diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c86c32d2..e5541acb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **PR TBD** by @franksong2702 — Clearing stale stream runtime flags no longer refreshes a session's `updated_at`, so old compressed continuations should not jump back to the top of the sidebar just because WebUI repaired a dead `active_stream_id` during a read/list request.
+
 - **PR #2322** by @Michaelyklam (refs #2271) — LAN Ollama models selected from endpoint-discovered `custom:<host>-<port>` / `custom:<host>:<port>` picker entries now route through the configured `ollama` provider and base URL instead of surfacing a missing `CUSTOM_*_API_KEY` error. The picker still surfaces endpoint-discovered entries; the fix is to recognize them as UI routing hints matching the configured local-server base URL and resolve them via the actual `ollama` provider.
 
 - **PR #2326** by @Michaelyklam (closes #2232) — Legacy `hermes` CLI toolset alias is now normalized to `hermes-cli` + `hermes-api-server` when WebUI resolves CLI toolsets from shared Hermes config. Modern Hermes Agent exposes the composite under those two names; older configs that still contain the legacy `hermes` toolset name no longer surface as "unknown toolset" warnings.
diff --git a/api/routes.py b/api/routes.py
index ebcd3a9d..9ced2a75 100644
--- a/api/routes.py
+++ b/api/routes.py
@@ -1012,7 +1012,10 @@ def _clear_stale_stream_state(session) -> bool:
         if hasattr(session, "pending_started_at"):
             session.pending_started_at = None
         try:
-            session.save()
+            # Runtime cleanup is not user activity; do not bubble old sessions
+            # to the top of the sidebar just because a stale stream flag was
+            # repaired during a read/list path.
+            session.save(touch_updated_at=False)
         except Exception:
             logger.exception(
                 "_clear_stale_stream_state: save() failed for session %s",
diff --git a/tests/test_stale_stream_cleanup.py b/tests/test_stale_stream_cleanup.py
index 5f294789..c66098e7 100644
--- a/tests/test_stale_stream_cleanup.py
+++ b/tests/test_stale_stream_cleanup.py
@@ -37,10 +37,13 @@ class _FakeSession:
         self.pending_user_message = "old prompt"
         self.pending_attachments = ["old.txt"]
         self.pending_started_at = 123
+        self.messages = []
         self.saved_stream_ids = []
+        self.saved_touch_updated_at = []
 
-    def save(self):
+    def save(self, *, touch_updated_at=True):
         self.saved_stream_ids.append(self.active_stream_id)
+        self.saved_touch_updated_at.append(touch_updated_at)
 
 
 def test_stale_stream_cleanup_helper_exists():
@@ -50,7 +53,18 @@ def test_stale_stream_cleanup_helper_exists():
     assert "session.pending_user_message = None" in ROUTES_SRC
     assert "session.pending_attachments = []" in ROUTES_SRC
     assert "session.pending_started_at = None" in ROUTES_SRC
-    assert "session.save()" in ROUTES_SRC
+    assert "session.save(touch_updated_at=False)" in ROUTES_SRC
+
+
+def test_stale_stream_cleanup_does_not_refresh_sidebar_timestamp():
+    config.STREAMS.clear()
+    config.SESSION_AGENT_LOCKS.clear()
+    session = _FakeSession()
+
+    assert routes._clear_stale_stream_state(session) is True
+
+    assert session.active_stream_id is None
+    assert session.saved_touch_updated_at == [False]
 
 
 def test_session_load_clears_stale_stream_before_response():