diff --git a/src/ensure_up.rs b/src/ensure_up.rs
index fd80d5d..d6b6969 100644
--- a/src/ensure_up.rs
+++ b/src/ensure_up.rs
@@ -148,6 +148,23 @@ pub fn pid_is_alive(pid: u32) -> bool {
     crate::platform::process_alive(pid)
 }
 
+/// Cheap "is THIS session's daemon alive" — reads our own `daemon.pid` and
+/// checks that one pid. Unlike [`daemon_liveness`] it does NOT run the
+/// machine-wide process-enumeration scan (`find_processes_by_cmdline`) or
+/// `list_sessions` (which reads every by-key home's agent-card) or a
+/// per-session `pid_is_alive` sweep — work that only the orphan/`wire status`
+/// path needs. On Windows those each shell out (PowerShell CIM, `tasklist` ×N,
+/// hundreds of NTFS dir reads), so calling full `daemon_liveness` purely to read
+/// `pidfile_alive` made every `wire_send` cost seconds (#350). One pidfile read
+/// plus one `pid_is_alive` (one `tasklist` on Windows) yields the identical
+/// `daemon_seen` boolean for a fraction of the cost.
+pub fn daemon_pidfile_alive() -> bool {
+    read_pid_record("daemon")
+        .pid()
+        .map(pid_is_alive)
+        .unwrap_or(false)
+}
+
 /// Read the daemon pid file + pgrep in one shot, producing a snapshot
 /// every caller can interpret identically. The point of this helper
 /// is that three independent callers used to compute liveness three
@@ -750,4 +767,14 @@ mod tests {
             assert_eq!(daemon_version_mismatch(), None);
         });
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn daemon_pidfile_alive_false_without_pidfile() {
+        // No daemon.pid → false, with no process-enumeration shell-out. (The
+        // send-path annotation reads only this, not the full daemon_liveness
+        // scan — the #350 Windows hot-path fix.)
+        crate::config::test_support::with_temp_home(|| {
+            assert!(!daemon_pidfile_alive());
+        });
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/mcp.rs b/src/mcp.rs
index 6f03aef..daa44f0 100644
--- a/src/mcp.rs
+++ b/src/mcp.rs
@@ -1362,10 +1362,14 @@ fn tool_send(args: &Value) -> Result<Value, String> {
         // these are diagnostic-only (the verdict in `status` is the
         // authoritative answer), but they're cheap to compute and
         // existing consumers may key on them.
-        let snap = crate::ensure_up::daemon_liveness();
+        // Cheap pidfile-only liveness: the annotation needs just `daemon_seen`,
+        // NOT the machine-wide orphan scan `daemon_liveness` runs (PowerShell
+        // CIM + list_sessions over every by-key home + tasklist ×N on Windows —
+        // seconds per send, #350). One pidfile check gives the same boolean.
+        let daemon_seen = crate::ensure_up::daemon_pidfile_alive();
         let last_sync_age = crate::ensure_up::last_sync_age_seconds();
         if let Some(obj) = v.as_object_mut() {
-            obj.insert("daemon_seen".into(), json!(snap.pidfile_alive));
+            obj.insert("daemon_seen".into(), json!(daemon_seen));
             obj.insert("last_sync_age_seconds".into(), json!(last_sync_age));
             obj.insert(
                 "stale_sync".into(),
@@ -1378,7 +1382,9 @@ fn tool_send(args: &Value) -> Result<Value, String> {
     // Legacy --queue path. Outbox-write, daemon push loop drains.
     let line = serde_json::to_vec(&signed).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
     let outbox = config::append_outbox_record(peer, &line).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
-    let snap = crate::ensure_up::daemon_liveness();
+    // Cheap pidfile-only liveness (see the sync branch above) — avoids the
+    // machine-wide orphan scan on the hot send path (#350).
+    let daemon_seen = crate::ensure_up::daemon_pidfile_alive();
     let last_sync_age = crate::ensure_up::last_sync_age_seconds();
     // Honesty check mirror of the CLI: if the peer is BOTH
     // unpinned in trust AND has no pending pair (outbound or
@@ -1406,7 +1412,7 @@ fn tool_send(args: &Value) -> Result<Value, String> {
         "status": "queued",
         "peer": peer,
         "outbox": outbox.to_string_lossy(),
-        "daemon_seen": snap.pidfile_alive,
+        "daemon_seen": daemon_seen,
         "last_sync_age_seconds": last_sync_age,
         "stale_sync": config::stale_sync(last_sync_age),
     });