diff --git a/.core/TODO.md b/.core/TODO.md
index 91aef5e..e69de29 100644
--- a/.core/TODO.md
+++ b/.core/TODO.md
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-- @harden pkg/agentic/sync.go:563 — corrupt report.json is dropped silently when dispatch metadata is malformed.
diff --git a/pkg/agentic/sync.go b/pkg/agentic/sync.go
index af3e971..5d6e93f 100644
--- a/pkg/agentic/sync.go
+++ b/pkg/agentic/sync.go
@@ -570,6 +570,11 @@ func readSyncWorkspaceReport(workspaceDir string) map[string]any {
 	var report map[string]any
 	parseResult := core.JSONUnmarshalString(result.Value.(string), &report)
 	if !parseResult.OK {
+		backupPath := core.Concat(reportPath, ".corrupt-", time.Now().UTC().Format("20060102T150405Z"))
+		core.Warn("agentic: corrupt dispatch report", "path", reportPath, "backup", backupPath, "reason", parseResult.Value)
+		if renameResult := fs.Rename(reportPath, backupPath); !renameResult.OK {
+			core.Warn("agentic: failed to preserve corrupt dispatch report", "path", reportPath, "backup", backupPath, "reason", renameResult.Value)
+		}
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/agentic/sync_test.go b/pkg/agentic/sync_test.go
index 976cfda..148dc02 100644
--- a/pkg/agentic/sync_test.go
+++ b/pkg/agentic/sync_test.go
@@ -367,6 +367,26 @@ func TestSync_HandleSyncPush_Good_ReportMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, output.Count)
 }
 
+func TestSync_ReadSyncWorkspaceReport_Ugly_CorruptJSONPreservesArtifact(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	setTestWorkspace(t, root)
+
+	workspaceDir := core.JoinPath(root, "workspace", "core", "go-io", "task-5")
+	metaDir := WorkspaceMetaDir(workspaceDir)
+	require.True(t, fs.EnsureDir(metaDir).OK)
+
+	reportPath := core.JoinPath(metaDir, "report.json")
+	require.True(t, fs.Write(reportPath, `{"findings":[{"file":"main.go"}],"changes":`).OK)
+
+	report := readSyncWorkspaceReport(workspaceDir)
+	require.Nil(t, report)
+	assert.False(t, fs.Exists(reportPath))
+
+	entries := listDirNames(fs.List(metaDir))
+	require.Len(t, entries, 1)
+	assert.True(t, core.HasPrefix(entries[0], "report.json.corrupt-"))
+}
+
 func TestSync_HandleSyncPull_Good_NestedEnvelope(t *testing.T) {
 	root := t.TempDir()
 	setTestWorkspace(t, root)