diff --git a/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/types.ts b/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/types.ts
index 5f9d34d..b9a28ff 100644
--- a/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/types.ts
+++ b/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/types.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export interface ClaudeProject {
   project_path: string;
   display_name: string;
   session_count: number;
+  last_activity: string | null;
 }
 
 export interface ClaudeSession {
@@ -121,6 +122,8 @@ export interface ClaudeSlice {
   sessionsByPath: Record<string, ClaudeSession[]>;
   sessionsLoading: Record<string, boolean>;
   titles: Record<string, string>;        // `${path}|${sid}` → title
+  /** project_path → title of its most-recent session (fills in lazily). */
+  projectTitles: Record<string, string>;
   deriving: boolean;
 }
 
@@ -131,6 +134,8 @@ export interface PiSlice {
   expanded: string | null;
   sessionsByPath: Record<string, PiSession[]>;
   sessionsLoading: Record<string, boolean>;
+  /** Max session `timestamp` seen per project_path. Drives project-list sort. */
+  maxTimestampByProject: Record<string, string>;
   deriving: boolean;
 }
 
@@ -201,6 +206,7 @@ export type Msg =
   | { t: "ClaudeSessionReceived"; session: ClaudeSession }
   | { t: "ClaudeSessionsDone"; path: string }
   | { t: "ClaudeTitleLoaded"; path: string; sid: string; title: string | null }
+  | { t: "ClaudeProjectTitleLoaded"; path: string; title: string | null }
   | { t: "ClaudeDerive"; path: string; sid: string }
 
   // Pi
diff --git a/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/update.ts b/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/update.ts
index 906a138..61f82ac 100644
--- a/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/update.ts
+++ b/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/lib/update.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,15 @@
 import { invoke } from "./ipc";
 import type { Cmd, Model, Msg } from "./types";
 
