diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 258ce02..1f5dc28 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -960,7 +960,7 @@ checksum = "384b8ab6d37215f3c5301a95a4accb5d64aa607f1fcb26a11b5303878451b4fe"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openab"
-version = "0.7.6"
+version = "0.7.7"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "async-trait",
diff --git a/src/acp/pool.rs b/src/acp/pool.rs
index cff159b..0c7dc93 100644
--- a/src/acp/pool.rs
+++ b/src/acp/pool.rs
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@ use crate::acp::connection::AcpConnection;
 use crate::config::AgentConfig;
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
-use tokio::sync::RwLock;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use tokio::sync::{Mutex, RwLock};
 use tokio::time::Instant;
 use tracing::{info, warn};
 
 /// Combined state protected by a single lock to prevent deadlocks.
-/// Lock ordering: always acquire `state` before any operation on either map.
+/// Lock ordering: never await a per-connection mutex while holding `state`.
 struct PoolState {
-    /// Active connections: thread_key → AcpConnection.
-    active: HashMap<String, AcpConnection>,
+    /// Active connections: thread_key → AcpConnection handle.
+    active: HashMap<String, Arc<Mutex<AcpConnection>>>,
     /// Suspended sessions: thread_key → ACP sessionId.
     /// Saved on eviction so sessions can be resumed via `session/load`.
     suspended: HashMap<String, String>,
+    /// Serializes create/resume work per thread so rapid same-thread requests
+    /// cannot race each other into duplicate `session/load` attempts.
+    creating: HashMap<String, Arc<Mutex<()>>>,
 }
 
 pub struct SessionPool {
@@ -22,12 +26,44 @@ pub struct SessionPool {
     max_sessions: usize,
 }
 
+type EvictionCandidate = (
+    String,
+    Arc<Mutex<AcpConnection>>,
+    Instant,
+    Option<String>,
+);
+
+fn remove_if_same_handle<T>(
+    map: &mut HashMap<String, Arc<Mutex<T>>>,
+    key: &str,
+    expected: &Arc<Mutex<T>>,
+) -> Option<Arc<Mutex<T>>> {
+    let should_remove = map
+        .get(key)
+        .is_some_and(|current| Arc::ptr_eq(current, expected));
+    if should_remove {
+        map.remove(key)
+    } else {
+        None
+    }
+}
+
+fn get_or_insert_gate(
+    map: &mut HashMap<String, Arc<Mutex<()>>>,
+    key: &str,
+) -> Arc<Mutex<()>> {
+    map.entry(key.to_string())
+        .or_insert_with(|| Arc::new(Mutex::new(())))
+        .clone()
+}
+
 impl SessionPool {
     pub fn new(config: AgentConfig, max_sessions: usize) -> Self {
         Self {
             state: RwLock::new(PoolState {
                 active: HashMap::new(),
                 suspended: HashMap::new(),
+                creating: HashMap::new(),
             }),
             config,
             max_sessions,
@@ -35,43 +71,63 @@ impl SessionPool {
     }
 
     pub async fn get_or_create(&self, thread_id: &str) -> Result<()> {
-        // Check if alive connection exists
-        {
-            let state = self.state.read().await;
-            if let Some(conn) = state.active.get(thread_id) {
-                if conn.alive() {
-                    return Ok(());
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        let create_gate = {
+            let mut state = self.state.write().await;
+            get_or_insert_gate(&mut state.creating, thread_id)
+        };
+        let _create_guard = create_gate.lock().await;
 
-        // Need to create or rebuild
-        let mut state = self.state.write().await;
+        let (existing, saved_session_id) = {
+            let state = self.state.read().await;
+            (
+                state.active.get(thread_id).cloned(),
+                state.suspended.get(thread_id).cloned(),
+            )
+        };
 
-        // Double-check after acquiring write lock
-        if let Some(conn) = state.active.get(thread_id) {
+        let had_existing = existing.is_some();
+        let mut saved_session_id = saved_session_id;
+        if let Some(conn) = existing.clone() {
+            let conn = conn.lock().await;
             if conn.alive() {
                 return Ok(());
             }
-            warn!(thread_id, "stale connection, rebuilding");
-            suspend_entry(&mut state, thread_id);
+            if saved_session_id.is_none() {
+                saved_session_id = conn.acp_session_id.clone();
+            }
         }
 
