diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-at-completions.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-at-completions.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b133a7060ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-at-completions.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+import { act, renderHook } from '@testing-library/react'
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+
+import { queryClient } from '@/lib/query-client'
+
+import { useAtCompletions } from './use-at-completions'
+
+function gatewayStub(latencyMs = 40) {
+  const calls: string[] = []
+
+  const gateway = {
+    request: vi.fn(async (_method: string, params: { word: string }) => {
+      calls.push(params.word)
+      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, latencyMs))
+
+      return { items: [{ text: `@folder:${params.word.slice(1)}x/`, display: 'x/', meta: 'dir' }] }
+    })
+  }
+
+  return { calls, gateway }
+}
+
+function setup(latencyMs = 40) {
+  const { calls, gateway } = gatewayStub(latencyMs)
+
+  const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+    useAtCompletions({ gateway: gateway as never, sessionId: 's1', cwd: '/repo' })
+  )
+
+  return { calls, result }
+}
+
+/** Type a burst of keystrokes `gapMs` apart, like a person. */
+async function type(result: { current: { adapter: { search?: (q: string) => unknown } } }, queries: string[], gapMs: number) {
+  for (const q of queries) {
+    act(() => {
+      result.current.adapter.search?.(q)
+    })
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(gapMs)
+    })
+  }
+}
+
+describe('PERF: @ path completions are cached and skip the debounce', () => {
+  it('serves a repeated query with no round trip and no spinner', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    queryClient.clear()
+
+    const { calls, result } = setup()
+
+    // First visit to `apps/` pays the round trip.
+    await type(result, ['apps/'], 0)
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(200)
+    })
+
+    const afterFirst = calls.length
+
+    expect(afterFirst).toBe(1)
+
+    // Walk away and come back — Tab in, Backspace out, retype. Every one of
+    // these used to be a fresh git ls-files + rank on the backend.
+    await type(result, ['apps/desktop/', 'apps/', 'apps/desktop/', 'apps/'], 0)
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(200)
+    })
+
+    // Two distinct paths, so exactly two round trips total — the repeats are free.
+    expect(calls.length).toBe(2)
+    expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false)
+
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+  })
+
+  it('a cached query paints without waiting out the debounce', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    queryClient.clear()
+
+    const { calls, result } = setup()
+
+    await type(result, ['apps/'], 0)
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(200)
+    })
+
+    expect(calls.length).toBe(1)
+
+    // Re-ask for the cached query and advance by far less than the 60ms
+    // debounce. A cached answer resolves in a microtask, so it must paint
+    // without the timer and without ever flipping the spinner on.
+    act(() => {
+      result.current.adapter.search?.('apps/')
+    })
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(1)
+    })
+
+    expect(result.current.loading).toBe(false)
+    expect(calls.length).toBe(1)
+
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-at-completions.ts b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-at-completions.ts
index d56a6d57e71..5a53f46e9ea 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-at-completions.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/chat/composer/hooks/use-at-completions.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import type { Unstable_TriggerAdapter, Unstable_TriggerItem } from '@assistant-ui/core'
 import { useCallback } from 'react'
 
+import { refChipLabel } from '@/components/assistant-ui/directive-text'
 import type { HermesGateway } from '@/hermes'
+import { cachedPathCompletion, hasCachedPathCompletion } from '@/lib/slash-completion-cache'
 import { normalize } from '@/lib/text'
 
 import type { CompletionEntry, CompletionPayload } from './use-live-completion-adapter'
@@ -60,7 +62,14 @@ function classify(entry: CompletionEntry): {
     return {
       type: kind,
       insertId: rest,
-      display: textValue(entry.display, rest || `@${kind}:`),
+      // The row shows exactly what picking it produces. Upstream keeps one
+      // label per item and hands it to the chip verbatim (DirectiveNode's
+      // `__label = item.label`); our wire format is `@kind:value`, which can't
+      // carry a label the way their `:type[label]{name=id}` does, so the same
+      // invariant is held by deriving both ends from refChipLabel. Without
+      // this the list said `desktop/`, the editor said `apps/desktop/`, and
+      // the chip said `desktop` — three names for one folder.
+      display: rest ? refChipLabel(kind, rest) : textValue(entry.display, `@${kind}:`),
       meta: textValue(entry.meta)
     }
   }
@@ -82,6 +91,11 @@ export function useAtCompletions(options: {
   const { gateway, sessionId, cwd } = options
   const enabled = Boolean(gateway)
 
