diff --git a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-directory-adoption.test.ts b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-directory-adoption.test.ts
index 81821dc0..4857872c 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-directory-adoption.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-directory-adoption.test.ts
@@ -19,10 +19,14 @@ const PARENT = "/repo"
 const WORKTREE = "/repo/.worktrees/feature"
 const SESSION_ID = "ses_directory_adoption"
 
-const indexSessionIn = (manager: ChildStoreManager, directory: string): void => {
+const indexSessionIn = (
+  manager: ChildStoreManager,
+  directory: string,
+  recordDirectory: string = directory,
+): void => {
   const store = manager.ensureChild(directory, { bootstrap: false })
   store.setState({
-    session: [{ id: SESSION_ID, directory, title: "test" } as never],
+    session: [{ id: SESSION_ID, directory: recordDirectory, title: "test" } as never],
   })
 }
 
@@ -45,6 +49,18 @@ describe("adoptAuthoritativeSessionDirectory", () => {
     expect(useSessionUIStore.getState().currentSessionDirectory).toBe(WORKTREE)
   })
 
+  test("believes the session record over the store that merely holds it", () => {
+    // A project's session list includes the sessions of its worktrees so the
+    // sidebar can group them, so the parent store holds this session while the
+    // session itself reports the worktree. Ownership comes from the record.
+    useSessionUIStore.getState().setCurrentSession(SESSION_ID)
+    indexSessionIn(manager, PARENT, WORKTREE)
+
+    useSessionUIStore.getState().adoptAuthoritativeSessionDirectory()
+
+    expect(useSessionUIStore.getState().currentSessionDirectory).toBe(WORKTREE)
+  })
+
   test("does nothing while the owning directory is still unknown", () => {
     useSessionUIStore.getState().setCurrentSession(SESSION_ID)
     const before = useSessionUIStore.getState().currentSessionDirectory
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-ui-store.ts b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-ui-store.ts
index 87721194..ef450f54 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/sync/session-ui-store.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/sync/session-ui-store.ts
@@ -411,11 +411,24 @@ const getAttachmentForSession = (sessionId: string | null | undefined): SessionW
  * only then the session record's own fields. `null` means "not indexed yet",
  * never "no directory" — callers must fall back rather than treat it as empty.
  */
+/**
+ * The directory that owns a session, from the two server-backed signals.
+ *
+ * The session's own record wins. Holding a session in a child store proves
+ * containment, not ownership: a project's session list legitimately includes
+ * the sessions of its worktrees so the sidebar can group them, so the parent
+ * repository holds worktree sessions too. Reading ownership from store
+ * membership therefore reports the parent for a session that lives in a
+ * worktree, and every fetch is then addressed to a directory that does not own
+ * it. Store membership remains the fallback for a session whose record carries
+ * no directory.
+ */
 const getAuthoritativeSessionDirectory = (sessionId: string): string | null => {
-  const owningDirectory = getSyncSessionDirectory(sessionId)
-  if (owningDirectory) return normalizePath(owningDirectory)
   const target = getAllSyncSessions().find((s) => s.id === sessionId)
-  return target ? resolveDirectoryKey(target) : null
+  const recordDirectory = target ? resolveDirectoryKey(target) : null
+  if (recordDirectory) return normalizePath(recordDirectory)
+  const owningDirectory = getSyncSessionDirectory(sessionId)
+  return owningDirectory ? normalizePath(owningDirectory) : null
 }
 
 /**