diff --git a/emrg/server/daemon.py b/emrg/server/daemon.py
index 55fa680f..59e948d4 100644
--- a/emrg/server/daemon.py
+++ b/emrg/server/daemon.py
@@ -409,6 +409,27 @@ def _non_regular_kind(path) -> str | None:
         return None
 
 
+def _refuse_non_regular_file(path) -> None:
+    """Raise, for a subject that cannot be read to an end, the ``OSError`` callers already answer.
+
+    The predicate above answers *what* the subject is; this states *what happens next* at a
+    site whose own ``except OSError`` already answers a file it cannot read — the refusal is
+    an ``OSError``, so it lands in that handler and the reading the caller gets is the one
+    its contract already promised for an unreadable file. Written once because the sites
+    that need it are one shape: no new branch at any of them, only the answer that
+    currently never arrives (`#2062`: a FIFO blocks at the open and raises nothing).
+
+    A missing subject does **not** raise: :func:`_non_regular_kind` answers ``None`` when
+    its ``stat`` fails, because absence is a case every caller here already has a branch
+    for, and a writer among them must keep reaching it.
+
+    :param path: the file about to be opened.
+    """
+    kind = _non_regular_kind(path)
+    if kind is not None:
+        raise OSError(f"{path} is {kind}, not a regular file")
+
+
 def _unreadable_index_notice(path, exc: BaseException, *, where: str) -> str:
     """The sentence both carriers of a memory index use when the file cannot be read.
 
@@ -1074,7 +1095,19 @@ def _rebuild_sessions_index(self) -> None:
 
         try:
             project_paths: list[str] = []
-            if self._projects_log.exists():
+            kind = _non_regular_kind(self._projects_log)
+            if kind is not None:
+                # Not opened, and **said so** rather than caught and dropped: the reader
+                # below answers a registry it cannot read with no paths, and the
+                # difference between "the file is not there" and "the file cannot be
+                # read to an end" is the whole point of asking the kind (`#2062`). A FIFO
+                # here would hold this startup task — and the event loop with it — for
+                # ever, before any client can connect.
+                logger.debug(
+                    "sessions index backfill: %s is %s, not a regular file; not opened",
+                    self._projects_log, kind,
+                )
+            elif self._projects_log.exists():
                 try:
                     data = yaml.safe_load(self._projects_log.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
                     if isinstance(data, list):
@@ -1904,6 +1937,20 @@ def _touch_project(self, cwd: str) -> None:
 
         # Read existing entries (normalize by realpath to avoid duplicates)
         projects: dict[str, dict] = {}
+        kind = _non_regular_kind(self._projects_log)
+        if kind is not None:
+            # Skipped, and skipped **before** the read rather than inside the `except`
+            # below: this method reads the registry and then rewrites it, so falling
+            # through to the "rebuilding" branch would answer a host file it could not
+            # read with an **empty** registry — deleting every project the host
+            # registered, in one write, to report a problem it never mentioned.
+            # Registration is bookkeeping, so the honest reading is "not this time":
+            # the file keeps what it had and the warning names the kind.
+            logger.warning(
+                "_touch_project: %s is %s, not a regular file — leaving the project "
+                "registry unread and unrewritten", self._projects_log, kind,
+            )
+            return
         if self._projects_log.exists():
             try:
                 data = yaml.safe_load(self._projects_log.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
@@ -2477,13 +2524,11 @@ def _cap_memory_index(self, path) -> str:
         # only reader. Both scopes are measured in
         # `tests/test_memory_index_thresholds.py`.
         limit = INDEX_SIZE_WARN
-        kind = _non_regular_kind(path)
-        if kind is not None:
-            # Raised, not answered: this is a pure function whose one production caller
-            # (`_index_for_prompt`) already turns a read it cannot do into the notice
-            # the prompt carries, so the condition reaches the agent with its carrier
-            # named — the same shape as an index that is not valid UTF-8.
-            raise OSError(f"{path} is {kind}, not a regular file")
+        # Raised, not answered: this is a pure function whose one production caller
+        # (`_index_for_prompt`) already turns a read it cannot do into the notice
+        # the prompt carries, so the condition reaches the agent with its carrier
+        # named — the same shape as an index that is not valid UTF-8.
+        _refuse_non_regular_file(path)
         text = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
         if len(text) <= limit:
             return text
@@ -2643,11 +2688,9 @@ def _index_for_frame(self, path) -> str:
         try:
             if not path.exists():
                 return ""
-            kind = _non_regular_kind(path)
-            if kind is not None:
-                # Same condition, same answer as an index that cannot be decoded: the
-                # frame keeps its rows and the `index` field carries the notice.
-                raise OSError(f"{path} is {kind}, not a regular file")
+            # Same condition, same answer as an index that cannot be decoded: the
+            # frame keeps its rows and the `index` field carries the notice.
+            _refuse_non_regular_file(path)
             return path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
         except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError) as exc:
             logger.debug("memory index could not be read: %s", path, exc_info=True)
@@ -6059,6 +6102,11 @@ async def _handle_list_projects(
         projects: list[dict] = []
         try:
             if self._projects_log.exists():
+                # Every client asks this on connect, so an unguarded open here is the
+                # daemon's event loop stopping on the first frame a GUI or TUI sends —
+                # the refusal lands in the `except` below, which is already this
+                # method's answer for a registry it cannot read (`#2062`).
+                _refuse_non_regular_file(self._projects_log)
                 data = yaml.safe_load(self._projects_log.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
                 if isinstance(data, list):
                     entries = [p for p in data if isinstance(p, dict)]
@@ -6118,6 +6166,10 @@ async def _handle_remove_project(self, name: str, ws) -> None:
             })
             return
         try:
+            # The same refusal as `_handle_list_projects`, and this caller already has
+            # the branch for it: an unreadable registry is answered with `removed:
+            # false` and the reason, so a FIFO cannot hold the event loop (`#2062`).
+            _refuse_non_regular_file(self._projects_log)
             data = yaml.safe_load(self._projects_log.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
         except (yaml.YAMLError, OSError):
             logger.exception("remove_project: failed to read %s", self._projects_log)
diff --git a/tests/test_daemon.py b/tests/test_daemon.py
index aa547187..4abd8dcf 100644
--- a/tests/test_daemon.py
+++ b/tests/test_daemon.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 from emrg.server.scheduler import TaskHandler, TaskScheduler
 from emrg.tools import base as base_mod
 from tests.task_handler_factory import make_handler
+from tests.bounded_read import DEADLINE_SECONDS, within
 from emrg.session import Session, _validate_tool_messages
 
