diff --git a/src/web/middleware/auth.ts b/src/web/middleware/auth.ts
index f7df69d2..9dc78bcd 100644
--- a/src/web/middleware/auth.ts
+++ b/src/web/middleware/auth.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import { webviewCapabilities } from '../../webview-capabilities.js';
 import {
   capabilityFromProxyPath,
   capabilityFromReferer,
+  carriesAuthCredentials,
   isLostWebviewFrameNavigation,
   lostWebviewFramePage,
   LOST_FRAME_PAGE_CSP,
@@ -190,20 +191,55 @@ function hasValidWebviewCapability(req: FastifyRequest, basePath = ''): boolean
  * login challenge inside the tab nor counts as a failed attempt against the
  * caller's IP — a dev server that full-reloads on every save would otherwise
  * rate-limit its own user out of Codeman. Fenced like the Referer exemption: a
- * path that resolves to a real route (the app shell, /api, /q) is never answered
- * this way, so a genuine unauthenticated navigation still gets the 401.
+ * path that resolves to a real route (/api, /q, a registered handler) is never
+ * answered this way, so a genuine unauthenticated navigation still gets the 401.
+ *
+ * `/` is the one registered route that IS answered here, and only when the
+ * request carries neither the session cookie nor an Authorization header. The
+ * shim maps `/webview/<cap>/` to exactly `/`, so a dashboard that reloads on its
+ * landing page (a Vite dev server on a config change) asks for Codeman's root
+ * as an iframe navigation; answering that with the app shell put Codeman inside
+ * its own web tab, and with a password it was a 401 in the frame. Nothing in
+ * Codeman frames its own root and the sandboxed frame has no credentials, so the
+ * credential-free form can only be that frame; a framed `/` WITH credentials is
+ * still the shell. Property worth knowing: a non-browser client can set these
+ * headers too, so an unauthenticated caller can tell a registered route (401)
+ * from a non-route (200) and enumerate the route table. Accepted, because the
+ * routes are public in docs/api-reference.md.
  *
  * @returns true when the reply was sent.
  */
 function serveLostWebviewFrame(req: FastifyRequest, reply: FastifyReply): boolean {
   if (!isLostWebviewFrameNavigation(req)) return false;
   const url = (req.url ?? '').split('?')[0];
-  if (url === '/' || url.startsWith('/api/') || url.startsWith('/ws/') || url.startsWith('/q/')) return false;
-  if (matchesRegisteredRoute(req, url)) return false;
+  if (url.startsWith('/api/') || url.startsWith('/ws/') || url.startsWith('/q/')) return false;
+  if (url === '/') {
+    if (carriesAuthCredentials(req.headers, AUTH_COOKIE_NAME)) return false;
+  } else if (matchesRegisteredRoute(req, url)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  sendLostWebviewFramePage(reply);
+  return true;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The landing-page case of serveLostWebviewFrame, for the index route. Without
+ * CODEMAN_PASSWORD no auth hook runs at all, so a lost frame's reload of `/`
+ * reaches `GET /` directly and the route asks this before rendering the shell.
+ * Under a password the hook has already answered a credential-free lost frame,
+ * so here it only ever sees the credentialed form, which stays the shell.
