diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/tab-content.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/tab-content.tsx
index fd5ede6f5..90e37b9e7 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/tab-content.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/tab-content.tsx
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
 import { Activity, useEffect } from "react";
 import { RouterProvider } from "react-router-dom";
-import { useTabStore, useActiveGroup } from "@/stores/tab-store";
+import { useActiveGroup } from "@/stores/tab-store";
 import { TabNavigationProvider } from "@/platform/navigation";
 import { useTabRouterSync } from "@/hooks/use-tab-router-sync";
+import type { Tab } from "@/stores/tab-store";
 
-/** Inner wrapper rendered inside each tab's RouterProvider. */
-function TabRouterInner({ tabId }: { tabId: string }) {
-  const tab = useTabStore((s) => {
-    if (!s.activeWorkspaceSlug) return null;
-    const group = s.byWorkspace[s.activeWorkspaceSlug];
-    return group?.tabs.find((t) => t.id === tabId) ?? null;
-  });
-  useTabRouterSync(tabId, tab!.router);
+/**
+ * Inner wrapper rendered inside each tab's RouterProvider. The router
+ * reference is stable for a tab's lifetime, so passing it in directly
+ * (instead of re-deriving from the store) avoids needless re-renders.
+ */
+function TabRouterInner({ tab }: { tab: Tab }) {
+  useTabRouterSync(tab.id, tab.router);
   return null;
 }
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function TabContent() {
         >
           <TabNavigationProvider router={tab.router}>
             <RouterProvider router={tab.router} />
-            <TabRouterInner tabId={tab.id} />
+            <TabRouterInner tab={tab} />
           </TabNavigationProvider>
         </Activity>
       ))}
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-tab-history.ts b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-tab-history.ts
index f8f21d1c7..1c47fbd36 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-tab-history.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/hooks/use-tab-history.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { useCallback } from "react";
 import type { DataRouter } from "react-router-dom";
-import { useActiveTab } from "@/stores/tab-store";
+import { useActiveTabRouter, useActiveTabHistory } from "@/stores/tab-store";
 
 /**
  * Shared hint map so useTabRouterSync can distinguish back vs forward POP.
@@ -10,28 +10,31 @@ export const popDirectionHints = new Map<DataRouter, "back" | "forward">();
 
 /**
  * Per-tab back/forward navigation derived from the active workspace's
- * active tab. When the active workspace has no tab (pre-workspace state),
- * both buttons disable gracefully.
+ * active tab.
+ *
+ * Subscribed via primitive selectors so this hook only re-renders when
+ * the numeric history state actually changes — path ticks on the active
+ * tab (which don't shift historyIndex) don't churn the back/forward
+ * buttons.
  */
 export function useTabHistory() {
-  const activeTab = useActiveTab();
+  const router = useActiveTabRouter();
+  const { historyIndex, historyLength } = useActiveTabHistory();
 
-  const canGoBack = (activeTab?.historyIndex ?? 0) > 0;
-  const canGoForward =
-    (activeTab?.historyIndex ?? 0) < (activeTab?.historyLength ?? 1) - 1;
+  const canGoBack = historyIndex > 0;
+  const canGoForward = historyIndex < historyLength - 1;
 
   const goBack = useCallback(() => {
-    if (!activeTab || activeTab.historyIndex <= 0) return;
-    popDirectionHints.set(activeTab.router, "back");
-    activeTab.router.navigate(-1);
-  }, [activeTab]);
+    if (!router || historyIndex <= 0) return;
+    popDirectionHints.set(router, "back");
+    router.navigate(-1);
+  }, [router, historyIndex]);
 
   const goForward = useCallback(() => {
-    if (!activeTab || activeTab.historyIndex >= activeTab.historyLength - 1)
-      return;
-    popDirectionHints.set(activeTab.router, "forward");
-    activeTab.router.navigate(1);
-  }, [activeTab]);
+    if (!router || historyIndex >= historyLength - 1) return;
+    popDirectionHints.set(router, "forward");
+    router.navigate(1);
+  }, [router, historyIndex, historyLength]);
 
   return { canGoBack, canGoForward, goBack, goForward };
 }
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/platform/navigation.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/platform/navigation.tsx
index 04c8596dd..df9f148da 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/platform/navigation.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/platform/navigation.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,13 @@ import {
 } from "@multica/views/navigation";
 import { useAuthStore } from "@multica/core/auth";
 import { isReservedSlug } from "@multica/core/paths";
-import { useTabStore, resolveRouteIcon } from "@/stores/tab-store";
+import {
+  useTabStore,
+  resolveRouteIcon,
+  useActiveTabIdentity,
+  useActiveTabRouter,
+  getActiveTab,
+} from "@/stores/tab-store";
 import { useWindowOverlayStore } from "@/stores/window-overlay-store";
 
 // Public web app URL — injected at build time via .env.production. Falls
@@ -95,25 +101,25 @@ export function DesktopNavigationProvider({
 }: {
   children: React.ReactNode;
 }) {
-  const activeTab = useTabStore((s) => {
-    if (!s.activeWorkspaceSlug) return null;
-    const group = s.byWorkspace[s.activeWorkspaceSlug];
-    if (!group) return null;
-    return group.tabs.find((t) => t.id === group.activeTabId) ?? null;
-  });
-  const [pathname, setPathname] = useState(activeTab?.path ?? "/");
+  // Primitive-only subscriptions so this component doesn't re-render on
+  // unrelated store updates (e.g. an inactive tab's router tick). We
+  // resolve the active router here only to subscribe once per tab switch.
+  const { tabId: activeTabId } = useActiveTabIdentity();
+  const router = useActiveTabRouter();
+  const [pathname, setPathname] = useState(
+    router?.state.location.pathname ?? "/",
+  );
 
