diff --git a/check_zipair.py b/check_zipair.py
index 1c756fb..f6ff849 100644
--- a/check_zipair.py
+++ b/check_zipair.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import json
 import time
 import urllib.request
 import urllib.error
+import http.cookiejar
 from datetime import datetime
 
 # ── Config (set via environment variables / Gitea secrets) ──────────────────
@@ -48,11 +49,26 @@ HEADERS = {
 
 # ── Helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+# Shared cookie jar + opener so session cookies persist across requests
+_cookie_jar = http.cookiejar.CookieJar()
+_opener     = urllib.request.build_opener(urllib.request.HTTPCookieProcessor(_cookie_jar))
+
+def warm_session():
+    """Visit the homepage once to pick up any WAF/CDN session cookies."""
+    print("Warming session via homepage …")
+    req = urllib.request.Request("https://www.zipair.net/", headers=HEADERS)
+    try:
+        with _opener.open(req, timeout=15):
+            pass
+        print(f"  Cookies acquired: {len(list(_cookie_jar))}")
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"  Homepage fetch failed (non-fatal): {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+
 def fetch(url: str, timeout: int = 15) -> str:
     """Fetch a URL and return the decoded body, or empty string on error."""
     req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=HEADERS)
     try:
-        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=timeout) as resp:
+        with _opener.open(req, timeout=timeout) as resp:
             raw = resp.read()
             try:
                 import gzip
@@ -90,18 +106,22 @@ def get_notification_ids_from_sitemap() -> list[int]:
 
 
 def probe_for_new_ids(last_seen: int) -> list[int]:
-    """When sitemap is unavailable, probe notification pages above last_seen."""
-    print(f"  Sitemap unavailable — probing IDs {last_seen+1} to {last_seen+PROBE_AHEAD} …")
+    """When sitemap is unavailable, probe notification pages above last_seen.
+    If last_seen is 0 we have no anchor — skip probe to avoid spamming."""
+    if last_seen == 0:
+        print("  last_seen=0 and no sitemap — cannot probe without an anchor ID.")
+        return []
+    print(f"  Probing IDs {last_seen+1} to {last_seen+PROBE_AHEAD} …")
     found = []
     for nid in range(last_seen + 1, last_seen + PROBE_AHEAD + 1):
         url = ZIPAIR_NOTIF.format(id=nid)
         html = fetch(url)
         time.sleep(0.5)
-        if html and f"/notification/{nid}" in html:
+        if html:
             print(f"    ID {nid} exists.")
             found.append(nid)
         else:
-            print(f"    ID {nid} not found, stopping probe.")
+            print(f"    ID {nid} not found (or blocked), stopping probe.")
             break
     return found
 
@@ -175,6 +195,9 @@ def main():
     print(f"  Keywords : {TRIGGER_KEYWORDS}")
     print(f"  ntfy URL : {NTFY_URL}")
 
+    warm_session()
+    time.sleep(1)
+
     last_seen = read_last_seen()
     print(f"  Last seen notification ID: {last_seen}")