diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c9933e4..3a2d184 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,26 @@
 ## Changelog
 
+### v0.38.0 — slice 8B.2: quiesce downtime optimization (resume at `snapshotted`) (2026-06-10)
+
+The controller half of slice 8B.2. Pairs with `felhom-agent` v0.13.0. The quiesce loop now resumes
+the app at the **`snapshotted`** phase (storage snapshot taken) instead of `done` — app downtime
+drops from *whole-backup* to *until-snapshot* (seconds), with no loss of app-consistency (the
+snapshot froze the app-stopped state).
+
+#### Changed (`internal/quiesce`)
+- The status-poll loop **resumes (`StartStack` + clears the marker) at `snapshotted`**, then **keeps
+  polling to `done`/`failed`** — so a new backup isn't started until this one truly finishes, and a
+  post-snapshot failure is observed (the backup isn't "successful" until `done`; resuming early does
+  not mark it done).
+- **Fallback preserved:** if `snapshotted` never arrives (stop/downgraded mode), it resumes at `done`
+  exactly as 8B. **Crash-safety unchanged:** marker written before stop; guaranteed unquiesce;
+  startup `Recover()`. A backup that fails *after* `snapshotted` is harmless — the app is already up.
+
+#### Tests
+- resume at `snapshotted` (RESUME event before `done`, marker cleared, then tracked to `done`);
+  stop-mode fallback (resume at `done`, no `snapshotted`); fail-after-`snapshotted` (one resume, app
+  stays up); the 8B crash-safety tests stay green.
+
 ### v0.37.0 — slice 8C: controller de-privileging + disk management via the agent (2026-06-10)
 
 The in-guest controller half of slice 8C (closes slice 8). The disk-execution subsystem moves to
diff --git a/controller/internal/quiesce/quiesce.go b/controller/internal/quiesce/quiesce.go
index a212d1d..c792f2b 100644
--- a/controller/internal/quiesce/quiesce.go
+++ b/controller/internal/quiesce/quiesce.go
@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@ type Stacks interface {
 
 // Backup status phases (mirror the agent's vocabulary).
 const (
-	phaseDone   = "done"
-	phaseFailed = "failed"
+	phaseSnapshotted = "snapshotted" // 8B.2: storage snapshot taken → app may resume early
+	phaseDone        = "done"
+	phaseFailed      = "failed"
 )
 
