diff --git a/backend/fluksio/api/routes/flows.py b/backend/fluksio/api/routes/flows.py
index a9d5d30..63cc189 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/api/routes/flows.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/api/routes/flows.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import asyncio
 import time
 from typing import Any
 
+import orjson
 from fastapi import (
     APIRouter,
     Depends,
@@ -925,6 +926,22 @@ def event_for_panel(event: dict[str, Any], only: set[str]) -> bool:
     return event.get("type") == "message_value" and str(event.get("name") or "") in only
 
 
+# How many events one frame may carry. A ceiling rather than a target: the
+# batch is whatever the bus happens to hold, and a client that has been away
+# should not be handed the whole queue in one message.
+MAX_FRAME_EVENTS = 64
+
+
+async def _send(websocket: WebSocket, events: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> None:
+    """One event, or a batch of them under `events`.
+
+    Serialised once with orjson rather than per client with the stdlib, which
+    is what `send_json` does.
+    """
+    payload = events[0] if len(events) == 1 else {"type": "batch", "events": events}
+    await websocket.send_text(orjson.dumps(payload).decode())
+
+
 @ws_router.websocket("/ws")
 async def flow_events(websocket: WebSocket, token: str = "") -> None:
     """Stream values, node status and execution events as they happen.
@@ -932,8 +949,15 @@ async def flow_events(websocket: WebSocket, token: str = "") -> None:
     The token goes in the query string because browsers cannot set headers on
     a websocket handshake.
     """
-    with Session(engine) as session:
-        user = user_from_token(session, token)
+
+    # On a thread: authenticating is a database round trip, and the snapshot
+    # below reads the whole of state. Neither belongs on the event loop, which
+    # every other socket and every request is sharing.
+    def _authenticate() -> Any:
+        with Session(engine) as session:
+            return user_from_token(session, token)
+
+    user = await run_in_threadpool(_authenticate)
     if user is None:
         await websocket.close(code=1008)
         return
@@ -944,8 +968,13 @@ async def flow_events(websocket: WebSocket, token: str = "") -> None:
     controller: FlowController | None = getattr(
         websocket.app.state, "flow_controller", None
     )
-    if controller is not None:
-        await websocket.send_json(snapshot_payload(controller, only))
+
+    async def send_snapshot() -> None:
+        if controller is not None:
+            payload = await run_in_threadpool(snapshot_payload, controller, only)
+            await websocket.send_text(orjson.dumps(payload).decode())
+
+    await send_snapshot()
 
