diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index e929731..d5d5059 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 import { Server } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js';
 import { StdioServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js';
+import { installStdioLifecycle } from './lifecycle.js';
 import { CallToolRequestSchema, ListToolsRequestSchema, Tool } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js';
 import { config } from 'dotenv';
 import { PirschAPI } from './pirsch-api.js';
@@ -620,7 +621,15 @@ server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (req) => {
 });
 
 async function main() {
+  // Capture before any await — process.ppid is dynamic.
+  const parentPid = process.ppid;
   const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
+  installStdioLifecycle({
+    transport,
+    onCloseAssignable: server,
+    envName: 'PIRSCH_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS',
+    parentPid,
+  });
   await server.connect(transport);
   console.error('Pirsch MCP server running');
 }
diff --git a/src/lifecycle.ts b/src/lifecycle.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4a8516
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lifecycle.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+/**
+ * Parent-liveness watchdog for the stdio MCP server.
+ *
+ * When an intermediate wrapper (npx → npm exec → node bin → server) keeps the
+ * server's stdin write-end open, a dead client never delivers EOF, so the leaf
+ * sits in the event loop forever and can thrash swap (multi-GB). Soft stdin
+ * EOF alone is not enough to catch that orphan case. The watchdog catches it
+ * by noticing the original parent is gone.
+ *
+ * Soft stdin EOF is intentional: do NOT call `transport.close()` and do NOT
+ * `process.exit` on `end`/`close`. Closing the transport trips the MCP SDK
+ * `onclose` → hard exit and breaks one-shot `echo … | npm start` flows.
+ * Hard exit is reserved for parent-watchdog reparent + OS signals.
+ *
+ * Kept side-effect-free on import so unit tests can cover it without spawning
+ * the full server.
+ */
+
+export type ParentLivenessProbe = (parentPid: number) => boolean;
+
+/** Poll interval (ms) used when the env override is unset or invalid. */
+export const DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS = 30_000;
+
+const MIN_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS = 100;
+
+/**
+ * Parse PIRSCH_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS into a safe poll interval.
+ *
+ * Non-finite / zero / negative → default. No disable value: an unparseable
+ * knob must never silently turn orphan protection off. Floored at
+ * MIN_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS so tiny inputs can't spin the CPU.
+ */
+export function parseWatchdogIntervalMs(raw: string | undefined): number {
+  const n = Number(raw);
+  if (!Number.isFinite(n) || n <= 0) return DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS;
+  return Math.max(n, MIN_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Default probe: the server has been reparented away from its original parent.
+ *
+ * POSIX only: this relies on the kernel reparenting an orphan (to pid 1 or a
+ * subreaper) when its parent dies. Windows does not reparent orphans, so
+ * `process.ppid` never changes there and this probe never fires — the watchdog
+ * is a no-op on win32. Orphan mitigation on Windows would need a different
+ * mechanism (e.g. a job object or a stdin heartbeat). Matches mcp-automem.
+ */
+export function parentReparented(parentPid: number): boolean {
+  return process.ppid !== parentPid;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Poll for the original parent's death and invoke `onDead` exactly once.
+ * Interval is unref'd so the watchdog alone never keeps the event loop alive.
+ */
+export function startParentWatchdog(
+  parentPid: number,
+  intervalMs: number,
+  onDead: () => void,
+  isParentGone: ParentLivenessProbe = parentReparented
+): NodeJS.Timeout {
+  let fired = false;
+  const timer = setInterval(() => {
+    if (fired) return;
+    if (isParentGone(parentPid)) {
+      fired = true;
+      onDead();
+    }
+  }, intervalMs);
+  timer.unref();
+  return timer;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Install stdin/transport/signal/parent-watchdog shutdown hooks.
+ * Call before `server.connect(transport)`.
+ *
+ * If `main()` awaits anything before this call, pass `parentPid` captured
+ * synchronously at the top of `main()` — `process.ppid` is dynamic, and a
+ * late capture after reparent would make the watchdog a no-op (mcp-automem #137).
+ */
+export function installStdioLifecycle(options: {
+  transport: { close?: () => unknown };
+  onCloseAssignable?: { onclose?: (() => void) | null };
+  envName?: string;
+  onShutdown?: () => void;
+  /** Prefer a pid captured before any `await` in `main()`. */
+  parentPid?: number;
+}): () => void {
+  const parentPid = options.parentPid ?? process.ppid;
+  let shuttingDown = false;
+  const shutdown = (code = 0) => {
+    if (shuttingDown) return;
+    shuttingDown = true;
+    try {
+      options.onShutdown?.();
+    } catch {
+      /* best effort */
+    }
+    try {
+      void options.transport.close?.();
+    } catch {
+      /* best effort */
+    }
+    process.exit(code);
+  };
+
+  // Soft stdin EOF → no-op. Do not transport.close() (SDK onclose → hard exit)
+  // and do not process.exit. One-shot pipes must drain in-flight handlers;
+  // orphans that keep stdin open are killed by the parent watchdog / signals.
+  process.stdin.on('end', () => {});
+  process.stdin.on('close', () => {});
+  if (options.onCloseAssignable) {
+    options.onCloseAssignable.onclose = () => shutdown(0);
+  }
+  for (const sig of ['SIGTERM', 'SIGINT', 'SIGHUP'] as const) {
+    process.on(sig, () => shutdown(0));
+  }
+
+  const envName = options.envName ?? 'PIRSCH_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS';
+  startParentWatchdog(
+    parentPid,
+    parseWatchdogIntervalMs(process.env[envName]),
+    () => shutdown(0)
+  );
+
+  return shutdown;
+}
diff --git a/tests/lifecycle.test.ts b/tests/lifecycle.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0624f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/lifecycle.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS,
+  installStdioLifecycle,
+  parseWatchdogIntervalMs,
+  startParentWatchdog,
+} from '../src/lifecycle.js';
+
+describe('parseWatchdogIntervalMs', () => {
+  it('defaults on unset/invalid/non-positive', () => {
+    expect(parseWatchdogIntervalMs(undefined)).toBe(DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS);
+    expect(parseWatchdogIntervalMs('')).toBe(DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS);
+    expect(parseWatchdogIntervalMs('nope')).toBe(DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS);
+    expect(parseWatchdogIntervalMs('0')).toBe(DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS);
+    expect(parseWatchdogIntervalMs('-1')).toBe(DEFAULT_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS);
+  });
+
+  it('honours positive values floored at 100ms', () => {
+    expect(parseWatchdogIntervalMs('250')).toBe(250);
+    expect(parseWatchdogIntervalMs('50')).toBe(100);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('startParentWatchdog', () => {
+  it('fires once when the probe reports parent gone', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const onDead = vi.fn();
+    startParentWatchdog(1, 100, onDead, () => true);
+    expect(onDead).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
+    expect(onDead).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(500);
+    expect(onDead).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+});
+
+describe('installStdioLifecycle soft stdin EOF', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('does not close transport or exit on stdin end/close', () => {
+    const transport = { close: vi.fn() };
+    const exitSpy = vi
+      .spyOn(process, 'exit')
+      .mockImplementation((() => undefined) as never);
+
+    installStdioLifecycle({
+      transport,
+      parentPid: process.ppid,
+      envName: 'PIRSCH_PARENT_WATCHDOG_MS',
+    });
+
+    process.stdin.emit('end');
+    process.stdin.emit('close');
+
+    expect(transport.close).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(exitSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});