-  // Subscribe to the active tab's router for pathname updates.
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (!activeTab) {
+    if (!router) {
       setPathname("/");
       return;
     }
-    setPathname(activeTab.router.state.location.pathname);
-    return activeTab.router.subscribe((state) => {
+    setPathname(router.state.location.pathname);
+    return router.subscribe((state) => {
       setPathname(state.location.pathname);
     });
-  }, [activeTab?.id]); // eslint-disable-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+  }, [activeTabId, router]);
 
   const adapter: NavigationAdapter = useMemo(
     () => ({
@@ -160,11 +166,7 @@ export function DesktopNavigationProvider({
 }
 
 function currentActiveTab() {
-  const state = useTabStore.getState();
-  if (!state.activeWorkspaceSlug) return null;
-  const group = state.byWorkspace[state.activeWorkspaceSlug];
-  if (!group) return null;
-  return group.tabs.find((t) => t.id === group.activeTabId) ?? null;
+  return getActiveTab(useTabStore.getState());
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/stores/tab-store.ts b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/stores/tab-store.ts
index 9bd851693..6ca66893d 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/stores/tab-store.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/stores/tab-store.ts
@@ -230,6 +230,10 @@ export const useTabStore = create<TabStore>()(
       byWorkspace: {},
 
       switchWorkspace(slug, openPath) {
+        // Defensive no-op if slug is empty/invalid — callers like the
+        // NavigationAdapter's path-parser should already have filtered
+        // these, but belt-and-braces keeps garbage out of the store.
+        if (!slug) return;
         const { byWorkspace } = get();
         const existing = byWorkspace[slug];
 
@@ -514,7 +518,14 @@ export const useTabStore = create<TabStore>()(
             // Persisted path may have come from a stale version or a
             // manual edit. Drop rather than rewrite so we never silently
             // put users on a path that doesn't match the group's slug.
-            if (!clean || extractWorkspaceSlug(clean) !== slug) continue;
+            if (!clean || extractWorkspaceSlug(clean) !== slug) {
+              // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+              console.warn(
+                `[tab-store] dropping persisted tab "${pTab.path}" from ` +
+                  `group "${slug}" — path/slug mismatch`,
+              );
+              continue;
+            }
             tabs.push({
               id: pTab.id,
               path: clean,
@@ -622,19 +633,73 @@ export function migrateV1ToV2(v1: Partial<V1Persisted>): V2Persisted {
 // Selectors (convenience hooks)
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-/** The active workspace's tab group, or null when no workspace is active. */
+/**
+ * Pure non-hook helper — useful from event handlers / effects that already
+ * need `.getState()`. For React subscriptions prefer the stable selectors
+ * below.
+ */
+export function getActiveTab(s: TabStore): Tab | null {
+  if (!s.activeWorkspaceSlug) return null;
+  const group = s.byWorkspace[s.activeWorkspaceSlug];
+  if (!group) return null;
+  return group.tabs.find((t) => t.id === group.activeTabId) ?? null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The active workspace's tab group, or null when no workspace is active.
+ *
+ * Zustand compares selector returns with `Object.is`. Because `updateTab`
+ * /  `updateTabHistory` replace the group object on every router tick
+ * (immutable update), this selector returns a new reference on every
+ * router event — that's fine for TabBar which needs to observe tab-list
+ * changes, but don't use this selector from components that only care
+ * about one primitive (use `useActiveTabHistory` / `useActiveTabRouter`
+ * instead).
+ */
 export function useActiveGroup(): WorkspaceTabGroup | null {
   return useTabStore((s) =>
     s.activeWorkspaceSlug ? (s.byWorkspace[s.activeWorkspaceSlug] ?? null) : null,
   );
 }
 
-/** The currently rendered tab, or null. */
-export function useActiveTab(): Tab | null {
-  return useTabStore((s) => {
-    if (!s.activeWorkspaceSlug) return null;
-    const group = s.byWorkspace[s.activeWorkspaceSlug];
-    if (!group) return null;
-    return group.tabs.find((t) => t.id === group.activeTabId) ?? null;
-  });
+/**
+ * Active tab id + active workspace slug as a compact pair. Both primitives
+ * are stable across unrelated store updates — e.g. an inactive tab's
+ * router tick doesn't churn these, so consumers don't re-render.
+ *
+ * Useful anywhere you'd previously have reached for `useActiveTab()` and
+ * only needed the identity (for memoization, effect deps, ipc).
+ */
+export function useActiveTabIdentity(): { slug: string | null; tabId: string | null } {
+  const slug = useTabStore((s) => s.activeWorkspaceSlug);
+  const tabId = useTabStore((s) =>
+    s.activeWorkspaceSlug
+      ? (s.byWorkspace[s.activeWorkspaceSlug]?.activeTabId ?? null)
+      : null,
+  );
+  return { slug, tabId };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Active tab's router — a stable reference across tab updates, because
+ * routers are created once per tab and never replaced by `updateTab`.
+ * Subscribers only re-render when the active tab *changes*, not on
+ * router events within the current tab.
+ */
+export function useActiveTabRouter(): DataRouter | null {
+  return useTabStore((s) => getActiveTab(s)?.router ?? null);
+}
+
+/**
+ * History tracking for the active tab as primitives. Subscribers re-render
+ * only when the numeric index / length change (i.e. on actual navigations),
+ * not on unrelated store updates.
+ */
+export function useActiveTabHistory(): {
+  historyIndex: number;
+  historyLength: number;
+} {
+  const historyIndex = useTabStore((s) => getActiveTab(s)?.historyIndex ?? 0);
+  const historyLength = useTabStore((s) => getActiveTab(s)?.historyLength ?? 1);
+  return { historyIndex, historyLength };
 }