diff --git a/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/ConversationAccordion.tsx b/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/ConversationAccordion.tsx
index 0a827a6a..8e2a0582 100644
--- a/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/ConversationAccordion.tsx
+++ b/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/ConversationAccordion.tsx
@@ -700,6 +700,7 @@ export const ConversationAccordion = ({
 			deep: {
 				chunks: {
 					_limit: 25,
+					_sort: ["-timestamp", "-created_at"],
 				},
 			},
 			// Override filter to add tag filtering while preserving project scope
diff --git a/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/OngoingConversationsSummaryCard.tsx b/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/OngoingConversationsSummaryCard.tsx
index 852994c2..cc517917 100644
--- a/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/OngoingConversationsSummaryCard.tsx
+++ b/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/OngoingConversationsSummaryCard.tsx
@@ -1,47 +1,66 @@
-import { readItems } from "@directus/sdk";
+import { aggregate } from "@directus/sdk";
 import { t } from "@lingui/core/macro";
 import { ActionIcon, Group, Stack, Text } from "@mantine/core";
 import { IconRefresh, IconUsersGroup } from "@tabler/icons-react";
-import { useQuery } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+import { useQuery, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+import { useState } from "react";
 import { directus } from "@/lib/directus";
 import { SummaryCard } from "../common/SummaryCard";
 
-const TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 40;
+const TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 30;
 
 export const OngoingConversationsSummaryCard = ({
 	projectId,
 }: {
 	projectId: string;
 }) => {
-	// FIXME: could potentially use the "Aggregate" API to just get the count
+	const queryClient = useQueryClient();
+	// Track previous state to detect changes
+	const [hasOngoingConversations, setHasOngoingConversations] = useState(false);
+	// const hasOngoingConversationsRef = useRef<boolean>(false);
+
 	const conversationChunksQuery = useQuery({
 		queryFn: async () => {
-			const chunks = await directus.request(
-				readItems("conversation_chunk", {
-					fields: ["conversation_id"],
-					filter: {
-						conversation_id: {
-							project_id: projectId,
-						},
-						source: {
-							// @ts-expect-error source is not typed
-							_nin: ["DASHBOARD_UPLOAD", "CLONE"],
-						},
-						timestamp: {
-							// @ts-expect-error gt is not typed
-							_gt: new Date(
-								Date.now() - TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS * 1000,
-							).toISOString(),
+			const result = await directus.request(
+				aggregate("conversation_chunk", {
+					aggregate: {
+						countDistinct: ["conversation_id"],
+					},
+					query: {
+						filter: {
+							conversation_id: {
+								project_id: projectId,
+							},
+							source: {
+								// @ts-expect-error source is not typed
+								_nin: ["DASHBOARD_UPLOAD", "CLONE"],
+							},
+							timestamp: {
+								// @ts-expect-error gt is not typed
+								_gt: new Date(
+									Date.now() - TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS * 1000,
+								).toISOString(),
+							},
 						},
 					},
 				}),
 			);
 
-			const uniqueConversations = new Set(
-				chunks.map((chunk) => chunk.conversation_id),
+			const currentCount = Number(
+				// @ts-expect-error aggregate response type is not properly typed
+				(result[0]?.countDistinct?.conversation_id as string) ?? "0",
 			);
 
-			return uniqueConversations.size;
+			if (currentCount > 0 || hasOngoingConversations) {
+				queryClient.invalidateQueries({
+					queryKey: ["projects", projectId, "conversations"],
+				});
+				setHasOngoingConversations(false);
+			}
+
+			setHasOngoingConversations(currentCount > 0);
+
+			return currentCount;
 		},
 		queryKey: ["conversation_chunks", projectId],
 		refetchInterval: 30000,
diff --git a/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/hooks/index.ts b/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/hooks/index.ts
index ad2fa1db..d9b358ca 100644
--- a/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/hooks/index.ts
+++ b/echo/frontend/src/components/conversation/hooks/index.ts
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ export const useConversationsByProjectId = (
 	query?: Partial<Query<CustomDirectusTypes, Conversation>>,
 	filterBySource?: string[],
 ) => {
-	const TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 40;
+	const TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 30;
 
 	return useQuery({
 		queryFn: async () => {
@@ -667,6 +667,7 @@ export const useConversationsByProjectId = (
 					deep: {
 						chunks: {
 							_limit: loadChunks ? 1000 : 1,
+							_sort: ["-timestamp", "-created_at"],
 						},
 					},
 					fields: [
@@ -868,7 +869,7 @@ export const useInfiniteConversationsByProjectId = (
 	},
 ) => {
 	const { initialLimit = 15 } = options ?? {};
-	const TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 40;
+	const TIME_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 30;
 
 	return useInfiniteQuery({
 		getNextPageParam: (lastPage: { nextOffset?: number }) =>
@@ -880,6 +881,7 @@ export const useInfiniteConversationsByProjectId = (
 					deep: {
 						chunks: {
 							_limit: loadChunks ? 1000 : 1,
+							_sort: ["-timestamp", "-created_at"],
 						},
 					},
 					fields: [