diff --git a/docs/swarm/README.md b/docs/swarm/README.md
index 9c233eb6..8dbd3f25 100644
--- a/docs/swarm/README.md
+++ b/docs/swarm/README.md
@@ -456,18 +456,6 @@ Swarm-side, `GET /api/agents/<name>/state/stream` relays that subject as SSE,
 resolving the agent's hive at request time exactly as the terminal stream does.
 The payload passes through opaquely — the controller never parses a header.
 
-The third thing an agent publishes is its **icon**, the same SVG its own
-`GET /icon` serves. It goes into the `agent-icons` KV bucket under the key
-`<agent>`, with no hive in it, so the swarm can show the icon of an agent that's
-stopped or has moved hives. Only an agent connected with its own queue
-credential publishes it: the queue grants that credential
-`$KV.agent-icons.<agent>` and no other key, and grants the hive's shared client
-none of the bucket. The harness writes once per start, because a config change
-reaches an agent by restarting its container. An agent with no icon deletes its
-key. Swarm-side, `GET /api/agents/<name>/icon` serves the stored bytes, and 404
-means the agent has no icon. swarm-ui's agent cards load it as an `<img>` and show the
-dimmed hyperhive mark for an agent without one, as the hive dashboard does.
-
 ### Swarm-wide forge objects
 
 The controller also keeps the forge objects that are one per swarm, not
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.css b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.css
index e548aa9f..90a81e33 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.css
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.css
@@ -22,37 +22,3 @@
   white-space: normal;
   word-break: break-word;
 }
-/* Icon beside the name/message, sized and dimmed like the hive
-   dashboard's `.container-icon` (dashboard.css). */
-.ui-agent-card-row {
-  display: flex;
-  align-items: flex-start;
-  gap: 0.7em;
-}
-.ui-agent-card-body {
-  display: flex;
-  flex-direction: column;
-  gap: 0.35em;
-  flex: 1;
-  min-width: 0;
-}
-.ui-agent-card-icon {
-  position: relative;
-  overflow: hidden;
-  flex: none;
-  width: 5em;
-  aspect-ratio: 1;
-  border-radius: 6px;
-  background-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--crust) 60%, transparent);
-}
-.ui-agent-card-icon > img {
-  position: absolute;
-  inset: 0;
-  width: 100%;
-  height: 100%;
-  object-fit: contain;
-}
-.ui-agent-card-icon-none {
-  filter: grayscale(1);
-  opacity: 0.4;
-}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.tsx b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.tsx
index 894b7c44..e1ea8803 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.tsx
+++ b/frontend/packages/swarm-ui/src/pages/agents/AgentCard.tsx
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 // `WantedMenu` below keeps its own clicks (mouse or keyboard-synthesized,
 // `WantedMenu` hosts real `<button>`s) from also firing `Card`'s
 // `onClick` and opening the detail panel.
-import { useState } from "preact/hooks";
 import { Badge } from "@hive/shared/badge.js";
 import type { ProblemDetails } from "@hive/shared/api-error.js";
 import { Card } from "../../ui/card/Card.js";
@@ -47,84 +46,48 @@ export function AgentCard({
   const { tone, label } = FRESHNESS[row.freshness];
   return (
     <Card selected={selected} onClick={() => onOpenDetail(row)}>
-      <div class="ui-agent-card-row">
-        <AgentIcon name={row.name} />
-        <div class="ui-agent-card-body">
-          <div class="ui-agent-card-line1">
-            <span class="ui-agent-card-name">{row.name}</span>
-            <Badge
-              tone={tone}
-              title={
-                row.freshness === "unknown"
-                  ? "reported by its hive but not registered in swarm-level identity — needs migration"
-                  : undefined
-              }
-              value={
+      <div class="ui-agent-card-line1">
+        <span class="ui-agent-card-name">{row.name}</span>
+        <Badge
+          tone={tone}
+          title={
+            row.freshness === "unknown"
+              ? "reported by its hive but not registered in swarm-level identity — needs migration"
+              : undefined
+          }
+          value={
+            <>
+              {label}
+              {row.last_seen_unix !== null ? (
                 <>
-                  {label}
