diff --git a/src/features/snapshot.ts b/src/features/snapshot.ts
index c4dbd469..f9e2d7b5 100644
--- a/src/features/snapshot.ts
+++ b/src/features/snapshot.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { getDatabase } from '../db/better-sqlite3.js';
@@ -37,24 +38,77 @@ export function snapshotSave(
   const dir = snapshotsDir(dbPath);
   const dest = path.join(dir, `${name}.db`);
 
-  if (fs.existsSync(dest)) {
-    if (!options.force) {
-      throw new ConfigError(`Snapshot "${name}" already exists. Use --force to overwrite.`);
-    }
-    fs.unlinkSync(dest);
-    debug(`Deleted existing snapshot: ${dest}`);
+  // Cheap fail-fast for the common non-force case; the authoritative check
+  // below uses an atomic linkSync that closes the TOCTOU window.
+  if (!options.force && fs.existsSync(dest)) {
+    throw new ConfigError(`Snapshot "${name}" already exists. Use --force to overwrite.`);
   }
 
   fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
 
+  // VACUUM INTO a unique temp path on the same filesystem, then atomically
+  // place it at the destination. This closes the TOCTOU window between
+  // existsSync/unlinkSync/VACUUM INTO where two concurrent saves could
+  // observe a missing file or interleave their VACUUM writes.
+  //
+  // Unique temp name: process.pid is shared across worker_threads in the
+  // same process, so we add random bytes to keep concurrent callers in any
+  // thread from colliding on the temp path.
+  const tmp = path.join(
+    dir,
+    `.${name}.db.tmp-${process.pid}-${Date.now()}-${randomBytes(6).toString('hex')}`,
+  );
+  try {
+    fs.unlinkSync(tmp);
+  } catch (err) {
+    if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== 'ENOENT') throw err;
+  }
+
   const Database = getDatabase();
   const db = new Database(dbPath, { readonly: true });
   try {
-    db.exec(`VACUUM INTO '${dest.replace(/'/g, "''")}'`);
+    db.exec(`VACUUM INTO '${tmp.replace(/'/g, "''")}'`);
   } finally {
     db.close();
   }
 
+  try {
+    if (options.force) {
+      // renameSync overwrites atomically — the correct semantics for --force.
+      fs.renameSync(tmp, dest);
+    } else {
+      // Non-force path: linkSync fails atomically with EEXIST if dest exists,
+      // closing the TOCTOU window between existsSync above and the final
+      // placement. We then unlink the temp file; on POSIX and NTFS, link
+      // creates a second reference so tmp can safely be removed.
+      try {
+        fs.linkSync(tmp, dest);
+      } catch (err) {
+        if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'EEXIST') {
+          throw new ConfigError(`Snapshot "${name}" already exists. Use --force to overwrite.`);
+        }
+        throw err;
+      }
+      try {
+        fs.unlinkSync(tmp);
+      } catch (cleanupErr) {
+        // Best-effort — dest is already in place, so a leftover tmp file is
+        // harmless. Log at debug so repeated failures surface during
+        // troubleshooting without noising up normal operation.
+        debug(`snapshotSave: failed to remove temp file ${tmp}: ${cleanupErr}`);
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (err) {
+    try {
+      fs.unlinkSync(tmp);
+    } catch (cleanupErr) {
+      if ((cleanupErr as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== 'ENOENT') {
+        debug(`snapshotSave: failed to remove temp file ${tmp}: ${cleanupErr}`);
+      }
+    }
+    throw err;
+  }
+
   const stat = fs.statSync(dest);
   debug(`Snapshot saved: ${dest} (${stat.size} bytes)`);
   return { name, path: dest, size: stat.size };
@@ -74,16 +128,38 @@ export function snapshotRestore(name: string, options: SnapshotDbPathOptions = {
     throw new DbError(`Snapshot "${name}" not found at ${src}`, { file: src });
   }
 
