diff --git a/src/features/recent-projects/renderer/hooks/useRecentProjectsSection.ts b/src/features/recent-projects/renderer/hooks/useRecentProjectsSection.ts
index 8b4af403..60fddcd5 100644
--- a/src/features/recent-projects/renderer/hooks/useRecentProjectsSection.ts
+++ b/src/features/recent-projects/renderer/hooks/useRecentProjectsSection.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ import { buildTaskCountsByProject, normalizePath } from '@renderer/utils/pathNor
 import { useShallow } from 'zustand/react/shallow';
 
 import { adaptRecentProjectsSection } from '../adapters/RecentProjectsSectionAdapter';
+import {
+  getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot,
+  loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache,
+} from '../utils/recentProjectsClientCache';
 
 import { useOpenRecentProject } from './useOpenRecentProject';
 
@@ -51,27 +55,45 @@ export function useRecentProjectsSection(
   openProjectPath: (projectPath: string) => Promise<void>;
   selectProjectFolder: () => Promise<void>;
 } {
-  const { globalTasks, globalTasksLoading, fetchAllTasks, teams } = useStore(
-    useShallow((state) => ({
-      globalTasks: state.globalTasks,
-      globalTasksLoading: state.globalTasksLoading,
-      fetchAllTasks: state.fetchAllTasks,
-      teams: state.teams,
-    }))
-  );
+  const { globalTasks, globalTasksInitialized, globalTasksLoading, fetchAllTasks, teams } =
+    useStore(
+      useShallow((state) => ({
+        globalTasks: state.globalTasks,
+        globalTasksInitialized: state.globalTasksInitialized,
+        globalTasksLoading: state.globalTasksLoading,
+        fetchAllTasks: state.fetchAllTasks,
+        teams: state.teams,
+      }))
+    );
+  const initialSnapshot = useMemo(() => getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot(), []);
   const { openRecentProject, openProjectPath, selectProjectFolder } = useOpenRecentProject();
-  const [recentProjects, setRecentProjects] = useState<DashboardRecentProject[]>([]);
-  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
+  const [recentProjects, setRecentProjects] = useState<DashboardRecentProject[]>(
+    initialSnapshot?.projects ?? []
+  );
+  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(initialSnapshot == null);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [visibleProjects, setVisibleProjects] = useState(maxProjects);
   const [aliveTeams, setAliveTeams] = useState<string[]>([]);
-  const hasFetchedTasksRef = useRef(false);
+  const hasFetchedTasksRef = useRef(globalTasksInitialized);
+  const recentProjectsRef = useRef<DashboardRecentProject[]>(initialSnapshot?.projects ?? []);
 
-  const reload = useCallback(async (): Promise<void> => {
-    setLoading(true);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    recentProjectsRef.current = recentProjects;
+  }, [recentProjects]);
+
+  const reload = useCallback(async (options?: { force?: boolean }): Promise<void> => {
+    const hasVisibleProjects =
+      recentProjectsRef.current.length > 0 || getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot() != null;
+
+    if (!hasVisibleProjects) {
+      setLoading(true);
+    }
     setError(null);
     try {
-      const projects = await api.getDashboardRecentProjects();
+      const projects = await loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(
+        () => api.getDashboardRecentProjects(),
+        options
+      );
       setRecentProjects(projects);
     } catch (nextError) {
       setError(nextError instanceof Error ? nextError.message : 'Failed to load recent projects');
@@ -81,17 +103,23 @@ export function useRecentProjectsSection(
   }, []);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    void reload();
+    const snapshot = getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot();
+    if (snapshot && !snapshot.isStale) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    void reload({ force: snapshot != null });
   }, [reload]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (recentProjects.length === 0 || hasFetchedTasksRef.current) {
+    if (recentProjects.length === 0 || hasFetchedTasksRef.current || globalTasksInitialized) {
+      hasFetchedTasksRef.current = hasFetchedTasksRef.current || globalTasksInitialized;
       return;
     }
 
