diff --git a/docs/compatibility.md b/docs/compatibility.md
index cfbe041..fa97e33 100644
--- a/docs/compatibility.md
+++ b/docs/compatibility.md
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ The plugin lives off data it does not own: the durable session log (event shapes
 - **One bad record never takes down a view.** A malformed node, event, tool entry, or file op degrades to zero rows for that item — the card, the tab, and the session keep working.
 - **Host-side projection folds are TOTAL.** The harness projection registry drives `apply` straight off the session/event bus with no error boundary of its own: one throwing fold stalls that unit's cells and its `session/projection` push feed, and the browser waits on "loading" forever. Unknown event types return the state unchanged; per-event processing is isolated so a malformed event is dropped whole (all-or-nothing, no partial state); and no `undefined`-valued property is ever materialized into persisted state — the plain-JSON precondition makes one such property fail EVERY projection-cache write for the session, breaking sessions in unrelated, far-away places.
 - **Client-side parsing degrades visibly.** Delivered projection payloads are sanitized at the boundary (the `timelineOf` pattern: collections re-proved, scalars zeroed, whole-value absence stays `null` → loading screen); per-item work in any fold over join/log data is isolated (per-item guards, or a bounded catch where a hostile object may throw on property access); every async fetch resolves to data or a visible retryable state, never an unhandled rejection that leaves a spinner.
+- **A session with no pushed `contextTimeline` value never stalls the view.** The projection store's `seed()` clears a key its baseline omits, and a checkpoint row can be missing or version-stale on a cold-observed session — so the Context tab or `/context` modal can sit with no value at all and no push on the way. The source opens the detail channel itself in that case (rev 0): the plugin's own `/api/dsh-context/detail` route folds the durable log on demand and serves the slim head beside the collections, the next pushed head takes the channel back per its own revision, and a settled-without-data read surfaces the retryable failure note (the same `DetailNote` the detail cards use) instead of an eternal spinner.
 - **Every field is re-proved at runtime.** Structural narrowing over blind casts; optional chaining over non-null assertions; elements that fail the shape are skipped instead of throwing.
 - **Every parser carries hostile fixtures next to its happy path**: wrong types, null/missing fields, null or primitive elements inside arrays, unpaired references, and objects that throw on property access. The repository's 100% per-file coverage bar applies to every guard branch — an untested guard is an unverified promise.
 
diff --git a/tests/client/components/contextModal.spec.ts b/tests/client/components/contextModal.spec.ts
index 8efdcbf..d50796c 100644
--- a/tests/client/components/contextModal.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/client/components/contextModal.spec.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { act, createElement as h, useSyncExternalStore } from 'react'
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict'
 import { afterEach, describe, test, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { makeContextModal } from '../../../src/client/components/contextModal'
+import { resetTimelineDetailStores } from '../../../src/client/timelineSource'
 import { modalStoreOf, setPendingConsume, takePendingConsume } from '../../../src/client/modalStore'
 import { watchHistoryFaces } from '../../../src/client/historyPage'
 import { createContextSettings } from '../../../src/client/settings'
@@ -44,6 +45,10 @@ const OPEN = (): boolean => true
 afterEach(() => {
   vi.restoreAllMocks()
   vi.unstubAllGlobals()
+  // The cold-start share (timelineSource.ts) is page-lifetime per session:
+  // drop it so one test's cold read never leaks its state into a later test
+  // that reuses the same session id.
+  resetTimelineDetailStores()
 })
 
 describe('ContextModal', () => {
@@ -82,6 +87,25 @@ describe('ContextModal', () => {
     await m2.unmount()
   })
 