+// Most-recent-first. Nullish values sort last. ISO-8601 strings compare
+// lexicographically, so plain string compare works for RFC3339 timestamps.
+const byRecencyDesc = (a: string | null | undefined, b: string | null | undefined): number => {
+  const aKey = a ?? "";
+  const bKey = b ?? "";
+  if (aKey === bKey) return 0;
+  return bKey < aKey ? -1 : 1;
+};
+
 export function initialModel(): Model {
   return {
     route: "home",
@@ -18,6 +27,7 @@ export function initialModel(): Model {
       sessionsByPath: {},
       sessionsLoading: {},
       titles: {},
+      projectTitles: {},
       deriving: false,
     },
     pi: {
@@ -27,6 +37,7 @@ export function initialModel(): Model {
       expanded: null,
       sessionsByPath: {},
       sessionsLoading: {},
+      maxTimestampByProject: {},
       deriving: false,
     },
     git: {
@@ -136,11 +147,25 @@ export function update(msg: Msg, m: Model): [Model, Cmd | null] {
         null,
       ];
     }
-    case "ClaudeProjectReceived":
+    case "ClaudeProjectReceived": {
+      const projects = [...m.claude.projects, msg.project].sort((a, b) =>
+        byRecencyDesc(a.last_activity, b.last_activity),
+      );
+      const path = msg.project.project_path;
       return [
-        { ...m, claude: { ...m.claude, projects: [...m.claude.projects, msg.project] } },
-        null,
+        { ...m, claude: { ...m.claude, projects } },
+        {
+          type: "invoke",
+          name: "claude_project_latest_title",
+          args: { projectPath: path },
+          onOk: (title) => ({
+            t: "ClaudeProjectTitleLoaded",
+            path,
+            title: (title ?? null) as string | null,
+          }),
+        },
       ];
+    }
     case "ClaudeProjectsDone":
       return [{ ...m, claude: { ...m.claude, loadingProjects: false, projectsDone: true } }, null];
     case "ClaudeProjectsError":
@@ -164,9 +189,12 @@ export function update(msg: Msg, m: Model): [Model, Cmd | null] {
     case "ClaudeSessionReceived": {
       const path = msg.session.project_path;
       const existing = m.claude.sessionsByPath[path] ?? [];
+      const sessions = [...existing, msg.session].sort((a, b) =>
+        byRecencyDesc(a.last_activity ?? a.started_at, b.last_activity ?? b.started_at),
+      );
       const claude = {
         ...m.claude,
-        sessionsByPath: { ...m.claude.sessionsByPath, [path]: [...existing, msg.session] },
+        sessionsByPath: { ...m.claude.sessionsByPath, [path]: sessions },
       };
       return [
         { ...m, claude },
@@ -192,6 +220,12 @@ export function update(msg: Msg, m: Model): [Model, Cmd | null] {
       const titles = { ...m.claude.titles, [`${msg.path}|${msg.sid}`]: msg.title ?? "" };
       return [{ ...m, claude: { ...m.claude, titles } }, null];
     }
+    case "ClaudeProjectTitleLoaded": {
+      const title = msg.title?.trim();
+      if (!title) return [m, null];
+      const projectTitles = { ...m.claude.projectTitles, [msg.path]: title };
+      return [{ ...m, claude: { ...m.claude, projectTitles } }, null];
+    }
     case "ClaudeDerive": {
       const { path, sid } = msg;
       const displayName = path.split("/").filter(Boolean).pop() ?? "claude";
@@ -219,11 +253,13 @@ export function update(msg: Msg, m: Model): [Model, Cmd | null] {
         null,
       ];
     }
-    case "PiProjectReceived":
-      return [
-        { ...m, pi: { ...m.pi, projects: [...m.pi.projects, msg.project] } },
-        null,
-      ];
+    case "PiProjectReceived": {
+      const map = m.pi.maxTimestampByProject;
+      const projects = [...m.pi.projects, msg.project].sort((a, b) =>
+        byRecencyDesc(map[a.project_path], map[b.project_path]),
+      );
+      return [{ ...m, pi: { ...m.pi, projects } }, null];
+    }
     case "PiProjectsDone":
       return [{ ...m, pi: { ...m.pi, loadingProjects: false, projectsDone: true } }, null];
     case "PiProjectsError":
@@ -245,12 +281,23 @@ export function update(msg: Msg, m: Model): [Model, Cmd | null] {
     case "PiSessionReceived": {
       const path = msg.session.project_path;
       const existing = m.pi.sessionsByPath[path] ?? [];
+      const sessions = [...existing, msg.session].sort((a, b) =>
+        byRecencyDesc(a.timestamp, b.timestamp),
+      );
+      const prevMax = m.pi.maxTimestampByProject[path];
+      const nextMax = prevMax && prevMax > msg.session.timestamp ? prevMax : msg.session.timestamp;
+      const maxTimestampByProject = { ...m.pi.maxTimestampByProject, [path]: nextMax };
+      const projects = [...m.pi.projects].sort((a, b) =>
+        byRecencyDesc(maxTimestampByProject[a.project_path], maxTimestampByProject[b.project_path]),
+      );
       return [
         {
           ...m,
           pi: {
             ...m.pi,
-            sessionsByPath: { ...m.pi.sessionsByPath, [path]: [...existing, msg.session] },
+            sessionsByPath: { ...m.pi.sessionsByPath, [path]: sessions },
+            maxTimestampByProject,
+            projects,
           },
         },
         null,
@@ -319,8 +366,9 @@ export function update(msg: Msg, m: Model): [Model, Cmd | null] {
       ];
     }
     case "GitBranchesLoaded": {
-      const selected = msg.list.length ? msg.list[0].name : null;
-      return [{ ...m, git: { ...m.git, loading: false, branches: msg.list, selected } }, null];
+      const branches = [...msg.list].sort((a, b) => byRecencyDesc(a.timestamp, b.timestamp));
+      const selected = branches.length ? branches[0].name : null;
+      return [{ ...m, git: { ...m.git, loading: false, branches, selected } }, null];
     }
     case "GitSelectBranch":
       return [{ ...m, git: { ...m.git, selected: msg.name } }, null];
diff --git a/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/routes/BrowseClaude.svelte b/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/routes/BrowseClaude.svelte
index 51e3bbc..842103c 100644
--- a/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/routes/BrowseClaude.svelte
+++ b/crates/toolpath-desktop/frontend/src/routes/BrowseClaude.svelte
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@
     <div style="border:0.5px solid var(--ink-5); background:var(--paper-bright)">
       {#each claude.projects as p (p.project_path)}
         {@const isExpanded = claude.expanded === p.project_path}
+        {@const projectTitle = claude.projectTitles[p.project_path]}
         <div>
           <button
             class={"row-card" + (isExpanded ? " row-card--selected" : "")}
@@ -119,7 +120,7 @@
           >
             <span class="row-card__marker"><SourceLogo kind="claude" size={14} /></span>
             <div style="min-width:0">
-              <div class="row-card__title">{p.display_name}</div>
+              <div class="row-card__title">{projectTitle ?? p.display_name}</div>
               <div class="row-card__sub">{p.project_path}</div>
             </div>
             <div class="row-card__right">
diff --git a/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/commands/sources.rs b/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/commands/sources.rs
index edd9b3f..1271271 100644
--- a/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/commands/sources.rs
+++ b/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/commands/sources.rs
@@ -46,6 +46,29 @@ fn claude_manager() -> toolpath_claude::ClaudeConvo {
     toolpath_claude::ClaudeConvo::new()
 }
 
