diff --git a/furumi-client-core/src/client.rs b/furumi-client-core/src/client.rs
index 68b0473..28e4301 100644
--- a/furumi-client-core/src/client.rs
+++ b/furumi-client-core/src/client.rs
@@ -193,14 +193,13 @@ impl FurumiClient {
             .time_to_live(Duration::from_secs(30))
             .build();
 
-        let this = Self { client, attr_cache, dir_cache };
-        this.start_background_sync();
-        Ok(this)
+        Ok(Self { client, attr_cache, dir_cache })
     }
 
     /// Spawns background tasks that pre-warm the cache with a server snapshot and then
     /// subscribe to live change events to keep it up to date.
-    fn start_background_sync(&self) {
+    /// Must be called after a successful authentication check.
+    pub fn start_background_sync(&self) {
         let this = self.clone();
         tokio::spawn(async move {
             match this.load_snapshot("/", 3).await {
diff --git a/furumi-mount-linux/src/main.rs b/furumi-mount-linux/src/main.rs
index d3c844c..efc4614 100644
--- a/furumi-mount-linux/src/main.rs
+++ b/furumi-mount-linux/src/main.rs
@@ -63,7 +63,10 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
         if let Err(e) = c.get_attr("/").await {
             return Err(format!("Failed to authenticate or connect to server: {}", e).into());
         }
-        
+
+        // Auth verified — start background snapshot + watch sync
+        c.start_background_sync();
+
         Ok::<_, Box<dyn std::error::Error>>(c)
     })?;
 
diff --git a/furumi-mount-macos/src/main.rs b/furumi-mount-macos/src/main.rs
index f9bd086..a26bd92 100644
--- a/furumi-mount-macos/src/main.rs
+++ b/furumi-mount-macos/src/main.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,11 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
         format!("https://{}", args.server)
     };
 
-    let client = rt.block_on(async { FurumiClient::connect(&full_addr, &args.token).await })?;
+    let client = rt.block_on(async {
+        let c = FurumiClient::connect(&full_addr, &args.token).await?;
+        c.start_background_sync();
+        Ok::<_, Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>>(c)
+    })?;
 
     let furumi_nfs = nfs::FurumiNfs::new(client);