diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/resource_limits.rs b/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/resource_limits.rs
index 31be2d69..c034ab79 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/resource_limits.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/resource_limits.rs
@@ -70,20 +70,34 @@ pub fn read() -> BTreeMap<String, AgentLimits> {
     serde_json::from_str(&raw).unwrap_or_default()
 }
 
-/// Look up one agent's overrides. Returns the all-`None` default when
-/// the agent has no entry.
-#[must_use]
-pub fn limits_for(name: &str) -> AgentLimits {
-    read().get(name).cloned().unwrap_or_default()
-}
-
 /// Resolve the effective values for an agent, filling each unset field
 /// from the hive-wide default. This is the single place the fallback
 /// rule lives; `write_dropins` calls it and passes the result straight
 /// to systemd.
+///
+/// Reads the override file. Use [`effective_from`] when resolving more
+/// than one agent in a row.
 #[must_use]
 pub fn effective(name: &str, hive_cpu_quota: &str, hive_memory_max: &str) -> (String, String) {
-    resolve(&limits_for(name), hive_cpu_quota, hive_memory_max)
+    effective_from(&read(), name, hive_cpu_quota, hive_memory_max)
+}
+
+/// [`effective`] against an already-loaded map — the multi-agent form.
+///
+/// `container_view::build_all` renders every agent on each SSE scan, so
+/// it loads the map once and calls this per agent rather than re-reading
+/// the same small file N times per scan.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn effective_from(
+    limits: &BTreeMap<String, AgentLimits>,
+    name: &str,
+    hive_cpu_quota: &str,
+    hive_memory_max: &str,
+) -> (String, String) {
+    match limits.get(name) {
+        Some(l) => resolve(l, hive_cpu_quota, hive_memory_max),
+        None => (hive_cpu_quota.to_owned(), hive_memory_max.to_owned()),
+    }
 }
 
 /// Pure core of [`effective`], split out so the fallback matrix is
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/container_view.rs b/hive-c0re/src/container_view.rs
index f312020e..29fbe451 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/container_view.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/container_view.rs
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ pub async fn build_all(hive: &crate::coordinator::HiveEnv) -> Vec<ContainerView>
     // Empty / absent topology.json → every agent root-level (safe
     // degradation for fresh installs that haven't run sync_agents yet).
     let topology = crate::topology::read();
+    // Same once-per-scan treatment as the topology map: the override file
+    // is read here and resolved per agent below, rather than re-read for
+    // every container on every SSE scan.
+    let limits = crate::resource_limits::read();
     let mut out = Vec::new();
     for c in &raw {
         let Some(logical) = c.strip_prefix(AGENT_PREFIX) else {
@@ -123,7 +127,8 @@ pub async fn build_all(hive: &crate::coordinator::HiveEnv) -> Vec<ContainerView>
             None
         };
         let paused = Coordinator::is_paused(&logical);
-        let (cpu_quota, memory_max) = crate::resource_limits::effective(
+        let (cpu_quota, memory_max) = crate::resource_limits::effective_from(
+            &limits,
             logical.as_str(),
             &hive.agent_cpu_quota,
             &hive.agent_memory_max,