+  // Cache key: the completion depends on the query AND the directory it's
+  // resolved against, so a cwd or session change can't serve another tree's
+  // listing.
+  const cacheKey = useCallback((query: string) => `${cwd ?? ''}|${sessionId ?? ''}|${query}`, [cwd, sessionId])
+
   const fetcher = useCallback(
     async (query: string): Promise<CompletionPayload> => {
       const starters = starterEntries(query)
@@ -102,7 +116,14 @@ export function useAtCompletions(options: {
       }
 
       try {
-        const result = await gateway.request<{ items?: CompletionEntry[] }>('complete.path', params)
+        // De-duplicated the same way `/` completions are. Walking a path is
+        // inherently repetitive — Tab into a folder, Backspace out, retype a
+        // segment — and every one of those steps used to be a fresh
+        // `git ls-files` + rank on the backend (~40ms of the ~50ms round trip
+        // measured on this repo's 8k files).
+        const result = await cachedPathCompletion(cacheKey(query), () =>
+          gateway.request<{ items?: CompletionEntry[] }>('complete.path', params)
+        )
         const items = result.items ?? []
 
         return { items: items.length > 0 ? items : starters, query }
@@ -110,7 +131,7 @@ export function useAtCompletions(options: {
         return { items: starters, query }
       }
     },
-    [gateway, sessionId, cwd]
+    [cacheKey, gateway, sessionId, cwd]
   )
 
   const toItem = useCallback((entry: CompletionEntry, index: number): Unstable_TriggerItem => {
@@ -135,7 +156,13 @@ export function useAtCompletions(options: {
     }
   }, [])
 
-  return useLiveCompletionAdapter({ enabled, fetcher, toItem })
+  // A query already in cache skips both the debounce and the loading state.
+  // This is what makes walking a tree feel instant rather than merely fast:
+  // the 60ms debounce exists to avoid a request per keystroke, and it buys
+  // nothing when the answer is already in hand.
+  const isCached = useCallback((query: string) => hasCachedPathCompletion(cacheKey(query)), [cacheKey])
+
+  return useLiveCompletionAdapter({ enabled, fetcher, isCached, toItem })
 }
 
 /** Re-export `classify` for use by the formatter (insertion side). */
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/slash-completion-cache.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/slash-completion-cache.ts
index 1be66cdbdad..7b87c4c746f 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/slash-completion-cache.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/slash-completion-cache.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,32 @@ export function peekCachedSlashCompletion<T>(key: string): T | undefined {
   return hasCachedSlashCompletion(key) ? queryClient.getQueryData<T>([SLASH_COMPLETIONS_KEY, key]) : undefined
 }
 
+// `@` path completions are a directory listing, which unlike the command
+// catalog CAN change under the user (a build writes files, a branch switch
+// rewrites a tree). They get the same de-duplication but a short TTL: long
+// enough that walking back up a path you just walked down is instant, short
+// enough that the listing never looks stale.
+const PATH_COMPLETIONS_KEY = 'path-completions'
+const PATH_COMPLETIONS_TTL_MS = 15_000
+
+/** Serve an `@` path completion from cache, fetching only when stale. */
+export function cachedPathCompletion<T>(key: string, fetcher: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
+  return queryClient.fetchQuery({
+    queryKey: [PATH_COMPLETIONS_KEY, key],
+    queryFn: fetcher,
+    gcTime: PATH_COMPLETIONS_TTL_MS,
+    staleTime: PATH_COMPLETIONS_TTL_MS,
+    retry: false
+  })
+}
+
+/** True when `cachedPathCompletion(key)` will resolve without a round trip. */
+export function hasCachedPathCompletion(key: string): boolean {
+  const state = queryClient.getQueryState([PATH_COMPLETIONS_KEY, key])
+
+  return state?.data !== undefined && Date.now() - state.dataUpdatedAt < PATH_COMPLETIONS_TTL_MS
+}
+
 /**
  * Bumped on every invalidation. The composer's completion adapter de-dupes by
  * query, so an unchanged `/` would never re-ask on its own — it watches this