diff --git a/desktop/src/load-more-stale.test.tsx b/desktop/src/load-more-stale.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97cb80d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/src/load-more-stale.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+import {
+  render,
+  screen,
+  act,
+  waitFor,
+  fireEvent,
+} from "@testing-library/react";
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
+import App from "./App";
+import { api } from "./api";
+import type { Span, RecentTrace, SpanPage } from "./domain";
+
+vi.mock("./api", () => ({
+  api: { status: vi.fn(), read: vi.fn(), note: vi.fn() },
+}));
+
+const runId = "run-1";
+const traceId = "11111111111111111111111111111111";
+
+const session = {
+  id: "project-1",
+  title: "catalog",
+  project: "/project/catalog",
+  created_ms: 1,
+  expectations: [],
+};
+
+// The run is actively capturing ("collecting"), so the live span set is still
+// growing: store.rs:188 initializes capture_status "collecting" at run start
+// and analysis.rs:111 treats "settled" as the completeness criterion.
+const run = {
+  id: runId,
+  session_id: session.id,
+  label: "Baseline",
+  command: "unit tests",
+  revision: "abc dirty",
+  started_ms: 1,
+  finished_ms: null,
+  exit_code: 0,
+  test_status: "passed",
+  capture_status: "collecting",
+  issues: [],
+};
+
+const report = {
+  run,
+  span_count: 250,
+  trace_count: 1,
+  issues: [],
+  operations: [],
+  operations_total: 0,
+  verification: [],
+};
+
+function span(i: number, tid = traceId): Span {
+  const id = `s${String(i).padStart(6, "0")}`;
+  return {
+    trace_id: tid,
+    span_id: id,
+    parent_span_id: i === 0 ? "" : `s${String(i - 1).padStart(6, "0")}`,
+    name: `span-${i}`,
+    service: "catalog",
+    start_ns: String(10n ** 20n + BigInt(i) * 1000n),
+    end_ns: String(10n ** 20n + BigInt(i) * 1000n + 100n),
+    error: false,
+    dropped: false,
+    raw: {},
+    resource: {},
+    scope: {},
+  };
+}
+
+const trace: RecentTrace = {
+  run_id: runId,
+  trace_id: traceId,
+  root_span_id: "s000000",
+  name: "trace",
+  services: ["catalog"],
+  start_ns: String(10n ** 20n),
+  duration_ns: "100",
+  span_count: 250,
+  errors: 0,
+};
+
+const inspected = {
+  span: span(0),
+  uncovered_recorded_ns: null,
+  coverage_note: "",
+};
+
+// First page is fetched when the trace has 250 spans: total reflects the live
+// COUNT(*) at fetch time, and next_offset stays open at 200.
+function firstPage(tid: string): SpanPage {
+  return {
+    spans: Array.from({ length: 200 }, (_, i) => span(i, tid)),
+    total: 250,
+    next_offset: 200,
+  };
+}
+
+// By the time the user clicks "Load more" the trace has grown to 600 spans.
+// The offset=200 page reports the authoritative live COUNT (`total: 600`) and
+// keeps paging open at 400.
+function grownPage(tid: string): SpanPage {
+  return {
+    spans: Array.from({ length: 200 }, (_, i) => span(200 + i, tid)),
+    total: 600,
+    next_offset: 400,
+  };
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  vi.mocked(api.status).mockResolvedValue({
+    url: "http://127.0.0.1:4318",
+    version: "0.1.0",
+    data_dir: "/data",
+  });
+  vi.mocked(api.read).mockImplementation(async (path: string) => {
+    // A non-matching search excludes the selected trace from the polled
+    // recent-traces list, mirroring store.rs:397's HAVING filter.
+    if (path === "traces?limit=200&q=xyz")
+      return { traces: [], total: 0, next_offset: null };
+    if (path.startsWith("traces?") || path.includes("/traces?"))
