diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
index dcea643049..0dafa7bc94 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/contrib/controller.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import {
   bindToolPaneCollapse,
   declareDefaultTree,
   dismissTreePane,
+  hydrateContributedPanes,
   isPaneVisible,
   markCollapsePane,
   paneRootSide,
@@ -31,8 +32,7 @@ import {
   setStripTabHidden,
   targetZoneTabStripVisible,
   togglePaneVisible,
-  toggleTargetZoneTabStrip,
-  watchContributedPanes
+  toggleTargetZoneTabStrip
 } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/store'
 import { $workspaceOwnerLabels, workspaceOwnerTitle } from '@/components/pane-shell/workspace-scope'
 import { SidebarProvider } from '@/components/ui/sidebar'
@@ -455,8 +455,10 @@ declareDefaultTree(DEFAULT_TREE, BASIC_TREE)
 discoverBundledPlugins()
 
 // Plugin panes join the tree by their `placement` hint the moment they
-// register — incl. runtime plugins arriving seconds after boot.
-watchContributedPanes()
+// register — incl. runtime plugins arriving seconds after boot. The FIRST
+// pass runs as layout hydration: the reload prune→re-register cycle must not
+// record split shares (#108679).
+hydrateContributedPanes()
 
 // Session + route (page) tiles: persisted splits register panes docked beside
 // main. A popped-out Browser and the HUD have no layout tree — registering
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/pane-reload-share.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/pane-reload-share.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..657220644b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/pane-reload-share.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+
+import type { LayoutNode, SplitNode } from '@/components/pane-shell/tree/model'
+
+// #108679: a hard reload boots with `registered` empty, so the pane-mirror
+// prunes every persisted session-tile pane from the tree — and each removal
+// records its share (0.5 for an evenly-split row) as if it were a user
+// resize. When the tiles re-dock in anchor order, `recalledEdgeWeights`
+// replays those stale shares against a DIFFERENTLY shaped row, so tiles later
+// in the re-dock chain land at half weight and the persisted tree drifts
+// [1,1,1,1] → [1,1,1,1,0.5,0.5,1]. Two guards close the class:
+//
+// 1. Share recording is SUSPENDED while the store is hydrating (a boot
+//    prune is not remembered geometry).
+// 2. A recorded share only replays against the seam partner it was recorded
+//    with — a differently shaped row falls back to the even default.
+
+describe('tile split-share memory across a hard reload', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    window.localStorage.clear()
+    vi.resetModules()
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.resetModules()
+  })
+
+  async function setup() {
+    const tree = await import('@/components/pane-shell/tree/store')
+    const model = await import('@/components/pane-shell/tree/model')
+    const { registry } = await import('@/contrib/registry')
+
+    registry.register({
+      id: 'workspace',
+      area: 'panes',
+      title: 'chat',
+      data: { placement: 'main', uncloseable: true },
+      render: () => null
+    })
+
+    const registerTile = (id: string, anchor: string) =>
+      registry.register({
+        id,
+        area: 'panes',
+        title: id,
+        data: { placement: 'main', dock: { pane: anchor, pos: 'right' } },
+        render: () => null
+      })
+
+    tree.declareDefaultTree(model.group(['workspace'], { id: 'grp-main' }))
+    tree.watchContributedPanes()
+
+    return { model, registerTile, registry, tree }
+  }
+
+  /** The root row's weights, normalized to shares of their sum. */
+  function rowShares(root: LayoutNode) {
+    if (root.type !== 'split') {
+      throw new Error('expected a split root')
+    }
+
+    const total = root.weights.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0)
+
+    return root.weights.map(w => w / total)
+  }
+
+  /** All split nodes in the tree (row and column alike). */
+  function splits(node: LayoutNode, acc: SplitNode[] = []): SplitNode[] {
+    if (node.type === 'group') {
+      return acc
+    }
+
+    acc.push(node)
+
+    for (const child of node.children) {
+      splits(child, acc)
+    }
+
+    return acc
+  }
+
+  it('a reload-cycle prune does not record stale half-shares (hydration suspend)', async () => {
+    const { registerTile, tree } = await setup()
+
+    // The reload shape: hydration begins (the mirror's registered map is
+    // empty), every persisted tile pane is pruned, then the tiles re-register
+    // and re-dock in anchor order. The prune pass must not remember shares.
