diff --git a/changelog.d/capy-read-queue-notes-in-one-batch-gst-2198.md b/changelog.d/capy-read-queue-notes-in-one-batch-gst-2198.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be5522a5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/capy-read-queue-notes-in-one-batch-gst-2198.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+important: blocker
+---
+- **`gstack-ship-queue land --pin` and the first `ready` on a head no longer spend 15 s re-reading the queue notes.** Rebuilding local queue state from `refs/notes/gstack-trains` ran one `git cat-file blob` process per note, so every land and first READY took 14 to 15 s on the live 1,442 notes and grew about 8 s a week, on course to pass the 120 s command timeout in about three months, where a killed land leaves the land lock held. All the notes are now read by one `git cat-file --batch` process, which takes about 120 ms per rebuild on the same notes and restores byte-identical records. Malformed, empty and wrong-schema notes are still skipped. If that one read fails, the rebuild now says the notes were not read, so `land --repair` and the freeze lock refuse instead of trusting an empty queue (GST-2198).
diff --git a/crew/lib/ship-queue-train-record.ts b/crew/lib/ship-queue-train-record.ts
index 1594f7a59..8c9049396 100644
--- a/crew/lib/ship-queue-train-record.ts
+++ b/crew/lib/ship-queue-train-record.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
  * record is written locally before its note, and the note before any remote
  * effect that depends on it.
  */
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import * as fs from 'node:fs';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { redactFindingSpans } from '../../lib/redact-engine';
@@ -314,7 +315,7 @@ function newerOrMissing(r: AnyRecord): boolean {
   } catch { return true; }
 }
 
-function parseNote(text: string): AnyRecord | null {
+export function parseNote(text: string): AnyRecord | null {
   try {
     const r = JSON.parse(text);
     const ids = /^[A-Za-z0-9._-]{1,128}$/;
@@ -359,13 +360,36 @@ export function forgetNotes(repoRoot: string, names: string[], remote = 'origin'
   return { removed, missing, failed, pushed: p.ok, lease, detail: p.ok ? `notes pushed to ${remote} ${NOTES_REF} (lease ${lease?.slice(0, 12) ?? 'new ref'})` : `git push ${NOTES_REF} rejected: ${p.err.replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim().slice(0, 160)}; the local notes ref was restored` };
 }
 
+/**
+ * The text of each blob, in order, from one `git cat-file --batch` process. Sizes are bytes, so the
+ * output is split as a Buffer before decoding; a missing or non-blob object yields no text. Null when
+ * the process fails, times out or overruns its buffer, so no partial read passes for a complete one.
+ */
+function readBlobs(repoRoot: string, blobs: string[]): string[] | null {
+  const r = spawnSync('git', ['cat-file', '--batch', '--buffer'], { cwd: repoRoot, input: blobs.join('\n') + '\n', timeout: 120_000, maxBuffer: 256 * 1024 * 1024 });
+  if (r.error || r.status !== 0) return null;
+  const out = r.stdout;
+  const texts: string[] = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < out.length;) {
+    const nl = out.indexOf(10, i);
+    if (nl < 0) break;
+    const [, type, size] = out.subarray(i, nl).toString('utf8').split(' ');
+    if (size === undefined) { i = nl + 1; continue; }
+    const end = nl + 1 + Number(size);
+    if (type === 'blob') texts.push(out.subarray(nl + 1, end).toString('utf8'));
+    i = end + 1;
+  }
+  return texts;
+}
+
 /** Rebuild local records from the notes ref: a note whose record is missing locally, or newer than the local copy, is written. */
 export function rebuildFromNotes(repoRoot: string, remote = 'origin'): { restored: number; read: number; detail: string; fetched: boolean } {
   const f = fetchNotes(repoRoot, remote);
   const list = git(repoRoot, ['notes', `--ref=${NOTES_REF}`, 'list']);
