diff --git a/setup/service-renderers.ts b/setup/service-renderers.ts
index b12bfef..85287b4 100644
--- a/setup/service-renderers.ts
+++ b/setup/service-renderers.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import path from 'path';
 
+import { STARTUP_PRECONDITION_EXIT_CODE } from '../src/startup-preconditions.js';
 import type { ServiceDef } from './service-defs.js';
 
 export function buildRuntimePathEnv(nodePath: string, homeDir: string): string {
@@ -111,6 +112,7 @@ ExecStart=${nodePath} ${projectRoot}/dist/index.js
 WorkingDirectory=${projectRoot}
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=5
+RestartPreventExitStatus=${STARTUP_PRECONDITION_EXIT_CODE}
 ${envLines.join('\n')}
 StandardOutput=append:${projectRoot}/logs/${def.logName}.log
 StandardError=append:${projectRoot}/logs/${def.logName}.error.log
diff --git a/setup/service.test.ts b/setup/service.test.ts
index edec45c..61de7cd 100644
--- a/setup/service.test.ts
+++ b/setup/service.test.ts
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ describe('systemd unit generation', () => {
     );
     expect(unit).toContain('Restart=always');
     expect(unit).toContain('RestartSec=5');
+    expect(unit).toContain('RestartPreventExitStatus=78');
   });
 
   it('sets correct ExecStart', () => {
diff --git a/src/db/database-lifecycle.ts b/src/db/database-lifecycle.ts
index d52f196..c557cce 100644
--- a/src/db/database-lifecycle.ts
+++ b/src/db/database-lifecycle.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { Database } from 'bun:sqlite';
 
 import { DATA_DIR, normalizeServiceId, SERVICE_ID } from '../config.js';
 import { listUnexpectedDataStateFiles } from '../data-state-files.js';
+import { StartupPreconditionError } from '../startup-preconditions.js';
 import {
   openDatabaseFromFile,
   openInMemoryDatabase,
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ function assertNoPendingLegacyRoomMigration(database: Database): void {
     return;
   }
 
-  throw new Error(
+  throw new StartupPreconditionError(
     `Legacy room migration required before startup (tables=${pendingTables.join(',')})`,
   );
 }
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ function assertNoUnexpectedDataStateFiles(): void {
     return;
   }
 
-  throw new Error(
+  throw new StartupPreconditionError(
     `Unexpected data state files detected before startup (files=${pendingFiles.join(',')})`,
   );
 }
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@ function assertNoUnsupportedRouterStateDbKeys(database: Database): void {
     return;
   }
 
-  throw new Error(
+  throw new StartupPreconditionError(
     `Unsupported router_state DB keys remain before startup (keys=${unsupportedKeys.join(',')})`,
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index d201805..e85ab35 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ import {
   clearGlobalFailover,
   getGlobalFailoverInfo,
 } from './service-routing.js';
+import { resolveStartupFailureExitCode } from './startup-preconditions.js';
 import { createRuntimeState } from './runtime-state.js';
 import { FAILOVER_MIN_DURATION_MS } from './config.js';
 
