diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/lifecycle.rs b/hive-c0re/src/lifecycle.rs
index 72821fca..0797409a 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/lifecycle.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/lifecycle.rs
@@ -767,12 +767,15 @@ pub async fn setup_applied(
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Create the per-agent Claude credentials dir if missing. Mode 0700 — only
-/// root inside the container reads/writes it. Idempotent: existing dirs are
-/// left untouched (an agent's OAuth tokens survive `destroy`/recreate).
+/// Create the per-agent Claude credentials dir if missing. Mode 0755 — hive-core
+/// needs read+execute to list the directory so `claude_has_session` can detect a
+/// valid session; credential files inside (`.credentials.json` etc.) are 0600 so
+/// secrets stay private regardless of the directory mode. Idempotent: existing
+/// dirs are left untouched (an agent's OAuth tokens survive `destroy`/recreate).
 /// Public for the `InitConfig` approval path in `actions.rs` which seeds
 /// dirs without calling the full `spawn`.
 pub fn ensure_claude_dir(claude_dir: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    use std::io;
     if !claude_dir.exists() {
         std::fs::create_dir_all(claude_dir)
             .with_context(|| format!("create {}", claude_dir.display()))?;
@@ -784,19 +787,23 @@ pub fn ensure_claude_dir(claude_dir: &Path) -> Result<()> {
     //
     // Best-effort: on the first container boot, `hive-agent-user-migrate`
     // chowns this dir to the agent user. After that, hive-core (a different
-    // user) cannot chmod it — that's fine because the mode set during
-    // initial creation (0755) is preserved through the chown.
+    // user) cannot chmod it (EPERM) — that's fine because the mode set during
+    // initial creation (0755) is preserved through the chown.  Any other error
+    // (ENOENT, I/O error) is unexpected and propagated.
     #[cfg(unix)]
     {
         use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
-        if let Err(e) =
-            std::fs::set_permissions(claude_dir, std::fs::Permissions::from_mode(0o755))
-        {
-            tracing::debug!(
-                path = %claude_dir.display(),
-                error = %e,
-                "ensure_claude_dir: chmod 755 skipped (dir likely owned by agent user after migration)"
-            );
+        match std::fs::set_permissions(claude_dir, std::fs::Permissions::from_mode(0o755)) {
+            Ok(()) => {}
+            Err(e) if e.kind() == io::ErrorKind::PermissionDenied => {
+                tracing::debug!(
+                    path = %claude_dir.display(),
+                    "ensure_claude_dir: chmod 755 skipped (dir likely owned by agent user after migration)"
+                );
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                return Err(e).with_context(|| format!("chmod 755 {}", claude_dir.display()));
+            }
         }
     }
     Ok(())