diff --git a/cubesys/src/commands.rs b/cubesys/src/commands.rs
index aef3e1b..68da0e8 100644
--- a/cubesys/src/commands.rs
+++ b/cubesys/src/commands.rs
@@ -652,4 +652,43 @@ mod tests {
         );
         let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn commit_replays_from_wal_without_checkpoint() {
+        // The daemon never calls checkpoint() between a commit and a crash; it
+        // relies on WAL replay. This must hold WITHOUT an explicit checkpoint()
+        // — i.e. the WalOp::Txn entry must round-trip through decode_wal/encode_wal.
+        let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!("cube2-txn-wal-{}", std::process::id()));
+        let _ = std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir);
+        let db = dir.join("db.cubedb");
+        let wal = dir.join("wal.ndjson");
+        let rec = dir.join("recovery.jsonl");
+        let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&db);
+        let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&wal);
+        let cs = ConcurrentStore::open(
+            db.to_str().unwrap(),
+            wal.to_str().unwrap(),
+            rec.to_str().unwrap(),
+            DurabilityConfig::default(),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        let mut s = Session::with_store(Arc::new(cs));
+        s.exec("begin").unwrap();
+        s.exec("prog /c005/z001/y001/x001 const 9 halt").unwrap();
+        s.exec("commit").unwrap();
+        drop(s); // NO checkpoint() — pure WAL replay on reopen
+
+        let cs2 = ConcurrentStore::open(
+            db.to_str().unwrap(),
+            wal.to_str().unwrap(),
+            rec.to_str().unwrap(),
+            DurabilityConfig::default(),
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        assert!(
+            cs2.get_raw(&Czyx::new(5, 1, 1, 1)).is_some(),
+            "committed txn must replay from WAL even without a checkpoint"
+        );
+        let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&dir);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/cubesys/src/store.rs b/cubesys/src/store.rs
index ac8165f..0479811 100644
--- a/cubesys/src/store.rs
+++ b/cubesys/src/store.rs
@@ -562,6 +562,10 @@ impl ConcurrentStore {
     /// Apply a transaction batch atomically: under ONE store write lock, apply
     /// every put/delete, then append a SINGLE `WalOp::Txn` WAL entry so the
     /// whole batch is durable as one unit and replays idempotently.
+    ///
+    /// The WAL is fsync'd before returning so a `COMMIT` is durable the moment
+    /// the caller gets control back (not merely "eventually" via the group
+    /// thread). This is what makes `commit` a real transaction boundary.
     pub fn commit_txn(&self, batch: &[TxnEntry]) {
         let mut g = self.inner.write().unwrap();
         for e in batch {
@@ -572,6 +576,7 @@ impl ConcurrentStore {
         }
         drop(g); // release the write lock before touching the WAL
         self.wal.append_txn(batch);
+        self.wal.flush_pending(); // synchronous fsync: COMMIT == durable
     }
 
     /// Store a code cell at `path` (the path->code bridge), durability-logged.
@@ -901,6 +906,21 @@ fn decode_wal(line: &str) -> Option<WalEntry> {
     }
     let seq = field_u64(line, "seq").ok()?;
     let op_s = field_str(line, "op");
+    // The txn encoder emits `{"seq","op":"txn","batch":...}` with NO c/z/y/x
+    // (the per-entry coords live inside `batch`). Handle it before the
+    // c/z/y/x extraction below, which would otherwise fail and drop the entry.
+    if op_s == "txn" {
+        let raw = field_str(line, "batch");
+        let bytes = from_hex(raw).ok()?;
+        let batch = unpack_txn(&bytes).ok()?;
+        return Some(WalEntry {
+            seq,
+            op: WalOp::Txn,
+            coord: Czyx::new(0, 0, 0, 0), // unused; replay reads batch coords
+            value: Vec::new(),
+            batch,
+        });
+    }
     let c = field_u8(line, "c").ok()?;
     let z = field_u8(line, "z").ok()?;
     let y = field_u8(line, "y").ok()?;
@@ -925,18 +945,6 @@ fn decode_wal(line: &str) -> Option<WalEntry> {
             value: Vec::new(),
             batch: Vec::new(),
         }),
-        "txn" => {
-            let raw = field_str(line, "batch");
-            let bytes = from_hex(raw).ok()?;
-            let batch = unpack_txn(&bytes).ok()?;
-            Some(WalEntry {
-                seq,
-                op: WalOp::Txn,
-                coord,
-                value: Vec::new(),
-                batch,
-            })
-        }
         _ => None,
     }
 }