diff --git a/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/thread_list.rs b/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/thread_list.rs
index e3d1f33b4c..6ad3d4bd72 100644
--- a/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/thread_list.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/thread_list.rs
@@ -2617,6 +2617,52 @@ async fn thread_list_sort_recency_at_uses_state_db_order_with_provider_filter()
     Ok(())
 }
 
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn thread_list_cold_ascending_recency_returns_next_cursor() -> Result<()> {
+    let home = TempDir::new()?;
+    create_minimal_config(home.path())?;
+    let mut server = init_mcp(home.path()).await?;
+    // Finish startup backfill before adding the two unindexed rollouts.
+    list_threads(
+        &mut server,
+        /*cursor*/ None,
+        Some(1),
+        /*providers*/ None,
+        /*source_kinds*/ None,
+        /*archived*/ None,
+    )
+    .await?;
+    let ids = create_fake_rollouts(
+        home.path(),
+        /*count*/ 2,
+        |_| "mock_provider",
+        |i| {
+            timestamp_at(
+                /*year*/ 2025, /*month*/ 1, /*day*/ 1, /*hour*/ 10, i as u32,
+                /*second*/ 0,
+            )
+        },
+        "Cold thread",
+    )?;
+
+    let mut params: codex_app_server_protocol::ThreadListParams = serde_json::from_value(json!({
+        "limit": 1, "sortKey": "recency_at", "sortDirection": "asc", "modelProviders": ["mock_provider"]
+    }))?;
+    for (index, id) in ids.into_iter().enumerate() {
+        let page: ThreadListResponse = server
+            .request(|request_id| ClientRequest::ThreadList {
+                request_id,
+                params: params.clone(),
+            })
+            .await?;
+        let page_ids: Vec<_> = page.data.into_iter().map(|thread| thread.id).collect();
+        assert_eq!(page_ids, [id]);
+        assert_eq!(page.next_cursor.is_some(), index == 0);
+        params.cursor = page.next_cursor;
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn thread_list_updated_at_paginates_with_cursor() -> Result<()> {
     let codex_home = TempDir::new()?;
diff --git a/codex-rs/rollout/src/recorder.rs b/codex-rs/rollout/src/recorder.rs
index abee7efcfa..b9062c6d6b 100644
--- a/codex-rs/rollout/src/recorder.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/rollout/src/recorder.rs
@@ -612,9 +612,15 @@ impl RolloutRecorder {
         };
         let fs_page = match sort_direction {
             SortDirection::Asc => {
+                // SQLite needs one extra indexed row to produce a recency cursor.
+                let scan_size = if sort_key == ThreadSortKey::RecencyAt && state_db_ctx.is_some() {
+                    page_size.saturating_add(1)
+                } else {
+                    page_size
+                };
                 list_threads_from_files_asc(
                     codex_home,
-                    page_size,
+                    scan_size,
                     cursor,
                     sort_key,
                     file_config,
@@ -1377,8 +1383,8 @@ fn page_from_filesystem_scan(
     sort_key: ThreadSortKey,
 ) -> ThreadsPage {
     match sort_direction {
-        SortDirection::Asc => page,
-        SortDirection::Desc => truncate_fs_page(page, page_size, sort_key),
+        SortDirection::Asc if sort_key != ThreadSortKey::RecencyAt => page,
+        SortDirection::Asc | SortDirection::Desc => truncate_fs_page(page, page_size, sort_key),
     }
 }