+ */
+export function isLostWebviewRootFrame(req: FastifyRequest): boolean {
+  if (!isLostWebviewFrameNavigation(req)) return false;
+  if ((req.url ?? '').split('?')[0] !== '/') return false;
+  return !carriesAuthCredentials(req.headers, AUTH_COOKIE_NAME);
+}
+
+/** Send the static recovery page (lostWebviewFramePage) with its own CSP, uncached. */
+export function sendLostWebviewFramePage(reply: FastifyReply): FastifyReply {
   reply.header('content-security-policy', LOST_FRAME_PAGE_CSP);
   reply.header('cache-control', 'no-store');
-  reply.type('text/html; charset=utf-8').send(lostWebviewFramePage());
-  return true;
+  return reply.type('text/html; charset=utf-8').send(lostWebviewFramePage());
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/web/server.ts b/src/web/server.ts
index 5035013b..1b5287af 100644
--- a/src/web/server.ts
+++ b/src/web/server.ts
@@ -148,7 +148,13 @@ import { getLatestPlanUsage, setLatestCodexPlanUsage } from './plan-usage-latest
 import { telemetrySignature } from '../usage-telemetry.js';
 import { readCodexPlanUsage, resolveCodexBinaryPath } from '../utils/codex-cli-resolver.js';
 import type { ScheduledRun } from './ports/index.js';
-import { registerAuthMiddleware, registerSecurityHeaders, registerHostGuard } from './middleware/auth.js';
+import {
+  registerAuthMiddleware,
+  registerSecurityHeaders,
+  registerHostGuard,
+  isLostWebviewRootFrame,
+  sendLostWebviewFramePage,
+} from './middleware/auth.js';
 import { isMultiUserMode } from '../config/multiuser.js';
 import { bootstrapInitialAdmin, hasUsers, resolveClaudeModeForUsername } from '../user-store.js';
 import { installRouteErrorHandler } from './route-error-handler.js';
@@ -181,7 +187,7 @@ import {
   registerTabLayoutRoutes,
   tryWebviewRefererFallback,
 } from './routes/index.js';
-import { isLostWebviewFrameNavigation, lostWebviewFramePage, LOST_FRAME_PAGE_CSP } from './webview-proxy.js';
+import { isLostWebviewFrameNavigation } from './webview-proxy.js';
 import { CronService } from '../cron/cron-service.js';
 
 const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
@@ -805,7 +811,14 @@ export class WebServer extends EventEmitter {
 
     // Security headers + CORS
     registerSecurityHeaders(this.app, this.https, this.basePath);
-    this.app.get('/', async (_req, reply) => {
+    this.app.get('/', async (req, reply) => {
+      // A web-tab frame that reloaded on its dashboard's landing page. The proxy's
+      // runtime shim maps `/webview/<cap>/` to exactly `/`, so that reload asks for
+      // Codeman's own root as an iframe navigation, and it used to get the app
+      // shell rendered inside the web tab. Only the credential-free form is taken
+      // (nothing in Codeman frames its root; the sandboxed frame has no cookie and
+      // no Authorization); under a password the auth hook has answered it already.
+      if (isLostWebviewRootFrame(req)) return sendLostWebviewFramePage(reply);
       return reply
         .header('Cache-Control', 'no-cache')
         .type('text/html; charset=utf-8')
@@ -981,11 +994,7 @@ export class WebServer extends EventEmitter {
       // that navigated itself off its proxy prefix: the runtime shim masks the
       // prefix so the page's router sees its own path, and a reload of that page
       // lands here. The unauthenticated form is answered in the auth middleware.
-      if (!req.url.startsWith('/api') && isLostWebviewFrameNavigation(req)) {
-        reply.header('content-security-policy', LOST_FRAME_PAGE_CSP);
-        reply.header('cache-control', 'no-store');
-        return reply.type('text/html; charset=utf-8').send(lostWebviewFramePage());
-      }
+      if (!req.url.startsWith('/api') && isLostWebviewFrameNavigation(req)) return sendLostWebviewFramePage(reply);
       if (req.url.startsWith('/api')) {
         return reply.code(404).send(createErrorResponse(ApiErrorCode.NOT_FOUND, notFound));
       }
diff --git a/src/web/webview-proxy.ts b/src/web/webview-proxy.ts
index 133be3a8..1b707306 100644
--- a/src/web/webview-proxy.ts
+++ b/src/web/webview-proxy.ts
@@ -734,7 +734,9 @@ export const LOST_FRAME_PAGE_CSP = `default-src 'none'; script-src 'sha256-${LOS
  * no capability anywhere on it: no prefix in the path, no cookie in an
  * opaque-origin frame, and a Referer that names the masked page. Such a request
  * is recognisable by shape alone: a top-level navigation of an `<iframe>`
- * (`Sec-Fetch-Dest`), asking for HTML, for a path Codeman does not serve.
+ * (`Sec-Fetch-Dest`), asking for HTML, for a path Codeman does not serve. The
+ * one served path that still qualifies is `/` itself, which the callers admit
+ * only when the request carries no credentials (see carriesAuthCredentials).
  *
  * The answer is `lostWebviewFramePage()`, a static page whose only content is a
  * `postMessage` to the parent naming the path; the Codeman tab that owns the
@@ -754,6 +756,31 @@ export function isLostWebviewFrameNavigation(req: {
   return typeof accept === 'string' && accept.includes('text/html');
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether a request carries something Codeman's auth would recognise: the
+ * session cookie, or an `Authorization` header (Basic auth, which a browser
+ * re-sends on every request to the realm once it has been accepted).
