diff --git a/internal/handlers/koreader.go b/internal/handlers/koreader.go
index 9771a66..d2a2826 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/koreader.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/koreader.go
@@ -883,6 +883,43 @@ func int64PtrToPgInt8(i *int64) pgtype.Int8 {
 	return pgtype.Int8{}
 }
 
+type KOReaderResolveResponse struct {
+	BookUUID string `json:"book_uuid"`
+	SHA256   string `json:"sha256,omitempty"`
+	Title    string `json:"title,omitempty"`
+	Author   string `json:"author,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// ResolveBook maps a file SHA-256 to the book's UUID without touching any
+// progress state. Devices need the UUID to pull metadata, but a freshly
+// downloaded book has none cached yet — the old way of learning it was to
+// push once, which transmitted the device's first-page position to the
+// server and manufactured a progress conflict for books already mid-read
+// from another source. This read-only lookup lets the client link (and
+// pull) without ever pushing bootstrap progress.
+func (h *KOReaderHandler) ResolveBook(c *echo.Context) error {
+	sha256 := c.QueryParam("sha256")
+	if sha256 == "" || len(sha256) != 64 {
+		return c.JSON(http.StatusBadRequest, map[string]string{
+			"error": "sha256 query parameter is required (64 hex characters)",
+		})
+	}
+
+	mediaItem, _, err := h.bookResolver.ResolveBySHA256(c.Request().Context(), sha256)
+	if err != nil {
+		return c.JSON(http.StatusNotFound, map[string]string{
+			"error": "book not found",
+		})
+	}
+
+	return c.JSON(http.StatusOK, KOReaderResolveResponse{
+		BookUUID: uuid.UUID(mediaItem.ID.Bytes).String(),
+		SHA256:   sha256,
+		Title:    mediaItem.Title,
+		Author:   mediaItem.Author.String,
+	})
+}
+
 func (h *KOReaderHandler) GetMetadata(c *echo.Context) error {
 	device := c.Get("device").(database.Devices)
 	userID := device.UserID.Bytes
diff --git a/internal/router/sync.go b/internal/router/sync.go
index 406e453..3e0db37 100644
--- a/internal/router/sync.go
+++ b/internal/router/sync.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ func registerSyncRoutes(cfg *Config) {
 	// KOReader sync routes (device authentication required)
 	koreaderSync := e.Group("/api/sync/koreader")
 	koreaderSync.POST("/progress", cfg.DeviceAuthMiddleware.Authenticate(cfg.KOReaderHandler.SyncProgress))
+	koreaderSync.GET("/resolve", cfg.DeviceAuthMiddleware.Authenticate(cfg.KOReaderHandler.ResolveBook))
 	koreaderSync.GET("/metadata/:uuid", cfg.DeviceAuthMiddleware.Authenticate(cfg.KOReaderHandler.GetMetadata))
 	koreaderSync.GET("/library", cfg.DeviceAuthMiddleware.Authenticate(cfg.KOReaderHandler.GetLibrary))
 	koreaderSync.POST("/bookmarks", cfg.DeviceAuthMiddleware.Authenticate(cfg.KOReaderHandler.SyncBookmarks))