diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/routes/chats_routes.py b/surfsense_backend/app/routes/chats_routes.py
index 2813201e7..26af68149 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/routes/chats_routes.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/routes/chats_routes.py
@@ -319,15 +319,19 @@ async def read_chats(
                 "You don't have permission to read chats in this search space",
             )
             # Select specific fields excluding messages
-            query = select(
-                Chat.id,
-                Chat.type,
-                Chat.title,
-                Chat.initial_connectors,
-                Chat.search_space_id,
-                Chat.created_at,
-                Chat.state_version,
-            ).filter(Chat.search_space_id == search_space_id)
+            query = (
+                select(
+                    Chat.id,
+                    Chat.type,
+                    Chat.title,
+                    Chat.initial_connectors,
+                    Chat.search_space_id,
+                    Chat.created_at,
+                    Chat.state_version,
+                )
+                .filter(Chat.search_space_id == search_space_id)
+                .order_by(Chat.created_at.desc())
+            )
         else:
             # Get chats from all search spaces user has membership in
             query = (
@@ -343,6 +347,7 @@ async def read_chats(
                 .join(SearchSpace)
                 .join(SearchSpaceMembership)
                 .filter(SearchSpaceMembership.user_id == user.id)
+                .order_by(Chat.created_at.desc())
             )
 
         result = await session.execute(query.offset(skip).limit(limit))
diff --git a/surfsense_web/atoms/chats/chat-mutation.atoms.ts b/surfsense_web/atoms/chats/chat-mutation.atoms.ts
index 798bfcd2f..c761a706f 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/atoms/chats/chat-mutation.atoms.ts
+++ b/surfsense_web/atoms/chats/chat-mutation.atoms.ts
@@ -27,12 +27,21 @@ export const deleteChatMutationAtom = atomWithMutation((get) => {
 
 		onSuccess: (_, request: DeleteChatRequest) => {
 			toast.success("Chat deleted successfully");
+			// Optimistically update the current query
 			queryClient.setQueryData(
 				cacheKeys.chats.globalQueryParams(chatsQueryParams),
 				(oldData: ChatSummary[]) => {
-					return oldData.filter((chat) => chat.id !== request.id);
+					return oldData?.filter((chat) => chat.id !== request.id) ?? [];
 				}
 			);
+			// Invalidate all chat queries to ensure consistency across components
+			queryClient.invalidateQueries({
+				queryKey: ["chats"],
+			});
+			// Also invalidate the "all-chats" query used by AllChatsSidebar
+			queryClient.invalidateQueries({
+				queryKey: ["all-chats"],
+			});
 		},
 	};
 });
@@ -50,8 +59,14 @@ export const createChatMutationAtom = atomWithMutation((get) => {
 		},
 
 		onSuccess: () => {
+			// Invalidate ALL chat queries to ensure sidebar and other components refresh
+			// Using a partial key match to avoid stale closure issues with specific query params
 			queryClient.invalidateQueries({
-				queryKey: cacheKeys.chats.globalQueryParams(chatsQueryParams),
+				queryKey: ["chats"],
+			});
+			// Also invalidate the "all-chats" query used by AllChatsSidebar
+			queryClient.invalidateQueries({
+				queryKey: ["all-chats"],
 			});
 		},
 	};
diff --git a/surfsense_web/components/sidebar/AppSidebarProvider.tsx b/surfsense_web/components/sidebar/AppSidebarProvider.tsx
index bb7ccedc9..393d86b74 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/components/sidebar/AppSidebarProvider.tsx
+++ b/surfsense_web/components/sidebar/AppSidebarProvider.tsx
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ export function AppSidebarProvider({
 
 	useEffect(() => {
 		setChatsQueryParams((prev) => ({ ...prev, search_space_id: searchSpaceId, skip: 0, limit: 4 }));
-	}, [searchSpaceId]);
+	}, [searchSpaceId, setChatsQueryParams]);
 
 	const {
 		data: searchSpace,
diff --git a/surfsense_web/lib/query-client/cache-keys.ts b/surfsense_web/lib/query-client/cache-keys.ts
index a8eecb605..7eae21e05 100644
--- a/surfsense_web/lib/query-client/cache-keys.ts
+++ b/surfsense_web/lib/query-client/cache-keys.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,14 @@ export const cacheKeys = {
 	chats: {
 		activeChat: (chatId: string) => ["active-chat", chatId] as const,
 		globalQueryParams: (queries: GetChatsRequest["queryParams"]) =>
-			["chats", ...(queries ? Object.values(queries) : [])] as const,
+			[
+				"chats",
+				queries?.search_space_id,
+				queries?.limit,
+				queries?.skip,
+				queries?.page,
+				queries?.page_size,
+			] as const,
 	},
 	podcasts: {
 		globalQueryParams: (queries: GetPodcastsRequest["queryParams"]) =>