+  test('a cold read that settles without data surfaces the retryable failure, not a stall', async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal('fetch', () => Promise.resolve({ ok: false, status: 500, json: async () => null } as Response))
+    const ctx = new TestClientCtx({ services: { sessions: new TestSessions() } })
+    const ContextModal = makeContextModal(asClientCtx(ctx), kit, settings)
+    const m = await mount(h(ContextModal, {
+      sessionId: 'sm-cold-fail',
+      useContextModal: OPEN,
+      useProjection: () => undefined,
+    }))
+    await until(() => text(m.container).includes(DICT_EN['detail.loadFailed']), 'the failure note never surfaced')
+    assert.ok(!text(m.container).includes(DICT_EN.loading), 'no spinner remains once failed')
+    await act(async () => {
+      const hit = queryAll(m.container, 'button').find(b => text(b) === DICT_EN['detail.loadFailed'])
+      if (hit === undefined) throw new Error('retry button not found')
+      hit.click()
+    })
+    await m.unmount()
+  })
+
   test('a corrupt timeline projection is sanitized and still renders the composition', async () => {
     const ctx = new TestClientCtx({ services: { sessions: new TestSessions() } })
     const ContextModal = makeContextModal(asClientCtx(ctx), kit, settings)
diff --git a/tests/client/components/contextView.spec.ts b/tests/client/components/contextView.spec.ts
index 564b315..5f57a5b 100644
--- a/tests/client/components/contextView.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/client/components/contextView.spec.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, test, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { makeContextView } from '../../../src/client/components/contextView'
 import { watchHistoryFaces } from '../../../src/client/historyPage'
 import { requestContextFocus, takeContextFocus } from '../../../src/client/viewFocus'
+import { resetTimelineDetailStores } from '../../../src/client/timelineSource'
 import { createContextSettings } from '../../../src/client/settings'
 import type { SettingsScopeLike } from '../../../src/client/settings'
 import { resetModelPrices, setModelPricesLoader } from '../../../src/client/modelPrices'
@@ -30,6 +31,10 @@ const kit = makeKit()
 afterEach(() => {
   vi.restoreAllMocks()
   vi.unstubAllGlobals()
+  // The cold-start share (timelineSource.ts) is page-lifetime per session:
+  // drop it so one test's cold read never leaks its failed/ready state into
+  // a later test that reuses the same session id.
+  resetTimelineDetailStores()
 })
 
 
@@ -135,6 +140,18 @@ describe('ContextView — projection guards', () => {
     await m3.unmount()
   })
 
+  test('a cold read that settles without data surfaces the retryable failure, not a stall', async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal('fetch', () => Promise.resolve({ ok: false, status: 500, json: async () => null } as Response))
+    const View = makeView(new TestClientCtx())
+    const m = await mount(h(View, { sessionId: 'sv-cold-fail', useProjection: () => undefined }))
+    await until(() => text(m.container).includes(DICT_EN['detail.loadFailed']), 'the failure note never surfaced')
+    assert.ok(!text(m.container).includes(DICT_EN.loading), 'no spinner remains once failed')
+    await act(async () => {
+      buttonByText(m.container, DICT_EN['detail.loadFailed']).click()
+    })
+    await m.unmount()
+  })
+
   test('renders the full tab without a session id (the agent card anchors nothing)', async () => {
     const View = makeView(new TestClientCtx())
     const m = await mount(h(View, { useProjection: projectionsFor(timeline()) }))
diff --git a/tests/client/timelineSource.spec.ts b/tests/client/timelineSource.spec.ts
index 8e695f3..0569346 100644
--- a/tests/client/timelineSource.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/client/timelineSource.spec.ts
@@ -400,10 +400,11 @@ describe('detailStoreOf', () => {
 })
 
 /** A probe component rendering the source's observable surface as text. */
-function SourceProbe(props: { ctx: ClientCtx; sessionId: string; value: unknown }): ReactElement {
+function SourceProbe(props: { ctx: ClientCtx; sessionId: string; value?: unknown; useProjection?: (key: string) => unknown }): ReactElement {
+  const useProjection = props.useProjection ?? ((key: string) => (key === 'contextTimeline' ? props.value : undefined))
   const source = useTimelineSource(props.ctx, {
     sessionId: props.sessionId,
-    useProjection: (key: string) => (key === 'contextTimeline' ? props.value : undefined),
+    useProjection,
   })
   const data = source.data
   return h('div', null,
@@ -451,10 +452,89 @@ describe('useTimelineSource', () => {
     await m.unmount()
   })
 