+    tree.beginLayoutHydration()
+    for (const id of ['session-tile:a', 'session-tile:b', 'session-tile:c', 'session-tile:d']) {
+      tree.removeTreePane(id)
+    }
+    tree.endLayoutHydration()
+
+    // Persisted shares stay empty — nothing was recorded by the prune.
+    expect(tree.$paneShareRecords.get()).toEqual({})
+
+    // Re-dock: the tiles come back in anchor order.
+    registerTile('session-tile:a', 'workspace')
+    registerTile('session-tile:b', 'session-tile:a')
+    registerTile('session-tile:c', 'session-tile:b')
+    registerTile('session-tile:d', 'session-tile:c')
+
+    // A reload cycle must land on the same WEIGHTS a fresh dock of the same
+    // tiles produces — no half-weight drift for tiles later in the re-dock
+    // chain. (Group ids are regenerated per insert, so compare the weight
+    // vector only, against a fresh-boot reference of the same tile set.)
+    const fresh = await setup()
+    for (const [id, anchor] of [
+      ['session-tile:a', 'workspace'],
+      ['session-tile:b', 'session-tile:a'],
+      ['session-tile:c', 'session-tile:b'],
+      ['session-tile:d', 'session-tile:c']
+    ] as const) {
+      fresh.registerTile(id, anchor)
+    }
+
+    const afterTree = tree.$layoutTree.get()!
+    const freshTree = fresh.tree.$layoutTree.get()!
+
+    if (afterTree.type !== 'split' || freshTree.type !== 'split') {
+      throw new Error('expected split roots')
+    }
+
+    expect(afterTree.weights).toEqual(freshTree.weights)
+  })
+
+  it('a stale recorded share does not replay against a different seam partner', async () => {
+    const { registerTile, tree } = await setup()
+
+    // The user really did leave tile A at a quarter of the pair — recorded
+    // against the WORKSPACE seam.
+    const disposeA = registerTile('session-tile:a', 'workspace')
+    const root = tree.$layoutTree.get()!
+
+    if (root.type !== 'split') {
+      throw new Error('expected a split root')
+    }
+
+    tree.setTreeSplitWeights(root.id, [3, 1])
+    disposeA()
+    tree.removeTreePane('session-tile:a')
+
+    // The share was recorded against the workspace as seam partner.
+    expect(tree.$paneShareRecords.get()['session-tile:a']).toBeCloseTo(0.25)
+
+    // But the tree changes shape before the tile returns: it now re-docks
+    // beside ANOTHER tile, not the workspace. The remembered share belongs
+    // to a seam that no longer exists — replay must fall back to even.
+    registerTile('session-tile:b', 'workspace')
+    registerTile('session-tile:a', 'session-tile:b')
+
+    // The seam holding tile A must be even: the share was recorded against
+    // the workspace, not against tile B. (The tree may flatten the nested
+    // seam into the root row — assert on the WEIGHTS of tile A's slot vs its
+    // row, normalized: an even seam means A's slot equals its neighbor's.)
+    const root2b = tree.$layoutTree.get()!
+
+    if (root2b.type !== 'split') {
+      throw new Error('expected a split root')
+    }
+
+    const seam = splits(root2b).find(s =>
+      s.children.some(c => c.type === 'group' && c.panes.includes('session-tile:a'))
+    )
+
+    expect(seam).toBeDefined()
+
+    // Tile A's slot must take the same share as its seam neighbor: an even
+    // split, not the 3:1 recorded against the workspace.
+    const at = seam!.children.findIndex(c => c.type === 'group' && c.panes.includes('session-tile:a'))
+    const total = seam!.weights.reduce((x, y) => x + y, 0)
+    const aShare = seam!.weights[at]! / total
+    const neighborShare = seam!.weights[at === 0 ? 1 : at - 1]! / total
+
+    expect(aShare).toBeCloseTo(neighborShare)
+  })
+
+  it('a genuine user resize still records and replays against the same partner', async () => {
+    const { registerTile, tree } = await setup()
+
+    const disposeA = registerTile('session-tile:a', 'workspace')
+    const root = tree.$layoutTree.get()!
+
+    if (root.type !== 'split') {
+      throw new Error('expected a split root')
+    }
+
+    tree.setTreeSplitWeights(root.id, [3, 1])
+    disposeA()
+    tree.removeTreePane('session-tile:a')
+
+    // Same seam partner back: the quarter share replays.
+    registerTile('session-tile:a', 'workspace')
+
+    const shares = rowShares(tree.$layoutTree.get()!)
+
+    expect(shares[0]).toBeCloseTo(0.75)
+    expect(shares[1]).toBeCloseTo(0.25)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts
index 8b74f5f395..ae5ca3c99d 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/pane-shell/tree/store.ts
@@ -242,6 +242,38 @@ export function undismissTreePanes(paneIds: Iterable<string>): void {
 const validShare = (share: unknown): share is number =>
   typeof share === 'number' && Number.isFinite(share) && share > 0 && share < 1
 
