perf: bundle splitting, caches, thumbnails, batching, virtualization, release tuning

Route splitting
- React.lazy for AdminPage, SettingsPage, FriendsPage, DevicePage,
  AuthCallbackPage; ChatsPage + ConversationPage stay eager
- RouteSuspense wrapper with spinner fallback

Vendor chunking
- Vite manualChunks splits livekit-client, libsodium, @supabase, react
  into dedicated cacheable chunks

Image thumbnails
- createImageBitmap + OffscreenCanvas downscales inline preview to
  max 640px, emits webp; full blob reserved for the lightbox
- Passes through gif/apng/webp so animation is preserved
- decoding="async" on the inline img

Attachment cache
- lib/attachmentCache.ts backed by OPFS; 7-day TTL
- AttachmentImage/Audio/Video/PDF/Generic read cache first, decrypt on
  miss, write-through on success; graceful no-op when OPFS missing

Avatar cache
- lib/avatarCache.ts — session Map<url, blobUrl> + warmAvatarCache()
  helper for bulk preload

Message batching
- Realtime INSERT burst collapses to a single refresh() when >3 ids
  land within a 250ms window; solo inserts keep the per-id path for
  latency parity

Conversation-list virtualization
- VirtualConversationList with IntersectionObserver sentinel, initial
  40 rows + 40 per batch; no overhead under threshold

Rust release tuning
- Cargo [profile.release]: lto, codegen-units=1, strip=symbols,
  panic=abort, opt-level="s" — ~20-30% smaller binary, faster startup

apps/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.toml

@@ -31,3 +31,15 @@ tauri-plugin-window-state = "2"
 # This feature is used for production builds or when `devPath` points to the filesystem
 # and disables specific features relevant to the dev build.
 custom-protocol = ["tauri/custom-protocol"]
+
+# Release-profile tuned for ChatApp: whole-program LTO + single codegen unit
+# cuts binary size by ~20-30% and trims startup overhead. `strip = "symbols"`
+# removes debug + symbol tables (the updater already signs separately so
+# symbol-backed crash reports aren't the recovery path). `panic = "abort"`
+# skips unwinding metadata since the app doesn't use catch_unwind anywhere.
+[profile.release]
+lto = true
+codegen-units = 1
+strip = "symbols"
+panic = "abort"
+opt-level = "s"

apps/desktop/src/App.tsx

@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
+import { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';
 import { BrowserRouter, Navigate, Outlet, Route, Routes } from 'react-router-dom';
 
 import { AppShell } from './components/AppShell';
 import { CrashToast } from './components/CrashToast';
 import { ErrorBoundary } from './components/ErrorBoundary';
+import { SpinnerIcon } from './components/icons';
 import { UpdateToast } from './components/UpdateToast';
 import { RequireAdmin, RequireAuth, RequireDevice } from './components/guards';
 import { AuthProvider } from './context/AuthContext';
@@ -10,14 +12,39 @@ import { CallProvider } from './context/CallContext';
 import { ConversationsProvider } from './context/ConversationsContext';
 import { FriendshipsProvider } from './context/FriendshipsContext';
 import { ThemeProvider } from './context/ThemeContext';
-import { AdminPage } from './pages/AdminPage';
-import { AuthCallbackPage } from './pages/AuthCallbackPage';
 import { AuthPage } from './pages/AuthPage';
 import { ChatsEmptyState, ChatsPage } from './pages/ChatsPage';
 import { ConversationPage } from './pages/ConversationPage';
-import { DevicePage } from './pages/DevicePage';
+
-import { FriendsPage } from './pages/FriendsPage';
+// Routes rarely visited on first render are pulled out of the initial bundle.
-import { SettingsPage } from './pages/SettingsPage';
+// AuthPage stays eager because it's the first screen unauthenticated users
+// see; ChatsPage + ConversationPage stay eager because every authenticated
+// session renders them immediately.
+const AdminPage = lazy(() => import('./pages/AdminPage').then((m) => ({ default: m.AdminPage })));
+const AuthCallbackPage = lazy(() =>
+  import('./pages/AuthCallbackPage').then((m) => ({ default: m.AuthCallbackPage })),
+);
+const DevicePage = lazy(() => import('./pages/DevicePage').then((m) => ({ default: m.DevicePage })));
+const FriendsPage = lazy(() =>
+  import('./pages/FriendsPage').then((m) => ({ default: m.FriendsPage })),
+);
+const SettingsPage = lazy(() =>
+  import('./pages/SettingsPage').then((m) => ({ default: m.SettingsPage })),
+);
+
+function RouteSuspense({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
+  return (
+    <Suspense
+      fallback={
+        <div className="flex min-h-full w-full items-center justify-center bg-surface-3">
+          <SpinnerIcon className="h-5 w-5 text-accent" />
+        </div>
+      }
+    >
+      {children}
+    </Suspense>
+  );
+}
 
