diff --git a/lib/daemon/__tests__/branch-enrich-heal.test.ts b/lib/daemon/__tests__/branch-enrich-heal.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8061215a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/daemon/__tests__/branch-enrich-heal.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import { describe, test, expect } from "bun:test";
+import { createCacheHandlers } from "../handlers/cache.ts";
+import { fakeStore } from "./fake-cache-store.ts";
+
+const HOUR = 60 * 60 * 1000;
+
+function makeCtx(entries: Record<string, any>) {
+  const ctx = { cache: fakeStore(entries), refreshCache: async () => {} } as any;
+  return ctx;
+}
+
+describe("branch:enrich heals an entry whose ticket never resolved", () => {
+  test("a complete entry is served from cache without re-enriching", async () => {
+    const ctx = makeCtx({
+      b: { linearId: "ACME-1", ticket: { identifier: "ACME-1" }, mr: null, fetchedAt: Date.now() - HOUR },
+    });
+    const res = await createCacheHandlers(ctx)["branch:enrich"]!({ branch: "b", repoPath: "/tmp/x" });
+    expect(res.ok).toBe(true);
+    expect(res.source).toBe("cache");
+  });
+
+  test("an entry with no linear id at all stays a cache hit", async () => {
+    // Nothing to resolve: re-enriching would spend a lookup per read forever.
+    const ctx = makeCtx({ b: { linearId: null, ticket: null, mr: null, fetchedAt: 1 } });
+    const res = await createCacheHandlers(ctx)["branch:enrich"]!({ branch: "b", repoPath: "/tmp/x" });
+    expect(res.source).toBe("cache");
+  });
+
+  test("an id resolved but no ticket is INCOMPLETE, and re-enriches", async () => {
+    const ctx = makeCtx({
+      b: { linearId: "ACME-1", ticket: null, mr: null, fetchedAt: Date.now() - HOUR },
+    });
+    const res = await createCacheHandlers(ctx)["branch:enrich"]!({
+      branch: "b",
+      repoPath: "/tmp/x",
+      // The enricher is injected so the test never reaches the network.
+      enrich: async () => {
+        ctx.cache.entries.b.ticket = { identifier: "ACME-1", title: "t", url: "u" };
+      },
+    });
+    expect(res.source).toBe("fresh");
+    expect(res.data.ticket.identifier).toBe("ACME-1");
+  });
+
+  test("a recent incomplete entry is not retried, so a genuinely missing ticket costs one lookup", async () => {
+    let calls = 0;
+    const ctx = makeCtx({
+      b: { linearId: "ACME-1", ticket: null, mr: null, fetchedAt: Date.now() - 1_000 },
+    });
+    const res = await createCacheHandlers(ctx)["branch:enrich"]!({
+      branch: "b",
+      repoPath: "/tmp/x",
+      enrich: async () => {
+        calls++;
+      },
+    });
+    expect(calls).toBe(0);
+    expect(res.source).toBe("cache");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/daemon/handlers/cache.ts b/lib/daemon/handlers/cache.ts
index 15a44f83..95e382b9 100644
--- a/lib/daemon/handlers/cache.ts
+++ b/lib/daemon/handlers/cache.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,26 @@
 
 import type { HandlerContext, HandlerMap, CacheEntry } from "./types.ts";
 
+/** How long an entry that resolved a ticket id but never got the ticket is
+    left alone before another lookup is spent on it. Short enough that a key
+    that was missing at first write heals on the next read; long enough that a
+    ticket id which genuinely resolves to nothing costs one lookup an hour,
+    not one per request. */
+const INCOMPLETE_RETRY_MS = 10 * 60 * 1000;
+
+/**
+ * A cached entry is INCOMPLETE, not a hit, when it extracted a ticket id but
+ * carries no ticket: that pairing only happens when the lookup failed or was
+ * skipped (no API key at write time), and the old code's plain existence
+ * check meant such an entry never got another chance for the life of the
+ * cache. Entries with no id at all are complete by definition — there is
+ * nothing left to resolve, and retrying them would spend a lookup per read.
+ */
+function isIncomplete(entry: CacheEntry, now: number = Date.now()): boolean {
+  if (!entry.linearId || entry.ticket) return false;
+  return now - (entry.fetchedAt ?? 0) >= INCOMPLETE_RETRY_MS;
+}
+
 export function createCacheHandlers(ctx: HandlerContext): HandlerMap {
   return {
     "cache:read": async (payload) => {
@@ -49,18 +69,25 @@ export function createCacheHandlers(ctx: HandlerContext): HandlerMap {
       const branch    = payload?.branch    as string;
       const repoPath  = payload?.repoPath  as string;
       const remoteUrl = payload?.remoteUrl as string | undefined;
+      // Test seam: the enricher, so a test never reaches Linear or the forge.
+      const inject    = payload?.enrich    as (() => Promise<void>) | undefined;
 
       if (!branch) return { ok: false, error: "missing branch" };
 
-      if (ctx.cache.entries[branch]) {
-        return { ok: true, data: ctx.cache.entries[branch], source: "cache" };
+      const cached = ctx.cache.entries[branch];
+      if (cached && !isIncomplete(cached)) {
+        return { ok: true, data: cached, source: "cache" };
       }
 
       if (!repoPath) return { ok: false, error: "missing repoPath for cold enrichment" };
 
       try {
-        const { enrichBranches } = await import("../../enrich.ts");
-        await enrichBranches([{ path: repoPath, branch }], remoteUrl, { silent: true });
+        if (inject) {
+          await inject();
+        } else {
+          const { enrichBranches } = await import("../../enrich.ts");
+          await enrichBranches([{ path: repoPath, branch }], remoteUrl, { silent: true });
+        }
 
         // enrichBranches wrote through the same singleton store in this
         // process, so the map is already current; reload() is kept because