diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ab34bb4..c42cb69 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,26 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 ### Changed
 
+- **Fixed: summarization retries panicked in debug builds, silently.**
+  `RetryConfig::delay_for_attempt` documents a 1-indexed attempt and computes
+  `attempt - 1`; `llm_compaction.rs` passed the raw `0..=max_retries` loop
+  variable, so the first retry underflowed `usize`. `agent_loop.rs` increments
+  before calling and was correct — this was confined to compaction.
+
+  It landed on a **detached** task, so nothing surfaced: the summarization
+  simply vanished, no briefing arrived, and compaction fell back
+  deterministically. That is one of the behaviours
+  [#150](https://github.com/yologdev/yoagent/issues/150) was filed about.
+
+  `delay_for_attempt` now uses `saturating_sub`, so a caller that misses the
+  1-indexed contract loses the backoff rather than the task.
+
+  `provider_failure_falls_back_deterministically` had been passing *because* of
+  this panic: its `FailingProvider` returns a retryable error, and the instant
+  death released the in-flight slot inside the test's 100ms window. With
+  retries working the first backoff is ~1s, so the test now configures no
+  retries — it is about the drop guard, not about backoff timing.
+
 - **`LlmCompaction` says so when briefings keep losing the race**
   ([#150](https://github.com/yologdev/yoagent/issues/150)). A session whose
   compactions all take the deterministic path gets `DefaultCompaction`'s
diff --git a/src/llm_compaction.rs b/src/llm_compaction.rs
index 41188cf..4f6daf8 100644
--- a/src/llm_compaction.rs
+++ b/src/llm_compaction.rs
@@ -1083,7 +1083,12 @@ async fn summarize(
                 if e.is_retryable() && attempt < retry.max_retries {
                     let delay = e
                         .retry_after()
-                        .unwrap_or_else(|| retry.delay_for_attempt(attempt));
+                        // `attempt` is 0-indexed here (`0..=max_retries`) but
+                        // `delay_for_attempt` documents 1-indexed and computes
+                        // `attempt - 1`, so passing it raw underflowed on the
+                        // first retry. `agent_loop.rs` increments before
+                        // calling; this did not.
+                        .unwrap_or_else(|| retry.delay_for_attempt(attempt + 1));
                     tracing::debug!("llm compaction: {e}, retrying in {delay:?}");
                     tokio::time::sleep(delay).await;
                     continue;
@@ -1094,7 +1099,7 @@ async fn summarize(
             Ok(Ok(message)) => return accept_summary(message),
         }
         if attempt < retry.max_retries {
-            tokio::time::sleep(retry.delay_for_attempt(attempt)).await;
+            tokio::time::sleep(retry.delay_for_attempt(attempt + 1)).await;
         }
     }
     None
@@ -2179,11 +2184,65 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Real fallbacks through `compact()` feed the streak and trip the warning.
+    ///
+    /// Lives here, in `mod tests`, because the helpers do. The sibling
+    /// `losing_race_warning` module calls `warn_losing_race_once` directly, so
+    /// deleting its only call site in `compact` left every one of those tests
+    /// green while disconnecting the feature entirely — the counter would never
+    /// move for any real user.
+    #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread")]
+    async fn compact_counts_real_fallbacks_and_warns_on_the_streak() {
+        let strategy = LlmCompaction::from_provider(Arc::new(FailingProvider), ModelConfig::mock())
+            .with_trigger_ratio(0.1)
+            .with_retain_tail_tokens(200)
+            .with_retry_config(crate::retry::RetryConfig::none());
+        let cfg = config(2_000);
+
+        // The summarizer always fails, so no briefing is ever ready and every
+        // compaction takes the deterministic path — the condition the warning
+        // exists to report.
+        for expected in 1..FALLBACKS_BEFORE_WARNING {
+            let _ = strategy.compact(history(30, 400), &cfg);
+            // Let the spawned request fail and release the slot, so the next
+            // compaction arms again rather than seeing a busy phase.
+            tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(30)).await;
+            assert_eq!(
+                lock(&strategy.state).fallbacks,
+                expected,
+                "each deterministic compaction must advance the streak"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                !lock(&strategy.state).warned.losing_race,
+                "{expected} of {FALLBACKS_BEFORE_WARNING} is not yet a streak"
+            );
+        }
+
+        let _ = strategy.compact(history(30, 400), &cfg);
+        tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(30)).await;
+        assert!(
+            lock(&strategy.state).warned.losing_race,
+            "{FALLBACKS_BEFORE_WARNING} consecutive real fallbacks must trip the warning"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread")]
     async fn provider_failure_falls_back_deterministically() {
+        // No retries, so the failure is immediate and the 100ms below actually
+        // bounds it. This test is about the drop guard releasing the slot, not
+        // about backoff timing.
+        //
+        // It previously passed for the wrong reason: `FailingProvider` returns
+        // a *retryable* error, and `delay_for_attempt` was called 0-indexed
+        // against its documented 1-indexed contract, so the first retry
+        // panicked on `usize` underflow. The task died instantly, the guard
+        // dropped, and the assertion held — on a debug-only panic on a detached
+        // task. With the indexing fixed the first backoff is ~1s and the slot
+        // is legitimately still in flight at 100ms.
         let strategy = LlmCompaction::from_provider(Arc::new(FailingProvider), ModelConfig::mock())
             .with_trigger_ratio(0.1)
-            .with_retain_tail_tokens(200);
+            .with_retain_tail_tokens(200)
+            .with_retry_config(crate::retry::RetryConfig::none());
 
