diff --git a/src/host/backfill.ts b/src/host/backfill.ts
index f898efc..c961654 100644
--- a/src/host/backfill.ts
+++ b/src/host/backfill.ts
@@ -55,9 +55,15 @@ interface SessionQueryLike {
   listSessions(signal?: AbortSignal): Promise<unknown>
 }
 
-/** The cache's two cold-path verbs, as consumed. */
+/**
+ * The cache's two cold-path verbs, as consumed (re-proved at runtime). The
+ * cached-rows probe's face differs across the supported range — dsh
+ * 0.1.5-rc.1 takes `(meta, inheritedEventCount, keys)` while dsh 0.1.7-rc.2
+ * dropped the offset (`(meta, keys)`, the lifecycle identity riding the
+ * header alone) — so {@link servesRows} re-proves the shape per call.
+ */
 interface ProjectionCacheLike {
-  cachedSnapshot(header: SessionHeader, inheritedEventCount: unknown, keys?: readonly string[]): unknown
+  cachedSnapshot(meta: SessionHeader, offsetOrKeys: unknown, keys?: readonly string[]): unknown
   coldSnapshot(header: SessionHeader, inheritedEventCount: unknown, events: readonly SessionEvent[]): unknown
 }
 
@@ -115,6 +121,27 @@ function headerOf(record: unknown): SessionHeader | null {
   return header as unknown as SessionHeader
 }
 
+/** The probe keys: the projection keys the cache must already serve. */
+const PROBE_KEYS = ['contextActivity', 'contextTimeline']
+
+/**
+ * Probe the cache through the face the running generation serves. The older
+ * spelling is tried first and the newer one answers the fallback: on a
+ * 0.1.7-rc.2 cache the 3-arg call binds the branded offset onto `keys`,
+ * where `new Set(0)` throws as soon as a served record is reached — while a
+ * record-less session returns `undefined` without throwing, which is the
+ * correct "not served" either way. On 0.1.5-rc.1 the 3-arg face answers
+ * directly; if it ever throws there, the 2-arg retry degrades to the same
+ * "not served" verdict through the caller's catch.
+ */
+function cachedSnapshotOf(cache: ProjectionCacheLike, header: SessionHeader): unknown {
+  try {
+    return cache.cachedSnapshot(header, SessionLogOffset(0), PROBE_KEYS)
+  } catch {
+    return cache.cachedSnapshot(header, PROBE_KEYS)
+  }
+}
+
 /** Whether the cache already serves BOTH projection rows for this header (nothing to backfill). */
 function servesRows(cache: ProjectionCacheLike, header: SessionHeader): boolean {
   try {
@@ -124,7 +151,7 @@ function servesRows(cache: ProjectionCacheLike, header: SessionHeader): boolean
     // Both keys must be served: a version-stale row (the timeline's head
     // gained `lastUser` at stateVersion 20) reads as absent here, so the
     // session's stale rows get their one cold refold at startup.
-    const block = asRecord(cache.cachedSnapshot(header, SessionLogOffset(0), ['contextActivity', 'contextTimeline']))
+    const block = asRecord(cachedSnapshotOf(cache, header))
     const values = asRecord(block?.values)
     return values !== null
       && values.contextActivity !== undefined
diff --git a/tests/host/backfill.spec.ts b/tests/host/backfill.spec.ts
index 598c876..433ec07 100644
--- a/tests/host/backfill.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/host/backfill.spec.ts
@@ -284,6 +284,47 @@ describe('watchActivityBackfill', () => {
     assert.deepEqual(state.coldSnapshots, [])
   })
 
+  test('the 0.1.7 face answers when the 3-arg spelling throws (the rc.2 cachedSnapshot signature)', async () => {
+    // dsh 0.1.7-rc.2 dropped the probe's offset parameter: a 3-arg call binds
+    // the branded offset onto `keys`, where `new Set(0)` throws as soon as a
+    // served record is reached. The probe must fall through to the newer
+    // 2-arg face instead of reading every served session as "not served".
+    const ctx = new Context()
+    const state = fakeState([{ header: { id: 'a', cwd: '/repo/a' } }])
+    const arities: number[] = []
+    const route: RouteBox = {}
+    ctx.provide('connection', connectionOf(route))
+    ctx.provide('sessionQuery', {
+      listSessions: async () => {
+        arities.push(0)
+        return state.listed
+      },
+    })
+    ctx.provide('sessionProjectionCache', {
+      cachedSnapshot: (header: { id: string }, offsetOrKeys: unknown, keys?: unknown) => {
+        arities.push(keys === undefined ? 2 : 3)
+        if (keys !== undefined) throw new TypeError('offset is not iterable')
+        return header.id === 'a'
+          ? { asOfSeq: 0, values: { contextActivity: { days: {} }, contextTimeline: { ok: true } } }
+          : undefined
+      },
+      coldSnapshot: () => {
+        state.coldSnapshots.push('x')
+        return {}
+      },
+    })
+    ctx.provide('sessionPersistence', { open: async () => ({}) })
+    ctx.provide('sessions', { get: () => undefined })
+    const dispose = watchActivityBackfill(ctx)
+    await trigger(route)
+    await until(() => (arities.length > 0 ? true : undefined), 'the corpus was queried')
+    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 40))
+    dispose()
+    assert.deepEqual(state.coldReads, [], 'the newer face served the rows — no cold read')
+    assert.deepEqual(state.coldSnapshots, [])
+    assert.deepEqual([...new Set(arities)].sort(), [0, 2, 3], 'the 3-arg spelling was tried first, the 2-arg face answered')
+  })
+
   test('a rejection landing AFTER abort skips the warn (the unload owns the silence)', async () => {
     const ctx = new Context()
     let started = false