-                  {row.last_seen_unix !== null ? (
-                    <>
-                      {" "}
-                      (<RelativeTime epochMs={row.last_seen_unix * 1000} />)
-                    </>
-                  ) : null}
+                  {" "}
+                  (<RelativeTime epochMs={row.last_seen_unix * 1000} />)
                 </>
-              }
-            />
-            <span
-              class="ui-agent-card-wanted"
-              onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
-            >
-              <WantedMenu
-                row={row}
-                pending={pending}
-                showDestroy={false}
-                onSelectUp={onSelectUp}
-                onSelectOffline={onSelectOffline}
-                onSelectPaused={onSelectPaused}
-              />
-              {error ? (
-                <Badge
-                  tone="negative"
-                  value="failed"
-                  title={error.detail ?? "the declaration failed"}
-                />
               ) : null}
-            </span>
-          </div>
-          <div class="ui-agent-card-message">
-            {row.snapshot?.status_text ?? "—"}
-          </div>
-        </div>
+            </>
+          }
+        />
+        <span class="ui-agent-card-wanted" onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>
+          <WantedMenu
+            row={row}
+            pending={pending}
+            showDestroy={false}
+            onSelectUp={onSelectUp}
+            onSelectOffline={onSelectOffline}
+            onSelectPaused={onSelectPaused}
+          />
+          {error ? (
+            <Badge
+              tone="negative"
+              value="failed"
+              title={error.detail ?? "the declaration failed"}
+            />
+          ) : null}
+        </span>
+      </div>
+      <div class="ui-agent-card-message">
+        {row.snapshot?.status_text ?? "—"}
       </div>
     </Card>
   );
 }
-
-// The agent's icon from swarm-controller's `GET /api/agents/{name}/icon`,
-// the same square and fallback as the hive dashboard's container row: an
-// agent with no icon (404) or an unreachable controller shows the dimmed
-// hyperhive mark instead of a broken image. Always an `<img>`: the body is
-// an agent-authored SVG, and only an image load keeps its script from running.
-function AgentIcon({ name }: { name: string }) {
-  const [fallback, setFallback] = useState(false);
-  return (
-    <div
-      class={
-        fallback
-          ? "ui-agent-card-icon ui-agent-card-icon-none"
-          : "ui-agent-card-icon"
-      }
-    >
-      <img
-        alt=""
-        src={
-          fallback
-            ? "/favicon.svg"
-            : `/api/agents/${encodeURIComponent(name)}/icon`
-        }
-        onError={() => setFallback(true)}
-      />
-    </div>
-  );
-}
diff --git a/hive-agent/Cargo.toml b/hive-agent/Cargo.toml
index 6571aff1..b928b7eb 100644
--- a/hive-agent/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hive-agent/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,10 +9,9 @@ workspace = true
 
 [dependencies]
 anyhow.workspace = true
-# Named directly for the client type the publishers hold, and for `jetstream`,
-# which the icon publisher's acked write needs. The connect and the credential
-# handling live in `swarm-queue-client` below.
-async-nats = { workspace = true, features = ["jetstream"] }
+# Named directly only for the client type the terminal publisher holds; the
+# connect and the credential handling live in `swarm-queue-client` below.
+async-nats.workspace = true
 axum.workspace = true
 chrono.workspace = true
 reqwest.workspace = true
diff --git a/hive-agent/src/main.rs b/hive-agent/src/main.rs
index e1614007..ac1e0ca2 100644
--- a/hive-agent/src/main.rs
+++ b/hive-agent/src/main.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ mod serve_common;
 mod state_entry_watch;
 mod stats;
 mod stream_enrich;
-mod swarm_agent_icon;
 mod swarm_agent_state;
 mod swarm_queue;
 mod swarm_term;
@@ -522,8 +521,6 @@ async fn serve_main<S: Surface>(socket: &Path, poll_ms: u64) -> Result<()> {
     // state from this agent's first transition, not from whenever a reader
     // first asked.
     swarm_agent_state::spawn(&bus);
-    // Once per start: a new icon only arrives with a new harness process.
