diff --git a/agent/internal/sync/sync.go b/agent/internal/sync/sync.go
index 1db2fdd..de06199 100644
--- a/agent/internal/sync/sync.go
+++ b/agent/internal/sync/sync.go
@@ -118,9 +118,21 @@ func poll(client *grpcclient.Client, cfg *config.Config, version string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// How long a command stream must survive before it counts as having worked.
+// Past this, the next drop is treated as a fresh incident rather than as the
+// continuation of a run of failures.
+const streamHealthyAfter = time.Minute
+
 func runCommandStream(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config) {
 	backoff := time.Second
-	const maxBackoff = 2 * time.Minute
+
+	// Two minutes was the old ceiling, and it was reached far too easily. The
+	// command stream is what makes this agent controllable at all: while it is
+	// down, workflows and console sessions fail as "agent offline" even though
+	// SyncKeys keeps polling happily and the fleet list still shows the server
+	// active. A shorter ceiling costs a few reconnect attempts; the old one cost
+	// two minutes of an agent that looks fine and answers nothing.
+	const maxBackoff = 30 * time.Second
 
 	for {
 		select {
@@ -129,22 +141,40 @@ func runCommandStream(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config) {
 		default:
 		}
 
-		if err := connectAndHandleStream(ctx, cfg); err != nil {
-			if ctx.Err() != nil {
-				return
-			}
-			log.Printf("command stream error: %v, reconnecting in %s", err, backoff)
-			select {
-			case <-ctx.Done():
-				return
-			case <-time.After(backoff):
-			}
-			if backoff < maxBackoff {
-				backoff *= 2
-			}
-		} else {
+		started := time.Now()
+		err := connectAndHandleStream(ctx, cfg)
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
+			return
+		}
+
+		// A stream that stayed up is evidence the control plane is reachable,
+		// whatever ended it. Without this the backoff only ever climbed:
+		// connectAndHandleStream returns an error on *every* stream end,
+		// including a healthy one dropped by a routine deploy, so an agent
+		// pinned itself at the ceiling after a handful of ordinary restarts and
+		// stayed there for the rest of its life.
+		if time.Since(started) >= streamHealthyAfter {
 			backoff = time.Second
 		}
+
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("command stream error: %v, reconnecting in %s", err, backoff)
+		} else {
+			log.Printf("command stream closed, reconnecting in %s", backoff)
+		}
+
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return
+		case <-time.After(backoff):
+		}
+
+		if backoff < maxBackoff {
+			backoff *= 2
+			if backoff > maxBackoff {
+				backoff = maxBackoff
+			}
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/claude.md b/claude.md
index a843d26..2e1f035 100644
--- a/claude.md
+++ b/claude.md
@@ -195,6 +195,25 @@ marker is written and the rest is dropped. Without that cap a `yes` in a step
 is a database incident. **Nothing writes to `/data` any more**, which is why
 `server.persistence` now defaults to off and `VANTAGE_WORKFLOW_LOG_DIR` is gone.
 
