diff --git a/nix/agent-modules/otel.nix b/nix/agent-modules/otel.nix
index dbf62a38..e4ff3200 100644
--- a/nix/agent-modules/otel.nix
+++ b/nix/agent-modules/otel.nix
@@ -221,6 +221,21 @@ in
       # tiers; see nix/host-modules/otel.nix for the measurement.
       validateConfigFile = true;
       settings = {
+        # `journalctl --follow --lines=0` (what this receiver runs under
+        # the hood) ships only what's written *after* it starts — every
+        # collector start has a silent gap at the front. `storage:` below
+        # persists the read cursor, so a restart resumes from where it
+        # left off instead of re-opening that gap; `start_at` stays `end`
+        # (its default) because a cursor already covers every run after
+        # the first, and `beginning` without one would re-ship the whole
+        # journal on every restart. The cursor lives in the unit's own
+        # `StateDirectory` (nixpkgs' module already sets one, `%S`, below
+        # as `WorkingDirectory` too) — container-lifetime, not the
+        # host-persisted state bind mount: it indexes /var/log/journal,
+        # itself fresh on every container recreate, so the two must share
+        # a lifetime or the cursor outlives the journal it points into.
+        extensions.file_storage.directory = "/var/lib/opentelemetry-collector";
+
         receivers.journald = {
           # ⚠️ STATED, and it must stay stated: the receiver's own default
           # is the RUNTIME journal (`/run/log/journal`), which in an agent
@@ -229,6 +244,7 @@ in
           # leaves a collector that validates, starts, reports healthy and
           # forwards nothing.
           directory = "/var/log/journal";
+          storage = "file_storage";
           # No `units` allowlist, unlike the swarm tier's receiver. That
           # one needs one because the host's journal also holds an
           # operator's own session; a container's journal is the harness
@@ -270,6 +286,11 @@ in
           processors = [ "resource" ];
           exporters = [ logExporter ];
         };
+
+        # An extension configured but not listed here is INERT — the
+        # journald receiver's `storage: file_storage` above would name a
+        # component the collector never starts.
+        service.extensions = [ "file_storage" ];
       };
     };
   };