-    swarm_agent_icon::spawn();
     // Set by the web UI's `/api/cancel` on a successful SIGINT, read-and-
     // cleared by `handle_turn` before building the next wake prompt — see
     // `hive_sh4re::inbox::INTERRUPTED_HINT`. Shared between the web server task and
diff --git a/hive-agent/src/swarm_agent_icon.rs b/hive-agent/src/swarm_agent_icon.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 3a421ba2..00000000
--- a/hive-agent/src/swarm_agent_icon.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,220 +0,0 @@
-//! Publishing this agent's icon into the swarm's `agent-icons` bucket.
-//!
-//! The bytes are the file the harness's own `GET /icon` serves
-//! ([`ICON_PATH`]), unmodified. The key is the agent name, so the swarm can
-//! show the icon while the agent is stopped or after it has moved hives.
-//!
-//! **Once per harness start.** The icon comes from the agent's NixOS config,
-//! and a config change is applied by stopping the container, switching it and
-//! starting it again, so a new icon always arrives with a new harness process.
-//! An agent with no icon deletes its key, so an icon removed from the config
-//! also disappears from the swarm.
-//!
-//! **Only under the agent's own credential.** That credential is granted
-//! exactly this agent's key. The hive's shared client is granted none of the
-//! bucket, so under it this publishes nothing.
-//!
-//! The write is a `JetStream` publish straight to the key's subject, the same
-//! message `kv::Store::put` sends, without opening the bucket first. That
-//! keeps the grant to the one subject. swarm-controller creates the bucket,
-//! so a write can arrive before it exists; that write and any other failed
-//! one are retried with backoff until one is acked.
-
-use std::path::Path;
-use std::time::Duration;
-
-use async_nats::jetstream::context::PublishErrorKind;
-
-use crate::swarm_queue::{Connection, Presented};
-
-/// Where the agent's NixOS config puts the icon
-/// (`services.hyperhive.agent.icon`), and the file `GET /icon` serves. Absent
-/// when none is configured.
-const ICON_PATH: &str = "/etc/hyperhive/icon.svg";
-
-/// First retry delay after a failed write, doubled per failure up to
-/// [`MAX_RETRY`].
-const FIRST_RETRY: Duration = Duration::from_secs(5);
-
-/// Longest wait between retries.
-const MAX_RETRY: Duration = Duration::from_mins(5);
-
-/// The KV header and value that mark an entry deleted. `kv::Store::get`
-/// answers `None` for an entry carrying them.
-const KV_OPERATION: &str = "KV-Operation";
-const KV_OPERATION_DELETE: &str = "DEL";
-
-/// What to write under this agent's key.
-#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
-enum Icon {
-    /// The SVG's bytes.
-    Set(Vec<u8>),
-    /// No icon is configured, so the key is deleted.
-    Unset,
-}
-
-/// Read the icon at `path`. A missing file is [`Icon::Unset`]; any other read
-/// error is returned, and the key is left as it is.
-fn read_icon(path: &Path) -> std::io::Result<Icon> {
-    match std::fs::read(path) {
-        Ok(bytes) => Ok(Icon::Set(bytes)),
-        Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => Ok(Icon::Unset),
-        Err(e) => Err(e),
-    }
-}
-
-/// The subject this agent's icon is written to, or `None` under a credential
-/// that is not granted it.
-fn subject(presented: &Presented, agent: &str) -> Option<String> {
-    match presented {
-        Presented::Agent => Some(swarm_queue_client::agent_icon::subject(agent)),
-        Presented::Hive { .. } => None,
-    }
-}
-
-/// Start the publish task, if this agent has a queue credential and a label.
