diff --git a/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/claude-subagents/SKILL.md b/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/claude-subagents/SKILL.md
index c329de04..f3b6b04b 100644
--- a/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/claude-subagents/SKILL.md
+++ b/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/claude-subagents/SKILL.md
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ actually attached, so a `continue` naming a session that isn't there
 fails the tool call outright instead of looking like it worked; the error
 says which directory it searched, which is usually the fix (pass `dir`).
 `dir` defaults to your work dir, `/agents/<you>/work`, which has no
-`CLAUDE.md` above it, so a subagent started there does not load yours.
+`CLAUDE.md` above it, so a subagent started there does not load yours
+(until that directory exists, the daemon's cwd is used).
 Use `status` for a
 zero-cost "is it still going" check — for a running subagent it also
 reports how long since that turn last produced output, so a few seconds
diff --git a/docs/tools/subagent.md b/docs/tools/subagent.md
index 79160f73..ad6ed715 100644
--- a/docs/tools/subagent.md
+++ b/docs/tools/subagent.md
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ claude the bare name — see below.
 
 Because the remembered directory goes with the rest of it, a `continue`
 after a restart has to re-supply `dir` when the session lives anywhere
-other than the agent's work dir (the default) — and a restart is the
+other than the agent's work dir (the default when it exists) — and a restart is the
 situation you reach for `continue` in most often.
 
 ## Roles
diff --git a/hive-subagent-mcp/src/mcp.rs b/hive-subagent-mcp/src/mcp.rs
index 71c89124..e9430b02 100644
--- a/hive-subagent-mcp/src/mcp.rs
+++ b/hive-subagent-mcp/src/mcp.rs
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ struct StartArgs {
     /// you've already prepared for it, so a parallel batch of subagents
     /// never race on the same working tree. Must exist. Omit to use your
     /// work dir, `/agents/<you>/work` (it has no `CLAUDE.md` above it, so the
-    /// subagent does not load yours). The daemon
+    /// subagent does not load yours); until that directory exists (a container
+    /// that predates its bind) the daemon's cwd is used. The daemon
     /// remembers whichever `dir` you give here against `name`, so a later
     /// `continue`/`status` for the same name doesn't need to repeat it —
     /// only pass it there again if you want to point at a *different*
diff --git a/hive-subagent-mcp/src/paths.rs b/hive-subagent-mcp/src/paths.rs
index fbc3e1f0..558ed6fd 100644
--- a/hive-subagent-mcp/src/paths.rs
+++ b/hive-subagent-mcp/src/paths.rs
@@ -32,13 +32,21 @@ pub fn state_dir() -> PathBuf {
 
 /// The agent's persistent work dir, a sibling of [`state_dir`]
 /// (`/agents/<name>/work`). It has no `CLAUDE.md` above it, so a subagent
-/// started here does not load the agent's own. This is the working
-/// directory a subagent gets when `start` is given no `dir`.
+/// started here does not load the agent's own.
 #[must_use]
 pub fn work_dir() -> PathBuf {
     state_dir().with_file_name("work")
 }
 
+/// The working directory a subagent gets when `start` is given no `dir`:
+/// [`work_dir`] when it exists, else `None` (the daemon's own cwd). The
+/// directory only exists once the container has restarted with its bind, and
+/// a spawn into a missing cwd fails with a bare ENOENT.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn default_cwd() -> Option<PathBuf> {
+    Some(work_dir()).filter(|p| p.is_dir())
+}
+
 /// Where this agent's named subagent role files live, one markdown file per
 /// role under the agent's own [`state_dir`]. Per-agent rather than
 /// hive-wide: the clauses a role carries came out of one agent's own prompt
diff --git a/hive-subagent-mcp/src/session.rs b/hive-subagent-mcp/src/session.rs
index da604f7d..513b3af4 100644
--- a/hive-subagent-mcp/src/session.rs
+++ b/hive-subagent-mcp/src/session.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 //! session, found again by name. `continue` is how a caller reattaches to
 //! it, whether that's "give it a new turn" or "the daemon restarted and I
 //! want to pick this back up" — after a restart, re-supply `dir` once if
-//! the session isn't in the agent's work dir (the default).
+//! the session isn't in the agent's work dir (the default when it exists).
 //!
 //! **A running turn is not necessarily a working turn.** A wedged child
 //! satisfies "running" as fully as a busy one, so every line of the child's
@@ -1184,8 +1184,8 @@ fn subagent_otel_attrs(name: &str) -> String {
 /// same "cheaper than you" cost-consciousness the `base:claude-subagents`
 /// skill already asks of `model`. `prompt_file`, when given, becomes
 /// `--append-system-prompt-file` — the subagent's task instructions.
-/// `dir`, when given, becomes `Config::cwd` (e.g. a worktree the caller
-/// already prepared); `None` falls back to [`crate::paths::work_dir`].
+/// `dir`, when given, becomes `Config::cwd` (e.g. a prepared worktree); `None`
+/// is [`crate::paths::default_cwd`].
 /// Always `--dangerously-skip-permissions --strict-mcp-config --tools` — two
 /// gates covering one half each, neither substituting for the other:
 /// `strict_mcp_config` over **MCP** tools (no ambient discovery, so exactly
@@ -1239,7 +1239,7 @@ fn build_config(
     Config {
         model,
         effort: Some(effort.unwrap_or_else(|| "medium".to_owned())),
-        cwd: Some(dir.map_or_else(crate::paths::work_dir, PathBuf::from)),
+        cwd: dir.map(PathBuf::from).or_else(crate::paths::default_cwd),
         mcp_config: crate::mcp_config::build(name, signal_url),
         strict_mcp_config: true,
         extra_args,
@@ -1387,7 +1387,8 @@ pub struct StartRequest {
     pub role: Option<String>,
     /// The first turn's prompt. A goal, when given, is appended to it.
     pub trigger: String,
-    /// Working directory for the session; `None` means the agent's work dir.
+    /// Working directory for the session; `None` means the agent's work dir when it
+    /// exists, else the daemon's cwd.
     pub dir: Option<String>,
     /// What this session is being continued *toward*. `None` keeps the
     /// pre-continuation shape: one turn, one todo, no re-prompting.
@@ -3349,8 +3350,34 @@ mod tests {
         let with = build_config("n", None, None, None, Some("/tmp/some-worktree"), None);
         assert_eq!(with.cwd, Some(PathBuf::from("/tmp/some-worktree")));
 
-        let without = build_config("n", None, None, None, None, None);
-        assert_eq!(without.cwd, Some(crate::paths::work_dir()));
+        let root = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!(
+            "hive-subagent-mcp-test-work-dir-{}",
+            std::process::id()
+        ));
+        let state = root.join("state");
+        let work = root.join("work");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&state).unwrap();
+        // SAFETY: test-only env mutation; the other `build_config` tests pass
+        // an explicit `dir` or read nothing derived from the state dir.
+        unsafe {
+            std::env::set_var("HYPERHIVE_STATE_DIR", &state);
+        }
+
+        let absent = build_config("n", None, None, None, None, None);
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&work).unwrap();
+        let present = build_config("n", None, None, None, None, None);
+
+        // SAFETY: see above.
+        unsafe {
+            std::env::remove_var("HYPERHIVE_STATE_DIR");
+        }
+        let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&root);
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            absent.cwd, None,
+            "a work dir that isn't there yet must not become a spawn cwd"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(present.cwd, Some(work));
     }
 
     #[test]