@@ -497,7 +498,8 @@ const isDirectRun =
 
 if (isDirectRun) {
   main().catch((err) => {
-    logger.error({ err }, 'Failed to start EJClaw');
-    process.exit(1);
+    const exitCode = resolveStartupFailureExitCode(err);
+    logger.error({ err, exitCode }, 'Failed to start EJClaw');
+    process.exit(exitCode);
   });
 }
diff --git a/src/message-turn-controller.test.ts b/src/message-turn-controller.test.ts
index de77a8d..aa1e8ab 100644
--- a/src/message-turn-controller.test.ts
+++ b/src/message-turn-controller.test.ts
@@ -471,4 +471,52 @@ describe('MessageTurnController outbound audit logging', () => {
       ]),
     );
   });
+
+  it('replaces the tracked progress message when finish() publishes a failure final', async () => {
+    const channel = {
+      ...makeChannel(),
+      name: 'discord',
+    } satisfies Channel;
+    const deliverFinalText = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(true);
+    const controller = new MessageTurnController({
+      chatJid: 'dc:test-room',
+      group: makeGroup(),
+      runId: 'run-owner-failure-final',
+      channel,
+      idleTimeout: 1_000,
+      failureFinalText: '실패',
+      isClaudeCodeAgent: true,
+      clearSession: vi.fn(),
+      requestClose: vi.fn(),
+      deliverFinalText,
+      deliveryRole: 'owner',
+      pairedTurnIdentity: {
+        turnId: 'task-1:2026-04-10T14:22:00.000Z:owner-turn',
+        taskId: 'task-1',
+        taskUpdatedAt: '2026-04-10T14:22:00.000Z',
+        intentKind: 'finalize-owner-turn',
+        role: 'owner',
+      },
+    });
+
+    await controller.start();
+    await controller.handleOutput({
+      status: 'success',
+      phase: 'progress',
+      result: '첫 진행 상황',
+    } as any);
+    await controller.handleOutput({
+      status: 'error',
+      phase: 'progress',
+      result: '오류 직전 진행 상황',
+    } as any);
+    await flushAsync();
+
+    await controller.finish('error');
+
+    expect(channel.sendAndTrack).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(deliverFinalText).toHaveBeenCalledWith('실패', {
+      replaceMessageId: 'progress-1',
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/message-turn-controller.ts b/src/message-turn-controller.ts
index 045dca6..6cf6fcf 100644
--- a/src/message-turn-controller.ts
+++ b/src/message-turn-controller.ts
@@ -296,9 +296,9 @@ export class MessageTurnController {
     // Final arrived — flush any buffered progress that isn't the same text,
     // then discard the pending buffer so it never shows up.
     if (text) {
-      await this.flushPendingProgress(text);
-      const replaceMessageId = this.consumeProgressForFinalDelivery();
-      await this.deliverFinalText(text, { replaceMessageId });
+      await this.publishTerminalText(text, {
+        flushPendingText: text,
+      });
     } else if (raw) {
       this.log.info(
         {
@@ -351,14 +351,12 @@ export class MessageTurnController {
       !this.hadError &&
       this.latestProgressTextForFinal
     ) {
+      const replayText = this.latestProgressTextForFinal;
       if (this.options.allowProgressReplayWithoutFinal !== false) {
-        const replaceMessageId = this.consumeProgressForFinalDelivery();
         this.log.info(
           'Sending a separate final message from the last progress output after agent completion',
         );
-        await this.deliverFinalText(this.latestProgressTextForFinal, {
-          replaceMessageId,
-        });
+        await this.publishTerminalText(replayText);
       } else {
         await this.finalizeProgressMessage();
         this.log.info(
@@ -613,6 +611,18 @@ export class MessageTurnController {
     this.resetProgressState();
   }
 
+  private async publishTerminalText(
+    text: string,
+    options?: { flushPendingText?: string | null },
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    if (options?.flushPendingText) {
+      await this.flushPendingProgress(options.flushPendingText);
+    }
+
+    const replaceMessageId = this.consumeProgressForFinalDelivery();
+    await this.deliverFinalText(text, { replaceMessageId });
+  }
+
   private consumeProgressForFinalDelivery(): string | null {
     const replaceMessageId = this.progressMessageId;
     this.log.info(
@@ -675,10 +685,7 @@ export class MessageTurnController {
     if (this.terminalObserved()) {
       return;
     }
-    const replaceMessageId = this.consumeProgressForFinalDelivery();
-    await this.deliverFinalText(this.options.failureFinalText, {
-      replaceMessageId,
-    });
+    await this.publishTerminalText(this.options.failureFinalText);
   }
 
   private requestAgentClose(reason: string): void {
diff --git a/src/startup-preconditions.test.ts b/src/startup-preconditions.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..adfdd6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/startup-preconditions.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+import {
+  STARTUP_PRECONDITION_EXIT_CODE,
+  StartupPreconditionError,
+  isStartupPreconditionError,
+  resolveStartupFailureExitCode,
+} from './startup-preconditions.js';
+
+describe('startup preconditions', () => {
+  it('maps startup precondition errors to the non-restart exit code', () => {
+    const error = new StartupPreconditionError('legacy migration required');
+
+    expect(isStartupPreconditionError(error)).toBe(true);
+    expect(resolveStartupFailureExitCode(error)).toBe(
+      STARTUP_PRECONDITION_EXIT_CODE,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('keeps generic startup failures on exit code 1', () => {
+    expect(resolveStartupFailureExitCode(new Error('boom'))).toBe(1);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/startup-preconditions.ts b/src/startup-preconditions.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b13e6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/startup-preconditions.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+export const STARTUP_PRECONDITION_EXIT_CODE = 78;
+
+export class StartupPreconditionError extends Error {
+  constructor(message: string) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'StartupPreconditionError';
+  }
+}
+
+export function isStartupPreconditionError(
+  error: unknown,
+): error is StartupPreconditionError {
+  return error instanceof StartupPreconditionError;
+}
+
+export function resolveStartupFailureExitCode(error: unknown): number {
+  return isStartupPreconditionError(error) ? STARTUP_PRECONDITION_EXIT_CODE : 1;
+}