diff --git a/letta/services/job_manager.py b/letta/services/job_manager.py
index fddad2cf..281268d2 100644
--- a/letta/services/job_manager.py
+++ b/letta/services/job_manager.py
@@ -130,7 +130,9 @@ class JobManager:
 
     @enforce_types
     @trace_method
-    async def update_job_by_id_async(self, job_id: str, job_update: JobUpdate, actor: PydanticUser) -> PydanticJob:
+    async def update_job_by_id_async(
+        self, job_id: str, job_update: JobUpdate, actor: PydanticUser, safe_update: bool = False
+    ) -> PydanticJob:
         """Update a job by its ID with the given JobUpdate object asynchronously."""
         # First check if we need to dispatch a callback
         needs_callback = False
@@ -138,16 +140,24 @@ class JobManager:
         async with db_registry.async_session() as session:
             job = await self._verify_job_access_async(session=session, job_id=job_id, actor=actor, access=["write"])
 
+            # Safely update job status with state transition guards: Created -> Pending -> Running --> <Terminal>
+            if safe_update:
+                current_status = JobStatus(job.status)
+                if not any(
+                    (
+                        job_update.status.is_terminal and not current_status.is_terminal,
+                        current_status == JobStatus.created and job_update.status != JobStatus.created,
+                        current_status == JobStatus.pending and job_update.status == JobStatus.running,
+                    )
+                ):
+                    logger.error(f"Invalid job status transition from {current_status} to {job_update.status} for job {job_id}")
+                    raise ValueError(f"Invalid job status transition from {current_status} to {job_update.status}")
+
             # Check if we'll need to dispatch callback
             if job_update.status in {JobStatus.completed, JobStatus.failed} and job.callback_url:
                 needs_callback = True
                 callback_url = job.callback_url
 
-        # Update the job first to get the final metadata
-        async with db_registry.async_session() as session:
-            # Fetch the job by ID
-            job = await self._verify_job_access_async(session=session, job_id=job_id, actor=actor, access=["write"])
-
             # Update job attributes with only the fields that were explicitly set
             update_data = job_update.model_dump(to_orm=True, exclude_unset=True, exclude_none=True)
 
@@ -205,20 +215,6 @@ class JobManager:
             True if update was successful, False if update was skipped due to invalid transition
         """
         try:
-            # Get current job state
-            current_job = await self.get_job_by_id_async(job_id=job_id, actor=actor)
-
-            current_status = current_job.status
-            if not any(
-                (
-                    new_status.is_terminal and not current_status.is_terminal,
-                    current_status == JobStatus.created and new_status != JobStatus.created,
-                    current_status == JobStatus.pending and new_status == JobStatus.running,
-                )
-            ):
-                logger.warning(f"Invalid job status transition from {current_job.status} to {new_status} for job {job_id}")
-                return False
-
             job_update_builder = partial(JobUpdate, status=new_status)
             if metadata:
                 job_update_builder = partial(job_update_builder, metadata=metadata)