 // Marker is the persisted quiesce state — the crash-safety + single-flight record. It is written
@@ -200,11 +201,25 @@ func (l *Loop) runOnce(ctx context.Context) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("poll backup status: %w", err)
 		}
 		switch phase {
+		case phaseSnapshotted:
+			// 8B.2: the storage snapshot is taken — the app-stopped state is captured, so the app
+			// may resume NOW (downtime = until-snapshot, not until-backup-done) with no loss of
+			// app-consistency. unquiesce is idempotent (fires once); we then KEEP polling to
+			// done/failed so a new backup isn't started until this one truly finishes (and so a
+			// post-snapshot failure is observed). The marker is cleared on resume — a crash in this
+			// tail leaves the app already up, nothing to recover.
+			if !unquiesced {
+				l.logger.Printf("[INFO] [quiesce] backup job %s snapshotted — resuming app early (8B.2)", jobID)
+				unquiesce("snapshotted (early resume)")
+			}
 		case phaseDone:
+			// Fallback (stop/downgraded mode never emits snapshotted): resume at done, exactly 8B.
 			l.logger.Printf("[INFO] [quiesce] backup job %s done", jobID)
 			unquiesce("backup done")
 			return nil
 		case phaseFailed:
+			// If we already resumed at snapshotted, the app is up — just note the backup failed
+			// (recorded for the agent's due window when it stores the failed result).
 			l.logger.Printf("[WARN] [quiesce] backup job %s failed", jobID)
 			unquiesce("backup failed")
 			return nil
diff --git a/controller/internal/quiesce/quiesce_8b2_test.go b/controller/internal/quiesce/quiesce_8b2_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c68bda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/controller/internal/quiesce/quiesce_8b2_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+package quiesce
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"io"
+	"log"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// eventStacks records an ordered event log (shared with eventBackend) so a test can assert that
+// StartStack (resume) happened at the `snapshotted` poll, before `done`.
+type eventStacks struct {
+	mu      *sync.Mutex
+	events  *[]string
+	running []string
+}
+
+func (s *eventStacks) RunningAppStacks() []string { return append([]string(nil), s.running...) }
+func (s *eventStacks) StopStack(string) error     { return nil }
+func (s *eventStacks) StartStack(string) error {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	*s.events = append(*s.events, "RESUME")
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+	return nil
+}
+
+type eventBackend struct {
+	mu     *sync.Mutex
+	events *[]string
+	phases []string
+	i      int
+}
+
+func (b *eventBackend) Due(context.Context) (bool, error)              { return true, nil }
+func (b *eventBackend) StartBackup(context.Context) (string, error)    { return "job-1", nil }
+func (b *eventBackend) BackupStatus(context.Context) (string, error) {
+	ph := b.phases[len(b.phases)-1]
+	if b.i < len(b.phases) {
+		ph = b.phases[b.i]
+		b.i++
+	}
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	*b.events = append(*b.events, ph)
+	b.mu.Unlock()
+	return ph, nil
+}
+
+func eventLoop(t *testing.T, phases []string) (*Loop, *[]string, *eventStacks) {
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	events := &[]string{}
+	st := &eventStacks{mu: &mu, events: events, running: []string{"pgapp"}}
+	be := &eventBackend{mu: &mu, events: events, phases: phases}
+	l := New(Options{
+		Backend: be, Stacks: st,
+		MarkerPath: filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "q.json"),
+		Poll:       time.Hour, StatusPoll: time.Millisecond, MaxQuiesce: 5 * time.Second,
+		Logger: log.New(io.Discard, "", 0),
+	})
+	return l, events, st
+}
+
+// 8B.2: resume at `snapshotted` (RESUME before `done`), then keep tracking to `done`; marker cleared.
+func TestRunOnce_ResumesAtSnapshotted(t *testing.T) {
+	l, events, _ := eventLoop(t, []string{"running", "snapshotted", "running", "done"})
+	if err := l.runOnce(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// RESUME must appear and must come BEFORE the first "done".
+	resumeIdx, doneIdx := -1, -1
+	for i, e := range *events {
+		if e == "RESUME" && resumeIdx < 0 {
+			resumeIdx = i
+		}
+		if e == "done" && doneIdx < 0 {
+			doneIdx = i
+		}
+	}
+	if resumeIdx < 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("never resumed: %v", *events)
+	}
+	if doneIdx < 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("never tracked to done (must keep polling after early resume): %v", *events)
+	}
+	if resumeIdx > doneIdx {
+		t.Fatalf("resumed at/after done, not at snapshotted: %v", *events)
+	}
+	// the event right before RESUME should be a snapshotted poll
+	if (*events)[resumeIdx-1] != "snapshotted" {
+		t.Fatalf("resume not triggered by snapshotted: %v", *events)
+	}
+	if _, ok := l.readMarker(); ok {
+		t.Fatal("marker not cleared after resume")
+	}
+}
+
+// Fallback: stop mode (never snapshotted) → resume at `done` (8B behavior).
+func TestRunOnce_FallbackResumeAtDone(t *testing.T) {
+	l, events, _ := eventLoop(t, []string{"running", "running", "done"})
+	if err := l.runOnce(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	// RESUME comes only at/after done (no snapshotted in the stream).
+	for _, e := range *events {
+		if e == "snapshotted" {
+			t.Fatal("snapshotted appeared in stop-mode stream")
+		}
+	}
+	last := (*events)[len(*events)-1]
+	if last != "RESUME" && last != "done" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected resume at done: %v", *events)
+	}
+}
+
+// A backup that FAILS after snapshotted: the app is already up (resumed once), the cycle ends.
+func TestRunOnce_FailAfterSnapshotted_AppStaysUp(t *testing.T) {
+	l, events, _ := eventLoop(t, []string{"snapshotted", "failed"})
+	if err := l.runOnce(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	resumes := 0
+	for _, e := range *events {
+		if e == "RESUME" {
+			resumes++
+		}
+	}
+	if resumes != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected exactly one resume (at snapshotted), got %d: %v", resumes, *events)
+	}
+	if _, ok := l.readMarker(); ok {
+		t.Fatal("marker not cleared")
+	}
+}