diff --git a/static/js/sw.js b/static/js/sw.js
index 05999e6..aa6b47a 100644
--- a/static/js/sw.js
+++ b/static/js/sw.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * diora service worker — caches the app shell for offline use.
  */
 
-const CACHE = 'diora-v8';
+const CACHE = 'diora-v9';
 const PODCAST_CACHE = 'diora-podcast-v1';
 const SHELL = [
   '/static/css/app.css',
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ self.addEventListener('fetch', function (event) {
     return;
   }
 
-  // Cache-first only for pre-defined shell assets; everything else hits the network
+  // Cache-first for pre-defined shell assets
   const isShell = SHELL.some(function (s) { return url.pathname === s; });
   if (isShell) {
     event.respondWith(
@@ -79,5 +79,22 @@ self.addEventListener('fetch', function (event) {
         return cached || fetch(event.request);
       })
     );
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Navigation requests (the HTML page itself): network-first, fall back to
+  // last cached version so the app opens offline after being visited once.
+  if (event.request.mode === 'navigate') {
+    event.respondWith(
+      fetch(event.request).then(function (response) {
+        if (response.ok) {
+          var clone = response.clone();
+          caches.open(CACHE).then(function (cache) { cache.put(event.request, clone); });
+        }
+        return response;
+      }).catch(function () {
+        return caches.match(event.request);
+      })
+    );
   }
 });