-        if state.active.len() >= self.max_sessions {
-            // LRU evict: suspend the oldest idle session to make room
-            let oldest = state.active
+        // Snapshot active handles so we can inspect them outside the state lock.
+        let snapshot: Vec<(String, Arc<Mutex<AcpConnection>>)> = {
+            let state = self.state.read().await;
+            state
+                .active
                 .iter()
-                .min_by_key(|(_, c)| c.last_active)
-                .map(|(k, _)| k.clone());
-            if let Some(key) = oldest {
-                info!(evicted = %key, "pool full, suspending oldest idle session");
-                suspend_entry(&mut state, &key);
-            } else {
-                return Err(anyhow!("pool exhausted ({} sessions)", self.max_sessions));
+                .map(|(k, v)| (k.clone(), Arc::clone(v)))
+                .collect()
+        };
+
+        let mut eviction_candidate: Option<EvictionCandidate> = None;
+        let mut skipped_locked_candidates = 0usize;
+        for (key, conn) in snapshot {
+            if key == thread_id {
+                continue;
+            }
+            let conn_handle = Arc::clone(&conn);
+            let Ok(conn) = conn.try_lock() else {
+                skipped_locked_candidates += 1;
+                continue;
+            };
+            let candidate = (key, conn_handle, conn.last_active, conn.acp_session_id.clone());
+            match &eviction_candidate {
+                Some((_, _, oldest_last_active, _)) if candidate.2 >= *oldest_last_active => {}
+                _ => eviction_candidate = Some(candidate),
             }
         }
 
-        let mut conn = AcpConnection::spawn(
+        // Build the replacement connection outside the state lock so one stuck
+        // initialization does not block all unrelated sessions.
+        let mut new_conn = AcpConnection::spawn(
             &self.config.command,
             &self.config.args,
             &self.config.working_dir,
@@ -79,14 +135,12 @@ impl SessionPool {
         )
         .await?;
 
-        conn.initialize().await?;
+        new_conn.initialize().await?;
 
-        // Try to resume a suspended session via session/load
-        let saved_session_id = state.suspended.remove(thread_id);
         let mut resumed = false;
         if let Some(ref sid) = saved_session_id {
-            if conn.supports_load_session {
-                match conn.session_load(sid, &self.config.working_dir).await {
+            if new_conn.supports_load_session {
+                match new_conn.session_load(sid, &self.config.working_dir).await {
                     Ok(()) => {
                         info!(thread_id, session_id = %sid, "session resumed via session/load");
                         resumed = true;
@@ -99,39 +153,119 @@ impl SessionPool {
         }
 
         if !resumed {
-            conn.session_new(&self.config.working_dir).await?;
-            if saved_session_id.is_some() {
-                conn.session_reset = true;
+            new_conn.session_new(&self.config.working_dir).await?;
+            // Surface the reset banner both for restored sessions and for stale
+            // live entries that died before we could recover a resumable
+            // session id. In both cases the caller is continuing after an
+            // unexpected session loss.
+            if had_existing || saved_session_id.is_some() {
+                new_conn.session_reset = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        let new_conn = Arc::new(Mutex::new(new_conn));
+
+        let mut state = self.state.write().await;
+
+        // Another task may have created a healthy connection while we were
+        // initializing this one.
+        if let Some(existing) = state.active.get(thread_id).cloned() {
+            let Ok(existing) = existing.try_lock() else {
+                return Ok(());
+            };
+            if existing.alive() {
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+            warn!(thread_id, "stale connection, rebuilding");
+            drop(existing);
+            state.active.remove(thread_id);
+        }
+
+        if state.active.len() >= self.max_sessions {
+            if let Some((key, expected_conn, _, sid)) = eviction_candidate {
+                if remove_if_same_handle(&mut state.active, &key, &expected_conn).is_some() {
+                    info!(evicted = %key, "pool full, suspending oldest idle session");
+                    if let Some(sid) = sid {
+                        state.suspended.insert(key, sid);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    warn!(evicted = %key, "pool full but eviction candidate changed before removal");
+                }
+            } else if skipped_locked_candidates > 0 {
+                warn!(
+                    max_sessions = self.max_sessions,
+                    skipped_locked_candidates,
+                    "pool full but all other sessions were busy during eviction scan"
+                );
             }
         }
 
-        state.active.insert(thread_id.to_string(), conn);
+        if state.active.len() >= self.max_sessions {
+            return Err(anyhow!("pool exhausted ({} sessions)", self.max_sessions));
+        }
+
+        state.suspended.remove(thread_id);
+        state.active.insert(thread_id.to_string(), new_conn);
         Ok(())
     }
 
