diff --git a/changelog.d/1910-team-read-retry.fixed.md b/changelog.d/1910-team-read-retry.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2aa231270
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/1910-team-read-retry.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Project board: a refused `project-team` read at open is no answer yet, not an empty team — the next five-second poll asks again, the block fills when the answer lands, and it stays frozen for the rest of the open; before this the refusal was normalised to `{ rows: [] }` and served by every later poll ([#1910](https://github.com/ThinkFlowLab/FlyBot/issues/1910)).
diff --git a/core/client.js b/core/client.js
index a47a44925..dae8cd33e 100644
--- a/core/client.js
+++ b/core/client.js
@@ -11264,13 +11264,19 @@ async function readProjectBoard(read, wanted, knownTeam) {
   const listing = await read("projects");
   const projects = Array.isArray(listing?.projects) ? listing.projects : [];
   const project = wanted === "" ? projects[0] : projects.find((item) => item.id === wanted);
-  if (project === void 0) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] } };
+  if (project === void 0) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] }, teamFresh: true };
   const zone = typeof Intl === "undefined" || typeof Intl.DateTimeFormat !== "function" ? void 0 : Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;
-  const [record, board, taskList, team] = await Promise.all([
+  const [record, board, taskList, dossier] = await Promise.all([
     read("project-read", { id: project.id }),
     read("project-board", { id: project.id, timeZone: zone }),
     read("tasks", {}),
-    knownTeam !== void 0 ? knownTeam : read("project-team", { id: project.id }).catch(() => null)
+    // #1910: #1902 turned this failure into an ordinary empty team, which the poll then served for
+    // the rest of the open. Keep the two answers apart: a refusal is not fresh, so nothing is cached
+    // and the next tick asks again, while a real `{ rows: [] }` answer is fresh and frozen as usual.
+    knownTeam !== void 0 ? { answer: knownTeam, fresh: true } : read("project-team", { id: project.id }).then(
+      (answer) => ({ answer, fresh: answer !== null && typeof answer === "object" }),
+      () => ({ answer: null, fresh: false })
+    )
   ]);
   const tasks = Array.isArray(taskList) ? taskList : taskList?.tasks ?? [];
   const queues = { waiting: board?.waiting, inflight: board?.inflight, blocked: board?.blocked, counts: board?.counts ?? null };
@@ -11287,7 +11293,8 @@ async function readProjectBoard(read, wanted, knownTeam) {
     meetings: board?.meetings,
     queues,
     metrics: board?.metrics ?? null,
-    team: team !== null && typeof team === "object" ? team : { rows: [] }
+    team: dossier.answer !== null && typeof dossier.answer === "object" ? dossier.answer : { rows: [] },
+    teamFresh: dossier.fresh
   };
 }
 var PROJECT_BOARD_POLL_MS = 5e3;
@@ -11334,7 +11341,7 @@ function ProjectBoardOverlay({ actions, call: request } = {}) {
       try {
         const next = await loadBoard();
         if (!gone) {
-          team = next.team;
+          if (next.teamFresh !== false) team = next.team;
           setState(next);
         }
       } catch {
diff --git a/core/src/client/project-board.js b/core/src/client/project-board.js
index 98dc3ade6..c1e589249 100644
--- a/core/src/client/project-board.js
+++ b/core/src/client/project-board.js
@@ -869,19 +869,29 @@ export function ProjectMembersPanel({ project, rows, onClose } = {}) {
 // answer the poll hands back — `knownTeam` is what the open read — because the host builds it by
 // reading persona and memory files, and a five-second refresh must not pay that again. A refusal
 // leaves the rest of the board standing, so a dossier problem is never the empty-Project answer.
