diff --git a/app/api/jobs/[id]/events/route.ts b/app/api/jobs/[id]/events/route.ts
index 1623d3d..a63e350 100644
--- a/app/api/jobs/[id]/events/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/jobs/[id]/events/route.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ function sseLine(event: string, data: unknown): string {
   return `event: ${event}\ndata: ${JSON.stringify(data)}\n\n`;
 }
 
+const TERMINAL_STATUSES = new Set(["completed", "failed", "paused"]);
+
 export async function GET(request: Request, { params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }) {
   const { id } = await params;
 
@@ -23,6 +25,23 @@ export async function GET(request: Request, { params }: { params: Promise<{ id:
     start(controller) {
       controller.enqueue(encoder.encode(sseLine("job", job)));
 
+      // If the job already finished before this connection was made (fast job,
+      // immediate failure, or a page refresh after the fact), the live
+      // onDone/onProgress events already fired and are gone — synthesize a
+      // "done" event from the persisted row instead of waiting forever.
+      if (TERMINAL_STATUSES.has(job.status)) {
+        controller.enqueue(
+          encoder.encode(
+            sseLine("done", {
+              status: job.status,
+              counters: job.counters,
+            })
+          )
+        );
+        controller.close();
+        return;
+      }
+
       offProgress = onProgress(id, (event) => {
         controller.enqueue(encoder.encode(sseLine("progress", event)));
       });
diff --git a/app/migrate/[jobId]/page.tsx b/app/migrate/[jobId]/page.tsx
index 94b8099..ead826c 100644
--- a/app/migrate/[jobId]/page.tsx
+++ b/app/migrate/[jobId]/page.tsx
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ interface DoneEvent {
   error?: string;
 }
 
+interface JobEvent {
+  status: string;
+  cursor: { currentScope: string; itemsProcessedInScope: number } | null;
+  counters: JobCounters;
+}
+
 const emptyCounters: JobCounters = { matched: 0, alreadyPresent: 0, queuedForReview: 0, failed: 0 };
 
 const SCOPE_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
@@ -39,15 +45,31 @@ export default function MigrationProgressPage({ params }: { params: Promise<{ jo
   const [processed, setProcessed] = useState(0);
   const [counters, setCounters] = useState<JobCounters>(emptyCounters);
   const [done, setDone] = useState<DoneEvent | null>(null);
+  const [lastUpdateAt, setLastUpdateAt] = useState<number | null>(null);
+  const [secondsSinceUpdate, setSecondsSinceUpdate] = useState(0);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const source = new EventSource(`/api/jobs/${jobId}/events`);
 
+    // Seeds current state immediately on connect — matters if the job made
+    // progress (or already finished) before this connection was established,
+    // since any live "progress"/"done" events that already fired are gone.
+    source.addEventListener("job", (e) => {
+      const data = JSON.parse(e.data) as JobEvent;
+      if (data.cursor) {
+        setScope(data.cursor.currentScope);
+        setProcessed(data.cursor.itemsProcessedInScope);
+      }
+      setCounters(data.counters);
+      setLastUpdateAt(Date.now());
+    });
+
     source.addEventListener("progress", (e) => {
       const data = JSON.parse(e.data) as ProgressEvent;
       setScope(data.scope);
       setProcessed(data.processed);
       setCounters(data.counters);
+      setLastUpdateAt(Date.now());
     });
 
     source.addEventListener("done", (e) => {
@@ -60,6 +82,18 @@ export default function MigrationProgressPage({ params }: { params: Promise<{ jo
     return () => source.close();
   }, [jobId]);
 
+  // A ticking "quiet for Ns" readout — since a single track match/write can
+  // legitimately take a while (network calls, retries on rate limits), this
+  // tells the user the connection is alive and how long since the last
+  // update, rather than leaving them guessing whether it's frozen.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (done || lastUpdateAt === null) return;
+    const interval = setInterval(() => {
+      setSecondsSinceUpdate(Math.floor((Date.now() - lastUpdateAt) / 1000));
+    }, 1000);
+    return () => clearInterval(interval);
+  }, [lastUpdateAt, done]);
+
   function cancel() {
     fetch(`/api/jobs/${jobId}/cancel`, { method: "POST" });
   }
@@ -107,6 +141,14 @@ export default function MigrationProgressPage({ params }: { params: Promise<{ jo
 
         <VuMeter ratio={ratio} />
 
+        {!done && lastUpdateAt !== null && (
+          <p className="text-faint" style={{ fontSize: "0.72rem", marginTop: "0.6rem" }}>
+            {secondsSinceUpdate < 2
+              ? "Live — updating now"
+              : `No update for ${secondsSinceUpdate}s — a single track match/write (or a rate-limit retry) can take a while; the connection is still alive.`}
+          </p>
+        )}
+
         {done?.error && (
           <p style={{ color: "var(--red)", fontSize: "0.8rem", marginTop: "1rem" }}>{done.error}</p>
         )}