diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/lifecycle_ops.rs b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/lifecycle_ops.rs
index a6c7ce0a..70d4acbf 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/lifecycle_ops.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/dashboard/lifecycle_ops.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ pub(super) struct GracefulParams {
     graceful: bool,
 }
 
-use super::{AppState, error_response, guard_agent_name, strip_container_prefix};
+use super::{AppState, Ident, error_response, guard_agent_name, strip_container_prefix};
 use crate::job_queue::{Source, submit};
 use crate::{actions, lifecycle};
 
@@ -153,9 +153,9 @@ pub(super) async fn post_pause(
     if let Some(reject) = guard_agent_name(&state, &logical).await {
         return reject;
     }
-    // guard_agent_name already validated `logical` as a well-formed Ident.
-    let Ok(ident) = hive_types::Ident::parse(&logical) else {
-        unreachable!("guard_agent_name passed an invalid ident");
+    let ident = match Ident::parse(&logical) {
+        Ok(i) => i,
+        Err(e) => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, format!("bad agent name: {e}")).into_response(),
     };
     if let Err(e) = crate::coordinator::Coordinator::set_paused(&ident, true) {
         return error_response(&format!("pause {logical}: {e}"));
@@ -176,9 +176,9 @@ pub(super) async fn post_resume(
     if let Some(reject) = guard_agent_name(&state, &logical).await {
         return reject;
     }
-    // guard_agent_name already validated `logical` as a well-formed Ident.
-    let Ok(ident) = hive_types::Ident::parse(&logical) else {
-        unreachable!("guard_agent_name passed an invalid ident");
+    let ident = match Ident::parse(&logical) {
+        Ok(i) => i,
+        Err(e) => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, format!("bad agent name: {e}")).into_response(),
     };
     if let Err(e) = crate::coordinator::Coordinator::set_paused(&ident, false) {
         return error_response(&format!("resume {logical}: {e}"));