diff --git a/bin/gstack-memory-ingest.ts b/bin/gstack-memory-ingest.ts
index fd7e53a73..67e885ef2 100644
--- a/bin/gstack-memory-ingest.ts
+++ b/bin/gstack-memory-ingest.ts
@@ -1778,7 +1778,15 @@ async function ingestPass(args: CliArgs): Promise<BulkResult> {
       );
     }
   } finally {
-    cleanupStagingDir(stagingDir);
+    // #1802 D1: in remote-http mode `stagingDir` is the PERSISTENT transcript
+    // dir (makePersistentTranscriptDir, under ~/.gstack/transcripts/) that
+    // gstack-brain-sync push must pick up — it is NOT a `.staging-ingest-*` dir
+    // and must never be deleted here. The remote-http branch above already
+    // documents this intent ("Skip the ... cleanupStagingDir paths"), but a
+    // `finally` runs on its `return`, so the gate has to live here. Gating on
+    // mode (rather than widening the ownership guard) keeps checkOwnedStagingDir
+    // strict: it only ever sees `.staging-ingest-*` dirs.
+    if (!remoteHttpMode) cleanupStagingDir(stagingDir);
     _activeStagingDir = null;
   }
 
diff --git a/test/regression-1611-gbrain-sync-resume.test.ts b/test/regression-1611-gbrain-sync-resume.test.ts
index 481d3284c..1f262a596 100644
--- a/test/regression-1611-gbrain-sync-resume.test.ts
+++ b/test/regression-1611-gbrain-sync-resume.test.ts
@@ -350,3 +350,30 @@ describe("#1802 checkOwnedStagingDir — ownership matrix", () => {
     expect(sync).toMatch(/checkOwnedStagingDir\(stagingDir, gstackHome\)/);
   });
 });
+
+// ── #1802 D1: remote-http persistent dir must never hit cleanupStagingDir ───
+// In remote-http mode `stagingDir` is the PERSISTENT transcript dir
+// (makePersistentTranscriptDir, under ~/.gstack/transcripts/) that
+// gstack-brain-sync push consumes. The finally runs on the remote-http `return`,
+// so the cleanup call there must be gated on `!remoteHttpMode` — otherwise the
+// guard refuses it on every sync (false "prevent data loss" warning) and, pre-
+// gate, the dir was deleted outright (broken artifacts handoff).
+describe("#1802 D1 — remote-http finally gate (static invariant)", () => {
+  const ingest = fs.readFileSync(
+    path.join(ROOT, "bin", "gstack-memory-ingest.ts"),
+    "utf-8",
+  );
+
+  test("finally gates cleanupStagingDir on !remoteHttpMode", () => {
+    expect(ingest).toMatch(/if \(!remoteHttpMode\) cleanupStagingDir\(stagingDir\)/);
+  });
+
+  test("the only finally-scoped cleanup call is the gated one", () => {
+    // Locate the finally block and assert it does not contain a bare
+    // `cleanupStagingDir(stagingDir);` that would run regardless of mode.
+    const finallyAt = ingest.lastIndexOf("} finally {");
+    expect(finallyAt).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    const finallySlice = ingest.slice(finallyAt, finallyAt + 800);
+    expect(finallySlice).not.toMatch(/^\s*cleanupStagingDir\(stagingDir\);/m);
+  });
+});