diff --git a/src/client/components/contextModal.tsx b/src/client/components/contextModal.tsx
index 3a9b332..39683a5 100644
--- a/src/client/components/contextModal.tsx
+++ b/src/client/components/contextModal.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { useTimelineSource } from '../timelineSource'
 import type { ViewKit } from '../viewkit'
 import { makeContextBrowser } from './browser'
 import { makeCurrentComposition } from './currentComposition'
+import { makeDetailNote } from './detailNote'
 import { makeErrorBoundary } from './errorBoundary'
 import { useEscapeClose } from './escapeClose'
 import { makeLegend, makeStackedBar } from './stackedBar'
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ export function makeContextModal(
   const Legend = makeLegend(kit)
   const CurrentComposition = makeCurrentComposition(kit, StackedBar, Legend)
   const ContextBrowser = makeContextBrowser(kit, StackedBar, settings)
+  const DetailNote = makeDetailNote(kit)
   const ErrorBoundary = makeErrorBoundary(t)
 
   function ContextModalBody(props: ContextModalProps): ReactElement | null {
@@ -125,7 +127,11 @@ export function makeContextModal(
           </div>
 
           {data === null || head === null ? (
-            <div className="lc-empty">{t('loading')}</div>
+            source.detailState === 'failed' ? (
+              <DetailNote state="failed" onRetry={source.retryDetail} />
+            ) : (
+              <div className="lc-empty">{t('loading')}</div>
+            )
           ) : (
             <div>
               <CurrentComposition
diff --git a/src/client/components/contextView.tsx b/src/client/components/contextView.tsx
index 3550087..24e56ac 100644
--- a/src/client/components/contextView.tsx
+++ b/src/client/components/contextView.tsx
@@ -362,7 +362,16 @@ export function makeContextView(
     }, [activeReq, activeIdx, displayRequests])
 
     if (!data) {
-      return <div className="lc-root" ref={rootRef}><div className="lc-empty">{t('loading')}</div></div>
+      // No renderable value: the cold read is still in flight (the loading
+      // screen) or settled without one — the retryable failure note, never a
+      // spinner that never resolves.
+      return (
+        <div className="lc-root" ref={rootRef}>
+          {source.detailState === 'failed'
+            ? <DetailNote state="failed" onRetry={source.retryDetail} />
+            : <div className="lc-empty">{t('loading')}</div>}
+        </div>
+      )
     }
 
     const markerOf = (req: RequestRecord): ContextEventRecord | undefined => {
diff --git a/src/client/timelineSource.ts b/src/client/timelineSource.ts
index 28574ac..a7377d2 100644
--- a/src/client/timelineSource.ts
+++ b/src/client/timelineSource.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@
  * stops the trailing until the head moves again. With no detail at all,
  * failure surfaces as a retryable note on the detail cards instead of an
  * empty chart.
+ *
+ * The cold start: a session can sit with NO pushed `contextTimeline` value
+ * at all — the enable recomposition raced its open baseline (and the
+ * projection store clears a key its baseline omits), or its checkpoint row
+ * is missing or version-stale on a cold-observed session. Waiting for a
+ * push that never comes would stall the view on "loading" forever, so the
+ * source opens the detail channel on its own (rev 0): the route folds the
+ * durable log on demand and serves the slim head beside the collections,
+ * and the next pushed head takes the channel back per its own revision.
  */
 
