diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 657d437..f406ab2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -263,6 +263,35 @@ wait before escalating holdouts to SIGKILL. If you're currently inside
 a rat session when you run this, the prompt calls that out — you're
 about to kill the daemon under your own feet.
 
+### `rat resurrect SOURCE [-n, --name NAME] [-f, --force]`
+
+Spin up a fresh daemon whose event log is pre-seeded with an old
+session's `PtyOutput`, then attach. The original PTY is long gone, so
+the new shell is fresh — but the scrollback you left behind is
+replayed into place, followed by a yellow `-- rat resurrect:
+previous session replayed above --` separator and the live prompt.
+
+`SOURCE` is either:
+- a `.log` file path (absolute or relative), or
+- a session name / alias / UUID / UUID prefix that still has a
+  meta file on disk (dead sessions qualify — metas are only removed
+  by clean shutdown or `rat kill`).
+
+```sh
+# By path — works even if the meta is gone
+rat resurrect ~/.local/state/rat/<uuid>.log
+
+# By name — resolves via the still-present meta
+rat resurrect agent
+
+# Name the resurrected session differently
+rat resurrect agent -n agent-ii
+```
+
+What you get back: visual history. What you don't: the old process,
+the old environment, the old working directory. Resurrect rebuilds
+"what I was looking at," not "what I was running."
+
 ### `rat replay LOG_PATH`
 
 Non-interactive playback of a session log file (the
diff --git a/src/bin/rat-daemon.rs b/src/bin/rat-daemon.rs
index e692a73..3d30c1f 100644
--- a/src/bin/rat-daemon.rs
+++ b/src/bin/rat-daemon.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ struct Args {
     rows: u16,
     #[arg(long)]
     name: Option<String>,
+    /// Seed the new session's log with PtyOutput events from an existing
+    /// log file before the fresh shell starts. Used by `rat resurrect`
+    /// to reconstruct a dead session's visible scrollback in a new daemon.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    seed_log: Option<PathBuf>,
     /// Command to run; defaults to $SHELL.
     #[arg(trailing_var_arg = true)]
     cmd: Vec<String>,
@@ -103,6 +108,40 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
         rows,
     })?;
 
+    // If we were asked to seed, copy the old log's PtyOutput into our fresh
+    // log between SessionStarted and the live shell's first byte. Clients
+    // attaching to this daemon will then see the previous session's
+    // scrollback followed by a visible marker and the new shell.
+    if let Some(seed_path) = &args.seed_log {
+        match FileEventLog::open(seed_path) {
+            Ok(seed_log) => match seed_log.read_from(0) {
+                Ok(events) => {
+                    let mut log_guard = log.lock().unwrap();
+                    let mut copied = 0usize;
+                    for ev in events {
+                        if let Event::PtyOutput { data } = ev.event {
+                            let _ = log_guard.append(Event::PtyOutput { data });
+                            copied += 1;
+                        }
+                    }
+                    // Visible separator. Reset attributes, yellow bar, newline.
+                    let marker =
+                        b"\r\n\x1b[0m\x1b[33m-- rat resurrect: previous session replayed above --\x1b[0m\r\n";
+                    let _ = log_guard.append(Event::PtyOutput {
+                        data: marker.to_vec(),
+                    });
+                    tracing::info!(seed = %seed_path.display(), events = copied, "seeded log from prior session");
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    tracing::warn!(seed = %seed_path.display(), error = %e, "failed to read seed log; continuing without");
+                }
+            },
+            Err(e) => {
+                tracing::warn!(seed = %seed_path.display(), error = %e, "failed to open seed log; continuing without");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     let mut child = pty.slave.spawn_command(cmd).context("spawn shell")?;
     let child_pid = child.process_id();
     drop(pty.slave);
diff --git a/src/bin/rat.rs b/src/bin/rat.rs
index 70d98af..6760aad 100644
--- a/src/bin/rat.rs
+++ b/src/bin/rat.rs
@@ -131,6 +131,21 @@ enum Cmd {
         #[arg(value_enum)]
         shell: clap_complete::Shell,
     },
+    /// Resurrect a dead session: spin up a fresh daemon whose event log
+    /// is pre-seeded with the old session's PtyOutput, then attach. The
+    /// shell is new (the original PTY is long gone) but the scrollback
+    /// is what you left behind.
+    Resurrect {
+        /// Path to a .log file, or a session name / UUID / UUID prefix
+        /// (resolved via the meta file for dead sessions still on disk).
+        source: String,
+        /// Optional name for the new session.
+        #[arg(short, long)]
+        name: Option<String>,
+        /// Skip the nested-session warning.
+        #[arg(short, long)]
+        force: bool,
+    },
 }
 