-pub fn spawn() {
-    if !crate::swarm_queue::configured() {
-        return;
-    }
-    let agent = crate::identity::label();
-    if agent.is_empty() {
-        tracing::warn!("this agent has no label; not publishing its icon upward");
-        return;
-    }
-    tokio::spawn(run(agent));
-}
-
-async fn run(agent: String) {
-    let Some(Connection { client, presented }) = crate::swarm_queue::client().await else {
-        return;
-    };
-    let Some(subject) = subject(&presented, &agent) else {
-        tracing::info!(
-            "connected with the hive's shared client, which may not write an agent's \
-             icon; not publishing it upward"
-        );
-        return;
-    };
-    let icon = match read_icon(Path::new(ICON_PATH)) {
-        Ok(icon) => icon,
-        Err(e) => {
-            tracing::warn!(path = ICON_PATH, error = %e, "reading the agent icon failed; not publishing it");
-            return;
-        }
-    };
-    let js = async_nats::jetstream::new(client.clone());
-    let mut delay = FIRST_RETRY;
-    loop {
-        match write(&client, &js, &subject, &icon).await {
-            Ok(()) => {
-                tracing::info!(
-                    subject,
-                    set = matches!(icon, Icon::Set(_)),
-                    "published this agent's icon"
-                );
-                return;
-            }
-            Err(Failure::TooLarge(e)) => {
-                tracing::warn!(error = %e, "the agent icon is over the queue's payload limit; not publishing it");
-                return;
-            }
-            Err(Failure::Retry(e)) => {
-                tracing::warn!(error = e, retry_in = ?delay, "publishing the agent icon failed");
-            }
-        }
-        tokio::time::sleep(delay).await;
-        delay = (delay * 2).min(MAX_RETRY);
-    }
-}
-
-/// Why a write did not land.
-enum Failure {
-    /// The payload can never fit; retrying cannot help.
-    TooLarge(async_nats::jetstream::context::PublishError),
-    /// Anything else, rendered for the log.
-    Retry(String),
-}
-
-/// One acked write of `icon` to `subject`.
-async fn write(
-    client: &async_nats::Client,
-    js: &async_nats::jetstream::Context,
-    subject: &str,
-    icon: &Icon,
-) -> Result<(), Failure> {
-    // An unconnected client does not fail a publish, it buffers it, and the
-    // payload limit it checks against is the library default until the
-    // server has announced its own.
-    swarm_queue_client::ensure_connected(client)
-        .map_err(|e| Failure::Retry(swarm_queue_client::chain(&e)))?;
-    let sent = match icon {
-        Icon::Set(bytes) => js.publish(subject.to_owned(), bytes.clone().into()).await,
-        Icon::Unset => {
-            let mut headers = async_nats::HeaderMap::new();
-            headers.insert(KV_OPERATION, KV_OPERATION_DELETE);
-            js.publish_with_headers(subject.to_owned(), headers, Vec::new().into())
-                .await
-        }
-    };
-    let ack = sent.map_err(|e| match e.kind() {
-        PublishErrorKind::MaxPayloadExceeded => Failure::TooLarge(e),
-        _ => Failure::Retry(e.to_string()),
-    })?;
-    // `StreamNotFound` here is the bucket not existing yet.
-    ack.await.map_err(|e| Failure::Retry(e.to_string()))?;
-    Ok(())
-}
-
-#[cfg(test)]
-mod tests {
-    use super::{Icon, Presented, read_icon, subject};
-
-    #[test]
-    fn under_its_own_credential_an_agent_writes_its_own_key() {
-        assert_eq!(
-            subject(&Presented::Agent, "atlas").as_deref(),
-            Some("$KV.agent-icons.atlas")
-        );
-    }
-
-    /// The hive's shared client is granted no icon key, so a publish under it
-    /// would be refused.
-    #[test]
-    fn under_the_hives_shared_client_nothing_is_written() {
-        let hive = Presented::Hive {
-            client_id: "hive-alpha-agent".to_owned(),
-        };
-        assert_eq!(subject(&hive, "atlas"), None);
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn a_configured_icon_is_published_byte_for_byte() {
-        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");
-        let path = dir.path().join("icon.svg");
-        std::fs::write(&path, b"<svg/>\n").expect("write");
-        assert_eq!(
-            read_icon(&path).expect("read"),
-            Icon::Set(b"<svg/>\n".to_vec())
-        );
-    }
-
-    /// No file is the unconfigured state, which clears the key rather than
-    /// leaving a removed icon in the swarm.
-    #[test]
-    fn no_icon_file_clears_the_key() {
-        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");
-        assert_eq!(
-            read_icon(&dir.path().join("icon.svg")).expect("read"),
-            Icon::Unset
-        );
-    }
-
-    /// Any other read failure is an error, so a transient one does not delete
-    /// an icon the agent still has.
