diff --git a/MANIFEST b/MANIFEST
index 1089332..f465042 100644
--- a/MANIFEST
+++ b/MANIFEST
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 # scripts/make-manifest.sh and bump VERSION.
 
 # Top-level scripts
-larry.sh	81a87ab2232c202990933ccc82c12b125c69ff1b41e65e9c12ee63f88b57128c
+larry.sh	49cc8dcf8b1f5057aa816b28a07e718293f1d92a573268b65cdb288fc10ae71b
 larry-tunnel.sh	6b050e4eeab15669f4858eaf3b807f168f211ced07815db9521bc40a093f6aaa
 larry-auth.sh	a220cdf7878569dc3028951ee57fc8d5e706a8ca5c6aa45347b58facb386f831
 larry-rollback.sh	91b5e9aa6c79266bf306dcfba4ca791c07971bd6924d67a779037531648aa6d0
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ install-larry.sh	daf2814a41052783cd8bf4252cec9276878860be8945a7fe678182c51d7eac0
 uninstall-larry.sh	c53ad2d8354c7adeb243b541f027f3f481e4a8661eecfd7af14d7ca53cfcaad9
 
 # Metadata
-VERSION	fd51233354c9a61adaf49572b45f44f7e9cc76fc2465ea25beca00ef95856ee1
+VERSION	6c38d2d8c19dec053f658ac7e8963ce25e98f2ab00fe058e62c07010c1988c6c
 MANUAL.md	5ff54d6d5fae826f8b3da1eb3be6476076bb15f9b1417a4de285e59ea37e1b1f
 CHANGELOG.md	8573fa4c1911f665f71f792d992ab331e5bb2aa5462ebd29c12994781588843e
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ lib/headers-sync.sh	47b1946f807b213a2e77cec71128a84a35f103e12fea13ae88d24610d8ee
 
 # Logging / capture
 lib/lessons.sh	225e899ed72ce20906cc454c5f5db87d605859e5e17431731a2ce481623f4e16
-lib/journal.sh	11c62a2d47b6b67a2f423fd8b86c454126df18d2dc3e150233bbd08293e39fe7
+lib/journal.sh	1c285df3f5677477c7b675c4f03236823005670b338a1781dd0c73d12fd1424f
 
 # HL7 utilities
 lib/hl7-sanitize.sh	efd333dc3e267cf2280433e53bbb910023d0bc4b30724181b53873b410d83005
@@ -98,11 +98,11 @@ lib/table-to-csv.sh	ad98e73687bc9e9f6ae0cd79ed5ba26c856076902865230f822dec1a1bea
 # NetConfig tooling
 lib/nc-engine.sh	e2b12a1c019d40857b96d48d6c185b94aefadab604536ce41077ecc251b0bc58
 lib/nc-status.sh	fa08c5e48704d3d17e2206dafc8522ae7668b7a2f9b97f3521e05fd0ba739443
-lib/nc-table.sh	a6d5c11dd460cfb100ea50c74d57c1a46ef49112632037534a32cd28600abe7f
+lib/nc-table.sh	4a31b49dd0106f95ed4ed33b5136eff23b178a8e339ae482a9486bfff554d2a6
 lib/nc-xlate.sh	8621e6f0ef55524dd6ecba91fee055cf9cdc168791e75ba7c15d9bf501fe09bf
 lib/nc-smat-diff.sh	9c04d9e2f35f22c78d5f3c40a884ed23a3b6aaabc53ee27dfbfb66ab3166a567
 lib/nc-create-thread.sh	e35b0ee27f2c0327928adc21467f2b9d5a29f7436e5b89773f65420281739df7
-lib/nc-set-field.sh	0977fcab1cd931ecdd78c8aea673db93d898f11f535daf26456a4fb7845542e4
+lib/nc-set-field.sh	3e718ae88b93433e64a957d782f955b3f5d0a0d40b06072d4a89d56be9cc5b44
 lib/nc-tclgen.sh	5b8e73d7f6950a2b84f563132562ea82f62f4acac907257e233c7e68d85506c9
 lib/nc-parse.sh	52fef42d7a4b361534ab0d921deef74586dfeb6c199c941cebb55abcc2c39d4f
 lib/nc-paths.sh	388d2f4560736587a01218cadc1de612cd59e392819d16db2f56f19174c1111b
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ lib/nc-document.sh	47211e99089c0446d25a1e84545a734894720a1c9ad8f59b920332035e4ea
 lib/nc-revisions.sh	c27856f7decfc4c2e2c990f59eb20136fdff9cf0a52b9d9fbd9370613666a802
 lib/nc-diff-interface.sh	c922d10323f06346efa53ada68b44d32d9568ff0bd848c59af3404135f29d1ad
 lib/nc-find.sh	2264877c56100378a1b780d640dcaa806aa5501ddd204c6b6a8eb5d3e07bf966
-lib/nc-insert-protocol.sh	ad1fa0bafbf4fdfb12bad20f9c22c3eed519f8846774331e26aa9becd6f8898a
+lib/nc-insert-protocol.sh	acc4345eface7ea77c8ea5e5bb5b2085819d48e8c7b5b2e9eec2d194a52cb046
 lib/nc-regression.sh	70999a60608439f7bf1a3abb9f5e9854b5ea03025ef29ddbca683896346d1bce
 
