diff --git a/graphify/cli.py b/graphify/cli.py
index 834ac71..d373454 100644
--- a/graphify/cli.py
+++ b/graphify/cli.py
@@ -2762,7 +2762,10 @@ def dispatch_command(cmd: str) -> None:
             # across modes (#1317; node dedup also collapses shared Swift module
             # anchors emitted per importing file, #1327).
             from graphify.build import dedupe_edges as _dedupe_edges, dedupe_nodes as _dedupe_nodes
-            from graphify.export import backup_if_protected as _backup
+            from graphify.export import (
+                backup_if_protected as _backup,
+                existing_graph_node_count as _existing_graph_node_count,
+            )
             if (
                 incremental_mode
                 and not code_files
@@ -2808,6 +2811,24 @@ def dispatch_command(cmd: str) -> None:
                     _e["source_file"] = (
                         _node_sf.get(_e.get("source")) or _node_sf.get(_e.get("target")) or ""
                     )
+            # RT-parity for the raw path: an incomplete build must not force a
+            # partial graph over a larger complete one here either. The clustered
+            # path gets this from to_json's #479 guard; this path never calls
+            # to_json, so replicate the shrink check against the existing file and
+            # exit before the write/manifest unless --allow-partial is set.
+            if _extraction_incomplete and not cli_allow_partial:
+                _existing_n = _existing_graph_node_count(graph_json_path)
+                if _existing_n is not None and len(merged["nodes"]) < _existing_n:
+                    print(
+                        "[graphify extract] error: extraction was incomplete (an AST/"
+                        "semantic pass failed) and the resulting --no-cluster graph is "
+                        f"smaller than the existing {graph_json_path} "
+                        f"({len(merged['nodes'])} < {_existing_n} nodes). Refusing to "
+                        "overwrite a complete graph with a partial one. Re-run after "
+                        "fixing the failures, or pass --allow-partial to overwrite anyway.",
+                        file=sys.stderr,
+                    )
+                    sys.exit(1)
             _backup(graphify_out)
             graph_json_path.write_text(
                 json.dumps(merged, indent=2), encoding="utf-8"
@@ -2908,10 +2929,9 @@ def dispatch_command(cmd: str) -> None:
         # graph could silently overwrite a good complete one, so fall back to the
         # shrink guard (force=False) unless the user opts in with --allow-partial.
         #
-        # Scope: this guards the clustered write path only. The `--no-cluster`
-        # raw-dump path (above) writes graph.json directly and has never had a
-        # shrink guard, so an incomplete --no-cluster run can still overwrite a
-        # complete graph — a pre-existing gap this change does not close.
+        # Both write paths are guarded: the clustered path here via to_json's
+        # #479 check, and the `--no-cluster` raw-dump path above via the same
+        # shrink check against the existing file (existing_graph_node_count).
         #
         # Trade-off: this reuses to_json's coarse node-count guard, not the
         # source-aware _check_shrink that watch/update use. On an incremental run
diff --git a/graphify/export.py b/graphify/export.py
index 2490249..39ee2ac 100644
--- a/graphify/export.py
+++ b/graphify/export.py
@@ -180,6 +180,38 @@ def _git_head() -> str | None:
         return None
 
 
+def existing_graph_node_count(path: "str | Path") -> int | None:
+    """Node count of an existing graph.json, or None when it can't be compared
+    (absent, empty, unreadable, malformed, or over the size cap).
+
+    The raw ``--no-cluster`` write path uses this to apply the same #479 shrink
+    guard that :func:`to_json` applies inline for the clustered path. None means
+    "can't verify — let the write proceed", matching how ``to_json`` treats an
+    empty/oversized/unreadable existing file.
+    """
+    p = Path(path)
+    if not p.exists():
+        return None
+    from graphify.security import check_graph_file_size_cap
+    try:
+        check_graph_file_size_cap(p)
+    except Exception:
+        # Oversized: reading it to compare would be the DoS the cap guards against.