+// #1910: a refusal is "no answer yet", not an empty team. `teamFresh` is false exactly when the
+// dossier could not be read, so the caller keeps no answer to hand back and the next tick asks again.
 export async function readProjectBoard(read, wanted, knownTeam) {
   const listing = await read('projects')
   const projects = Array.isArray(listing?.projects) ? listing.projects : []
   const project = wanted === '' ? projects[0] : projects.find(item => item.id === wanted)
-  if (project === undefined) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] } }
+  if (project === undefined) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] }, teamFresh: true }
   const zone = typeof Intl === 'undefined' || typeof Intl.DateTimeFormat !== 'function'
     ? undefined
     : Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone
-  const [record, board, taskList, team] = await Promise.all([
+  const [record, board, taskList, dossier] = await Promise.all([
     read('project-read', { id: project.id }),
     read('project-board', { id: project.id, timeZone: zone }),
     read('tasks', {}),
-    knownTeam !== undefined ? knownTeam : read('project-team', { id: project.id }).catch(() => null),
+    // #1910: #1902 turned this failure into an ordinary empty team, which the poll then served for
+    // the rest of the open. Keep the two answers apart: a refusal is not fresh, so nothing is cached
+    // and the next tick asks again, while a real `{ rows: [] }` answer is fresh and frozen as usual.
+    knownTeam !== undefined
+      ? { answer: knownTeam, fresh: true }
+      : read('project-team', { id: project.id }).then(
+        answer => ({ answer, fresh: answer !== null && typeof answer === 'object' }),
+        () => ({ answer: null, fresh: false }),
+      ),
   ])
   const tasks = Array.isArray(taskList) ? taskList : (taskList?.tasks ?? [])
   // The groups are the same read as the rows, so the header cannot disagree with the cards.
@@ -894,7 +904,8 @@ export async function readProjectBoard(read, wanted, knownTeam) {
   return {
     project: withRole, assistantMine: record?.assistantMine ?? null, rows: board?.tasks ?? [], done: board?.done ?? [], canManage: record?.canManage === true,
     tasks, decisions: board?.decisions, meetings: board?.meetings, queues, metrics: board?.metrics ?? null,
-    team: team !== null && typeof team === 'object' ? team : { rows: [] },
+    team: dossier.answer !== null && typeof dossier.answer === 'object' ? dossier.answer : { rows: [] },
+    teamFresh: dossier.fresh,
   }
 }
 
@@ -956,12 +967,17 @@ export function ProjectBoardOverlay({ actions, call: request } = {}) {
     // and the dossier comes from the single `project-team` call that read makes. #1900: that call is
     // this open's, not the poll's — `team` is handed back on every later read, so a tick re-reads
     // only the three answers that change and the dossier is read again on the next board open.
+    // #1910: only an answer is kept. A refused read is drawn as the empty team it always was, but
+    // `team` stays undefined, so the next tick asks `project-team` again instead of serving it.
     let team
     const loadBoard = () => readProjectBoard(read, wanted, team)
     const refresh = async (first) => {
       try {
         const next = await loadBoard()
-        if (!gone) { team = next.team; setState(next) }
+        if (!gone) {
+          if (next.teamFresh !== false) team = next.team
+          setState(next)
+        }
       } catch {
         // The first read is the page's answer, so it takes the empty state it always took. A poll
         // that fails keeps the board the last good read drew (#1814): a board that vanishes under
diff --git a/core/test/project-board-view.test.js b/core/test/project-board-view.test.js
index 4542a3c62..2b090f827 100644
--- a/core/test/project-board-view.test.js
+++ b/core/test/project-board-view.test.js
@@ -424,6 +424,54 @@ test('#1900: an open board reads the dossier once, never on a tick', async () =>
   assert.equal(count('project-board'), 4, 'while the board itself is re-read on every tick')
 })
 
+// #1910: a refused dossier read at open is "no answer yet", not "the team is empty". #1902 made the
+// dossier the open's one read and let that read swallow its failure into an ordinary empty team, so
+// one transient refusal became the answer every later poll handed back: the block stayed empty until
+// the board was closed and opened again, where before (#1814) the next tick healed it. The refusal
+// must leave no cached answer, so the next poll asks again; an answer that lands is this open's and
+// later polls do not read the dossier again.
