diff --git a/docs/arch.md b/docs/arch.md
index a31ee32..b448823 100644
--- a/docs/arch.md
+++ b/docs/arch.md
@@ -332,12 +332,15 @@ Minimal control flow:
 1. Legion creates or updates the stream through Sender management methods.
 2. Legion creates a one-time stream key for OBS.
 3. Legion upserts the local Tribes node as a media endpoint.
-4. Legion calls `streams.start` with mode `origin_ingest`.
+4. Legion calls `stream.start` with mode `origin_ingest`.
 5. Sender creates the generation/rendition state and starts a local
    `MediaSession` through the configured media backend.
-6. Viewers load Sender's web player and request playback metadata from
+6. The creator connects OBS. If OBS disconnects, Sender keeps the generation
+   active and restarts the local media backend so OBS can reconnect to the same
+   stream.
+7. Viewers load Sender's web player and request playback metadata from
    `/plugins-api/sender/...`.
-7. Legion calls `streams.stop` when the event ends.
+8. Legion calls `stream.stop` when the event ends.
 
 Standalone Sender web controls can later call the same service layer directly,
 but they are not part of the MVP dependency path.
@@ -431,7 +434,16 @@ Media sessions are role-aware. The first local role is `origin_ingest`, where a
 Tribes node accepts the creator's RTMP input and produces HLS output. Future
 roles can cover pull-through edges, external-origin tracking, or fanout without
 renaming the admin API, which should use stream lifecycle methods such as
-`streams.start`, `streams.stop`, and `streams.status`.
+`stream.start`, `stream.stop`, and `stream.status`.
+
+The generation lifecycle is admin-owned: `stream.start` opens the stream window
+and `stream.stop` closes it. A creator source disconnect or an ffmpeg process
+exit should not end the generation by itself. The local `MediaSession` keeps the
+generation active, reports `restarting` while the backend is down, and restarts
+the backend with backoff so OBS can reconnect to the same stream whenever
+possible. Initial backend startup failure is different: if no backend can be
+started at all, `stream.start` fails and the generation is marked failed so it
+does not block the next start attempt.
 
 ## Management API
 
diff --git a/docs/progress.md b/docs/progress.md
index b58501a..d715835 100644
--- a/docs/progress.md
+++ b/docs/progress.md
@@ -50,8 +50,10 @@ This file tracks the planned implementation from plugin template to clustered st
 - [x] Start a `StreamGeneration` when Legion starts a stream.
 - [x] Write HLS output to `spool_root/streams/:stream_id/:generation_id`.
 - [x] Create initial `Rendition` rows from configured output variants.
+- [x] Keep a started generation active across source disconnects/backend exits until admin stop.
 - [ ] Mark generation `live` once the first playable manifest exists.
-- [ ] Mark generation `ended` or `failed` on ffmpeg exit.
+- [x] Mark generation `ended` on explicit admin stop.
+- [x] Mark generation `failed` when startup cannot create an initial backend session.
 - [ ] Clean old live spool directories according to retention config.
 - [x] Add tests around backend command construction and lifecycle state changes.
 
diff --git a/lib/sender/management/stream_lifecycle.ex b/lib/sender/management/stream_lifecycle.ex
index 9441aa2..dbae18b 100644
--- a/lib/sender/management/stream_lifecycle.ex
+++ b/lib/sender/management/stream_lifecycle.ex
@@ -221,6 +221,8 @@ defmodule Sender.Management.StreamLifecycle do
           "role" => "origin_ingest",
           "status" => to_string(Map.get(health, :status, :unknown)),
           "pid" => inspect(pid),
+          "restart_count" => Map.get(health, :backend_restart_count, 0),
+          "last_backend_exit" => normalize_value(Map.get(health, :last_backend_exit)),
           "backend_health" => stringify_keys(Map.get(health, :backend_health, %{}))
         }
     end
@@ -244,6 +246,10 @@ defmodule Sender.Management.StreamLifecycle do
   end
 
   defp normalize_value(%DateTime{} = datetime), do: DateTime.to_iso8601(datetime)
+  defp normalize_value(nil), do: nil
   defp normalize_value(value) when is_atom(value), do: Atom.to_string(value)
+  defp normalize_value(value) when is_tuple(value), do: inspect(value)
+  defp normalize_value(value) when is_list(value), do: Enum.map(value, &normalize_value/1)
+  defp normalize_value(value) when is_map(value), do: stringify_keys(value)
   defp normalize_value(value), do: value
 end
diff --git a/lib/sender/media_session.ex b/lib/sender/media_session.ex
index eec8f67..b772cd5 100644
--- a/lib/sender/media_session.ex
+++ b/lib/sender/media_session.ex
@@ -18,11 +18,16 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
     :backend,
     :backend_supervisor,
     :generation,
+    :backend_restart_delay_ms,
+    :backend_restart_max_delay_ms,
     :role,
     :session_supervisor,
     :supervisor
   ]
 