 #[tokio::main]
@@ -157,6 +172,11 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
         Some(Cmd::Rename { id, new_name }) => rename(&id, &new_name),
         Some(Cmd::Alias { id, alias }) => add_alias(&id, &alias),
         Some(Cmd::Completions { shell }) => completions(shell),
+        Some(Cmd::Resurrect {
+            source,
+            name,
+            force,
+        }) => resurrect(&source, name, force).await,
     }
 }
 
@@ -167,6 +187,34 @@ fn completions(shell: clap_complete::Shell) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
+// Resurrect: seed a fresh daemon with the PtyOutput from an old log and
+// attach. The original PTY process is gone, but replaying its bytes into
+// the new session's scrollback reconstructs what the user was looking at
+// when it died — which is usually the only thing they miss.
+async fn resurrect(source: &str, name: Option<String>, force: bool) -> Result<()> {
+    let seed_path = resolve_log_source(source)?;
+    warn_if_nested(force)?;
+    let session_id = spawn_daemon_with_seed(name, Vec::new(), Some(seed_path)).await?;
+    run_attach_cycle(session_id, true).await
+}
+
+// Accept either a path to a .log file or a session label/id. For labels
+// we look up the meta (works for dead sessions too — the meta file is
+// only removed on clean shutdown via cleanup_stale).
+fn resolve_log_source(source: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    let path = PathBuf::from(source);
+    if path.is_file() {
+        return Ok(path);
+    }
+    let meta = read_all_metas()?
+        .into_iter()
+        .find(|m| meta_has_label(m, source) || m.id.to_string().starts_with(source))
+        .ok_or_else(|| {
+            anyhow::anyhow!("no log file or session matching '{source}' (pass a .log path directly if the meta is gone)")
+        })?;
+    Ok(meta.log_path)
+}
+
 fn kill(query: &str, yes: bool) -> Result<()> {
     // Locate metadata by UUID or name. We can't rely on resolve_session alone
     // because it filters out dead sessions — and one use of `kill` is cleaning
@@ -521,8 +569,17 @@ async fn spawn_bare(force: bool) -> Result<()> {
 }
 
 // Fork rat-daemon into its own session and wait until it's bound the
-// Unix socket. Returns the session id on success.
+// Unix socket. Returns the session id on success. `seed_log`, when set,
+// is forwarded as the daemon's `--seed-log` flag (see `rat resurrect`).
 async fn spawn_daemon(name: Option<String>, cmd: Vec<String>) -> Result<SessionId> {
+    spawn_daemon_with_seed(name, cmd, None).await
+}
+
+async fn spawn_daemon_with_seed(
+    name: Option<String>,
+    cmd: Vec<String>,
+    seed_log: Option<PathBuf>,
+) -> Result<SessionId> {
     if let Some(n) = &name {
         if n.is_empty() {
             bail!("--name must not be empty");
@@ -567,6 +624,9 @@ async fn spawn_daemon(name: Option<String>, cmd: Vec<String>) -> Result<SessionI
     if let Some(n) = &name {
         builder.arg("--name").arg(n);
     }
+    if let Some(seed) = &seed_log {
+        builder.arg("--seed-log").arg(seed);
+    }
     if !cmd.is_empty() {
         builder.arg("--");
         for a in &cmd {