diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/Cortinilla.qml b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/Cortinilla.qml
index b103ecf47..b7c53f603 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/Cortinilla.qml
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/qml/shell/Cortinilla.qml
@@ -19,7 +19,12 @@ import "../theme"
 Item {
     id: root
     anchors.fill: parent
-    visible: QbzSearch.cortinillaOpen
+    // Open AND the live query long enough to have meaningful results — the
+    // same >= 2 gate the controller applies, so a 1-char query never flashes
+    // a half-empty panel (Cortinilla.slint:190-191). cortinillaQuery is
+    // published synchronously per keystroke, so this tracks what the user
+    // has typed rather than what last finished loading.
+    visible: QbzSearch.cortinillaOpen && QbzSearch.cortinillaQuery.length >= 2
 
     // The host HeaderBar (for clearSearch on row activation).
     property var headerBar: null
@@ -206,7 +211,12 @@ Item {
                         Text {
                             x: 14
                             anchors.verticalCenter: parent.verticalCenter
-                            text: QbzSession.tr("No results for", QbzSession.trRev) + " “" + (root.doc.query || "") + "”"
+                            // The LIVE query, matching the reference
+                            // (Cortinilla.slint:373 reads
+                            // SearchState.cortinilla-query, not the payload's
+                            // echo) — otherwise the empty state quotes the
+                            // previous query while the user reads it.
+                            text: QbzSession.tr("No results for", QbzSession.trRev) + " “" + QbzSearch.cortinillaQuery + "”"
                             color: theme.textMuted
                             font.pixelSize: 12
                         }
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/src/main.rs b/crates/qbz-qt/src/main.rs
index 6dcdf7e73..2551152e9 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/src/main.rs
@@ -1774,6 +1774,10 @@ fn republish_artist(artist_id: String) {
 // ============================ Search (phase 15) ===========================
 
 pub(crate) fn search_live(query: String) {
+    // The live query is published FIRST, before the offline bail and before
+    // anything async: it is what Enter and "View more" submit, and it must
+    // describe what the user has typed, never what last finished loading.
+    search_bridge::set_cortinilla_query(query.trim().to_string());
     if offline_fwd::engine().status().is_offline() {
         // Qobuz-only surface (the local cortinilla sections are not
         // ported — search_qt.rs POC-NOTE): nothing to show offline.
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_bridge.rs b/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_bridge.rs
index 4179dc60e..2a26b916f 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_bridge.rs
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_bridge.rs
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ pub mod qbz_search {
 }
 
 use core::pin::Pin;
-use std::sync::OnceLock;
+use std::sync::{Mutex, OnceLock};
 
 use cxx_qt::CxxQtThread;
 use cxx_qt::Threading as _;
@@ -155,6 +155,37 @@ impl Default for QbzSearchRust {
     }
 }
 
+/// Rust-side mirror of the `cortinillaQuery` property.
+///
+/// The two `async fn`s that need the live query (`search_qt::view_more` and
+/// `::search_all_action`) run on tokio, where reading a Qt property is not
+/// possible without a round trip. Both are written by ONE function
+/// ([`set_cortinilla_query`]) so they cannot diverge — the same discipline
+/// `search_qt.rs`'s `CORT_OPEN` mirror documents for `cortinillaOpen`.
+static CORT_QUERY: Mutex<String> = Mutex::new(String::new());
+
+/// Publish the live header query — property AND mirror, in that order.
+///
+/// Called SYNCHRONOUSLY from the invokable path, ahead of the debounce and
+/// ahead of any fetch, so a query the user has typed is readable the instant
+/// it exists. Slint's twin is `SearchState.cortinilla-query`, set at
+/// `qbz/src/main.rs:9647` before its debounce starts.
+pub(crate) fn set_cortinilla_query(q: String) {
+    *CORT_QUERY.lock().unwrap_or_else(|e| e.into_inner()) = q.clone();
+    ui(move |mut b| {
+        b.as_mut().set_cortinilla_query(QString::from(q.as_str()));
+    });
+}
+
+/// The live header query as last published. Empty before the first keystroke
+/// and after a clear.
+pub(crate) fn cortinilla_query() -> String {
+    CORT_QUERY
+        .lock()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|e| e.into_inner())
+        .clone()
+}
+
 static QT_THREAD: OnceLock<CxxQtThread<QbzSearch>> = OnceLock::new();
 
 /// Queue a search-bridge mutation onto the Qt event loop. NO-OP before
diff --git a/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_qt.rs b/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_qt.rs
index 57e919939..f0be2a50b 100644
--- a/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_qt.rs
+++ b/crates/qbz-qt/src/search_qt.rs
@@ -916,14 +916,18 @@ pub async fn view_more(runtime: &Arc<AppRuntime<LoggingAdapter>>, kind: &str) {
         "playlist" => 4,
         _ => 0,
     };
-    let q = LAST_CORT.lock().unwrap().as_ref().map(|d| d.query.clone()).unwrap_or_default();
+    // The LIVE query, not the last successfully loaded payload's: a fetch can
+    // still be in flight (and `dismiss` is not a cancellation point), so
+    // LAST_CORT lags whatever the user has actually typed.
+    let q = crate::search_bridge::cortinilla_query();
     set_cortinilla_open(false);
     submit(runtime, &q, Some(tab)).await;
 }
 
 /// The Enter affordance with no keyboard selection: full search, All tab.
 pub async fn search_all_action(runtime: &Arc<AppRuntime<LoggingAdapter>>) {
-    let q = LAST_CORT.lock().unwrap().as_ref().map(|d| d.query.clone()).unwrap_or_default();
+    // See `view_more`: the live query, never LAST_CORT's.
+    let q = crate::search_bridge::cortinilla_query();
     set_cortinilla_open(false);
     submit(runtime, &q, Some(0)).await;
 }