diff --git a/Projects/UOContent.Tests/Tests/Commands/Objects/CagTreeBuilderTests.cs b/Projects/UOContent.Tests/Tests/Commands/Objects/CagTreeBuilderTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0d61e34d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Projects/UOContent.Tests/Tests/Commands/Objects/CagTreeBuilderTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+using Server.Commands;
+using Server.Items;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace UOContent.Tests.Commands.Objects;
+
+[Collection("Sequential UOContent Tests")]
+public class CagTreeBuilderTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public void BuildTree_creates_nested_categories_and_resolves_types()
+    {
+        var index = new ObjectIndexFile
+        {
+            Objects =
+            [
+                new ObjectIndexEntry
+                {
+                    Type = "Katana", Entity = "item", Category = "Items.Weapons.Swords",
+                    Chunk = "items.weapons.swords", ItemID = 0x13FF, Hue = 0
+                }
+            ]
+        };
+
+        var root = CAGLoader.BuildTree(index);
+
+        var items = Assert.IsType<CAGCategory>(FindChild(root, "Items"));
+        var weapons = Assert.IsType<CAGCategory>(FindChild(items, "Weapons"));
+        var swords = Assert.IsType<CAGCategory>(FindChild(weapons, "Swords"));
+
+        var leaf = Assert.IsType<CAGObject>(swords.Nodes[0]);
+        Assert.Equal(typeof(Katana), leaf.Type);
+        Assert.Equal(0x13FF, leaf.ItemID);
+    }
+
+    private static CAGNode FindChild(CAGCategory parent, string title)
+    {
+        foreach (var node in parent.Nodes)
+        {
+            if (node.Title == title)
+            {
+                return node;
+            }
+        }
+
+        throw new Xunit.Sdk.XunitException($"No child '{title}'.");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Projects/UOContent/Commands/Object Creation/CAGLoader.cs b/Projects/UOContent/Commands/Object Creation/CAGLoader.cs
index cbded692c..f214ee063 100644
--- a/Projects/UOContent/Commands/Object Creation/CAGLoader.cs	
+++ b/Projects/UOContent/Commands/Object Creation/CAGLoader.cs	
@@ -29,6 +29,151 @@ public static class CAGLoader
     private static readonly ILogger logger = LogFactory.GetLogger(typeof(CAGLoader));
 
     public static CAGCategory Load()
+    {
+        var indexPath = Path.Combine(Core.BaseDirectory, "Data/objects/index.json");
+
+        if (!File.Exists(indexPath))
+        {
+            logger.Warning("objects/index.json missing — run [GenObjects. Falling back to live categorization load.");
+            return LoadLegacy();
+        }
+
+        var index = JsonConfig.Deserialize<ObjectIndexFile>(indexPath);
+        if (index?.Objects == null)
+        {
+            throw new JsonException($"Failed to deserialize {indexPath}.");
+        }
+
+        var root = BuildTree(index);
+        AddFallbackForStaleCache(root, index);
+        return root;
+    }
+
+    public static CAGCategory BuildTree(ObjectIndexFile index)
+    {
+        var root = new CAGCategory("Add Menu");
+
+        foreach (var entry in index.Objects)
+        {
+            var type = AssemblyHandler.FindTypeByName(entry.Type);
+            if (type == null)
+            {
+                logger.Warning("Cached type {Type} no longer resolves; skipping.", entry.Type);
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            var category = NavigateToCategory(root, entry.Category);
+            AppendObject(
+                category,
+                new CAGObject
+                {
+                    Type = type,
+                    ItemID = entry.ItemID,
+                    Hue = entry.Hue == 0 ? null : entry.Hue,
+                    Parent = category
+                }
+            );
+        }
+
+        return root;
+    }
+
+    private static CAGCategory NavigateToCategory(CAGCategory root, string dotted)
+    {
+        var parent = root;
+        foreach (var name in dotted.Split('.'))
+        {
+            var child = FindCategory(parent, name);
+            if (child == null)
+            {
+                child = new CAGCategory(name, parent);
+                AppendNode(parent, child);
+            }
+
+            parent = child;
+        }
+
+        return parent;
+    }
+
+    private static CAGCategory FindCategory(CAGCategory parent, string title)
+    {
+        if (parent.Nodes == null)
+        {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        foreach (var node in parent.Nodes)
+        {
+            if (node is CAGCategory cat && cat.Title == title)
+            {
+                return cat;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    private static void AppendNode(CAGCategory parent, CAGNode node)
+    {
+        var nodes = parent.Nodes ?? [];
+        var grown = new CAGNode[nodes.Length + 1];
+        Array.Copy(nodes, grown, nodes.Length);
+        grown[^1] = node;
+        parent.Nodes = grown;
+    }
+
+    private static void AppendObject(CAGCategory category, CAGObject obj) => AppendNode(category, obj);
+
+    private static void AddFallbackForStaleCache(CAGCategory root, ObjectIndexFile index)
+    {
+        var cached = new HashSet<string>();
+        foreach (var entry in index.Objects)
+        {
+            cached.Add(entry.Type);
+        }
+
+        var categorizationPath = Path.Combine(Core.BaseDirectory, "Data/categorization.json");
+        var categorization = JsonConfig.Deserialize<List<CAGJson>>(categorizationPath);
+        if (categorization == null)
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        foreach (var cag in categorization)
+        {
+            foreach (var obj in cag.Objects ?? [])
+            {
+                if (obj.Type == null || cached.Contains(obj.Type.Name))
+                {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                logger.Warning("objects cache stale for {Type} — run [GenObjects.", obj.Type.Name);
+                try
+                {
+                    var lean = ObjectIntrospection.ExtractLean(obj.Type);
+                    var category = NavigateToCategory(root, cag.Category);
+                    AppendObject(
+                        category,
+                        new CAGObject
+                        {
+                            Type = obj.Type,
+                            ItemID = lean.ItemID,
+                            Hue = lean.Hue == 0 ? null : lean.Hue,
+                            Parent = category
+                        }
+                    );
+                }
+                catch (Exception ex)
+                {
+                    logger.Warning(ex, "Failed live fallback for {Type}.", obj.Type.Name);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static CAGCategory LoadLegacy()
     {
         var root = new CAGCategory("Add Menu");
         var path = Path.Combine(Core.BaseDirectory, "Data/categorization.json");