diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9c8196c..0d590c4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ All notable changes to DreamCoder will be documented in this file.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- The sidebar no longer re-renders on streamed text updates. Running indicators still follow session and tab status.
 - New sessions start on the active provider's main model. Before, activating a provider saved its main model in a hidden setting, and that saved value kept overriding the provider after its main model was edited.
 - The selected model card in the dark theme had light pink colors with text that was hard to read.
 
diff --git a/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.test.tsx b/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.test.tsx
index 97ee3eb..6220fef 100644
--- a/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.test.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.test.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { Profiler } from 'react'
 import { act, cleanup, fireEvent, render, screen, waitFor, within } from '@testing-library/react'
 import '@testing-library/jest-dom'
 
@@ -235,6 +236,7 @@ describe('Sidebar', () => {
       deleteSessions,
     })
     useChatStore.setState({
+      sessions: {},
       connectToSession,
       disconnectSession,
     } as Partial<ReturnType<typeof useChatStore.getState>>)
@@ -879,6 +881,81 @@ describe('Sidebar', () => {
     expect(idleRow).toHaveAttribute('title', 'Idle Source')
   })
 
+  it('does not re-render for streamed text or idle session changes', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    useSessionStore.setState({
+      sessions: [makeSession('running', 'Running session', '/workspace/repo', '2026-05-19T12:00:00.000Z')],
+    })
+    useChatStore.setState({
+      sessions: { running: { ...useChatStore.getState().getSession('running'), chatState: 'streaming' } },
+    })
+    const onRender = vi.fn()
+    await act(async () => {
+      render(<Profiler id="sidebar" onRender={onRender}><Sidebar /></Profiler>)
+    })
+    onRender.mockClear()
+
+    act(() => {
+      useChatStore.getState().handleServerMessage('running', { type: 'content_delta', text: 'Hello' })
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(50)
+    })
+
+    expect(useChatStore.getState().getSession('running').streamingText).toBe('Hello')
+    expect(onRender).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(screen.getByLabelText('Session running')).toBeInTheDocument()
+
+    act(() => {
+      useChatStore.setState((state) => ({
+        sessions: { idle: state.getSession('idle'), ...state.sessions },
+      }))
+    })
+
+    expect(onRender).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('updates running indicators only when running session membership changes', async () => {
+    useSessionStore.setState({
+      sessions: [
+        makeSession('first', 'First session', '/workspace/repo', '2026-05-19T12:00:00.000Z'),
+        makeSession('second', 'Second session', '/workspace/repo', '2026-05-19T11:00:00.000Z'),
+      ],
+    })
+    const first = useChatStore.getState().getSession('first')
+    const second = useChatStore.getState().getSession('second')
+    const onRender = vi.fn()
+    await act(async () => {
+      render(<Profiler id="sidebar" onRender={onRender}><Sidebar /></Profiler>)
+    })
+    onRender.mockClear()
+    expect(screen.queryByLabelText('Session running')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+
+    act(() => {
+      useChatStore.setState({ sessions: { first: { ...first, chatState: 'thinking' }, second } })
+    })
+    expect(onRender).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+    expect(within(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /^First session/ })).getByLabelText('Session running')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    onRender.mockClear()
+
+    act(() => {
+      useChatStore.setState({ sessions: { first: { ...first, chatState: 'tool_executing' }, second } })
+    })
+    expect(onRender).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    act(() => {
+      useChatStore.setState({ sessions: { first, second: { ...second, chatState: 'streaming' } } })
+    })
+    expect(onRender).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+    expect(within(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /^First session/ })).queryByLabelText('Session running')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(within(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /^Second session/ })).getByLabelText('Session running')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    onRender.mockClear()
+
+    act(() => {
+      useChatStore.setState({ sessions: {} })
+    })
+    expect(onRender).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
+    expect(screen.queryByLabelText('Session running')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+  })
+
   it('shows a toast when session creation fails', async () => {
     createSession.mockRejectedValue(new Error('boom'))
 
diff --git a/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.tsx b/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.tsx
index a0496d7..4a5a922 100644
--- a/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/components/layout/Sidebar.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { useEffect, useState, useCallback, useMemo, useRef } from 'react'
+import { useShallow } from 'zustand/react/shallow'
 import { ChevronDown, ChevronRight, FolderOpen, GitBranch, ListChecks, LoaderCircle, MoreHorizontal, Pencil, Pin, PinOff, Plus, RotateCcw, SquarePen, Trash2, X } from 'lucide-react'
 import { DreamCoderIcon } from '../shared/DreamCoderIcon'
 import { useSessionStore } from '../../stores/sessionStore'
@@ -66,7 +67,13 @@ export function Sidebar({ isMobile = false, onRequestClose }: SidebarProps) {
   const toggleSidebar = useUIStore((s) => s.toggleSidebar)
   const activeTabId = useTabStore((s) => s.activeTabId)
   const tabs = useTabStore((s) => s.tabs)
-  const chatSessions = useChatStore((s) => s.sessions)
+  const runningChatSessionIds = useChatStore(useShallow((s) => {
+    const ids = new Set<string>()
+    for (const [sessionId, session] of Object.entries(s.sessions)) {
+      if (session.chatState !== 'idle') ids.add(sessionId)
+    }
+    return ids
+  }))
   const closeTab = useTabStore((s) => s.closeTab)
   const disconnectSession = useChatStore((s) => s.disconnectSession)
   const [searchQuery, setSearchQuery] = useState('')
@@ -186,15 +193,12 @@ export function Sidebar({ isMobile = false, onRequestClose }: SidebarProps) {
     [sessions],
   )
   const runningSessionIds = useMemo(() => {
-    const ids = new Set<string>()
+    const ids = new Set(runningChatSessionIds)
     for (const tab of tabs) {
       if (tab.type === 'session' && tab.status === 'running') ids.add(tab.sessionId)
     }
-    for (const [sessionId, sessionState] of Object.entries(chatSessions)) {
-      if (sessionState.chatState !== 'idle') ids.add(sessionId)
-    }
     return ids
-  }, [chatSessions, tabs])
+  }, [runningChatSessionIds, tabs])
   const pendingBatchDeleteSessions = useMemo(
     () => (pendingBatchDeleteSessionIds ?? [])
       .map((sessionId) => sessionsById.get(sessionId))