diff --git a/packages/agent/src/harness/session/search.ts b/packages/agent/src/harness/session/search.ts
index 0bd44c44c..d75a606eb 100644
--- a/packages/agent/src/harness/session/search.ts
+++ b/packages/agent/src/harness/session/search.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ export interface SessionSearchOptions {
 export interface SessionSearchHit<TMetadata extends SessionMetadata = SessionMetadata> {
 	metadata: TMetadata;
 	entryId: string;
-	timestamp: string;
+	timestamp: number;
 	snippet?: string;
 	score?: number;
 }
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ class ScanningSessionSearch<TMetadata extends SessionMetadata = SessionMetadata>
 				hits.push({
 					metadata,
 					entryId: entry.id,
-					timestamp: new Date(entry.timestamp).toISOString(),
+					timestamp: entry.timestamp,
 					snippet: payload,
 				});
 			}
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/migrations/001_initial.sql b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/migrations/001_initial.sql
index 706b0b04d..fc9e277e2 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/migrations/001_initial.sql
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/migrations/001_initial.sql
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS sessions (
 	id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
-	created_at TEXT NOT NULL,
+	created_at INTEGER NOT NULL,
 	cwd TEXT NOT NULL,
 	parent_session_id TEXT NULL,
 	metadata TEXT NULL
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS entries (
 	id TEXT NOT NULL,
 	parent_id TEXT NULL,
 	type TEXT NOT NULL,
-	timestamp TEXT NOT NULL,
+	timestamp INTEGER NOT NULL,
 	payload TEXT NOT NULL,
 	PRIMARY KEY (session_id, id),
 	UNIQUE (session_id, seq)
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS records (
 	run_id TEXT NULL,
 	type TEXT NOT NULL,
 	op_kind TEXT NULL,
-	timestamp TEXT NOT NULL,
+	timestamp INTEGER NOT NULL,
 	payload TEXT NOT NULL,
 	PRIMARY KEY (session_id, id),
 	UNIQUE (session_id, seq)
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/repo.ts b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/repo.ts
index 8135d7e32..81f86bea9 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/repo.ts
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/repo.ts
@@ -175,14 +175,6 @@ function configureSqliteDatabase(db: SqliteDatabase): void {
 	sql`PRAGMA busy_timeout=5000`.exec(db);
 }
 
-function timestampToText(timestamp: number): string {
-	return new Date(timestamp).toISOString();
-}
-
-function timestampFromText(timestamp: string): number {
-	return Date.parse(timestamp);
-}
-
 function entryRowFromCached(row: CachedBranchEntryRow): EntryRow {
 	return { ...row, seq: row.entry_seq, type: row.type as Entry["type"] };
 }
@@ -198,9 +190,7 @@ function readObjectPayload(row: EntryRow): Record<string, unknown> {
 function decodeEntry(row: EntryRow): Entry {
 	try {
 		const payload = readObjectPayload(row);
-		const timestamp = timestampFromText(row.timestamp);
-		if (!Number.isFinite(timestamp)) throw new Error(`Invalid timestamp ${row.timestamp}`);
-		const base = { id: row.id, seq: row.seq, parentId: row.parent_id, timestamp };
+		const base = { id: row.id, seq: row.seq, parentId: row.parent_id, timestamp: row.timestamp };
 		switch (row.type) {
 			case "message":
 				if (typeof payload.message !== "object" || payload.message === null) throw new Error("Missing message");
@@ -283,14 +273,12 @@ function recordOpKind(record: NewRecord): string | undefined {
 	return record.type === "operation_started" ? record.intent.kind : undefined;
 }
 