     hasFetchedTasksRef.current = true;
     void fetchAllTasks();
-  }, [fetchAllTasks, recentProjects.length]);
+  }, [fetchAllTasks, globalTasksInitialized, recentProjects.length]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     let cancelled = false;
diff --git a/src/features/recent-projects/renderer/utils/recentProjectsClientCache.ts b/src/features/recent-projects/renderer/utils/recentProjectsClientCache.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e28d89b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/features/recent-projects/renderer/utils/recentProjectsClientCache.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import type { DashboardRecentProject } from '@features/recent-projects/contracts';
+
+const RECENT_PROJECTS_CLIENT_CACHE_TTL_MS = 15_000;
+
+let cachedProjects: DashboardRecentProject[] | null = null;
+let cachedAt = 0;
+let inFlightLoad: Promise<DashboardRecentProject[]> | null = null;
+
+export interface RecentProjectsClientSnapshot {
+  projects: DashboardRecentProject[];
+  fetchedAt: number;
+  isStale: boolean;
+}
+
+export function getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot(): RecentProjectsClientSnapshot | null {
+  if (!cachedProjects) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return {
+    projects: cachedProjects,
+    fetchedAt: cachedAt,
+    isStale: Date.now() - cachedAt > RECENT_PROJECTS_CLIENT_CACHE_TTL_MS,
+  };
+}
+
+export async function loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(
+  loader: () => Promise<DashboardRecentProject[]>,
+  options?: { force?: boolean }
+): Promise<DashboardRecentProject[]> {
+  const force = options?.force ?? false;
+  const snapshot = getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot();
+
+  if (!force && snapshot && !snapshot.isStale) {
+    return snapshot.projects;
+  }
+
+  if (inFlightLoad) {
+    return inFlightLoad;
+  }
+
+  const request = loader()
+    .then((projects) => {
+      cachedProjects = projects;
+      cachedAt = Date.now();
+      return projects;
+    })
+    .finally(() => {
+      if (inFlightLoad === request) {
+        inFlightLoad = null;
+      }
+    });
+
+  inFlightLoad = request;
+  return request;
+}
+
+export function __resetRecentProjectsClientCacheForTests(): void {
+  cachedProjects = null;
+  cachedAt = 0;
+  inFlightLoad = null;
+}
diff --git a/test/features/recent-projects/renderer/utils/recentProjectsClientCache.test.ts b/test/features/recent-projects/renderer/utils/recentProjectsClientCache.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..99bbfaca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/features/recent-projects/renderer/utils/recentProjectsClientCache.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+
+import {
+  __resetRecentProjectsClientCacheForTests,
+  getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot,
+  loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache,
+} from '@features/recent-projects/renderer/utils/recentProjectsClientCache';
+
+import type { DashboardRecentProject } from '@features/recent-projects/contracts';
+
+const project = (id: string): DashboardRecentProject => ({
+  id,
+  name: id,
+  primaryPath: `/tmp/${id}`,
+  associatedPaths: [`/tmp/${id}`],
+  primaryBranch: null,
+  providerIds: ['anthropic'],
+  updatedAt: '2026-04-14T12:00:00.000Z',
+});
+
+describe('recentProjectsClientCache', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    __resetRecentProjectsClientCacheForTests();
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('returns cached projects while the client cache is fresh', async () => {
+    const loader = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([project('alpha')]);
+
+    await expect(loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(loader)).resolves.toEqual([project('alpha')]);
+    await expect(loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(loader)).resolves.toEqual([project('alpha')]);
+
+    expect(loader).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot()?.projects).toEqual([project('alpha')]);
+  });
+
+  it('revalidates stale cache without dropping the previous snapshot', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    vi.setSystemTime(new Date('2026-04-14T12:00:00.000Z'));
+
+    const loader = vi
+      .fn<() => Promise<DashboardRecentProject[]>>()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce([project('alpha')])
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce([project('beta')]);
+
+    await loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(loader);
+    vi.setSystemTime(new Date('2026-04-14T12:00:16.000Z'));
+
+    expect(getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot()).toMatchObject({
+      projects: [project('alpha')],
+      isStale: true,
+    });
+
+    await expect(loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(loader, { force: true })).resolves.toEqual([
+      project('beta'),
+    ]);
+
+    expect(loader).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(getRecentProjectsClientSnapshot()).toMatchObject({
+      projects: [project('beta')],
+      isStale: false,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('deduplicates concurrent client refreshes', async () => {
+    let resolveLoader: ((projects: DashboardRecentProject[]) => void) | null = null;
+    const loader = vi.fn(
+      () =>
+        new Promise<DashboardRecentProject[]>((resolve) => {
+          resolveLoader = resolve;
+        })
+    );
+
+    const first = loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(loader, { force: true });
+    const second = loadRecentProjectsWithClientCache(loader, { force: true });
+
+    expect(loader).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    resolveLoader?.([project('alpha')]);
+
+    await expect(first).resolves.toEqual([project('alpha')]);
+    await expect(second).resolves.toEqual([project('alpha')]);
+  });
+});