+test('#1910: a refused dossier read at open is asked again on the next tick, then frozen', async () => {
+  resetClock()
+  win.location.hash = '#project'
+  const calls = []
+  let dossierReads = 0
+  const teamAnswer = { rows: [{ botId: 'bot-chief', name: 'Project Chief', persona: 'You are the Project Chief of FlyBot.', memory: { head: 'The Chief remembers the Project.', topics: ['work'] }, skills: ['ship-it'] }] }
+  const call = async (name) => {
+    calls.push(name)
+    if (name === 'projects') return { projects: [{ id: 'project-1', name: 'FlyBot' }] }
+    if (name === 'project-read') {
+      return { project: { id: 'project-1', name: 'FlyBot', chief: { botId: 'bot-chief' }, assistant: { botId: 'bot-assistant' }, roles: { maintainers: ['bot-dev'], members: [] } }, canManage: false }
+    }
+    if (name === 'project-board') return { tasks: rows, done: [], waiting: [], inflight: [], blocked: [], counts: null }
+    if (name === 'tasks') return [{ id: 'task-b1', title: 'Ship the poll' }]
+    if (name === 'project-team') {
+      dossierReads += 1
+      if (dossierReads === 1) throw new Error('the persona read timed out')
+      return teamAnswer
+    }
+    throw new Error(`unexpected endpoint ${name}`)
+  }
+  const count = (endpoint) => calls.filter(name => name === endpoint).length
+  const { tree, redraw } = await mount({ actions: {}, call })
+  assert.equal(count('project-team'), 1, 'the open asks the dossier once')
+  // The refusal is drawn as the empty team it was normalised to, not as a failed board.
+  const control = all(tree).find(node => node.props?.['data-dossier-bot'] === 'bot-chief')
+  assert.ok(control, 'the board still draws its team rows from the record')
+  control.props.onClick()
+  assert.doesNotMatch(all(redraw()).map(textOf).join(' | '), /You are the Project Chief of FlyBot\./, 'a refusal is no answer yet, so the panel does not invent a dossier')
+  // The refusal is not the answer: the next poll asks again, and the row it gets fills the block.
+  // Both are read before the assertion so one red run shows both numbers.
+  await tick()
+  const drawn = all(redraw()).map(textOf).join(' | ')
+  const afterTick = { calls: count('project-team'), filled: /You are the Project Chief of FlyBot\./.test(drawn) }
+  assert.deepEqual(afterTick, { calls: 2, filled: true }, 'the next tick asks again, and the row it gets fills the dossier')
+  assert.match(drawn, /The Chief remembers the Project\./)
+  // That answer is this open's answer: the poll hands it back and never reads the dossier again.
+  await tick(3)
+  assert.equal(count('project-team'), 2, 'once an answer landed later polls do not read the dossier again')
+  assert.equal(count('project-board'), 5, 'while the board itself is re-read on every tick — the open and the four ticks')
+})
+
 test('#1814: a failing poll keeps the board the last good read drew', async () => {
   resetClock()
   win.location.hash = '#project'
diff --git a/docs/subsystems/core-client.md b/docs/subsystems/core-client.md
index 4b96fc1c2..4d70cf3c7 100644
--- a/docs/subsystems/core-client.md
+++ b/docs/subsystems/core-client.md
@@ -326,7 +326,10 @@ keeps the dossier on the same read as the rows, so the board and the panel canno
 "my agent" row uses the same panel. Since #1900 that one answer is the open's, not the poll's: the
 five-second refresh hands it back instead of asking `project-team` again, because the host builds it by
 reading persona and memory files, and a refused dossier leaves the rows, the done group and the tasks
-on screen with an empty team block instead of the empty-Project answer. A role-pool entry draws none: since #1892 it is plain `@id`
+on screen with an empty team block instead of the empty-Project answer. Since #1910 that block is drawn
+but not remembered: a refused read returns `teamFresh` false, the overlay keeps no answer for the poll
+to hand back, and the next tick asks `project-team` again until an answer lands — a real empty team is
+fresh and frozen like any other answer, so "no answer yet" never becomes "the team is empty". A role-pool entry draws none: since #1892 it is plain `@id`
 beside its rank, because `project-team` answers rows keyed by the Project's own Bots and the old
 control asked for a row the host never sent. The entry in the owner's own Bot chat is