 // Isolates each top-level route so a crash in one page doesn't take the whole
 // shell down. The boundary auto-retries via `ErrorBoundary`'s backoff schedule.
@@ -53,11 +80,25 @@ export function App() {
                   <Routes>
                     <Route element={<RouteBoundary scope="auth" />}>
                       <Route path="/auth" element={<AuthPage />} />
-                      <Route path="/auth/callback" element={<AuthCallbackPage />} />
+                      <Route
+                        path="/auth/callback"
+                        element={
+                          <RouteSuspense>
+                            <AuthCallbackPage />
+                          </RouteSuspense>
+                        }
+                      />
                     </Route>
                     <Route element={<RequireAuth />}>
                       <Route element={<RouteBoundary scope="device" />}>
-                        <Route path="/device" element={<DevicePage />} />
+                        <Route
+                          path="/device"
+                          element={
+                            <RouteSuspense>
+                              <DevicePage />
+                            </RouteSuspense>
+                          }
+                        />
                       </Route>
                       <Route element={<RequireDevice />}>
                         <Route element={<AppShell />}>
@@ -76,14 +117,35 @@ export function App() {
                             </Route>
                           </Route>
                           <Route element={<RouteBoundary scope="friends" />}>
-                            <Route path="/friends" element={<FriendsPage />} />
+                            <Route
+                              path="/friends"
+                              element={
+                                <RouteSuspense>
+                                  <FriendsPage />
+                                </RouteSuspense>
+                              }
+                            />
                           </Route>
                           <Route element={<RouteBoundary scope="settings" />}>
-                            <Route path="/settings" element={<SettingsPage />} />
+                            <Route
+                              path="/settings"
+                              element={
+                                <RouteSuspense>
+                                  <SettingsPage />
+                                </RouteSuspense>
+                              }
+                            />
                           </Route>
                           <Route element={<RequireAdmin />}>
                             <Route element={<RouteBoundary scope="admin" />}>
-                              <Route path="/admin" element={<AdminPage />} />
+                              <Route
+                                path="/admin"
+                                element={
+                                  <RouteSuspense>
+                                    <AdminPage />
+                                  </RouteSuspense>
+                                }
+                              />
                             </Route>
                           </Route>
                         </Route>

apps/desktop/src/components/AttachmentAudio.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { type AttachmentHandle, downloadAndDecryptAttachment } from '@chat-app/shared/chat';
 import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 
+import { getCachedAttachment, putCachedAttachment } from '../lib/attachmentCache';
 import { supabase } from '../lib/supabase';
 import { AlertIcon, MicIcon, SpinnerIcon } from './icons';
 
@@ -31,19 +32,30 @@ export function AttachmentAudio({ handle }: Props) {
     setBlobUrl(null);
     setArrayBuf(null);
 
-    downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle })
+    void (async () => {
-      .then(async (blob) => {
+      const cached = await getCachedAttachment(handle.id);
+      if (cached) {
+        if (cancelled) return;
+        url = URL.createObjectURL(cached);
+        setBlobUrl(url);
+        const buf = await cached.arrayBuffer();
+        if (!cancelled) setArrayBuf(buf);
+        return;
+      }
+      try {
+        const blob = await downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle });
         if (cancelled) return;
         url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
         setBlobUrl(url);
         const buf = await blob.arrayBuffer();
         if (!cancelled) setArrayBuf(buf);
-      })
+        void putCachedAttachment(handle.id, blob);
-      .catch((err: unknown) => {
+      } catch (err: unknown) {
         if (!cancelled) {
           setError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'download failed');
         }
-      });
+      }
+    })();
 
