diff --git a/src/pages/Kubernetes/KubernetesPage.tsx b/src/pages/Kubernetes/KubernetesPage.tsx
index 86668837..21ae13a9 100644
--- a/src/pages/Kubernetes/KubernetesPage.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/Kubernetes/KubernetesPage.tsx
@@ -437,8 +437,10 @@ export function KubernetesPage() {
   const [isCommandPaletteOpen, setIsCommandPaletteOpen] = useState(false);
   const [isPortForwardFormOpen, setIsPortForwardFormOpen] = useState(false);
   const [isNotificationsOpen, setIsNotificationsOpen] = useState(false);
+  const [connectionError, setConnectionError] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
   const lastLoadedRef = useRef<{ section: ActiveSection; clusterId: string; namespace: string } | null>(null);
+  const initializedRef = useRef(false);
 
   // ── Initial data load ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -451,12 +453,20 @@ export function KubernetesPage() {
       setKubeconfigs(kubeconfigsData);
       setPortForwards(portForwardsData);
 
-      const activeConfig = kubeconfigsData.find((c) => c.is_active);
-      if (activeConfig && !selectedClusterId) {
-        await connectClusterFromKubeconfigCmd(activeConfig.id).catch(() => {});
-        setSelectedCluster(activeConfig.id);
-      } else if (selectedClusterId) {
-        await connectClusterFromKubeconfigCmd(selectedClusterId).catch(() => {});
+      if (!initializedRef.current) {
+        initializedRef.current = true;
+        const activeConfig = kubeconfigsData.find((c) => c.is_active);
+        const targetId = selectedClusterId ?? activeConfig?.id;
+        if (targetId) {
+          const err = await connectClusterFromKubeconfigCmd(targetId)
+            .then(() => null)
+            .catch((e: unknown) => e);
+          if (err) {
+            setConnectionError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
+          } else {
+            setSelectedCluster(targetId);
+          }
+        }
       }
     } catch (err) {
       console.error("Failed to load initial Kubernetes data:", err);
@@ -481,11 +491,7 @@ export function KubernetesPage() {
 
   const loadResourceData = useCallback(
     async (section: ActiveSection, clusterId: string, namespace: string) => {
-      if (
-        section === "cluster_overview" ||
-        section === "portforwarding" ||
-        section === "workloads_overview"
-      ) {
+      if (section === "cluster_overview" || section === "portforwarding") {
         return;
       }
 
@@ -494,6 +500,29 @@ export function KubernetesPage() {
       setIsLoadingResources(true);
       try {
         switch (section) {
+          case "workloads_overview": {
+            const [pods, deployments, statefulsets, daemonsets, jobs, cronjobs] =
+              await Promise.allSettled([
+                listPodsCmd(clusterId, ns),
+                listDeploymentsCmd(clusterId, ns),
+                listStatefulsetsCmd(clusterId, ns),
+                listDaemonsetsCmd(clusterId, ns),
+                listJobsCmd(clusterId, ns),
+                listCronjobsCmd(clusterId, ns),
+              ]).then((results) =>
+                results.map((r) => (r.status === "fulfilled" ? r.value : []))
+              );
+            setResources((r) => ({
+              ...r,
+              pods: pods as PodInfo[],
+              deployments: deployments as DeploymentInfo[],
+              statefulsets: statefulsets as StatefulSetInfo[],
+              daemonsets: daemonsets as DaemonSetInfo[],
+              jobs: jobs as JobInfo[],
+              cronjobs: cronjobs as CronJobInfo[],
+            }));
+            break;
+          }
           case "pods":
             await listPodsCmd(clusterId, ns).then((data) =>
               setResources((r) => ({ ...r, pods: data }))
@@ -1131,6 +1160,13 @@ export function KubernetesPage() {
         )}
       </div>
 
+      {connectionError && (
+        <div className="flex items-center gap-2 px-4 py-2 bg-destructive/10 border-b border-destructive/20 text-destructive text-sm">
+          <span>Cluster connection failed: {connectionError}</span>
+          <button className="ml-auto underline" onClick={() => setConnectionError(null)}>Dismiss</button>
+        </div>
+      )}
+
       {/* Main layout: sidebar + content */}
       <div className="flex flex-1 overflow-hidden">
         {/* Sidebar */}
diff --git a/tests/unit/KubernetesPage.test.tsx b/tests/unit/KubernetesPage.test.tsx
index 5bcaaf4d..8b31eec3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/KubernetesPage.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/unit/KubernetesPage.test.tsx
@@ -127,6 +127,19 @@ vi.mock("@/components/Kubernetes/Hotbar", () => ({
   ),
 }));
 