+**Shutdown order is load-bearing.** `main` traps SIGTERM, stops gRPC
+(`GracefulStop`, 10s cap) and only then drains HTTP. Each `CommandStream`
+handler releases its agent's presence claim on return, so a killed process
+leaves `vantage:agent:<server_id>` behind for the rest of its 30s TTL — during
+which other replicas dispatch to a pod that has exited and the caller sees
+`agent offline` for a perfectly healthy agent. Draining HTTP first would hold
+those claims for the length of the drain, which is why gRPC goes first. The
+chart's `server.terminationGracePeriodSeconds` (30s) must stay above the
+10s + 10s the stop sequence needs, or the kubelet SIGKILLs mid-shutdown and the
+handling buys nothing.
+
+The agent side of the same failure: `runCommandStream` resets its backoff only
+after a stream that survived `streamHealthyAfter`. `connectAndHandleStream`
+returns an error on *every* stream end, healthy ones included, so without that
+reset the backoff only ever climbed — an agent pinned itself at the ceiling
+after a handful of ordinary deploys and stayed there. The ceiling is 30s, not
+minutes, because while the stream is down the agent still polls `SyncKeys` and
+still reads as `active` in the fleet list while answering no commands at all.
+
 **The leader lock is not an optimisation.** N replicas each running the monitor
 scheduler means each check fires N times, each incident notification reaches the
 customer N times, and each hourly rollup is written N times; N reapers race to
diff --git a/deploy/chart/vantage/Chart.yaml b/deploy/chart/vantage/Chart.yaml
index b8f4a75..4c70144 100644
--- a/deploy/chart/vantage/Chart.yaml
+++ b/deploy/chart/vantage/Chart.yaml
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ apiVersion: v2
 name: vantage
 description: Helm chart for the Vantage stack (Redis, MongoDB, guacd, server, web)
 type: application
-version: 1.0.6
-appVersion: "1.0.6"
+version: 1.0.7
+appVersion: "1.0.7"
diff --git a/deploy/chart/vantage/templates/server.yaml b/deploy/chart/vantage/templates/server.yaml
index 74fe4c4..7c55814 100644
--- a/deploy/chart/vantage/templates/server.yaml
+++ b/deploy/chart/vantage/templates/server.yaml
@@ -48,6 +48,13 @@ spec:
         app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
         app.kubernetes.io/component: server
     spec:
+      # The server stops gRPC before draining HTTP, so that every CommandStream
+      # handler returns and releases its agent's presence claim. A claim left
+      # behind outlives the pod for its 30s TTL, and during that window other
+      # replicas dispatch commands to a process that has exited — surfacing to
+      # the operator as "agent offline" on an agent that is perfectly healthy.
+      # 10s for gRPC plus 10s for the HTTP drain, with headroom.
+      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: {{ .Values.server.terminationGracePeriodSeconds }}
       {{- if .Values.imagePullSecrets }}
       imagePullSecrets:
         {{- toYaml .Values.imagePullSecrets | nindent 8 }}
diff --git a/deploy/chart/vantage/values.yaml b/deploy/chart/vantage/values.yaml
index 44f6992..2cd258b 100644
--- a/deploy/chart/vantage/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/chart/vantage/values.yaml
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ guacd:
 
 server:
     replicaCount: 1
+    # Must exceed the server's own stop sequence (10s gRPC GracefulStop + 10s
+    # HTTP drain) or the kubelet SIGKILLs mid-shutdown, which is exactly the
+    # abrupt exit that leaves agent presence claims stranded in Redis.
+    terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 30
     migrationJob:
         enabled: true
         backoffLimit: 0
diff --git a/server/cmd/main.go b/server/cmd/main.go
index 23da9e1..ee7266e 100644
--- a/server/cmd/main.go
+++ b/server/cmd/main.go
@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"log"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"os/signal"
 	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	"gitea.hostxtra.co.uk/mrhid6/vantage/server/internal/api"
@@ -141,13 +145,15 @@ func serve() {
 	}
 	log.Printf("message bus ready as node %s", bus.NodeID())
 
-	ctx := context.Background()
+	// Cancelled on SIGTERM/SIGINT. Everything below that takes a context — the
+	// housekeeping jobs, the leader lock — stops when the pod is asked to.
+	ctx, shutdown := signal.NotifyContext(context.Background(), os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM)
+	defer shutdown()
 
-	go func() {
-		if err := grpcserver.StartGRPC(9090); err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("gRPC server error: %v", err)
-		}
-	}()
+	stopGRPC, err := grpcserver.StartGRPC(9090)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("gRPC server error: %v", err)
+	}
 
 	// Everything below runs on exactly one replica at a time.
 	//
@@ -183,12 +189,37 @@ func serve() {
 	r.Use(corsMiddleware())
 	api.RegisterRoutes(r)
 
