diff --git a/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts b/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts
index 1b2adac..0367fcc 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/services/hermes/sessions-db.ts
@@ -48,12 +48,16 @@ function normalizeNullableString(value: unknown): string | null {
 
 function mapRow(row: Record<string, unknown>): HermesSessionRow {
   const startedAt = normalizeNumber(row.started_at)
+  const rawTitle = normalizeNullableString(row.title)
+  const preview = String(row.preview || '')
+  // Fallback: when no explicit title, use first user message as title (same as CLI path)
+  const title = rawTitle || (preview ? (preview.length > 40 ? preview.slice(0, 40) + '...' : preview) : null)
   return {
     id: String(row.id || ''),
     source: String(row.source || ''),
     user_id: normalizeNullableString(row.user_id),
     model: String(row.model || ''),
-    title: normalizeNullableString(row.title),
+    title,
     started_at: startedAt,
     ended_at: normalizeNullableNumber(row.ended_at),
     end_reason: normalizeNullableString(row.end_reason),
diff --git a/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts b/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts
index 79da8d8..22efa3a 100644
--- a/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts
+++ b/tests/server/sessions-db.test.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,6 @@ describe('session DB summaries', () => {
     expect(allMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('telegram', 2)
     expect(rows[0].last_active).toBe(1710000100)
     expect(rows[0].source).toBe('telegram')
-    expect(rows[0].title).toBeNull()
+    expect(rows[0].title).toBe('preview text')
   })
 })