+vi.mock("@/components/Kubernetes/WorkloadOverview", () => ({
+  WorkloadOverview: ({ resources }: { resources: { pods: unknown[]; deployments: unknown[]; statefulsets: unknown[]; daemonsets: unknown[]; jobs: unknown[]; cronjobs: unknown[] } }) => (
+    <div data-testid="workload-overview">
+      <span data-testid="pod-count">{resources.pods.length}</span>
+      <span data-testid="deployment-count">{resources.deployments.length}</span>
+      <span data-testid="statefulset-count">{resources.statefulsets.length}</span>
+      <span data-testid="daemonset-count">{resources.daemonsets.length}</span>
+      <span data-testid="job-count">{resources.jobs.length}</span>
+      <span data-testid="cronjob-count">{resources.cronjobs.length}</span>
+    </div>
+  ),
+}));
+
 type MockedInvoke = ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
 
 const mockInvoke = invoke as unknown as MockedInvoke;
@@ -504,4 +517,133 @@ describe("KubernetesPage", () => {
       expect(mockInvoke.mock.calls.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(callsBefore);
     });
   });
+
+  describe("WorkloadOverview data loading", () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string) => {
+        if (cmd === "list_kubeconfigs") return Promise.resolve(MOCK_KUBECONFIGS);
+        if (cmd === "list_namespaces") return Promise.resolve(MOCK_NAMESPACES);
+        if (cmd === "list_port_forwards") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        if (cmd === "list_pods") return Promise.resolve([{ name: "pod-1", namespace: "default", status: "Running", ready: "1/1", restarts: 0, age: "1d", node: "node-1", ip: "10.0.0.1" }]);
+        if (cmd === "list_deployments") return Promise.resolve([{ name: "deploy-1", namespace: "default", ready: "1/1", up_to_date: 1, available: 1, age: "1d" }]);
+        if (cmd === "list_statefulsets") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        if (cmd === "list_daemonsets") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        if (cmd === "list_jobs") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        if (cmd === "list_cronjobs") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        return Promise.resolve([]);
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("renders WorkloadOverview when workloads_overview section is active", async () => {
+      renderPage();
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Overview" })).toBeInTheDocument();
+      });
+
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Overview" }));
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.getByTestId("workload-overview")).toBeInTheDocument();
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("calls list_pods, list_deployments, list_statefulsets, list_daemonsets, list_jobs, list_cronjobs when workloads_overview is active", async () => {
+      renderPage();
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Overview" })).toBeInTheDocument();
+      });
+
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Overview" }));
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith("list_pods", expect.anything());
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith("list_deployments", expect.anything());
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith("list_statefulsets", expect.anything());
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith("list_daemonsets", expect.anything());
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith("list_jobs", expect.anything());
+        expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith("list_cronjobs", expect.anything());
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("passes fetched resource counts to WorkloadOverview", async () => {
+      renderPage();
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Overview" })).toBeInTheDocument();
+      });
+
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "Overview" }));
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.getByTestId("workload-overview")).toBeInTheDocument();
+        expect(screen.getByTestId("pod-count").textContent).toBe("1");
+        expect(screen.getByTestId("deployment-count").textContent).toBe("1");
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("Connection error banner", () => {
+    it("shows a connection error banner when connectClusterFromKubeconfig fails", async () => {
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string) => {
+        if (cmd === "list_kubeconfigs") return Promise.resolve(MOCK_KUBECONFIGS);
+        if (cmd === "list_port_forwards") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        if (cmd === "connect_cluster_from_kubeconfig") return Promise.reject(new Error("connection refused"));
+        return Promise.resolve([]);
+      });
+
+      renderPage();
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.getByText(/cluster connection failed/i)).toBeInTheDocument();
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("dismisses the error banner when Dismiss is clicked", async () => {
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string) => {
+        if (cmd === "list_kubeconfigs") return Promise.resolve(MOCK_KUBECONFIGS);
+        if (cmd === "list_port_forwards") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        if (cmd === "connect_cluster_from_kubeconfig") return Promise.reject(new Error("connection refused"));
+        return Promise.resolve([]);
+      });
+
+      renderPage();
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.getByText(/cluster connection failed/i)).toBeInTheDocument();
+      });
+
+      fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /dismiss/i }));
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(screen.queryByText(/cluster connection failed/i)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("Double-connect prevention", () => {
+    it("calls connectClusterFromKubeconfig only once on mount even when store updates", async () => {
+      mockInvoke.mockImplementation((cmd: string) => {
+        if (cmd === "list_kubeconfigs") return Promise.resolve(MOCK_KUBECONFIGS);
+        if (cmd === "list_namespaces") return Promise.resolve(MOCK_NAMESPACES);
+        if (cmd === "list_port_forwards") return Promise.resolve([]);
+        return Promise.resolve([]);
+      });
+
+      renderPage();
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(useKubernetesStore.getState().selectedClusterId).toBe("kc-1");
+      });
+
+      // Allow any re-renders to settle
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        const connectCalls = mockInvoke.mock.calls.filter(
+          ([cmd]) => cmd === "connect_cluster_from_kubeconfig"
+        );
+        expect(connectCalls.length).toBe(1);
+      });
+    });
+  });
 });