diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
index f1a8c1466..47b85579f 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.
+## 2025-02-28 - Optimize Column Name Resolution from Edge Handles
+**Learning:** Resolving column names from edge handles (which are in the format src-c-XXXX-XXXX) by iterating over all columns and re-encoding their names to compare with the handle creates an O(N) performance bottleneck per edge. This approach leads to repeated string encoding and allocation.
+**Action:** Extract the column name directly from the handle by parsing the hexadecimal unicode points. Instead of re-encoding every column to match the handle, parse the handle once and verify the existence of the parsed column name within the node's columns using a direct O(1) comparison (in a simple loop). Ensure you validate the column still exists to avoid regressing cases where dangling edges reference deleted columns.
diff --git a/frontend/src/erd/export.ts b/frontend/src/erd/export.ts
index 62ce7219e..89b4e923f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/erd/export.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/erd/export.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { Node, Edge } from '@xyflow/react';
 import { normalizeBusinessGroupColor } from './businessGroups';
 import type { IndexRecommendation } from './cardinality';
 import type { ForeignKeyEdgeData, TableNodeData } from './convert';
-import { sourceColumnHandleId, targetColumnHandleId } from './handleUtils';
+import { parseColumnNameFromHandle, sourceColumnHandleId, targetColumnHandleId } from './handleUtils';
 
 export * from './exportDataDictionary';
 
@@ -67,6 +67,23 @@ function fkColumnsForEdge(
     return { sourceColumns, targetColumns };
   }
 
+  const parsedSource = edge.sourceHandle ? parseColumnNameFromHandle(edge.sourceHandle) : null;
+  const parsedTarget = edge.targetHandle ? parseColumnNameFromHandle(edge.targetHandle) : null;
+
+  if (parsedSource !== null && parsedTarget !== null) {
+    // Validate that the parsed column actually exists in the node data
+    const sourceColumnsArr = sourceNode.data.columns || [];
+    const targetColumnsArr = targetNode.data.columns || [];
+
+    // Check existence using .some()
+    const sourceExists = sourceColumnsArr.some((c) => c && c.column_name === parsedSource);
+    const targetExists = targetColumnsArr.some((c) => c && c.column_name === parsedTarget);
+
+    if (sourceExists && targetExists) {
+      return { sourceColumns: [parsedSource], targetColumns: [parsedTarget] };
+    }
+  }
+
   const sourceHandleColumn = (sourceNode.data.columns || [])
     .find((column) => sourceColumnHandleId(column.column_name) === edge.sourceHandle)
     ?.column_name;
diff --git a/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts b/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts
index 054d5ab2a..1b07342e7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/erd/handleUtils.ts
@@ -14,3 +14,15 @@ export function sourceColumnHandleId(columnName: string): string {
 export function targetColumnHandleId(columnName: string): string {
   return `tgt-${sanitizeHandleId(columnName)}`
 }
+
+export function parseColumnNameFromHandle(handleId: string): string | null {
+  const prefixMatch = handleId.match(/^(?:src-|tgt-)?c-(.+)$/);
+  if (!prefixMatch || !prefixMatch[1]) return null;
+  const encoded = prefixMatch[1];
+  if (encoded === 'empty') return '';
+  try {
+    return encoded.split('-').map(code => String.fromCodePoint(parseInt(code, 16))).join('');
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}