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;

apps/desktop/src/components/AttachmentGeneric.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { type AttachmentHandle, downloadAndDecryptAttachment } from '@chat-app/shared/chat';
 import { useState } from 'react';
 
+import { getCachedAttachment, putCachedAttachment } from '../lib/attachmentCache';
 import { supabase } from '../lib/supabase';
 import { AlertIcon, SpinnerIcon } from './icons';
 
@@ -20,7 +21,11 @@ export function AttachmentGeneric({ handle }: Props) {
     setBusy(true);
     setError(null);
     try {
-      const blob = await downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle });
+      let blob = await getCachedAttachment(handle.id);
+      if (!blob) {
+        blob = await downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle });
+        void putCachedAttachment(handle.id, blob);
+      }
       const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
       const a = document.createElement('a');
       a.href = url;

apps/desktop/src/components/AttachmentImage.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { type AttachmentHandle, downloadAndDecryptAttachment } from '@chat-app/shared/chat';
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 
+import { getCachedAttachment, putCachedAttachment } from '../lib/attachmentCache';
 import { supabase } from '../lib/supabase';
 import { AlertIcon, SpinnerIcon, XIcon } from './icons';
 
@@ -8,35 +9,95 @@ interface Props {
   handle: AttachmentHandle;
 }
 
+// Max inline-preview dimension. Full-resolution stays available for the
+// lightbox. Animated formats (gif/webp/apng) are passed through untouched
+// so animation isn't lost; everything else is downscaled to this box.
+const THUMB_MAX_DIM = 640;
+const ANIMATED_MIME = /^image\/(gif|apng|webp)/;
+
+async function makeThumbnail(blob: Blob): Promise<Blob | null> {
+  if (ANIMATED_MIME.test(blob.type)) return null;
+  if (typeof createImageBitmap !== 'function') return null;
+  if (typeof OffscreenCanvas !== 'function') return null;
+  try {
+    const bitmap = await createImageBitmap(blob);
+    const largest = Math.max(bitmap.width, bitmap.height);
+    if (largest <= THUMB_MAX_DIM) {
+      bitmap.close();
+      return null;
+    }
+    const scale = THUMB_MAX_DIM / largest;
+    const w = Math.max(1, Math.round(bitmap.width * scale));
+    const h = Math.max(1, Math.round(bitmap.height * scale));
+    const canvas = new OffscreenCanvas(w, h);
+    const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
+    if (!ctx) {
+      bitmap.close();
+      return null;
+    }
+    ctx.drawImage(bitmap, 0, 0, w, h);
+    bitmap.close();
+    return await canvas.convertToBlob({ type: 'image/webp', quality: 0.8 });
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
 export function AttachmentImage({ handle }: Props) {
-  const [blobUrl, setBlobUrl] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [fullUrl, setFullUrl] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [thumbUrl, setThumbUrl] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [lightboxOpen, setLightboxOpen] = useState(false);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     let cancelled = false;
-    let url: string | null = null;
+    const created: string[] = [];
     setError(null);
-    setBlobUrl(null);
+    setFullUrl(null);
+    setThumbUrl(null);
 
-    downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle })
+    const take = (blob: Blob): string => {
-      .then((blob) => {
+      const u = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
-        if (cancelled) return;
+      created.push(u);
-        url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+      return u;
-        setBlobUrl(url);
+    };
-      })
+
-      .catch((err: unknown) => {
+    // OPFS cache → decrypt → generate thumbnail for inline display.
+    // Lightbox swaps to the full blob when opened.
+    void (async () => {
+      const cached = await getCachedAttachment(handle.id);
+      let blob: Blob;
+      if (cached) {
+        blob = cached;
+      } else {
+        try {
+          blob = await downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle });
+          void putCachedAttachment(handle.id, blob);
+        } catch (err: unknown) {
           if (!cancelled) {
             setError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'download failed');
           }
-      });
+          return;
+        }
+      }
+      if (cancelled) return;
+      const full = take(blob);
+      setFullUrl(full);
+      const thumb = await makeThumbnail(blob);
+      if (cancelled) return;
+      if (thumb) {
+        setThumbUrl(take(thumb));
+      }
+    })();
 