+/// Cheap recency hint for a Claude project: max mtime across its `.jsonl`
+/// files, formatted RFC3339. Stat-only — no JSONL parsing.
+fn newest_jsonl_mtime(
+    manager: &toolpath_claude::ClaudeConvo,
+    project_path: &str,
+) -> Option<String> {
+    let dir = manager.resolver().project_dir(project_path).ok()?;
+    let entries = std::fs::read_dir(&dir).ok()?;
+    let mut newest: Option<std::time::SystemTime> = None;
+    for entry in entries.flatten() {
+        let path = entry.path();
+        if path.extension().and_then(|e| e.to_str()) != Some("jsonl") {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if let Ok(modified) = entry.metadata().and_then(|m| m.modified()) {
+            if newest.is_none_or(|prev| modified > prev) {
+                newest = Some(modified);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    newest.map(|t| chrono::DateTime::<chrono::Utc>::from(t).to_rfc3339())
+}
+
 #[tauri::command]
 pub fn list_claude_projects() -> DesktopResult<Vec<ClaudeProjectSummary>> {
     let manager = claude_manager();
@@ -214,14 +237,15 @@ pub fn list_agents() -> DesktopResult<Vec<AgentSummary>> {
 
 /// Minimal per-project payload emitted from [`list_claude_projects_stream`].
 ///
-/// Only cheap-to-compute fields: display name and a file-count proxy for
-/// session count. `last_activity` is deliberately omitted — fetching it would
-/// re-introduce the same per-session metadata reads we want to avoid.
+/// Only cheap-to-compute fields: display name, a file-count proxy for session
+/// count, and a stat-based recency hint (max mtime across the project's JSONL
+/// files). Avoids per-session JSONL parsing.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 pub struct ClaudeProjectQuick {
     pub project_path: String,
     pub display_name: String,
     pub session_count: usize,
+    pub last_activity: Option<String>,
 }
 
 /// Streaming variant of [`list_claude_projects`].
@@ -262,12 +286,15 @@ pub fn list_claude_projects_stream(app: AppHandle) -> DesktopResult<()> {
             .map(|v| v.len())
             .unwrap_or(0);
 
+        let last_activity = newest_jsonl_mtime(&manager, &path);
+
         let _ = app.emit(
             "claude:project",
             ClaudeProjectQuick {
                 project_path: path,
                 display_name,
                 session_count,
+                last_activity,
             },
         );
     }
@@ -339,6 +366,24 @@ pub fn claude_session_title(
     Ok(convo.title(80))
 }
 
+/// Fetch a human-readable label for a project: the title of its most-recent
+/// session. Called lazily per-project after [`list_claude_projects_stream`]
+/// emits, so the project list paints fast and the titles fill in after.
+#[tauri::command]
+pub fn claude_project_latest_title(project_path: String) -> DesktopResult<Option<String>> {
+    let manager = claude_manager();
+    let metadata = manager
+        .list_conversation_metadata(&project_path)
+        .map_err(|e| DesktopError::Source(format!("list sessions: {e}")))?;
+    let Some(head) = metadata.into_iter().next() else {
+        return Ok(None);
+    };
+    let convo = manager
+        .read_conversation(&project_path, &head.session_id)
+        .map_err(|e| DesktopError::Source(format!("read {}: {e}", head.session_id)))?;
+    Ok(convo.title(80))
+}
+
 // ─── pi.dev ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 fn pi_manager() -> toolpath_pi::PiConvo {
diff --git a/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/main.rs b/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/main.rs
index 9bba9fb..70b42f7 100644
--- a/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/toolpath-desktop/src/main.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ fn main() {
             sources::list_claude_sessions,
             sources::list_claude_sessions_stream,
             sources::claude_session_title,
+            sources::claude_project_latest_title,
             sources::list_pi_projects_stream,
             sources::list_pi_sessions_stream,
             sources::list_git_branches,