diff --git a/__tests__/api/leaderboard.test.ts b/__tests__/api/leaderboard.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1dca26c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/api/leaderboard.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest"
+import { GET } from "@/app/api/leaderboard/route"
+import { registerAgent, resetAgentRegistryForTests } from "@/lib/agent-registry"
+import { awardXP, resetAgentXpDb } from "@/lib/gamification/xp"
+import { resetReputationStoreForTests, upsertReputationMetrics } from "@/lib/reputation/reputation-store"
+
+function register(agentId: string, district: "data-center" | "comm-hub" = "data-center") {
+  registerAgent({
+    agentId,
+    model: "claude-haiku-4-5",
+    district,
+    capabilities: ["analytics"],
+    x402: { accepts: true },
+    status: "active",
+    endpoint: `https://example.com/${agentId}`,
+  })
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  resetAgentRegistryForTests()
+  resetAgentXpDb()
+  resetReputationStoreForTests()
+})
+
+describe("GET /api/leaderboard", () => {
+  it("returns live registry agents sorted by XP with public 30s cache", async () => {
+    register("low-xp")
+    register("high-xp")
+    awardXP("low-xp", 100, "task.completed")
+    awardXP("high-xp", 300, "task.completed")
+
+    const res = await GET(new Request("http://localhost/api/leaderboard"))
+    const body = await res.json()
+
+    expect(res.headers.get("Cache-Control")).toBe("public, max-age=30")
+    expect(body.agents.map((agent: { id: string }) => agent.id)).toEqual(["high-xp", "low-xp"])
+    expect(body.agents[0].xp).toBe(300)
+  })
+
+  it("filters district view and sorts that district by task completions", async () => {
+    register("data-slower", "data-center")
+    register("comm-busy", "comm-hub")
+    register("data-busy", "data-center")
+    awardXP("data-slower", 500, "task.completed")
+    awardXP("data-busy", 10, "task.completed")
+    upsertReputationMetrics("data-slower", { tasksCompleted: 2 })
+    upsertReputationMetrics("data-busy", { tasksCompleted: 20 })
+    upsertReputationMetrics("comm-busy", { tasksCompleted: 100 })
+
+    const res = await GET(new Request("http://localhost/api/leaderboard?view=district&district=data-center"))
+    const body = await res.json()
+
+    expect(body.agents.map((agent: { id: string }) => agent.id)).toEqual(["data-busy", "data-slower"])
+    expect(body.agents.every((agent: { district: string }) => agent.district === "data-center")).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it("returns an empty state payload when no agents are registered", async () => {
+    const res = await GET(new Request("http://localhost/api/leaderboard"))
+    const body = await res.json()
+
+    expect(body.agents).toEqual([])
+  })
+})
diff --git a/app/api/leaderboard/route.ts b/app/api/leaderboard/route.ts
index aaaa2819..82b52d0f 100644
--- a/app/api/leaderboard/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/leaderboard/route.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@ export function GET(req: Request) {
       refreshedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
       nextResetAt: "Sunday 00:00 UTC",
     },
-    { headers: { "Cache-Control": "no-store" } },
+    { headers: { "Cache-Control": "public, max-age=30" } },
   )
 }
diff --git a/components/leaderboard/leaderboard-table.tsx b/components/leaderboard/leaderboard-table.tsx
index 8137ff01..8abcd436 100644
--- a/components/leaderboard/leaderboard-table.tsx
+++ b/components/leaderboard/leaderboard-table.tsx
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export function LeaderboardTable({ initialAgents, view, district }: LeaderboardT
     let cancelled = false
 
     async function refresh() {
-      const response = await fetch(`/api/leaderboard?${params.toString()}`, { cache: "no-store" })
+      const response = await fetch(`/api/leaderboard?${params.toString()}`)
       if (!response.ok || cancelled) return
       const payload = await response.json() as { agents: LeaderboardAgent[]; refreshedAt: string }
       setAgents(payload.agents)
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ export function LeaderboardTable({ initialAgents, view, district }: LeaderboardT
         <span>{refreshedAt ? `Updated ${new Date(refreshedAt).toLocaleTimeString()}` : "Live polling ready"}</span>
       </div>
       <div className="divide-y divide-slate-800/80">
+        {agents.length === 0 && (
+          <div className="px-4 py-12 text-center font-mono text-sm text-slate-400">
+            No agents are registered yet. Registered agents will appear here within 30 seconds.
+          </div>
+        )}
         {agents.map((agent) => {
           const delta = agent.previousRank - agent.rank
           return (
diff --git a/lib/agent-registry.ts b/lib/agent-registry.ts
index 71ce95b2..3421e267 100644
--- a/lib/agent-registry.ts
+++ b/lib/agent-registry.ts
@@ -175,6 +175,10 @@ function emitRegistryChange(action: AgentRegistryChangeAction, agent: AgentCapab
   })
 }
 
+export function getAgentRegistry(): AgentCapabilityManifest[] {
+  return Array.from(registry.agents.values())
+}
+
 export function listRegisteredAgents(filters: AgentRegistryFilters = {}): AgentCapabilityManifest[] {
   return Array.from(registry.agents.values()).filter((agent) => {
     if (filters.district && agent.district !== filters.district) return false
diff --git a/lib/leaderboard.ts b/lib/leaderboard.ts
index 040f0bdb..bdd44dc6 100644
--- a/lib/leaderboard.ts
+++ b/lib/leaderboard.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+import { getAgentRegistry } from "@/lib/agent-registry"
 import { DISTRICTS } from "@/lib/data"
+import { getAgentXP } from "@/lib/gamification/xp"
+import { getReputation } from "@/lib/reputation/reputation-store"
 import type { DistrictId } from "@/lib/types"
 
 export type LeaderboardView = "global" | "district" | "week"
@@ -22,61 +25,63 @@ export interface LeaderboardAgent {
   globalRank: number
 }
 