     async with event_bus.subscribe() as queue:
         receiver = asyncio.create_task(websocket.receive_text())
@@ -956,23 +985,47 @@ async def flow_events(websocket: WebSocket, token: str = "") -> None:
                     {sender, receiver}, return_when=asyncio.FIRST_COMPLETED
                 )
                 if receiver in done:
-                    # The client went away.
-                    sender.cancel()
-                    break
-                event = sender.result()
-                if only is not None and event.get("type") == "dashboard_changed":
-                    # The scope was resolved once, at the handshake. A panel
-                    # pointed at another dashboard would otherwise fetch the
-                    # new document and then draw tiles nothing ever updates.
-                    # ``or set()`` because a panel that was deleted resolves to
-                    # None, the same as a person's token — and that would widen
-                    # this socket to everything on the bus.
-                    only = panel_scope(token, websocket.app) or set()
-                    if controller is not None:
-                        await websocket.send_json(snapshot_payload(controller, only))
-                if only is not None and not event_for_panel(event, only):
+                    # A frame from the client. Only a disconnect ends the
+                    # stream — a keepalive, or anything else it decides to
+                    # say, used to be read as the client going away and cost
+                    # it every live update from then on.
+                    receiver.exception()
+                    receiver = asyncio.create_task(websocket.receive_text())
+                    if sender not in done:
+                        continue
+                elif sender not in done:
                     continue
-                await websocket.send_json(event)
+
+                # Everything the bus has right now, not just the one event
+                # that woke this: a cascade puts a dozen in at once, and one
+                # frame carrying them costs one wakeup rather than a dozen.
+                batch = [sender.result()]
+                while len(batch) < MAX_FRAME_EVENTS:
+                    try:
+                        batch.append(queue.get_nowait())
+                    except asyncio.QueueEmpty:
+                        break
+
+                out: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
+                for event in batch:
+                    if only is not None and event.get("type") == "dashboard_changed":
+                        # The scope was resolved once, at the handshake. A
+                        # panel pointed at another dashboard would otherwise
+                        # fetch the new document and then draw tiles nothing
+                        # ever updates. ``or set()`` because a panel that was
+                        # deleted resolves to None, the same as a person's
+                        # token — and that would widen this socket to
+                        # everything on the bus.
+                        only = panel_scope(token, websocket.app) or set()
+                        if out:
+                            await _send(websocket, out)
+                            out = []
+                        await send_snapshot()
+                    if only is not None and not event_for_panel(event, only):
+                        continue
+                    out.append(event)
+                if out:
+                    await _send(websocket, out)
         except WebSocketDisconnect:
             pass
         finally:
diff --git a/backend/fluksio/flow/events.py b/backend/fluksio/flow/events.py
index 80c2755..4acc744 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/flow/events.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/flow/events.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import asyncio
 import logging
+import threading
 from collections import deque
 from collections.abc import AsyncIterator
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
@@ -26,6 +27,13 @@ class EventBus:
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         self._loop: asyncio.AbstractEventLoop | None = None
         self._subscribers: set[asyncio.Queue[dict[str, Any]]] = set()
+        # Events published since the last flush was scheduled. A cascade
+        # publishes 13-16 of them and each used to cost its own
+        # `call_soon_threadsafe`; they now cost one between two turns of the
+        # loop, which is what a wave is.
+        self._pending: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
+        self._pending_lock = threading.Lock()
+        self._flush_scheduled = False
         # Kept whether or not anyone is listening, so opening the log panel
         # shows what just happened rather than an empty box.
         self.recent_logs: deque[dict[str, Any]] = deque(maxlen=LOG_HISTORY)
@@ -54,21 +62,38 @@ class EventBus:
         loop = self._loop
         if loop is None or not self._subscribers:
             return
+        with self._pending_lock:
+            self._pending.append(event)
+            if self._flush_scheduled:
+                # A flush is already on its way and has not run yet, so it
+                # will find this event too.
+                return
+            self._flush_scheduled = True
         try:
-            loop.call_soon_threadsafe(self._dispatch, event)
+            loop.call_soon_threadsafe(self._dispatch)
         except RuntimeError:
             # Loop already closed — shutting down.
-            pass
+            with self._pending_lock:
+                self._pending.clear()
+                self._flush_scheduled = False
 
-    def _dispatch(self, event: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+    def _dispatch(self) -> None:
+        """Hand everything published since the last turn to every subscriber."""
+        with self._pending_lock:
+            batch = self._pending
+            self._pending = []
+            self._flush_scheduled = False
+        if not batch:
+            return
         for queue in self._subscribers:
-            if queue.full():
-                # Drop the oldest so a slow client never blocks the engine.
-                try:
-                    queue.get_nowait()
-                except asyncio.QueueEmpty:
-                    pass
-            queue.put_nowait(event)
+            for event in batch:
+                if queue.full():
+                    # Drop the oldest so a slow client never blocks the engine.
+                    try:
+                        queue.get_nowait()
+                    except asyncio.QueueEmpty:
+                        pass
+                queue.put_nowait(event)
 
     @asynccontextmanager
     async def subscribe(self) -> AsyncIterator[asyncio.Queue[dict[str, Any]]]:
diff --git a/backend/fluksio/flow/nodes/delay.py b/backend/fluksio/flow/nodes/delay.py
index 42871ec..a9d448e 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/flow/nodes/delay.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/flow/nodes/delay.py
@@ -162,9 +162,7 @@ class DelayNode(Node):
             if self._pipeline is not None and self._pipeline.defer(
                 self, self._to_messages(output) or {}, self.delay
             ):
-                logger.debug(
-                    "[%s] Sending %s in %ss", self.name, output, self.delay
-                )
+                logger.debug("[%s] Sending %s in %ss", self.name, output, self.delay)
                 return None
             time.sleep(self.delay)
 
diff --git a/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py b/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py
index b356816..2de189d 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py
@@ -1725,9 +1725,7 @@ class Pipeline:
         per timestamp, one at a time under the global state lock.
         """
         keys = [
-            k
-            for k in self._state.keys()
-            if not k.startswith("__") and (not flow or flow_of(k) == flow)
+            k for k in self._state.message_names() if not flow or flow_of(k) == flow
         ]
         if not keys:
             return {}
diff --git a/backend/fluksio/flow/state.py b/backend/fluksio/flow/state.py
index 9875536..67106fe 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/flow/state.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/flow/state.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from collections import deque
-from collections.abc import Iterator
+from collections.abc import Iterable, Iterator
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from threading import RLock
 from typing import Any, cast
@@ -98,6 +98,15 @@ class StateBackend(ABC):
         """Clear all keys in the state."""
         ...
 