-    #[test]
-    fn an_unreadable_icon_is_an_error_not_an_unset_icon() {
-        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");
-        assert!(read_icon(dir.path()).is_err());
-    }
-}
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix
index c8b30c39..fe1bff9b 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-nats.nix
@@ -956,16 +956,6 @@ in
                 # the same two streams, keyed on the agent alone.
                 "--agent-token-publish-subject ${lib.escapeShellArg "\$\$SWARM.term.{agent}"}"
                 "--agent-token-publish-subject ${lib.escapeShellArg "\$\$SWARM.agent-state.{agent}"}"
-                # Its own key in the `agent-icons` KV bucket, and nothing else
-                # of JetStream. A KV put is a JetStream publish to
-                # `$KV.<bucket>.<key>`, acked on the client's inbox, so this
-                # one subject is the whole write. The harness publishes to the
-                # subject directly instead of opening the bucket, so it needs
-                # no `$JS.API.*` subject; swarm-controller creates the bucket.
-                # Not granted to the hive's shared agent client: every agent
-                # on a hive presents that one, so it cannot be scoped to one
-                # agent's key.
-                "--agent-token-publish-subject ${lib.escapeShellArg "\$\$KV.agent-icons.{agent}"}"
                 "--store-cert-role ${lib.escapeShellArg authCertRole}"
               ];
               # Every credential arrives by `LoadCredential` and is named
diff --git a/nix/module-eval/nats-authelia.nix b/nix/module-eval/nats-authelia.nix
index 0ed2f2d0..cce9c1aa 100644
--- a/nix/module-eval/nats-authelia.nix
+++ b/nix/module-eval/nats-authelia.nix
@@ -151,16 +151,6 @@ let
         && lib.hasInfix "--agent-token-publish-subject '$$SWARM.agent-state.{agent}'" exec
         && lib.hasInfix "--store-cert-role swarm-nats-auth" exec;
     }
-    {
-      # Its own arm, like the two above: the icon write is a separate feature
-      # and dropping it must not hide behind the streams still being granted.
-      name = "the responder grants a verified agent its own icon key";
-      ok =
-        let
-          exec = (responderOf natsOldPath).serviceConfig.ExecStart;
-        in
-        lib.hasInfix "--agent-token-publish-subject '$$KV.agent-icons.{agent}'" exec;
-    }
     {
       # Each credential by `LoadCredential`, and the environment naming where
       # the unit sees it: a DynamicUser cannot read the copies directly.
diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/agent_icon.rs b/swarm-controller/src/agent_icon.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index bf4f019d..00000000
--- a/swarm-controller/src/agent_icon.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
-//! Reads an agent's icon out of the swarm's agent-icon KV bucket.
-//!
-//! Sibling of [`crate::agent_status`] and built the same way — the bucket
-//! is resolved on first use and cached, a resolution failure is not — but
-//! a much smaller read: one key, no roster to be complete against and no
-//! freshness to derive. An icon is not a report about the agent, it is a
-//! property of it, so there is nothing for a timestamp to mean here.
-//!
-//! **No hive is named on this path**, because the key does not carry one —
-//! see `swarm_queue_client::agent_icon` for why, and for who writes it.
-//!
-//! This reader is also what creates the bucket: the agents that write it are
-//! granted their own key and nothing that could create a stream.
-
-use anyhow::{Context, Result};
-
-/// Reads the agent-icon bucket. Holds a NATS client rather than a bucket
-/// handle, so a controller that starts before the bucket exists picks it
-/// up without a restart.
-pub struct AgentIconReader {
-    client: async_nats::Client,
-    store: tokio::sync::OnceCell<async_nats::jetstream::kv::Store>,
-}
-
-impl AgentIconReader {
-    #[must_use]
-    pub fn new(client: async_nats::Client) -> Self {
-        Self {
-            client,
-            store: tokio::sync::OnceCell::new(),
-        }
-    }
-
-    async fn store(
-        &self,
-    ) -> std::result::Result<&async_nats::jetstream::kv::Store, swarm_queue_client::Error> {
-        self.store
-            .get_or_try_init(|| swarm_queue_client::agent_icon::open_or_create(&self.client))
-            .await
-    }
-
-    /// Open the bucket, creating it, as soon as the queue is connected.