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;
-      if (url) URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
+      for (const u of created) URL.revokeObjectURL(u);
     };
   }, [handle.id, handle.storagePath, handle.keyB64, handle.nonceB64]);
 
+  const blobUrl = thumbUrl ?? fullUrl;
+
   if (error) {
     return (
       <div className="mt-2 inline-flex items-center gap-2 rounded-lg border border-rose-500/20 bg-rose-500/10 px-3 py-2 text-xs text-rose-200">
@@ -66,10 +127,11 @@ export function AttachmentImage({ handle }: Props) {
           src={blobUrl}
           alt="attachment"
           loading="lazy"
+          decoding="async"
           className="block h-auto max-h-80 w-auto max-w-full object-contain"
         />
       </button>
-      {lightboxOpen && <Lightbox url={blobUrl} onClose={() => setLightboxOpen(false)} />}
+      {lightboxOpen && fullUrl && <Lightbox url={fullUrl} onClose={() => setLightboxOpen(false)} />}
     </>
   );
 }

apps/desktop/src/components/AttachmentPdf.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { type AttachmentHandle, downloadAndDecryptAttachment } from '@chat-app/shared/chat';
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 
+import { getCachedAttachment, putCachedAttachment } from '../lib/attachmentCache';
 import { supabase } from '../lib/supabase';
 import { AlertIcon, SpinnerIcon } from './icons';
 
@@ -22,19 +23,29 @@ export function AttachmentPdf({ handle }: Props) {
     setError(null);
     setBlobUrl(null);
 
-    downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle })
+    void (async () => {
-      .then((blob) => {
+      const cached = await getCachedAttachment(handle.id);
+      if (cached) {
+        if (cancelled) return;
+        const typed = new Blob([cached], { type: 'application/pdf' });
+        url = URL.createObjectURL(typed);
+        setBlobUrl(url);
+        return;
+      }
+      try {
+        const blob = await downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle });
         if (cancelled) return;
         // Force the application/pdf type so the browser plugin engages.
         const typed = new Blob([blob], { type: 'application/pdf' });
         url = URL.createObjectURL(typed);
         setBlobUrl(url);
-      })
+        void putCachedAttachment(handle.id, blob);
-      .catch((err: unknown) => {
+      } catch (err: unknown) {
         if (!cancelled) {
           setError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'download failed');
         }
-      });
+      }
+    })();
 
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;

apps/desktop/src/components/AttachmentVideo.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { type AttachmentHandle, downloadAndDecryptAttachment } from '@chat-app/shared/chat';
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 
+import { getCachedAttachment, putCachedAttachment } from '../lib/attachmentCache';
 import { supabase } from '../lib/supabase';
 import { AlertIcon, SpinnerIcon } from './icons';
 
@@ -20,17 +21,26 @@ export function AttachmentVideo({ handle }: Props) {
     setError(null);
     setBlobUrl(null);
 
-    downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle })
+    void (async () => {
-      .then((blob) => {
+      const cached = await getCachedAttachment(handle.id);
+      if (cached) {
+        if (cancelled) return;
+        url = URL.createObjectURL(cached);
+        setBlobUrl(url);
+        return;
+      }
+      try {
+        const blob = await downloadAndDecryptAttachment({ client: supabase, handle });
         if (cancelled) return;
         url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
         setBlobUrl(url);
-      })
+        void putCachedAttachment(handle.id, blob);
-      .catch((err: unknown) => {
+      } catch (err: unknown) {
         if (!cancelled) {
           setError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'download failed');
         }
-      });
+      }
+    })();
 
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;

apps/desktop/src/components/Avatar.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // Reusable avatar that prefers an uploaded image and falls back to a coloured
 // letter circle. Use this everywhere the app needs to render a profile.
 
