diff --git a/apps/memos-local-plugin/core/pipeline/memory-core.ts b/apps/memos-local-plugin/core/pipeline/memory-core.ts
index 042a0deb7..3ffd71e2b 100644
--- a/apps/memos-local-plugin/core/pipeline/memory-core.ts
+++ b/apps/memos-local-plugin/core/pipeline/memory-core.ts
@@ -584,6 +584,14 @@ export function createMemoryCore(
     }
   }
 
+  function scheduleStartupRecovery(label: string, task: () => Promise<void>): void {
+    void task().catch((err) => {
+      log.debug(`${label}.failed`, {
+        err: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
+      });
+    });
+  }
+
   // ─── Lifecycle ──
   async function init(): Promise<void> {
     if (shutDown) {
@@ -617,14 +625,18 @@ export function createMemoryCore(
           });
         }
         if (stale.length > 0) {
-          await recoverOpenEpisodesAsSessionEnd(stale);
+          scheduleStartupRecovery("startup.open_recovery", async () => {
+            await recoverOpenEpisodesAsSessionEnd(stale);
+          });
         }
       }
       const dirtyClosed = handle.repos.episodes
         .list({ status: "closed", limit: 500 })
         .filter((ep) => episodeRewardIsDirty(ep));
       if (dirtyClosed.length > 0) {
-        await recoverDirtyClosedEpisodes(dirtyClosed);
+        scheduleStartupRecovery("startup.dirty_closed_recovery", async () => {
+          await recoverDirtyClosedEpisodes(dirtyClosed);
+        });
       }
     } catch (err) {
       log.debug("init.orphan_scan.failed", {
diff --git a/apps/memos-local-plugin/tests/unit/startup-recovery.test.ts b/apps/memos-local-plugin/tests/unit/startup-recovery.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e8944644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/memos-local-plugin/tests/unit/startup-recovery.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+
+const source = readFileSync(
+  join(__dirname, "../../core/pipeline/memory-core.ts"),
+  "utf8",
+);
+
+function initBody(): string {
+  const start = source.indexOf("  async function init(): Promise<void> {");
+  expect(start, "init() function should be present").toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+  const end = source.indexOf("\n  function", start + 1);
+  expect(end, "init() should be followed by another function").toBeGreaterThan(start);
+  return source.slice(start, end);
+}
+
+function stripScheduledRecoveryCallbacks(body: string): string {
+  return body.replace(
+    /scheduleStartupRecovery\([\s\S]*?\n        \}\);/g,
+    "scheduleStartupRecovery(<background task>);",
+  );
+}
+
+describe("memory-core startup recovery", () => {
+  it("does not block init on stale/dirty episode recovery", () => {
+    const synchronousInitBody = stripScheduledRecoveryCallbacks(initBody());
+
+    expect(synchronousInitBody).not.toContain("await recoverOpenEpisodesAsSessionEnd(stale)");
+    expect(synchronousInitBody).not.toContain("await recoverDirtyClosedEpisodes(dirtyClosed)");
+    expect(initBody()).toContain("scheduleStartupRecovery(\"startup.open_recovery\"");
+    expect(initBody()).toContain("scheduleStartupRecovery(\"startup.dirty_closed_recovery\"");
+  });
+});