+ *
+ * `/` is the one lost-frame path a registered route also serves (the app shell),
+ * so the route table cannot tell a landing-page reload of a proxied dashboard
+ * (the runtime shim maps `/webview/<cap>/` to exactly `/`) from a genuine
+ * navigation. Credentials can: nothing in Codeman frames its own root, and a
+ * sandboxed web-tab frame is opaque-origin and carries neither, so an `<iframe>`
+ * navigation of `/` with NEITHER credential can only be that frame. A framed
+ * `/` that does carry credentials is left to the shell.
+ */
+export function carriesAuthCredentials(
+  headers: Record<string, string | string[] | undefined>,
+  sessionCookieName: string
+): boolean {
+  const authorization = headers.authorization;
+  if (Array.isArray(authorization) ? authorization.length > 0 : (authorization ?? '').trim() !== '') return true;
+  const cookie = headers.cookie;
+  const cookies = Array.isArray(cookie) ? cookie.join('; ') : cookie;
+  if (typeof cookies !== 'string' || cookies === '') return false;
+  return cookies.split(';').some((part) => part.trim().startsWith(`${sessionCookieName}=`));
+}
+
 /** The static page that hands a lost frame back to its owning tab. */
 export function lostWebviewFramePage(): string {
   return (
diff --git a/test/webview-auth-exemption.test.ts b/test/webview-auth-exemption.test.ts
index c93a48af..49f82a63 100644
--- a/test/webview-auth-exemption.test.ts
+++ b/test/webview-auth-exemption.test.ts
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ describe('a lost web-tab frame', () => {
   });
 
   it('never for a path Codeman actually serves, and never for a plain navigation', async () => {
-    expect((await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/', headers: lostFrame })).statusCode).toBe(401);
+    expect((await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/webviewfoo/bar', headers: lostFrame })).statusCode).toBe(401);
     expect((await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/api/sessions/abc', headers: lostFrame })).statusCode).toBe(401);
     expect((await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/about' })).statusCode).toBe(401);
     expect(
@@ -273,4 +273,49 @@ describe('a lost web-tab frame', () => {
     // A genuinely unauthenticated request afterwards is still a plain 401, not a 429.
     expect((await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/static/app.js' })).statusCode).toBe(401);
   });
+
+  /**
+   * The landing page. The shim maps `/webview/<cap>/` to exactly `/`, so a reload
+   * there asks for Codeman's ROOT as an iframe navigation, and `/` is a registered
+   * route (the app shell), which the route-table fence cannot tell from a real
+   * navigation. It used to answer 401 inside the frame (or the shell itself on a
+   * passwordless install), with no recovery message and the failed-frame panel
+   * cleared because the document loaded fine. Credentials are the separator:
+   * nothing in Codeman frames its own root, and the sandboxed frame carries none.
+   */
+  describe('a reload on the dashboard landing page', () => {
+    it('gets the recovery page when the iframe navigation of / carries no credentials', async () => {
+      for (const url of ['/', '/?tab=2']) {
+        const res = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url, headers: lostFrame });
+        expect(res.statusCode, url).toBe(200);
+        expect(res.body, url).toContain('codeman:webview-lost');
+        expect(res.headers['content-security-policy']).toContain("default-src 'none'");
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('is the shell, or the usual 401, once a session cookie or Authorization header is present', async () => {
+      const ok = `Basic ${Buffer.from(`admin:${PASSWORD}`).toString('base64')}`;
+      const shell = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/', headers: { ...lostFrame, authorization: ok } });
+      expect(shell.statusCode).toBe(200);
+      expect(shell.body).toBe('app shell');
+      const wrong = `Basic ${Buffer.from('admin:nope').toString('base64')}`;
+      expect(
+        (await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/', headers: { ...lostFrame, authorization: wrong } })).statusCode
+      ).toBe(401);
+      const cookie = 'codeman_session=stale; other=1';
+      expect((await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/', headers: { ...lostFrame, cookie } })).statusCode).toBe(401);
+    });
+
+    it('is still a 401 for a top-level navigation of /, and for a frame asking for JSON', async () => {
+      expect((await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/' })).statusCode).toBe(401);
+      expect(
+        (await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/', headers: { ...lostFrame, 'sec-fetch-dest': 'document' } }))
+          .statusCode
+      ).toBe(401);
+      expect(
+        (await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/', headers: { ...lostFrame, accept: 'application/json' } }))
+          .statusCode
+      ).toBe(401);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/webview-lost-root-frame.test.ts b/test/webview-lost-root-frame.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a96425ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/webview-lost-root-frame.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/**
+ * @fileoverview A web-tab frame reloading on its dashboard's landing page, on an
+ * install with NO password.
