diff --git a/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/queries.ts b/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/queries.ts
index 39e5903f..1bfec196 100644
--- a/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/queries.ts
+++ b/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/queries.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ export async function deleteCommandHqCategory(userId: number, id: number): Promi
 export type CommandHqSessionRow = {
   id: number;
   sessionId: string;
+  /** What the owner called it. Null for rows filed before the column existed — fall back to the transcript. */
+  name: string | null;
   categoryId: number | null;
   watcherArmed: boolean;
   watcherTaskId: string | null;
@@ -67,6 +69,7 @@ export type CommandHqSessionRow = {
 const SESSION_ROW_COLUMNS = {
   id: commandHqSessions.id,
   sessionId: commandHqSessions.sessionId,
+  name: commandHqSessions.name,
   categoryId: commandHqSessions.categoryId,
   watcherArmed: commandHqSessions.watcherArmed,
   watcherTaskId: commandHqSessions.watcherTaskId,
@@ -84,10 +87,11 @@ export async function createCommandHqSession(
   userId: number,
   sessionId: string,
   categoryId: number | null = null,
+  name: string | null = null,
 ): Promise<CommandHqSessionRow> {
   const [row] = await db
     .insert(commandHqSessions)
-    .values({ userId, sessionId, categoryId })
+    .values({ userId, sessionId, categoryId, name })
     .onConflictDoNothing({ target: [commandHqSessions.userId, commandHqSessions.sessionId] })
     .returning(SESSION_ROW_COLUMNS);
   // `onConflictDoNothing` returns nothing on the conflict path, so the existing row is fetched explicitly —
diff --git a/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/schema.ts b/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/schema.ts
index d74a138a..a44e2805 100644
--- a/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/schema.ts
+++ b/src/databases/officer_db/src/command-hq/schema.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,18 @@ export const commandHqSessions = pgTable(
      * id spaces both agree on only sometimes.
      */
     sessionId: text('session_id').notNull(),
+    /**
+     * What the owner called it, held here rather than only in the transcript's summary record.
+     *
+     * The summary is the harness's, and it can only be written once the transcript file exists — which is
+     * after the first turn. So a list reading the transcript showed the opening brief until that turn ended,
+     * while the header beside it showed the name from local state. Two names for one commander, and every
+     * fix for it was a cache-invalidation trick timed against somebody else's write.
+     *
+     * The row is written when the commander is filed, before any of that. Nullable for the rows that predate
+     * this, which fall back to the transcript.
+     */
+    name: text('name'),
     /** Nullable — a commander may be uncategorised. `onDelete: 'set null'`: deleting a category uncategorises its commanders rather than deleting them. */
     categoryId: integer('category_id').references(() => commandHqCategories.id, { onDelete: 'set null' }),
     /** Should the platform keep re-arming this commander's watcher on every fire? See the file docstring. */
diff --git a/src/servers/api/chat/websocket.ts b/src/servers/api/chat/websocket.ts
index f23b7424..326367b7 100644
--- a/src/servers/api/chat/websocket.ts
+++ b/src/servers/api/chat/websocket.ts
@@ -474,7 +474,10 @@ function createMessageHandler(
     const userId = sessionManager.getSession(sessionId)?.userId;
     if (!userId) return;
     const filedId = transcriptId;
-    void createCommandHqSession(userId, filedId)
+    // The name goes in with the row, not only to the transcript: the list reads it from here and is
+    // right immediately, rather than waiting on a summary record the harness cannot write until the
+    // first turn has finished.
+    void createCommandHqSession(userId, filedId, null, commanderName?.trim() || null)
       .then(async () => {
         /*
           The chosen name, applied once — and RETRIED, because the first attempt usually fails.
diff --git a/src/servers/api/command-hq/router.ts b/src/servers/api/command-hq/router.ts
index 58641d31..f4d1456a 100644
--- a/src/servers/api/command-hq/router.ts
+++ b/src/servers/api/command-hq/router.ts
@@ -248,6 +248,10 @@ commandHqRouter.get('/commanders', async (ctx) => {
   const commanders: CommanderSummary[] = filed
     .map((row) => ({
       ...liveById.get(row.sessionId)!,
+      // The row's name wins over the transcript's. It is written when the commander is filed, while the
+      // summary record cannot exist until the first turn ends — so until then the transcript still reports
+      // the opening brief, and the row is the only source that is right from the start.
+      ...(row.name ? { title: row.name } : {}),
       categoryId: row.categoryId,
       tagIds: tagsByRow.get(row.id) ?? [],
       running: runningById.get(row.sessionId) ?? false,
@@ -393,6 +397,7 @@ commandHqRouter.get('/commanders/:sessionId', async (ctx) => {
   ]);
   return ctx.json({
     sessionId: row.sessionId,
+    name: row.name,
     categoryId: row.categoryId,
     tagIds: tagsByRow.get(row.id) ?? [],
     running,