+        return None
+    try:
+        raw = p.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    except Exception:
+        return None
+    if not raw.strip():
+        return None
+    try:
+        data = json.loads(raw)
+    except Exception:
+        return None
+    nodes = data.get("nodes") if isinstance(data, dict) else None
+    return len(nodes) if isinstance(nodes, list) else None
+
+
 def to_json(G: nx.Graph, communities: dict[int, list[str]], output_path: str, *, force: bool = False, built_at_commit: str | None = None, community_labels: dict[int, str] | None = None) -> bool:
     # Safety check: refuse to silently shrink an existing graph (#479)
     existing_path = Path(output_path)
diff --git a/tests/test_export.py b/tests/test_export.py
index 05262b4..fa43dd7 100644
--- a/tests/test_export.py
+++ b/tests/test_export.py
@@ -775,3 +775,15 @@ def test_to_html_handles_null_source_file_and_label(tmp_path):
     out = tmp_path / "graph.html"
     to_html(G, {0: ["n1", "n2", "n3"]}, str(out))
     assert out.exists() and out.stat().st_size > 0
+
+
+def test_existing_graph_node_count(tmp_path):
+    from graphify.export import existing_graph_node_count
+    p = tmp_path / "graph.json"
+    assert existing_graph_node_count(p) is None            # absent
+    p.write_text("", encoding="utf-8")
+    assert existing_graph_node_count(p) is None            # empty
+    p.write_text("{not json", encoding="utf-8")
+    assert existing_graph_node_count(p) is None            # malformed
+    p.write_text('{"nodes": [{"id": "a"}, {"id": "b"}], "links": []}', encoding="utf-8")
+    assert existing_graph_node_count(p) == 2               # valid
diff --git a/tests/test_incomplete_build_guard.py b/tests/test_incomplete_build_guard.py
index 7c4d057..cec5c92 100644
--- a/tests/test_incomplete_build_guard.py
+++ b/tests/test_incomplete_build_guard.py
@@ -108,3 +108,62 @@ def test_complete_extraction_keeps_force_write(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     mainmod.main()
 
     assert rec["called"] and rec["force"] is True
+
+
+def _seed_existing_graph(gout, n):
+    import json
+    gout.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    (gout / "graph.json").write_text(
+        json.dumps({"nodes": [{"id": f"keep{i}", "label": f"k{i}"} for i in range(n)],
+                    "links": []}),
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+
+
+def _arm_no_cluster(monkeypatch, tmp_path, *, extra_argv=()):
+    corpus = _make_docs_corpus(tmp_path)
+    out_dir = tmp_path / "out"
+    gout = out_dir / "graphify-out"
+    _seed_existing_graph(gout, 5)  # existing complete graph
+    monkeypatch.setenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "sk-test-fake-key")
+
+    def _stub_corpus(paths, **kwargs):
+        on_chunk = kwargs.get("on_chunk_done")
+        if on_chunk:
+            on_chunk(0, 3, {"nodes": [], "edges": [], "hyperedges": []})  # 1 of 3 -> partial
+        return {"nodes": [{"id": "s1", "source_file": str(corpus / "README.md"),
+                           "file_type": "document", "label": "Notes"}],
+                "edges": [], "hyperedges": [], "input_tokens": 1, "output_tokens": 1}
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("graphify.llm.extract_corpus_parallel", _stub_corpus)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(mainmod, "_check_skill_version", lambda _: None)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        mainmod.sys, "argv",
+        ["graphify", "extract", str(corpus), "--backend", "claude", "--no-cluster",
+         "--out", str(out_dir), *extra_argv],
+    )
+    return gout / "graph.json"
+
+
+def test_no_cluster_incomplete_build_refuses_to_shrink(tmp_path, monkeypatch, capsys):
+    import json
+    graph = _arm_no_cluster(monkeypatch, tmp_path)
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exc:
+        mainmod.main()
+
+    assert exc.value.code == 1
+    assert "Refusing to overwrite" in capsys.readouterr().err
+    # The existing 5-node graph is untouched — the partial 1-node graph was refused.
+    assert len(json.loads(graph.read_text())["nodes"]) == 5
+
+
+def test_no_cluster_allow_partial_overwrites(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    import json
+    graph = _arm_no_cluster(monkeypatch, tmp_path, extra_argv=["--allow-partial"])
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exc:
+        mainmod.main()
+
+    assert exc.value.code == 0  # the raw --no-cluster path exits 0 on success
+    assert len(json.loads(graph.read_text())["nodes"]) == 1