 
@@ -4820,6 +4821,173 @@ def test_the_rant_panel_survives_a_legacy_array_row_and_a_bare_scalar(tmp_path):
     assert frames[0]["rants"][0]["project"] == "emrg", frames[0]
 
 
+# ── projects.yml: the registry every client reads first ─────────────
+#
+# These are the daemon's four readers of one file, `~/.emrg/projects.yml`, and each of
+# them runs on the daemon's **event loop**: the startup backfill, the per-message project
+# touch, `list_projects` — which every client sends on connect, so it is the first frame
+# a GUI or TUI ever gets an answer to — and `remove_project`. A FIFO at that path
+# therefore does not fail a request, it stops the daemon answering anyone again, which is
+# the condition issue #2062 named for the three file tools and #2073 for the daemon's own
+# readers. Measured 2026-10-11 (`cyc20261011-173122`) on master `60541e39`: each of the
+# four calls below **did not return** under a FIFO, while the pipe-free controls ran.
+#
+# Two shapes, and the difference is deliberate: a **reader** answers the refusal through
+# the `except OSError` it already has for a registry it cannot read (so no new branch is
+# added), while `_touch_project` — which reads the registry and then **rewrites** it —
+# skips the registration instead of falling through to its "rebuilding" branch, because
+# that branch would answer a host file it could not read with an *empty* registry and
+# delete every project the host had registered.
+#
+# Every arm is bounded by `within`, so a removed guard is a **5 s failure** rather than a
+# wedged pytest run (the `no_verdict` trap `tests/bounded_read.py` states). The FIFO arms
+# are skipped where `mkfifo` does not exist, so each site also carries a pipe-free arm in
+# the same shape — a **directory** — which the Windows leg runs: an unguarded read answers
+# a directory with `IsADirectoryError`'s own message, so asserting the refusal *names the
+# kind* is what makes these discriminate rather than merely pass.
+
+
+@_needs_mkfifo
+def test_a_named_pipe_registry_does_not_stop_the_project_listing(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """The first frame every client sends: answered, not blocked on the open."""
+    server = _make_server()
+    fifo = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    os.mkfifo(fifo)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_projects_log", fifo)
+    writer = _FakeWriter()
+
+    within(DEADLINE_SECONDS, lambda: asyncio.run(server._handle_list_projects(writer)))
+
+    replies = _decode_frames(writer)
+    assert len(replies) == 1 and replies[0]["type"] == "projects_list", replies
+    assert replies[0]["projects"] == [], replies
+
+
+def test_a_directory_registry_is_refused_by_its_kind_in_the_listing(
+        tmp_path, monkeypatch, caplog):
+    """The pipe-free half: the refusal names the kind, which is what discriminates."""
+    server = _make_server()
+    registry = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    registry.mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_projects_log", registry)
+    writer = _FakeWriter()
+
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.ERROR):
+        asyncio.run(server._handle_list_projects(writer))
+
+    assert _decode_frames(writer)[0]["projects"] == []
+    assert "not a regular file" in caplog.text, (
+        "the read was refused by its kind — an unguarded one reports the raw "
+        f"directory error instead: {caplog.text}")
+
+
+@_needs_mkfifo
+def test_a_named_pipe_registry_is_neither_read_nor_rewritten_by_touch_project(
+        tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """The read-then-write site: skipped, and the registry is left as it was."""
+    import stat
+
+    server = _make_server()
+    fifo = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    os.mkfifo(fifo)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_projects_log", fifo)
+
+    within(DEADLINE_SECONDS, lambda: server._touch_project(str(tmp_path)))
