diff --git a/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/components/layout/app-shell.svelte b/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/components/layout/app-shell.svelte
index 9d83b8b7c..5e0317268 100644
--- a/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/components/layout/app-shell.svelte
+++ b/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/components/layout/app-shell.svelte
@@ -667,8 +667,13 @@
 
         <!-- Pane Manager - positioned to span both tabs and content grid areas -->
         <div class="pane-manager-wrapper">
-          <!-- PaneManager now renders content directly via PaneContent components -->
-          <PaneManager />
+          <!-- PaneManager now renders content directly via PaneContent components.
+               Mounted only once a database is selected: `databaseStore.load()`
+               points the routed clients at it before committing the selection,
+               so restored tabs never read from the daemon default first. -->
+          {#if databaseStore.activeDatabaseId !== null}
+            <PaneManager />
+          {/if}
         </div>
 
         <!-- Overlay chrome slot — registry-driven, floats top-right of the
diff --git a/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/stores/database.svelte.ts b/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/stores/database.svelte.ts
index 59a22c4ff..025a3ad8e 100644
--- a/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/stores/database.svelte.ts
+++ b/packages/desktop-app/src/lib/stores/database.svelte.ts
@@ -146,6 +146,14 @@ class DatabaseStore {
    */
   private switchSeq = 0;
 
+  /**
+   * Number of `switchTo` calls between their `switchSeq` bump and settling.
+   * `load()` skips its startup routing while one is in flight: that switch
+   * may already have sent `set_active_database`, and a later send from
+   * `load()` would re-point routing away from the database the switch commits.
+   */
+  private switchesInFlight = 0;
+
   /** The database currently being viewed, or `null` if none is selected. */
   get activeDatabase(): DatabaseInfo | null {
     return this.databases.find((db) => db.id === this.activeDatabaseId) ?? null;
@@ -189,6 +197,7 @@ class DatabaseStore {
         // A database named for *this launch* wins over the remembered one: it is
         // set only when the user picked that database from the tray, which is a
         // more specific instruction than "whatever you had open last time".
+        const seqAtStart = this.switchSeq;
         const registered = (id: string | null): string | null =>
           id !== null && this.databases.some((db) => db.id === id) ? id : null;
 
@@ -200,16 +209,39 @@ class DatabaseStore {
         // Re-check after the awaits above. A second `load()` runs on every
         // launch — the daemon-reconnect listener fires one — and both can pass
         // the outer check before either assigns. Assigning unconditionally lets
-        // whichever finishes last overwrite a selection already made.
-        if (this.activeDatabaseId === null) {
-          this.activeDatabaseId = resolved;
+        // whichever finishes last overwrite a selection already made. A tray
+        // pick (`switchTo`) that started since this load began, or is still in
+        // flight, owns the selection and its routing, so defer to it too.
+        const superseded = (): boolean =>
+          this.activeDatabaseId !== null || this.switchSeq !== seqAtStart;
+        if (superseded() || this.switchesInFlight > 0) return;
+
+        // Point the routed gRPC clients (and the node-event watcher) at the
+        // restored database before committing the selection, as `switchTo`
+        // does. Otherwise the switcher and window pin show the restored
+        // database while node/import/agent requests still route to the daemon
+        // default. A switch that starts while this awaits sends its own
+        // `set_active_database` after this one, so it wins; the re-check
+        // below leaves its selection alone.
+        await invoke('set_active_database', { id: resolved });
+        if (superseded()) return;
+
+        this.activeDatabaseId = resolved;
+        if (resolved !== null) {
+          this.pinWindowDatabase(resolved);
+          this.activateProSync(resolved);
+        }
+
+        if (resolved !== null && resolved !== this.defaultDatabaseId) {
+          // The sidebar's boot-time loads went out before routing was set, so
+          // the daemon default answered them. Drop and reload them from the
+          // restored database. Workspace panes mount only once a database is
+          // selected, so restored tabs never read before this point.
+          this.evictAndReloadActiveDatabase();
+        } else {
           // Hydrate the active database's DatabaseSettingsNode so the Pro-sync
           // variant machine can read sync_enabled/auth_status.
           this.refreshDatabaseSettings();
-          if (resolved !== null) {
-            this.pinWindowDatabase(resolved);
-            this.activateProSync(resolved);
-          }
         }
       }
     } catch (err) {
@@ -387,6 +419,7 @@ class DatabaseStore {
     }
     this.error = null;
     const seq = ++this.switchSeq;
+    this.switchesInFlight++;
     try {
       // Land any in-flight debounced saves in the database they were made
       // against before the routed clients re-point.
@@ -408,15 +441,7 @@ class DatabaseStore {
       // failure must not abort the already-committed routing switch.
       this.activateProSync(id);
 