 `ProjectAgentEntry` in the header: the roster already carries `bot.projectId`, the entry reads
@@ -364,8 +367,9 @@ against. Since #1814 those four repeat every five seconds while the pane is open
 waited and whether its lease is live are computed by the host at read time: a lease that expires during
 the visit turns the card `stalled` on its own instead of freezing the board. The first read failing
 answers the empty state as it did; a poll that fails keeps the board the last good read drew. The
-dossier is not among the four (#1900): it is read once when the pane opens and again on the next open,
-not on a tick. Polling
+dossier is not among the four (#1900): it is read when the pane opens and again on the next open,
+not on a healthy tick — since #1910 the ticks after a refused open read do ask again, and the answer
+that lands is the one frozen for the rest of the open. Polling
 pauses while a row's own board is open (the hash no longer names this Project) and while the tab is
 hidden, and a read that lands after the pane closed is dropped. Tests:
 `core/test/project-board-view.test.js`, `core/test/project-board.test.js`,
diff --git a/patches/ds-bot/0008-client-bundle.patch b/patches/ds-bot/0008-client-bundle.patch
index ded5eca38..0ecfa47d9 100644
--- a/patches/ds-bot/0008-client-bundle.patch
+++ b/patches/ds-bot/0008-client-bundle.patch
@@ -9032,6 +9032,10 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +    const approvals = askedIn(room2, work, id, doing);
 +    return { id, approvals, doing, here: doing !== void 0, state: approvals.length > 0 ? "ask" : doing ? "work" : "idle" };
 +  });
++}
++function busyMembers(room2, work, roster) {
++  const busy = memberWork(room2, work).filter((entry) => entry.state !== "idle" && roster.byId[entry.id]);
++  return [...busy.filter((entry) => entry.state === "ask"), ...busy.filter((entry) => entry.state === "work")].map((entry) => ({ ...entry, bot: roster.byId[entry.id] }));
  }
 -function EventLine({ prefix, bots, joiner = t("and"), onOpen, whole = false }) {
 -  if (whole && bots.length === 1) {
@@ -9057,10 +9061,6 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 -      (0, import_react6.createElement)(BotMark, { bot, size: 16 }),
 -      bot.name
 -    ));
-+function busyMembers(room2, work, roster) {
-+  const busy = memberWork(room2, work).filter((entry) => entry.state !== "idle" && roster.byId[entry.id]);
-+  return [...busy.filter((entry) => entry.state === "ask"), ...busy.filter((entry) => entry.state === "work")].map((entry) => ({ ...entry, bot: roster.byId[entry.id] }));
-+}
 +function splitBusy(busy) {
 +  const here = busy.filter((entry) => entry.state === "work" && entry.here);
 +  const rows = [...here.filter((entry) => entry.doing.speaking === true), ...here.filter((entry) => entry.doing.speaking !== true)].slice(0, ROWS_MAX);
@@ -9859,13 +9859,13 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +    const questionId = card.task?.inputRequest?.id;
 +    if (text2 === "" || typeof questionId !== "string") return void 0;
 +    return Promise.resolve(actions.answerTaskInput(card.task.id, questionId, text2));
-   }
++  }
 +  if (card?.kind === "task" && card.status === "result") {
 +    if (choice === "accept") return Promise.resolve(actions.acceptTaskResult(card.task.id));
 +    const note = choice !== null && typeof choice === "object" ? String(choice.note ?? "").trim() : "";
 +    if (note === "") return void 0;
 +    return Promise.resolve(actions.sendBackTask(card.task.id, note));
-+  }
+   }
 +  if (card?.kind === "approval" && card.approval?.answerable === true) {
 +    return Promise.resolve(actions.answerApproval(card.approval.id, choice));
 +  }
@@ -12247,7 +12247,7 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
        setOpen(false);
      };
      const onKey = (event) => {
-@@ -5097,412 +5097,1334 @@ function UpdateButton({ useUpdate, actions }) {
+@@ -5097,412 +5097,1341 @@ function UpdateButton({ useUpdate, actions }) {
        window.removeEventListener("keydown", onKey, true);
      };
    }, [open]);
@@ -13495,8 +13495,7 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +      { className: "bt-project-actions" },
 +      (0, import_react19.createElement)("button", { type: "button", "data-action": "project-settings", onClick: () => onSettings?.() }, t("Project settings")),
