diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/resolve-stored-session.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/resolve-stored-session.test.ts
index 68f9bac298..468936f5b6 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/resolve-stored-session.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/resolve-stored-session.test.ts
@@ -62,31 +62,33 @@ describe('resolveStoredSession profile ownership', () => {
   it('treats a profile-less cache hit as unresolved when multiple profiles exist', async () => {
     $sessions.set([session({ id: 's1' })])
     mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
-    mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
     mockGetSession.mockResolvedValueOnce(session({ id: 's1', profile: 'default' }))
 
     const resolved = await resolveStoredSession('s1')
 
     expect(resolved?.profile).toBe('default')
-    // rung 2 (bare) then rung 3 (stamped probes: active profile first)
-    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, 's1')
-    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, 's1', 'meta')
-    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(3, 's1', 'default')
+    // rung 2 (active profile) then rung 3 (stamped cross-profile probe)
+    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, 's1', 'meta')
+    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, 's1', 'default')
   })
 
-  it('probes the ACTIVE profile when the unscoped lookup 404s (hidden Bot Mode chat)', async () => {
-    // A hidden Bot Mode canonical chat is never in the sidebar cache, and the
-    // unscoped GET routes to the PRIMARY backend (404). The owner is the
-    // active profile itself — it must be probed, not skipped.
-    mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
-    mockGetSession.mockResolvedValueOnce(session({ id: 's1', message_count: 2 }))
+  it('scopes the first by-id lookup so a miss does not skip the active profile', async () => {
+    $activeGatewayProfile.set('brain')
+    $profiles.set(profiles('default', 'brain'))
+    mockGetSession.mockImplementation(async (id, profile) => {
+      if (profile === 'brain') {
+        return session({ id, profile: 'brain' })
+      }
+
+      throw new Error('404: Session not found')
+    })
 
     const resolved = await resolveStoredSession('s1')
 
-    expect(resolved?.profile).toBe('meta')
-    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, 's1')
-    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, 's1', 'meta')
-    expect($sessions.get().find(s => s.id === 's1')?.profile).toBe('meta')
+    expect(resolved?.profile).toBe('brain')
+    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenCalledWith('s1', 'brain')
+    expect(mockGetSession).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith('s1')
+    expect(mockGetSession).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith('s1', 'default')
   })
 
   it('accepts a profile-less cache hit for single-profile users', async () => {
@@ -105,6 +107,7 @@ describe('resolveStoredSession profile ownership', () => {
     const resolved = await resolveStoredSession('s1')
 
     expect(resolved?.profile).toBe('meta')
+    expect(mockGetSession).toHaveBeenCalledWith('s1', 'meta')
     // the upserted cache row is owned too, so the next hit short-circuits
     expect($sessions.get().find(s => s.id === 's1')?.profile).toBe('meta')
   })
@@ -113,7 +116,6 @@ describe('resolveStoredSession profile ownership', () => {
     // Per-profile remote override: Electron strips the desktop alias before
     // forwarding, so the standalone backend stamps its backend-local root.
     mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
-    mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
     mockGetSession.mockResolvedValueOnce(session({ id: 's1', profile: 'default' }))
     $activeGatewayProfile.set('default')
     $profiles.set(profiles('default', 'meta'))
@@ -125,7 +127,6 @@ describe('resolveStoredSession profile ownership', () => {
   })
 
   it('stamps the probed profile on a scoped hit from an older backend that omits it', async () => {
-    mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
     mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
     mockGetSession.mockResolvedValueOnce(session({ id: 's1' }))
 
@@ -137,7 +138,6 @@ describe('resolveStoredSession profile ownership', () => {
   })
 
   it('resolveSessionProfile routes a default-profile session from a non-default gateway', async () => {
-    mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
     mockGetSession.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('404: Session not found'))
     mockGetSession.mockResolvedValueOnce(session({ id: 's1', profile: 'default' }))
 
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/utils.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/utils.ts
index e622a52463..6474b93431 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/utils.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-session-actions/utils.ts
@@ -1307,17 +1307,19 @@ export async function resolveStoredSession(storedSessionId: string): Promise<Ses
     return cached
   }
 
-  // Direct by-id on the live backend — one row lookup, no list scan. Covers
-  // single-profile users and any id on the active profile (e.g. an old session
-  // past the sidebar's recent window). 404 just means it's not on this profile.
-  try {
-    const session = await getSession(storedSessionId)
+  // Direct by-id on the active profile — one row lookup, no list scan. Electron
+  // routes an unscoped GET to the primary backend, which may not own the
+  // active profile. A 404 there used to skip that profile in the probes below,
+  // so the session was never found.
+  const activeKey = normalizeProfileKey($activeGatewayProfile.get())
 
-    // Older backends omit `profile` on unscoped GETs; the serving backend is
-    // the active gateway's, so back-fill that rather than caching an unowned
-    // row. A present stamp is preserved: in app-global remote mode a bare hit
-    // can legitimately carry another profile's row (see the branch tests).
-    session.profile ||= normalizeProfileKey($activeGatewayProfile.get())
+  try {
+    const session = await getSession(storedSessionId, activeKey)
+
+    // Older backends can omit `profile`; this request targeted the active
+    // profile, so back-fill that rather than caching an unowned row. A present
+    // stamp is preserved for backend compatibility.
+    session.profile ||= activeKey
 
     upsertResolvedSession(session, storedSessionId)
 
@@ -1326,30 +1328,16 @@ export async function resolveStoredSession(storedSessionId: string): Promise<Ses
     // Not on the active profile — fall through to the cross-profile probe.
   }
 
-  // Multi-profile only: probe each profile by id (still one cheap lookup
-  // each) rather than pulling every profile's recent sessions. The first hit
-  // carries its owning `profile`, which routes the resume to the right backend.
-  //
-  // The ACTIVE profile is probed too, and first. The unscoped rung above does
-  // NOT cover it: Electron routes a profile-less /api/sessions GET to the
-  // PRIMARY backend, not the active gateway's, so a session owned by the
-  // active non-primary profile 404s there. Skipping the active key then left
-  // it as the ONE profile never probed — a hidden Bot Mode chat (never in the
-  // sidebar cache) owned by the focused bot resolved to undefined on every
-  // switch, the transcript prefetch went unscoped to the primary, and the
-  // thread painted empty until an explicitly-profiled row (right-click →
-  // Sessions) seeded the cache.
-  const activeKey = normalizeProfileKey($activeGatewayProfile.get())
+  // Multi-profile only: probe each remaining profile by id (still one cheap
+  // lookup each) rather than pulling every profile's recent sessions. The
+  // first hit carries its owning `profile`, which routes the resume to the
+  // right backend. The active profile was already tried above.
+  const otherProfiles = $profiles
+    .get()
+    .map(profile => normalizeProfileKey(profile.name))
+    .filter(key => key !== activeKey)
 
-  const probeProfiles = [
-    activeKey,
-    ...$profiles
-      .get()
-      .map(profile => normalizeProfileKey(profile.name))
-      .filter(key => key !== activeKey)
-  ]
-
-  for (const profile of probeProfiles) {
+  for (const profile of otherProfiles) {
     try {
       const session = await getSession(storedSessionId, profile)