diff --git a/journal/2026-07-13.md b/journal/2026-07-13.md
index d5ccbbf..0b240ce 100644
--- a/journal/2026-07-13.md
+++ b/journal/2026-07-13.md
@@ -1388,3 +1388,10 @@ tags: [scope/global, type/log]
 **Reason:** other
 **Vault notes touched:**
 (none)
+
+## Session — 2026-07-13T16:26:29Z
+
+**Project:** /home/jared/dev/cc-os
+**Reason:** other
+**Vault notes touched:**
+(none)
diff --git a/reference/credvault-bulk-call-behaviors.md b/reference/credvault-bulk-call-behaviors.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05b8502
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reference/credvault-bulk-call-behaviors.md
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+---
+summary: Two credvault behaviors that surface in bulk/scripted use — intermittent bw-sync failures needing retry with 20s+ backoff, and the trailing newline on get --secret-only that breaks naive hash comparisons.
+tags:
+  - type/reference
+  - tool/credvault
+scope: global
+date: 2026-07-13
+---
+
+# credvault behaviors under bulk/scripted use
+
+Discovered 2026-07-13 during a 33-key backfill loop (`credvault ensure --secret-file` per key).
+
+## 1. Intermittent `bitwarden_command_failed` ("bw sync failed") under rapid calls
+
+When credvault is invoked many times in quick succession, the underlying `bw sync`
+intermittently fails and the CLI returns `bitwarden_command_failed`. It is transient:
+the same call succeeds on retry. Backoff matters — 8s between retries was not always
+enough; 20s+ per retry (up to 5 attempts) cleared every failure.
+
+**Rule:** any bulk credvault loop must retry specifically on `bitwarden_command_failed`
+with ≥20s backoff, and classify per-key outcomes (`created`/`existing`/`secret_conflict`/
+`missing-source`/failed) rather than aborting the whole run.
+
+## 2. `get --secret-only` output ends with a trailing newline
+
+When verifying a stored value against its source by hash, the vault side includes a
+trailing `\n` that a `tr -d '\n'`-stripped source does not — producing false MISMATCHes.
+Normalize both sides first:
+
+```bash
+credvault get <key> --secret-only | tr -d '\n' | sha256sum
+```
+
+(Values that are genuinely multi-line files, e.g. a service-account JSON stored via
+`--secret-file`, round-trip byte-identical and compare fine without stripping.)
+
+## Related
+
+- [[credvault-locked-status-is-not-blocking]]
diff --git a/reference/credvault-locked-status-is-not-blocking.md b/reference/credvault-locked-status-is-not-blocking.md
index 75781cd..a84dd47 100644
--- a/reference/credvault-locked-status-is-not-blocking.md
+++ b/reference/credvault-locked-status-is-not-blocking.md
@@ -21,3 +21,7 @@ existing key succeeded (`"result": "existing"`).
 genuine `authentication_failed` / `vault_locked` **error returned by an operation** requires
 human intervention — and per the credential-management skill, never attempt to fix vault
 auth yourself.
+
+## Related
+
+- [[credvault-bulk-call-behaviors]]