diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
index f1a8c1466..da6060897 100644
--- a/.jules/bolt.md
+++ b/.jules/bolt.md
@@ -77,3 +77,6 @@ Optimized metric route processing to O(N) by creating a mapping of routes direct
 ## 2024-07-13 - [Optimize Export Dictionary FK lookups]
 **Learning:** Found O(N * C * E) performance bottleneck in ERD export dictionaries due to repeated array searching with `edges.some()` inside a nested loop over nodes and columns.
 **Action:** Replace repeated linear array scans for edges by precomputing O(1) Set lookups of foreign key column handles per node before looping.
+## 2024-08-24 - Avoid Array.from for short string iteration in hot paths
+**Learning:** Using `Array.from` for string iteration causes intermediate array allocations, increasing garbage collection pressure when called repeatedly in hot paths like ERD graph handle generation.
+**Action:** Replace `Array.from` with `for...of` loops in frequently executed functions to avoid unnecessary array allocations and reduce GC pauses.
diff --git a/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts b/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts
index 054d5ab2a..5ec522a4d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 export function sanitizeHandleId(columnName: string): string {
-  const encoded = Array.from(columnName, (char) => {
-    // Array.from only yields non-empty Unicode scalars, so codePointAt(0) is defined.
-    return char.codePointAt(0)!.toString(16).padStart(4, '0')
-  }).join('-')
+  if (!columnName) return 'c-empty'
 
-  return `c-${encoded || 'empty'}`
+  let encoded = ''
+  let isFirst = true
+  for (const char of columnName) {
+    if (!isFirst) encoded += '-'
+    encoded += char.codePointAt(0)!.toString(16).padStart(4, '0')
+    isFirst = false
+  }
+
+  return `c-${encoded}`
 }
 
 export function sourceColumnHandleId(columnName: string): string {