diff --git a/app/api.py b/app/api.py
index 15c6de9..5355628 100644
--- a/app/api.py
+++ b/app/api.py
@@ -284,6 +284,51 @@ def test_account(req: AccountTestRequest):
     return {"ok": ok, "message": message, "count": count}
 
 
+from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse
+
+
+@app.get("/api/fetch/stream")
+def fetch_stream(
+    accounts: str = Query(default=""),
+    days_back: int = Query(default=90, ge=1, le=365),
+    limit: int = Query(default=150, ge=1, le=1000),
+    mode: str = Query(default="wide"),
+):
+    from app.imap_fetch import fetch_account_stream
+
+    selected_names = {n.strip() for n in accounts.split(",") if n.strip()}
+    config = get_config()  # reuse existing endpoint logic
+    selected = [a for a in config["accounts"] if a.get("name") in selected_names]
+
+    def generate():
+        known_keys = {_item_id(x) for x in _read_jsonl(_queue_file())}
+        total_added = 0
+
+        for acc in selected:
+            try:
+                batch_emails: list[dict] = []
+                for event in fetch_account_stream(acc, days_back, limit, known_keys):
+                    if event["type"] == "done":
+                        batch_emails = event.pop("emails", [])
+                        total_added += event["added"]
+                    yield f"data: {json.dumps(event)}\n\n"
+                # Write new emails to queue after each account
+                if batch_emails:
+                    existing = _read_jsonl(_queue_file())
+                    _write_jsonl(_queue_file(), existing + batch_emails)
+            except Exception as exc:
+                error_event = {"type": "error", "account": acc.get("name", "?"),
+                               "message": str(exc)}
+                yield f"data: {json.dumps(error_event)}\n\n"
+
+        queue_size = len(_read_jsonl(_queue_file()))
+        complete = {"type": "complete", "total_added": total_added, "queue_size": queue_size}
+        yield f"data: {json.dumps(complete)}\n\n"
+
+    return StreamingResponse(generate(), media_type="text/event-stream",
+                             headers={"Cache-Control": "no-cache", "X-Accel-Buffering": "no"})
+
+
 # Static SPA — MUST be last (catches all unmatched paths)
 _DIST = _ROOT / "web" / "dist"
 if _DIST.exists():
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index c609530..22a8cd4 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -276,3 +276,52 @@ def test_account_test_success(client):
     data = r.json()
     assert data["ok"] is True
     assert data["count"] == 99
+
+
+# ── /api/fetch/stream (SSE) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def _parse_sse(content: bytes) -> list[dict]:
+    """Parse SSE response body into list of event dicts."""
+    events = []
+    for line in content.decode().splitlines():
+        if line.startswith("data: "):
+            events.append(json.loads(line[6:]))
+    return events
+
+
+def test_fetch_stream_no_accounts_configured(client, config_dir):
+    """With no config, stream should immediately complete with 0 added."""
+    r = client.get("/api/fetch/stream?accounts=NoSuchAccount&days_back=30&limit=10")
+    assert r.status_code == 200
+    events = _parse_sse(r.content)
+    complete = next((e for e in events if e["type"] == "complete"), None)
+    assert complete is not None
+    assert complete["total_added"] == 0
+
+
+def test_fetch_stream_with_mock_imap(client, config_dir, data_dir):
+    """With one configured account, stream should yield start/done/complete events."""
+    import yaml
+    from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+    # Write a config with one account
+    cfg = {"accounts": [{"name": "Mock", "host": "h", "port": 993, "use_ssl": True,
+                          "username": "u", "password": "p", "folder": "INBOX",
+                          "days_back": 30}], "max_per_account": 50}
+    (config_dir / "label_tool.yaml").write_text(yaml.dump(cfg))
+
+    raw_msg = (b"Subject: Interview\r\nFrom: a@b.com\r\n"
+               b"Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000\r\n\r\nBody")
+    mock_conn = MagicMock()
+    mock_conn.search.return_value = ("OK", [b"1"])
+    mock_conn.fetch.return_value = ("OK", [(b"1 (RFC822 {N})", raw_msg)])
+
+    with patch("app.imap_fetch.imaplib.IMAP4_SSL", return_value=mock_conn):
+        r = client.get("/api/fetch/stream?accounts=Mock&days_back=30&limit=50")
+
+    assert r.status_code == 200
+    events = _parse_sse(r.content)
+    types = [e["type"] for e in events]
+    assert "start" in types
+    assert "done" in types
+    assert "complete" in types