+    def message_names(self) -> list[str]:
+        """The message names in state, without the bookkeeping keys.
+
+        Its own method because the Redis backend can answer it from a set it
+        maintains, rather than by scanning a namespace that holds five
+        bookkeeping keys for every message.
+        """
+        return [k for k in self.keys() if not k.startswith("__")]
+
     def close(self) -> None:  # noqa: B027
         """Release whatever the backend holds outside this process.
 
@@ -510,18 +519,44 @@ class RedisState(StateBackend):
         data = cast(bytes | None, self._client.get(self._key(key)))
         return self._deserialize(data) if data is not None else default
 
+    def _names_key(self) -> str:
+        return self._key("__names__")
+
+    def message_names(self) -> list[str]:
+        """The message names, from the set kept beside them.
+
+        `keys()` is a SCAN of the whole namespace, which holds a version, a
+        timestamp, a history list and a last-seen marker for every message —
+        so reading the message names cost several times as many round trips
+        as there are messages. Every websocket connect asks for this.
+        """
+        members = cast(set[bytes], self._client.smembers(self._names_key()))
+        return [m.decode("utf-8") for m in members]
+
+    def _note(self, pipe: Any, keys: Iterable[str]) -> None:
+        """Record the message names among `keys`, in the caller's pipeline."""
+        names = [k for k in keys if not k.startswith("__")]
+        if names:
+            pipe.sadd(self._names_key(), *names)
+
     def set(self, key: str, value: Any) -> None:
         data = self._serialize(value)
+        pipe = self._client.pipeline()
         if self._ttl:
-            self._client.setex(self._key(key), self._ttl, data)
+            pipe.setex(self._key(key), self._ttl, data)
         else:
-            self._client.set(self._key(key), data)
+            pipe.set(self._key(key), data)
+        self._note(pipe, [key])
+        pipe.execute()
 
     def exists(self, key: str) -> bool:
         return bool(self._client.exists(self._key(key)))
 
     def delete(self, key: str) -> None:
-        self._client.delete(self._key(key), self._history_key(key))
+        pipe = self._client.pipeline()
+        pipe.delete(self._key(key), self._history_key(key))
+        pipe.srem(self._names_key(), key)
+        pipe.execute()
 
     def clear(self) -> None:
         """Clear all keys in the namespace."""
@@ -568,6 +603,7 @@ class RedisState(StateBackend):
                 pipe.setex(self._key(key), self._ttl, data)
             else:
                 pipe.set(self._key(key), data)
+        self._note(pipe, mapping)
         pipe.execute()
 
     @contextmanager
@@ -780,6 +816,7 @@ class RedisState(StateBackend):
                 pipe.expire(history_key, self._ttl)
         for key in counters:
             pipe.incr(self._key(key))
+        self._note(pipe, values)
         pipe.execute()
 
