diff --git a/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/apps/app-frame.tsx b/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/apps/app-frame.tsx
index 3492e67d..c406b903 100644
--- a/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/apps/app-frame.tsx
+++ b/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/apps/app-frame.tsx
@@ -11,12 +11,29 @@ import { AppDetail } from '@/components/apps/app-detail'
 export function AppFrame({ app, onBack }: { app: rowboatApp.AppSummary; onBack: () => void }) {
   const [reloadNonce, setReloadNonce] = useState(0)
   const [showDetail, setShowDetail] = useState(false)
+  // Load watchdog: if the iframe hasn't fired `load` within the deadline,
+  // surface a visible retry state instead of a silent blank pane.
+  const [loadState, setLoadState] = useState<'loading' | 'ok' | 'stuck'>('loading')
   const title = app.manifest?.name ?? app.folder
 
   useEffect(() => {
     appOpened(app.folder)
   }, [app.folder])
 
+  // Reset the watchdog when the target changes (adjust-during-render pattern).
+  const [watchKey, setWatchKey] = useState(`${app.folder}:${reloadNonce}`)
+  if (watchKey !== `${app.folder}:${reloadNonce}`) {
+    setWatchKey(`${app.folder}:${reloadNonce}`)
+    setLoadState('loading')
+  }
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const timer = window.setTimeout(() => {
+      setLoadState((s) => (s === 'loading' ? 'stuck' : s))
+    }, 6000)
+    return () => window.clearTimeout(timer)
+  }, [watchKey])
+
   return (
     <div className="flex h-full flex-col">
       <div className="flex items-center gap-2 border-b border-border px-3 py-2">
@@ -55,13 +72,27 @@ export function AppFrame({ app, onBack }: { app: rowboatApp.AppSummary; onBack:
         </button>
       </div>
       <div className="flex min-h-0 flex-1">
-        <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
+        <div className="relative min-w-0 flex-1">
           <iframe
             key={reloadNonce}
             title={title}
             src={`${app.origin}/`}
+            onLoad={() => setLoadState('ok')}
             className="h-full w-full border-0 bg-background"
           />
+          {loadState === 'stuck' && (
+            <div className="absolute inset-0 flex flex-col items-center justify-center gap-3 bg-background/95 text-sm">
+              <div className="text-muted-foreground">This app is taking too long to load.</div>
+              <button
+                type="button"
+                onClick={() => setReloadNonce((n) => n + 1)}
+                className="rounded-md border border-border px-3 py-1.5 font-medium hover:bg-accent"
+              >
+                Retry
+              </button>
+              <div className="font-mono text-xs text-muted-foreground">{app.origin}</div>
+            </div>
+          )}
         </div>
         {showDetail && (
           <div className="w-80 shrink-0 border-l border-border">
diff --git a/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/agents.ts b/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/agents.ts
index 84d18a3c..de27918f 100644
--- a/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/agents.ts
+++ b/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/agents.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ async function materializeAgent(folder: string, agentFile: string): Promise<stri
 
     if (await pathExists(taskYaml)) {
         // Update path (§8.4): overwrite definition fields, preserve the rest.
+        // Write ONLY when the definition actually changed — this sync runs on
+        // every apps:list poll, and an unconditional rewrite races the bg
+        // runner's own task.yaml patches mid-run (and spams watcher events).
         try {
             const current = parseYaml(await fs.readFile(taskYaml, 'utf-8')) as BackgroundTask;
             const next: BackgroundTask = {
@@ -69,7 +72,14 @@ async function materializeAgent(folder: string, agentFile: string): Promise<stri
                 sourceApp: folder,
             };
             if (!def.triggers) delete next.triggers;
-            await fs.writeFile(taskYaml, stringifyYaml(next), 'utf-8');
+            const unchanged =
+                current.name === next.name &&
+                current.instructions === next.instructions &&
+                current.sourceApp === next.sourceApp &&
+                JSON.stringify(current.triggers ?? null) === JSON.stringify(next.triggers ?? null);
+            if (!unchanged) {
+                await fs.writeFile(taskYaml, stringifyYaml(next), 'utf-8');
+            }
         } catch (e) {
             console.warn(`[Apps] failed to update agent task ${slug}:`, e);
         }
diff --git a/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/server.ts b/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/server.ts
index fafa3125..a612e356 100644
--- a/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/server.ts
+++ b/apps/x/packages/core/src/apps/server.ts
@@ -710,6 +710,27 @@ export function getServerStatus(): { running: boolean; error?: string } {
     return server ? { running: true } : { running: false, ...(serverError ? { error: serverError } : {}) };
 }
 
+let lagMonitor: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
+
+/**
+ * Event-loop lag monitor: the apps server shares the main process with agent
+ * runs, sync pipelines, etc. If the loop stalls, every open app hangs with it —
+ * log stalls >300ms so "app went blank" reports can be tied to a culprit.
+ */
+function startLagMonitor(): void {
+    if (lagMonitor) return;
+    let last = Date.now();
+    lagMonitor = setInterval(() => {
+        const now = Date.now();
+        const lag = now - last - 500;
+        if (lag > 300) {
+            console.warn(`[Apps] main event-loop stalled ~${lag}ms (apps server shares this loop — open apps hang during stalls)`);
+        }
+        last = now;
+    }, 500);
+    lagMonitor.unref?.();
+}
+
 export async function init(): Promise<void> {
     if (server) return;
     if (startPromise) return startPromise;
@@ -717,6 +738,7 @@ export async function init(): Promise<void> {
     startPromise = (async () => {
         try {
             await fsp.mkdir(APPS_DIR, { recursive: true });
+            startLagMonitor();
             await startWatcher();
             const expressApp = createApp();
             await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {