diff --git a/src/Backend/AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Tests/SessionStatsProjectionEquivalenceTests.cs b/src/Backend/AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Tests/SessionStatsProjectionEquivalenceTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ee9762d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Backend/AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Tests/SessionStatsProjectionEquivalenceTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using Azure.Data.Tables;
+using AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Services;
+using AutopilotMonitor.Shared.Models;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions;
+using Moq;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Tests;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Pins that the column-projected SessionsIndex scan driving <c>GetSessionStatsAsync</c> produces
+/// byte-identical dashboard stats to the old full-row drain — in particular that the omitted
+/// columns can never shift the (historically fragile) DurationSeconds calculation.
+///
+/// The stats drain reads only <c>SessionStatsProjection</c>
+/// { PartitionKey, RowKey, SessionId, Status, StartedAt, CompletedAt, DurationSeconds }. In real
+/// Azure Table Storage a <c>$select</c> returns ONLY those properties; every other column is
+/// genuinely absent from the entity. These tests reproduce that faithfully: the "projected" row is
+/// built with the projected keys ONLY (no IsPreProvisioned / ResumedAt / noise), so a getter for an
+/// omitted column returns null exactly as it would against the live service. We then map both shapes
+/// through the production mapper (<see cref="TableStorageService.MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary"/>)
+/// and through <see cref="TableStorageService.AggregateSessionStats"/> and assert equivalence.
+/// </summary>
+public class SessionStatsProjectionEquivalenceTests
+{
+    private const string TenantId = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000abc";
+
+    private static readonly TableStorageService Sut =
+        new(new Mock<TableServiceClient>().Object, NullLogger<TableStorageService>.Instance);
+
+    // SessionsIndex RowKey = inverted-tick prefix + "_" + sessionId (see ComputeIndexRowKey).
+    private static string IndexRowKey(DateTime startedAt, string sessionId)
+        => $"{(DateTime.MaxValue.Ticks - startedAt.Ticks):D19}_{sessionId}";
+
+    /// <summary>Full ~40-column mirror row as the list drain would read it (no projection).</summary>
+    private static TableEntity FullRow(
+        string sessionId, string status, DateTime startedAt,
+        int? durationSeconds, DateTime? completedAt,
+        bool isPreProvisioned, DateTime? resumedAt)
+    {
+        var e = new TableEntity(TenantId, IndexRowKey(startedAt, sessionId))
+        {
+            ["SessionId"] = sessionId,
+            ["Status"] = status,
+            ["StartedAt"] = new DateTimeOffset(startedAt),
+            ["IsPreProvisioned"] = isPreProvisioned,
+            // Representative noise that the stats never read — present on a real mirror row, absent
+            // on the projected one. Proves the projection drops them without changing the outcome.
+            ["SerialNumber"] = "SN-FULL",
+            ["DeviceName"] = "PC-FULL",
+            ["Manufacturer"] = "Contoso",
+            ["Model"] = "Model-X",
+            ["OsName"] = "Windows 11",
+            ["GeoCountry"] = "DE",
+            ["EventCount"] = 123,
+            ["PlatformScriptCount"] = 4,
+            ["FailureSnapshotJson"] = "{\"big\":\"" + new string('x', 2000) + "\"}",
+        };
+        if (durationSeconds.HasValue) e["DurationSeconds"] = durationSeconds.Value;
+        if (completedAt.HasValue) e["CompletedAt"] = new DateTimeOffset(completedAt.Value);
+        if (resumedAt.HasValue) e["ResumedAt"] = new DateTimeOffset(resumedAt.Value);
+        return e;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Reduces a full mirror row to exactly what Azure returns under the production
+    /// <c>$select = SessionStatsProjection</c>: the projected data columns plus the structural
+    /// PartitionKey/RowKey; every other property is genuinely absent. Deriving the keep-set from
+    /// the production array (rather than hardcoding it) means dropping a column there — e.g.
+    /// CompletedAt — would immediately fail the fallback test below.
+    /// </summary>
+    private static TableEntity Project(TableEntity full)
+    {
+        var keep = new HashSet<string>(TableStorageService.SessionStatsProjection, StringComparer.Ordinal);
+        var projected = new TableEntity(full.PartitionKey, full.RowKey);
+        foreach (var kv in full)
+        {
+            // PartitionKey/RowKey/Timestamp/ETag are structural (set via ctor / system-managed).
+            if (kv.Key is "PartitionKey" or "RowKey" or "Timestamp" or "odata.etag") continue;
+            if (keep.Contains(kv.Key)) projected[kv.Key] = kv.Value;
+        }
+        return projected;
+    }
+
+    // ── DurationSeconds equivalence — the historically fragile field ─────────────
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Succeeded_whiteglove_with_stored_duration_maps_identically_despite_dropped_columns()
+    {
+        // The decisive case: a WhiteGlove (IsPreProvisioned + ResumedAt) Succeeded session. The full
+        // row carries both columns; the projected row drops them. They feed ONLY the Part-2 branch,
+        // which is gated on status==InProgress, so a Succeeded session must resolve to the stored
+        // duration on BOTH shapes. If the projection were unsafe this is where it would break.