     def history(self, key: str) -> list[tuple[float, float]]:
diff --git a/backend/tests/flow/test_event_bus.py b/backend/tests/flow/test_event_bus.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7db2d17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/flow/test_event_bus.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+"""What the bus costs the event loop, and that it still delivers everything."""
+
+import asyncio
+import threading
+
+from fluksio.flow.events import QUEUE_SIZE, EventBus
+
+
+def _event(i: int) -> dict[str, object]:
+    return {"type": "node_executed", "node": f"n{i}", "outputs": 1}
+
+
+def test_a_cascade_costs_one_loop_callback() -> None:
+    """The whole point of coalescing.
+
+    A three-node cascade publishes 13-16 events and each used to cross to the
+    event loop on its own. They are one callback now — and still every event.
+    """
+
+    async def run() -> tuple[int, int]:
+        bus = EventBus()
+        loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
+        bus.bind(loop)
+        calls = 0
+        real = loop.call_soon_threadsafe
+
+        def counting(*args: object, **kwargs: object) -> object:
+            nonlocal calls
+            calls += 1
+            return real(*args, **kwargs)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+
+        loop.call_soon_threadsafe = counting  # type: ignore[method-assign]
+        try:
+            async with bus.subscribe() as queue:
+                # From a worker thread, which is where nodes run.
+                thread = threading.Thread(
+                    target=lambda: [bus.publish(_event(i)) for i in range(16)]
+                )
+                thread.start()
+                thread.join()
+                await asyncio.sleep(0.05)
+                return calls, queue.qsize()
+        finally:
+            loop.call_soon_threadsafe = real  # type: ignore[method-assign]
+
+    calls, delivered = asyncio.run(run())
+    assert calls == 1
+    assert delivered == 16
+
+
+def test_a_slow_subscriber_still_loses_its_oldest() -> None:
+    """Coalescing must not turn the drop-oldest bound into unbounded growth."""
+
+    async def run() -> tuple[int, object]:
+        bus = EventBus()
+        bus.bind(asyncio.get_running_loop())
+        async with bus.subscribe() as queue:
+            thread = threading.Thread(
+                target=lambda: [bus.publish(_event(i)) for i in range(QUEUE_SIZE + 50)]
+            )
+            thread.start()
+            thread.join()
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.05)
+            return queue.qsize(), (await queue.get())["node"]
+
+    size, oldest = asyncio.run(run())
+    assert size == QUEUE_SIZE
+    # The first fifty were dropped, not the last.
+    assert oldest == "n50"
+
+
+def test_nothing_is_buffered_with_nobody_listening() -> None:
+    """An engine with no browser open holds no events."""
+
+    async def run() -> int:
+        bus = EventBus()
+        bus.bind(asyncio.get_running_loop())
+        for i in range(10):
+            bus.publish(_event(i))
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.01)
+        return len(bus._pending)
+
+    assert asyncio.run(run()) == 0
diff --git a/backend/tests/flow/test_queue.py b/backend/tests/flow/test_queue.py
index a3a8bc2..71cb25e 100644
--- a/backend/tests/flow/test_queue.py
+++ b/backend/tests/flow/test_queue.py
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ import threading
 import time
 
 from fluksio.flow import executor
+from fluksio.flow import queue as queue_module
 from fluksio.flow.executor import ExecutionService
 from fluksio.flow.messages import DType, MessageSpec
 from fluksio.flow.nodes import Node
 from fluksio.flow.pipeline import Pipeline
-from fluksio.flow import queue as queue_module
 from fluksio.flow.queue import MemoryWorkQueue, WorkItem
 from fluksio.flow.state import MemoryState
 
diff --git a/backend/tests/flow/test_round_trips.py b/backend/tests/flow/test_round_trips.py
index b36ba8a..e299ce5 100644
--- a/backend/tests/flow/test_round_trips.py
+++ b/backend/tests/flow/test_round_trips.py
@@ -68,9 +68,7 @@ def build() -> tuple[Pipeline, Node, CountingState]:
         requires=[spec("a")],
         provides=[spec("b")],
     )
-    sink = make_node(
-        "sink", "chain", lambda b, params: None, requires=[spec("b")]
-    )
+    sink = make_node("sink", "chain", lambda b, params: None, requires=[spec("b")])
     state = CountingState()
     pipeline = Pipeline([source, relay, sink], state=state)
     return pipeline, source, state
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Flow/liveStore.ts b/frontend/src/components/Flow/liveStore.ts
index 52057ae..ce72b10 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Flow/liveStore.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Flow/liveStore.ts
@@ -29,11 +29,6 @@ export type LiveStatus = {
   /** Why it is queued — what it is waiting for, and on which machine. */
   detail?: string | null
 }
-/** How a node's connection is doing, which is not how its last run went. */
-export type NodeHealth = {
-  health: "ok" | "down" | "unknown"
-  detail?: string | null
-}
 /**
  * A node's last failure, kept after it has run again.
  *
@@ -72,7 +67,6 @@ const ENGINE_EVENT_LIMIT = 100
 const values = new Map<string, LiveValue>()
 const statuses = new Map<string, LiveStatus>()
 const failures = new Map<string, NodeFailure>()
-const health = new Map<string, NodeHealth>()
 let engineEvents: EngineEvent[] = []
 // How many times this page has seen a node emit. The number itself means
 // nothing; a change is what restarts the pulse.
@@ -194,13 +188,6 @@ export const liveStore = {
       path: { name: flow, node_id: node },
     }).catch(() => {})
   },
-  setHealth(nodeId: string, entry: NodeHealth) {
-    health.set(nodeId, entry)
-    notify(`health:${nodeId}`)
-  },
-  getHealth(nodeId: string) {
-    return health.get(nodeId)
-  },
   recordEngineEvent(event: EngineEvent) {
     // A new array each time, so the hook's snapshot comparison sees the change.
     engineEvents = [...engineEvents, event].slice(-ENGINE_EVENT_LIMIT)
@@ -271,8 +258,6 @@ export const liveStore = {
       notify(`emit:${key}`)
     emits.clear()
     priorEmits.clear()
-    for (const key of health.keys()) notify(`health:${key}`)
-    health.clear()
     engineEvents = []
     notify("engine")
     logLines = []
@@ -304,14 +289,6 @@ export function useNodeFailure(nodeId: string): NodeFailure | undefined {
   )
 }
 