 import { useEffect, useMemo, useSyncExternalStore } from 'react'
@@ -283,38 +292,63 @@ export function useTimelineSource(ctx: ClientCtx, props: SessionStandardProps):
   // inline generation — `headRev` null means no detail channel work at all.
   const headRev = head !== null && typeof head.detailRev === 'number' ? head.detailRev : null
   const slim = headRev !== null
+  // The cold start arms whenever no value has been pushed: the channel is
+  // opened by the source itself (rev 0) instead of waiting on a push that
+  // may never come (the enable recomposition raced the baseline, a cleared
+  // or stale checkpoint row). The store is per session, so the cold read's
+  // result carries straight into the pushed generation's later refetches.
+  const cold = head === null
   const store = useMemo(
-    () => (slim ? detailStoreOf(ctx, sessionId) : null),
-    [ctx, sessionId, slim],
+    () => (slim || cold ? detailStoreOf(ctx, sessionId) : null),
+    [ctx, sessionId, slim, cold],
   )
   const snap = useSyncExternalStore(
     store !== null ? store.subscribe : noopSubscribe,
     store !== null ? store.getSnapshot : () => EMPTY_SNAP,
   )
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (store !== null && headRev !== null) store.request(headRev)
+    // The pushed head's revision drives the trailing refetch; the cold start
+    // requests rev 0 — acceptance is rev-safe, and a head that arrives later
+    // trails per its own revision.
+    if (store !== null) store.request(headRev ?? 0)
   }, [store, headRev])
 
   return useMemo<TimelineSource>(() => {
-    if (head === null) return { data: null, detailState: 'loading', retryDetail: noopRetry }
-    if (!slim || store === null) return { data: head, detailState: 'legacy', retryDetail: noopRetry }
     const detail = snap.detail
-    const data: ContextTimeline = detail === null
-      ? head
-      : {
-        ...head,
-        requests: detail.requests,
-        events: detail.events,
-        nodes: detail.nodes,
-        droppedNodes: detail.droppedNodes,
-        archive: detail.archive,
-        // Slim heads serve no floors; the detail's pair lands whole here.
-        ...(detail.surfaceFloor !== undefined ? { surfaceFloor: detail.surfaceFloor } : {}),
-        ...(detail.archiveFloor !== undefined ? { archiveFloor: detail.archiveFloor } : {}),
-        ...(detail.fileOps !== undefined ? { fileOps: detail.fileOps } : {}),
-        ...(detail.fileOpsFloor !== undefined ? { fileOpsFloor: detail.fileOpsFloor } : {}),
-      }
-    const detailState: DetailState = detail !== null ? 'ready' : snap.failed ? 'failed' : 'loading'
-    return { data, detailState, retryDetail: store.retry }
+    // A head-with-detail can only exist through a live channel store — the
+    // fallback covers TS's narrowing loss, never a real state.
+    const retry = store !== null ? store.retry : noopRetry
+    // The inline generation passes through untouched — no store exists, the
+    // collections never ride the channel.
+    if (head !== null && !slim) return { data: head, detailState: 'legacy', retryDetail: noopRetry }
+    // The render head: the pushed value, or — while nothing has been pushed —
+    // the detail read's own slim head.
+    const base = head !== null ? head : detail !== null ? detail.head ?? null : null
+    if (base === null) {
+      // Nothing renderable: the cold read still pending, or settled without
+      // a usable value (transport failure, absence, a headless payload) —
+      // the retryable failure, never a spinner that never resolves.
+      const failed = store !== null && (snap.failed || detail !== null)
+      return { data: null, detailState: failed ? 'failed' : 'loading', retryDetail: retry }
+    }
+    if (detail === null) {
+      // The head's own counters render while the first read is in flight (or
+      // once it settled without data — the failure note rides beside).
+      return { data: base, detailState: snap.failed ? 'failed' : 'loading', retryDetail: retry }
+    }
+    const data: ContextTimeline = {
+      ...base,
+      requests: detail.requests,
+      events: detail.events,
+      nodes: detail.nodes,
+      droppedNodes: detail.droppedNodes,
+      archive: detail.archive,
+      // Slim heads serve no floors; the detail's pair lands whole here.
+      ...(detail.surfaceFloor !== undefined ? { surfaceFloor: detail.surfaceFloor } : {}),
+      ...(detail.archiveFloor !== undefined ? { archiveFloor: detail.archiveFloor } : {}),
+      ...(detail.fileOps !== undefined ? { fileOps: detail.fileOps } : {}),
+      ...(detail.fileOpsFloor !== undefined ? { fileOpsFloor: detail.fileOpsFloor } : {}),
+    }
+    return { data, detailState: 'ready', retryDetail: retry }
   }, [head, slim, store, snap])
 }