+        var started = DateTime.UtcNow.AddHours(-3);
+        var sid = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
+
+        var fullRow = FullRow(
+            sid, "Succeeded", started, durationSeconds: 1800, completedAt: started.AddSeconds(1800),
+            isPreProvisioned: true, resumedAt: started.AddMinutes(20));
+        var full = Sut.MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(fullRow);
+        var projected = Sut.MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(Project(fullRow));
+
+        Assert.Equal(1800, full.DurationSeconds);
+        Assert.Equal(full.DurationSeconds, projected.DurationSeconds);
+        Assert.Equal(full.Status, projected.Status);
+        Assert.Equal(full.StartedAt, projected.StartedAt);
+        Assert.Equal(sid, projected.SessionId);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Succeeded_without_stored_duration_falls_back_to_completedAt_on_both_shapes()
+    {
+        // No stored DurationSeconds → ComputeEffectiveDuration uses (CompletedAt - StartedAt).
+        // CompletedAt IS in the projection precisely so this fallback stays identical; this test
+        // would fail if CompletedAt were ever dropped from SessionStatsProjection.
+        var started = DateTime.UtcNow.AddHours(-2);
+        var completed = started.AddSeconds(1200);
+        var sid = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
+
+        var fullRow = FullRow(
+            sid, "Succeeded", started, durationSeconds: null, completedAt: completed,
+            isPreProvisioned: false, resumedAt: null);
+        var full = Sut.MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(fullRow);
+        var projected = Sut.MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(Project(fullRow));
+
+        Assert.Equal(1200, full.DurationSeconds);
+        Assert.Equal(full.DurationSeconds, projected.DurationSeconds);
+    }
+
+    // ── End-to-end: projected drain yields identical SessionStats ────────────────
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void AggregateSessionStats_is_identical_for_full_vs_projected_fleet()
+    {
+        var now = DateTime.UtcNow;
+        // A representative mixed fleet covering every status the cards count, including a WhiteGlove
+        // Succeeded (drops IsPreProvisioned/ResumedAt), a CompletedAt-fallback Succeeded, and an
+        // InProgress WhiteGlove whose per-row duration DOES diverge between shapes but which the
+        // tally never reads — so the aggregate must still match exactly.
+        var fleet = new (string Status, DateTime Started, int? Dur, DateTime? Completed, bool Wg, DateTime? Resumed)[]
+        {
+            ("Succeeded",  now.AddHours(-1),  1800, now.AddHours(-1).AddSeconds(1800), false, null),
+            ("Succeeded",  now.AddHours(-2),  600,  now.AddHours(-2).AddSeconds(600),  true,  now.AddHours(-2).AddMinutes(15)), // WhiteGlove
+            ("Succeeded",  now.AddHours(-3),  null, now.AddHours(-3).AddSeconds(900),  false, null), // CompletedAt fallback
+            ("Failed",     now.AddHours(-4),  7200, now.AddHours(-4).AddSeconds(7200), false, null), // duration ignored for Failed
+            ("InProgress", now.AddMinutes(-30), 60, null,                              true,  now.AddMinutes(-10)), // WG in-flight: per-row dur diverges, ignored
+            ("Pending",    now.AddDays(-2),   null, null,                              true,  null),
+            ("Stalled",    now.AddHours(-9),  null, null,                              false, null),
+            ("Succeeded",  now.Date.AddHours(2), 1200, now.Date.AddHours(2).AddSeconds(1200), false, null), // today
+            ("Failed",     now.Date.AddHours(3), null, null,                          false, null), // today
+        };
+
+        var fullSummaries = new List<SessionSummary>();
+        var projectedSummaries = new List<SessionSummary>();
+        foreach (var (status, started, dur, completed, wg, resumed) in fleet)
+        {
+            var sid = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
+            var fullRow = FullRow(sid, status, started, dur, completed, wg, resumed);
+            fullSummaries.Add(Sut.MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(fullRow));
+            projectedSummaries.Add(Sut.MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(Project(fullRow)));
+        }
+
+        var full = TableStorageService.AggregateSessionStats(fullSummaries, days: 30);
+        var projected = TableStorageService.AggregateSessionStats(projectedSummaries, days: 30);
+
+        Assert.Equal(full.Days, projected.Days);
+        Assert.Equal(full.ActiveCount, projected.ActiveCount);
+        Assert.Equal(full.TotalLastNDays, projected.TotalLastNDays);
+        Assert.Equal(full.SucceededLastNDays, projected.SucceededLastNDays);
+        Assert.Equal(full.FailedLastNDays, projected.FailedLastNDays);
+        Assert.Equal(full.SuccessRatePct, projected.SuccessRatePct);
+        Assert.Equal(full.AvgDurationMinutes, projected.AvgDurationMinutes); // the duration-sensitive card
+        Assert.Equal(full.TotalToday, projected.TotalToday);
+        Assert.Equal(full.FailedToday, projected.FailedToday);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Backend/AutopilotMonitor.Functions/Services/TableStorageService.Sessions.cs b/src/Backend/AutopilotMonitor.Functions/Services/TableStorageService.Sessions.cs
index 95bfbd71..fabbc513 100644
--- a/src/Backend/AutopilotMonitor.Functions/Services/TableStorageService.Sessions.cs
+++ b/src/Backend/AutopilotMonitor.Functions/Services/TableStorageService.Sessions.cs
@@ -293,7 +293,9 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Services
         /// The key difference from the primary-table mapping: SessionId comes from a stored property
         /// instead of RowKey (which contains the inverted-tick key in the index).