+// The seam partner each recorded share was measured against. A share is only
+// meaningful against THAT pane: a reload re-docks tiles in anchor order
+// against a differently shaped row, and replaying an even-row 0.5 there is
+// how tiles later in the re-dock chain came back at half width (#108679).
+const $paneSharePartners = modeLayout.atom<Record<string, string>>(
+  LAYOUT_KEYS.sharePartners,
+  () => ({}),
+  Codecs.json(value =>
+    value && typeof value === 'object'
+      ? Object.fromEntries(
+          Object.entries(value).filter(([, partner]) => typeof partner === 'string' && partner)
+        )
+      : {}
+  )
+)
+
+// True while the persisted tree is being reconciled at boot (the reload
+// prune→re-register cycle). Share recording is suspended for its duration: a
+// hydration prune is not a user resize, and remembering its geometry is what
+// seeded the stale 0.5 shares #108679 replays.
+let layoutHydrating = false
+
+/** Suspend share recording while hydration reconciles the persisted tree. */
+export function beginLayoutHydration(): void {
+  layoutHydrating = true
+}
+
+/** Resume share recording after hydration settles. */
+export function endLayoutHydration(): void {
+  layoutHydrating = false
+}
+
 const $paneShares = modeLayout.atom<Record<string, number>>(
   LAYOUT_KEYS.shares,
   () => ({}),
@@ -253,6 +285,14 @@ const $paneShares = modeLayout.atom<Record<string, number>>(
 )
 
 function rememberPaneShare(tree: LayoutNode, paneId: string) {
+  // A hydration prune must never write remembered geometry (#108679): the
+  // reload cycle removes every persisted tile and re-docks it moments later,
+  // and the share it "held" at removal belongs to a row shape that no longer
+  // exists by the time it returns.
+  if (layoutHydrating) {
+    return
+  }
+
   const zone = findGroupOfPane(tree, paneId)
 
   // Only a pane ALONE in its zone owns the zone's track — a stacked tab's
@@ -276,18 +316,48 @@ function rememberPaneShare(tree: LayoutNode, paneId: string) {
   const share = pair > 0 ? (parent.weights[at] ?? 1) / pair : null
 
   if (validShare(share)) {
+    // The seam partner as a PANE id, for partner-validated recall. A zone
+    // holding several panes has no single seam pane — its share can never be
+    // partner-validated, so it records without a partner and falls back to
+    // even on any mismatched recall.
+    const partnerGroup = parent.children[partner] as LayoutNode
+    const partnerPane =
+      partnerGroup.type === 'group' && partnerGroup.panes.length === 1 ? partnerGroup.panes[0] : null
+
     $paneShares.set({ ...$paneShares.get(), [paneId]: share })
+
+    // Remember the seam partner only when it is a REAL pane id — a share
+    // against a nameless or multi-pane zone can never be partner-validated.
+    if (partnerPane) {
+      $paneSharePartners.set({ ...$paneSharePartners.get(), [paneId]: partnerPane })
+    }
   }
 }
 