+  @default_backend_restart_delay_ms 1_000
+  @default_backend_restart_max_delay_ms 30_000
+
   @type role :: :origin_ingest
 
   @spec child_spec(keyword()) :: Supervisor.child_spec()
@@ -103,6 +108,14 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
       backend_opts: backend_opts(opts),
       backend_pid: nil,
       backend_ref: nil,
+      backend_restart_count: 0,
+      backend_restart_delay_ms:
+        Keyword.get(opts, :backend_restart_delay_ms, @default_backend_restart_delay_ms),
+      backend_restart_max_delay_ms:
+        Keyword.get(opts, :backend_restart_max_delay_ms, @default_backend_restart_max_delay_ms),
+      backend_restart_timer: nil,
+      backend_status: :starting,
+      last_backend_exit: nil,
       started_at: DateTime.utc_now()
     }
 
@@ -124,6 +137,8 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
        generation_id: state.generation.id,
        backend: state.backend,
        backend_health: backend_health(state),
+       backend_restart_count: state.backend_restart_count,
+       last_backend_exit: state.last_backend_exit,
        started_at: state.started_at
      }, state}
   end
@@ -133,16 +148,29 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
         {:DOWN, ref, :process, pid, :normal},
         %{backend_ref: ref, backend_pid: pid} = state
       ) do
-    {:stop, :normal, %{state | backend_pid: nil, backend_ref: nil}}
+    {:noreply, schedule_backend_restart(:normal, state)}
   end
 
   def handle_info(
         {:DOWN, ref, :process, pid, reason},
         %{backend_ref: ref, backend_pid: pid} = state
       ) do
-    {:stop, {:backend_down, reason}, %{state | backend_pid: nil, backend_ref: nil}}
+    {:noreply, schedule_backend_restart(reason, state)}
   end
 
+  def handle_info(:restart_backend, %{backend_restart_timer: timer} = state)
+      when is_reference(timer) do
+    case start_backend(%{state | backend_restart_timer: nil, backend_status: :starting}) do
+      {:ok, state} ->
+        {:noreply, state}
+
+      {:error, reason} ->
+        {:noreply, schedule_backend_restart(reason, state)}
+    end
+  end
+
+  def handle_info(:restart_backend, state), do: {:noreply, state}
+
   @impl true
   def terminate(reason, state) do
     stop_backend(state)
@@ -176,7 +204,13 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
         ref = Process.monitor(backend_pid)
 
         {:ok,
-         %{state | backend_pid: backend_pid, backend_ref: ref}
+         %{
+           state
+           | backend_pid: backend_pid,
+             backend_ref: ref,
+             backend_status: :running,
+             last_backend_exit: nil
+         }
          |> emit_backend_started()}
 
       {:error, reason} ->
@@ -184,6 +218,47 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
     end
   end
 
+  defp schedule_backend_restart(reason, state) do
+    cancel_restart_timer(state.backend_restart_timer)
+
+    restart_count = state.backend_restart_count + 1
+    delay_ms = restart_delay_ms(state, restart_count)
+    timer = Process.send_after(self(), :restart_backend, delay_ms)
+
+    :telemetry.execute(
+      [:sender, :media_session, :backend_restart],
+      %{count: 1, delay_ms: delay_ms},
+      %{
+        role: state.role,
+        generation_id: state.generation.id,
+        reason: reason,
+        restart_count: restart_count
+      }
+    )
+
+    %{
+      state
+      | backend_pid: nil,
+        backend_ref: nil,
+        backend_restart_count: restart_count,
+        backend_restart_timer: timer,
+        backend_status: :restarting,
+        last_backend_exit: reason
+    }
+  end
+
+  defp cancel_restart_timer(timer) when is_reference(timer), do: Process.cancel_timer(timer)
+  defp cancel_restart_timer(_timer), do: false
+
+  defp restart_delay_ms(state, restart_count) do
+    multiplier = :math.pow(2, max(restart_count - 1, 0))
+
+    state.backend_restart_delay_ms
+    |> Kernel.*(multiplier)
+    |> round()
+    |> min(state.backend_restart_max_delay_ms)
+  end
+
   defp emit_backend_started(state) do
     :telemetry.execute(
       [:sender, :media_session, :backend_start],
@@ -203,6 +278,7 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
     if Process.alive?(backend_pid), do: :running, else: :stopped
   end
 
