diff --git a/services/api/src/agents/scheduler.ts b/services/api/src/agents/scheduler.ts
index 6fbdd211..be903073 100644
--- a/services/api/src/agents/scheduler.ts
+++ b/services/api/src/agents/scheduler.ts
@@ -39,9 +39,12 @@ export class AgentScheduler {
       .from(agentSchedules)
       .where(and(eq(agentSchedules.enabled, true), lte(agentSchedules.nextRunAt, now)));
     let scheduled = 0;
+    let coalesced = 0;
     for (const schedule of due) {
-      const claimed = await this.claim(schedule, now);
+      const advance = scheduleAdvance(schedule.cron, schedule.timezone, schedule.nextRunAt, now);
+      const claimed = await this.claim(schedule, now, advance.nextRunAt);
       if (!claimed) continue;
+      if (advance.missed) coalesced += 1;
       try {
         const [projectManifest, projection] = await Promise.all([
           this.projectManifests.load(schedule.orgId, schedule.projectId),
@@ -75,7 +78,7 @@ export class AgentScheduler {
         });
       }
     }
-    return { projects: activeProjects.length, due: due.length, scheduled, failures };
+    return { projects: activeProjects.length, due: due.length, scheduled, coalesced, failures };
   }
 
   async status(orgId: string, projectId: string) {
@@ -200,8 +203,7 @@ export class AgentScheduler {
     });
   }
 
-  private async claim(schedule: typeof agentSchedules.$inferSelect, now: Date) {
-    const nextRunAt = nextOccurrence(schedule.cron, schedule.timezone, schedule.nextRunAt);
+  private async claim(schedule: typeof agentSchedules.$inferSelect, now: Date, nextRunAt: Date) {
     return (
       await this.db
         .update(agentSchedules)
@@ -226,3 +228,27 @@ export class AgentScheduler {
 export function nextOccurrence(cron: string, timezone: string, from: Date) {
   return cronParser.parseExpression(cron, { currentDate: from, tz: timezone }).next().toDate();
 }
+/**
+ * Where a due schedule should point once its occurrence is claimed.
+ *
+ * The next occurrence is computed from `now`, not from the occurrence being
+ * claimed. Advancing by one cron step from the stored value makes the loop
+ * edge-triggered: a schedule that fell behind while the worker was down stays
+ * due after each claim and dispatches again on the following tick, one paid run
+ * per missed occurrence — 24 turns in 24 minutes for an hourly schedule after a
+ * day of downtime. Advancing from `now` makes it level-triggered: the loop
+ * converges on "this schedule is due" and runs it once, however long the gap.
+ *
+ * A schedule claimed on time is unaffected, because the next occurrence after
+ * `now` and the next occurrence after its own due instant are the same one.
+ */
+export function scheduleAdvance(cron: string, timezone: string, dueAt: Date, now: Date) {
+  const from = now > dueAt ? now : dueAt;
+  return {
+    nextRunAt: nextOccurrence(cron, timezone, from),
+    // Whether this claim absorbs more than the occurrence it satisfies: the
+    // following occurrence had already come due as well. One extra cron step,
+    // never a walk over the backlog, so an outage of any length costs the same.
+    missed: nextOccurrence(cron, timezone, dueAt) <= now,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/services/api/test/agent-automation.integration.test.ts b/services/api/test/agent-automation.integration.test.ts
index dd79f30b..b67310c5 100644
--- a/services/api/test/agent-automation.integration.test.ts
+++ b/services/api/test/agent-automation.integration.test.ts
@@ -939,6 +939,60 @@ describe("agent automations use persistent story workspaces", async () => {
       await db.select().from(storyMessages).where(eq(storyMessages.storyId, scheduledStory.id)),
     ).toHaveLength(1);
   });
+
+  it("runs a schedule that fell behind once, not once per missed occurrence", async () => {
+    // security-audit:nightly is `0 2 * * *` UTC. Put it a week in arrears, the
+    // shape of a worker that was down: seven occurrences have come due.
+    const dueAt = new Date("2026-01-03T02:00:00.000Z");
+    const now = new Date("2026-01-10T02:00:00.000Z");
+    const scheduleRow = and(
+      eq(agentSchedules.projectId, projectId),
+      eq(agentSchedules.agentName, "security-audit"),
+      eq(agentSchedules.triggerName, "nightly"),
+    );
+    await db
+      .update(agentSchedules)
+      .set({ nextRunAt: dueAt, lastScheduledAt: null })
+      .where(scheduleRow);
+
+    const scheduledStory = (
+      await db
+        .select()
+        .from(stories)
+        .where(
+          and(
+            eq(stories.projectId, projectId),
+            eq(stories.provider, "schedule"),
+            eq(stories.externalId, "security-audit:nightly"),
+          ),
+        )
+    )[0];
+    if (!scheduledStory) throw new Error("expected scheduled story");
+    const messagesBefore = (
+      await db.select().from(storyMessages).where(eq(storyMessages.storyId, scheduledStory.id))
+    ).length;
+
+    // Three ticks at the same instant: the worker runs `* * * * *`, so the
+    // backlog would drain a turn per minute until it caught up.
+    const results = [];
+    for (let tick = 0; tick < 3; tick += 1) results.push(await scheduler.tick(now));
+
+    // `scheduled` is attributable to this fixture: the catalog and manifest
+    // sources throw for any project but this one, so a schedule left in the
+    // shared test database by another suite becomes a failure, never a run.
+    // The tick counters are global for the same reason, so the rest of the
+    // assertions read this project's own rows.
+    expect(results.reduce((sum, result) => sum + result.scheduled, 0)).toBe(1);
+    expect(
+      await db.select().from(storyMessages).where(eq(storyMessages.storyId, scheduledStory.id)),
+    ).toHaveLength(messagesBefore + 1);
+
+    // The claim satisfies the occurrence it observed and leaves the schedule
+    // ahead of the clock, so the catch-up cannot restart on the next tick.
+    const [after] = await db.select().from(agentSchedules).where(scheduleRow);
+    expect(after?.lastScheduledAt).toEqual(dueAt);
+    expect(after?.nextRunAt).toEqual(new Date("2026-01-11T02:00:00.000Z"));
+  });
 });
 
