diff --git a/internal/mail/bd.go b/internal/mail/bd.go
index eefb8520..89c9f038 100644
--- a/internal/mail/bd.go
+++ b/internal/mail/bd.go
@@ -39,8 +39,14 @@ func (e *bdError) ContainsError(substr string) bool {
 // beadsDir is the BEADS_DIR environment variable value.
 // extraEnv contains additional environment variables to set (e.g., "BD_IDENTITY=...").
 // Returns stdout bytes on success, or a *bdError on failure.
+//
+// Uses --no-daemon for faster read operations (avoids daemon IPC overhead).
+// Uses --allow-stale to prevent failures when db is out of sync with JSONL
+// (e.g., after daemon is killed during shutdown before syncing).
 func runBdCommand(args []string, workDir, beadsDir string, extraEnv ...string) ([]byte, error) {
-	cmd := exec.Command("bd", args...) //nolint:gosec // G204: bd is a trusted internal tool
+	// Prepend daemon bypass flags for performance
+	fullArgs := append([]string{"--no-daemon", "--allow-stale"}, args...)
+	cmd := exec.Command("bd", fullArgs...) //nolint:gosec // G204: bd is a trusted internal tool
 	cmd.Dir = workDir
 
 	env := append(cmd.Environ(), "BEADS_DIR="+beadsDir)