-function decodeRecord(row: { seq: number; timestamp: string; payload: string }): LaneRecord {
+function decodeRecord(row: { seq: number; timestamp: number; payload: string }): LaneRecord {
 	try {
-		const timestamp = timestampFromText(row.timestamp);
-		if (!Number.isFinite(timestamp)) throw new Error(`Invalid timestamp ${row.timestamp}`);
 		return {
 			...(JSON.parse(row.payload) as object),
 			seq: row.seq,
-			timestamp,
+			timestamp: row.timestamp,
 		} as LaneRecord;
 	} catch (error) {
 		throw new SessionError(
@@ -476,7 +464,7 @@ class SqliteSessionStorage implements SessionStorage<SqliteSessionMetadata> {
 				id: committed.id,
 				parentId: committed.parentId,
 				type: committed.type,
-				timestamp: timestampToText(committed.timestamp),
+				timestamp: committed.timestamp,
 				payload: JSON.stringify(entryPayload(committed)),
 			});
 			setLaneLeaf(this.db, this.metadata.id, lane, committed.id);
@@ -514,7 +502,7 @@ class SqliteSessionStorage implements SessionStorage<SqliteSessionMetadata> {
 				runId: recordRunId(record),
 				type: record.type,
 				opKind: recordOpKind(record),
-				timestamp: timestampToText(committed.timestamp),
+				timestamp: committed.timestamp,
 				payload: JSON.stringify(record),
 			});
 			if (record.type === "operation_finished") {
@@ -739,7 +727,7 @@ export class SqliteSessionRepository
 			const lease = db.transaction(() => {
 				insertSessionRow(db, {
 					id,
-					createdAt: timestampToText(createdAt),
+					createdAt,
 					cwd: options.cwd,
 					parentSessionId: options.parentSessionId,
 					metadata: options.metadata,
@@ -870,7 +858,7 @@ export class SqliteSessionRepository
 				lease = db.transaction(() => {
 					insertSessionRow(db, {
 						id,
-						createdAt: timestampToText(createdAt),
+						createdAt,
 						cwd: options.cwd,
 						parentSessionId: options.parentSessionId ?? source.id,
 						metadata,
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/search-backend.ts b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/search-backend.ts
index e22de3340..cf6976dfd 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/search-backend.ts
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/search-backend.ts
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ class SqliteSessionSearch implements SessionSearch<SqliteSessionMetadata> {
 					WHERE f.session_id = s.id AND f.kind = 'name' AND f.key IS NULL
 				)
 			WHERE session_search_fts MATCH ${query} AND (${cwd} IS NULL OR s.cwd = ${cwd})
-			ORDER BY score`.all<SessionRow & { entry_id: string; timestamp: string; score: number }>(db);
+			ORDER BY score`.all<SessionRow & { entry_id: string; timestamp: number; score: number }>(db);
 			const path = await this.getDatabasePath();
 			return rows.map((row) => ({
 				metadata: decodeSessionMetadata(row, path),
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/branch-entries.ts b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/branch-entries.ts
index 76016a71c..276ca8947 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/branch-entries.ts
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/branch-entries.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ export interface CachedBranchEntryRow {
 	entry_seq: number;
 	parent_id: string | null;
 	type: Entry["type"];
-	timestamp: string;
+	timestamp: number;
 	payload: string;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/entries.ts b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/entries.ts
index e76ef3cf6..2c5b9472c 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/entries.ts
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/entries.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ export interface EntryRow {
 	id: string;
 	parent_id: string | null;
 	type: Entry["type"];
-	timestamp: string;
+	timestamp: number;
 	payload: string;
 }
 
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ export interface NewEntryRow {
 	id: string;
 	parentId: string | null;
 	type: Entry["type"];
-	timestamp: string;
+	timestamp: number;
 	payload: string;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/records.ts b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/records.ts
index 1dc357227..7c810c2c8 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/records.ts
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/records.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ export interface RecordRow {
 	run_id: string | null;
 	type: string;
 	op_kind: string | null;
-	timestamp: string;
+	timestamp: number;
 	payload: string;
 }
 
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export interface NewRecordRow {
 	runId?: string;
 	type: string;
 	opKind?: string;
-	timestamp: string;
+	timestamp: number;
 	payload: string;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/sessions.ts b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/sessions.ts
index f4c54ecf5..e954c0b38 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/sessions.ts
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/src/sqlite/storage/sessions.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import type { SqliteDatabase, SqliteSessionMetadata } from "../types.ts";
 
 export interface SessionRow {
 	id: string;
-	created_at: string;
+	created_at: number;
 	metadata: string | null;
 	cwd: string;
 	parent_session_id: string | null;
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ export interface SessionRow {
 
 export interface NewSessionRow {
 	id: string;
-	createdAt: string;
+	createdAt: number;
 	cwd: string;
 	parentSessionId?: string;
 	metadata?: Record<string, unknown>;
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ export function decodeSessionMetadata(row: SessionRow, path: string): SqliteSess
 	const name = row.has_session_name === 0 ? undefined : parseSessionName(row.session_name, row.id);
 	return {
 		id: row.id,
-		createdAt: Date.parse(row.created_at),
+		createdAt: row.created_at,
 		...(name === undefined ? {} : { name }),
 		cwd: row.cwd,
 		path,
diff --git a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/test/search.test.ts b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/test/search.test.ts
index f9f5cec4c..497a5582c 100644
--- a/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/test/search.test.ts
+++ b/packages/session-backends/sqlite-node/test/search.test.ts
@@ -30,8 +30,10 @@ describe("SQLite FTS5 session search", () => {
 		await expect(search.search({ text: "auth", cwd: root })).resolves.toEqual([
 			expect.objectContaining({
 				entryId,
+				timestamp: expect.any(Number),
 				metadata: expect.objectContaining({
 					id: "included",
+					createdAt: expect.any(Number),
 					name: "Canonical name",
 					metadata: { name: "application-owned" },
 				}),