diff --git a/electron/gateway/manager.ts b/electron/gateway/manager.ts
index 58f3cc74a..20ef5c44b 100644
--- a/electron/gateway/manager.ts
+++ b/electron/gateway/manager.ts
@@ -775,8 +775,19 @@ export class GatewayManager extends EventEmitter {
 
         if (this.status.state === 'running') {
           this.setStatus({ state: 'stopped' });
-          this.scheduleReconnect();
         }
+
+        // Always attempt reconnect from process exit.  scheduleReconnect()
+        // internally checks shouldReconnect and reconnect-timer guards, so
+        // calling it unconditionally is safe — intentional stop() calls set
+        // shouldReconnect=false which makes scheduleReconnect() no-op.
+        //
+        // On Windows, the WS close handler intentionally skips reconnect
+        // (to avoid racing with this exit handler).  However, WS close
+        // fires *before* process exit and sets state='stopped', which
+        // previously caused this handler to also skip reconnect — leaving
+        // the gateway permanently dead with no recovery path.
+        this.scheduleReconnect();
       },
       onError: () => {
         this.ownsProcess = false;
diff --git a/electron/gateway/process-launcher.ts b/electron/gateway/process-launcher.ts
index e75254c02..00cb6bd79 100644
--- a/electron/gateway/process-launcher.ts
+++ b/electron/gateway/process-launcher.ts
@@ -162,7 +162,12 @@ export async function launchGatewayProcess(options: {
     });
 
     child.on('exit', (code: number) => {
-      const expectedExit = !options.getShouldReconnect() || options.getCurrentState() === 'stopped';
+      // Only check shouldReconnect — not current state.  On Windows the WS
+      // close handler fires before the process exit handler and sets state to
+      // 'stopped', which would make an unexpected crash look like a planned
+      // shutdown in logs.  shouldReconnect is the reliable indicator: stop()
+      // sets it to false (expected), crashes leave it true (unexpected).
+      const expectedExit = !options.getShouldReconnect();
       const level = expectedExit ? logger.info : logger.warn;
       level(`Gateway process exited (code=${code}, expected=${expectedExit ? 'yes' : 'no'})`);
       options.onExit(child, code);
diff --git a/src/stores/chat.ts b/src/stores/chat.ts
index 0fd0ced83..0550614dc 100644
--- a/src/stores/chat.ts
+++ b/src/stores/chat.ts
@@ -684,9 +684,10 @@ function buildSessionSwitchPatch(
   >,
   nextSessionKey: string,
 ): Partial<ChatState> {
-  // 仅将没有任何历史记录且无活动时间的会话视为空会话。
-  // 单纯依赖 messages.length 是不可靠的，因为 switchSession 会在真正调用 loadHistory 前抢先清空当前 messages，
-  // 造成竞争条件，使得带有真实历史的会话被判定为空并从侧边栏移除。
+  // Only treat sessions with no history records and no activity timestamp as empty.
+  // Relying solely on messages.length is unreliable because switchSession clears
+  // the current messages before loadHistory runs, creating a race condition that
+  // could cause sessions with real history to be incorrectly removed from the sidebar.
   const leavingEmpty = !state.currentSessionKey.endsWith(':main')
     && state.messages.length === 0
     && !state.sessionLastActivity[state.currentSessionKey]
@@ -1229,7 +1230,7 @@ export const useChatStore = create<ChatState>((set, get) => ({
     // sessions.reset archives (renames) the session JSONL file, making old
     // conversation history inaccessible when the user switches back to it.
     const { currentSessionKey, messages, sessions, sessionLastActivity, sessionLabels } = get();
-    // 仅将没有任何历史记录且无活动时间的会话视为空会话
+    // Only treat sessions with no history records and no activity timestamp as empty
     const leavingEmpty = !currentSessionKey.endsWith(':main')
       && messages.length === 0
       && !sessionLastActivity[currentSessionKey]
@@ -1272,8 +1273,8 @@ export const useChatStore = create<ChatState>((set, get) => ({
     // This mirrors the "leavingEmpty" logic in switchSession so that creating
     // a new session and immediately navigating away doesn't leave a ghost entry
     // in the sidebar.
-    // 同样需要综合检查 sessionLastActivity 和 sessionLabels，
-    // 防止因为 switchSession 抢先清空 messages 而误判有历史的会话为空。
+    // Also check sessionLastActivity and sessionLabels comprehensively to prevent
+    // falsely treating sessions with history as empty due to switchSession clearing messages early.
     const isEmptyNonMain = !currentSessionKey.endsWith(':main')
       && messages.length === 0
       && !sessionLastActivity[currentSessionKey]
@@ -1307,8 +1308,8 @@ export const useChatStore = create<ChatState>((set, get) => ({
 
     if (!quiet) set({ loading: true, error: null });
 
