diff --git a/arborist/read.py b/arborist/read.py
index b10f9fa..df44e90 100644
--- a/arborist/read.py
+++ b/arborist/read.py
@@ -1105,6 +1105,16 @@ class SessionsView:
                 "file:{0}?mode=ro".format(path), uri=True,
                 check_same_thread=False,
             )
+            # Autocommit: every SELECT runs in its own implicit
+            # transaction that ends as soon as the cursor is consumed.
+            # Without this, Python's sqlite3 default ("legacy" mode)
+            # opens an implicit read transaction on the first SELECT
+            # and holds it until commit/rollback — pinning the
+            # connection to a stale WAL snapshot when another process
+            # (the REPL writer) is committing live. The viz needs to
+            # see fresh writes from the user's REPL session without a
+            # restart.
+            self._conn.isolation_level = None
             self._conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
         except Exception as exc:
             log.warning("arborist.read.sessions: open failed for %s: %s",