diff --git a/config.php b/config.php
index 7b5d141..9946605 100644
--- a/config.php
+++ b/config.php
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
 define('APP_NAME', 'hyprcrd');
-define('APP_VERSION', '1.8.0');
+define('APP_VERSION', '1.8.1');
 
 // Database path — writable directory, outside webroot
 // DB_PATH / UPLOAD_DIR can be pre-defined by the Electron router for app isolation
diff --git a/electron/package.json b/electron/package.json
index f04f55a..24e08af 100644
--- a/electron/package.json
+++ b/electron/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "hyprcrd",
-  "version": "1.8.0",
+  "version": "1.8.1",
   "description": "hyprcrd — self-hosted card manager",
   "main": "main.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index 87e615f..9c2f4c4 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -961,6 +961,7 @@ if (str_starts_with($route, '/api/')) {
         // them. GET /api/sync-events on the relay auto-marks fetched events.
         // Best-effort — older relays won't have the endpoint.
         $syncEvents = [];
+        $syncDebug = ['requested' => true];
         $sch = curl_init(rtrim($relayUrl, '/') . '/api/sync-events');
         curl_setopt_array($sch, [
             CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
@@ -970,14 +971,20 @@ if (str_starts_with($route, '/api/')) {
         $sResp = curl_exec($sch);
         $sStatus = curl_getinfo($sch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
         curl_close($sch);
+        $syncDebug['status'] = $sStatus;
         if ($sStatus === 200) {
             $decoded = json_decode($sResp, true);
             if (is_array($decoded) && isset($decoded['events'])) {
                 $syncEvents = $decoded['events'];
+                $syncDebug['count'] = count($syncEvents);
+            } else {
+                $syncDebug['parse_error'] = substr((string)$sResp, 0, 200);
             }
+        } else {
+            $syncDebug['body'] = substr((string)$sResp, 0, 200);
         }
 
-        echo json_encode(['ok' => true, 'pulled' => $pulled, 'sync_events' => $syncEvents]); exit;
+        echo json_encode(['ok' => true, 'pulled' => $pulled, 'sync_events' => $syncEvents, 'sync_debug' => $syncDebug]); exit;
     }
 
     // List relay tenants (for the recipient picker)
diff --git a/public/js/modules/caldav.js b/public/js/modules/caldav.js
index 829de4a..4a0337d 100644
--- a/public/js/modules/caldav.js
+++ b/public/js/modules/caldav.js
@@ -340,6 +340,9 @@ function showSyncEventToast(ev) {
 }
 
 function drainSyncEvents(relayRes) {
+    if (relayRes?.sync_debug) {
+        console.debug('[sync-events]', relayRes.sync_debug);
+    }
     const events = Array.isArray(relayRes?.sync_events) ? relayRes.sync_events : [];
     for (const ev of events) showSyncEventToast(ev);
 }
diff --git a/public/js/modules/detail.js b/public/js/modules/detail.js
index 10bb60c..995cbcc 100644
--- a/public/js/modules/detail.js
+++ b/public/js/modules/detail.js
@@ -116,6 +116,10 @@ function showStaleBanner(fresh) {
             state.viewingCard = current;
             renderSidebar(current);
             showContent(current);
+            // Treat the reload as an explicit "I've now seen the new version"
+            // — re-fire detail.opened so collab-buckets clears the red dot
+            // on the board card and persists mark-card-seen to the backend.
+            window.hyprcrd?.hooks?.emit?.('detail.opened', { id: current.id });
         }
         dismissStaleBanner();
     });
@@ -123,7 +127,15 @@ function showStaleBanner(fresh) {
 }
 
 function timeAgo(iso) {
-    const t = new Date(iso).getTime();
+    if (!iso) return '';
+    // SQLite stores CURRENT_TIMESTAMP as UTC without a tz marker
+    // ("2026-04-14 12:34:56"). Without an explicit Z, JS parses it as
+    // local time — off by the tz offset (2h on CEST, hence "2h ago"
+    // for a 30-second-old update).
+    const normalized = String(iso).includes('T') || /[Zz]|[+-]\d\d:?\d\d$/.test(iso)
+        ? iso
+        : iso.replace(' ', 'T') + 'Z';
+    const t = new Date(normalized).getTime();
     if (!isFinite(t)) return '';
     const s = Math.max(0, (Date.now() - t) / 1000);
     if (s < 60)  return `${Math.floor(s)}s ago`;