diff --git a/main.js b/main.js
index 43111d87..0467b9d3 100644
--- a/main.js
+++ b/main.js
@@ -648,6 +648,8 @@ ipcMain.handle('get-projects', async (_event, showArchived) => {
       // Cache already populated: pick up folders changed while the app was
       // closed, or never indexed by an older build, so sessions/worktrees don't
       // silently go missing. Stat-gated, so it's cheap when nothing has changed.
+      // Synchronous (readdir/stat sweep) — completes before buildProjectsFromCache
+      // below; no await needed despite the await in the cold-start branch above.
       reconcileCacheFromFilesystem();
     }
 
diff --git a/session-cache.js b/session-cache.js
index ccaef66a..e6f9f4ad 100644
--- a/session-cache.js
+++ b/session-cache.js
@@ -270,8 +270,19 @@ function refreshFolder(folder, opts = {}) {
  * app was closed, or that predates the build which first indexed it, is
  * otherwise never picked up, because the cold-start full scan
  * (populateCacheViaWorker) only runs when the cache is completely empty.
+ *
+ * Throttled: the renderer's loadProjects() fires get-projects twice per sidebar
+ * paint (showArchived false/true via Promise.all), which would run the sweep
+ * back-to-back. The second pass is idempotent but wasted work — and skipping it
+ * keeps a single metaMap snapshot per paint. Changes landing inside the
+ * throttle window are still picked up by the live watcher.
  */
+const RECONCILE_THROTTLE_MS = 1000;
+let lastReconcileAt = 0;
 function reconcileCacheFromFilesystem() {
+  const now = Date.now();
+  if (now - lastReconcileAt < RECONCILE_THROTTLE_MS) return;
+  lastReconcileAt = now;
   try {
     const metaMap = getAllFolderMeta();
     const folders = fs.readdirSync(PROJECTS_DIR, { withFileTypes: true })