+ *
+ * The proxy's runtime shim masks `/webview/<cap>/` off the page's URL, and the
+ * landing page masks to exactly `/`. A `location.reload()` there (a Vite dev
+ * server on a config change) therefore asks for Codeman's own root as an iframe
+ * navigation. Without a password no auth hook runs, so the request used to reach
+ * the index route and render Codeman's app shell INSIDE the web tab, with no
+ * recovery message and the failed-frame panel cleared because the document loaded
+ * fine. `test/webview-auth-exemption.test.ts` pins the password form; this boots a
+ * real WebServer in test mode for the passwordless one, where the index route
+ * itself has to answer.
+ *
+ * Port: 3198
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'vitest';
+import { WebServer } from '../src/web/server.js';
+
+const PORT = 3198;
+const lostFrame = { 'sec-fetch-dest': 'iframe', 'sec-fetch-mode': 'navigate', accept: 'text/html,*/*;q=0.8' };
+
+describe('landing-page reload of a proxied dashboard, passwordless install', () => {
+  let server: WebServer;
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+  let app: any;
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    server = new WebServer(PORT);
+    await server.start();
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+    app = (server as any).app;
+  });
+  afterAll(async () => {
+    await server.stop();
+  });
+
+  it('answers a credential-free iframe navigation of / with the recovery page, not the shell', async () => {
+    for (const url of ['/', '/?tab=2']) {
+      const res = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url, headers: lostFrame });
+      expect(res.statusCode, url).toBe(200);
+      expect(res.headers['content-type'], url).toContain('text/html');
+      expect(res.headers['content-security-policy'], url).toContain("default-src 'none'");
+      expect(res.headers['cache-control'], url).toBe('no-store');
+      expect(res.body, url).toContain('codeman:webview-lost');
+      expect(res.body, url).not.toContain('<base href');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('still serves the shell to a top-level navigation, and to a framed / that carries credentials', async () => {
+    const top = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/' });
+    expect(top.statusCode).toBe(200);
+    expect(top.body).toContain('<base href');
+    expect(top.body).not.toContain('codeman:webview-lost');
+    for (const headers of [
+      { ...lostFrame, cookie: 'codeman_session=abc' },
+      { ...lostFrame, authorization: 'Basic YWRtaW46eA==' },
+      { ...lostFrame, 'sec-fetch-dest': 'document' },
+    ]) {
+      const res = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/', headers });
+      expect(res.statusCode).toBe(200);
+      expect(res.body).toContain('<base href');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('keeps answering any other lost path from the 404 handler', async () => {
+    const res = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/settings/users', headers: lostFrame });
+    expect(res.statusCode).toBe(200);
+    expect(res.body).toContain('codeman:webview-lost');
+    // The API-shaped 404 is untouched by the recovery path.
+    const api = await app.inject({ method: 'GET', url: '/api/nope', headers: lostFrame });
+    expect(api.statusCode).toBe(404);
+    expect(JSON.parse(api.body).success).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/webview-proxy.test.ts b/test/webview-proxy.test.ts
index b27e9ffc..224ab86d 100644
--- a/test/webview-proxy.test.ts
+++ b/test/webview-proxy.test.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import {
   stripFrameAncestors,
   upstreamWebSocketUrl,
   isLostWebviewFrameNavigation,
+  carriesAuthCredentials,
   lostWebviewFramePage,
   LOST_FRAME_PAGE_CSP,
 } from '../src/web/webview-proxy.js';
@@ -816,4 +817,16 @@ describe('lost-frame recovery', () => {
     // The page must never carry a Referer that would leak anything about the tab.
     expect(page).toContain('name="referrer" content="no-referrer"');
   });
+
+  it('tells a credential-free request (a sandboxed frame reloading on /) from one that could authenticate', () => {
+    const has = (headers: Record<string, string | string[] | undefined>) =>
+      carriesAuthCredentials(headers, 'codeman_session');
+    expect(has({})).toBe(false);
+    expect(has({ cookie: 'theme=dark; codeman_sessions=lookalike' })).toBe(false);
+    expect(has({ authorization: '' })).toBe(false);
+    expect(has({ cookie: 'codeman_session=abc' })).toBe(true);
+    expect(has({ cookie: 'theme=dark; codeman_session=abc' })).toBe(true);
+    expect(has({ cookie: ['theme=dark', 'codeman_session=abc'] })).toBe(true);
+    expect(has({ authorization: 'Basic YWRtaW46eA==' })).toBe(true);
+  });
 });