         let messages = history(30, 400);
         let cfg = config(2_000);
diff --git a/src/retry.rs b/src/retry.rs
index 784ba70..3dc3fa4 100644
--- a/src/retry.rs
+++ b/src/retry.rs
@@ -43,8 +43,16 @@ impl RetryConfig {
     /// Calculate the delay for a given attempt (1-indexed).
     /// Uses exponential backoff with ±20% jitter.
     pub fn delay_for_attempt(&self, attempt: usize) -> Duration {
-        let base_ms =
-            self.initial_delay_ms as f64 * self.backoff_multiplier.powi((attempt - 1) as i32);
+        // `saturating_sub`, not `attempt - 1`: this is a public method whose
+        // 1-indexed contract is easy to miss, and `usize` underflow panics in
+        // debug. `llm_compaction.rs` passed it 0-indexed and died on the first
+        // retry — on a *detached* task, so the summarization simply vanished
+        // and compaction fell back deterministically with nothing logged.
+        // A misuse should cost the backoff, not the task.
+        let base_ms = self.initial_delay_ms as f64
+            * self
+                .backoff_multiplier
+                .powi(attempt.saturating_sub(1) as i32);
         let capped_ms = base_ms.min(self.max_delay_ms as f64);
 
         // Jitter: ±20% (multiply by 0.8–1.2)
@@ -83,3 +91,51 @@ pub(crate) fn log_retry(attempt: usize, max: usize, delay: &Duration, error: &Pr
         error
     );
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod attempt_indexing {
+    use super::RetryConfig;
+
+    /// A zero attempt must not panic.
+    ///
+    /// `delay_for_attempt` documents 1-indexed and computed `attempt - 1`, so a
+    /// 0-indexed caller hit `usize` underflow — a debug panic. `llm_compaction`
+    /// did exactly that, and because the retry runs on a detached task the
+    /// panic was invisible: the summarization vanished and compaction fell back
+    /// deterministically, which is one of the behaviours #150 was filed about.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_zero_attempt_does_not_panic() {
+        let cfg = RetryConfig {
+            initial_delay_ms: 1000,
+            backoff_multiplier: 2.0,
+            max_delay_ms: 60_000,
+            ..RetryConfig::default()
+        };
+        // Reaching this line at all is the point — the old code panicked here.
+        let zero = cfg.delay_for_attempt(0).as_millis();
+        // Jitter is +/-20% of the base 1000ms, so 0 degrades into the same band
+        // as attempt 1 rather than to something wild.
+        assert!(
+            (800..=1200).contains(&zero),
+            "attempt 0 must degrade to the base delay, got {zero}ms"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Backoff still grows for the documented 1-indexed usage.
+    #[test]
+    fn backoff_grows_with_the_attempt_number() {
+        let cfg = RetryConfig {
+            initial_delay_ms: 1000,
+            backoff_multiplier: 2.0,
+            max_delay_ms: 60_000,
+            ..RetryConfig::default()
+        };
+        // Jitter is +/-20%, so compare with margin rather than exactly.
+        let first = cfg.delay_for_attempt(1).as_millis();
+        let third = cfg.delay_for_attempt(3).as_millis();
+        assert!(
+            third > first * 2,
+            "attempt 3 must back off well beyond attempt 1, got {first}ms then {third}ms"
+        );
+    }
+}