 /** The [target, added] weight pair a re-inserted pane's edge split should get,
  *  or undefined for the even default. Persisted state is untrusted. */
-function recalledEdgeWeights(paneId: string): [number, number] | undefined {
+function recalledEdgeWeights(paneId: string, anchorPaneId?: string): [number, number] | undefined {
   const share = $paneShares.get()[paneId]
 
-  return validShare(share) ? [1 - share, share] : undefined
+  if (!validShare(share)) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  // Partner validation (#108679): the share was recorded against a specific
+  // seam neighbor. Replaying it against a different partner docks the pane at
+  // a share that belonged to another row shape — fall back to even instead.
+  const partner = $paneSharePartners.get()[paneId]
+
+  if (partner && anchorPaneId && partner !== anchorPaneId) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  return [1 - share, share]
 }
 
+/** The recorded seam shares, for tests and diagnostics. */
+export const $paneShareRecords = $paneShares
+
 // HIDE-ONLY STRIP TABS (`hideOnly` chrome: sessions / Bots) — standing chrome
 // whose tab must never grow a ✕. Show/hide replaces Close for them: the zone
 // menu's Show/Hide rows and the auto-registered ⌘K toggles both land here.
@@ -1527,7 +1597,8 @@ export function adoptContributedPanes(): void {
 
     if (target) {
       // Silent adoption: don't front over the zone's active tab — a reveal
-      // does. An edge dock re-takes the share the pane held when it closed.
+      // does. An edge dock re-takes the share the pane held when it closed —
+      // but only against the seam partner it was recorded with (#108679).
       //
       // Nothing writes the strip choice afterwards. This used to read the
       // host's hidden flag before the insert and stamp it back on after, purely
@@ -1542,7 +1613,7 @@ export function adoptContributedPanes(): void {
           dock?.pos ?? 'center',
           dock?.before,
           false,
-          recalledEdgeWeights(pane.id)
+          recalledEdgeWeights(pane.id, anchor)
         ) ?? next
     }
   }
@@ -1570,6 +1641,24 @@ export function watchContributedPanes(): void {
   registry.subscribe(adoptContributedPanes)
 }
 
+/** Reconcile the persisted tree with the registry as part of BOOT hydration:
+ *  the reload prune→re-register cycle runs with share recording suspended
+ *  (#108679 — a hydration prune is not a user resize, and its recorded
+ *  shares were what re-docked tiles replayed at half width). Call once from
+ *  the app root, after declareDefaultTree, in place of a bare
+ *  watchContributedPanes() when the surface persists tiles. */
+export function hydrateContributedPanes(): void {
+  beginLayoutHydration()
+
+  try {
+    adoptContributedPanes()
+  } finally {
+    endLayoutHydration()
+  }
+
+  watchContributedPanes()
+}
+
 function commit(next: LayoutNode | null) {
   if (!next) {
     return
@@ -1645,7 +1734,15 @@ export function dockPaneBeside(paneId: string, anchorPaneId: string) {
 
   const next = findGroupOfPane(tree, paneId)
     ? movePaneOp(tree, paneId, { groupId: anchor.id, pos })
-    : insertAtGroup(tree, anchor.id, paneId, pos, undefined, true, recalledEdgeWeights(paneId))
+    : insertAtGroup(
+        tree,
+        anchor.id,
+        paneId,
+        pos,
+        undefined,
+        true,
+        recalledEdgeWeights(paneId, anchorPaneId)
+      )
 
