diff --git a/BookhoardAPI.lua b/BookhoardAPI.lua
index b5208bc..8fc05d7 100644
--- a/BookhoardAPI.lua
+++ b/BookhoardAPI.lua
@@ -126,6 +126,13 @@ function BookhoardAPI:syncProgress(book_data, sync_mode)
     }, PROGRESS_TIMEOUTS)
 end
 
+-- Read-only SHA-256 → book UUID lookup. Used to link a freshly downloaded
+-- book WITHOUT pushing progress (a push would transmit the device's
+-- first-page position and clobber/conflict with real server progress).
+function BookhoardAPI:resolveBook(sha256)
+    return self:_request("GET", "/api/sync/koreader/resolve?sha256=" .. sha256, nil, PROGRESS_TIMEOUTS)
+end
+
 function BookhoardAPI:getMetadata(uuid)
     return self:_request("GET", "/api/sync/koreader/metadata/" .. uuid, nil, PROGRESS_TIMEOUTS)
 end
diff --git a/main.lua b/main.lua
index f8405c1..250c909 100644
--- a/main.lua
+++ b/main.lua
@@ -121,17 +121,13 @@ end
 function Bookhoard:onReaderReady()
     if self.settings.auto_sync then
         UIManager:nextTick(function()
-            -- On the first open of a freshly downloaded book there is no cached
-            -- bookhoard UUID yet (it is only learned from a successful push
-            -- response). Pulling now would just fail with "Push progress first".
-            -- Instead, push once to bootstrap identity: the server resolves the
-            -- book by SHA-256 (format-aware) and returns the UUID, which we then
-            -- cache. After that, push and pull both work without ordering.
-            if not self:getBookhoardUUID() then
-                self:updateProgress(true, false)
-            else
-                self:getProgress(true, false)
-            end
+            -- Pull-first on every open. A freshly downloaded book has no cached
+            -- bookhoard UUID yet; getProgress resolves it by SHA-256 with a
+            -- read-only lookup (no progress push). The previous push-to-
+            -- bootstrap strategy transmitted the device's first-page position
+            -- to the server on books already mid-read elsewhere, creating a
+            -- sync conflict before the first pull could ever happen.
+            self:getProgress(true, false)
         end)
     end
     self:registerEvents()
@@ -1116,9 +1112,70 @@ function Bookhoard:getProgress(ensure_networking, interactive)
     self.pull_timestamp = now
 end
 
--- Establish the bookhoard UUID for the current document by pushing once, then
--- (once cached) perform the originally-requested pull. Used when a pull is
--- requested before any push has run on a newly downloaded book.
+-- Link the current document to Bookhoard WITHOUT pushing progress, then run
+-- the pull. The UUID is learned via a read-only SHA-256 resolve; only when
+-- the server does not know the hash at all (sideloaded book) do we fall back
+-- to the legacy push-bootstrap, and only for background (non-interactive)
+-- flows — a user-initiated pull must never push this device's position.
+function Bookhoard:_linkBookThenPull(interactive)
+    local file_sha256 = self:getFileSHA256()
+    if not file_sha256 then
+        if interactive then
+            UIManager:show(InfoMessage:new{
+                text = _("Could not read this file to link it with Bookhoard."),
+                timeout = 3,
+            })
+        end
+        return
+    end
+
+    UIManager:scheduleIn(0.5, function()
+        local api = self:getAPI()
+        local ok, result = api:resolveBook(file_sha256)
+
+        UIManager:nextTick(function()
+            if not self.ui.doc_settings then return end
+
+            if ok and type(result) == "table" and result.book_uuid then
+                self.ui.doc_settings:saveSetting("bookhoard_uuid", result.book_uuid)
+                self.ui.doc_settings:flush()
+                logger.dbg("Bookhoard: linked book by SHA-256 to", result.book_uuid)
+                self:_doGetProgress(interactive)
+                return
+            end
+
+            if result and result.status == 404 then
+                -- Genuinely unknown to the server (sideloaded book). The
+                -- legacy push-bootstrap only ever linked such books via fuzzy
+                -- title/author matching; keep that as a background attempt,
+                -- but tell interactive users to push explicitly.
+                if interactive then
+                    UIManager:show(InfoMessage:new{
+                        text = _("This book is not in your Bookhoard library yet. Push progress to link it."),
+                        timeout = 4,
+                    })
+                else
+                    self:_bootstrapUUIDThenPull(interactive)
+                end
+                return
+            end
+
+            logger.warn("Bookhoard: failed to resolve book by SHA-256")
+            if interactive then
+                UIManager:show(InfoMessage:new{
+                    text = _("Could not reach Bookhoard. Check your network connection and try again."),
+                    timeout = 4,
+                })
+            end
+        end)
+    end)
+end
+
+-- Legacy fallback: establish the bookhoard UUID for the current document by
+-- pushing once, then (once cached) perform the originally-requested pull.
+-- Only reached from background flows when the SHA-256 resolve reported the
+-- book as unknown to the server; the push mainly serves fuzzy title/author
+-- linking and device alias registration for sideloaded books.
 function Bookhoard:_bootstrapUUIDThenPull(interactive)
     self:updateProgress(false, false)
     UIManager:scheduleIn(2, function()