diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 4f7412ca..ac3dcfac 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -26,16 +26,8 @@
     <title>Tolaria</title>
   </head>
   <body>
-    <pre id="tolaria-boot-diagnostics" style="position:fixed;left:24px;top:24px;z-index:2147483647;max-width:min(760px,calc(100vw - 48px));max-height:calc(100vh - 48px);overflow:auto;margin:0;padding:12px 14px;border-radius:8px;background:#111;color:#fff;font:12px/1.4 ui-monospace,SFMono-Regular,Menlo,monospace;white-space:pre-wrap">Tolaria boot: HTML parsed</pre>
     <script>
       (function () {
-        var diagnostics = document.getElementById('tolaria-boot-diagnostics');
-        function appendDiagnostic(message) {
-          if (!diagnostics) return;
-          if (!diagnostics.isConnected) document.body.appendChild(diagnostics);
-          diagnostics.hidden = false;
-          diagnostics.textContent += '\n' + message;
-        }
         function isResizeObserverLoopMessage(message) {
           return typeof message === 'string'
             && (
@@ -46,21 +38,14 @@
         window.addEventListener('error', function (event) {
           if (isResizeObserverLoopMessage(event.message)) {
             event.preventDefault();
-            return;
           }
-          appendDiagnostic('error: ' + event.message + ' @ ' + event.filename + ':' + event.lineno + ':' + event.colno);
         });
         window.addEventListener('unhandledrejection', function (event) {
           var reason = event.reason && (event.reason.stack || event.reason.message || String(event.reason));
           if (isResizeObserverLoopMessage(reason)) {
             event.preventDefault();
-            return;
           }
-          appendDiagnostic('unhandled rejection: ' + reason);
         });
-        window.addEventListener('tolaria:frontend-ready', function () {
-          if (diagnostics) diagnostics.hidden = true;
-        }, { once: true });
 
