diff --git a/mac/Sources/CodeBurnMenubar/CodeBurnApp.swift b/mac/Sources/CodeBurnMenubar/CodeBurnApp.swift
index 095b4df..7f9ec47 100644
--- a/mac/Sources/CodeBurnMenubar/CodeBurnApp.swift
+++ b/mac/Sources/CodeBurnMenubar/CodeBurnApp.swift
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate, NSPopoverDelegate {
                 // regardless of whether the user is currently viewing Today or a
                 // different period / provider.
                 await self.store.refreshQuietly(period: .today)
-                // Refresh the currently-viewed payload. Optimize is fast (~1s warm-cache)
-                // so include findings on every refresh.
+                self.refreshStatusButton()
                 await self.store.refresh(includeOptimize: true)
+                self.refreshStatusButton()
                 try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: refreshIntervalNanos)
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 7bd91a9..e655180 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ program
   .option('--no-cache', 'Rebuild the parsed source cache for this run')
   .action(async (opts) => {
     await loadPricing()
-    const noCache = noCacheRequested(opts)
+    const noCache = noCacheRequested(opts) || opts.format === 'menubar-json'
     const parseOptions = buildParseOptions(noCache, opts.format === 'terminal')
     const pf = opts.provider
     const fp = (p: ProjectSummary[]) => filterProjectsByName(p, opts.project, opts.exclude)
diff --git a/src/dashboard.tsx b/src/dashboard.tsx
index 0f54eba..ee505cf 100644
--- a/src/dashboard.tsx
+++ b/src/dashboard.tsx
@@ -706,11 +706,11 @@ function InteractiveDashboard({ initialProjects, initialPeriod, initialProvider,
     }
   }, [findCachedWindow, makeCacheToken, noCache, storeCachedWindow])
 
-  const reloadData = useCallback(async (p: Period, prov: string, options?: { silent?: boolean }) => {
+  const reloadData = useCallback(async (p: Period, prov: string, options?: { silent?: boolean; skipCache?: boolean }) => {
     const range = getDateRange(p)
     const request = ++reloadSeqRef.current
     const token = makeCacheToken(prov, p)
-    const cachedWindow = findCachedWindow(prov, range)
+    const cachedWindow = options?.skipCache ? undefined : findCachedWindow(prov, range)
     if (!options?.silent) {
       setOptimizeResult(null)
     }
@@ -835,7 +835,7 @@ function InteractiveDashboard({ initialProjects, initialPeriod, initialProvider,
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!refreshSeconds || refreshSeconds <= 0) return
-    const id = setInterval(() => { reloadData(period, activeProvider) }, refreshSeconds * 1000)
+    const id = setInterval(() => { reloadData(period, activeProvider, { skipCache: true }) }, refreshSeconds * 1000)
     return () => clearInterval(id)
   }, [refreshSeconds, period, activeProvider, reloadData])
 
diff --git a/src/parser.ts b/src/parser.ts
index 3a0eb77..ed00d73 100644
--- a/src/parser.ts
+++ b/src/parser.ts
@@ -671,11 +671,6 @@ async function evaluateSourceManifestState(
     return state
   }
 
-  const overlap = isManifestDateRangeOverlap(manifestEntry, dateRange)
-  if (overlap === false) {
-    return { source, parserVersion, manifestEntry, action: 'skip', reason: 'range-miss' }
-  }
-
   if (!manifestEntry.fingerprint || manifestEntry.fingerprintPath !== fingerprintPath) {
     const state: SourceManifestState = { source, parserVersion, manifestEntry, action: 'refresh', reason: 'fingerprint-miss' }
     logCacheDebug(source.provider, source.path, state.reason!)
@@ -690,6 +685,10 @@ async function evaluateSourceManifestState(
   }
 
   if (fingerprintMatches(currentFingerprint, manifestEntry.fingerprint)) {
+    const overlap = isManifestDateRangeOverlap(manifestEntry, dateRange)
+    if (overlap === false) {
+      return { source, parserVersion, manifestEntry, action: 'skip', reason: 'range-miss' }
+    }
     return { source, parserVersion, manifestEntry, action: 'use-cache', currentFingerprint }
   }
 
@@ -767,7 +766,7 @@ async function refreshClaudeCacheUnit(
 
   if (state.action === 'use-cache') {
     const cached = await readSourceCacheEntry(manifest, 'claude', state.source.path, { allowStaleFingerprint: true })
-    if (cached) {
+    if (cached && cached.sessions.length > 0) {
       addSeenDeduplicationKeysFromSessions(cached.sessions, localSeenMsgIds)
       return { session: cached.sessions[0] ?? null, wrote: false, refreshed: false }
     }
@@ -969,7 +968,7 @@ async function parseProviderSources(
     let fullSessions: SessionSummary[] | null = null
     if (state.action === 'use-cache') {
       const cached = await readSourceCacheEntry(cacheManifest, providerName, state.source.path, { allowStaleFingerprint: true })
-      if (cached) fullSessions = cached.sessions
+      if (cached && cached.sessions.length > 0) fullSessions = cached.sessions
     }
 
     if (!fullSessions) {