diff --git a/.codex/skills/synapt/SKILL.md b/.codex/skills/synapt/SKILL.md
index fd4c5c86..7957241b 100644
--- a/.codex/skills/synapt/SKILL.md
+++ b/.codex/skills/synapt/SKILL.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ recall_quick
 recall_search
 recall_context
 recall_sessions
+recall_resume
 recall_files
 ```
 
diff --git a/src/synapt/recall/server.py b/src/synapt/recall/server.py
index f50ccbac..ea0b3b85 100644
--- a/src/synapt/recall/server.py
+++ b/src/synapt/recall/server.py
@@ -565,6 +565,79 @@ def recall_sessions(
     return "\n".join(lines)
 
 
+def recall_resume(
+    session_id: str | None = None,
+    turns: int = 10,
+) -> str:
+    """Show the tail of the most recent session so a fresh session can pick up where it stopped.
+
+    Answers by POSITION (the last N turns), not by relevance -- which is what a
+    cold "where did we leave off" needs and what search cannot give. Pairs the
+    tail with the journal entry that session wrote, if any, and labels the
+    index-freshness verdict so a stale view is never mistaken for a complete one.
+
+    Use at session start, alongside recall_journal: the journal is what the
+    previous session chose to write, this is what actually happened last. They
+    diverge whenever work continued after the journal was written.
+
+    Same surface as the `synapt resume` CLI.
+
+    Args:
+        session_id: Session to resume (prefix accepted). Default: the newest session.
+        turns: Number of tail turns to show (default 10).
+    """
+    from synapt.recall.journal import _journal_path
+    from synapt.recall.resume import (
+        ResumeError,
+        build_resume_view,
+        format_resume,
+        load_resume_index,
+    )
+    from synapt.recall.sharding import is_sharded
+
+    index_dir = project_index_dir()
+    if (
+        not (index_dir / "recall.db").exists()
+        and not (index_dir / "chunks.jsonl").exists()
+        and not is_sharded(index_dir)
+    ):
+        return f"No index found at {index_dir}. Run `synapt recall setup` first."
+
+    index = load_resume_index(index_dir)
+    try:
+        try:
+            view = build_resume_view(
+                index,
+                session_id=session_id,
+                limit=turns,
+                journal_path=_journal_path(),
+            )
+        except ResumeError as exc:
+            if not index._session_order:
+                return "No sessions indexed yet. Nothing to resume."
+            return f"Resume failed: {exc}"
+    finally:
+        db = getattr(index, "_db", None)
+        if db is not None:
+            db.close()
+
+    # Freshness is attached after the view is built (same contract as the CLI):
+    # it can only change what the reader is told, never what is shown. A failure
+    # to compute it leaves the verdict None, rendered as NOT CHECKED, not fresh.
+    try:
+        import dataclasses
+
+        from synapt.recall.freshness import check_index_freshness
+
+        result = check_index_freshness(None, index_dir=index_dir)
+        if not result.stale and not view.turns:
+            result = check_index_freshness(None, index_dir=index_dir, deep=True)
+        view = dataclasses.replace(view, freshness=result)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+    return format_resume(view)
+
 def recall_build(incremental: bool = True) -> str:
     """Build or rebuild the transcript index from auto-discovered sources.
 
@@ -2419,6 +2492,7 @@ def register_tools(mcp) -> None:
     mcp.tool()(_with_directive_check(recall_quick))
     mcp.tool()(_with_directive_check(recall_files))
     mcp.tool()(_with_directive_check(recall_sessions))
+    mcp.tool()(_with_directive_check(recall_resume))
     mcp.tool()(recall_build)
     mcp.tool()(recall_setup)
     mcp.tool()(recall_export)
diff --git a/tests/recall/test_server_resume.py b/tests/recall/test_server_resume.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b897208b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/recall/test_server_resume.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+"""recall_resume: the `synapt resume` surface exposed as an MCP tool.