+
+    assert stat.S_ISFIFO(os.stat(fifo).st_mode), (
+        "the registry was rewritten — a read that answered 'no entries' would have "
+        "deleted every project the host registered")
+
+
+def test_a_directory_registry_warns_touch_project_and_keeps_it(
+        tmp_path, monkeypatch, caplog):
+    """The pipe-free half: the warning names the kind, and no write replaces it."""
+    server = _make_server()
+    registry = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    registry.mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_projects_log", registry)
+
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING):
+        server._touch_project(str(tmp_path))
+
+    assert registry.is_dir(), "the registry was replaced by the write this guard prevents"
+    assert "not a regular file" in caplog.text, (
+        f"the read was refused by its kind, and the warning says so: {caplog.text}")
+
+
+@_needs_mkfifo
+def test_a_named_pipe_registry_does_not_stop_the_index_backfill(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Startup: the backfill runs with no project paths rather than never returning."""
+    from emrg import sessions_index as sessions_index_mod
+
+    server = _make_server()
+    fifo = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    os.mkfifo(fifo)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_projects_log", fifo)
+    seen: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        sessions_index_mod, "rebuild_sessions_index",
+        lambda cfg, paths: (seen.update(paths=list(paths)), 0)[1],
+    )
+
+    within(DEADLINE_SECONDS, server._rebuild_sessions_index)
+
+    assert seen.get("paths") == [], (
+        "the backfill read a registry it could not read instead of skipping it")
+
+
+def test_a_directory_registry_is_refused_by_its_kind_in_the_backfill(
+        tmp_path, monkeypatch, caplog):
+    """The pipe-free half, read through the log: the skip names the kind."""
+    from emrg import sessions_index as sessions_index_mod
+
+    server = _make_server()
+    registry = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    registry.mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_projects_log", registry)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        sessions_index_mod, "rebuild_sessions_index", lambda cfg, paths: 0)
+
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.DEBUG):
+        server._rebuild_sessions_index()
+
+    assert "not a regular file" in caplog.text, caplog.text
+
+
+@_needs_mkfifo
+def test_a_named_pipe_registry_does_not_stop_remove_project(tmp_path):
+    """The removal answers `removed: false` with its reason, as for a corrupt file."""
+    server = _make_server()
+    fifo = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    os.mkfifo(fifo)
+    server._projects_log = fifo
+    writer = _FakeWriter()
+
+    within(DEADLINE_SECONDS,
+           lambda: asyncio.run(server._handle_remove_project("alpha", writer)))
+
+    replies = _decode_frames(writer)
+    assert replies and replies[0]["type"] == "project_removed", replies
+    assert replies[0]["removed"] is False, replies
+    assert "failed to read" in replies[0].get("error", ""), replies
+
+
+def test_a_directory_registry_is_refused_by_its_kind_in_remove_project(
+        tmp_path, monkeypatch, caplog):
+    """The pipe-free half: the same refusal, observed through the log."""
+    server = _make_server()
+    registry = tmp_path / "projects.yml"
+    registry.mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.setattr(server, "_projects_log", registry)
+    writer = _FakeWriter()
+
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.ERROR):
+        asyncio.run(server._handle_remove_project("alpha", writer))
+
+    assert _decode_frames(writer)[0]["removed"] is False
+    assert "not a regular file" in caplog.text, caplog.text
+
+
 
 # ── the daemon's own `~/.emrg/logs` files ────────────────────────────────────────────
 #