-    ///
-    /// Agents write their keys without opening the bucket, so until this or
-    /// a first [`Self::get`] has run, every write is refused and retried.
-    pub async fn create_when_connected(&self) {
-        const POLL: std::time::Duration = std::time::Duration::from_secs(5);
-        loop {
-            if swarm_queue_client::ensure_connected(&self.client).is_ok() {
-                match self.store().await {
-                    Ok(_) => return,
-                    Err(e) => tracing::warn!(
-                        error = swarm_queue_client::chain(&e),
-                        "creating the agent-icon bucket failed; retrying"
-                    ),
-                }
-            }
-            tokio::time::sleep(POLL).await;
-        }
-    }
-
-    /// `agent`'s icon, or `None` when it has published none.
-    ///
-    /// The bytes are returned unopened: this daemon does not parse, rewrite
-    /// or validate the SVG, and a consumer that renders it must treat it as
-    /// the untrusted document it is — see `get_agent_icon`'s response
-    /// headers.
-    pub async fn get(&self, agent: &str) -> Result<Option<Vec<u8>>> {
-        // An unconnected client does not fail a JetStream request, it hangs
-        // on it — see `swarm_queue_client::ensure_connected`.
-        swarm_queue_client::ensure_connected(&self.client)?;
-        let store = self.store().await?;
-        let icon = store
-            .get(agent)
-            .await
-            .with_context(|| format!("reading the agent-icon entry for {agent}"))?;
-        Ok(icon.map(Into::into))
-    }
-}
diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/main.rs b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
index 63a2f6b7..a256aa1d 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ use swarm_authelia_bridge_sock::BridgeResponse;
 use utoipa::{OpenApi, ToSchema};
 use utoipa_axum::{router::OpenApiRouter, routes};
 
-mod agent_icon;
 mod agent_identity;
 mod agent_state_stream;
 mod agent_status;
@@ -608,10 +607,6 @@ struct AppState {
     /// connection, several consumers" rationale as `wanted` above. `None`
     /// in exactly the state `status` is.
     agent_status: Option<Arc<agent_status::AgentStatusReader>>,
-    /// Per-agent icons, sharing `status`'s connection — same "one queue
-    /// connection, several consumers" rationale as `agent_status` above,
-    /// and `None` in exactly the state `status` is.
-    agent_icons: Option<Arc<agent_icon::AgentIconReader>>,
     /// The swarm-level job graph, wrapped in its
     /// [`hive_jobq::scheduler::Scheduler`] now that something drives it
     /// (`spawn_jobq_worker`) — the graph alone was enough for the
@@ -867,8 +862,7 @@ fn error_problem(status: axum::http::StatusCode, detail: &str) -> problem_detail
     problem_details::ProblemDetails::from_status_code(status).with_detail(detail)
 }
 
-/// The status a [`wanted::WantedWriter`] or [`agent_icon::AgentIconReader`]
-/// failure should answer with.
+/// The status a [`wanted::WantedWriter`] failure should answer with.
 ///
 /// `WantedWriter::view`/`set` call `ensure_connected` internally and
 /// propagate through `anyhow`, so the concrete
@@ -942,21 +936,6 @@ fn agent_status_reader(
     })
 }
 
-/// The per-agent icon reader, sharing the status reader's connection —
-/// same rationale as [`wanted_writer`]. No staleness threshold, unlike
-/// [`agent_status_reader`]: an icon is a property of the agent rather than
-/// a report about it, so there is no cadence it could be late against.
-///
-/// Also starts creating the bucket, which the agents writing it cannot do.
-fn agent_icon_reader(
-    status: Option<&Arc<status::StatusReader>>,
-) -> Option<Arc<agent_icon::AgentIconReader>> {
-    let reader = Arc::new(agent_icon::AgentIconReader::new(status?.queue_client()));
-    let creating = Arc::clone(&reader);
-    tokio::spawn(async move { creating.create_when_connected().await });
-    Some(reader)
-}
-
 /// A hive name that is shaped like one and names a hive this swarm has.
 ///
 /// Reports the status and the detail rather than a rendered
@@ -2017,92 +1996,6 @@ where
     Ok(Json(MakeForgeAdminResponse { change }))
 }
 
-/// How long a served icon may be reused without asking again.
