diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 88932a5..4e90812 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ export const HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL_MS = 10_000;
 export const LEASE_GRACE_MS = 30_000;
 export const REAP_INTERVAL_MS = 5_000;
 export const SUBSCRIBER_HEARTBEAT_MS = 15_000;
+// Told to the browser as the SSE `retry:` field. Without it browsers use their
+// own default (~3s in Chrome), which makes a server restart feel like an outage;
+// a blip should heal before the user notices. Longer waits are the client's job:
+// it takes the schedule over once a gap lingers, so this never becomes a hammer.
+export const SSE_RETRY_MS = 500;
 export const MAX_SSE_FIELD_BYTES = 8 * 1024;
 // Actors with no subscribers and no active run are evicted after this TTL.
 export const ACTOR_IDLE_TTL_MS = 5 * 60_000;
diff --git a/src/http.ts b/src/http.ts
index c555126..a87f8fd 100644
--- a/src/http.ts
+++ b/src/http.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { brotliCompressSync, gzipSync, constants as zlibConstants } from "node:z
 import { ConversationActor, type Subscriber, type WireEvent } from "./actor";
 import { authEnabled, gateApi, getSession, sessionUser } from "./auth";
 import type { BlobStore } from "./blobs";
-import { ACTOR_IDLE_TTL_MS, SUBSCRIBER_HEARTBEAT_MS } from "./config";
+import { ACTOR_IDLE_TTL_MS, SSE_RETRY_MS, SUBSCRIBER_HEARTBEAT_MS } from "./config";
 import { Event, parseEventId } from "./events";
 import { getExecutor } from "./executor";
 import { getRegistry } from "./inference";
@@ -301,6 +301,8 @@ function openStream(conversationId: string, req: Request, store: Store): Respons
   // connection is what triggers replay via Last-Event-ID. Keepalive comments
   // keep proxies (and Bun's idle timeout) from closing the idle connection.
   const sseTransform = new TransformStream<StreamItem, string>({
+    // The reconnect delay is ours to set, not the browser's to guess.
+    start: (controller) => controller.enqueue(`retry: ${SSE_RETRY_MS}\n\n`),
     transform: (item, controller) => {
       if (item === KEEPALIVE) controller.enqueue(": keepalive\n\n");
       else controller.enqueue(sseBlock(item));
diff --git a/tests/server.test.ts b/tests/server.test.ts
index dc41498..6a94ef1 100644
--- a/tests/server.test.ts
+++ b/tests/server.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { FsBlobStore } from "../src/blobs";
 import { Catalog } from "../src/catalog";
+import { SSE_RETRY_MS } from "../src/config";
 import { JobDriver } from "../src/drive";
 import { apiRoutes, evictIdleActors, getActor } from "../src/http";
 import { setRegistry } from "../src/inference";
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ async function readSse(res: Response, until: (frames: Frame[]) => boolean): Prom
         else if (line.startsWith("id:")) id = line.slice(3).trim();
         else if (line.startsWith("data:")) dataLines.push(line.slice(5).trim());
       }
+      if (!dataLines.length) continue; // control frame (`retry:`), not an event
       frames.push({ event, id, data: JSON.parse(dataLines.join("\n")) });
       if (until(frames)) {
         await reader.cancel();
@@ -172,6 +174,16 @@ test("prompt → SSE stream emits user-message, message-start, deltas, message-e
   for (let i = 1; i < seqs.length; i++) expect(seqs[i]!).toBeGreaterThan(seqs[i - 1]!);
 });
 
+test("the stream sets its own reconnect interval", async () => {
+  // Without `retry:` the browser guesses (~3s in Chrome), which makes a server
+  // restart feel like an outage. It has to be the first thing on the wire.
+  const res = await fetch(`${base}/api/conversations/retryfield/stream`);
+  const reader = res.body!.getReader();
+  const head = new TextDecoder().decode((await reader.read()).value);
+  await reader.cancel();
+  expect(head.startsWith(`retry: ${SSE_RETRY_MS}\n\n`)).toBe(true);
+});
+
 test("resume via HTTP Last-Event-ID replays only the gap", async () => {
   const conv = "s2";
   const actor = getActor(conv, store);