diff --git a/webclient/src/components/sidebar/AppSidebar.vue b/webclient/src/components/sidebar/AppSidebar.vue
index 56f95cb..aaa6152 100644
--- a/webclient/src/components/sidebar/AppSidebar.vue
+++ b/webclient/src/components/sidebar/AppSidebar.vue
@@ -242,14 +242,20 @@
 }
 
 async function handleSelect(session) {
-  // If selected from search, switch to the session's profile
-  if (sessionsStore.searchActive && session.profile_id) {
+  // loadSession lives here ONLY (SessionList just emits) — a second call
+  // here used to race the first one, double-fetching the session.
+  const wasSearch = sessionsStore.searchActive
+  if (wasSearch && session.profile_id) {
     profilesStore.selectedProfileId = session.profile_id
   }
-  await chatStore.loadSession(session.session_id, session.match_indices?.[0])
-  searchOpen.value = false
-  sessionsStore.exitSearch()
-  sessionsStore.fetchSessions(profilesStore.selectedProfileId)
+  await chatStore.loadSession(session.session_id, wasSearch ? session.match_indices?.[0] : null)
+  if (wasSearch) {
+    // Leaving search: the sessions array still holds search results —
+    // restore the normal list (no refetch needed for a plain select)
+    searchOpen.value = false
+    sessionsStore.exitSearch()
+    sessionsStore.fetchSessions(profilesStore.selectedProfileId)
+  }
   emit('close')
 }
 
diff --git a/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionItem.vue b/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionItem.vue
index 9b4884e..cd7866f 100644
--- a/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionItem.vue
+++ b/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionItem.vue
@@ -92,19 +92,21 @@
 
 function highlightText(text, query) {
   if (!query || !text) return escapeHtml(text)
-  const q = escapeHtml(query.toLowerCase())
-  const t = escapeHtml(text)
+  // Match on the RAW string so match lengths stay correct even when the
+  // surrounding text contains escaped entities (& < >) — each emitted
+  // chunk is escaped separately.
+  const q = query.toLowerCase()
+  const lower = text.toLowerCase()
   const parts = []
   let lastIndex = 0
-  const lower = t.toLowerCase()
   while (true) {
     const idx = lower.indexOf(q, lastIndex)
     if (idx === -1) break
-    if (idx > lastIndex) parts.push(t.slice(lastIndex, idx))
-    parts.push(`<mark class="search-highlight">${t.slice(idx, idx + query.length)}</mark>`)
+    if (idx > lastIndex) parts.push(escapeHtml(text.slice(lastIndex, idx)))
+    parts.push(`<mark class="search-highlight">${escapeHtml(text.slice(idx, idx + query.length))}</mark>`)
     lastIndex = idx + query.length
   }
-  if (lastIndex < t.length) parts.push(t.slice(lastIndex))
+  if (lastIndex < text.length) parts.push(escapeHtml(text.slice(lastIndex)))
   return parts.join('')
 }
 
diff --git a/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionList.vue b/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionList.vue
index a1969d9..c6c3c7a 100644
--- a/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionList.vue
+++ b/webclient/src/components/sidebar/SessionList.vue
@@ -102,8 +102,10 @@
   }
 )
 
-async function onSelect(session) {
-  await chatStore.loadSession(session.session_id)
+function onSelect(session) {
+  // Don't loadSession here — AppSidebar.handleSelect owns the load (it knows
+  // the search context). Emitting after await used to trigger a second
+  // loadSession for the same session.
   emit('select', session)
 }
 
