diff --git a/src/hooks/use-connection-lifecycle.ts b/src/hooks/use-connection-lifecycle.ts
index cdf982f..2459889 100644
--- a/src/hooks/use-connection-lifecycle.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/use-connection-lifecycle.ts
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ export function useConnectionLifecycle({
     respondPermission: connRespondPermission,
     modes,
     configOptions,
+    hasCachedSelectors,
   } = conn
   const isInteractiveStatus = status === "connected" || status === "prompting"
   const hasSelectorsData = modes !== null || configOptions !== null
@@ -73,15 +74,20 @@ export function useConnectionLifecycle({
     null
   )
   const selectorTaskSuppressedRef = useRef(false)
-  // Visual-only loading indicators for selector chips
+  // Visual-only loading indicators for selector chips.
+  // Skip loading indicators when we have cached selectors — even if the
+  // cache contains no modes/configOptions (the agent simply doesn't have
+  // them), we already know what to show and don't need a loading state.
   const modeLoading =
-    status === "connecting" ||
-    status === "downloading" ||
-    (isInteractiveStatus && !effectiveSelectorsReady)
+    !hasCachedSelectors &&
+    (status === "connecting" ||
+      status === "downloading" ||
+      (isInteractiveStatus && !effectiveSelectorsReady))
   const configOptionsLoading =
-    status === "connecting" ||
-    status === "downloading" ||
-    (isInteractiveStatus && !effectiveSelectorsReady)
+    !hasCachedSelectors &&
+    (status === "connecting" ||
+      status === "downloading" ||
+      (isInteractiveStatus && !effectiveSelectorsReady))
   // Gate for send button: block until the backend session is fully
   // initialized (selectorsReady from the real backend event, not cache).
   const selectorsLoading = isInteractiveStatus && !selectorsReady
diff --git a/src/hooks/use-connection.ts b/src/hooks/use-connection.ts
index 2f6d6cc..039c214 100644
--- a/src/hooks/use-connection.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/use-connection.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ export interface UseConnectionReturn {
   promptCapabilities: PromptCapabilitiesInfo
   supportsFork: boolean
   selectorsReady: boolean
+  hasCachedSelectors: boolean
   sessionId: string | null
   modes: SessionModeStateInfo | null
   configOptions: SessionConfigOptionInfo[] | null
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ export function useConnection(contextKey: string): UseConnectionReturn {
   const cached = connection?.agentType
     ? getCachedSelectors(connection.agentType)
     : null
+  const hasCachedSelectors = cached !== null
   const modes = connection?.modes ?? cached?.modes ?? null
   const configOptions =
     connection?.configOptions ?? cached?.configOptions ?? null
@@ -142,6 +144,7 @@ export function useConnection(contextKey: string): UseConnectionReturn {
       promptCapabilities,
       supportsFork,
       selectorsReady,
+      hasCachedSelectors,
       sessionId,
       modes,
       configOptions,
@@ -164,6 +167,7 @@ export function useConnection(contextKey: string): UseConnectionReturn {
       promptCapabilities,
       supportsFork,
       selectorsReady,
+      hasCachedSelectors,
       sessionId,
       modes,
       configOptions,