diff --git a/internal/sessioncmd/session.go b/internal/sessioncmd/session.go
index 3291d481..5e68b904 100644
--- a/internal/sessioncmd/session.go
+++ b/internal/sessioncmd/session.go
@@ -214,6 +214,11 @@ func (r *runtime) sessionInfo(sess store.Session, running, self bool) Session {
 			dir = current
 		}
 	}
+	return r.sessionInfoIn(sess, dir, running, self)
+}
+
+// sessionInfoIn is sessionInfo with the directory already read.
+func (r *runtime) sessionInfoIn(sess store.Session, dir string, running, self bool) Session {
 	return Session{
 		ID:        sess.ID,
 		Name:      sess.Name,
@@ -390,7 +395,7 @@ func (r *runtime) list(callerID string, opts ListOptions) (SessionList, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return SessionList{}, err
 	}
-	panes, err := r.driver.Panes()
+	scan, err := r.driver.ScanPanesWithPaths()
 	if err != nil {
 		return SessionList{}, err
 	}
@@ -419,8 +424,15 @@ func (r *runtime) list(callerID string, opts ListOptions) (SessionList, error) {
 			more = true
 			continue
 		}
-		_, running := panes[sess.ID]
-		sessions = append(sessions, r.sessionInfo(sess, running, callerID != "" && sess.ID == callerID))
+		self := callerID != "" && sess.ID == callerID
+		_, running := scan.PIDs[sess.ID]
+		// The listing that proved the pane alive also read where it sits,
+		// so a page of rows costs one tmux call, not one per running row.
+		if path, ok := scan.Paths[sess.ID]; ok && running {
+			sessions = append(sessions, r.sessionInfoIn(sess, path, true, self))
+		} else {
+			sessions = append(sessions, r.sessionInfo(sess, running, self))
+		}
 		last = keys[i]
 	}
 	granted, err := r.store.ActiveGrants()
diff --git a/internal/sessioncmd/tmuxcalls_test.go b/internal/sessioncmd/tmuxcalls_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..739ff6fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/sessioncmd/tmuxcalls_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+package sessioncmd
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/usestring/gate-inbox/internal/git"
+	"github.com/usestring/gate-inbox/internal/tmux"
+)
+
+// countingSessions is h.sessions with every tmux call it makes logged, so a
+// test can count the processes a board read forks rather than assert about
+// its shape. The shim execs whichever tmux was first on PATH, so the test
+// server keeps the isolation tmuxtest put in front of it.
+func countingSessions(t *testing.T, h *sessionHarness) (*Sessions, func() []string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	real, err := exec.LookPath("tmux")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skip("tmux not installed")
+	}
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	log := filepath.Join(dir, "calls.log")
+	script := "#!/bin/sh\n{ printf '%s\\n' \"$*\"; } >> " + log + "\nexec " + real + " \"$@\"\n"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "tmux"), []byte(script), 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("shim: %v", err)
+	}
+	t.Setenv("PATH", dir+string(os.PathListSeparator)+os.Getenv("PATH"))
+	driver, err := tmux.NewWithSocket(h.driver.SocketName())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("tmux driver: %v", err)
+	}
+	sessions := newSessions(h.sessions.configDir, MCPVocabulary(), func(string) (*tmux.Driver, error) { return driver, nil }, git.New)
+	return sessions, func() []string {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(log)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+		var calls []string
+		for _, line := range strings.Split(strings.TrimRight(string(raw), "\n"), "\n") {
+			if line != "" {
+				calls = append(calls, line)
+			}
+		}
+		return calls
+	}
+}
+
+// A board-wide listing is what an extension runs on every poll pass, so its
+// cost per running row is the cost of the whole board every two seconds. The
+// pane directory each row reports comes off the one listing that proves the
+// pane alive: one tmux call for the page, however many rows are running.
+func TestBoardListReadsEveryDirectoryInOneTmuxCall(t *testing.T) {
+	h := newSessionHarness(t)
+	const children = 6
+	moved := t.TempDir()
+	want := map[string]string{h.caller.ID: h.caller.Cwd}
+	for i := range children {
+		id := fmt.Sprintf("dirs%03d", i)
+		command := "cat %s; sleep 60"
+		if i == 0 {
+			// A pane that moved since launch reports where it is now,
+			// not the directory its row was filed with.