diff --git a/webclient/src/stores/sessions.js b/webclient/src/stores/sessions.js
index 07ae75d..b7ec085 100644
--- a/webclient/src/stores/sessions.js
+++ b/webclient/src/stores/sessions.js
@@ -26,7 +26,18 @@
         search: searchActive.value ? searchQuery.value : null,
       })
       const items = Array.isArray(page) ? page : page.items
-      sessions.value = items
+      // Merge into the existing array preserving object references —
+      // DynamicScroller reuses rows instead of remounting the whole list
+      // (wholesale replacement made the session list flicker on every refetch).
+      const existing = new Map(sessions.value.map(s => [s.session_id, s]))
+      sessions.value = items.map(it => {
+        const prev = existing.get(it.session_id)
+        if (prev) {
+          Object.assign(prev, it)
+          return prev
+        }
+        return it
+      })
       hasMore.value = Array.isArray(page) ? false : page.has_more
       nextOffset.value = Array.isArray(page) ? items.length : page.next_offset
       if (searchActive.value) {
@@ -125,12 +136,11 @@
 
   async function pinSession(id, pinned) {
     await api.pinSession(id, pinned)
-    // Replace array: update item + re-sort pinned to top
-    const updated = sessions.value.map(s =>
-      s.session_id === id ? { ...s, pinned } : s
-    )
-    updated.sort((a, b) => (b.pinned ? 1 : 0) - (a.pinned ? 1 : 0))
-    sessions.value = updated
+    // Mutate in place + in-place sort: keep item references so the list
+    // doesn't re-render every row (only the pinned row actually moves).
+    const session = sessions.value.find(s => s.session_id === id)
+    if (session) session.pinned = pinned
+    sessions.value.sort((a, b) => (b.pinned ? 1 : 0) - (a.pinned ? 1 : 0))
   }
 
   function updateRecallStatus(id, hasRecall) {
diff --git a/webclient/tests/unit/stores/sessions.test.js b/webclient/tests/unit/stores/sessions.test.js
index 16eff96..107bed7 100644
--- a/webclient/tests/unit/stores/sessions.test.js
+++ b/webclient/tests/unit/stores/sessions.test.js
@@ -120,4 +120,57 @@
     store.updateName('s1', 'Work')
     expect(store.sessions[0].name).toBe('Work')
   })
+
+  it('refetch merges into existing items, preserving references', async () => {
+    api.getSessions.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      items: [{ session_id: 's1', preview: 'old', pinned: false }],
+      has_more: false,
+      next_offset: 1,
+    })
+    const store = useSessionsStore()
+    await store.fetchSessions('developer')
+    const ref = store.sessions[0]
+    api.getSessions.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      items: [{ session_id: 's1', preview: 'new', pinned: false }],
+      has_more: false,
+      next_offset: 1,
+    })
+    await store.fetchSessions('developer')
+    expect(store.sessions[0]).toBe(ref) // same object reference — no row remount
+    expect(store.sessions[0].preview).toBe('new')
+  })
+
+  it('refetch follows server order and drops sessions removed on the server', async () => {
+    api.getSessions
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        items: [{ session_id: 's1' }, { session_id: 's2' }],
+        has_more: false,
+        next_offset: 2,
+      })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        items: [{ session_id: 's2' }, { session_id: 's3' }],
+        has_more: false,
+        next_offset: 2,
+      })
+    const store = useSessionsStore()
+    await store.fetchSessions('developer')
+    const ref2 = store.sessions[1]
+    await store.fetchSessions('developer')
+    expect(store.sessions.map(s => s.session_id)).toEqual(['s2', 's3'])
+    expect(store.sessions[0]).toBe(ref2)
+  })
+
+  it('pinSession keeps item reference (in-place update + sort)', async () => {
+    api.pinSession.mockResolvedValue()
+    const store = useSessionsStore()
+    store.sessions = [
+      { session_id: 's1', pinned: false },
+      { session_id: 's2', pinned: false },
+    ]
+    const ref2 = store.sessions[1]
+    await store.pinSession('s2', true)
+    expect(store.sessions[0].session_id).toBe('s2')
+    expect(store.sessions[0]).toBe(ref2)
+    expect(store.sessions[0].pinned).toBe(true)
+  })
 })