         /// </summary>
-        private SessionSummary MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(TableEntity entity)
+        // internal (not private) so SessionStatsProjectionEquivalenceTests can pin that a row
+        // carrying only SessionStatsProjection maps to the same stat-relevant fields as a full row.
+        internal SessionSummary MapIndexEntityToSessionSummary(TableEntity entity)
             => MapToSessionSummary(entity, entity.GetString("SessionId") ?? ExtractSessionIdFromIndexRowKey(entity.RowKey));
 
         // ===== SESSION MANAGEMENT METHODS =====
@@ -788,7 +790,7 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Services
         /// <see cref="GetSessionsPageAsync(string, int?, int, string?)"/> (single page).
         /// </summary>
         private async Task<(List<SessionSummary> Sessions, bool HasMore, string? NextCursor)> FetchSessionsPageInternalAsync(
-            string tenantId, int maxResults, string? cursor, int? days)
+            string tenantId, int maxResults, string? cursor, int? days, IEnumerable<string>? select = null)
         {
             SecurityValidator.EnsureValidGuid(tenantId, nameof(tenantId));
 
@@ -817,9 +819,12 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Services
                 // mechanics are independent of the date window so a tenant with more
                 // than `maxResults` matching sessions remains fully reachable across
                 // multiple calls (was: silently capped at 10k pre-fix).
+                // select == null → full mirror row (every existing caller). The stats drain passes a
+                // narrow projection so it doesn't materialize the ~40-column row just to tally statuses.
                 var query = indexTableClient.QueryAsync<TableEntity>(
                     filter: filter,
-                    maxPerPage: Math.Min(maxResults + 1, 1000)
+                    maxPerPage: Math.Min(maxResults + 1, 1000),
+                    select: select
                 );
 
                 var sessions = new List<SessionSummary>();
@@ -961,12 +966,39 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Functions.Services
         /// Computed server-side so the cards don't depend on whatever the client has
         /// paginated into memory.
         /// </summary>
+        // Columns AggregateSessionStats (and the ComputeEffectiveDuration it relies on for Succeeded
+        // sessions) actually reads, plus PartitionKey/RowKey/SessionId for the TenantId map + page
+        // cursor. Everything else on the ~40-column SessionsIndex mirror (FailureSnapshotJson, Os*,
+        // Geo*, PendingActionsJson, …) is never consumed by the tally, so the stats drain skips it.
+        // Crucially IsPreProvisioned/ResumedAt are omitted on purpose: they only feed the WhiteGlove
+        // Part-2 duration branch, which is gated on status==InProgress, and the stats never read
+        // DurationSeconds for InProgress sessions — so dropping them cannot change any reported value.
+        // Equivalence is pinned by SessionStatsProjectionEquivalenceTests. Non-projected columns map
+        // to null/default via the Safe*/`?? ` getters in MapToSessionSummary — no missing-column throw.
+        // internal so the equivalence test derives its simulated projected row from this exact set
+        // (any future column drop here is automatically reflected in the test's faithfulness).
+        internal static readonly string[] SessionStatsProjection =
+            { "PartitionKey", "RowKey", "SessionId", "Status", "StartedAt", "CompletedAt", "DurationSeconds" };
+
         public async Task<SessionStats> GetSessionStatsAsync(string tenantId, int days)
         {
             SecurityValidator.EnsureValidGuid(tenantId, nameof(tenantId));
             if (days < 1) throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(days));
 
-            var sessions = await GetSessionsAsync(tenantId, days);
+            // Stats are a pure status/duration tally, so drain the window with a projected
+            // SessionsIndex scan instead of GetSessionsAsync's full-row materialization. Same
+            // cursor/HasMore/fallback mechanics as the list drain (via FetchSessionsPageInternalAsync),
+            // just a narrower column set — the returned partial summaries never leave this method.
+            var sessions = new List<SessionSummary>();
+            string? cursor = null;
+            do
+            {
+                var page = await FetchSessionsPageInternalAsync(
+                    tenantId, maxResults: 1000, cursor: cursor, days: days, select: SessionStatsProjection);
+                sessions.AddRange(page.Sessions);
+                cursor = page.HasMore ? page.NextCursor : null;
+            } while (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(cursor));
+
             return AggregateSessionStats(sessions, days);
         }