+			command = "cd " + moved + " && cat %s; sleep 60"
+		}
+		child := childRunning(t, h, h.caller.ID, id, id, "ready\n", command)
+		want[child.ID] = child.Cwd
+		if i == 0 {
+			want[child.ID] = moved
+		}
+	}
+	sessions, calls := countingSessions(t, h)
+	list, err := sessions.BoardList(ListOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("BoardList: %v", err)
+	}
+	got := calls()
+	if len(list.Sessions) != children+1 {
+		t.Fatalf("listed %d sessions, want %d", len(list.Sessions), children+1)
+	}
+	for _, sess := range list.Sessions {
+		if !sess.Running {
+			t.Errorf("%s listed as not running", sess.ID)
+		}
+		if resolved(t, sess.Directory) != resolved(t, want[sess.ID]) {
+			t.Errorf("%s directory = %q, want %q", sess.ID, sess.Directory, want[sess.ID])
+		}
+	}
+	if len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("BoardList over %d running sessions forked tmux %d times, want 1:\n%s", children+1, len(got), strings.Join(got, "\n"))
+	}
+}
+
+func resolved(t *testing.T, path string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	real, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return path
+	}
+	return real
+}
diff --git a/internal/tmux/panescan_test.go b/internal/tmux/panescan_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a7c9ab5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/tmux/panescan_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+package tmux
+
+import "testing"
+
+// A directory name is its occupant's to choose, line breaks included. What
+// follows one must not read as a pane line: here it claims a session that
+// has no pane, and a pid for one that does.
+func TestPaneScanIgnoresALineBreakInADirectory(t *testing.T) {
+	const mark = "0123abcd "
+	out := mark + "gi_aaaa 100 /work/one\n" +
+		mark + "gi_bbbb 200 /evil\ngi_ghost 300 /x\ngi_aaaa 400 /y\n" +
+		mark + "gi_cccc 500 /work/ends in a space \n" +
+		mark + "someone-else 600 /home\n"
+	scan := parsePaneScan(out, mark)
+	want := map[string]int{"aaaa": 100, "bbbb": 200, "cccc": 500}
+	if len(scan.PIDs) != len(want) {
+		t.Fatalf("PIDs = %v, want %v", scan.PIDs, want)
+	}
+	for id, pid := range want {
+		if scan.PIDs[id] != pid {
+			t.Errorf("PIDs[%s] = %d, want %d", id, scan.PIDs[id], pid)
+		}
+	}
+	if path, ok := scan.Paths["bbbb"]; ok {
+		t.Errorf("Paths[bbbb] = %q; a directory cut at its line break is no answer", path)
+	}
+	if got := scan.Paths["aaaa"]; got != "/work/one" {
+		t.Errorf("Paths[aaaa] = %q, want /work/one", got)
+	}
+	if got := scan.Paths["cccc"]; got != "/work/ends in a space " {
+		t.Errorf("Paths[cccc] = %q, want the trailing space kept", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// The board's poll pass scans every two seconds and shows no directory, so
+// its scan must not ask tmux for one; the listing that reports sessions does.
+func TestOnlyThePathScanReadsDirectories(t *testing.T) {
+	driver := requireTmux(t)
+	id := uniqueID("paths")
+	if err := driver.Create(id, "/tmp", "cat", nil, 80, 24); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { driver.Kill(id) })
+	scan, err := driver.ScanPanes()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ScanPanes: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, ok := scan.PIDs[id]; !ok || scan.Paths != nil {
+		t.Errorf("ScanPanes = pids %v, paths %v; want the pane live and no directories read", scan.PIDs, scan.Paths)
+	}
+	scan, err = driver.ScanPanesWithPaths()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ScanPanesWithPaths: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, ok := scan.PIDs[id]; !ok || scan.Paths[id] != "/tmp" {
+		t.Errorf("ScanPanesWithPaths = pids %v, paths %v; want the pane live in /tmp", scan.PIDs, scan.Paths)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/tmux/tmux.go b/internal/tmux/tmux.go
index d24c9d6a..835e9bce 100644
--- a/internal/tmux/tmux.go
+++ b/internal/tmux/tmux.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ package tmux
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"hash/fnv"
@@ -1897,6 +1899,13 @@ func noServer(out string) bool {
 // live on a server this pass could not read; Gone holds only the first kind.
 type PaneScan struct {
 	PIDs map[string]int
+	// Paths is where each managed session's pane sits now, as
+	// PaneCurrentPath reads it, from the same listing as PIDs. A caller
+	// describing every session reads it here rather than asking tmux once
+	// per session. Adopted sessions are not in it, and only
+	// ScanPanesWithPaths fills it: the board's poll pass scans every two
+	// seconds and never reads a directory, so it does not pay for them.