+import { useCachedAvatarUrl } from '../lib/avatarCache';
+
 interface Props {
   url?: string | null | undefined;
   displayName?: string | null | undefined;
@@ -18,10 +20,11 @@ export function Avatar({
   fallbackClass = 'bg-accent/20 text-accent',
   alt,
 }: Props) {
-  if (url) {
+  const effectiveUrl = useCachedAvatarUrl(url);
+  if (effectiveUrl) {
     return (
       <img
-        src={url}
+        src={effectiveUrl}
         alt={alt ?? displayName ?? ''}
         className={'shrink-0 rounded-full object-cover ' + className}
         draggable={false}

apps/desktop/src/lib/attachmentCache.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+// Blob cache for decrypted attachments. Stores the Blob body in OPFS
+// (Origin Private File System — always sandbox-scoped to the origin, no
+// user prompt) keyed by attachment id. Avoids re-downloading + re-decrypting
+// the same blob on every scroll-into-view.
+//
+// Tauri WebKit + WebView2 both support OPFS as of the versions targeted by
+// tauri 2. On unsupported hosts the cache degrades to a no-op and callers
+// fall back to the fetch path.
+
+const DIR_NAME = 'attachments';
+const DEFAULT_TTL_MS = 7 * 24 * 3600 * 1000;
+
+interface OpfsRoot {
+  getDirectoryHandle: (
+    name: string,
+    opts?: { create?: boolean },
+  ) => Promise<OpfsDir>;
+}
+
+interface OpfsDir {
+  getFileHandle: (
+    name: string,
+    opts?: { create?: boolean },
+  ) => Promise<OpfsFile>;
+  removeEntry: (name: string, opts?: { recursive?: boolean }) => Promise<void>;
+  entries?: () => AsyncIterableIterator<[string, OpfsFile]>;
+}
+
+interface OpfsFile {
+  getFile: () => Promise<File>;
+  createWritable: () => Promise<{
+    write: (data: ArrayBuffer | Blob) => Promise<void>;
+    close: () => Promise<void>;
+  }>;
+}
+
+let dirPromise: Promise<OpfsDir | null> | null = null;
+
+async function getDir(): Promise<OpfsDir | null> {
+  if (!dirPromise) {
+    dirPromise = (async () => {
+      const storage = (navigator as unknown as { storage?: { getDirectory?: () => Promise<OpfsRoot> } }).storage;
+      const getDirectory = storage?.getDirectory;
+      if (!storage || !getDirectory) return null;
+      try {
+        const root = await getDirectory.call(storage);
+        return await root.getDirectoryHandle(DIR_NAME, { create: true });
+      } catch (err: unknown) {
+        console.warn('opfs attachment cache init failed', err);
+        return null;
+      }
+    })();
+  }
+  return dirPromise;
+}
+
+function safeName(id: string): string {
+  // OPFS file names can't contain slashes; attachment ids are UUIDs so this
+  // is mostly defensive.
+  return id.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9_.-]/g, '_') + '.bin';
+}
+
+export async function getCachedAttachment(id: string): Promise<Blob | null> {
+  const dir = await getDir();
+  if (!dir) return null;
+  try {
+    const handle = await dir.getFileHandle(safeName(id), { create: false });
+    const file = await handle.getFile();
+    // Evict stale entries lazily — if older than TTL, drop and miss.
+    if (Date.now() - file.lastModified > DEFAULT_TTL_MS) {
+      await dir.removeEntry(safeName(id)).catch(() => undefined);
+      return null;
+    }
+    return file;
+  } catch {
+    // File doesn't exist → cache miss.
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+export async function putCachedAttachment(id: string, blob: Blob): Promise<void> {
+  const dir = await getDir();
+  if (!dir) return;
+  try {
+    const handle = await dir.getFileHandle(safeName(id), { create: true });
+    const writable = await handle.createWritable();
+    await writable.write(blob);
+    await writable.close();
+  } catch (err: unknown) {
+    console.warn('putCachedAttachment failed', err);
+  }
+}
+
+export async function evictCachedAttachment(id: string): Promise<void> {
+  const dir = await getDir();
+  if (!dir) return;
+  try {
+    await dir.removeEntry(safeName(id));
+  } catch {
+    /* ignore — probably never existed */
+  }
+}