 +      (0, import_react19.createElement)("button", { type: "button", "data-action": "project-members", onClick: () => onMembers?.() }, t("Members"))
-     ),
--    open && box ? (0, import_react_dom3.createPortal)((0, import_react8.createElement)(
++    ),
 +    (0, import_react19.createElement)(ProjectMetrics, { view: view.metrics }),
 +    (0, import_react19.createElement)(ProjectRunningTable, { view: view.metrics, onOpen }),
 +    (0, import_react19.createElement)(ProjectBoardRows, { view, onOpen }),
@@ -13532,14 +13531,7 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +    { className: "bt-project-panel", "data-panel": "project-settings" },
 +    (0, import_react19.createElement)("h3", null, t("Project settings")),
 +    (0, import_react19.createElement)(
-       "div",
--      { className: "bt-menu bt-menu-up bt-account-menu", role: "menu", "aria-label": t("Account"), style: box },
--      groups.map((group, index) => (0, import_react8.createElement)(
--        import_react8.Fragment,
--        { key: index },
--        index > 0 ? (0, import_react8.createElement)("div", { className: "bt-menu-sep", role: "separator" }) : null,
--        group.map(([label, Icon, run, hint]) => (0, import_react8.createElement)("button", {
--          key: label,
++      "div",
 +      { className: "bt-project-field" },
 +      (0, import_react19.createElement)("label", { htmlFor: "bt-project-member-id" }, t("Bind a member to this Project")),
 +      (0, import_react19.createElement)(
@@ -13555,9 +13547,17 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +        (0, import_react19.createElement)("button", { type: "button", className: "bt-soft bt-soft-sm", "data-action": "project-bind", onClick: () => run("project-bind", { kind, id: text(memberId), projectId: id }, t("Member bound.")) }, t("Bind")),
 +        (0, import_react19.createElement)("button", { type: "button", className: "bt-soft bt-soft-sm", "data-action": "project-unbind", onClick: () => run("project-bind", { kind, id: text(memberId), projectId: null }, t("Member unbound.")) }, t("Unbind"))
 +      )
-+    ),
+     ),
+-    open && box ? (0, import_react_dom3.createPortal)((0, import_react8.createElement)(
 +    (0, import_react19.createElement)(
-+      "div",
+       "div",
+-      { className: "bt-menu bt-menu-up bt-account-menu", role: "menu", "aria-label": t("Account"), style: box },
+-      groups.map((group, index) => (0, import_react8.createElement)(
+-        import_react8.Fragment,
+-        { key: index },
+-        index > 0 ? (0, import_react8.createElement)("div", { className: "bt-menu-sep", role: "separator" }) : null,
+-        group.map(([label, Icon, run, hint]) => (0, import_react8.createElement)("button", {
+-          key: label,
 +      { className: "bt-project-field" },
 +      (0, import_react19.createElement)("label", null, t("Project Assistant")),
 +      (0, import_react19.createElement)(
@@ -13675,13 +13675,19 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +  const listing = await read("projects");
 +  const projects = Array.isArray(listing?.projects) ? listing.projects : [];
 +  const project = wanted === "" ? projects[0] : projects.find((item) => item.id === wanted);
-+  if (project === void 0) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] } };
++  if (project === void 0) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] }, teamFresh: true };
 +  const zone = typeof Intl === "undefined" || typeof Intl.DateTimeFormat !== "function" ? void 0 : Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;
-+  const [record, board, taskList, team] = await Promise.all([
++  const [record, board, taskList, dossier] = await Promise.all([
 +    read("project-read", { id: project.id }),
 +    read("project-board", { id: project.id, timeZone: zone }),
 +    read("tasks", {}),
-+    knownTeam !== void 0 ? knownTeam : read("project-team", { id: project.id }).catch(() => null)
++    // #1910: #1902 turned this failure into an ordinary empty team, which the poll then served for
++    // the rest of the open. Keep the two answers apart: a refusal is not fresh, so nothing is cached
++    // and the next tick asks again, while a real `{ rows: [] }` answer is fresh and frozen as usual.
