diff --git a/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions.py b/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions.py
index 4c1983028c..9ace1d7d97 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import uuid
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from datetime import datetime
 from pathlib import Path
+from stat import S_ISREG
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 
 # User-message texts that are really injected context wrappers, not typed input.
@@ -169,20 +170,33 @@ _SOURCES = {
 }
 
 
-def _list_sessions(source: str, root: Optional[Path]) -> List[ForeignSession]:
-    default_root, pattern, recursive, parse = _SOURCES[source]
-    root = Path(root) if root else Path.home().joinpath(*default_root)
-    results: List[ForeignSession] = []
-    for jsonl in sorted((root.rglob(pattern) if recursive else root.glob(pattern)) if root.is_dir() else ()):
+def _walk(source: str, root: Optional[Path] = None) -> List[Tuple[Path, os.stat_result]]:
+    """Regular log files of *source* under *root* (default ``~/<tool dir>``) as ``(path, stat)``,
+    newest first. Symlinks escaping the root and unreadable/rotated entries are skipped, so one
+    bad file never hides the rest. Shared by the CLI picker and the desktop browser."""
+    default_root, pattern, recursive, _ = _SOURCES[source]
+    root = (Path(root) if root else Path.home().joinpath(*default_root)).resolve()
+    found: List[Tuple[Path, os.stat_result]] = []
+    for path in (root.rglob(pattern) if recursive else root.glob(pattern)) if root.is_dir() else ():
         try:
-            mtime = jsonl.stat().st_mtime
+            resolved = path.resolve()
+            st = resolved.stat()
         except OSError:
             continue
-        parsed = parse(jsonl)
+        if resolved.is_relative_to(root) and S_ISREG(st.st_mode):
+            found.append((resolved, st))
+    found.sort(key=lambda item: item[1].st_mtime, reverse=True)
+    return found
+
+
+def _list_sessions(source: str, root: Optional[Path]) -> List[ForeignSession]:
+    parse = _SOURCES[source][3]
+    results: List[ForeignSession] = []
+    for path, st in _walk(source, root):
+        parsed = parse(path)
         if parsed["turns"]:
-            results.append(ForeignSession(source, jsonl, mtime, parsed["cwd"], parsed["title_guess"],
+            results.append(ForeignSession(source, path, st.st_mtime, parsed["cwd"], parsed["title_guess"],
                                           len(parsed["turns"]), parsed["session_id"]))
-    results.sort(key=lambda s: s.mtime, reverse=True)
     return results
 
 
diff --git a/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions_browser.py b/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions_browser.py
index 627917e7e9..c49ac73865 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions_browser.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/foreign_sessions_browser.py
@@ -4,9 +4,8 @@ import hashlib
 import re
 import socket
 from pathlib import Path
-from stat import S_ISREG
 
-from hermes_cli.foreign_sessions import _SOURCES, _SOURCE_LABELS, _SOURCE_DB_NAMES
+from hermes_cli.foreign_sessions import _SOURCE_DB_NAMES, _SOURCE_LABELS, _SOURCES, _walk
 
 MAX_LOG_BYTES = 32 * 1024 * 1024
 
@@ -21,27 +20,12 @@ def _display_title(parsed, source):
 
 
 def _candidates(source=None):
+    """``(mtime, handle, source, path, size)`` rows across sources, newest first. The handle is
+    the only identifier handed to the client; a request can never name a path."""
     if source is not None and source not in _SOURCES:
         raise ValueError("Unknown session source")
-    rows = []
-    for name, (parts, pattern, recursive, _) in _SOURCES.items():
-        if source and source != name:
-            continue
-        root = Path.home().joinpath(*parts).resolve()
-        if not root.is_dir():
-            continue
-        for path in root.rglob(pattern) if recursive else root.glob(pattern):
-            try:
-                resolved = path.resolve()
-                if not resolved.is_relative_to(root):
-                    continue
-                stat = resolved.stat()
-            except OSError:
-                continue  # One inaccessible or rotated log must not hide the rest.
-            if not S_ISREG(stat.st_mode):
-                continue
-            handle = hashlib.sha256(f"{name}:{resolved}".encode()).hexdigest()
-            rows.append((stat.st_mtime, handle, name, resolved, stat.st_size))
+    rows = [(st.st_mtime, hashlib.sha256(f"{name}:{path}".encode()).hexdigest(), name, path, st.st_size)
+            for name in _SOURCES if source in (None, name) for path, st in _walk(name)]
     return sorted(rows, key=lambda row: (row[0], row[1]), reverse=True)