diff --git a/bin/phui.js b/bin/phui.js
index 2f28476..41b6ea2 100755
--- a/bin/phui.js
+++ b/bin/phui.js
@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@ Commands:
   -h, --help                         Show this help message
 `
 
-const run = (target, args = process.argv.slice(2)) => {
-	const result = childProcess.spawnSync(target, args, { stdio: "inherit" })
+const run = (target, args = process.argv.slice(2), options = {}) => {
+	const result = childProcess.spawnSync(target, args, { stdio: "inherit", ...options })
 	if (result.error) {
 		console.error(result.error.message)
 		process.exit(1)
@@ -59,14 +59,25 @@ const run = (target, args = process.argv.slice(2)) => {
 
 const scriptPath = fs.realpathSync(__filename)
 const scriptDir = path.dirname(scriptPath)
+const packageRoot = path.join(scriptDir, "..")
+const SOLID_PRELOAD = "@opentui/solid/preload"
 
 const resolveScriptEntry = () => {
 	if (process.env.PHUI_BIN_PATH) return null
-	const sourceEntry = path.join(scriptDir, "..", "src", "standalone.ts")
+	const sourceEntry = path.join(packageRoot, "src", "standalone.ts")
 	if (fs.existsSync(sourceEntry)) return sourceEntry
 	return null
 }
 
+const runFromSource = (args = process.argv.slice(2)) => {
+	const sourceEntry = resolveScriptEntry()
+	if (!sourceEntry) return false
+	// Same preload `bun run start` uses. Without it, bun does not run the
+	// Solid JSX transform and the TUI paints the splash then never updates.
+	run("bun", ["--preload", SOLID_PRELOAD, sourceEntry, ...args], { cwd: packageRoot })
+	return true
+}
+
 const resolveBinary = () => {
 	const platform = platformMap[os.platform()]
 	const arch = archMap[os.arch()]
@@ -95,20 +106,15 @@ if (process.argv[2] === "-v" || process.argv[2] === "--version" || process.argv[
 }
 
 if (process.argv[2] === "upgrade") {
-	const sourceEntry = resolveScriptEntry()
-	const binaryPath = resolveBinary()
-
-	if (sourceEntry) {
-		run("bun", [sourceEntry, "upgrade"])
-	}
-
-	if (binaryPath && fs.existsSync(binaryPath)) {
-		run(binaryPath, ["upgrade"])
+	if (!runFromSource(["upgrade"])) {
+		const binaryPath = resolveBinary()
+		if (binaryPath && fs.existsSync(binaryPath)) {
+			run(binaryPath, ["upgrade"])
+		}
+		console.error("Could not find a phui binary to upgrade.")
+		console.error(`  npm install -g ${packageJson.name}@latest`)
+		process.exit(1)
 	}
-
-	console.error("Could not find a phui binary to upgrade.")
-	console.error(`  npm install -g ${packageJson.name}@latest`)
-	process.exit(1)
 }
 
 const isMusl = () => {
@@ -141,15 +147,12 @@ if (platform === "linux" && isMusl()) {
 const binaryPath = resolveBinary()
 
 if (!binaryPath || !fs.existsSync(binaryPath)) {
-	const sourceEntry = resolveScriptEntry()
-	if (sourceEntry) {
-		run("bun", [sourceEntry, ...process.argv.slice(2)])
+	if (!runFromSource()) {
+		const fallbackName = `${packageJson.name}-${platform}-${arch}`
+		console.error(`Could not find the ${fallbackName} binary package for this platform.`)
+		console.error(`Try reinstalling ${packageJson.name}, or install ${fallbackName} manually.`)
+		process.exit(1)
 	}
-
-	const fallbackName = `${packageJson.name}-${platform}-${arch}`
-	console.error(`Could not find the ${fallbackName} binary package for this platform.`)
-	console.error(`Try reinstalling ${packageJson.name}, or install ${fallbackName} manually.`)
-	process.exit(1)
 }
 
 run(binaryPath)
diff --git a/src/projects/atoms.ts b/src/projects/atoms.ts
index 0c81343..fcbda81 100644
--- a/src/projects/atoms.ts
+++ b/src/projects/atoms.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import * as Atom from "effect/unstable/reactivity/Atom"
 import { CacheService } from "../services/CacheService.js"
 import { GitHubService } from "../services/GitHubService.js"
 import { githubRuntime } from "../services/runtime.js"
+import { workspaceSurfaceAtom } from "../workspace/atoms.js"
 import { runCheckIds, runChecks } from "./checks/index.js"
 import { checkContext, hasConfiguredRoots, loadProjectsConfig, type ProjectsConfig } from "./config.js"
 import { fetchProjectGitHubSnapshots } from "./github.js"
@@ -52,6 +53,13 @@ export const projectsReportAtom = githubRuntime
 			get(projectsRescanAtom)
 			const scannedAt = new Date()
 			const config = yield* loadProjectsConfig
+			// Compiling without the Solid transform (and some Switch/Match
+			// builds) still constructs inactive surfaces. A Projects scan
+			// fans out `gh` per local repo and freezes boot. Do not fetch
+			// until this tab is actually selected.
+			if (get(workspaceSurfaceAtom) !== "projects") {
+				return { config, report: emptyProjectsReport(scannedAt, config.warnings) } satisfies ProjectsSurfaceState
+			}
 			if (!hasConfiguredRoots(config)) return { config, report: emptyProjectsReport(scannedAt, config.warnings) } satisfies ProjectsSurfaceState
 
 			const scan = yield* scanProjects(config, { scannedAt })
diff --git a/test/cliVersion.test.ts b/test/cliVersion.test.ts
index 7231610..863d953 100644
--- a/test/cliVersion.test.ts
+++ b/test/cliVersion.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,25 @@ import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test"
 import packageJson from "../package.json" with { type: "json" }
 
 describe("CLI version", () => {
+	test("the source fallback launcher uses the Solid JSX preload", async () => {
+		const text = await Bun.file(new URL("../bin/phui.js", import.meta.url)).text()
+		expect(text).toContain("--preload")
+		expect(text).toContain("@opentui/solid/preload")
+		expect(text).toContain("cwd: packageRoot")
+	})
+
+	test("bin/phui.js --version prints the package version", async () => {
+		const proc = Bun.spawn(["node", "bin/phui.js", "--version"], {
+			stdout: "pipe",
+			stderr: "pipe",
+			cwd: import.meta.dir + "/..",
+		})
+		const [stdout, stderr, exitCode] = await Promise.all([new Response(proc.stdout).text(), new Response(proc.stderr).text(), proc.exited])
+		expect(stderr).toBe("")
+		expect(exitCode).toBe(0)
+		expect(stdout.trim()).toBe(packageJson.version)
+	})
+
 	test("bun run src/index.tsx --version prints the package version", async () => {
 		const proc = Bun.spawn(["bun", "--preload", "@opentui/solid/preload", "src/index.tsx", "--version"], {
 			stdout: "pipe",