         var key = 'tolaria-theme';
         var legacyKey = 'laputa-theme';
diff --git a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.empty-cache.test.ts b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.empty-cache.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c67d5d02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.empty-cache.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { renderHook, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react'
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import type { VaultEntry } from '../types'
+import { useVaultLoader } from './useVaultLoader'
+
+const backendInvokeFn = vi.fn()
+let mockIsTauri = true
+
+vi.mock('@tauri-apps/api/core', () => ({
+  invoke: (...args: unknown[]) => backendInvokeFn(...args),
+}))
+
+vi.mock('../mock-tauri', () => ({
+  isTauri: () => mockIsTauri,
+  mockInvoke: (command: string, args?: Record<string, unknown>) => backendInvokeFn(command, args),
+}))
+
+function makeEntry(path: string, title: string): VaultEntry {
+  return {
+    path,
+    filename: path.split('/').pop() ?? 'note.md',
+    title,
+    isA: 'Note',
+    aliases: [],
+    belongsTo: [],
+    relatedTo: [],
+    status: 'Active',
+    archived: false,
+    modifiedAt: 1,
+    createdAt: 1,
+    fileSize: 100,
+    snippet: '',
+    wordCount: 0,
+    relationships: {},
+    icon: null,
+    color: null,
+    order: null,
+    sidebarLabel: null,
+    template: null,
+    sort: null,
+    view: null,
+    visible: null,
+    organized: false,
+    favorite: false,
+    favoriteIndex: null,
+    listPropertiesDisplay: [],
+    outgoingLinks: [],
+    properties: {},
+    hasH1: true,
+    fileKind: 'markdown',
+  }
+}
+
+function commandKey(command: string, args?: Record<string, unknown>): string {
+  return `${command}:${typeof args?.path === 'string' ? args.path : ''}`
+}
+
+describe('useVaultLoader empty cache recovery', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks()
+    mockIsTauri = true
+  })
+
+  it('reloads a background workspace when its cached startup listing is empty in Tauri mode', async () => {
+    const brian = { label: 'Brian', path: '/brian', alias: 'brian', available: true, mounted: true }
+    const laputa = { label: 'Laputa', path: '/laputa', alias: 'laputa', available: true, mounted: true }
+    const commandResults = new Map<string, unknown>([
+      ['reload_vault:/brian', [makeEntry('/brian/note/hello.md', 'Brian Hello')]],
+      ['list_vault:/laputa', []],
+      ['reload_vault:/laputa', [makeEntry('/laputa/note/hello.md', 'Laputa Hello')]],
+      ['get_modified_files:', []],
+      ['list_vault_folders:', []],
+      ['list_views:', []],
+    ])
+
+    backendInvokeFn.mockImplementation((command: string, args?: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+      return Promise.resolve(commandResults.get(commandKey(command, args)) ?? null)
+    })
+
+    const vaults = [brian, laputa]
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useVaultLoader('/brian', vaults, '/brian', vaults))
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(result.current.entries.map((entry) => entry.title).sort()).toEqual(['Brian Hello', 'Laputa Hello'])
+    })
+
+    const laputaLoads = backendInvokeFn.mock.calls
+      .filter(([command, args]) => {
+        return args?.path === '/laputa' && (command === 'list_vault' || command === 'reload_vault')
+      })
+      .map(([command]) => command)
+    expect(laputaLoads).toEqual(['list_vault', 'reload_vault'])
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
index 46479691..981a715a 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useVaultLoader.ts
@@ -931,7 +931,7 @@ function loadMissingWorkspaceEntries({
   vaultPath: string
   vaults?: VaultOption[]
 }) {
-  void loadWorkspaceEntries(vault, defaultWorkspacePath)
+  void loadWorkspaceEntries(vault, defaultWorkspacePath, { reloadIfEmpty: true })
     .then((loadedEntries) => {
       if (!isCurrentVaultPath(vaultPath)) return
       loadedPaths.add(vault.path)
diff --git a/src/hooks/vaultLoaderCommands.ts b/src/hooks/vaultLoaderCommands.ts
index ddcd3ae4..c443d1b2 100644
--- a/src/hooks/vaultLoaderCommands.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/vaultLoaderCommands.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ interface MountedVaultEntriesOptions extends VaultPathOptions {
 
 type MountedVaultFoldersOptions = MountedVaultEntriesOptions
 
+interface WorkspaceEntryLoadOptions {
+  forceReload?: boolean
+  reloadIfEmpty?: boolean
+}
+
 interface CommitWithPushOptions extends VaultPathOptions {
   message: string
 }
@@ -63,24 +68,53 @@ function loadVaultEntriesWithCommand({ vaultPath, command }: VaultPathOptions &
     .then((entries) => normalizeVaultEntries(entries, vaultPath))
 }
 
+function shouldSkipMountedVault(vault: VaultOption): boolean {
+  return vault.available === false || vault.mounted === false || !vault.path.trim()
+}
+
+function shouldReloadEmptyWorkspaceResult(entries: VaultEntry[], options: WorkspaceEntryLoadOptions): boolean {
+  return entries.length === 0 && options.reloadIfEmpty === true && !options.forceReload && isTauri()
+}
+
+function shouldIncludeFallbackVault(
+  byPath: Map<string, VaultOption>,
+  vaultPath: string,
+  includeFallbackVault: boolean,
+): boolean {
+  if (!includeFallbackVault) return false
+  if (!vaultPath.trim()) return false
+  return !byPath.has(vaultPath)
+}
+
+function loadWorkspaceEntriesWithCommand(
+  vault: VaultOption,
+  command: 'list_vault' | 'reload_vault',
+  defaultWorkspacePath?: string | null,
+): Promise<VaultEntry[]> {
+  const workspace = workspaceIdentityFromVault(vault, { defaultWorkspacePath })
+  return tauriCall<unknown>({ command, tauriArgs: { path: vault.path } })
+    .then((entries) => normalizeVaultEntries(entries, vault.path, workspace))
+}
+
 export function loadWorkspaceEntries(
   vault: VaultOption,
   defaultWorkspacePath?: string | null,
-  options: { forceReload?: boolean } = {},
+  options: WorkspaceEntryLoadOptions = {},
 ): Promise<VaultEntry[]> {
-  const workspace = workspaceIdentityFromVault(vault, { defaultWorkspacePath })
   const command = options.forceReload && isTauri() ? 'reload_vault' : 'list_vault'
-  return tauriCall<unknown>({ command, tauriArgs: { path: vault.path } })
-    .then((entries) => normalizeVaultEntries(entries, vault.path, workspace))
+  return loadWorkspaceEntriesWithCommand(vault, command, defaultWorkspacePath)
+    .then((entries) => shouldReloadEmptyWorkspaceResult(entries, options)
+      ? loadWorkspaceEntriesWithCommand(vault, 'reload_vault', defaultWorkspacePath)
+      : entries)
 }
 
