diff --git a/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/net/GatewayClient.kt b/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/net/GatewayClient.kt
index 1aaa940..5fcd2cd 100644
--- a/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/net/GatewayClient.kt
+++ b/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/net/GatewayClient.kt
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import iris.protocol.ServerCaps
 import iris.protocol.messageSendFrame
 import iris.protocol.syncFrame
 import iris.util.IrisLog
+import iris.util.nowMillis
 import kotlinx.coroutines.CancellationException
 import kotlinx.coroutines.CompletableDeferred
 import kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineScope
@@ -110,6 +111,16 @@ class GatewayClient(
     // reconnect state race in the connect loop.
     private var lastAck: HelloAckPayload? = null
 
+    // Epoch ms of the last frame delivered by the receive stream (SSE or
+    // long-poll). The watchdog uses this to detect a STALE stream: a live
+    // connection (heartbeats / poll answers keep it open, so the read timeout
+    // never fires) that has stopped delivering frames — the state a gateway
+    // restart can leave the app in, where sent messages sit at "sending…"
+    // because their echo is never delivered (issue #6). Set when the receive
+    // loop (re)starts so the first window isn't treated as stale.
+    @Volatile
+    private var lastFrameMs: Long = 0L
+
     /**
      * Fired promptly the moment the SSE hello (hello.ack) is received — on
      * every (re)connect. Used for time-critical work that must not wait for
@@ -186,6 +197,7 @@ class GatewayClient(
             sseFailures = 0
             usingLongPoll = false
             httpCursor = store.syncCursor
+            lastFrameMs = nowMs()
             // Provisional Connected state (previous caps/channels) until the
             // SSE hello arrives with the real ones.
             val prev = _state.value
@@ -217,6 +229,16 @@ class GatewayClient(
                         receiveJob.cancel()
                         break
                     }
+                    // Stale-stream watchdog: the gateway is up (health ok) but
+                    // the receive stream has delivered no frames for a while —
+                    // a live-but-dead connection the read timeout can't see.
+                    // Force a fresh (re)connect so parked frames (e.g. our own
+                    // echo) are re-delivered from the outbox.
+                    if (lastFrameMs > 0L && nowMs() - lastFrameMs > STALE_STREAM_TIMEOUT_MS) {
+                        IrisLog.w("receive stream stale (no frames for ${STALE_STREAM_TIMEOUT_MS}ms); forcing reconnect")
+                        receiveJob.cancel()
+                        break
+                    }
                 }
                 receiveJob.join()
             }
@@ -321,16 +343,24 @@ class GatewayClient(
 
     /** The receive stream is open again (long-poll answered): the link is
      *  back. Long-poll has no hello, so restore the Connected state from the
-     *  last hello.ack (the SSE path gets a fresh one). */
+     *  last hello.ack (the SSE path gets a fresh one). Fire [onHelloAck] too:
+     *  the long-poll path has no `event: hello`, so without this the app's
+     *  "on connected" side effects (resend queued offline sends, load the
+     *  active lane's history) never run when a gateway restart lands while
+     *  the app is on the long-poll fallback — queued messages would sit at
+     *  "sending…" forever until an app restart (issue #6). */
     private fun restoreConnected() {
         if (_state.value !is State.Reconnecting) return
-        _state.value =
+        val connected =
             lastAck?.let { State.Connected(it.serverCaps, it.channels, it.lastPushedCursor) }
                 ?: State.Connected(ServerCaps(), emptyList())
+        _state.value = connected
+        onHelloAck?.invoke(connected)
     }
 
     /** Deliver an HTTP-leg frame to the same sinks as any other frame. */
     private fun emitHttpFrame(frame: Frame) {
+        lastFrameMs = nowMs()
         _events.tryEmit(frame)
         frame.id?.let { id ->
             pending[id]?.complete(frame)
@@ -410,6 +440,12 @@ class GatewayClient(
     companion object {
         const val UPLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000L
         const val PULL_TIMEOUT_MS = 300_000L
+
+        /** No frames from the receive stream for this long (gateway still
+         *  healthy) = stale stream: force a fresh (re)connect. 3 min keeps an
+         *  idle app from churning while still recovering a stuck stream well
+         *  before a user notices (issue #6). */
+        const val STALE_STREAM_TIMEOUT_MS = 180_000L
     }
 
     /**
@@ -518,4 +554,6 @@ class GatewayClient(
         val capped = minOf(base, 30_000L)
         return capped + Random.nextLong(0, 500)
     }
+
+    private fun nowMs(): Long = nowMillis()
 }
diff --git a/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/state/IrisController.kt b/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/state/IrisController.kt
index d5bc8ec..65e224d 100644
--- a/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/state/IrisController.kt
+++ b/app/shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/iris/state/IrisController.kt
@@ -892,7 +892,10 @@ class IrisController(
      * refreshes (skipped on a plain reconnect via historyLoaded).
      */
     private fun onConnectedLane(connected: GatewayClient.State.Connected) {
-        channels.setAll(connected.channels)
+        // Never wipe the directory with an empty list: the long-poll restore
+        // path carries no channels when there was no prior SSE hello (lastAck
+        // null), and the cached directory is still valid then.
+        if (connected.channels.isNotEmpty()) channels.setAll(connected.channels)
         val home = connected.channels.firstOrNull { it.isDefault }?.chatId
         _homeChannel.value = home ?: ChatStore.DEFAULT_LANE
         if (home == null) return