diff --git a/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/ChatPanelWrapper.tsx b/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/ChatPanelWrapper.tsx
index 5cbe7536..adc809d2 100644
--- a/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/ChatPanelWrapper.tsx
+++ b/src/workspaces/officerdev/src/apps/Chat/ChatPanelWrapper.tsx
@@ -84,16 +84,23 @@ const ChatPanelInner = ({
 
   useEffect(() => {
     setActiveSession(chat.sessionId);
-    // Only a REAL id, never null.
-    //
-    // A new chat is nameless until the harness names it on the first turn, and recording that id is what
-    // makes "New chat, say something, reload" return to that conversation instead of a third one. But
-    // `chat.sessionId` is also null for a moment while a resumed session connects — and writing that null
-    // would turn "this panel has never chosen" into "the user asked for a new chat", so the next reload
-    // would open blank. Asking for a new conversation is something the header says explicitly; this
-    // effect only ever reports what the harness decided.
-    if (chat.sessionId) onSessionId?.(chat.sessionId);
-  }, [chat.sessionId]);
+    /*
+      `claudeSessionId`, NOT `sessionId`. The panel's stored id is looked up in the sessions LIST — see
+      `ChatHeader`'s `sessions.find((s) => s.id === sessionId)` — and that list is keyed on Claude's
+      transcript id. Recording officer's own session key here put two id spaces on either side of one
+      lookup: it never matched, so a new chat's header read "New chat" for the life of the conversation and
+      offered no rename, because rename is a per-row action on a list the session was not found in.
+      Selecting the conversation from the list fixed it, which is why navigating away and back appeared to
+      be the cure.
+
+      Only a REAL id, never null. A new chat has none until the harness names its transcript on the first
+      turn, and recording it is what makes "new chat, say something, reload" return to that conversation
+      rather than a third one. Both ids are also null for a moment while a resumed session connects, and
+      writing that null would turn "this panel has never chosen" into "the user asked for a new chat", so
+      the next reload would open blank.
+    */
+    if (chat.claudeSessionId) onSessionId?.(chat.claudeSessionId);
+  }, [chat.sessionId, chat.claudeSessionId]);
 
   return (
     <div className="flex h-full min-h-0 flex-col">