   if (!list.ok || !list.out.trim()) return { restored: 0, read: 0, detail: f.detail, fetched: f.ok };
-  const records = list.out.split('\n').map(l => l.split(' ')[0]!).filter(Boolean)
-    .map(blob => parseNote(git(repoRoot, ['cat-file', 'blob', blob]).out)).filter((r): r is AnyRecord => !!r);
+  const texts = readBlobs(repoRoot, list.out.split('\n').map(l => l.split(' ')[0]!).filter(Boolean));
+  if (!texts) return { restored: 0, read: 0, detail: `git cat-file --batch failed reading ${NOTES_REF}; no note was read`, fetched: false };
+  const records = texts.map(parseNote).filter((r): r is AnyRecord => !!r);
   const fresh = records.filter(newerOrMissing);
   for (const r of fresh) writeJsonAtomic(recordPath(r), r);
   return { restored: fresh.length, read: records.length, detail: f.detail, fetched: f.ok };
diff --git a/crew/test/ship-queue-notes-batch.test.ts b/crew/test/ship-queue-notes-batch.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8e4150fcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crew/test/ship-queue-notes-batch.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+/**
+ * rebuildFromNotes reads every refs/notes/gstack-trains note on each land and
+ * first ready (lib/ship-queue-land-direct.ts). Reading them one
+ * `git cat-file blob` process at a time took 15 to 21 s on the live 1,442
+ * notes (reports/GSTA-461.md item 4); these tests pin one batched read and
+ * prove it restores exactly the records the per-note read restored.
+ */
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
+import * as fs from 'node:fs';
+import * as os from 'node:os';
+import * as path from 'node:path';
+import { NOTES_REF, parseNote, rebuildFromNotes, recordPath, type AnyRecord } from '../lib/ship-queue-train-record';
+
+const roots: string[] = [];
+const saved = { root: process.env.GSTACK_STATE_ROOT, path: process.env.PATH };
+afterEach(() => {
+  if (saved.root === undefined) delete process.env.GSTACK_STATE_ROOT; else process.env.GSTACK_STATE_ROOT = saved.root;
+  process.env.PATH = saved.path;
+  while (roots.length) fs.rmSync(roots.pop()!, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+const IDENTITY = { GIT_AUTHOR_NAME: 'notes-fixture', GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL: 'notes@fixture.local', GIT_COMMITTER_NAME: 'notes-fixture', GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL: 'notes@fixture.local' };
+function run(cwd: string, args: string[], input?: string): string {
+  const r = spawnSync('git', args, { cwd, input, encoding: 'utf8', timeout: 60_000, env: { ...process.env, ...IDENTITY } });
+  if (r.status !== 0) throw new Error(`git ${args.join(' ')} failed: ${r.stderr}`);
+  return r.stdout.replace(/\n$/, '');
+}
+
+const KEY = 'example-repo';
+const sha = (s: string) => createHash('sha1').update(s).digest('hex');
+const at = (i: number) => new Date(Date.UTC(2026, 9, 1) + i * 60_000).toISOString();
+const screen = { choice: 'no-screen', policy: null, nonce: null, run: null, merge_sha: null };
+const ready = (i: number, extra: Record<string, unknown> = {}) => ({ schema: 1, kind: 'ready', repo_key: KEY, pr: String(1000 + i), head: sha(`head${i}`), base_sha: sha('base'), ready_at: at(i), screen, updated_at: at(i), ...extra });
+const land = (i: number) => ({ schema: 1, kind: 'land', repo_key: KEY, pr: String(1000 + i), pin: sha(`head${i}`), base_sha: sha('base'), merge_sha: sha(`merge${i}`), tree: sha(`tree${i}`), landed_at: at(i), updated_at: at(i) });
+
+/** The live notes' shapes: ready and land pairs, trains, a freeze, plus the notes the reader must skip or keep byte for byte. */
+function noteBodies(pairs: number): string[] {
+  const bodies: string[] = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < pairs; i++) bodies.push(JSON.stringify(ready(i)), JSON.stringify(land(i)));
+  for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) bodies.push(JSON.stringify({ schema: 1, kind: 'train', nonce: `t${i}`, repo_key: KEY, state: 'merged', slots: [], updated_at: at(i) }));
