diff --git a/STATUS.md b/STATUS.md
index 8c98217..96ce198 100644
--- a/STATUS.md
+++ b/STATUS.md
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ header stacks instead of overlapping the title).
 | `npm run typecheck` (root + workspaces) | clean, no errors |
 | `npm test` (`vitest run`) | **528 tests pass across 97 files** (5 Postgres-gated skipped) |
 
-The 416 figure is the live `vitest run` count measured 2026-07-19; the suite has
+The 528 figure is the live `vitest run` count measured 2026-07-19; the suite has
 grown from the D18 go-live cluster through the D20–D33 work (tickets, module fields,
 renewals, cockpit, audit viewer, SMS gateway, module directory/portals/search, and
 the D31/D32 plaintext-credential change with its own migration + review). Test files
diff --git a/apps/hq-web/src/app.css b/apps/hq-web/src/app.css
index a1f0995..6c7ed05 100644
--- a/apps/hq-web/src/app.css
+++ b/apps/hq-web/src/app.css
@@ -275,9 +275,10 @@ button.dash-row:hover { background: var(--accent-soft); }
    own horizontal-scroll container from `overflow-x: auto` in Chromium, so at desktop
    widths a wide table (e.g. Tickets' 11 columns) was overflowing past the viewport and
    getting silently clipped by `.hq-content`'s overflow-x: hidden below, unreachable at
-   any width. The wrapper scrolls at every width now, not just <901px. */
+   any width. The wrapper scrolls at every width now, not just <901px.
+   (`.wf-table-wrap` itself is styled in @sims/ui — packages/ui/src/tokens.css — next to
+   the other table.wf rules, since it's part of that component, not this app's shell.) */
 .hq-content { overflow-x: hidden; }
-.wf-table-wrap { overflow-x: auto; }
 
 /* Relationship-pulse ribbon (Client 360 overview). */
 .pulse {
diff --git a/apps/hq-web/src/pages/ClientDetail.tsx b/apps/hq-web/src/pages/ClientDetail.tsx
index 1400c96..cd255ed 100644
--- a/apps/hq-web/src/pages/ClientDetail.tsx
+++ b/apps/hq-web/src/pages/ClientDetail.tsx
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ export function ClientDetail() {
   const id = useParams()['id'] ?? ''
   const nav = useNavigate()
   const [sp, setSp] = useSearchParams()
+  const rawTab = sp.get('tab') ?? 'overview'
+  const tab: TabKey = (TAB_KEYS as readonly string[]).includes(rawTab) ? (rawTab as TabKey) : 'overview'
+  const setTab = (k: string) => setSp(k === 'overview' ? {} : { tab: k }, { replace: true })
   const client = useData(() => getClient(id), [id])
   const modules = useData(getModules, [])
   const cms = useData(() => getClientModules(id), [id])
@@ -66,7 +69,9 @@ export function ClientDetail() {
   const [ticketPage, setTicketPage] = useState(1)
   const tickets = useData(() => getTickets({ clientId: id, page: ticketPage, pageSize: 50 }), [id, ticketPage])
   // Same classification list the Tickets desk uses, so the Type column reads identically here.
-  const ticketTypes = useData(getTicketTypes, [])
+  // Only needed for that column, so only fetch it once the tickets tab is actually open —
+  // NewTicketDialog fetches its own copy for the new-ticket type picker, independent of this.
+  const ticketTypes = useData(() => (tab === 'tickets' ? getTicketTypes() : Promise.resolve(TICKET_TYPE_FALLBACK)), [tab === 'tickets'])
   const ticketTypeOptions = ticketTypes.data ?? TICKET_TYPE_FALLBACK
   // Undefined = closed. `moduleCode` pre-fills the module when the ticket is raised from
   // a module block ("Raise ticket for this module") rather than the Tickets tab button.
@@ -99,10 +104,6 @@ export function ClientDetail() {
   const [linkingDoc, setLinkingDoc] = useState(false)
   const [docLinkError, setDocLinkError] = useState<string | undefined>()
 