-const BASE_AGENTS = [
-  ["bot-0", "Nexus-7", "data-center", 1234, 184, 42, 88400, 812.44, 3, ["🏆", "⚡", "💾"]],
-  ["bot-1", "Cipher-3", "comm-hub", 987, 211, 38, 73120, 663.1, 1, ["📡", "🔐"]],
-  ["bot-2", "Pulse-9", "processing", 934, 176, 36, 69450, 590.73, 4, ["⚙️", "🔥"]],
-  ["bot-3", "Vector-1", "defense", 876, 148, 34, 63100, 551.92, 5, ["🛡️", "🎯"]],
-  ["bot-4", "Halo-5", "research", 822, 193, 33, 60540, 522.18, 2, ["🧪", "💡"]],
-  ["bot-5", "Stratos-2", "data-center", 760, 121, 31, 54790, 487.35, 0, ["💾"]],
-  ["bot-6", "Bolt-8", "comm-hub", 715, 117, 29, 51410, 439.27, 6, ["⚡"]],
-  ["bot-7", "Prism-4", "processing", 681, 99, 28, 49620, 418.04, 2, ["⚙️"]],
-  ["bot-8", "Flux-6", "defense", 642, 136, 27, 47180, 392.66, 4, ["🛡️"]],
-  ["bot-9", "Nova-0", "research", 604, 104, 25, 44980, 361.89, 3, ["🧪"]],
-  ["bot-10", "Vertex-11", "data-center", 571, 88, 24, 41320, 337.2, 1, ["📈"]],
-  ["bot-11", "Echo-12", "comm-hub", 548, 82, 23, 39870, 321.74, 0, ["📡"]],
-] as const
+function spriteIdForAgent(agentId: string): number {
+  return [...agentId].reduce((sum, char) => sum + char.charCodeAt(0), 0) % 7
+}
+
+function badgesForAgent(capabilities: string[]): string[] {
+  return capabilities.slice(0, 3).map((capability) => capability.slice(0, 2).toUpperCase())
+}
+
+function toLeaderboardAgent(agent: ReturnType<typeof getAgentRegistry>[number]): LeaderboardAgent {
+  const districtMeta = DISTRICTS.find((item) => item.id === agent.district)!
+  const xp = getAgentXP(agent.agentId)
+  const reputation = getReputation(agent.agentId)
+
+  return {
+    id: agent.agentId,
+    name: agent.agentId,
+    district: agent.district,
+    districtName: districtMeta.name,
+    districtColor: districtMeta.color,
+    tasksCompleted: reputation.metrics.tasksCompleted,
+    weeklyTasks: reputation.metrics.tasksCompleted,
+    level: xp.level,
+    xp: xp.xp,
+    x402Revenue: reputation.metrics.x402RevenueXlm,
+    spriteId: spriteIdForAgent(agent.agentId),
+    badges: badgesForAgent(agent.capabilities),
+    rank: 0,
+    previousRank: 0,
+    districtRank: 0,
+    globalRank: 0,
+  }
+}
+
+function compareByXp(a: LeaderboardAgent, b: LeaderboardAgent): number {
+  return b.xp - a.xp || a.id.localeCompare(b.id)
+}
 
-function jitter(seed: number, modulo: number): number {
-  return Math.floor(Date.now() / 30000 + seed * 13) % modulo
+function compareByTasks(a: LeaderboardAgent, b: LeaderboardAgent): number {
+  return b.tasksCompleted - a.tasksCompleted || a.id.localeCompare(b.id)
 }
 
 export function listLeaderboardAgents(view: LeaderboardView = "global", district?: DistrictId): LeaderboardAgent[] {
-  const rows = BASE_AGENTS.map((agent, index) => {
-    const districtMeta = DISTRICTS.find((item) => item.id === agent[2])!
-    return {
-      id: agent[0],
-      name: agent[1],
-      district: agent[2],
-      districtName: districtMeta.name,
-      districtColor: districtMeta.color,
-      tasksCompleted: agent[3] + jitter(index, 7),
-      weeklyTasks: agent[4] + jitter(index, 11),
-      level: agent[5],
-      xp: agent[6],
-      x402Revenue: agent[7],
-      spriteId: agent[8],
-      badges: [...agent[9]],
-      rank: 0,
-      previousRank: 0,
-      districtRank: 0,
-      globalRank: 0,
-    }
-  })
+  const rows = getAgentRegistry().map(toLeaderboardAgent)
 
-  const global = [...rows].sort((a, b) => b.tasksCompleted - a.tasksCompleted)
+  const global = [...rows].sort(compareByXp)
   global.forEach((row, index) => { row.globalRank = index + 1 })
 
   for (const districtMeta of DISTRICTS) {
     rows
       .filter((row) => row.district === districtMeta.id)
-      .sort((a, b) => b.tasksCompleted - a.tasksCompleted)
+      .sort(compareByTasks)
       .forEach((row, index) => { row.districtRank = index + 1 })
   }
 
   const filtered = district ? rows.filter((row) => row.district === district) : rows
-  const sorted = [...filtered].sort((a, b) => (view === "week" ? b.weeklyTasks - a.weeklyTasks : b.tasksCompleted - a.tasksCompleted))
-  return sorted.map((row, index) => ({ ...row, rank: index + 1, previousRank: Math.max(1, index + 1 + ((index % 3) - 1)) }))
+  const sorted = [...filtered].sort(view === "global" ? compareByXp : compareByTasks)
+  return sorted.map((row, index) => ({ ...row, rank: index + 1, previousRank: index + 1 }))
 }
 
 export function getLeaderboardAgent(agentId: string): LeaderboardAgent | undefined {