diff --git a/.fallowrc.jsonc b/.fallowrc.jsonc
index e7642999fe..c746ae1e84 100644
--- a/.fallowrc.jsonc
+++ b/.fallowrc.jsonc
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@
     },
     {
       "file": "packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts",
-      "exports": ["furthestClipEndFromDocument", "furthestClipEndFromSource"],
+      "exports": ["furthestClipEndFromDocument"],
     },
     {
       "file": "packages/studio/src/components/sidebar/AssetContextMenu.tsx",
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.test.ts
index 8d629f2542..a912e3e81b 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.test.ts
@@ -233,6 +233,28 @@ describe("extendRootDurationIfNeeded", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("buildTimelineMoveTimingPatch", () => {
+  it.each([
+    { root: ' data-duration="20"', length: 'data-composition-id="c" data-duration="8"' },
+    { root: "", length: 'data-composition-id="c">' },
+  ])(
+    "parses the saved file once to move a clip and sync the length (root$root)",
+    ({ root, length }) => {
+      const source = `<div data-composition-id="c"${root}><div id="a" class="clip" data-start="1" data-duration="3"></div></div>`;
+      const parse = vi.spyOn(DOMParser.prototype, "parseFromString");
+      try {
+        const patched = buildTimelineMoveTimingPatch(source, { id: "a" }, 5, 3);
+
+        expect(patched).toContain('data-start="5"');
+        expect(patched).toContain(length);
+        expect(parse).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      } finally {
+        parse.mockRestore();
+      }
+    },
+  );
+});
+
 describe("buildTimelineResizeTimingPatch", () => {
   it("moves a source-only in-point by the caller's own start change", () => {
     const source = `<div id="root"><video id="a" class="clip" data-start="5" data-duration="3" data-media-start="0.337"></video></div>`;
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.ts b/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.ts
index 93078796bd..381bc332fd 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/timelineEditingHelpers.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import {
 } from "../player/components/timelineEditing";
 import { getElementZIndex } from "../player/lib/layerOrdering";
 import {
-  furthestClipEndFromSource,
+  furthestClipEndFromDocument,
   getTimelineElementIdentity,
   playbackStartAttributeForElement,
   readPlaybackStartAttributes,
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
 import { serializeStudioFileMutations } from "../utils/studioFileMutationCoordinator";
 import type { TimelineZIndexReorderCommit } from "./useTimelineEditingTypes";
 import { setCompositionDurationToContent } from "../utils/timelineAssetDrop";
+import { rootCompositionDurationOf } from "../utils/rootDuration";
 import { readFileContent } from "./timelineTimingSync";
 import {
   findElementForSelection,
@@ -263,7 +264,22 @@ export function applyTimelineMoveAttributes(
 // Root data-duration follows the furthest clip end in the source; the store's durations are
 // truncated to the current length, so reading them would ratchet the duration down every edit.
 export function syncCompositionDurationToContent(source: string): string {
-  return setCompositionDurationToContent(source, furthestClipEndFromSource(source));
+  return syncCompositionDurationWithEnd(source).source;
+}
+
+/** The synced source and the clip end it was synced to, from one parse of the source. */
+export function syncCompositionDurationWithEnd(source: string): {
+  source: string;
+  contentEnd: number;
+} {
+  const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString(source, "text/html");
+  const contentEnd = furthestClipEndFromDocument(doc);
+  const synced = setCompositionDurationToContent(
+    source,
+    contentEnd,
+    rootCompositionDurationOf(doc),
+  );
+  return { source: synced, contentEnd };
 }
 
 export function buildTimelineMoveTimingPatch(
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.test.tsx b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.test.tsx
index 1c1bc63c37..ed2b71c960 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.test.tsx
@@ -275,6 +275,16 @@ describe("useTimelineDeleteOps: undo race", () => {
       await flushStudioPendingEdits();
     });
   });
+
+  it("shows the shortened length while the last clip's delete is still saving", async () => {
+    const { gate, recordEdit, deleteSelection } = mountRaceHarness();
+    usePlayerStore.getState().setDuration(6);
+    const deletePromise = deleteSelection();
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(recordEdit).toHaveBeenCalled());
+    expect(usePlayerStore.getState().duration).toBe(4);
+    gate.resolve();
+    await deletePromise;
+  });
 });
 