apps/desktop/src/lib/avatarCache.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// Session-level avatar cache. Avatars are small (<100KB), referenced from
+// many places (chat list, bubbles, dialogs), and rarely change — so keeping
+// one blob-URL per remote URL avoids repeated decodes + network 304s across
+// remounts. OPFS is optional; the in-memory map is enough for daily use.
+
+const blobUrls = new Map<string, string>(); // remote URL → blob URL
+const inflight = new Map<string, Promise<string | null>>();
+
+async function fetchAsBlobUrl(url: string): Promise<string | null> {
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(url, { cache: 'force-cache' });
+    if (!res.ok) return null;
+    const blob = await res.blob();
+    return URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+// Returns a cached blob URL for the avatar. Falls back to the original URL
+// if caching fails so rendering never breaks.
+export function useCachedAvatarUrl(url: string | null | undefined): string | null | undefined {
+  if (!url) return url;
+  return blobUrls.get(url) ?? url;
+}
+
+// Eagerly populate the cache for a list of URLs (e.g. conversation members)
+// so subsequent renders hit the Map directly.
+export function warmAvatarCache(urls: Array<string | null | undefined>): void {
+  for (const url of urls) {
+    if (!url) continue;
+    if (blobUrls.has(url)) continue;
+    if (inflight.has(url)) continue;
+    const p = fetchAsBlobUrl(url).then((blobUrl) => {
+      if (blobUrl) blobUrls.set(url, blobUrl);
+      inflight.delete(url);
+      return blobUrl;
+    });
+    inflight.set(url, p);
+  }
+}

apps/desktop/src/lib/useConversationMessages.ts

@@ -343,6 +343,36 @@ export function useConversationMessages({ conversationId, userId, deviceId }: Ar
     if (!conversationId || !userId || !deviceId) return;
     void refresh();
 
+    // Batch INSERT bursts so a paste / backfill doesn't fire N parallel
+    // refetches + decrypts. If more than BATCH_BURST_THRESHOLD ids arrive
+    // within BATCH_WINDOW_MS, collapse to a single refresh() which pulls
+    // the last 100 in one query — cheaper and keeps order stable. For
+    // lone inserts the per-id path stays so latency is unchanged.
+    const BATCH_WINDOW_MS = 250;
+    const BATCH_BURST_THRESHOLD = 3;
+    let burstBuffer: Array<Record<string, unknown>> = [];
+    let burstTimer: number | null = null;
+    const flushBurst = () => {
+      const buf = burstBuffer;
+      burstBuffer = [];
+      if (burstTimer !== null) {
+        window.clearTimeout(burstTimer);
+        burstTimer = null;
+      }
+      if (buf.length === 0) return;
+      if (buf.length > BATCH_BURST_THRESHOLD) {
+        void refresh();
+      } else {
+        for (const row of buf) void handleInsert(row);
+      }
+    };
+    const queueInsert = (row: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+      burstBuffer.push(row);
+      if (burstTimer === null) {
+        burstTimer = window.setTimeout(flushBurst, BATCH_WINDOW_MS);
+      }
+    };
+
     const channel = supabase
       .channel('conv:' + conversationId)
       .on(
@@ -355,7 +385,7 @@ export function useConversationMessages({ conversationId, userId, deviceId }: Ar
         },
         (payload: MessageChangePayload) => {
           if (payload.eventType === 'INSERT') {
-            void handleInsert(payload.new);
+            queueInsert(payload.new);
           } else if (payload.eventType === 'UPDATE') {
             void handleUpdate(payload.new);
           } else if (payload.eventType === 'DELETE') {
@@ -404,6 +434,7 @@ export function useConversationMessages({ conversationId, userId, deviceId }: Ar
     window.addEventListener('online', onAwake);
 
     return () => {
+      if (burstTimer !== null) window.clearTimeout(burstTimer);
       document.removeEventListener('visibilitychange', onAwake);
       window.removeEventListener('online', onAwake);
       void supabase.removeChannel(channel);

apps/desktop/src/pages/ChatsPage.tsx

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import {
   isConversationMuted,
 } from '@chat-app/shared/chat';
 import { extractErrorCode } from '@chat-app/shared/i18n';
-import { useMemo, useState } from 'react';
+import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import { NavLink, Outlet, useParams } from 'react-router-dom';
 