 function render(agent: ReturnType<typeof manifest>) {
diff --git a/services/api/test/agent-scheduler.test.ts b/services/api/test/agent-scheduler.test.ts
index 0f9dd33f..9959f08c 100644
--- a/services/api/test/agent-scheduler.test.ts
+++ b/services/api/test/agent-scheduler.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { nextOccurrence } from "../src/agents/scheduler.js";
+import { nextOccurrence, scheduleAdvance } from "../src/agents/scheduler.js";
 
 describe("agent scheduler clock", () => {
   it("uses the trigger timezone across daylight-saving boundaries", () => {
@@ -23,3 +23,75 @@ describe("agent scheduler clock", () => {
     expect(first).toEqual(new Date("2026-07-15T07:15:00.000Z"));
   });
 });
+
+describe("agent scheduler catch-up", () => {
+  const hourly = ["0 * * * *", "UTC"] as const;
+
+  it("leaves an on-time claim exactly where it was", () => {
+    const dueAt = new Date("2026-09-07T06:00:00.000Z");
+    // The worker ticks every minute, so a claim lands within the same period as
+    // the occurrence it satisfies rather than precisely on it.
+    for (const now of [dueAt, new Date("2026-09-07T06:00:07.000Z")]) {
+      const advance = scheduleAdvance(...hourly, dueAt, now);
+      expect(advance.nextRunAt).toEqual(new Date("2026-09-07T07:00:00.000Z"));
+      expect(advance.nextRunAt).toEqual(nextOccurrence(...hourly, dueAt));
+      expect(advance.missed).toBe(false);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("collapses a backlog of any size into a single claim", () => {
+    const dueAt = new Date("2026-09-06T06:00:00.000Z");
+    const now = new Date("2026-09-07T06:00:00.000Z");
+
+    const advance = scheduleAdvance(...hourly, dueAt, now);
+    expect(advance.nextRunAt).toEqual(new Date("2026-09-07T07:00:00.000Z"));
+    expect(advance.missed).toBe(true);
+
+    // The loop the tick performs: claim while due. Advancing one cron step from
+    // the stored occurrence dispatches once per missed hour; advancing from now
+    // leaves the schedule ahead of the clock after a single claim.
+    let claims = 0;
+    let nextRunAt = dueAt;
+    while (nextRunAt <= now) {
+      nextRunAt = scheduleAdvance(...hourly, nextRunAt, now).nextRunAt;
+      claims += 1;
+    }
+    expect(claims).toBe(1);
+    expect(nextRunAt.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(now.getTime());
+  });
+
+  it("reports a single missed occurrence, not only a long outage", () => {
+    // One tick late by more than a period: still a coalesced claim, and the
+    // difference between this and a normal minute is what the counter carries.
+    const advance = scheduleAdvance(
+      "*/5 * * * *",
+      "UTC",
+      new Date("2026-09-07T06:00:00.000Z"),
+      new Date("2026-09-07T06:07:00.000Z"),
+    );
+    expect(advance.nextRunAt).toEqual(new Date("2026-09-07T06:10:00.000Z"));
+    expect(advance.missed).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the trigger timezone when catching up across a daylight-saving shift", () => {
+    // The outage spans spring-forward. 02:00 local does not exist on 2026-03-08
+    // in New York, so a UTC-arithmetic catch-up would land an hour off.
+    const advance = scheduleAdvance(
+      "0 2 * * *",
+      "America/New_York",
+      new Date("2026-03-06T07:00:00.000Z"),
+      new Date("2026-03-09T12:00:00.000Z"),
+    );
+    expect(advance.nextRunAt).toEqual(new Date("2026-03-10T06:00:00.000Z"));
+    expect(advance.missed).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("never moves a schedule backwards when the clock is behind its due instant", () => {
+    // Defensive: the tick only selects nextRunAt <= now, but the function is
+    // total and must not hand back an occurrence the claim would re-fire.
+    const dueAt = new Date("2026-09-07T06:00:00.000Z");
+    const advance = scheduleAdvance(...hourly, dueAt, new Date("2026-09-07T05:30:00.000Z"));
+    expect(advance.nextRunAt).toEqual(new Date("2026-09-07T07:00:00.000Z"));
+    expect(advance.missed).toBe(false);
+  });
+});