-  // Remove WAL/SHM sidecar files for a clean restore
+  // Remove WAL/SHM sidecars first so the old journal can't be replayed over
+  // the restored DB. unlink then check ENOENT — avoids the existsSync/unlinkSync
+  // race another process could wedge into.
   for (const suffix of ['-wal', '-shm']) {
     const sidecar = dbPath + suffix;
-    if (fs.existsSync(sidecar)) {
+    try {
       fs.unlinkSync(sidecar);
       debug(`Removed sidecar: ${sidecar}`);
+    } catch (err) {
+      if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== 'ENOENT') throw err;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Copy to a temp path next to the DB, then rename atomically. Readers that
+  // open dbPath during restore see either the pre-restore or post-restore
+  // file, never a partially-written one.
+  fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(dbPath), { recursive: true });
+  const tmp = `${dbPath}.restore-tmp-${process.pid}-${Date.now()}-${randomBytes(6).toString('hex')}`;
+  try {
+    fs.copyFileSync(src, tmp);
+    fs.renameSync(tmp, dbPath);
+  } catch (err) {
+    try {
+      fs.unlinkSync(tmp);
+    } catch (cleanupErr) {
+      if ((cleanupErr as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code !== 'ENOENT') {
+        debug(`snapshotRestore: failed to remove temp file ${tmp}: ${cleanupErr}`);
+      }
     }
+    throw err;
   }
 
-  fs.copyFileSync(src, dbPath);
   debug(`Restored snapshot "${name}" → ${dbPath}`);
 }
 
@@ -122,10 +198,13 @@ export function snapshotDelete(name: string, options: SnapshotDbPathOptions = {}
   const dir = snapshotsDir(dbPath);
   const target = path.join(dir, `${name}.db`);
 
-  if (!fs.existsSync(target)) {
-    throw new DbError(`Snapshot "${name}" not found at ${target}`, { file: target });
+  try {
+    fs.unlinkSync(target);
+  } catch (err) {
+    if ((err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'ENOENT') {
+      throw new DbError(`Snapshot "${name}" not found at ${target}`, { file: target });
+    }
+    throw err;
   }
-
-  fs.unlinkSync(target);
   debug(`Deleted snapshot: ${target}`);
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/snapshot-race-worker.mjs b/tests/unit/snapshot-race-worker.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..79729054
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/snapshot-race-worker.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Worker entry used by snapshot.test.ts to create genuine concurrency
+// between two snapshotSave calls. better-sqlite3 is synchronous, so
+// Promise-based concurrency cannot exercise the TOCTOU race — only
+// separate threads can.
+//
+// This file is .mjs so Node loads it directly without a TypeScript loader;
+// it imports the compiled dist build when available, falling back to the
+// TS source via the project's ts-resolve-hooks when running under vitest
+// (which propagates the strip-types flag to workers via NODE_OPTIONS).
+
+import { parentPort, workerData } from 'node:worker_threads';
+
+const { dbPath, name, force } = workerData;
+
+try {
+  const mod = await import('../../src/features/snapshot.ts');
+  mod.snapshotSave(name, { dbPath, force });
+  parentPort.postMessage({ ok: true });
+} catch (err) {
+  parentPort.postMessage({ ok: false, error: err?.message ?? String(err) });
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/snapshot.test.ts b/tests/unit/snapshot.test.ts
index ec149252..a532b62f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/snapshot.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/snapshot.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { Worker } from 'node:worker_threads';
 import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import {
@@ -12,6 +14,8 @@ import {
   validateSnapshotName,
 } from '../../src/features/snapshot.js';
 
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+
 let tmpDir: string;
 let dbPath: string;
 
