diff --git a/cache/cache.go b/cache/cache.go
index d35f65b..0f92e39 100644
--- a/cache/cache.go
+++ b/cache/cache.go
@@ -102,6 +102,30 @@ func (c *Cache) Services(orgId, ref, lastUpdate string) ([]string, string) {
 	return services, c.lastUpdate[key]
 }
 
+// OrgRef identifies a single (organizationId, ref) pair that the cache
+// tracks subgraphs for.
+type OrgRef struct {
+	OrgId string
+	Ref   string
+}
+
+// AllOrgRefs returns every (orgId, ref) pair that currently has at least
+// one subgraph in the cache. Used by startup warmup to pre-compute the
+// merged SDL and SchemaUpdate for every known ref before the pod starts
+// serving traffic.
+func (c *Cache) AllOrgRefs() []OrgRef {
+	c.mu.RLock()
+	defer c.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	var out []OrgRef
+	for orgId, refs := range c.services {
+		for ref := range refs {
+			out = append(out, OrgRef{OrgId: orgId, Ref: ref})
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 func (c *Cache) SubGraphId(orgId, ref, service string) string {
 	c.mu.RLock()
 	defer c.mu.RUnlock()
diff --git a/cmd/service/service.go b/cmd/service/service.go
index 8d99d70..2332dae 100644
--- a/cmd/service/service.go
+++ b/cmd/service/service.go
@@ -210,6 +210,8 @@ func start(closeEvents chan error, logger *slog.Logger, connectToAmqpFunc func(u
 			Debouncer:      graph.NewDebouncer(500 * time.Millisecond),
 		}
 
+		resolver.WarmCache(rootCtx)
+
 		config := generated.Config{
 			Resolvers:  resolver,
 			Complexity: generated.ComplexityRoot{},
diff --git a/graph/resolver.go b/graph/resolver.go
index 706be97..2f2f7b4 100644
--- a/graph/resolver.go
+++ b/graph/resolver.go
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ import (
 	"gitlab.com/unboundsoftware/eventsourced/eventsourced"
 
 	"gitea.unbound.se/unboundsoftware/schemas/cache"
+	"gitea.unbound.se/unboundsoftware/schemas/graph/model"
 	"gitea.unbound.se/unboundsoftware/schemas/middleware"
+	"gitea.unbound.se/unboundsoftware/schemas/sdlmerge"
 )
 
 //go:generate go run github.com/99designs/gqlgen
@@ -60,3 +62,60 @@ func (r *Resolver) handler(ctx context.Context, aggregate eventsourced.Aggregate
 func apiKeyId(orgId, name string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", orgId, name)
 }
+
+// WarmCache precomputes the merged SDL and SchemaUpdate (cosmo router
+// config) for every (orgId, ref) tracked in the cache. Intended to run
+// once at startup, after the event-sourced caches have been populated
+// but before the pod accepts traffic, so the first request per ref does
+// not pay the cold-start cost of running sdlmerge + wgc compose.
+//
+// Errors per ref are logged and skipped rather than aborting the whole
+// warmup: a single bad ref must not block the pod from serving the
+// remaining refs.
+func (r *Resolver) WarmCache(ctx context.Context) {
+	refs := r.Cache.AllOrgRefs()
+	r.Logger.Info("Warming schema cache on startup", "refCount", len(refs))
+
+	for _, or := range refs {
+		services, lastUpdate := r.Cache.Services(or.OrgId, or.Ref, "")
+		if len(services) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		subGraphs := make([]*model.SubGraph, len(services))
+		serviceSDLs := make([]string, len(services))
+		for i, id := range services {
+			sg, err := r.fetchSubGraph(ctx, id)
+			if err != nil {
+				r.Logger.Error("warmup: fetch subgraph", "error", err, "orgId", or.OrgId, "ref", or.Ref, "id", id)
+				subGraphs = nil
+				break
+			}
+			subGraphs[i] = r.toGqlSubGraph(sg)
+			serviceSDLs[i] = sg.Sdl
+		}
+		if subGraphs == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if sdl, err := sdlmerge.MergeSDLs(serviceSDLs...); err != nil {
+			r.Logger.Error("warmup: merge SDLs", "error", err, "orgId", or.OrgId, "ref", or.Ref)
+		} else {
+			r.Cache.SetMergedSDL(or.OrgId, or.Ref, lastUpdate, sdl, subGraphs)
+		}
+
+		cosmoConfig, err := r.CosmoGenerator.Generate(ctx, subGraphs)
+		if err != nil {
+			r.Logger.Error("warmup: generate cosmo config", "error", err, "orgId", or.OrgId, "ref", or.Ref)
+			continue
+		}
+		r.Cache.SetSchemaUpdate(or.OrgId, or.Ref, &model.SchemaUpdate{
+			Ref:               or.Ref,
+			ID:                lastUpdate,
+			SubGraphs:         subGraphs,
+			CosmoRouterConfig: &cosmoConfig,
+		})
+	}
+
+	r.Logger.Info("Schema cache warmup complete", "refCount", len(refs))
+}