diff --git a/scripts/odysseus-memory b/scripts/odysseus-memory
index 1a4f8a033..04ef67894 100755
--- a/scripts/odysseus-memory
+++ b/scripts/odysseus-memory
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def cmd_add(args):
     # add_entry doesn't save by default — the call in chat does it
     # after dedup checks. Persist here so a one-shot CLI add sticks.
     all_entries = _manager().load_all()
-    if not any(e.get("id") == entry.get("id") for e in all_entries):
+    if not any(isinstance(e, dict) and e.get("id") == entry.get("id") for e in all_entries):
         all_entries.append(entry)
         _manager().save(all_entries)
     emit(entry, args)
diff --git a/tests/test_memory_cli_add_nondict.py b/tests/test_memory_cli_add_nondict.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..87ffd53d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_memory_cli_add_nondict.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+"""cmd_add (scripts/odysseus-memory) must tolerate a non-dict row in the
+existing store. Every other command funnels load_all() through
+`_memory_entries()` (which drops non-dicts), but cmd_add iterated the raw
+list in its dedup check: `any(e.get("id") == ... for e in all_entries)`
+crashed with AttributeError on a corrupt/hand-edited memory.json row that
+is not a dict. The isinstance check short-circuits before `.get`.
+"""
+import importlib.machinery
+import importlib.util
+import sys
+import types
+from pathlib import Path
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+
+
+def _load_cli(monkeypatch):
+    svc = types.ModuleType("services.memory.memory")
+    svc.MemoryManager = MagicMock()
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "services.memory.memory", svc)
+    path = ROOT / "scripts" / "odysseus-memory"
+    loader = importlib.machinery.SourceFileLoader("odysseus_memory_cli_add", str(path))
+    spec = importlib.util.spec_from_loader(loader.name, loader)
+    module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+    loader.exec_module(module)
+    return module
+
+
+def test_cmd_add_tolerates_non_dict_existing_row(monkeypatch):
+    cli = _load_cli(monkeypatch)
+    cli._mgr = MagicMock()
+    cli._mgr.add_entry.return_value = {"id": "m2", "text": "new"}
+    cli._mgr.load_all.return_value = [
+        {"id": "m1", "text": "existing"},
+        "corrupt-row",
+        None,
+    ]
+    emitted = []
+    monkeypatch.setattr(cli, "emit", lambda value, args: emitted.append(value))
+
+    cli.cmd_add(SimpleNamespace(text="new", category="fact", owner=None))
+
+    assert emitted == [{"id": "m2", "text": "new"}]
+    cli._mgr.save.assert_called_once()