-/** How the node's connection is doing, once it has said anything about it. */
-export function useNodeHealth(nodeId: string): NodeHealth | undefined {
-  return useSyncExternalStore(
-    (listener) => subscribeKey(`health:${nodeId}`, listener),
-    () => health.get(nodeId),
-  )
-}
-
 /** The last hundred things the engine said about itself, oldest first. */
 export function useEngineEvents(): EngineEvent[] {
   return useSyncExternalStore(
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Flow/useFlowSocket.ts b/frontend/src/components/Flow/useFlowSocket.ts
index 41677ea..147eb90 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Flow/useFlowSocket.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Flow/useFlowSocket.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { useEffect } from "react"
 
 import { OpenAPI } from "@/client"
 import { dashboardKeys, panelKeys } from "@/components/Dashboard/queries"
+import { healthKeys } from "@/components/Health/queries"
 import { runKeys } from "@/components/Runs/queries"
 import { connectionStore } from "@/lib/connectionStore"
 import { apiToken } from "@/lib/portal"
@@ -146,10 +147,16 @@ const authHandlers = new Set<() => void>()
 
 function schedule() {
   if (timer) return
-  timer = setTimeout(() => {
-    timer = null
-    connect()
-  }, retry)
+  // Jittered, because every client of an engine that restarted is counting
+  // the same backoff from the same moment: without it they all come back
+  // together, and keep coming back together.
+  timer = setTimeout(
+    () => {
+      timer = null
+      connect()
+    },
+    retry * (0.5 + Math.random()),
+  )
   retry = Math.min(retry * 2, RECONNECT_MAX)
 }
 
@@ -164,12 +171,23 @@ function connect() {
     liveStore.setConnected(true)
     connectionStore.setSocketOpen(true)
     // Whatever happened while the socket was down was missed, so nothing
-    // held in cache can be trusted to still be current.
-    client?.invalidateQueries()
+    // held in cache can be trusted to still be current. Scoped to what this
+    // socket actually feeds: an unqualified invalidation refetches every
+    // query the page holds, and the usual reason the socket dropped is the
+    // engine restarting — so every open tab and every wall panel did that at
+    // once, at the moment it was least able to answer.
+    for (const queryKey of [
+      flowKeys.all,
+      dashboardKeys.all,
+      panelKeys.all,
+      runKeys.all,
+      healthKeys.all,
+    ]) {
+      client?.invalidateQueries({ queryKey })
+    }
   }
 
-  ws.onmessage = (event) => {
-    const message: FlowEvent = JSON.parse(event.data)
+  const handle = (message: FlowEvent) => {
     switch (message.type) {
       case "snapshot":
         liveStore.setValues(message.values)
@@ -216,9 +234,12 @@ function connect() {
         })
         break
       case "node_health":
-        liveStore.setHealth(message.node, {
-          health: message.health,
-          detail: message.detail,
+        // The canvas draws node health from the flow detail's `issues`, which
+        // the server derives — so the screen only moved on mount, navigation
+        // or a rebuild, never when health actually flipped. The store had a
+        // health map of its own and nothing ever read it.
+        client?.invalidateQueries({
+          queryKey: message.flow ? flowKeys.detail(message.flow) : flowKeys.all,
         })
         if (message.health === "down") {
           liveStore.recordEngineEvent({
@@ -292,6 +313,25 @@ function connect() {
     }
   }
 
+  ws.onmessage = (event) => {
+    // A frame that is not JSON, or one this bundle cannot read, costs the
+    // frame rather than the connection: an exception thrown here escapes into
+    // `window.onerror` and leaves whatever it had already applied behind.
+    try {
+      const payload = JSON.parse(event.data)
+      if (payload?.type === "batch") {
+        // A cascade publishes a dozen events at once and the engine coalesces
+        // them into one frame. An installation older than this bundle sends
+        // them one at a time, which is the branch below.
+        for (const message of payload.events ?? []) handle(message)
+      } else {
+        handle(payload)
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.warn("Dropped an unreadable socket frame", error)
+    }
+  }
+
   ws.onclose = (event) => {
     // A socket we already dropped: its close says nothing about the connection
     // we want now.