+      return { traces: [trace], total: 1, next_offset: null };
+    if (path === `sessions/${session.id}`)
+      return { session, runs: [run], notes: [] };
+    if (path === `runs/${runId}`) return report;
+    if (path.endsWith("/findings"))
+      return { findings: [], limitations: [], analyzed_spans: 0 };
+    if (path.includes("/spans/")) return inspected;
+    if (path.includes("offset=")) return grownPage(traceId);
+    if (path.includes("/spans?")) return firstPage(traceId);
+    throw new Error(`unmocked path: ${path}`);
+  });
+  vi.mocked(api.note).mockResolvedValue({});
+});
+
+describe("TracePanel 'Load more' denominator while a trace is filtered out", () => {
+  it("uses the live spans-endpoint total rather than the frozen span_count", async () => {
+    render(<App />);
+
+    // The single trace (span_count 250) is auto-selected; the first spans
+    // page returns total 250 with next_offset 200, so the badge is visible.
+    const loadMore = await screen.findByRole(
+      "button",
+      { name: /Load more spans/ },
+      { timeout: 5000 },
+    );
+    expect(loadMore).toHaveTextContent("Load more spans (200 of 250)");
+
+    // Type a non-matching search so the selected trace disappears from the
+    // polled recent-traces list; App falls back to the frozen `selection` and
+    // trace.span_count stops updating.
+    fireEvent.change(screen.getByLabelText("Search traces"), {
+      target: { value: "xyz" },
+    });
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(api.read).toHaveBeenCalledWith("traces?limit=200&q=xyz"),
+    );
+    // Confirm the filter is committed (the trace list now shows the
+    // no-match message) and the selected trace is frozen out of the list.
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(
+        screen.getByText("No traces match this search."),
+      ).toBeInTheDocument(),
+    );
+
+    // Click "Load more": the live spans endpoint now sees a grown trace
+    // (total 600) and returns next_offset 400, so the button stays visible.
+    await act(async () => {
+      fireEvent.click(loadMore);
+      await Promise.resolve();
+    });
+
+    const after = screen.getByRole("button", { name: /Load more spans/ });
+    // The badge must not show the impossible "loaded exceeds total" count
+    // against the stale denominator; it must reflect the live total (600).
+    expect(after).not.toHaveTextContent("400 of 250");
+    expect(after).toHaveTextContent("Load more spans (400 of 600)");
+    // The header `N spans` must agree with the badge's denominator (600
+    // spans), not the frozen span_count (250 spans).
+    expect(screen.getByText(/600 spans/)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByText(/250 spans/)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  }, 15000);
+});
diff --git a/desktop/src/panels.tsx b/desktop/src/panels.tsx
index 28fb085..8c6cdfa 100644
--- a/desktop/src/panels.tsx
+++ b/desktop/src/panels.tsx
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ export function TracePanel({
   const [next, setNext] = useState<number | null>(null);
   const [busy, setBusy] = useState(false);
   const [error, setError] = useState("");
+  const [liveTotal, setLiveTotal] = useState<number | null>(null);
   useEffect(() => {
     setSpanId(requestedSpan);
     setExtra([]);
@@ -151,6 +152,7 @@ export function TracePanel({
   useEffect(() => {
     setExtra([]);
     setNext(page.data?.next_offset ?? null);
+    setLiveTotal(page.data?.total ?? null);
   }, [page.data]);
   const inspected = useLive<Inspected>(
     spanId ? `${runId}:${trace.trace_id}:${spanId}` : null,
@@ -158,6 +160,7 @@ export function TracePanel({
     0,
   );
   const spans = [...(page.data?.spans ?? []), ...extra];
+  const displayedTotal = Math.max(liveTotal ?? 0, trace.span_count);
   const selection = useRef(`${runId}:${trace.trace_id}:${trace.span_count}`);
   selection.current = `${runId}:${trace.trace_id}:${trace.span_count}`;
   async function more() {
@@ -171,6 +174,7 @@ export function TracePanel({
       if (selection.current === key) {
         setExtra((items) => [...items, ...result.spans]);
         setNext(result.next_offset);
+        setLiveTotal(result.total);
       }
     } catch (e) {
       setError(String(e));
@@ -207,7 +211,7 @@ export function TracePanel({
             <h2>{trace.name}</h2>
             <span>
               {trace.services.join(", ")} <b>·</b> {duration(trace.duration_ns)}{" "}
-              <b>·</b> {trace.span_count} spans
+              <b>·</b> {displayedTotal} spans
             </span>
           </div>
         </header>
@@ -343,7 +347,7 @@ export function TracePanel({
               disabled={busy}
               onClick={() => void more()}
             >
-              Load more spans ({spans.length} of {trace.span_count})
+              Load more spans ({spans.length} of {displayedTotal})
             </button>
           )}
         </div>