diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 2123084..a8916e2 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1356,10 +1356,21 @@ export function apply(ctx, config) {
             )
 
           if (wantsBackground && jobs !== undefined) {
+            // `owner` is a SESSION ID, not the Agent handle.
+            //
+            // The jobs registry resolves an owner through the agent registry —
+            // `agents.get(session)` — and throws `session "[object Object]" has
+            // no live agent` for anything else, so passing `exec.agent` here made
+            // the default `index` call fail outright: it is the one path this
+            // plugin takes that a caller cannot see fail until the job service is
+            // present. The agent's own `id` IS the session id (the registry keys
+            // by it), and a handle without one is registered unowned rather than
+            // refused.
+            const owner = exec.agent?.id
             const jobId = jobs.start({
               kind: 'recall-index',
               label: `recall index ${workspace}`,
-              ...(exec.agent === undefined ? {} : { owner: exec.agent }),
+              ...(owner === undefined || owner === null || owner === '' ? {} : { owner }),
               run: () => {
                 const controller = new AbortController()
                 const done = (async () => {