@@ -2132,39 +2132,52 @@ pub(crate) fn index_page_inner(
2132         // optimize.yaml AND at least one experiment with a matching primary
2133         // metric is reachable from the tip. Same definition as the repo
2134         // page branches table.
2135+        //
2136+        // Walk `repo.references()` directly instead of `repo.remotes()`.
2137+        // `.remotes()` loads `SignedRefs` per peer (signature verification,
2138+        // identity checks) which is the dominant cost of rendering this page
2139+        // at ~1.4ms per peer and ~1.3s across a seed's full peer set. We
2140+        // only need (namespace, refname, tip) for the counting logic, which
2141+        // `.references()` returns directly from a single libgit2 ref walk.
2142+        // The difference vs signed-refs is that `.references()` sees every
2143+        // ref file under `refs/namespaces/<peer>/refs/heads/*`, including
2144+        // any transiently-unsigned ones — acceptable for an approximate
2145+        // index-page count.
2146         let mut branches_count = 0usize;
2136-        if let Ok(remotes_iter) = repo.remotes() {
2137-            for remote in remotes_iter.filter_map(|r| r.ok().map(|(_, rm)| rm)) {
2138-                for (refname, tip_oid) in remote.refs.iter() {
2139-                    if refname.as_str().strip_prefix("refs/heads/").is_none() {
2140-                        continue;
2147+        if let Ok(refs_iter) = repo.references() {
2148+            for r in refs_iter.filter_map(Result::ok) {
2149+                if r.namespace.is_none() {
2150+                    continue;
2151+                }
2152+                if !r.name.as_str().starts_with("refs/heads/") {
2153+                    continue;
2154+                }
2155+                let tip_oid = r.oid;
2156+                let Some(branch_config) =
2157+                    radicle_experiment::benchmark::config_at_commit(&repo, tip_oid)
2158+                else {
2159+                    continue;
2160+                };
2161+                let Some(branch_primary) = branch_config.metrics.first() else {
2162+                    continue;
2163+                };
2164+                let branch_metric_name = &branch_primary.name;
2165+                let has_member = all_exps.iter().any(|(_, e)| {
2166+                    if e.redacted {
2167+                        return false;
2168                     }
2142-                    let Some(branch_config) =
2143-                        radicle_experiment::benchmark::config_at_commit(&repo, *tip_oid)
2144-                    else {
2145-                        continue;
2146-                    };
2147-                    let Some(branch_primary) = branch_config.metrics.first() else {
2148-                        continue;
2149-                    };
2150-                    let branch_metric_name = &branch_primary.name;
2151-                    let has_member = all_exps.iter().any(|(_, e)| {
2152-                        if e.redacted {
2153-                            return false;
2154-                        }
2155-                        let Some(epm) = e.metrics.first() else { return false };
2156-                        if epm.name != *branch_metric_name {
2157-                            return false;
2158-                        }
2159-                        e.oid == *tip_oid
2160-                            || ReadRepository::is_ancestor_of(&repo, e.oid, *tip_oid)
2161-                                .unwrap_or(false)
2162-                            || ReadRepository::is_ancestor_of(&repo, e.base, *tip_oid)
2163-                                .unwrap_or(false)
2164-                    });
2165-                    if has_member {
2166-                        branches_count += 1;
2169+                    let Some(epm) = e.metrics.first() else { return false };
2170+                    if epm.name != *branch_metric_name {
2171+                        return false;
2172                     }
2173+                    e.oid == tip_oid
2174+                        || ReadRepository::is_ancestor_of(&repo, e.oid, tip_oid)
2175+                            .unwrap_or(false)
2176+                        || ReadRepository::is_ancestor_of(&repo, e.base, tip_oid)
2177+                            .unwrap_or(false)
2178+                });
2179+                if has_member {
2180+                    branches_count += 1;
2181                 }
2182             }
2183         }