-	log.Println("REST server listening on :8080")
-	if err := r.Run(":8080"); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("REST server error: %v", err)
+	srv := &http.Server{Addr: ":8080", Handler: r}
+	go func() {
+		log.Println("REST server listening on :8080")
+		if err := srv.ListenAndServe(); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, http.ErrServerClosed) {
+			log.Fatalf("REST server error: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	<-ctx.Done()
+	log.Println("shutdown signal received")
+
+	// gRPC first, and this ordering is the point of the whole exercise. Stopping
+	// it runs each CommandStream handler's deferred release, which clears that
+	// agent's presence claim; until that happens another replica will keep
+	// dispatching commands to this process. Draining HTTP first would leave the
+	// claims held for the length of the drain.
+	stopGRPC()
+
+	drainCtx, cancelDrain := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), httpDrainTimeout)
+	defer cancelDrain()
+	if err := srv.Shutdown(drainCtx); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("REST server shutdown: %v", err)
 	}
+	log.Println("shutdown complete")
 }
 
+// How long in-flight REST requests are given to finish. Console tunnels are
+// long-lived WebSockets that will not end on their own, so this is a ceiling
+// rather than a target; the relays behind them are already gone by this point.
+const httpDrainTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+
 func corsMiddleware() gin.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(c *gin.Context) {
 		c.Header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
diff --git a/server/internal/grpc/server.go b/server/internal/grpc/server.go
index 8974f33..8a3d123 100644
--- a/server/internal/grpc/server.go
+++ b/server/internal/grpc/server.go
@@ -228,10 +228,19 @@ func (s *vantageServer) CommandStream(stream pb.Vantage_CommandStreamServer) err
 	}
 }
 
-func StartGRPC(port int) error {
+// StartGRPC serves the agent API until stop is called.
+//
+// It returns a stop function rather than serving forever because an abrupt exit
+// is not a neutral act here: every CommandStream handler holds an agent's
+// presence claim, released by a deferred call that a killed process never runs.
+// The claim then outlives its owner for the remainder of its 30s TTL, during
+// which dispatch believes the agent is reachable, publishes to a channel with
+// no subscriber, and fails as "agent offline" — a pod that has already exited
+// still answering for an agent it can no longer reach.
+func StartGRPC(port int) (stop func(), err error) {
 	lis, err := net.Listen("tcp", fmt.Sprintf(":%d", port))
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to listen: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to listen: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	s := grpc.NewServer(
@@ -248,6 +257,39 @@ func StartGRPC(port int) error {
 	)
 	pb.RegisterVantageServer(s, &vantageServer{})
 
-	log.Printf("gRPC server listening on :%d", port)
-	return s.Serve(lis)
+	go func() {
+		log.Printf("gRPC server listening on :%d", port)
+		if err := s.Serve(lis); err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("gRPC server error: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	// GracefulStop sends GOAWAY and waits for the handlers to return, which is
+	// what runs those deferred releases and, on the agent's side, ends the
+	// stream with a clean error it reconnects from immediately rather than
+	// waiting out a TCP timeout.
+	//
+	// It is bounded: an idle CommandStream returns as soon as its context is
+	// cancelled, but a console relay mid-transfer would otherwise hold the
+	// process past the pod's grace period and earn a SIGKILL — which is the
+	// abrupt exit this exists to avoid.
+	return func() {
+		done := make(chan struct{})
+		go func() {
+			s.GracefulStop()
+			close(done)
+		}()
+		select {
+		case <-done:
+			log.Println("gRPC server stopped gracefully")
+		case <-time.After(grpcStopTimeout):
+			log.Printf("gRPC server did not stop within %s, forcing", grpcStopTimeout)
+			s.Stop()
+		}
+	}, nil
 }
+
+// How long GracefulStop is given before outstanding streams are cut. Comfortably
+// inside the chart's termination grace period, so the forced stop below still
+// leaves time for the HTTP server to drain.
+const grpcStopTimeout = 10 * time.Second