diff --git a/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.sessions-usage.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.sessions-usage.test.ts
index 08a4fb1b18ac..71e8c56fdf66 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.sessions-usage.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.sessions-usage.test.ts
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ describe("sessions.usage", () => {
     expect(expectDefined(sessions[0], "sessions[0] test invariant").agentId).toBe("opus");
   });
 
-  it("loads selected session summaries in one batched cache read and reports refresh status", async () => {
+  it("returns pending cache rows with null usage while refresh runs", async () => {
     vi.mocked(discoverAllSessions).mockResolvedValueOnce([
       {
         sessionId: "s-a",
@@ -304,7 +304,10 @@ describe("sessions.usage", () => {
     ]);
     vi.mocked(loadSessionCostSummariesFromCache).mockImplementation(async ({ sessions }) => ({
       summaries: sessions.map((session) => {
-        const tokens = session.sessionId === "s-a" ? 10 : session.sessionId === "s-b" ? 20 : 30;
+        if (session.sessionId === "s-c") {
+          return null;
+        }
+        const tokens = session.sessionId === "s-a" ? 10 : 20;
         return {
           input: tokens,
           output: 0,
@@ -339,7 +342,12 @@ describe("sessions.usage", () => {
     };
     expect(result.cacheStatus?.status).toBe("refreshing");
     expect(result.sessions.map((session) => session.sessionId)).toEqual(["s-a", "s-b", "s-c"]);
-    expect(result.totals.totalTokens).toBe(60);
+    expect(result.sessions.map((session) => session.usage?.totalTokens ?? null)).toEqual([
+      10,
+      20,
+      null,
+    ]);
+    expect(result.totals.totalTokens).toBe(30);
   });
 
   it("passes the requested timezone offset to session daily summaries", async () => {
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.ts b/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.ts
index 6110824b310a..cba554ba6f52 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-methods/usage.ts
@@ -1445,7 +1445,8 @@ export const usageHandlers: GatewayRequestHandlers = {
 
     for (const [entryIndex, merged] of mergedEntries.entries()) {
       const agentId = merged.agentId;
-      const usage = usageByEntryIndex[entryIndex];
+      // A cold or stale cache intentionally yields null until its background refresh completes.
+      const usage = usageByEntryIndex[entryIndex] ?? null;
 
       if (usage) {
         addCostUsageTotals(aggregateTotals, usage);
@@ -1594,7 +1595,7 @@ export const usageHandlers: GatewayRequestHandlers = {
           providerOverride: merged.storeEntry?.providerOverride,
           modelProvider: merged.storeEntry?.modelProvider,
           model: merged.storeEntry?.model,
-          usage: expectDefined(usage, "session usage summary"),
+          usage,
           contextWeight: includeContextWeight
             ? (merged.storeEntry?.systemPromptReport ?? null)
             : undefined,