+	Paths map[string]string
 	// Gone is the adopted sessions whose pane is proven no longer there:
 	// their server produced a pane listing, and the pane was not on it. A
 	// server that could not be listed at all fails the whole scan rather
@@ -1939,11 +1948,24 @@ const ScanTimeout = 4 * time.Second
 func (d *Driver) ScanPanes() (PaneScan, error) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), ScanTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
-	return d.scanPanes(ctx)
+	return d.scanPanes(ctx, false)
 }
 
-func (d *Driver) scanPanes(ctx context.Context) (PaneScan, error) {
-	out, err := d.combinedWithin(ctx, d.args("list-panes", "-a", "-F", "#{session_name} #{pane_pid}"))
+// ScanPanesWithPaths is ScanPanes with each managed pane's directory read
+// in the same listing, for a caller about to report every session's.
+func (d *Driver) ScanPanesWithPaths() (PaneScan, error) {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), ScanTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	return d.scanPanes(ctx, true)
+}
+
+func (d *Driver) scanPanes(ctx context.Context, withPaths bool) (PaneScan, error) {
+	format, mark := "#{session_name} #{pane_pid}", ""
+	if withPaths {
+		mark = scanMark()
+		format = mark + format + " #{pane_current_path}"
+	}
+	out, err := d.combinedWithin(ctx, d.args("list-panes", "-a", "-F", format))
 	// A deadline that fired is not an answer about this server, so it is
 	// checked ahead of the no-server reading below: that one treats silence
 	// as "no sessions here", which is the reading a timeout must never get.
@@ -1959,8 +1981,22 @@ func (d *Driver) scanPanes(ctx context.Context) (PaneScan, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		out = nil
 	}
+	var scan PaneScan
+	if withPaths {
+		scan = parsePaneScan(string(out), mark)
+	} else {
+		scan = parsePaneLiveness(string(out))
+	}
+	if err := d.adoptedPanes(ctx, scan); err != nil {
+		return PaneScan{}, err
+	}
+	return scan, nil
+}
+
+// parsePaneLiveness reads a listing of session names and pane pids.
+func parsePaneLiveness(out string) PaneScan {
 	scan := PaneScan{PIDs: map[string]int{}, Gone: map[string]bool{}}
-	for _, line := range strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(string(out)), "\n") {
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(out), "\n") {
 		name, pidText, ok := strings.Cut(line, " ")
 		if !ok || !managedName(name) {
 			continue
@@ -1973,10 +2009,56 @@ func (d *Driver) scanPanes(ctx context.Context) (PaneScan, error) {
 			scan.PIDs[id] = pid
 		}
 	}
-	if err := d.adoptedPanes(ctx, scan); err != nil {
-		return PaneScan{}, err
+	return scan
+}
+
+// scanMark is a fresh prefix for every line of one pane listing. A pane's
+// directory is whatever its occupant named it, line breaks included, and
+// the text after one would otherwise read as a pane line of tmux's own:
+// any session's liveness and pid, written by whoever controls a directory
+// name. The occupant cannot know the mark before the listing runs.
+func scanMark() string {
+	var b [8]byte
+	_, _ = rand.Read(b[:])
+	return hex.EncodeToString(b[:]) + " "
+}
+
+// parsePaneScan reads a managed listing whose every line tmux began with
+// mark. A line without it is the rest of the directory above, so that
+// directory is dropped, cut short as it is; PaneCurrentPath still answers
+// for the session the way it always has.
+func parsePaneScan(out, mark string) PaneScan {
+	scan := PaneScan{PIDs: map[string]int{}, Paths: map[string]string{}, Gone: map[string]bool{}}
+	last := ""
+	// Only line breaks are trimmed: a trailing space on the last pane's
+	// path is part of the directory name.
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(strings.TrimRight(out, "\r\n"), "\n") {
+		line, marked := strings.CutPrefix(line, mark)
+		if !marked {
+			delete(scan.Paths, last)
+			continue
+		}
+		last = ""
+		name, rest, ok := strings.Cut(line, " ")
+		if !ok || !managedName(name) {
+			continue
+		}
+		id := strings.TrimPrefix(name, prefix)
+		if _, taken := scan.PIDs[id]; taken {
+			continue
+		}
+		pidText, path, _ := strings.Cut(rest, " ")
+		pid, err := strconv.Atoi(pidText)
+		if err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		scan.PIDs[id] = pid
+		if path = strings.TrimSuffix(path, "\r"); path != "" {
+			scan.Paths[id] = path
+			last = id
+		}
 	}
-	return scan, nil
+	return scan
 }
 
 // adoptedPanes adds the adopted sessions to the liveness map. They carry no