diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/swarm_status.rs b/hive-c0re/src/swarm_status.rs
index 4f17bb1c..c6bc815b 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/swarm_status.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/swarm_status.rs
@@ -279,6 +279,20 @@ async fn handle_deploy_request(
         // repo and its config; what is left is hive-local, and there is no
         // approval to wait on because the operator's click at swarm level is
         // the authorisation.
+        //
+        // Seed the power intent to `Up` before queuing, same as
+        // `actions::approve`'s `ApprovalKind::Spawn` arm does for the
+        // operator-approved path: `first_deploy`'s tail `Reconcile` node
+        // seeds `Wanted` from the container's *currently observed* running
+        // state when no row exists yet (`power::Store::get_or_seed`), and at
+        // that point in a first deploy the container is freshly created but
+        // not yet started — so an unseeded row locks the agent's wanted
+        // state to `Offline` on its very first reconcile, and `Reconcile`
+        // never emits the `Start` node. Setting the row up front here closes
+        // that window the same way the approval path already does.
+        if let Err(e) = coord.power.set(&agent, crate::power::Wanted::Up) {
+            tracing::warn!(%agent, error = ?e, "agent_power: seed on swarm first-deploy failed");
+        }
         coord
             .job_queue
             .insert_job(|b| crate::job_queue::templates::first_deploy(b, &agent))