diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3025548..b22174f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ and warnings go to stderr; press Ctrl-C at any point and it stops cleanly.
 | `-f FILE` | Export JSON to download from (default `export-<chat>.json` with `-c`, else `export.json`) |
 | `-d DIR` | Staging directory (default `./staging`) |
 | `-i SECONDS` | Seconds between rclone sweeps (default `60`) |
-| `-a AGE` | rclone `--min-age`, a second guard against moving files still being written (default `2m`) |
+| `-a AGE` | rclone `--min-age`, a second guard against moving files still being written (default `45s`) |
 | `-m SIZE` | Cap the staging directory at `SIZE` (`K`/`M`/`G`/`T`, binary), e.g. `40G`. Unset means no cap (see below) |
 | `-h` | Help |
 
@@ -120,6 +120,28 @@ side is tunable without touching the script:
 RCLONE_TRANSFERS=8 RCLONE_BWLIMIT=20M ./run.sh -r s3:bucket/tg -c @mygroup
 ```
 
+`run.sh` sets two of those itself, and only when the caller has not:
+
+| Variable | Default here | rclone's own default | Why |
+|----------|--------------|----------------------|-----|
+| `RCLONE_TRANSFERS` | `2` | `4` | Backends that commit an upload as a server-side async task queue those tasks; less parallelism keeps the queue short |
+| `RCLONE_LOW_LEVEL_RETRIES` | `20` | `10` | Each retry re-polls a pending task, so a slow commit is waited out instead of failing the transfer |
+
+Both exist because of one failure mode. On pikpak an upload finishes in two
+phases — rclone sends the bytes, then a server-side task must reach
+`PHASE_TYPE_COMPLETE`. rclone waits 500 ms and then polls, giving up after
+`--low-level-retries` attempts with:
+
+```
+ERROR : <file>: Failed to copy: can't verify the task is completed: ... Phase:"PHASE_TYPE_PENDING"
+```
+
+Nothing is lost when that happens — the message is followed by `Not deleting
+source as copy failed`, the file stays in staging and the next sweep retries
+it. But it wastes the upload, and it counts against a `-m` cap, since a file
+that keeps failing can never be drained. Raise the retries further if you still
+see it.
+
 ### Capping the staging directory
 
 Without `-m`, staging grows whenever tdl downloads faster than rclone uploads,
@@ -236,9 +258,9 @@ subset, and repeat.
 | `-c CHAT` | Chat to export metadata for on the first pass |
 | `-f FILE` | Export JSON (default `export-<chat>.json`) |
 | `-d DIR` | Staging directory (default `./staging`) |
-| `-i SECONDS` | rclone sweep interval (default `300`) |
+| `-i SECONDS` | rclone sweep interval (default `120`) |
 | `-m SIZE` | Staging cap passed through to `run.sh`, e.g. `40G` |
-| `-p N` | Maximum passes (default `20`) |
+| `-p N` | Maximum passes (default `30`) |
 | `-q GIB` | Stop if remote free space falls below this (default `5`) |
 
 It stops when the verifier reports complete (exit `0`), when a pass fetches
diff --git a/export-until-complete.sh b/export-until-complete.sh
index 0c6eeae..3095f32 100755
--- a/export-until-complete.sh
+++ b/export-until-complete.sh
@@ -13,15 +13,15 @@
 #   -c CHAT         chat id/username, used for the initial metadata export
 #   -f FILE         export JSON (default export-<chat>.json)
 #   -d DIR          staging directory (default ./staging)
-#   -i SECONDS      rclone sweep interval (default 300)
-#   -p N            maximum passes (default 20)
+#   -i SECONDS      rclone sweep interval (default 120)
+#   -p N            maximum passes (default 30)
 #   -m SIZE         cap the staging directory at SIZE, e.g. 40G (default: no cap)
 #   -q GIB          stop if remote free space falls below this (default 5)
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-remote='' chat='' export_file='' staging='./staging' interval=300 max_staging=''
-max_passes=20 min_free_gib=5
+remote='' chat='' export_file='' staging='./staging' interval=120 max_staging=''
+max_passes=30 min_free_gib=5
 
 while getopts ':r:c:f:d:i:p:q:m:h' o; do case $o in
   r) remote=$OPTARG ;;   c) chat=$OPTARG ;;      f) export_file=$OPTARG ;;
diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
index 17d4721..b552068 100755
--- a/run.sh
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ chat=''
 staging='./staging'
 remote=''
 interval=60
-min_age='2m'
+min_age='45s'
 max_staging=''      # empty: staging grows as fast as tdl fills it
 max_sync_failures=5
 cap_check_interval=10   # seconds between -m checks, independent of -i
@@ -132,6 +132,15 @@ if [[ -z $export_file ]]; then
   fi
 fi
 
+# pikpak-style backends finish an upload as a server-side async task, and
+# rclone abandons a still-pending one once --low-level-retries polls run out,
+# failing a transfer that would have succeeded. Fewer parallel transfers keep
+# that queue short and more retries wait it out. These are rclone's own
+# environment variables, so whatever the caller already exported wins.
+: "${RCLONE_TRANSFERS:=2}"
+: "${RCLONE_LOW_LEVEL_RETRIES:=20}"
+export RCLONE_TRANSFERS RCLONE_LOW_LEVEL_RETRIES
+
 for tool in tdl rclone; do
   command -v "$tool" >/dev/null || die "$tool is not installed or not on PATH"
 done