     /// Get mutable access to a connection. Caller must have called get_or_create first.
     pub async fn with_connection<F, R>(&self, thread_id: &str, f: F) -> Result<R>
     where
-        F: FnOnce(&mut AcpConnection) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = Result<R>> + Send + '_>>,
+        F: for<'a> FnOnce(
+            &'a mut AcpConnection,
+        ) -> std::pin::Pin<Box<dyn std::future::Future<Output = Result<R>> + Send + 'a>>,
     {
-        let mut state = self.state.write().await;
-        let conn = state.active
-            .get_mut(thread_id)
-            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("no connection for thread {thread_id}"))?;
-        f(conn).await
+        let conn = {
+            let state = self.state.read().await;
+            state
+                .active
+                .get(thread_id)
+                .cloned()
+                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("no connection for thread {thread_id}"))?
+        };
+
+        let mut conn = conn.lock().await;
+        f(&mut conn).await
     }
 
     pub async fn cleanup_idle(&self, ttl_secs: u64) {
         let cutoff = Instant::now() - std::time::Duration::from_secs(ttl_secs);
+
+        let snapshot: Vec<(String, Arc<Mutex<AcpConnection>>)> = {
+            let state = self.state.read().await;
+            state
+                .active
+                .iter()
+                .map(|(k, v)| (k.clone(), Arc::clone(v)))
+                .collect()
+        };
+
+        let mut stale = Vec::new();
+        for (key, conn) in snapshot {
+            // Skip active sessions for this cleanup round instead of waiting on
+            // their per-connection mutex. A busy session is not idle.
+            let conn_handle = Arc::clone(&conn);
+            let Ok(conn) = conn.try_lock() else {
+                continue;
+            };
+            if conn.last_active < cutoff || !conn.alive() {
+                stale.push((key, conn_handle, conn.acp_session_id.clone()));
+            }
+        }
+
+        if stale.is_empty() {
+            return;
+        }
+
         let mut state = self.state.write().await;
-        let stale: Vec<String> = state.active
-            .iter()
-            .filter(|(_, c)| c.last_active < cutoff || !c.alive())
-            .map(|(k, _)| k.clone())
-            .collect();
-        for key in stale {
-            info!(thread_id = %key, "cleaning up idle session");
-            suspend_entry(&mut state, &key);
+        for (key, expected_conn, sid) in stale {
+            if remove_if_same_handle(&mut state.active, &key, &expected_conn).is_some() {
+                info!(thread_id = %key, "cleaning up idle session");
+                if let Some(sid) = sid {
+                    state.suspended.insert(key, sid);
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -143,14 +277,45 @@ impl SessionPool {
     }
 }
 
-/// Suspend a connection: save its sessionId to the suspended map and remove
-/// from active. The connection is dropped, triggering process group kill.
-fn suspend_entry(state: &mut PoolState, thread_id: &str) {
-    if let Some(conn) = state.active.remove(thread_id) {
-        if let Some(sid) = &conn.acp_session_id {
-            info!(thread_id, session_id = %sid, "suspending session");
-            state.suspended.insert(thread_id.to_string(), sid.clone());
-        }
-        // conn dropped here → Drop impl kills process group
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{get_or_insert_gate, remove_if_same_handle};
+    use std::collections::HashMap;
+    use std::sync::Arc;
+    use tokio::sync::Mutex;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn remove_if_same_handle_removes_matching_entry() {
+        let expected = Arc::new(Mutex::new(1_u8));
+        let mut map = HashMap::from([("thread".to_string(), Arc::clone(&expected))]);
+
+        let removed = remove_if_same_handle(&mut map, "thread", &expected);
+
+        assert!(removed.is_some());
+        assert!(map.is_empty());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn remove_if_same_handle_keeps_replaced_entry() {
+        let stale = Arc::new(Mutex::new(1_u8));
+        let fresh = Arc::new(Mutex::new(2_u8));
+        let mut map = HashMap::from([("thread".to_string(), Arc::clone(&fresh))]);
+
+        let removed = remove_if_same_handle(&mut map, "thread", &stale);
+
+        assert!(removed.is_none());
+        let current = map.get("thread").expect("entry should remain");
+        assert!(Arc::ptr_eq(current, &fresh));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn get_or_insert_gate_reuses_gate_for_same_thread() {
+        let mut map = HashMap::new();
+
+        let first = get_or_insert_gate(&mut map, "thread");
+        let second = get_or_insert_gate(&mut map, "thread");
+
+        assert!(Arc::ptr_eq(&first, &second));
+        assert_eq!(map.len(), 1);
     }
 }