++    knownTeam !== void 0 ? { answer: knownTeam, fresh: true } : read("project-team", { id: project.id }).then(
++      (answer) => ({ answer, fresh: answer !== null && typeof answer === "object" }),
++      () => ({ answer: null, fresh: false })
++    )
 +  ]);
 +  const tasks = Array.isArray(taskList) ? taskList : taskList?.tasks ?? [];
 +  const queues = { waiting: board?.waiting, inflight: board?.inflight, blocked: board?.blocked, counts: board?.counts ?? null };
@@ -13698,7 +13704,8 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +    meetings: board?.meetings,
 +    queues,
 +    metrics: board?.metrics ?? null,
-+    team: team !== null && typeof team === "object" ? team : { rows: [] }
++    team: dossier.answer !== null && typeof dossier.answer === "object" ? dossier.answer : { rows: [] },
++    teamFresh: dossier.fresh
 +  };
 +}
 +var PROJECT_BOARD_POLL_MS = 5e3;
@@ -13763,7 +13770,7 @@ diff --git a/client.js b/client.js
 +      try {
 +        const next = await loadBoard();
 +        if (!gone) {
-+          team = next.team;
++          if (next.teamFresh !== false) team = next.team;
 +          setState(next);
 +        }
 +      } catch {
diff --git a/patches/ds-bot/files/src/client/project-board.js b/patches/ds-bot/files/src/client/project-board.js
index 98dc3ade6..c1e589249 100644
--- a/patches/ds-bot/files/src/client/project-board.js
+++ b/patches/ds-bot/files/src/client/project-board.js
@@ -869,19 +869,29 @@ export function ProjectMembersPanel({ project, rows, onClose } = {}) {
 // answer the poll hands back — `knownTeam` is what the open read — because the host builds it by
 // reading persona and memory files, and a five-second refresh must not pay that again. A refusal
 // leaves the rest of the board standing, so a dossier problem is never the empty-Project answer.
+// #1910: a refusal is "no answer yet", not an empty team. `teamFresh` is false exactly when the
+// dossier could not be read, so the caller keeps no answer to hand back and the next tick asks again.
 export async function readProjectBoard(read, wanted, knownTeam) {
   const listing = await read('projects')
   const projects = Array.isArray(listing?.projects) ? listing.projects : []
   const project = wanted === '' ? projects[0] : projects.find(item => item.id === wanted)
-  if (project === undefined) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] } }
+  if (project === undefined) return { project: null, rows: [], done: [], canManage: false, tasks: [], team: { rows: [] }, teamFresh: true }
   const zone = typeof Intl === 'undefined' || typeof Intl.DateTimeFormat !== 'function'
     ? undefined
     : Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone
-  const [record, board, taskList, team] = await Promise.all([
+  const [record, board, taskList, dossier] = await Promise.all([
     read('project-read', { id: project.id }),
     read('project-board', { id: project.id, timeZone: zone }),
     read('tasks', {}),
-    knownTeam !== undefined ? knownTeam : read('project-team', { id: project.id }).catch(() => null),
+    // #1910: #1902 turned this failure into an ordinary empty team, which the poll then served for
+    // the rest of the open. Keep the two answers apart: a refusal is not fresh, so nothing is cached
+    // and the next tick asks again, while a real `{ rows: [] }` answer is fresh and frozen as usual.
+    knownTeam !== undefined
+      ? { answer: knownTeam, fresh: true }
+      : read('project-team', { id: project.id }).then(
+        answer => ({ answer, fresh: answer !== null && typeof answer === 'object' }),
+        () => ({ answer: null, fresh: false }),
+      ),
   ])
   const tasks = Array.isArray(taskList) ? taskList : (taskList?.tasks ?? [])
   // The groups are the same read as the rows, so the header cannot disagree with the cards.
@@ -894,7 +904,8 @@ export async function readProjectBoard(read, wanted, knownTeam) {
   return {
     project: withRole, assistantMine: record?.assistantMine ?? null, rows: board?.tasks ?? [], done: board?.done ?? [], canManage: record?.canManage === true,
     tasks, decisions: board?.decisions, meetings: board?.meetings, queues, metrics: board?.metrics ?? null,
-    team: team !== null && typeof team === 'object' ? team : { rows: [] },
+    team: dossier.answer !== null && typeof dossier.answer === 'object' ? dossier.answer : { rows: [] },
+    teamFresh: dossier.fresh,
   }
 }
 
@@ -956,12 +967,17 @@ export function ProjectBoardOverlay({ actions, call: request } = {}) {
     // and the dossier comes from the single `project-team` call that read makes. #1900: that call is
     // this open's, not the poll's — `team` is handed back on every later read, so a tick re-reads
     // only the three answers that change and the dossier is read again on the next board open.
