diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 90c3e6ee..35dc73da 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 - Sessions: fixed a bug where a running session would briefly flicker as idle (in the sidebar, the send/stop button, and the status row) when the app is protected by a password.
 - Desktop: you can now open developer tools from the Help menu.
 - Sessions: new draft sessions now start from the default model and agent instead of inheriting the previous session's selection, and fall back to OpenCode's own `default_agent` (and its model) when no OpenChamber default is set.
+- Startup: the model and agent now appear faster on the initial draft — config loads under the project key up front (no reload when the draft opens) and the agent list is fetched once instead of per consumer.
 
 ## [1.12.4] - 2026-06-11
 
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/lib/opencode/client.ts b/packages/ui/src/lib/opencode/client.ts
index 58713305..b7701bbe 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/lib/opencode/client.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/lib/opencode/client.ts
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ class OpencodeService {
   private currentDirectory: string | undefined = undefined;
   private directoryContextQueue: Promise<void> = Promise.resolve();
   private listDirectoryInFlight: Map<string, Promise<FilesystemEntry[]>> = new Map();
+  private listAgentsInFlight: Map<string, Promise<Agent[]>> = new Map();
   private listDirectoryCache: Map<string, { entries: FilesystemEntry[]; expiresAt: number }> = new Map();
 
   constructor(baseUrl: string = DEFAULT_BASE_URL) {
@@ -1294,14 +1295,34 @@ class OpencodeService {
    * useAgentsStore) can observe failure and retry; silently returning an
    * empty list would defeat retries and clear the cached agent list.
    */
-  async listAgents(): Promise<Agent[]> {
-    const response = await this.client.app.agents(
-      this.currentDirectory ? { directory: this.currentDirectory } : undefined
-    );
-    if (response.error) {
-      throw new Error(`app.agents failed: ${formatSdkError(response.error)}`);
+  async listAgents(directory?: string | null): Promise<Agent[]> {
+    // Pass the directory explicitly so we don't depend on (and serialize behind)
+    // withDirectory's shared context queue. Concurrent callers for the same
+    // directory (e.g. config store + agents store at startup) share one request.
+    const effectiveDirectory = this.normalizeCandidatePath(directory) ?? directory ?? this.currentDirectory ?? undefined;
+    const key = effectiveDirectory ?? '';
+
+    const existing = this.listAgentsInFlight.get(key);
+    if (existing) {
+      return existing;
+    }
+
+    const request = (async () => {
+      const response = await this.client.app.agents(
+        effectiveDirectory ? { directory: effectiveDirectory } : undefined
+      );
+      if (response.error) {
+        throw new Error(`app.agents failed: ${formatSdkError(response.error)}`);
+      }
+      return response.data || [];
+    })();
+
+    this.listAgentsInFlight.set(key, request);
+    try {
+      return await request;
+    } finally {
+      this.listAgentsInFlight.delete(key);
     }
-    return response.data || [];
   }
 
   // SSE infrastructure removed — EventPipeline in sync/event-pipeline.ts handles
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/stores/useAgentsStore.ts b/packages/ui/src/stores/useAgentsStore.ts
index 742d2343..49923828 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/stores/useAgentsStore.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/stores/useAgentsStore.ts
@@ -245,8 +245,10 @@ export const useAgentsStore = create<AgentsStore>()(
               try {
                 const queryParams = configDirectory ? `?directory=${encodeURIComponent(configDirectory)}` : '';
 
-                // Ensure we list agents using the correct project context
-                const agents = await opencodeClient.withDirectory(configDirectory, () => opencodeClient.listAgents());
+                // Ensure we list agents using the correct project context. Pass the
+                // directory directly so this shares the in-flight request with the config
+                // store instead of issuing a duplicate agents fetch at startup.
+                const agents = await opencodeClient.listAgents(configDirectory);
 
                 const agentsWithScope = await Promise.all(
                   agents.map(async (agent) => {
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/stores/useConfigStore.ts b/packages/ui/src/stores/useConfigStore.ts
index 07038eb0..4dd93052 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/stores/useConfigStore.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/stores/useConfigStore.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import { useSelectionStore } from "@/sync/selection-store";
 import { getRegisteredRuntimeAPIs } from "@/contexts/runtimeAPIRegistry";
 import { updateDesktopSettings } from "@/lib/persistence";
 import { useDirectoryStore } from "@/stores/useDirectoryStore";
+import { useProjectsStore } from "@/stores/useProjectsStore";
+import { resolveProjectForSessionDirectory } from "@/lib/projectResolution";
 import { streamDebugEnabled } from "@/stores/utils/streamDebug";
 import { parseModelIdentifier } from "@/lib/modelIdentifier";
 import { runtimeFetch } from "@/lib/runtime-fetch";
@@ -1710,7 +1712,7 @@ export const useConfigStore = create<ConfigStore>()(
                             const [agents, openChamberDefaults, opencodeConfig] = await Promise.all([
                                 measureStartupTrace(
                                     'loadAgents:api',
-                                    () => opencodeClient.withDirectory(fromDirectoryKey(directoryKey), () => opencodeClient.listAgents()),
+                                    () => opencodeClient.listAgents(fromDirectoryKey(directoryKey)),
                                     { directoryKey, source, requestedDirectory, effectiveDirectory, attempt: attempt + 1 },
                                 ),
                                 fetchOpenChamberDefaults(),
@@ -2634,10 +2636,28 @@ export const useConfigStore = create<ConfigStore>()(
 
                             get().invalidateProviderCache();
 
+                            // Config (providers/agents/defaults) lives at the PROJECT level. If the
+                            // app starts on a worktree directory, load config under the owning
+                            // project's key so the initial draft — which activates the project — finds
+                            // a ready snapshot instead of triggering a second provider/agent load.
+                            const initialDirectory = opencodeClient.getDirectory()
+                                ?? useDirectoryStore.getState().currentDirectory
+                                ?? fromDirectoryKey(get().activeDirectoryKey);
+                            const resolvedProject = resolveProjectForSessionDirectory(
+                                useProjectsStore.getState().projects,
+                                useSessionUIStore.getState().availableWorktreesByProject,
+                                initialDirectory ?? null,
+                            );
+                            const configDirectory = resolvedProject?.path ?? initialDirectory ?? null;
+                            const configDirectoryKey = toDirectoryKey(configDirectory);
+                            if (get().activeDirectoryKey !== configDirectoryKey) {
+                                set({ activeDirectoryKey: configDirectoryKey });
+                            }
+
                             if (debug) console.log("Loading providers and agents...");
                             await Promise.all([
-                                get().loadProviders({ source: 'initializeApp' }),
-                                get().loadAgents({ source: 'initializeApp' }),
+                                get().loadProviders({ directory: configDirectory, source: 'initializeApp' }),
+                                get().loadAgents({ directory: configDirectory, source: 'initializeApp' }),
                             ]);
 
                             set({ isInitialized: true, isConnected: true, hasEverConnected: true, connectionPhase: "connected" });