-      // Evict the previous database's cached data. `clearAll()` also bumps the
-      // store's database epoch, which closes the in-flight-read window: a read
-      // (e.g. loadChildren/getNode) dispatched against the previous database
-      // *before* this switch whose response resolves after this clear captured
-      // the old epoch and is dropped instead of writing the previous
-      // database's rows into the now-active store (see
-      // `sharedNodeStore.currentEpoch()`).
-      sharedNodeStore.clearAll();
-      structureTree.clear();
+      this.evictAndReloadActiveDatabase();
 
       // Reset the workspace: open tabs referenced the previous database's
       // nodes, so drop them and land on the new database's daily journal
@@ -434,53 +459,73 @@ class DatabaseStore {
         },
         true
       );
-
-      // Reload the sidebar from the new database. The locally-created
-      // exemptions belong to the database being left — collection ids are
-      // derived from the name, so keeping them would wrongly un-hide a
-      // same-named empty collection in the new one.
-      collectionsData.forgetLocallyCreated();
-      // The per-collection member-node cache is keyed by collection id, which
-      // is name-derived and can collide across databases — without this, a
-      // same-named collection in the new database would render the *previous*
-      // database's cached member nodes as its own contents.
-      collectionsData.invalidateAllMembers();
-      collectionsData.loadCollections();
-      // Drop the sub-panel selection too: `collectionsState.selectedCollectionId`
-      // / `subPanelOpen` are not evicted by anything above, so a panel left open
-      // on a DB-A collection would otherwise keep rendering (now-stale) DB-A
-      // members against DB-B, including for a DB-B collection that happens to
-      // share the id.
-      collectionsState.reset();
-      // Same id-collision hazard as the member cache above, for the Pro
-      // membership roster/invites/requests cache (has_role edges are
-      // per-database — ADR-053).
-      membership.invalidateForDatabaseSwitch();
-      // As with collectionsData.forgetLocallyCreated() above: invalidate any
-      // in-flight loadSchemas before reloading, so its result can't land in
-      // a store that now represents a different database.
-      schemasData.invalidateForDatabaseSwitch();
-      schemasData.loadSchemas();
-      // As with collectionsData.forgetLocallyCreated() above: invalidate any
-      // in-flight "+ New chat" create before reloading, so its result can't
-      // land in a store that now represents a different database.
-      aiChatsData.invalidateForDatabaseSwitch();
-      aiChatsData.loadAiChats();
-      // Re-sync the schema plugin registry (hasTitleTemplate/titleTemplate)
-      // against the newly-active database's schemas — otherwise a custom type
-      // keeps resolving titles via the previous database's template (or, for a
-      // type unique to the new database, via no template at all) until the
-      // next app restart.
-      void resyncSchemaPluginsForDatabaseSwitch();
-      // Re-hydrate the new database's DatabaseSettingsNode (the previous one was
-      // evicted by clearAll) so the Pro-sync variant re-resolves for it.
-      this.refreshDatabaseSettings();
     } catch (err) {
       this.error = toError(err).message;
       log.error('Failed to switch database', { id, error: err });
+    } finally {
+      this.switchesInFlight--;
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Evict every per-database cache and reload the database-scoped stores
+   * from the currently-routed database. Used by `switchTo`, and by `load()`
