diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/main.rs b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
index 3621ad39..04f69945 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
@@ -1515,7 +1515,7 @@ struct MintAgentIdentityRequest {
 }
 
 /// Success body of `POST /api/agents/{name}/identity`.
-#[derive(Serialize, ToSchema)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Serialize, ToSchema)]
 struct MintAgentIdentityResponse {
     /// The queued node, so a caller can follow it in the job view.
     node_id: u64,
@@ -2176,6 +2176,107 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(queued > 0, "an accepted creation must queue work");
     }
 
+    /// The backfill route's roster check, asserted by effect for the same
+    /// reason its sibling above is: a refusal that queued first would still
+    /// re-mint the agent's certificate, which every running agent on the
+    /// named hive picks up on its next boot.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_backfill_for_a_hive_outside_the_roster_queues_nothing() {
+        let (state, sched) = state_with_roster();
+
+        let err = super::mint_agent_identity(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path("atlas".to_owned()),
+            axum::Json(super::MintAgentIdentityRequest {
+                hive: "pr1maa".to_owned(),
+            }),
+        )
+        .await
+        .expect_err("a hive outside the roster must be refused");
+
+        let rendered = format!("{err:?}");
+        assert!(
+            rendered.contains("pr1ma"),
+            "the refusal should name the known hives, got: {rendered}"
+        );
+
+        let queued = sched
+            .lock()
+            .unwrap_or_else(std::sync::PoisonError::into_inner)
+            .graph()
+            .nodes()
+            .count();
+        assert_eq!(queued, 0, "a refused backfill must queue no work");
+    }
+
+    /// A name that is not an identifier is refused before it can reach a
+    /// store path. `create_agent` gets this for free from the roster check
+    /// on the hive; the agent name has no roster to check against, so this
+    /// is the only thing standing between `../beta` and a path built out of
+    /// it.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_backfill_for_a_name_that_is_not_an_identifier_queues_nothing() {
+        let (state, sched) = state_with_roster();
+
+        super::mint_agent_identity(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path("../beta".to_owned()),
+            axum::Json(super::MintAgentIdentityRequest {
+                hive: "pr1ma".to_owned(),
+            }),
+        )
+        .await
+        .expect_err("a traversal in the agent name must be refused");
+
+        let queued = sched
+            .lock()
+            .unwrap_or_else(std::sync::PoisonError::into_inner)
+            .graph()
+            .nodes()
+            .count();
+        assert_eq!(queued, 0, "a refused backfill must queue no work");
+    }
+
+    /// The accept arm, and the property that makes this a *backfill* route
+    /// rather than a second creation route: it queues the mint node **and
+    /// nothing else**. `create_agent`'s graph also scaffolds a config repo
+    /// and publishes a deploy; running either of those against an agent that
+    /// already exists is the failure this assertion exists to catch.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_backfill_queues_the_mint_node_and_only_the_mint_node() {
+        let (state, sched) = state_with_roster();
+
+        let queued = super::mint_agent_identity(
+            axum::extract::State(state),
+            axum::extract::Path("atlas".to_owned()),
+            axum::Json(super::MintAgentIdentityRequest {
+                hive: "pr1ma".to_owned(),
+            }),
+        )
+        .await
+        .expect("a hive in the roster must be accepted");
+
+        let guard = sched
+            .lock()
+            .unwrap_or_else(std::sync::PoisonError::into_inner);
+        let nodes: Vec<_> = guard.graph().nodes().collect();
+        let [node] = nodes[..] else {
+            panic!("a backfill queues exactly one node, got {}", nodes.len());
+        };
+        assert!(
+            matches!(
+                &node.payload,
+                SwarmNodeKind::MintAgentIdentity { hive, agent }
+                    if hive == "pr1ma" && agent == "atlas"
+            ),
+            "the one node must be the mint, carrying both names: {:?}",
+            node.payload
+        );
+        // The id the operator is told to watch has to be the node that was
+        // actually inserted, or `swarmctl` prints a handle to nothing.
+        assert_eq!(queued.node_id, node.id.get());
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn create_repo_node_runs_end_to_end_and_fails_without_forge_configured() {
         unsafe {