diff --git a/contributors/emails/B0on@users.noreply.github.com b/contributors/emails/B0on@users.noreply.github.com
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8fd956faf4cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contributors/emails/B0on@users.noreply.github.com
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+B0on
diff --git a/hermes_cli/cli_info_mixin.py b/hermes_cli/cli_info_mixin.py
index 0d7fbbd6ca58..1950d3ac2b43 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/cli_info_mixin.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/cli_info_mixin.py
@@ -772,9 +772,12 @@ def _show_insights(self, command: str = "/insights"):
                 i += 1
 
         try:
-            from hermes_state import SessionDB
+            from hermes_state import SessionDB, _default_db_path
             from agent.insights import InsightsEngine
-            db = SessionDB()
+            if not _default_db_path().exists():
+                print("  No session data yet.")
+                return
+            db = SessionDB(read_only=True)
             try:
                 engine = InsightsEngine(db)
                 print(engine.format_terminal(engine.generate(days=days, source=source)))
diff --git a/hermes_cli/main_agent_cmds.py b/hermes_cli/main_agent_cmds.py
index 1b5264703b46..4efc80e597a9 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main_agent_cmds.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main_agent_cmds.py
@@ -105,9 +105,12 @@ def cmd_tools(args):
 def cmd_insights(args):
     db = None
     try:
-        from hermes_state import SessionDB
+        from hermes_state import SessionDB, _default_db_path
         from agent.insights import InsightsEngine
-        db = SessionDB()
+        if not _default_db_path().exists():
+            print("No session data yet.")
+            return
+        db = SessionDB(read_only=True)
         engine = InsightsEngine(db)
         report = engine.generate(days=args.days, source=args.source)
         print(engine.format_terminal(report))
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_cli_insights_command.py b/tests/cli/test_cli_insights_command.py
index dea3e094a264..9d623f5d391f 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_cli_insights_command.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_cli_insights_command.py
@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 
+import pytest
+
 from cli import HermesCLI
 from hermes_cli.main_agent_cmds import cmd_insights
+from hermes_state import _default_db_path
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _state_db_exists():
+    # insights short-circuits before opening when state.db is absent.
+    _default_db_path().parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    _default_db_path().touch()
 
 
 class _InsightsEngineStub:
@@ -45,6 +55,30 @@ def test_cli_insights_keeps_days_flag_and_source(capsys):
     assert "days=14 source=discord" in capsys.readouterr().out
 
 
+def test_insights_opens_state_db_read_only():
+    # `hermes insights` / `/insights` are readers; a read-write SessionDB
+    # would take a writer connection on the live gateway's state.db.
+    runs = (
+        lambda: HermesCLI.__new__(HermesCLI)._show_insights("/insights 7"),
+        lambda: cmd_insights(SimpleNamespace(days=30, source=None)),
+    )
+    # Fresh install: no state.db yet → no open at all (read-only open needs an existing file).
+    _default_db_path().unlink()
+    for run in runs:
+        with patch("hermes_state.SessionDB") as ctor:
+            run()
+        ctor.assert_not_called()
+    _default_db_path().touch()
+    for run in runs:
+        db = MagicMock()
+        _InsightsEngineStub.calls = []
+        with patch("hermes_state.SessionDB", return_value=db) as ctor, \
+             patch("agent.insights.InsightsEngine", _InsightsEngineStub):
+            run()
+        ctor.assert_called_once_with(read_only=True)
+        db.close.assert_called_once()
+
+
 def test_subcommand_insights_closes_database_when_generation_fails(capsys):
     db = MagicMock()
     with patch("hermes_state.SessionDB", return_value=db), \