+   * when the restored database is not the daemon default (reads issued
+   * before routing was set were answered by the default).
+   */
+  private evictAndReloadActiveDatabase(): void {
+    // Evict the previous database's cached data. `clearAll()` also bumps the
+    // store's database epoch, which closes the in-flight-read window: a read
+    // (e.g. loadChildren/getNode) dispatched against the previous database
+    // *before* this switch whose response resolves after this clear captured
+    // the old epoch and is dropped instead of writing the previous
+    // database's rows into the now-active store (see
+    // `sharedNodeStore.currentEpoch()`).
+    sharedNodeStore.clearAll();
+    structureTree.clear();
+
+    // Reload the sidebar from the new database. The locally-created
+    // exemptions belong to the database being left — collection ids are
+    // derived from the name, so keeping them would wrongly un-hide a
+    // same-named empty collection in the new one.
+    collectionsData.forgetLocallyCreated();
+    // The per-collection member-node cache is keyed by collection id, which
+    // is name-derived and can collide across databases — without this, a
+    // same-named collection in the new database would render the *previous*
+    // database's cached member nodes as its own contents.
+    collectionsData.invalidateAllMembers();
+    collectionsData.loadCollections();
+    // Drop the sub-panel selection too: `collectionsState.selectedCollectionId`
+    // / `subPanelOpen` are not evicted by anything above, so a panel left open
+    // on a DB-A collection would otherwise keep rendering (now-stale) DB-A
+    // members against DB-B, including for a DB-B collection that happens to
+    // share the id.
+    collectionsState.reset();
+    // Same id-collision hazard as the member cache above, for the Pro
+    // membership roster/invites/requests cache (has_role edges are
+    // per-database — ADR-053).
+    membership.invalidateForDatabaseSwitch();
+    // As with collectionsData.forgetLocallyCreated() above: invalidate any
+    // in-flight loadSchemas before reloading, so its result can't land in
+    // a store that now represents a different database.
+    schemasData.invalidateForDatabaseSwitch();
+    schemasData.loadSchemas();
+    // As with collectionsData.forgetLocallyCreated() above: invalidate any
+    // in-flight "+ New chat" create before reloading, so its result can't
+    // land in a store that now represents a different database.
+    aiChatsData.invalidateForDatabaseSwitch();
+    aiChatsData.loadAiChats();
+    // Re-sync the schema plugin registry (hasTitleTemplate/titleTemplate)
+    // against the newly-active database's schemas — otherwise a custom type
+    // keeps resolving titles via the previous database's template (or, for a
+    // type unique to the new database, via no template at all) until the
+    // next app restart.
+    void resyncSchemaPluginsForDatabaseSwitch();
+    // Re-hydrate the new database's DatabaseSettingsNode (the previous one was
+    // evicted by clearAll) so the Pro-sync variant re-resolves for it.
+    this.refreshDatabaseSettings();
+  }
+
   /**
    * Force-refetch the active database's `DatabaseSettingsNode` into the shared
    * store (bypassing the cache-first `ensureNode` path) so the Pro-sync variant
diff --git a/packages/desktop-app/src/tests/stores/database.test.ts b/packages/desktop-app/src/tests/stores/database.test.ts
index f22d30eaf..b9ce96a8f 100644
--- a/packages/desktop-app/src/tests/stores/database.test.ts
+++ b/packages/desktop-app/src/tests/stores/database.test.ts
@@ -285,6 +285,130 @@ describe('Database Store', () => {
       expect(databaseStore.activeDatabaseId).toBe('b');
     });
 
