diff --git a/hive-ag3nt/src/bin/hive-ag3nt.rs b/hive-ag3nt/src/bin/hive-ag3nt.rs
index 23f3c9b..2a8d8d8 100644
--- a/hive-ag3nt/src/bin/hive-ag3nt.rs
+++ b/hive-ag3nt/src/bin/hive-ag3nt.rs
@@ -166,7 +166,13 @@ async fn serve(
                 turn::emit_turn_end(&bus, &outcome);
                 bus.set_state(TurnState::Idle);
             }
-            Ok(AgentResponse::Empty) => {}
+            Ok(AgentResponse::Empty) => {
+                // Idle: brief sleep before next poll to avoid busy-looping
+                // on consecutive Empty responses. The recv() call already
+                // waits up to 180s for messages, so this is just for
+                // responsiveness if recv() times out.
+                tokio::time::sleep(interval).await;
+            }
             Ok(AgentResponse::Ok
             | AgentResponse::Status { .. }
             | AgentResponse::Recent { .. }
@@ -180,7 +186,6 @@ async fn serve(
                 tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "recv failed; retrying");
             }
         }
-        tokio::time::sleep(interval).await;
     }
 }