diff --git a/scraper/internal/orchestrator/orchestrator_test.go b/scraper/internal/orchestrator/orchestrator_test.go
index 9a1de11..5e08378 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/orchestrator/orchestrator_test.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/orchestrator/orchestrator_test.go
@@ -90,6 +90,10 @@ func (s *mockStore) WriteChapter(_ context.Context, slug string, ch scraper.Chap
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (s *mockStore) WriteChapterRefs(_ context.Context, _ string, _ []scraper.ChapterRef) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (s *mockStore) WriteMetadata(_ context.Context, meta scraper.BookMeta) error {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
diff --git a/scraper/internal/server/handlers_preview.go b/scraper/internal/server/handlers_preview.go
index 983ff48..15505c4 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/server/handlers_preview.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/server/handlers_preview.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ package server
 //	GET  /api/chapter-text-preview/{slug}/{n}   — scrape a single chapter text live
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
@@ -75,6 +76,26 @@ func (s *Server) handleBookPreview(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		chapters = []scraper.ChapterRef{}
 	}
 
+	// If the book was not already in the library, persist the metadata and
+	// chapter list skeleton to PocketBase now so that subsequent visits load
+	// from the local store rather than scraping live again.  Chapter text is
+	// NOT fetched here — that still requires an explicit scrape job.
+	if !inLib {
+		go func() {
+			bgCtx := context.Background()
+			if werr := s.store.WriteMetadata(bgCtx, meta); werr != nil {
+				s.log.Warn("book-preview: WriteMetadata failed (non-fatal)", "slug", slug, "err", werr)
+			}
+			if len(chapters) > 0 {
+				if werr := s.store.WriteChapterRefs(bgCtx, slug, chapters); werr != nil {
+					s.log.Warn("book-preview: WriteChapterRefs failed (non-fatal)", "slug", slug, "err", werr)
+				}
+			}
+			s.log.Info("book-preview: metadata+chapter list persisted", "slug", slug, "chapters", len(chapters))
+		}()
+		inLib = true // will be true by the time the client navigates back
+	}
+
 	resp := BookPreviewResponse{
 		InLib:    inLib,
 		Meta:     meta,
diff --git a/scraper/internal/storage/hybrid.go b/scraper/internal/storage/hybrid.go
index 63b0053..cd89cfb 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/storage/hybrid.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/storage/hybrid.go
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ func (h *HybridStore) WriteChapter(ctx context.Context, slug string, chapter scr
 	return nil
 }
 
+// WriteChapterRefs upserts chapter index rows (number + title) for all refs
+// without writing any chapter text to MinIO. This pre-populates the chapter
+// list when a book is first seen via a live preview.
+func (h *HybridStore) WriteChapterRefs(ctx context.Context, slug string, refs []scraper.ChapterRef) error {
+	return h.pb.WriteChapterRefs(ctx, slug, refs)
+}
+
 func (h *HybridStore) ReadChapter(ctx context.Context, slug string, n int) (string, error) {
 	return h.minio.GetChapter(ctx, slug, 0, n)
 }
diff --git a/scraper/internal/storage/pocketbase.go b/scraper/internal/storage/pocketbase.go
index c740fac..ea3dde9 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/storage/pocketbase.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/storage/pocketbase.go
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/libnovel/scraper/internal/scraper"
 )
 
 // PocketBaseConfig holds PocketBase connection settings.
@@ -542,6 +544,23 @@ func (s *PocketBaseStore) UpsertChapterIdx(ctx context.Context, slug string, num
 		})
 }
 
+// WriteChapterRefs upserts chapter index rows (number + title) for all refs
+// without writing any chapter text. Errors are logged and skipped; the
+// operation is best-effort.
+func (s *PocketBaseStore) WriteChapterRefs(ctx context.Context, slug string, refs []scraper.ChapterRef) error {
+	var firstErr error
+	for _, ref := range refs {
+		if err := s.UpsertChapterIdx(ctx, slug, ref.Number, ref.Title, ""); err != nil {
+			s.log.Warn("pocketbase: WriteChapterRefs: upsert failed",
+				"slug", slug, "chapter", ref.Number, "err", err)
+			if firstErr == nil {
+				firstErr = err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return firstErr
+}
+
 func (s *PocketBaseStore) ListChapterIdx(ctx context.Context, slug string) ([]map[string]interface{}, error) {
 	return s.pb.listAll(ctx, "chapters_idx",
 		fmt.Sprintf(`slug="%s"`, pbEsc(slug)), "+number")
diff --git a/scraper/internal/storage/store.go b/scraper/internal/storage/store.go
index 3a04663..5b54bae 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/storage/store.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/storage/store.go
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ type Store interface {
 	ChapterExists(ctx context.Context, slug string, ref scraper.ChapterRef) bool
 	// WriteChapter stores the chapter markdown.
 	WriteChapter(ctx context.Context, slug string, chapter scraper.Chapter) error
+	// WriteChapterRefs persists chapter metadata (number + title) into the
+	// chapters_idx table without fetching or storing any chapter text.
+	// It is used to pre-populate the chapter list when a book is first seen
+	// via a live preview, before its chapter text has been scraped.
+	WriteChapterRefs(ctx context.Context, slug string, refs []scraper.ChapterRef) error
 	// ReadChapter returns the raw markdown for chapter number n.
 	ReadChapter(ctx context.Context, slug string, n int) (string, error)
 	// ListChapters returns all stored chapters for slug, sorted by number.