+
+Mirrors test_server_sessions.py: the tool must use the bounded resume index,
+never construct the full index, and always close the DB it opened.
+"""
+
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+
+
+def test_recall_resume_reports_missing_index(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    from synapt.recall import server
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "project_index_dir", lambda: tmp_path)
+    out = server.recall_resume()
+    assert out.startswith("No index found at")
+    assert "synapt recall setup" in out
+
+
+def test_recall_resume_empty_index_is_honest_empty_not_error(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    from synapt.recall import server
+    from synapt.recall.resume import ResumeError
+
+    index = Mock()
+    index._session_order = []
+    index._db = Mock()
+    (tmp_path / "recall.db").touch()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "project_index_dir", lambda: tmp_path)
+    with (
+        patch("synapt.recall.journal._journal_path", return_value=tmp_path / "journal.jsonl"),
+        patch("synapt.recall.resume.load_resume_index", return_value=index) as load,
+        patch("synapt.recall.resume.build_resume_view", side_effect=ResumeError("nothing")),
+        patch.object(
+            server,
+            "_get_index",
+            side_effect=AssertionError("resume constructed the full index"),
+        ),
+    ):
+        assert server.recall_resume() == "No sessions indexed yet. Nothing to resume."
+
+    load.assert_called_once_with(tmp_path)
+    index._db.close.assert_called_once_with()
+
+
+def test_recall_resume_unresolved_session_is_an_error_not_empty(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    from synapt.recall import server
+    from synapt.recall.resume import ResumeError
+
+    index = Mock()
+    index._session_order = ["abc"]
+    index._db = Mock()
+    (tmp_path / "recall.db").touch()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "project_index_dir", lambda: tmp_path)
+    with (
+        patch("synapt.recall.journal._journal_path", return_value=tmp_path / "journal.jsonl"),
+        patch("synapt.recall.resume.load_resume_index", return_value=index),
+        patch("synapt.recall.resume.build_resume_view", side_effect=ResumeError("no such session zzz")),
+    ):
+        out = server.recall_resume(session_id="zzz")
+
+    assert out == "Resume failed: no such session zzz"
+    index._db.close.assert_called_once_with()
+
+
+def test_recall_resume_passes_session_and_turns_and_renders(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    from synapt.recall import server
+
+    index = Mock()
+    index._session_order = ["abc"]
+    index._db = Mock()
+    view = Mock()
+    view.turns = [object()]
+    (tmp_path / "recall.db").touch()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "project_index_dir", lambda: tmp_path)
+    with (
+        patch("synapt.recall.journal._journal_path", return_value=tmp_path / "journal.jsonl"),
+        patch("synapt.recall.resume.load_resume_index", return_value=index),
+        patch("synapt.recall.resume.build_resume_view", return_value=view) as build,
+        patch("synapt.recall.freshness.check_index_freshness", side_effect=RuntimeError("no fs")),
+        patch("synapt.recall.resume.format_resume", return_value="RENDERED") as fmt,
+    ):
+        assert server.recall_resume(session_id="ab", turns=3) == "RENDERED"
+
+    kwargs = build.call_args.kwargs
+    assert kwargs["session_id"] == "ab"
+    assert kwargs["limit"] == 3
+    assert kwargs["journal_path"] == tmp_path / "journal.jsonl"
+    # Freshness failure must not break the tool: the view renders unchanged.
+    fmt.assert_called_once_with(view)
+    index._db.close.assert_called_once_with()
+
+
+def test_recall_resume_is_registered_with_directive_check():
+    from synapt.recall import server
+
+    registered = []
+
+    class FakeMCP:
+        def tool(self):
+            def deco(fn):
+                registered.append(getattr(fn, "__name__", repr(fn)))
+                return fn
+            return deco
+
+    server.register_tools(FakeMCP())
+    assert "recall_resume" in registered
+    assert "recall_sessions" in registered