SQLite-backed followers cache and instant own-profile load

Followers now load instantly from SQLite on startup, then merge
relay results in background. Own profile name/picture loads from
DB cache so sidebar badge never shows raw npub on slow relays.

src/components/follows/FollowsView.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { useNotificationsStore } from "../../stores/notifications";
 import { useProfile } from "../../hooks/useProfile";
 import { useNip05Verified } from "../../hooks/useNip05Verified";
 import { fetchFollowers, ensureConnected } from "../../lib/nostr";
+import { dbLoadFollowers, dbSaveFollowers } from "../../lib/db";
 import { shortenPubkey } from "../../lib/utils";
 
 function FollowRow({
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ export function FollowsView() {
     clearNewFollowers();
   }, []);
 
-  // Fetch followers when tab is selected
+  // Load followers: DB cache first (instant), then relay fetch to merge new ones
   useEffect(() => {
     if (followsTab !== "followers" || !pubkey || followersFetched) return;
     let cancelled = false;
@@ -102,20 +103,35 @@ export function FollowsView() {
 
     (async () => {
       try {
+        // 1) Instant: load from SQLite cache
+        const cached = await dbLoadFollowers(pubkey);
+        if (!cancelled && cached.length > 0) {
+          setFollowers(cached);
+          setFollowersLoading(false); // show cached immediately
+        }
+
+        // 2) Background: fetch from relays and merge
         await ensureConnected();
         let result = await fetchFollowers(pubkey);
-        // Retry once if empty — relays may not be ready yet
-        if (result.length === 0) {
+        if (result.length === 0 && !cancelled) {
           await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 3000));
           if (cancelled) return;
           result = await fetchFollowers(pubkey);
         }
         if (!cancelled) {
-          setFollowers(result);
+          // Merge: union of cached + relay results (relay may return partial set)
+          const merged = Array.from(new Set([...result, ...cached]));
+          setFollowers(merged);
           setFollowersFetched(true);
+          // Persist merged set to DB
+          if (result.length > 0) {
+            dbSaveFollowers(merged, pubkey);
+          }
         }
       } catch (err) {
-        if (!cancelled) setFollowersError(`Failed to load followers: ${err}`);
+        if (!cancelled && followers.length === 0) {
+          setFollowersError(`Failed to load followers: ${err}`);
+        }
       } finally {
         if (!cancelled) setFollowersLoading(false);
       }

src/lib/db.ts

@@ -49,3 +49,16 @@ export function dbMarkNotificationRead(ids: string[]): void {
 export async function dbNewestNotificationTs(ownerPubkey: string, notifType: string): Promise<number | null> {
   return invoke<number | null>("db_newest_notification_ts", { ownerPubkey, notifType }).catch(() => null);
 }
+
+// ── Followers cache ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+/** Save follower pubkeys to SQLite. Fire-and-forget. */
+export function dbSaveFollowers(followers: string[], ownerPubkey: string): void {
+  if (followers.length === 0) return;
+  invoke("db_save_followers", { followers, ownerPubkey }).catch(() => {});
+}
+
+/** Load cached follower pubkeys for owner. */
+export async function dbLoadFollowers(ownerPubkey: string): Promise<string[]> {
+  return invoke<string[]>("db_load_followers", { ownerPubkey }).catch(() => []);
+}

src/lib/nostr/social.ts

@@ -85,10 +85,11 @@ export async function fetchMentions(pubkey: string, since: number, limit = 50):
 
 export async function fetchFollowers(pubkey: string, limit = 200): Promise<string[]> {
   const instance = getNDK();
+  // #p queries on kind 3 are slow on most relays — give them extra time
   const events = await fetchWithTimeout(
     instance,
     { kinds: [3 as NDKKind], "#p": [pubkey], limit },
-    FEED_TIMEOUT,
+    15000,
   );
   const followerPubkeys = new Set<string>();
   for (const e of events) {

src/stores/user.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { useUIStore } from "./ui";
 import { useNotificationsStore } from "./notifications";
 import { useFeedStore } from "./feed";
 import { startNotificationPoller, stopNotificationPoller } from "../lib/notificationPoller";
+import { dbLoadProfile } from "../lib/db";
 
 export interface SavedAccount {
   pubkey: string;
@@ -418,6 +419,24 @@ export const useUserStore = create<UserState>((set, get) => ({
     const { pubkey } = get();
     if (!pubkey) return;
 
+    // Instant: load from SQLite cache so name/picture show immediately
+    if (!get().profile) {
+      try {
+        const cached = await dbLoadProfile(pubkey);
+        if (cached && !get().profile) {
+          const parsed = JSON.parse(cached);
+          set({ profile: parsed });
+          const name = parsed?.displayName || parsed?.name;
+          const picture = parsed?.picture;
+          if (name) {
+            const accounts = upsertAccount(get().accounts, { pubkey, npub: get().npub!, name, picture });
+            persistAccounts(accounts);
+            set({ accounts });
+          }
+        }
+      } catch { /* cache miss is fine */ }
+    }
+
     try {
       const ndk = getNDK();
       const user = ndk.getUser({ pubkey });