   if (next && next !== tree) {
     commit(next)
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/layout-persistence.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/layout-persistence.ts
index 730b861c0a..6e5a2a5415 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/layout-persistence.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/layout-persistence.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ export const LAYOUT_KEYS = {
   panes: 'hermes.desktop.paneStates.v1',
   dismissed: 'hermes.desktop.dismissedPanes.v1',
   shares: 'hermes.desktop.paneShare.v1',
+  sharePartners: 'hermes.desktop.paneSharePartners.v1',
   hiddenTabs: 'hermes.desktop.hiddenStripTabs.v1',
   placed: 'hermes.desktop.userPlacedPanes.v1',
   flipped: 'hermes.desktop.panesFlipped',
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.test.ts
index e8d735377c..a6bdaf4c20 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.test.ts
@@ -963,6 +963,42 @@ describe('dropTilesForProfile', () => {
     )
     expect(mod.$sessionTiles.get().map(tile => tile.storedSessionId)).toEqual(['bot-remote'])
   })
+
+  // #108679: a tile record whose anchor is its OWN pane id is
+  // self-referential — the re-dock target can never exist at adoption time,
+  // so the tile falls through to an arbitrary same-placement neighbor
+  // instead of the recorded layout. Loading must rewrite it to the
+  // workspace anchor (the same surface an anchorless tile re-docks against)
+  // while a REAL cross-tile anchor survives the round-trip.
+  it('rewrites a self-anchored tile record to the workspace anchor at load', async () => {
+    window.localStorage.setItem(
+      TILES_KEY,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        default: [
+          // Self-referential: anchor === the tile's own pane id.
+          { anchor: 'session-tile:20260912_080117', storedSessionId: '20260912_080117' },
+          // Legitimate: docked beside another tile.
+          { anchor: 'session-tile:20260912_080117', storedSessionId: '20260912_080118' },
+          // Legitimate: docked beside the workspace.
+          { anchor: 'workspace', storedSessionId: '20260912_080119' }
+        ]
+      })
+    )
+
+    // Storage is read at module load — reset and re-import after seeding it.
+    vi.resetModules()
+
+    const fresh = await import('@/store/session-states')
+    const tiles = fresh.$sessionTiles.get()
+    const byId = new Map(tiles.map(tile => [tile.storedSessionId, tile]))
+
+    // The self-anchor is dropped (the mirror re-docks those tiles against
+    // the workspace by default); the other two anchors round-trip intact.
+    expect(tiles).toHaveLength(3)
+    expect(byId.get('20260912_080117')!.anchor).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(byId.get('20260912_080118')!.anchor).toBe('session-tile:20260912_080117')
+    expect(byId.get('20260912_080119')!.anchor).toBe('workspace')
+  })
 })
 
 describe('releaseSessionTranscript', () => {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.ts
index df13ff6bdf..b3fbb29ced 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/session-states.ts
@@ -1098,7 +1098,16 @@ function parseTileList(value: unknown): StoredTile[] {
           const raw = t as SessionTile
 
           return {
-            anchor: typeof raw.anchor === 'string' ? raw.anchor : undefined,
+            // #108679: a tile whose anchor is its OWN pane id is
+            // self-referential — the re-dock target can never exist (the
+            // pane is not in the tree at adoption time), so the dock falls
+            // through to an arbitrary same-placement neighbor instead of the
+            // recorded layout. Rewrite it to the workspace anchor at load,
+            // the same surface an anchorless tile re-docks against.
+            anchor:
+              typeof raw.anchor === 'string' && raw.anchor !== `${TILE_PANE_PREFIX}${raw.storedSessionId}`
+                ? raw.anchor
+                : undefined,
             before: typeof raw.before === 'string' || raw.before === null ? raw.before : undefined,
             dir: raw.dir,
             ownerProfile: typeof raw.ownerProfile === 'string' ? normalizeProfileKey(raw.ownerProfile) : undefined,