diff --git a/decnet/web/router/transcripts/api_get_transcript.py b/decnet/web/router/transcripts/api_get_transcript.py
index 9510090b..42706311 100644
--- a/decnet/web/router/transcripts/api_get_transcript.py
+++ b/decnet/web/router/transcripts/api_get_transcript.py
@@ -72,11 +72,15 @@ def _get_index(path: Path) -> tuple[dict[str, list[tuple[int, int]]], int]:
     return index, st.st_size
 
 
-def _resolve_shard(decky: str, service: str, shard_name: str) -> Path:
+def _validate_names(decky: str, service: str) -> None:
     if not _DECKY_RE.fullmatch(decky):
         raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="invalid decky name")
     if not _SERVICE_RE.fullmatch(service):
         raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="invalid service")
+
+
+def _resolve_shard(decky: str, service: str, shard_name: str) -> Path:
+    _validate_names(decky, service)
     if not _SHARD_BASENAME_RE.fullmatch(shard_name):
         raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="invalid shard name")
     root = ARTIFACTS_ROOT.resolve()
@@ -86,6 +90,46 @@ def _resolve_shard(decky: str, service: str, shard_name: str) -> Path:
     return candidate
 
 
+def _find_shard_with_sid(decky: str, service: str, sid: str) -> Path | None:
+    """Scan every ``sessions-YYYY-MM-DD.jsonl`` under the decky's transcripts
+    dir until one claims this sid.
+
+    Fallback for rows where ``fields.shard_path`` is missing (current
+    sessrec.c does not emit it) or for sessions that span UTC midnight
+    (events land in two shards; the emitted SD could only name one).
+    Newest shards first — most transcript lookups are for recent
+    sessions. Result is cached by ``_get_index`` keyed on
+    (path, mtime), so repeated calls are ~free.
+    """
+    _validate_names(decky, service)
+    root = ARTIFACTS_ROOT.resolve()
+    transcripts_dir = (root / decky / service / "transcripts").resolve()
+    if root not in transcripts_dir.parents:
+        return None
+    # Absent dir, or dir the API process can't stat/read — treat as
+    # "no transcript", not as a 500 traceback. Most commonly the decky
+    # container wrote this tree as a container-side uid that the API
+    # (running under --user / --group) can't cross.
+    try:
+        if not transcripts_dir.is_dir():
+            return None
+        entries = list(transcripts_dir.iterdir())
+    except (OSError, PermissionError):
+        return None
+    shards = sorted(
+        (p for p in entries if _SHARD_BASENAME_RE.fullmatch(p.name)),
+        reverse=True,  # newest day first
+    )
+    for shard in shards:
+        try:
+            index, _size = _get_index(shard)
+        except (OSError, PermissionError):
+            continue
+        if sid in index:
+            return shard
+    return None
+
+
 @router.get(
     "/transcripts/{decky}/{sid}",
     tags=["Transcripts"],
@@ -126,8 +170,18 @@ async def get_transcript(
     if log_decky and log_decky != decky:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="session not found")
 
-    path = _resolve_shard(decky, service or "", shard_name or "")
-    if not path.is_file():
+    # Fast path: the Log row carries a fields.shard_path we can validate
+    # and hit directly. Falls back to scanning all shards when the SD
+    # didn't include one (current sessrec.c doesn't emit shard_path) or
+    # when the named shard isn't on disk anymore.
+    path: Path | None = None
+    if _SHARD_BASENAME_RE.fullmatch(shard_name or ""):
+        candidate = _resolve_shard(decky, service or "", shard_name)
+        if candidate.is_file():
+            path = candidate
+    if path is None:
+        path = _find_shard_with_sid(decky, service or "", sid)
+    if path is None:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="transcript not found")
 
     index, _size = _get_index(path)
diff --git a/tests/api/transcripts/test_get_transcript.py b/tests/api/transcripts/test_get_transcript.py
index b2b22087..62ef13b0 100644
--- a/tests/api/transcripts/test_get_transcript.py
+++ b/tests/api/transcripts/test_get_transcript.py
@@ -166,9 +166,16 @@ async def test_decky_mismatch_rejected(client: httpx.AsyncClient, auth_token: st
     assert res.status_code == 404
 
 
-async def test_forged_shard_path_blocked(client: httpx.AsyncClient, auth_token: str, shard):
-    # A Log row with a shard_path basename that doesn't match sessions-YYYY-MM-DD
-    # must be rejected even if the sid lookup succeeds.
+async def test_forged_shard_path_is_ignored_in_favour_of_scan(
+    client: httpx.AsyncClient, auth_token: str, shard,
+):
+    # A Log row with a shard_path basename that doesn't match
+    # sessions-YYYY-MM-DD is silently ignored — the handler falls back
+    # to scanning the decky's transcripts dir for a shard containing
+    # the sid. The security invariant holds either way: only files
+    # whose basename matches _SHARD_BASENAME_RE are ever opened, and
+    # they always resolve under ARTIFACTS_ROOT/decky/<service>/
+    # transcripts/.
     row = _log_row(_SID_A, _DECKY, "ssh", "/etc/passwd")
     with patch("decnet.web.router.transcripts.api_get_transcript.repo") as mock_repo:
         mock_repo.get_session_log = AsyncMock(return_value=row)
@@ -176,7 +183,15 @@ async def test_forged_shard_path_blocked(client: httpx.AsyncClient, auth_token:
             f"/api/v1/transcripts/{_DECKY}/{_SID_A}",
             headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {auth_token}"},
         )
-    assert res.status_code == 400
+    # Fallback located the real shard and returned it. /etc/passwd was
+    # never opened (different basename shape, wrong dir).
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+    body = res.json()
+    assert body["sid"] == _SID_A
+    # Sanity: the events came from the test shard, not from a system
+    # file — our fixture events have string `d` fields that /etc/passwd
+    # would never reproduce.
+    assert all(isinstance(evt[2], str) for evt in body["events"])
 
 
 async def test_limit_ceiling_enforced(client: httpx.AsyncClient, auth_token: str, shard):