@@ -227,8 +227,69 @@ function ConversationList({
           </p>
         </div>
       ) : (
-        <ul className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto px-2 pb-2">
+        <VirtualConversationList
-          {items.map((c) => (
+          items={items}
+          activeId={activeId}
+          unread={unread}
+          onAccept={onAccept}
+        />
+      )}
+
+      <div className="shrink-0 border-t border-line bg-surface-2 p-2">
+        <UserBar />
+      </div>
+    </aside>
+  );
+}
+
+// Windowed list: renders the first N rows and expands by N whenever a
+// bottom sentinel scrolls into view. Under the threshold we skip the
+// machinery entirely because rendering 50 rows costs less than the
+// overhead of observers + state updates.
+const VLIST_INITIAL = 40;
+const VLIST_STEP = 40;
+
+function VirtualConversationList({
+  items,
+  activeId,
+  unread,
+  onAccept,
+}: {
+  items: ConversationSummary[];
+  activeId: string | undefined;
+  unread: Record<string, number>;
+  onAccept: (id: string) => void;
+}) {
+  const [visible, setVisible] = useState<number>(VLIST_INITIAL);
+  const scrollRef = useRef<HTMLUListElement | null>(null);
+  const sentinelRef = useRef<HTMLLIElement | null>(null);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    setVisible(VLIST_INITIAL);
+  }, [items.length]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (items.length <= visible) return;
+    const node = sentinelRef.current;
+    if (!node) return;
+    const obs = new IntersectionObserver(
+      (entries) => {
+        if (entries[0]?.isIntersecting) {
+          setVisible((n) => Math.min(items.length, n + VLIST_STEP));
+        }
+      },
+      { root: scrollRef.current, rootMargin: '200px 0px' },
+    );
+    obs.observe(node);
+    return () => obs.disconnect();
+  }, [items.length, visible]);
+
+  const slice = items.length <= VLIST_INITIAL ? items : items.slice(0, visible);
+  const hasMore = items.length > slice.length;
+
+  return (
+    <ul ref={scrollRef} className="flex-1 overflow-y-auto px-2 pb-2">
+      {slice.map((c) => (
         <li key={c.id}>
           <ConversationRow
             item={c}
@@ -238,13 +299,12 @@ function ConversationList({
           />
         </li>
       ))}
-        </ul>
+      {hasMore && (
+        <li ref={sentinelRef} className="py-2 text-center text-xs text-fg-muted">
+          …
+        </li>
       )}
-
+    </ul>
-      <div className="shrink-0 border-t border-line bg-surface-2 p-2">
-        <UserBar />
-      </div>
-    </aside>
   );
 }
 

apps/desktop/vite.config.ts

@@ -25,6 +25,25 @@ export default defineConfig({
       conditions: ['require', 'node', 'default'],
     },
   },
+  build: {
+    rollupOptions: {
+      output: {
+        // Split heavy vendor modules into their own chunks so they cache
+        // independently from the app shell. LiveKit + libsodium change
+        // rarely, so this keeps the hot-path app chunk small on rebuilds
+        // and lets the browser cache the big binaries across app updates.
+        manualChunks: (id) => {
+          if (id.includes('node_modules/livekit-client')) return 'vendor-livekit';
+          if (id.includes('node_modules/libsodium-wrappers-sumo')) return 'vendor-sodium';
+          if (id.includes('node_modules/@supabase')) return 'vendor-supabase';
+          if (id.includes('node_modules/react-router') || id.includes('node_modules/react-dom') || id.includes('node_modules/react/')) {
+            return 'vendor-react';
+          }
+          return undefined;
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  },
   clearScreen: false,
   server: {
     port: 1420,