diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/hooks/useProjectEvents.ts b/frontend/src/lib/hooks/useProjectEvents.ts
index ac4494f..5f2cd15 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/hooks/useProjectEvents.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/hooks/useProjectEvents.ts
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ export function useProjectEvents(
   const isManualDisconnectRef = useRef(false);
   const mountedRef = useRef(true);
   const pingHandlerRef = useRef<(() => void) | null>(null);
+  // Ref to hold latest connect function to avoid stale closure in scheduleReconnect
+  const connectRef = useRef<(() => void) | null>(null);
 
   /**
    * Update connection state and notify callback
@@ -206,11 +208,13 @@ export function useProjectEvents(
 
   /**
    * Calculate next retry delay with exponential backoff
+   * Returns current delay, then increases for next call
    */
   const getNextRetryDelay = useCallback(() => {
-    const nextDelay = currentRetryDelayRef.current * BACKOFF_MULTIPLIER;
-    currentRetryDelayRef.current = Math.min(nextDelay, maxRetryDelay);
-    return currentRetryDelayRef.current;
+    const delay = currentRetryDelayRef.current;
+    // Increase for next call (capped at max)
+    currentRetryDelayRef.current = Math.min(delay * BACKOFF_MULTIPLIER, maxRetryDelay);
+    return delay;
   }, [maxRetryDelay]);
 
   /**
@@ -234,7 +238,8 @@ export function useProjectEvents(
     retryTimeoutRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
       if (!mountedRef.current || isManualDisconnectRef.current) return;
       setRetryCount((prev) => prev + 1);
-      connect();
+      // Use ref to always call latest connect function (avoids stale closure)
+      connectRef.current?.();
     }, delay);
   }, [retryCount, maxRetryAttempts, getNextRetryDelay, updateConnectionState]);
 
@@ -344,6 +349,9 @@ export function useProjectEvents(
     initialRetryDelay,
   ]);
 
+  // Keep ref updated with latest connect function for scheduleReconnect
+  connectRef.current = connect;
+
   /**
    * Manually disconnect from SSE
    */
@@ -371,11 +379,22 @@ export function useProjectEvents(
     clearProjectEvents(projectId);
   }, [clearProjectEvents, projectId]);
 
-  // Consolidated connection management effect
-  // Handles both initial mount and auth state changes to prevent race conditions
+  // Effect 1: Unmount cleanup only
+  // Separated from connection management to prevent cleanup running on every state change
+  // This fixes: when connectionState changes, the old effect cleanup would close EventSource
   useEffect(() => {
     mountedRef.current = true;
 
+    return () => {
+      mountedRef.current = false;
+      cleanup();
+    };
+  }, [cleanup]);
+
+  // Effect 2: Connection management
+  // No cleanup here - only Effect 1 handles cleanup on unmount
+  // This prevents: cleanup closing EventSource immediately after connect() creates it
+  useEffect(() => {
     // Connect when authenticated with a project and not manually disconnected
     if (autoConnect && isAuthenticated && accessToken && projectId) {
       if (connectionState === 'disconnected' && !isManualDisconnectRef.current) {
@@ -385,21 +404,7 @@ export function useProjectEvents(
       // Disconnect when auth is lost
       disconnect();
     }
-
-    return () => {
-      mountedRef.current = false;
-      cleanup();
-    };
-  }, [
-    autoConnect,
-    isAuthenticated,
-    accessToken,
-    projectId,
-    connectionState,
-    connect,
-    disconnect,
-    cleanup,
-  ]);
+  }, [autoConnect, isAuthenticated, accessToken, projectId, connectionState, connect, disconnect]);
 
   return {
     events,
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/stores/authStore.ts b/frontend/src/lib/stores/authStore.ts
index 7f9579c..4d347c4 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/stores/authStore.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/stores/authStore.ts
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ function isValidToken(token: string): boolean {
  * @returns Unix timestamp
  */
 function calculateExpiry(expiresIn?: number): number {
-  // Default to 15 minutes if not provided or invalid
-  let seconds = expiresIn || 900;
+  // Use nullish coalescing - 0 is invalid but should trigger warning, not silent fallback
+  let seconds = expiresIn ?? 900;
 
   // Validate positive number and prevent overflow
   if (seconds <= 0 || seconds > 31536000) {