+  bodies.push(JSON.stringify({ schema: 1, kind: 'freeze', repo_key: KEY, reason: 'red main', cleared_at: at(9), updated_at: at(9) }, null, 2) + '\n');
+  bodies.push('{"schema":1,"kind":"ready",');
+  bodies.push('');
+  bodies.push(JSON.stringify({ schema: 2, kind: 'ready', repo_key: KEY, pr: '1', head: sha('x'), updated_at: at(1) }));
+  bodies.push(JSON.stringify(ready(9000, { note: 'café — 日本語 ✓ multibyte' })));
+  bodies.push(JSON.stringify(ready(9001, { note: `${sha('fake')} blob 12\n{"schema":1}\n` })));
+  return bodies;
+}
+
+/** An origin whose notes ref holds the bodies, each a raw blob (no stripspace), and a fresh clone that has fetched nothing yet. */
+function fixture(bodies: string[]): { repo: string; origin: string } {
+  const root = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gstack-notes-batch-'));
+  roots.push(root);
+  const origin = path.join(root, 'origin.git');
+  const repo = path.join(root, 'work');
+  run(root, ['init', '-q', '--bare', origin]);
+  run(root, ['init', '-q', repo]);
+  run(repo, ['remote', 'add', 'origin', origin]);
+  process.env.GSTACK_STATE_ROOT = path.join(root, 'state');
+  if (!bodies.length) return { repo, origin };
+  const files = bodies.map((b, i) => { const f = path.join(root, `n${i}`); fs.writeFileSync(f, b); return f; });
+  const blobs = run(origin, ['hash-object', '-w', '--stdin-paths'], files.join('\n') + '\n').split('\n');
+  const tree = run(origin, ['mktree'], blobs.map((b, i) => `100644 blob ${b}\t${sha(`annotated${i}`)}`).join('\n') + '\n');
+  run(origin, ['update-ref', NOTES_REF, run(origin, ['commit-tree', tree, '-m', 'Notes added by fixture'])]);
+  return { repo, origin };
+}
+
+/** The reader as it was before the batch: one `git cat-file blob` per listed note, parsed by the same parseNote. */
+function perNoteRecords(repo: string): AnyRecord[] {
+  return run(repo, ['notes', `--ref=${NOTES_REF}`, 'list']).split('\n').map(l => l.split(' ')[0]!).filter(Boolean)
+    .map(blob => parseNote(spawnSync('git', ['cat-file', 'blob', blob], { cwd: repo, encoding: 'utf8', timeout: 60_000 }).stdout.replace(/\n$/, '')))
+    .filter((r): r is AnyRecord => !!r);
+}
+
+function writtenRecords(): Record<string, unknown> {
+  const dir = path.join(process.env.GSTACK_STATE_ROOT!, 'ship-queue');
+  const out: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+  const walk = (d: string) => { for (const e of fs.readdirSync(d, { withFileTypes: true })) { const p = path.join(d, e.name); if (e.isDirectory()) walk(p); else out[p] = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(p, 'utf8')); } };
+  if (fs.existsSync(dir)) walk(dir);
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** A git on PATH that logs each invocation's arguments, so a test can count processes; failBatch makes `cat-file --batch` exit 128. */
+function countingGit(root: string, failBatch = false): string {
+  const real = path.join(spawnSync('git', ['--exec-path'], { encoding: 'utf8', timeout: 10_000 }).stdout.trim(), 'git');
+  const bin = path.join(root, 'bin');
+  const log = path.join(root, 'git.log');
+  fs.mkdirSync(bin, { recursive: true });
+  const fail = failBatch ? `case "$*" in "cat-file --batch"*) exit 128;; esac\n` : '';
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(bin, 'git'), `#!/bin/sh\necho "$*" >> '${log}'\n${fail}exec '${real}' "$@"\n`, { mode: 0o755 });
+  process.env.PATH = `${bin}${path.delimiter}${saved.path}`;
+  return log;
+}
+
+describe('rebuildFromNotes reads the notes in one batch', () => {
+  // Value: protects=land --pin and the first ready stay fast as notes grow (15 to 21 s on 1,442 live notes, past the 120 s command timeout in about three months, which leaves the land lock held);
+  // fails_when=the reader spawns one git process per note again; why_new=no test counted the reader's processes; seam=a logging git on PATH; no_claim=wall time on a loaded machine