-    // 安全保护：如果历史记录加载花费太多时间，则强制将 loading 设置为 false
-    // 防止 UI 永远卡在转圈状态。
+    // Safety guard: if history loading takes too long, force loading to false
+    // to prevent the UI from being stuck in a spinner forever.
     let loadingTimedOut = false;
     const loadingSafetyTimer = quiet ? null : setTimeout(() => {
       loadingTimedOut = true;
@@ -1494,7 +1495,7 @@ export const useChatStore = create<ChatState>((set, get) => ({
     try {
       await loadPromise;
     } finally {
-      // 正常完成时清除安全定时器
+      // Clear the safety timer on normal completion
       if (loadingSafetyTimer) clearTimeout(loadingSafetyTimer);
       if (!loadingTimedOut) {
         // Only update load time if we actually didn't time out
diff --git a/src/stores/chat/session-actions.ts b/src/stores/chat/session-actions.ts
index 601005725..38fc8b1bd 100644
--- a/src/stores/chat/session-actions.ts
+++ b/src/stores/chat/session-actions.ts
@@ -154,9 +154,10 @@ export function createSessionActions(
 
     switchSession: (key: string) => {
       const { currentSessionKey, messages, sessionLastActivity, sessionLabels } = get();
-      // 仅将没有任何历史记录且无活动时间的会话视为空会话。
-      // 单纯依赖 messages.length 是不可靠的，因为 switchSession 会在真正调用 loadHistory 前抢先清空当前 messages，
-      // 造成竞争条件，使得带有真实历史的会话被判定为空并从侧边栏移除。
+      // Only treat sessions with no history records and no activity timestamp as empty.
+      // Relying solely on messages.length is unreliable because switchSession clears
+      // the current messages before loadHistory runs, creating a race condition that
+      // could cause sessions with real history to be incorrectly removed from the sidebar.
       const leavingEmpty = !currentSessionKey.endsWith(':main')
         && messages.length === 0
         && !sessionLastActivity[currentSessionKey]
@@ -253,7 +254,7 @@ export function createSessionActions(
       // sessions.reset archives (renames) the session JSONL file, making old
       // conversation history inaccessible when the user switches back to it.
       const { currentSessionKey, messages, sessionLastActivity, sessionLabels } = get();
-      // 仅将没有任何历史记录且无活动时间的会话视为空会话
+      // Only treat sessions with no history records and no activity timestamp as empty
       const leavingEmpty = !currentSessionKey.endsWith(':main')
         && messages.length === 0
         && !sessionLastActivity[currentSessionKey]
@@ -294,8 +295,8 @@ export function createSessionActions(
       // This mirrors the "leavingEmpty" logic in switchSession so that creating
       // a new session and immediately navigating away doesn't leave a ghost entry
       // in the sidebar.
-      // 同样需要综合检查 sessionLastActivity 和 sessionLabels，
-      // 防止因为 switchSession 抢先清空 messages 而误判有历史的会话为空。
+      // Also check sessionLastActivity and sessionLabels comprehensively to prevent
+      // falsely treating sessions with history as empty due to switchSession clearing messages early.
       const isEmptyNonMain = !currentSessionKey.endsWith(':main')
         && messages.length === 0
         && !sessionLastActivity[currentSessionKey]
diff --git a/tests/unit/gateway-process-policy.test.ts b/tests/unit/gateway-process-policy.test.ts
index 9392f9d20..d445aded3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/gateway-process-policy.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/gateway-process-policy.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import {
   getDeferredRestartAction,
+  getReconnectScheduleDecision,
   getReconnectSkipReason,
   isLifecycleSuperseded,
   nextLifecycleEpoch,
@@ -109,4 +110,65 @@ describe('gateway process policy helpers', () => {
       ).toBe('drop');
     });
   });
+
+  describe('getReconnectScheduleDecision', () => {
+    const baseContext = {
+      shouldReconnect: true,
+      hasReconnectTimer: false,
+      reconnectAttempts: 0,
+      maxAttempts: 10,
+      baseDelay: 1000,
+      maxDelay: 30000,
+    };
+
+    it('skips reconnect when shouldReconnect is false (intentional stop)', () => {
+      const decision = getReconnectScheduleDecision({
+        ...baseContext,
+        shouldReconnect: false,
+      });
+      expect(decision).toEqual({ action: 'skip', reason: 'auto-reconnect disabled' });
+    });
+
+    it('returns already-scheduled when a reconnect timer exists (prevents double-scheduling)', () => {
+      const decision = getReconnectScheduleDecision({
+        ...baseContext,
+        hasReconnectTimer: true,
+      });
+      expect(decision).toEqual({ action: 'already-scheduled' });
+    });
+
+    it('fails when max reconnect attempts are exhausted', () => {
+      const decision = getReconnectScheduleDecision({
+        ...baseContext,
+        reconnectAttempts: 10,
+        maxAttempts: 10,
+      });
+      expect(decision).toEqual({ action: 'fail', attempts: 10, maxAttempts: 10 });
+    });
+
+    it('schedules reconnect with exponential backoff delay', () => {
+      const decision = getReconnectScheduleDecision({
+        ...baseContext,
+        reconnectAttempts: 0,
+      });
+      expect(decision).toEqual({
+        action: 'schedule',
+        nextAttempt: 1,
+        maxAttempts: 10,
+        delay: 1000,
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('caps backoff delay at maxDelay', () => {
+      const decision = getReconnectScheduleDecision({
+        ...baseContext,
+        reconnectAttempts: 8,
+        maxDelay: 30000,
+      });
+      expect(decision).toMatchObject({ action: 'schedule' });
+      if (decision.action === 'schedule') {
+        expect(decision.delay).toBeLessThanOrEqual(30000);
+      }
+    });
+  });
 });