diff --git a/hive-priv/src/main.rs b/hive-priv/src/main.rs
index ae06640b..4b2f3aaa 100644
--- a/hive-priv/src/main.rs
+++ b/hive-priv/src/main.rs
@@ -3007,13 +3007,14 @@ fn write_bridge_dns_marker(container: &str, isolation: &NetworkIsolation) -> Res
 /// - `/run/hive-agent/<name>` (web socket dir, bind-mounted into container)
 const TMPFILES_PATH: &str = "/etc/tmpfiles.d/hyperhive-agents.conf";
 
-async fn sync_agent_tmpfiles(agents: &[AgentTmpfilesEntry]) -> Result<(String, String)> {
+/// The `tmpfiles.d` body, built without touching the filesystem.
+///
+/// Split out of `sync_agent_tmpfiles` so the modes below can be asserted: the
+/// caller writes the file and then shells out to `systemd-tmpfiles`, neither of
+/// which a test can do, and a mode nobody can assert is a mode that drifts.
+fn agent_tmpfiles_content(agents: &[AgentTmpfilesEntry]) -> String {
     use std::fmt::Write as _;
-    for entry in agents {
-        validate_agent_name(&entry.name)?;
-    }
 
-    // Build tmpfiles.d content. Root dirs first, then per-agent.
     let mut content =
         String::from("# managed by hive-c0re — do not edit (regenerated on spawn/destroy)\n");
     // Parent dirs — created with permissive mode so hive-c0re can make subdirs.
@@ -3075,6 +3076,14 @@ async fn sync_agent_tmpfiles(agents: &[AgentTmpfilesEntry]) -> Result<(String, S
             writeln!(content, "d {SOCKET_DIR_ROOT}/{name} 0777 root root -").ok();
         }
     }
+    content
+}
+
+async fn sync_agent_tmpfiles(agents: &[AgentTmpfilesEntry]) -> Result<(String, String)> {
+    for entry in agents {
+        validate_agent_name(&entry.name)?;
+    }
+    let content = agent_tmpfiles_content(agents);
 
     // Atomic write: write to a tmp file then rename so a concurrent reader
     // always sees a complete file.
@@ -3103,11 +3112,11 @@ async fn sync_agent_tmpfiles(agents: &[AgentTmpfilesEntry]) -> Result<(String, S
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::{
-        BindMount, OwnedFd, PAUSED_MARKER_FILE, PrivRequest, check_fd_agreement,
-        clear_runner_credentials, contains_secret_shaped_run, git_overlay_flags,
-        limits_dropin_body, matrix_token_filename, partial_name, redact_secret_line,
-        remove_marker_in, single_output_path, toplevel_attr, validate_account_name,
-        write_agent_dir_file, write_state_file_nofollow,
+        AgentTmpfilesEntry, BindMount, OwnedFd, PAUSED_MARKER_FILE, PrivRequest,
+        agent_tmpfiles_content, check_fd_agreement, clear_runner_credentials,
+        contains_secret_shaped_run, git_overlay_flags, limits_dropin_body, matrix_token_filename,
+        partial_name, redact_secret_line, remove_marker_in, single_output_path, toplevel_attr,
+        validate_account_name, write_agent_dir_file, write_state_file_nofollow,
     };
     use std::path::PathBuf;
     use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU32, Ordering};
@@ -3120,6 +3129,49 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// `/run/hyperhive` is declared twice — here and as `hive-c0re.service`'s
+    /// `RuntimeDirectory`/`RuntimeDirectoryMode`. When the two disagree,
+    /// whichever runs last wins, and the loser's mode is silently re-applied on
+    /// every agent spawn. `0751` is the value the socket's own `0660
+    /// hive-admin` gate depends on: `o=--x` is what lets an admin who is not in
+    /// `hive-core` traverse to it at all.
+    #[test]
+    fn hyperhive_runtime_dir_keeps_the_traversable_mode() {
+        let out = agent_tmpfiles_content(&[]);
+        assert!(
+            out.contains("d /run/hyperhive 0751 hive-core hive-core -\n"),
+            "{out}"
+        );
+        // The specific regression: 0750 denies traversal before host.sock's own
+        // permissions are consulted.
+        assert!(!out.contains("d /run/hyperhive 0750"), "{out}");
+    }
+
+    /// Control for the assertion above: an empty roster still emits the parent
+    /// dirs, and a populated one adds per-agent lines — so a `contains` check
+    /// over this body is reading a body that was actually built.
+    #[test]
+    fn tmpfiles_body_grows_with_the_roster() {
+        let empty = agent_tmpfiles_content(&[]);
+        let one = agent_tmpfiles_content(&[AgentTmpfilesEntry {
+            name: "probe".to_owned(),
+            uid: Some(1234),
+            gid: Some(1234),
+        }]);
+        assert!(one.len() > empty.len(), "empty={empty}\none={one}");
+        assert!(
+            one.contains("d /run/hive-agent/probe 0751 1234 1234 -\n"),
+            "{one}"
+        );
+        // Every per-agent line the builder emits, so no mode here is
+        // unasserted — an unpinned mode is one that drifts.
+        assert!(
+            one.contains("d /run/hyperhive/agents/probe 0755 hive-core hive-core -\n"),
+            "{one}"
+        );
+        assert!(!empty.contains("probe"), "{empty}");
+    }
+
     /// Pins the exact attr path we hand to `nix build` — it has to match
     /// `hive-c0re`'s own `lifecycle::prebuild_toplevel` construction, since
     /// that step's whole point is warming the store for this later build.