+  defp status(%{backend_status: status}) when status in [:starting, :restarting], do: status
   defp status(_state), do: :stopped
 
   defp backend_health(%{backend_pid: backend_pid, backend: backend}) when is_pid(backend_pid) do
@@ -215,7 +291,7 @@ defmodule Sender.MediaSession do
 
   defp stop_backend(%{backend_pid: backend_pid, backend: backend}) when is_pid(backend_pid) do
     if Process.alive?(backend_pid) do
-      backend.stop_ingest(backend_pid)
+      backend.stop_ingest(backend_pid, [])
     end
 
     :ok
diff --git a/test/sender/media_session_test.exs b/test/sender/media_session_test.exs
index 85f778f..03ac837 100644
--- a/test/sender/media_session_test.exs
+++ b/test/sender/media_session_test.exs
@@ -1,25 +1,85 @@
+defmodule Sender.MediaSessionTest.DisconnectingBackend do
+  @behaviour Sender.MediaBackend
+
+  @impl true
+  def start_ingest(generation, opts) do
+    owner = Keyword.fetch!(opts, :owner)
+    exit_after_ms = Keyword.get(opts, :exit_after_ms, 10)
+
+    send(owner, {:backend_started, generation.id})
+
+    pid =
+      spawn(fn ->
+        receive do
+          :stop -> :ok
+        after
+          exit_after_ms -> :ok
+        end
+      end)
+
+    {:ok, pid}
+  end
+
+  @impl true
+  def stop_ingest(pid, _opts) when is_pid(pid) do
+    send(pid, :stop)
+    :ok
+  end
+
+  @impl true
+  def health(pid, _opts) when is_pid(pid) do
+    %{status: if(Process.alive?(pid), do: :running, else: :stopped)}
+  end
+end
+
 defmodule Sender.MediaSessionTest do
   use ExUnit.Case, async: true
 
   alias Sender.MediaSession
   alias Sender.Streaming.StreamGeneration
 
-  test "origin_ingest starts the configured backend for a generation" do
-    spool_root =
-      Path.join(
-        System.tmp_dir!(),
-        "sender-media-session-test-#{System.unique_integer([:positive])}"
-      )
+  test "origin_ingest keeps the session alive across backend disconnects" do
+    generation = generation()
+    generation_id = generation.id
 
     assert {:ok, pid} =
-             MediaSession.start_origin_ingest(generation(),
-               executable: System.find_executable("true"),
-               spool_root: spool_root,
-               input_url: "rtmp://0.0.0.0:1935/live/test-key"
+             MediaSession.start_origin_ingest(generation,
+               backend: Sender.MediaSessionTest.DisconnectingBackend,
+               owner: self(),
+               exit_after_ms: 10,
+               backend_restart_delay_ms: 10,
+               backend_restart_max_delay_ms: 10
              )
 
-    ref = Process.monitor(pid)
-    assert_receive {:DOWN, ^ref, :process, ^pid, :normal}, 1_000
+    assert_receive {:backend_started, ^generation_id}, 100
+    assert_receive {:backend_started, ^generation_id}, 200
+
+    assert Process.alive?(pid)
+    assert :ok = MediaSession.stop(pid)
+  end
+
+  test "origin_ingest reports reconnecting state while waiting for backend restart" do
+    generation = generation()
+    generation_id = generation.id
+
+    assert {:ok, pid} =
+             MediaSession.start_origin_ingest(generation,
+               backend: Sender.MediaSessionTest.DisconnectingBackend,
+               owner: self(),
+               exit_after_ms: 10,
+               backend_restart_delay_ms: 1_000
+             )
+
+    assert_receive {:backend_started, ^generation_id}, 100
+    Process.sleep(50)
+
+    health = MediaSession.health(pid)
+
+    assert health.status == :restarting
+    assert health.backend_restart_count == 1
+    assert health.last_backend_exit == :normal
+
+    assert :ok = MediaSession.stop(pid)
   end
 
   defp generation do