onExit: () => {
+            void cleanup();
+          },
         });
       } else {
         let switchingToFullscreen = false;
@@ -316,12 +332,16 @@ export function registerTuiCommand(program: Command): void {
             modelProviderConfigs,
             contextThresholdPct: config.compaction.threshold_pct,
             onTransfer: transferSessionToTarget,
-            onExit: cleanup,
+            onExit: () => {
+              void cleanup();
+            },
           });
           return;
         }
       }
 
-      cleanup();
+      await cleanup();
+      process.off('SIGINT', signalHandler);
+      process.off('SIGTERM', signalHandler);
     });
 }
diff --git a/src/daemon/services.ts b/src/daemon/services.ts
index 06a6fa4..aebeead 100644
--- a/src/daemon/services.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/services.ts
@@ -540,8 +540,40 @@ export async function startServices(deps: {
   });
 
   // Signal handlers
-  const signalHandler = () => {
-    lifecycle.shutdown().then(() => process.exit(0));
+  let shutdownPromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
+  let forceExitArmed = false;
+  const forceExitTimeoutMs = 15_000;
+
+  const signalHandler = (signal: NodeJS.Signals) => {
+    if (shutdownPromise) {
+      if (forceExitArmed) {
+        console.warn(`Second ${signal} received; forcing exit now.`);
+        process.exit(130);
+      }
+      forceExitArmed = true;
+      console.warn(`Shutdown already in progress. Send ${signal} again to force exit.`);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    console.log(`Received ${signal}; shutting down gracefully...`);
+    shutdownPromise = lifecycle.shutdown();
+    const forceTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+      forceExitArmed = true;
+      console.error(`Graceful shutdown timed out after ${forceExitTimeoutMs / 1000}s; forcing exit.`);
+      process.exit(130);
+    }, forceExitTimeoutMs);
+    forceTimer.unref();
+
+    shutdownPromise
+      .then(() => {
+        clearTimeout(forceTimer);
+        process.exit(0);
+      })
+      .catch((error) => {
+        clearTimeout(forceTimer);
+        console.error('Graceful shutdown failed:', error);
+        process.exit(1);
+      });
   };
 
   process.on('SIGINT', signalHandler);
diff --git a/src/gateway/server.ts b/src/gateway/server.ts
index 9f5016d..54c4c8b 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server.ts
@@ -564,11 +564,14 @@ export class GatewayServer {
       }
     }
 
-    // Close all WebSocket connections first
+    // Close all WebSocket connections first.
+    // Await disconnects so end-of-session summary/memory writes complete before process exit.
+    const disconnects: Array<Promise<void>> = [];
     for (const [ws, connectionId] of this.connectionMap) {
-      this.sessionBridge.disconnect(connectionId);
+      disconnects.push(this.sessionBridge.disconnect(connectionId));
       ws.close(1001, 'Server shutting down');
     }
+    await Promise.allSettled(disconnects);
     this.connectionMap.clear();
     this.connectionStateMap.clear();
 
@@ -628,7 +631,9 @@ export class GatewayServer {
     });
 
     ws.on('close', () => {
-      this.sessionBridge.disconnect(connectionId);
+      void this.sessionBridge.disconnect(connectionId).catch((error) => {
+        console.warn('Session disconnect failed:', error);
+      });
       this.connectionMap.delete(ws);
       this.connectionRateMap.delete(connectionId);
       this.connectionStateMap.delete(connectionId);
diff --git a/src/gateway/session-bridge.test.ts b/src/gateway/session-bridge.test.ts
index 3da5209..c798b13 100644
--- a/src/gateway/session-bridge.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/session-bridge.test.ts
@@ -96,10 +96,10 @@ describe('SessionBridge', () => {
     expect(bridge.getSessionId('conn-1')).toBe('ws:conn-1');
   });
 
-  it('disconnect removes client but preserves session', () => {
+  it('disconnect removes client but preserves session', async () => {
     const bridge = createBridge();
     bridge.connect('conn-1');
-    bridge.disconnect('conn-1');
+    await bridge.disconnect('conn-1');
     expect(bridge.connectionCount).toBe(0);
     expect(bridge.getAgent('conn-1')).toBeUndefined();
   });
@@ -148,8 +148,7 @@ describe('SessionBridge', () => {
       } as unknown as SessionBridgeConfig['config'],
     });
     bridge.connect('conn-end-summary');
-    bridge.disconnect('conn-end-summary');
-    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 0));
+    await bridge.disconnect('conn-end-summary');
 
     expect(memoryStore.write).toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
@@ -242,13 +241,13 @@ describe('SessionBridge', () => {
     expect(sessions).toEqual([{ sessionId: 'ws:conn-1', connections: 2 }]);
   });
 
-  it('shared sessions keep agent alive when one client disconnects', () => {
+  it('shared sessions keep agent alive when one client disconnects', async () => {
     const bridge = createBridge();
     bridge.connect('conn-1');
     bridge.connect('conn-2');
     bridge.switchSession('conn-2', 'ws:conn-1');
 
-    bridge.disconnect('conn-1');
+    await bridge.disconnect('conn-1');
     // conn-2 still has the session
     expect(bridge.getAgent('conn-2')).toBeDefined();
     expect(bridge.connectionCount).toBe(1);
diff --git a/src/gateway/session-bridge.ts b/src/gateway/session-bridge.ts
index d49c85b..9ddc9e7 100644
--- a/src/gateway/session-bridge.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/session-bridge.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ export class SessionBridge {
   }
 
   /** Remove a WS connection. Does NOT destroy the session (persists in SQLite). */
-  disconnect(connectionId: string): void {
+  async disconnect(connectionId: string): Promise<void> {
     const client = this.clients.get(connectionId);
     if (client) {
       // Only remove the agent if no other clients share the session
@@ -73,15 +73,17 @@ export class SessionBridge {
             writeToMemory: summaryConfig.write_to_memory,
             memoryNamespace: summaryConfig.memory_namespace,
           };
-          void summarizeSessionOnEnd({
-            agent,
-            sessionId: client.sessionId,
-            history,
-            config: mappedConfig,
-            memoryStore: this.config.memoryStore,
-          }).catch((error) => {
+          try {
+            await summarizeSessionOnEnd({
+              agent,
+              sessionId: client.sessionId,
+              history,
+              config: mappedConfig,
+              memoryStore: this.config.memoryStore,
+            });
+          } catch (error) {
             console.warn('Session end summary failed:', error);
-          });
+          }
         }
         this.agents.delete(client.sessionId);
       }