@@ -132,6 +136,109 @@ describe('snapshotSave', () => {
   it('rejects invalid name', () => {
     expect(() => snapshotSave('bad name', { dbPath })).toThrow(/Invalid snapshot name/);
   });
+
+  it('leaves no temp files in snapshots dir after success', () => {
+    snapshotSave('clean', { dbPath });
+    const entries = fs.readdirSync(snapshotsDir(dbPath));
+    expect(entries).toContain('clean.db');
+    // Temp files are named `.<name>.db.tmp-<pid>-<ts>` — none should remain.
+    expect(entries.filter((f) => f.includes('.tmp-'))).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  // Worker infrastructure for genuine cross-thread concurrency on
+  // snapshotSave. better-sqlite3 is synchronous, so Promise-based
+  // concurrency would queue two sequential microtasks — only separate
+  // threads exercise the TOCTOU race.
+  const nodeMajor = Number(process.versions.node.split('.')[0]);
+  const raceWorkerPath = path.join(__dirname, 'snapshot-race-worker.mjs');
+  // --import requires a URL (file://…) or a bare/relative specifier, not a
+  // drive-letter path on Windows. Use the file:// URL directly.
+  const loaderUrl = new URL('../../scripts/ts-resolve-loader.js', import.meta.url).href;
+  const raceExecArgv = [
+    nodeMajor >= 23 ? '--strip-types' : '--experimental-strip-types',
+    '--import',
+    loaderUrl,
+  ];
+  const spawnSaveWorker = (workerData: {
+    dbPath: string;
+    name: string;
+    force: boolean;
+  }): Promise<{ ok: boolean; error?: string }> =>
+    new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+      const w = new Worker(raceWorkerPath, { workerData, execArgv: raceExecArgv });
+      let messageReceived = false;
+      w.once('message', (msg) => {
+        messageReceived = true;
+        resolve(msg);
+      });
+      w.once('error', reject);
+      w.once('exit', (code) => {
+        if (!messageReceived) {
+          reject(new Error(`worker exited with code ${code} before posting a message`));
+        }
+      });
+    });
+
+  it('does not corrupt output when two --force saves race on the same name', async () => {
+    // Prime the target so both workers take the --force overwrite path.
+    snapshotSave('race', { dbPath });
+
+    // Spawn two worker threads racing on the same name. Post-fix, the atomic
+    // rename ensures the winner's file is intact and the loser either
+    // overwrites cleanly or leaves no corrupt artifact.
+    const results = await Promise.allSettled([
+      spawnSaveWorker({ dbPath, name: 'race', force: true }),
+      spawnSaveWorker({ dbPath, name: 'race', force: true }),
+    ]);
+
+    // At least one save must have succeeded.
+    const succeeded = results.filter((r) => r.status === 'fulfilled' && r.value.ok === true);
+    expect(succeeded.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1);
+
+    // The final file must be a valid SQLite DB with the expected contents.
+    const finalPath = path.join(snapshotsDir(dbPath), 'race.db');
+    const db = new Database(finalPath, { readonly: true });
+    const rows = db.prepare('SELECT name FROM nodes').all();
+    db.close();
+    expect(rows).toEqual([{ name: 'hello' }]);
+
+    // No temp files should leak from either worker.
+    const entries = fs.readdirSync(snapshotsDir(dbPath));
+    expect(entries.filter((f) => f.includes('.tmp-'))).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('atomically rejects a concurrent non-force save when one already won', async () => {
+    // With no existing snapshot, two concurrent non-force saves race on the
+    // same name. Post-fix, the atomic linkSync(tmp, dest) makes the guard
+    // authoritative: exactly one must succeed, the other must fail with
+    // "already exists". Pre-fix, both could pass existsSync and silently
+    // overwrite each other.
+    const results = await Promise.allSettled([
+      spawnSaveWorker({ dbPath, name: 'nonforce-race', force: false }),
+      spawnSaveWorker({ dbPath, name: 'nonforce-race', force: false }),
+    ]);
+    const fulfilled = results.filter((r) => r.status === 'fulfilled');
+    expect(fulfilled).toHaveLength(2);
+
+    const outcomes = fulfilled.map(
+      (r) => (r as PromiseFulfilledResult<{ ok: boolean; error?: string }>).value,
+    );
+    const wins = outcomes.filter((o) => o.ok);
+    const losses = outcomes.filter((o) => !o.ok);
+    expect(wins).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(losses).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(losses[0].error).toMatch(/already exists/);
+
+    // Final snapshot must be valid.
+    const finalPath = path.join(snapshotsDir(dbPath), 'nonforce-race.db');
+    const db = new Database(finalPath, { readonly: true });
+    const rows = db.prepare('SELECT name FROM nodes').all();
+    db.close();
+    expect(rows).toEqual([{ name: 'hello' }]);
+
+    const entries = fs.readdirSync(snapshotsDir(dbPath));
+    expect(entries.filter((f) => f.includes('.tmp-'))).toEqual([]);
+  });
 });
 
 // ─── snapshotRestore ────────────────────────────────────────────────────