diff --git a/frontend/src/hooks/useSessionList.ts b/frontend/src/hooks/useSessionList.ts
index e70799be..d4aa90cf 100644
--- a/frontend/src/hooks/useSessionList.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/hooks/useSessionList.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,19 @@ export function useSessionList(): UseSessionListReturn {
     };
     document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', onVisible);
 
+    // Refetch session list when sessions are created, renamed, or deleted
+    const unsubChanged = eventBus.on('sessions_changed', () => {
+      apiFetch('/api/sessions')
+        .then((r) => r.json())
+        .then((data) => {
+          const { sessions: page, hasMore: more } = parseSessionsResponse(data);
+          setSessions(page);
+          setHasMore(more);
+          nextOffset.current = page.length;
+        })
+        .catch(() => {});
+    });
+
     // Live session dots via SSE — update isActive/isAttached without full refetch
     const unsubActivity = eventBus.on('session_activity', (data) => {
       const activities = data as SessionActivity[];
@@ -105,6 +118,7 @@ export function useSessionList(): UseSessionListReturn {
 
     return () => {
       document.removeEventListener('visibilitychange', onVisible);
+      unsubChanged();
       unsubActivity();
     };
   }, []);
diff --git a/server/app.ts b/server/app.ts
index 1389d7bc..d7467e85 100644
--- a/server/app.ts
+++ b/server/app.ts
@@ -489,6 +489,8 @@ async function handleSessionCreate(
       log.info('headless session started', { sessionId: wtId, prompt: initialPrompt });
     }
 
+    sseRegistry.broadcast('sessions_changed', {});
+
     res.status(initialPrompt ? 201 : 200).json({
       sessionId: wtId,
       worktrees,
@@ -1100,6 +1102,7 @@ app.get('/api/sessions/:id/messages', async (req, res) => {
 
 app.delete('/api/sessions/:id', (req, res) => {
   hideSession(req.params.id as string);
+  sseRegistry.broadcast('sessions_changed', {});
   res.json({ ok: true });
 });
 
@@ -1136,6 +1139,7 @@ app.get('/api/sessions/:id/events', (req, res) => {
 
 app.delete('/api/sessions', (_req, res) => {
   hideAllSessions();
+  sseRegistry.broadcast('sessions_changed', {});
   res.json({ ok: true });
 });
 
@@ -1147,6 +1151,7 @@ app.put('/api/sessions/:id/rename', async (req, res) => {
   }
   try {
     await renameSessionById(req.params.id, title.slice(0, 200));
+    sseRegistry.broadcast('sessions_changed', {});
     res.json({ ok: true });
   } catch {
     res.status(404).json({ error: 'Session not found' });
diff --git a/server/chat.ts b/server/chat.ts
index 819914f9..10718894 100644
--- a/server/chat.ts
+++ b/server/chat.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ let _onSessionChange: SessionChangeCallback | null = null;
 export function setSessionChangeCallback(cb: SessionChangeCallback): void {
   _onSessionChange = cb;
 }
+
+let _onSessionsChanged: (() => void) | null = null;
+export function setSessionsChangedCallback(cb: () => void): void {
+  _onSessionsChanged = cb;
+}
 import { EventStore } from './event-store.js';
 import { capturePromptComparison } from './prompt-compare.js';
 import { shouldAutoRename, extractRecentPrompts, generateSessionName } from './auto-rename.js';
@@ -995,6 +1000,7 @@ async function tryAutoRename(sessionId: string, clientId: string): Promise<void>
 
     // Persist to EventStore first — survives SDK rename failures.
     eventStore.upsertSession({ sessionId, summary: newName });
+    _onSessionsChanged?.();
 
     // Update the SDK session name (best-effort, fire-and-forget)
     renameSessionById(sessionId, newName, false).catch((err: unknown) => {
diff --git a/server/index.ts b/server/index.ts
index 1c586780..8a656106 100644
--- a/server/index.ts
+++ b/server/index.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
   getRepoConfig,
   setConnectionRegistry,
   setSessionChangeCallback,
+  setSessionsChangedCallback,
   reconcileSessionsBackground,
 } from './chat.js';
 import { cleanupStaleWorktrees, countWorktrees } from './worktree.js';
@@ -271,6 +272,10 @@ setSessionChangeCallback((clientId, event, sessionId) => {
   overviewEmitter.scheduleBroadcast();
 });
 
+setSessionsChangedCallback(() => {
+  sseRegistry.broadcast('sessions_changed', {});
+});
+
 server.on('upgrade', async (req, socket, head) => {
   const url = new URL(req.url || '', `http://${req.headers.host}`);