-  const rawTab = sp.get('tab') ?? 'overview'
-  const tab: TabKey = (TAB_KEYS as readonly string[]).includes(rawTab) ? (rawTab as TabKey) : 'overview'
-  const setTab = (k: string) => setSp(k === 'overview' ? {} : { tab: k }, { replace: true })
-
   const c = client.data
   if (client.error !== undefined) return <ErrorState message={client.error} onRetry={client.reload} />
   if (c === undefined) return <div className="wf-page"><Skeleton rows={6} /></div>
diff --git a/apps/hq-web/src/pages/Dashboard.tsx b/apps/hq-web/src/pages/Dashboard.tsx
index e39fbf9..8f7d94e 100644
--- a/apps/hq-web/src/pages/Dashboard.tsx
+++ b/apps/hq-web/src/pages/Dashboard.tsx
@@ -146,11 +146,15 @@ export function Dashboard() {
             </Card>
 
             <Card
-              title="Onboarding stalled" count={stalled.data?.length ?? 0}
+              title="Onboarding stalled" count={stalled.isLoading ? undefined : (stalled.data?.length ?? 0)}
               empty="Nothing stalled."
-              // A fetch failure is not the same as a genuine empty result — show the error
-              // (with retry) instead of quietly reporting "Nothing stalled." on failure.
-              isEmpty={stalled.error === undefined && (stalled.data ?? []).length === 0}
+              // Still fetching (data undefined, no error yet) is not the same as a genuine
+              // empty result — show the usual loading placeholder, not "Nothing stalled.",
+              // until the request actually resolves one way or the other.
+              loading={stalled.isLoading}
+              // A fetch failure is likewise not the same as empty — show the error (with
+              // retry) instead of quietly reporting "Nothing stalled." on failure.
+              isEmpty={!stalled.isLoading && stalled.error === undefined && (stalled.data ?? []).length === 0}
             >
               {stalled.error !== undefined
                 ? <ErrorState message={stalled.error} onRetry={stalled.reload} />
@@ -185,7 +189,7 @@ export function Dashboard() {
  *  scrollable list, or an empty-state line when there's nothing to show. */
 function Card(props: {
   title: string; count?: number; link?: { to: string; label?: string }
-  empty: string; isEmpty: boolean; children: ReactNode
+  empty: string; isEmpty: boolean; loading?: boolean; children: ReactNode
 }) {
   return (
     <section className="dash-card">
@@ -194,7 +198,9 @@ function Card(props: {
         {props.count !== undefined && <span className="count">{props.count}</span>}
         {props.link !== undefined && <Link to={props.link.to}>{props.link.label ?? 'All'} →</Link>}
       </div>
-      {props.isEmpty ? <div className="dash-empty">{props.empty}</div> : <div className="dash-list">{props.children}</div>}
+      {props.loading === true
+        ? <div className="dash-list"><Skeleton rows={2} /></div>
+        : props.isEmpty ? <div className="dash-empty">{props.empty}</div> : <div className="dash-list">{props.children}</div>}
     </section>
   )
 }
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/tokens.css b/packages/ui/src/tokens.css
index 76bab4d..63499c8 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/tokens.css
+++ b/packages/ui/src/tokens.css
@@ -194,6 +194,22 @@ input.wf:focus, select.wf:focus, textarea.wf:focus {
 .wf-toolbar .spacer { flex: 1; }
 
 /* ================= tables ================= */
+/* Horizontal-scroll wrapper (emitted by DataTable) so a wide table scrolls sideways
+   inside its own box instead of silently losing its rightmost columns off-page at
+   any width (rule 8 — no silent caps). Bounded to a fraction of the viewport height
+   and given a matching `overflow-y` so it is a real, self-contained scroll box:
+   `overflow-x: auto` alone would still leave `overflow-y` at its initial `visible`,
+   but per the CSS overflow spec a `visible`/non-`visible` pairing computes the
+   `visible` side to `auto` too — so without this the wrapper silently becomes an
+   unbounded vertical scroll container (height: auto, scrollTop always 0) and steals
+   `table.wf th`'s sticky-positioning context from `.hq-content` (the page's real
+   scroller) for nothing in return: the header can never offset and just scrolls out
+   of view with the rest of the page. Giving the wrapper an actual bound restores a
+   working scrollport, so the sticky header sticks again — now against this box
+   rather than the page. A short table never reaches the bound (renders exactly as
+   before, no inner scrollbar); a long one scrolls inside it, same pattern already
+   used for `.dash-list`. */
+.wf-table-wrap { overflow: auto; max-height: 70vh; }
 table.wf {
   border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0; width: 100%;
   background: var(--bg-raised); border: 1px solid var(--border);