diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e984a5d..e535b47 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -37,10 +37,13 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      # No `cache: "pip"` here: this job installs with uv, never pip, so the
+      # cache path is never created and setup-python's post step fails the job
+      # ("Cache folder path is retrieved for pip but doesn't exist on disk")
+      # even though mypy passed.
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
-          cache: "pip"
       - uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
       - run: uv sync --locked --extra dev --extra binary --python 3.12
       - run: uv run mypy --config-file pyproject.toml features/ shared/ mcp_server/ rag/ hooks/ wiki/ lifecycle/ graph/ core/
@@ -141,10 +144,10 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      # Same reason as typecheck: uv installs, pip never runs.
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
-          cache: "pip"
       - uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
       - run: uv sync --locked --extra docs --python 3.12
       - name: Build docs (strict — fails on broken refs)
diff --git a/autohooks/__main__.py b/autohooks/__main__.py
index 203134c..77a3de7 100644
--- a/autohooks/__main__.py
+++ b/autohooks/__main__.py
@@ -284,18 +284,18 @@ def _close_ariel() -> None:
         out = asyncio.run(run_inject(cfg, mem, graph, rag, text=ns.text, fmt=ns.format, blocks=ns.blocks, with_recap=ns.with_recap))
         print(out)
         return 0
-    except BaseException:
-        # Close on the failure path too. `_close_ariel()` used to sit after each
-        # `asyncio.run(...)`, so an exception skipped it; aiosqlite's worker
-        # threads are non-daemon, `threading._shutdown` joins them at exit, and
-        # the process then prints a traceback and never returns — systemd keeps
-        # the unit `active`, so Restart=on-failure never fires. Suppressed here
-        # only so a failing close cannot replace the command's own exception.
+    finally:
+        # Close on EVERY path. aiosqlite worker threads are non-daemon, so an
+        # unclosed connection makes `threading._shutdown` join forever: the
+        # process prints its output and never returns — systemd keeps the unit
+        # `active` (Restart=on-failure never fires) and hooks time out with no
+        # output. This used to be `except: close; raise` + `else: close`, which
+        # never ran on success: every command branch ends with `return 0`
+        # inside the `try`, and a `return` from a `try` body skips `else`.
+        # Suppressed so a failing close cannot replace the command's own
+        # exception.
         with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
             _close_ariel()
-        raise
-    else:
-        _close_ariel()
 
 
 def _render_recall_md(blocks: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_autohooks_cli.py b/tests/test_autohooks_cli.py
index b17acd0..371e98b 100644
--- a/tests/test_autohooks_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_autohooks_cli.py
@@ -133,3 +133,38 @@ async def boom(*args, **kwargs):
         cli.main(["recall", "--config", str(cfg)])
 
     assert closed == ["closed"]
+
+
+def test_main_closes_connections_on_success(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """A successful command must close ariel's connections before returning.
+
+    Every command branch ends with `return 0` inside the `try`, and a `return`
+    from a `try` body skips the `else:` clause entirely. The close therefore
+    never ran on the success path — the exact path every hook takes. The
+    non-daemon aiosqlite worker then blocked interpreter shutdown, so
+    `autohooks inject` printed its block and hung until the 120 s watchdog
+    killed it. Hooks time out at 20 s, so the injection was silently lost.
+    """
+    from autohooks import appctx
+    from shared.connection import connection_manager
+
+    cfg = tmp_path / "agent.yaml"
+    cfg.write_text(f"data_dir: {tmp_path}\nuser_id: default\nlayer: user\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("ARIEL_CLI_GUARD", "0")
+
+    closed: list[str] = []
+
+    async def fake_close_all() -> None:
+        closed.append("closed")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(connection_manager, "close_all", fake_close_all)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(appctx, "build_app_context", lambda: object())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(appctx, "resolve_layer", lambda app, layer, uid: (None, None, None))
+
+    async def ok(*args, **kwargs):
+        return []
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("features.recall.recall_protocol", ok)
+
+    assert cli.main(["recall", "--config", str(cfg), "--query", "x"]) == 0
+    assert closed == ["closed"], "connections must be closed on the success path too"