diff --git a/web/board/src/board/render.test.ts b/web/board/src/board/render.test.ts
index c6c16f1..0a43fcc 100644
--- a/web/board/src/board/render.test.ts
+++ b/web/board/src/board/render.test.ts
@@ -256,6 +256,40 @@ describe("the gate rail is a stack of self-contained cards", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("project lanes and scroll stability", () => {
+  const DAY = 86400 * 1e9;
+
+  it("orders project lanes by MOST-RECENT activity, not by gate count", () => {
+    const now = Date.now() * 1e6;
+    const items = [
+      // "stale" project: touched a week ago, and carries a gate — which used to
+      // float it to the top under the old gated-first order.
+      makeItem({ id: "s1", project: "stale", status: "waiting", waitingType: "gate", gateMsgId: "m", gate: "design", updatedAt: now - 8 * DAY }),
+      // "fresh" project: touched yesterday, no gate.
+      makeItem({ id: "f1", project: "fresh", status: "active", updatedAt: now - 1 * DAY }),
+    ];
+    ws = mountBoardWorkspace(container, items, {
+      boards: [{ coord: "stale", title: "stale" }, { coord: "fresh", title: "fresh" }],
+    });
+    const laneNames = [...container.querySelectorAll(".swimlane .lane-name")].map((n) => n.textContent);
+    expect(laneNames.indexOf("fresh")).toBeLessThan(laneNames.indexOf("stale"));
+    expect(laneNames[0]).toBe("fresh");
+  });
+
+  it("preserves the page scroll position across a live re-render", () => {
+    const items = Array.from({ length: 30 }, (_, i) =>
+      makeItem({ id: `i${i}`, status: "active", project: "ready", updatedAt: Date.now() * 1e6 - i * 1000 }),
+    );
+    ws = mountBoardWorkspace(container, items, { boards: [{ coord: "ready", title: "ready" }] });
+    const scroller = document.scrollingElement ?? document.documentElement;
+    scroller.scrollTop = 250;
+    // a live fold arrives — the board rebuilds (replaceChildren), but the reader
+    // stays where they scrolled to instead of being yanked to the top.
+    ws.setItems([...items, makeItem({ id: "new", status: "active", project: "ready" })]);
+    expect((document.scrollingElement ?? document.documentElement).scrollTop).toBe(250);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("board identity: names, never coordinates", () => {
   const COORD = "30301:a9f766ae56bbf466d2d361e5b1788b7cd689fd8e3b418e35b002b313f478db25:dontguess";
 
diff --git a/web/board/src/board/render.ts b/web/board/src/board/render.ts
index 5d0d961..cdf17f6 100644
--- a/web/board/src/board/render.ts
+++ b/web/board/src/board/render.ts
@@ -365,9 +365,11 @@ export class BoardWorkspace {
    */
   setItems(items: Item[]): void {
     const focus = this.captureFocusedField();
+    const scroll = this.captureScroll();
     this.items = items;
     this.render();
     this.restoreFocusedField(focus);
+    this.restoreScroll(scroll);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -385,11 +387,13 @@ export class BoardWorkspace {
    */
   setBoards(boards: BoardRef[]): void {
     const focus = this.captureFocusedField();
+    const scroll = this.captureScroll();
     this.boards = boards;
     this.boardTitles = new Map(boards.map((b) => [b.coord, b.title]));
     this.boardByCoord = new Map(boards.map((b) => [b.coord, b]));
     this.render();
     this.restoreFocusedField(focus);
+    this.restoreScroll(scroll);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -401,9 +405,44 @@ export class BoardWorkspace {
    */
   setNotice(notice: string | undefined): void {
     const focus = this.captureFocusedField();
+    const scroll = this.captureScroll();
     this.notice = notice;
     this.render();
     this.restoreFocusedField(focus);
+    this.restoreScroll(scroll);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The board re-renders on every live fold (setItems) and every board-state
+   * reconcile (setBoards), each of which does render()'s replaceChildren() — a
+   * fresh .board-center / .left-tree whose scrollTop is 0. During the first
+   * minute those calls arrive in a stream, so a reader scrolled halfway down the
+   * board was yanked back to the top again and again (ready-...). Capturing the
+   * two independent scroll positions before the rebuild and restoring them after
+   * keeps the view where the reader put it — the page updates under them without
+   * moving what they are looking at.
+   */
+  private scroller(): Element {
+    return document.scrollingElement ?? document.documentElement;
+  }
+
+  private captureScroll(): { page: number; center: number; tree: number } {
+    // The page itself is the scroll container (the shell grows with content), so
+    // that is the one that must survive replaceChildren — the panes are captured
+    // too so the fix still holds if the layout is ever made pane-scrolling.
+    return {
+      page: this.scroller().scrollTop,
+      center: this.container.querySelector(".board-center")?.scrollTop ?? 0,
+      tree: this.container.querySelector(".left-tree")?.scrollTop ?? 0,
+    };
+  }
+
+  private restoreScroll(s: { page: number; center: number; tree: number }): void {
+    this.scroller().scrollTop = s.page;
+    const center = this.container.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".board-center");
+    const tree = this.container.querySelector<HTMLElement>(".left-tree");
+    if (center) center.scrollTop = s.center;
+    if (tree) tree.scrollTop = s.tree;
   }
 
   private captureFocusedField(): FocusedField | undefined {
@@ -440,7 +479,9 @@ export class BoardWorkspace {
       const next = [...scope.querySelectorAll("input")].find((n) => n.classList.contains(f.cls));
       if (!next) continue;
       next.value = f.value;
-      next.focus();
+      // preventScroll: refocusing must not scroll the field into view — that
+      // would fight restoreScroll and yank the board (ready-...).
+      next.focus({ preventScroll: true });
       if (f.start !== null && f.end !== null) next.setSelectionRange(f.start, f.end);
       return;
     }
@@ -925,7 +966,7 @@ export class BoardWorkspace {
       this.setQuery(find.value);
       const next = this.container.querySelector<HTMLInputElement>("input.find");
       if (next) {
-        next.focus();
+        next.focus({ preventScroll: true });
         if (caret !== null) next.setSelectionRange(caret, caret);
       }
     });
@@ -1409,12 +1450,16 @@ export class BoardWorkspace {
         list.push(item);
         groups.set(key, list);
       }
-      // Most gated first, then largest — the prototype's project-lane order:
-      // the lane that needs a human decision should not be below the fold.
-      const gateCount = (key: string): number =>
-        items.filter((i) => this.projectKeyOf(i) === key && gatesFilter()(i)).length;
+      // MOST RECENTLY ACTIVE FIRST (ready-...). The prototype led with the most-
+      // gated project so a decision was never below the fold — but gates now live
+      // in their own banner at the very top, surfaced regardless of lane order, so
+      // the lanes are free to answer the question a reader actually has scrolling
+      // the board: "what have I touched lately?". A project stale for a week no
+      // longer floats to the top just because it carries gates. Ties break on
+      // name so the order is total (stable across re-renders).
+      const lastActive = (its: Item[]): number => its.reduce((m, i) => Math.max(m, i.updatedAt), 0);
       return [...groups.entries()]
-        .sort(([a, ia], [b, ib]) => gateCount(b) - gateCount(a) || ib.length - ia.length || a.localeCompare(b))
+        .sort(([a, ia], [b, ib]) => lastActive(ib) - lastActive(ia) || a.localeCompare(b))
         .map(([key, its]) => ({ key, label: this.projectNameOf(key), items: its }));
     }
     // epic