 # v0.9.4: short, directly-invokable command wrappers on PATH (bin/) + dynamic
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 85b7c69..c81aa44 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.9.6
+0.9.7
diff --git a/larry.sh b/larry.sh
index 8a03ab5..9626f3d 100755
--- a/larry.sh
+++ b/larry.sh
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ set -o pipefail
 # ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # Config
 # ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-LARRY_VERSION="0.9.6"
+LARRY_VERSION="0.9.7"
 LARRY_HOME="${LARRY_HOME:-$HOME/.larry}"
 
 # ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/lib/journal.sh b/lib/journal.sh
index 968df21..ae811f0 100755
--- a/lib/journal.sh
+++ b/lib/journal.sh
@@ -110,10 +110,20 @@ journal_write() {
 
   diff -u "$backup" "$newcopy" > "$diffp" 2>/dev/null || true
 
-  # Atomically write the new content
+  # Atomically write the new content (F-6 hardening: check each step, return non-zero on failure)
   local target_dir; target_dir=$(dirname "$target")
   mkdir -p "$target_dir" 2>/dev/null
-  cp -p "$newfile" "$target.larry-tmp.$$" && mv -f "$target.larry-tmp.$$" "$target"
+  local _tmp="$target.larry-tmp.$$"
+  if ! cp -p "$newfile" "$_tmp"; then
+    echo "journal_write: cp failed — could not stage '$newfile' to '$_tmp' (disk full or read-only?)" >&2
+    rm -f "$_tmp" 2>/dev/null
+    return 4
+  fi
+  if ! mv -f "$_tmp" "$target"; then
+    echo "journal_write: mv failed — could not commit '$_tmp' to '$target'" >&2
+    rm -f "$_tmp" 2>/dev/null
+    return 4
+  fi
 
   # Append index
   printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' \
diff --git a/lib/nc-insert-protocol.sh b/lib/nc-insert-protocol.sh
index 4295150..febaab2 100755
--- a/lib/nc-insert-protocol.sh
+++ b/lib/nc-insert-protocol.sh
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ cmd_insert() {
 
   # Hand off to journal for atomic backup+write
   local entry_id
-  entry_id=$(journal_write "$nc" "$tmp")
+  entry_id=$(journal_write "$nc" "$tmp") || { echo "ERROR: journal_write failed — NetConfig NOT modified" >&2; rm -f "$tmp"; return 4; }
   rm -f "$tmp"
   printf 'inserted protocol %s into %s (mode=%s)\n' "$block_name" "$nc" "$mode"
   printf 'journal entry: %s\n' "$entry_id"
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ cmd_add_route() {
   fi
 
   local entry_id
-  entry_id=$(journal_write "$nc" "$tmp")
+  entry_id=$(journal_write "$nc" "$tmp") || { echo "ERROR: journal_write failed — route NOT added" >&2; rm -f "$tmp"; return 4; }
   rm -f "$tmp"
   printf 'added route to protocol %s in %s (DATAXLATE block at line %s)\n' "$prot" "$nc" "$dx_start"
   printf 'journal entry: %s\n' "$entry_id"
diff --git a/lib/nc-set-field.sh b/lib/nc-set-field.sh
index 7c0d119..680ac77 100755
--- a/lib/nc-set-field.sh
+++ b/lib/nc-set-field.sh
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ fi
 
 # Journaled atomic write.
 if declare -f journal_write >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  ENTRY_ID=$(journal_write "$NC" "$TMP")
+  ENTRY_ID=$(journal_write "$NC" "$TMP") || { echo "ERROR: journal_write failed — NetConfig NOT modified" >&2; rm -f "$TMP"; exit 4; }
   rm -f "$TMP"
   {
     printf '\nset %s.%s %s = %s  (was %s)\n' "$THREAD" "${SITE:-?}" "$FIELD_IN_UC" "$VALUE" "$OLD_DISP"
diff --git a/lib/nc-table.sh b/lib/nc-table.sh
index fc7053f..4f97315 100755
--- a/lib/nc-table.sh
+++ b/lib/nc-table.sh
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ modify_via_csv() {
     || "$C2T" --has-header "$csv_path" > "$new"
 
   if declare -f journal_write >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    journal_write "$target" "$new"
+    journal_write "$target" "$new" || { echo "ERROR: journal_write failed — table NOT modified" >&2; return 4; }
   else
     # No journal — direct write with simple backup
     # v0.7.5: strip non-digits from date — Cygwin date.exe could yield