+  test('several hundred notes are read by a single git cat-file process', () => {
+    const { repo } = fixture(noteBodies(200));
+    const log = countingGit(path.dirname(repo));
+    const r = rebuildFromNotes(repo, 'origin');
+    const catFiles = fs.readFileSync(log, 'utf8').split('\n').filter(l => l.startsWith('cat-file'));
+    expect(catFiles.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(r).toMatchObject({ read: 408, fetched: true });
+  }, 60_000);
+
+  // Value: protects=land and the freeze lock refuse instead of reading an empty queue when the one batch read fails;
+  // fails_when=readBlobs ignores the batch process's exit status again; why_new=one failed batch drops every note at once, where one failed per-note read dropped one; seam=a git on PATH whose cat-file --batch exits 128; no_claim=timeouts and maxBuffer overruns, which take the same status path
+  test('a failed batch read reports fetched false and restores nothing', () => {
+    const { repo } = fixture(noteBodies(3));
+    countingGit(path.dirname(repo), true);
+    expect(rebuildFromNotes(repo, 'origin')).toMatchObject({ restored: 0, read: 0, fetched: false });
+    expect(writtenRecords()).toEqual({});
+  }, 60_000);
+
+  // Value: protects=the batched read restores exactly what the per-note read restored, so no land or ready sees different queue state;
+  // fails_when=the batch parser mis-sizes a multibyte or header-like body, keeps a malformed, empty or wrong-schema note, or reorders duplicate records; why_new=nothing compared the reader against the per-note read;
+  // seam=a bare origin whose notes are raw blobs; no_claim=notes merge conflicts (fetchNotes)
+  test('the batch restores the same records as the per-note read, skipping malformed, empty and wrong-schema notes', () => {
+    const duplicates = [JSON.stringify(ready(9002, { updated_at: at(1) })), JSON.stringify(ready(9002, { updated_at: at(2), note: 'second copy' }))];
+    const { repo } = fixture([...noteBodies(200), ...duplicates]);
+    const r = rebuildFromNotes(repo, 'origin');
+    const expected = perNoteRecords(repo);
+    expect(expected.length).toBe(410);
+    const byPath: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+    for (const rec of expected) byPath[recordPath(rec)] = rec;
+    expect(writtenRecords()).toEqual(byPath);
+    expect(r).toEqual({ restored: 410, read: 410, detail: 'notes fetched', fetched: true });
+    const multibyte = expected.find(x => x.kind === 'ready' && x.pr === '10000') as { note?: string } | undefined;
+    expect(multibyte?.note).toBe('café — 日本語 ✓ multibyte');
+  }, 60_000);
+
+  // Value: protects=today's rebuild rules (a local record at least as new as its note is kept; a second rebuild restores nothing; no notes ref reads nothing);
+  // fails_when=the batch changes which records count as fresh or fails on an empty ref; why_new=these paths had no direct test; seam=the state root's record files; no_claim=the push side (persist)
+  test('a newer local record is kept, a repeat rebuild restores nothing, and an origin without notes reads nothing', () => {
+    const { repo } = fixture(noteBodies(3));
+    const mine = { ...ready(0), updated_at: at(999), note: 'local copy' } as unknown as AnyRecord;
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(recordPath(mine)), { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(recordPath(mine), JSON.stringify(mine));
+    expect(rebuildFromNotes(repo, 'origin')).toMatchObject({ restored: 13, read: 14 });
+    expect(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(recordPath(mine), 'utf8')).note).toBe('local copy');
+    expect(rebuildFromNotes(repo, 'origin')).toMatchObject({ restored: 0, read: 14, detail: 'notes current' });
+    const empty = fixture([]);
+    expect(rebuildFromNotes(empty.repo, 'origin')).toEqual({ restored: 0, read: 0, detail: `origin has no ${NOTES_REF} yet`, fetched: true });
+  }, 60_000);
+});