 // Regression: the live preview kept a deleted clip until its reload landed, and composition
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.ts b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.ts
index a7d0155fe7..8c45aab0ab 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useTimelineDeleteOps.ts
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@ import { usePlayerStore } from "../player";
 import { saveServerRewriteWithHistory, type RecordEditInput } from "../utils/studioFileHistory";
 import { studioWriteHeaders } from "../utils/studioFileVersion";
 import { getTimelineElementLabel } from "../utils/studioHelpers";
-import { buildPatchTarget, removeIframeTimelineElements } from "./timelineEditingHelpers";
+import {
+  buildPatchTarget,
+  removeIframeTimelineElements,
+  syncCompositionDurationWithEnd,
+} from "./timelineEditingHelpers";
 import { captureDurationRollback, timingGestureStep } from "./timelineTimingSync";
 import { setLinkInSource } from "../components/editor/mediaLinkEdits";
-import { setCompositionDurationToContent } from "../utils/timelineAssetDrop";
-import { furthestClipEndFromSource } from "../player/lib/timelineElementHelpers";
 import {
   resolveMainTrackDeleteRippleShifts,
   resolveShiftedElements,
@@ -143,16 +145,13 @@ export function useTimelineDeleteOps({
                 typeof removeData.content === "string" ? removeData.content : originalContent;
               // Shrink to the furthest remaining clip end, read from the post-removal source:
               // store durations are runtime-truncated.
-              const deleteContentEnd = furthestClipEndFromSource(removedContent);
-              const patchedContent = unlinkInSource(
-                setCompositionDurationToContent(removedContent, deleteContentEnd),
-                alsoUnlink,
-              );
+              const synced = syncCompositionDurationWithEnd(removedContent);
+              const patchedContent = unlinkInSource(synced.source, alsoUnlink);
               // Optimistically reflect the shrunk length in the readout/seek bar,
               // rolling it back if the persist below fails (see captureDurationRollback).
               rollbackDuration = captureDurationRollback(previewIframeRef.current);
-              if (deleteContentEnd > 0 && targetPath === (activeCompPath || "index.html")) {
-                usePlayerStore.getState().setDuration(deleteContentEnd);
+              if (synced.contentEnd > 0 && targetPath === (activeCompPath || "index.html")) {
+                usePlayerStore.getState().setDuration(synced.contentEnd);
               }
               return { disk: removedContent, after: patchedContent };
             },
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts
index 1a7363e34f..4979642e07 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts
@@ -130,17 +130,6 @@ export function readTimelineDurationFromDocument(doc: Document | null | undefine
   return furthestClipEndFromDocument(doc);
 }
 
-/**
- * Furthest clip end parsed straight from a composition SOURCE STRING (the HTML
- * being saved). Uses raw `data-duration`, so it is the correct input for syncing
- * the root duration after an edit — reading the store instead would use the
- * runtime-truncated durations and shrink the composition (the feedback loop).
- */
-export function furthestClipEndFromSource(source: string): number {
-  if (!source) return 0;
-  return furthestClipEndFromDocument(new DOMParser().parseFromString(source, "text/html"));
-}
-
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // DOM element type guards
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/rootDuration.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/rootDuration.ts
index 32724c6a72..1b12c00dc1 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/rootDuration.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/rootDuration.ts
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@ const DATA_DURATION_ATTR_RE = /(\bdata-duration\s*=\s*)(["'])[^"']*\2/i;
  * Deterministic and render-safe: DOMParser is the only DOM global used.
  */
 export function readRootCompositionDuration(source: string): number | null {
-  const root = new DOMParser()
-    .parseFromString(source, "text/html")
-    .querySelector("[data-composition-id]");
-  const raw = root?.getAttribute("data-duration");
+  return rootCompositionDurationOf(new DOMParser().parseFromString(source, "text/html"));
+}
+
+export function rootCompositionDurationOf(doc: Document): number | null {
+  const raw = doc.querySelector("[data-composition-id]")?.getAttribute("data-duration");
   if (raw == null) return null;
   return Number.parseFloat(raw);
 }
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.test.ts
index 2e354840e0..b7750fd994 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // @vitest-environment jsdom
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import {
   buildTimelineFileDropPlacements,
   buildTimelineAssetInsertHtml,
@@ -24,9 +24,18 @@ describe("setCompositionDurationToContent", () => {
     expect(setCompositionDurationToContent(src(5), 12)).toContain('data-duration="12"');
   });
 
-  it("is a no-op when content end is 0 (empty timeline keeps its declared length)", () => {
-    expect(setCompositionDurationToContent(src(12), 0)).toBe(src(12));
-  });
+  it.each([0, -1, Number.NaN, Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY])(
+    "keeps the declared length without parsing when content end is %s",
+    (contentEnd) => {
+      const parse = vi.spyOn(DOMParser.prototype, "parseFromString");
+      try {
+        expect(setCompositionDurationToContent(src(12), contentEnd)).toBe(src(12));
+        expect(parse).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      } finally {
+        parse.mockRestore();
+      }
+    },
+  );
 
   it("is a no-op when already equal", () => {
     expect(setCompositionDurationToContent(src(9), 9)).toBe(src(9));
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.ts
index 840ca379b3..c138fa251a 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineAssetDrop.ts
@@ -155,9 +155,13 @@ export function extendCompositionDurationIfNeeded(source: string, requiredEnd: n
  * reduce the furthest clip end (delete/trim). No-op when `contentEnd` is not > 0, so
  * an empty timeline keeps its declared duration instead of collapsing to 0.
  */
-export function setCompositionDurationToContent(source: string, contentEnd: number): string {
+export function setCompositionDurationToContent(
+  source: string,
+  contentEnd: number,
+  rootDuration?: number | null,
+): string {
   if (!Number.isFinite(contentEnd) || contentEnd <= 0) return source;
-  const rootDur = readRootCompositionDuration(source);
+  const rootDur = rootDuration === undefined ? readRootCompositionDuration(source) : rootDuration;
   if (rootDur == null) return source;
   const next = roundToCenti(contentEnd);
   if (rootDur === next) return source;