diff --git a/src/vouch/http_server.py b/src/vouch/http_server.py
index 081cda24..da91c9a1 100644
--- a/src/vouch/http_server.py
+++ b/src/vouch/http_server.py
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 import uvicorn
 import yaml
 from starlette.applications import Starlette
+from starlette.concurrency import run_in_threadpool
 from starlette.middleware import Middleware
 from starlette.middleware.base import BaseHTTPMiddleware
 from starlette.requests import Request
@@ -201,18 +202,31 @@ async def _rpc(request: Request) -> JSONResponse:
         ))
 
     agent = request.headers.get("X-Vouch-Agent")
-    reset = jsonl_server._actor.set(agent) if agent else None
     bearer = trust_mod.matched_bearer_token(
         request.headers.get("authorization"),
         tuple(getattr(request.app.state, "vouch_bearer_tokens", ()) or ()),
     )
     trust = trust_mod.with_auth_subject(trust_mod.JSONL_HTTP, bearer)
-    try:
-        with trust_mod.trust_context(trust):
-            response = jsonl_server.handle_request(envelope)
-    finally:
-        if reset is not None:
-            jsonl_server._actor.reset(reset)
+
+    def _dispatch() -> dict[str, Any]:
+        # The actor and the trust marker are both ContextVars. They're set
+        # here, inside the worker, so each request mutates only its own copy
+        # of the context — set on the event loop instead, two concurrent
+        # calls would overwrite each other's caller identity.
+        reset = jsonl_server._actor.set(agent) if agent else None
+        try:
+            with trust_mod.trust_context(trust):
+                return jsonl_server.handle_request(envelope)
+        finally:
+            if reset is not None:
+                jsonl_server._actor.reset(reset)
+
+    # handle_request is synchronous and reads the whole KB off disk — seconds
+    # of work on a large one. Called inline it blocks the event loop, so every
+    # other request (health probes included) queues behind it and clients see
+    # the endpoint as hung. The /mcp surface already dispatches its sync tools
+    # through a worker thread; this keeps /rpc consistent with it.
+    response = await run_in_threadpool(_dispatch)
     return _json(200, response)
 
 
diff --git a/src/vouch/web/console.py b/src/vouch/web/console.py
index 8d768d40..e778bde5 100644
--- a/src/vouch/web/console.py
+++ b/src/vouch/web/console.py
@@ -66,6 +66,21 @@ def resolve_console_dir(
     return None
 
 
+# The SPA shell names the hashed bundle, so it must be revalidated on every
+# load. Served with only Last-Modified a browser applies heuristic freshness
+# and keeps replaying the shell it cached before — after an upgrade that means
+# the previous console build running against the new backend, which fails in
+# whatever way the response shapes changed. `no-cache` still allows a 304 off
+# the ETag, so the cost is one conditional request. Everything vite emits into
+# assets/ is content-hashed and can be kept forever.
+_SHELL_CACHE = {"cache-control": "no-cache"}
+_ASSET_CACHE = {"cache-control": "public, max-age=31536000, immutable"}
+
+
+def _cache_headers(rel: str) -> dict[str, str]:
+    return _ASSET_CACHE if rel.startswith("assets/") else _SHELL_CACHE
+
+
 def _err(status: int, code: str, message: str) -> JSONResponse:
     """The vouch-native error envelope the SPA already understands."""
     return JSONResponse(
@@ -182,8 +197,8 @@ async def _spa(request: Request) -> Response:
             except ValueError:
                 candidate = index
             if candidate.is_file():
-                return FileResponse(candidate)
-        return FileResponse(index)
+                return FileResponse(candidate, headers=_cache_headers(rel))
+        return FileResponse(index, headers=_SHELL_CACHE)
 
     routes = [
         Route("/proxy", _proxy, methods=_PROXY_METHODS),
diff --git a/tests/test_console.py b/tests/test_console.py
index 67cbff19..c716bafd 100644
--- a/tests/test_console.py
+++ b/tests/test_console.py
@@ -112,6 +112,29 @@ def test_real_static_asset_is_served(console_dir: Path) -> None:
     assert "console.log" in res.text
 
 
+def test_index_is_revalidated_on_every_load(console_dir: Path) -> None:
+    """The SPA shell must never be served from cache without a revalidation.
+
+    index.html names the hashed bundle. With only Last-Modified on it a browser
+    applies heuristic freshness and keeps replaying the shell it saw before —
+    so after `pip install -U vouch-kb` a returning reviewer silently runs the
+    *previous* console build against the new backend, and any response shape
+    that changed in between crashes the render tree.
+    """
+    client = _loopback_client(build_console_app(console_dir))
+    for path in ("/", "/review"):
+        res = client.get(path)
+        assert res.status_code == 200
+        assert "no-cache" in res.headers.get("cache-control", ""), path
+
+
+def test_hashed_assets_stay_cacheable(console_dir: Path) -> None:
+    """Only the shell is revalidated — content-hashed assets are immutable."""
+    res = _loopback_client(build_console_app(console_dir)).get("/assets/app.js")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+    assert "immutable" in res.headers.get("cache-control", "")
+
+
 # --- the /proxy bridge ------------------------------------------------------
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_http_server.py b/tests/test_http_server.py
index d6f3aaa8..8b33cf5b 100644
--- a/tests/test_http_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_http_server.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+from vouch import http_server
 from vouch.http_server import _VouchHTTPServer, make_server, run_http
 from vouch.models import Claim, ProposalStatus
 from vouch.storage import KBStore
@@ -231,3 +232,47 @@ def test_negative_content_length_rejected(base_url: str) -> None:
         return
     status_line = response.partition(b"\r\n")[0]
     assert b" 4" in status_line, status_line
+
+
+# --- event loop stays responsive ------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_slow_rpc_does_not_block_other_requests(
+    kb: KBStore, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+) -> None:
+    """A slow kb.* call must not stall every other request on the server.
+
+    ``handle_request`` is synchronous and CPU/IO-bound — on a real KB a
+    ``kb.status`` can run for seconds. Dispatched inline from the async
+    endpoint it blocks the event loop, so liveness probes and every other
+    in-flight request queue behind it and the console reports the endpoint
+    as unreachable. It has to run off the loop.
+    """
+    import time
+
+    real = http_server.jsonl_server.handle_request
+
+    def slow(envelope: dict) -> dict:
+        time.sleep(1.0)
+        return real(envelope)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(http_server.jsonl_server, "handle_request", slow)
+
+    gen = _serve(make_server("127.0.0.1", 0))
+    url = next(gen)
+    try:
+        rpc = threading.Thread(
+            target=_post, args=(url, {"id": "slow", "method": "kb.status"}), daemon=True
+        )
+        rpc.start()
+        time.sleep(0.2)  # let the slow call reach the handler
+        start = time.monotonic()
+        code, body = _get(url, "/health")
+        elapsed = time.monotonic() - start
+        rpc.join(timeout=10)
+    finally:
+        with pytest.raises(StopIteration):
+            next(gen)
+
+    assert code == 200 and body == {"ok": True}
+    assert elapsed < 0.5, f"/health waited {elapsed:.2f}s behind the slow rpc call"