+    // #1910: only an answer is kept. A refused read is drawn as the empty team it always was, but
+    // `team` stays undefined, so the next tick asks `project-team` again instead of serving it.
     let team
     const loadBoard = () => readProjectBoard(read, wanted, team)
     const refresh = async (first) => {
       try {
         const next = await loadBoard()
-        if (!gone) { team = next.team; setState(next) }
+        if (!gone) {
+          if (next.teamFresh !== false) team = next.team
+          setState(next)
+        }
       } catch {
         // The first read is the page's answer, so it takes the empty state it always took. A poll
         // that fails keeps the board the last good read drew (#1814): a board that vanishes under
diff --git a/patches/ds-bot/files/test/project-board-view.test.js b/patches/ds-bot/files/test/project-board-view.test.js
index 4542a3c62..2b090f827 100644
--- a/patches/ds-bot/files/test/project-board-view.test.js
+++ b/patches/ds-bot/files/test/project-board-view.test.js
@@ -424,6 +424,54 @@ test('#1900: an open board reads the dossier once, never on a tick', async () =>
   assert.equal(count('project-board'), 4, 'while the board itself is re-read on every tick')
 })
 
+// #1910: a refused dossier read at open is "no answer yet", not "the team is empty". #1902 made the
+// dossier the open's one read and let that read swallow its failure into an ordinary empty team, so
+// one transient refusal became the answer every later poll handed back: the block stayed empty until
+// the board was closed and opened again, where before (#1814) the next tick healed it. The refusal
+// must leave no cached answer, so the next poll asks again; an answer that lands is this open's and
+// later polls do not read the dossier again.
+test('#1910: a refused dossier read at open is asked again on the next tick, then frozen', async () => {
+  resetClock()
+  win.location.hash = '#project'
+  const calls = []
+  let dossierReads = 0
+  const teamAnswer = { rows: [{ botId: 'bot-chief', name: 'Project Chief', persona: 'You are the Project Chief of FlyBot.', memory: { head: 'The Chief remembers the Project.', topics: ['work'] }, skills: ['ship-it'] }] }
+  const call = async (name) => {
+    calls.push(name)
+    if (name === 'projects') return { projects: [{ id: 'project-1', name: 'FlyBot' }] }
+    if (name === 'project-read') {
+      return { project: { id: 'project-1', name: 'FlyBot', chief: { botId: 'bot-chief' }, assistant: { botId: 'bot-assistant' }, roles: { maintainers: ['bot-dev'], members: [] } }, canManage: false }
+    }
+    if (name === 'project-board') return { tasks: rows, done: [], waiting: [], inflight: [], blocked: [], counts: null }
+    if (name === 'tasks') return [{ id: 'task-b1', title: 'Ship the poll' }]
+    if (name === 'project-team') {
+      dossierReads += 1
+      if (dossierReads === 1) throw new Error('the persona read timed out')
+      return teamAnswer
+    }
+    throw new Error(`unexpected endpoint ${name}`)
+  }
+  const count = (endpoint) => calls.filter(name => name === endpoint).length
+  const { tree, redraw } = await mount({ actions: {}, call })
+  assert.equal(count('project-team'), 1, 'the open asks the dossier once')
+  // The refusal is drawn as the empty team it was normalised to, not as a failed board.
+  const control = all(tree).find(node => node.props?.['data-dossier-bot'] === 'bot-chief')
+  assert.ok(control, 'the board still draws its team rows from the record')
+  control.props.onClick()
+  assert.doesNotMatch(all(redraw()).map(textOf).join(' | '), /You are the Project Chief of FlyBot\./, 'a refusal is no answer yet, so the panel does not invent a dossier')
+  // The refusal is not the answer: the next poll asks again, and the row it gets fills the block.
+  // Both are read before the assertion so one red run shows both numbers.
+  await tick()
+  const drawn = all(redraw()).map(textOf).join(' | ')
+  const afterTick = { calls: count('project-team'), filled: /You are the Project Chief of FlyBot\./.test(drawn) }
+  assert.deepEqual(afterTick, { calls: 2, filled: true }, 'the next tick asks again, and the row it gets fills the dossier')
+  assert.match(drawn, /The Chief remembers the Project\./)
+  // That answer is this open's answer: the poll hands it back and never reads the dossier again.
+  await tick(3)
+  assert.equal(count('project-team'), 2, 'once an answer landed later polls do not read the dossier again')
+  assert.equal(count('project-board'), 5, 'while the board itself is re-read on every tick — the open and the four ticks')
+})
+
 test('#1814: a failing poll keeps the board the last good read drew', async () => {
   resetClock()
   win.location.hash = '#project'