+    it('routes the gRPC clients to the restored database before committing the selection', async () => {
+      // A remembered (non-default) database must also become the routing
+      // target; otherwise the switcher shows it while every request still goes
+      // to the daemon default.
+      localStorage.setItem('nodespace.activeDatabaseId', 'a');
+      let activeWhenRouted: string | null | undefined;
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string) => {
+        if (cmd === 'list_databases') {
+          return Promise.resolve({
+            databases: [db('a'), db('b', { isDefault: true })],
+            defaultDatabaseId: 'b'
+          });
+        }
+        if (cmd === 'set_active_database') activeWhenRouted = databaseStore.activeDatabaseId;
+        return Promise.resolve(undefined);
+      });
+
+      await databaseStore.load();
+
+      expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith('set_active_database', { id: 'a' });
+      expect(activeWhenRouted).toBeNull();
+      expect(databaseStore.activeDatabaseId).toBe('a');
+      expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith('pin_window_database', { id: 'a' });
+    });
+
+    it('reloads the database-scoped stores when the restored database is not the default', async () => {
+      // The sidebar's boot-time loads went out unrouted (answered by the
+      // default), so they must be dropped and reloaded from the restored one.
+      localStorage.setItem('nodespace.activeDatabaseId', 'a');
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string) => {
+        if (cmd === 'list_databases') {
+          return Promise.resolve({
+            databases: [db('a'), db('b', { isDefault: true })],
+            defaultDatabaseId: 'b'
+          });
+        }
+        return Promise.resolve(undefined);
+      });
+
+      await databaseStore.load();
+
+      expect(clearAll).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(forgetLocallyCreated).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(loadCollections).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(schemasInvalidateForDatabaseSwitch).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(loadSchemas).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(invalidateForDatabaseSwitch).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(loadAiChats).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      expect(mockGetNode).toHaveBeenCalledWith(DATABASE_SETTINGS_NODE_ID);
+      // Startup keeps the restored tabs; only a switch resets the workspace.
+      expect(clearAllTabs).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('does not reload the stores when the restored database is the default', async () => {
+      mockInvoke.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        databases: [db('a'), db('b', { isDefault: true })],
+        defaultDatabaseId: 'b'
+      });
+
+      await databaseStore.load();
+
+      expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith('set_active_database', { id: 'b' });
+      expect(clearAll).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(loadCollections).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(mockGetNode).toHaveBeenCalledWith(DATABASE_SETTINGS_NODE_ID);
+    });
+
+    it('lets a tray switch that lands while load() is routing win', async () => {
+      let releaseRouting: () => void = () => {};
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string, args?: { id?: string }) => {
+        if (cmd === 'list_databases') {
+          return Promise.resolve({
+            databases: [db('a'), db('b', { isDefault: true })],
+            defaultDatabaseId: 'b'
+          });
+        }
+        if (cmd === 'set_active_database' && args?.id === 'b') {
+          return new Promise<void>((resolve) => (releaseRouting = resolve));
+        }
+        return Promise.resolve(undefined);
+      });
+
+      const loading = databaseStore.load();
+      await vi.waitFor(() =>
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith('set_active_database', { id: 'b' })
+      );
+      await databaseStore.switchTo('a');
+      releaseRouting();
+      await loading;
+
+      expect(databaseStore.activeDatabaseId).toBe('a');
+    });
+
+    it('does not route when a tray switch already sent its own routing call', async () => {
+      // The reverse ordering: switchTo('a') has sent set_active_database but
+      // not committed yet when load() resolves. A later send from load() would
+      // re-point routing to 'b' while the switch commits 'a'.
+      let releaseSwitch: () => void = () => {};
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string, args?: { id?: string }) => {
+        if (cmd === 'list_databases') {
+          return Promise.resolve({
+            databases: [db('a'), db('b', { isDefault: true })],
+            defaultDatabaseId: 'b'
+          });
+        }
+        if (cmd === 'set_active_database' && args?.id === 'a') {
+          return new Promise<void>((resolve) => (releaseSwitch = resolve));
+        }
+        return Promise.resolve(undefined);
+      });
+      databaseStore.databases = [db('a'), db('b', { isDefault: true })];
+
+      const switching = databaseStore.switchTo('a');
+      await vi.waitFor(() =>
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith('set_active_database', { id: 'a' })
+      );
+      await databaseStore.load();
+      releaseSwitch();
+      await switching;
+
+      expect(mockInvoke).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith('set_active_database', { id: 'b' });
+      expect(databaseStore.activeDatabaseId).toBe('a');
+    });
+
     it('records an error when the list fails', async () => {
       mockInvoke.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('boom'));
       await databaseStore.load();