-  test('no projection value keeps the loading surface', async () => {
-    const m = await mount(h(SourceProbe, { ctx: ctxWithCall(() => ({ body: null })), sessionId: 's1', value: undefined }))
+  test('the cold start: no pushed value opens the channel itself and renders from the read', async () => {
+    let calls = 0
+    const ctx = ctxWithCall(() => {
+      calls++
+      return { body: { ok: true, value: detail(2, { head: slimHead(2) }) } }
+    })
+    const m = await mount(h(SourceProbe, { ctx, sessionId: 's1', value: undefined }))
+    // The first paint waits on the cold read — then the read's own slim head
+    // stands in for the never-pushed projection value.
     assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'state'), 'loading')
+    await until(() => probeRead(m.container, 'state') === 'ready', 'the cold read never landed')
+    assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'model'), 'm', 'the read head renders')
+    assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'rev'), '2')
+    assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'steps'), '1', 'the read collections merge')
+    assert.ok(calls >= 1)
+    await m.unmount()
+  })
+
+  test('a pushed head arriving after the cold read takes the channel back', async () => {
+    // The stub folds the served rev per the latest requested revision — the
+    // production route folds the requested session at its current watermark.
+    let servedRev = 1
+    vi.stubGlobal('fetch', async () => ({ ok: true, status: 200, json: async () => ({ ok: true, value: detail(servedRev, { head: slimHead(servedRev, { model: servedRev === 1 ? 'cold-m' : 'pushed-m' }) }) }) }))
+    const ctx = asClientCtx(new TestClientCtx())
+    // The probe reads `useProjection` through a mutable capture so an update
+    // rerender sees the freshly pushed head (the real seat reads per render).
+    let pushed: unknown = undefined
+    function PushProbe(): ReactElement {
+      return h(SourceProbe, {
+        ctx,
+        sessionId: 's1',
+        useProjection: (key: string) => (key === 'contextTimeline' ? pushed : undefined),
+      })
+    }
+    const m = await mount(h(PushProbe, null))
+    await until(() => probeRead(m.container, 'state') === 'ready', 'the cold read never landed')
+    assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'model'), 'cold-m')
+    // The pushed head outruns the cold read's revision: same per-session
+    // store, one trailing refetch, the pushed value renders.
+    servedRev = 2
+    pushed = slimHead(2, { model: 'pushed-m' })
+    await m.update(h(PushProbe, null))
+    assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'model'), 'pushed-m', 'the pushed head wins at once')
+    assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'rev'), '2', 'the pushed revision renders')
+    await until(() => detailStoreOf(ctx, 's1').getSnapshot().detail?.rev === 2, 'the pushed head never trailed the channel')
+    await m.unmount()
+  })
+
+  test('the cold read failing arms the retry affordance instead of stalling', async () => {
+    let online = false
+    const ctx = ctxWithCall(() => {
+      if (!online) throw new Error('offline')
+      return { body: { ok: true, value: detail(1, { head: slimHead(1) }) } }
+    })
+    const m = await mount(h(SourceProbe, { ctx, sessionId: 's1', value: undefined }))
+    await until(() => probeRead(m.container, 'state') === 'failed', 'the cold failure never surfaced')
     assert.equal(probeRead(m.container, 'steps'), 'null')
+    online = true
+    await act(async () => {
+      ;(m.container.querySelector('[data-k="retry"]') as HTMLElement).click()
+    })
+    await until(() => probeRead(m.container, 'state') === 'ready', 'the retry never recovered')
+    await m.unmount()
+  })
+
+  test('a cold payload without its head types the failure (nothing renderable, no stall)', async () => {
+    const ctx = ctxWithCall(() => ({ body: { ok: true, value: detail(1) } }))
+    const m = await mount(h(SourceProbe, { ctx, sessionId: 's1', value: undefined }))
+    await until(() => probeRead(m.container, 'state') === 'failed', 'the headless payload never surfaced')
+    await m.unmount()
+  })
+
+  test('an absent cold answer (the session left the live set) surfaces the failed note', async () => {
+    const ctx = ctxWithCall(() => ({ body: { ok: true, value: null } }))
+    const m = await mount(h(SourceProbe, { ctx, sessionId: 's1', value: undefined }))
+    await until(() => probeRead(m.container, 'state') === 'failed', 'absence never surfaced')
+    await m.unmount()
+  })
+
+  test('no session id to read for: the cold start types the failure, not an eternal spinner', async () => {
+    const ctx = ctxWithCall(() => ({ body: { ok: true, value: detail(1, { head: slimHead(1) }) } }))
+    const m = await mount(h(SourceProbe, { ctx, sessionId: '', value: undefined }))
+    await until(() => probeRead(m.container, 'state') === 'failed', 'the empty-id cold start never surfaced')
     await m.unmount()
   })