diff --git a/server/src/db/mod.rs b/server/src/db/mod.rs
index 6d1e9f31..360ad212 100644
--- a/server/src/db/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/db/mod.rs
@@ -351,9 +351,11 @@ pub fn next_item_number() -> u32 {
 /// This function reads the authoritative stage from `pipeline_items` and
 /// calls `write_item` to correct any CRDT entries that disagree.
 pub async fn sync_crdt_stages_from_db(db_path: &Path) {
+    slog!("[db-sync] START: sync_crdt_stages_from_db called with {}", db_path.display());
+
     let options = SqliteConnectOptions::new().filename(db_path);
     let Ok(pool) = SqlitePool::connect_with(options).await else {
-        slog!("[db] CRDT stage sync: failed to connect to pipeline.db");
+        slog!("[db-sync] FAIL: could not connect to pipeline.db");
         return;
     };
 
@@ -365,11 +367,20 @@ pub async fn sync_crdt_stages_from_db(db_path: &Path) {
         .await
         .unwrap_or_default();
 
+    slog!("[db-sync] loaded {} rows from pipeline_items", rows.len());
+
     let mut corrected = 0u32;
+    let mut skipped = 0u32;
+    let mut first_few = 0u32;
     for (story_id, db_stage, name, agent, retry_count, blocked, depends_on) in &rows {
         let crdt_stage = crate::crdt_state::read_item(story_id)
             .map(|v| v.stage.clone());
 
+        if first_few < 5 {
+            slog!("[db-sync] sample: '{story_id}' crdt={crdt_stage:?} db={db_stage}");
+            first_few += 1;
+        }
+
         if crdt_stage.as_deref() != Some(db_stage.as_str()) {
             crate::crdt_state::write_item(
                 story_id,
@@ -383,12 +394,12 @@ pub async fn sync_crdt_stages_from_db(db_path: &Path) {
                 None,
             );
             corrected += 1;
+        } else {
+            skipped += 1;
         }
     }
 
-    if corrected > 0 {
-        slog!("[db] CRDT stage sync: corrected {corrected} items from pipeline_items");
-    }
+    slog!("[db-sync] DONE: corrected={corrected} skipped={skipped} total={}", rows.len());
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]