 function uniqueMountedVaults({ vaultPath, vaults = [], includeFallbackVault = true }: MountedVaultEntriesOptions): VaultOption[] {
   const byPath = new Map<string, VaultOption>()
   for (const vault of vaults) {
-    if (vault.available === false || vault.mounted === false || !vault.path.trim()) continue
+    if (shouldSkipMountedVault(vault)) continue
     byPath.set(vault.path, vault)
   }
-  if (includeFallbackVault && vaultPath.trim() && !byPath.has(vaultPath)) {
+  if (shouldIncludeFallbackVault(byPath, vaultPath, includeFallbackVault)) {
     byPath.set(vaultPath, { label: vaultPath.split('/').filter(Boolean).pop() || 'Workspace', path: vaultPath, mounted: true, available: true })
   }
   return [...byPath.values()]
diff --git a/src/indexBootDiagnostics.test.ts b/src/indexBootDiagnostics.test.ts
index 4cbbf206..3de0b240 100644
--- a/src/indexBootDiagnostics.test.ts
+++ b/src/indexBootDiagnostics.test.ts
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 function firstInlineScriptFromIndex(): string {
   const indexHtml = readFileSync(`${process.cwd()}/index.html`, 'utf8')
   const match = indexHtml.match(/<script>\s*([\s\S]*?)\s*<\/script>/)
-  if (!match) throw new Error('index.html boot diagnostics script was not found')
+  if (!match) throw new Error('index.html startup script was not found')
   return match[1]
 }
 
-describe('index boot diagnostics', () => {
+describe('index startup script', () => {
   it('does not show the boot overlay for ResizeObserver loop notifications', () => {
-    document.body.innerHTML = '<pre id="tolaria-boot-diagnostics">Tolaria boot: HTML parsed</pre>'
+    document.body.innerHTML = ''
     new Function(firstInlineScriptFromIndex())()
 
     const event = new ErrorEvent('error', {
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ describe('index boot diagnostics', () => {
     window.dispatchEvent(event)
 
     expect(event.defaultPrevented).toBe(true)
-    expect(document.getElementById('tolaria-boot-diagnostics')?.textContent).toBe('Tolaria boot: HTML parsed')
+    expect(document.body.children).toHaveLength(0)
   })
 
-  it('still shows the boot overlay for real startup errors', () => {
-    document.body.innerHTML = '<pre id="tolaria-boot-diagnostics">Tolaria boot: HTML parsed</pre>'
+  it('does not create a visible boot overlay for real startup errors', () => {
+    document.body.innerHTML = ''
     new Function(firstInlineScriptFromIndex())()
 
     window.dispatchEvent(new ErrorEvent('error', {
@@ -34,8 +34,6 @@ describe('index boot diagnostics', () => {
       colno: 2,
     }))
 
-    expect(document.getElementById('tolaria-boot-diagnostics')?.textContent).toContain(
-      'error: startup failed @ app.js:1:2',
-    )
+    expect(document.body.children).toHaveLength(0)
   })
 })