-///
-/// An agent roster asks once per row, and an icon changes about as often
-/// as an agent is reconfigured — so a few minutes of browser caching is
-/// what keeps a page render from being one bucket read per agent, and
-/// costs nothing anyone will notice.
-const ICON_MAX_AGE: u32 = 300;
-
-/// `agent`'s icon — the swarm-level answer to "what does this agent look
-/// like".
-///
-/// **Nothing on this path names a hive.** The icon is a property of the
-/// agent, held at swarm scope under the agent's own key, so it is
-/// answerable for an agent that has moved hives or that no hive is
-/// currently running. That is the whole point of it living here rather
-/// than being fetched from wherever the agent happens to run.
-///
-/// **404 means this agent has no icon**, which is the expected
-/// unconfigured state and not an error — the same contract the per-agent
-/// harness's own `GET /icon` already has, so a caller falls back
-/// client-side on a failed load rather than probing first.
-///
-/// 🩸 **The body is an untrusted document served from this daemon's own
-/// origin**, and an SVG can carry script. The response headers say it may
-/// not run any: `Content-Security-Policy: sandbox` with no `allow-scripts`
-/// keeps a direct navigation to this URL from executing it, and `nosniff`
-/// keeps a browser from deciding the bytes are something else. An `<img>`
-/// load — the one consumer — never runs script regardless; the headers are
-/// for every other way a URL gets opened.
-#[utoipa::path(
-    get,
-    path = "/api/agents/{name}/icon",
-    params(("name" = String, Path, description = "agent name")),
-    responses(
-        (status = 200, description = "the agent's icon, an SVG", content_type = "image/svg+xml"),
-        (status = 400, description = "not an identifier (problem+json)", body = String),
-        (status = 404, description = "this agent has no icon (problem+json)", body = String),
-        (status = 500, description = "the icon bucket could not be read (problem+json)", body = String),
-        (status = 503, description = "no swarm queue is wired up, or it is not connected (problem+json)", body = String),
-    ),
-    tag = "agents"
-)]
-async fn get_agent_icon(
-    State(state): State<AppState>,
-    Path(name): Path<String>,
-) -> Result<axum::response::Response, problem_details::ProblemDetails> {
-    use axum::http::{StatusCode, header};
-    use axum::response::IntoResponse as _;
-
-    let Some(reader) = state.agent_icons.as_ref() else {
-        return Err(error_problem(
-            StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
-            "no swarm queue is wired up on this host",
-        ));
-    };
-    let agent = hive_types::Ident::parse(&name)
-        .map_err(|reason| error_problem(StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, reason))?
-        .into_string();
-    let icon = reader.get(&agent).await.map_err(|e| {
-        tracing::warn!(agent = %agent, error = %format!("{e:#}"), "reading the agent icon failed");
-        error_problem(wanted_error_status(&e), &format!("{e:#}"))
-    })?;
-    let Some(icon) = icon else {
-        return Err(error_problem(
-            StatusCode::NOT_FOUND,
-            "this agent has no icon",
-        ));
-    };
-    Ok((
-        [
-            (
-                header::CONTENT_TYPE,
-                swarm_queue_client::agent_icon::MEDIA_TYPE.to_owned(),
-            ),
-            (
-                header::CACHE_CONTROL,
-                format!("public, max-age={ICON_MAX_AGE}"),
-            ),
-            (header::CONTENT_SECURITY_POLICY, "sandbox".to_owned()),
-            (header::X_CONTENT_TYPE_OPTIONS, "nosniff".to_owned()),
-        ],
-        icon,
-    )
-        .into_response())
-}
-
 /// Every agent with an open config PR, in one response — the bulk
 /// counterpart to [`get_agent_config_pr`]. swarm-ui's config-PR table needs
 /// every agent's status to render, and fetching them one at a time doesn't
@@ -2410,7 +2303,6 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
         links: Arc::new(load_links()),
         wanted: wanted_writer(status.as_ref()),
         agent_status: agent_status_reader(status.as_ref()),
-        agent_icons: agent_icon_reader(status.as_ref()),
         status,
         jobq,
         webhook_secret,
@@ -2442,7 +2334,6 @@ fn build_app(state: AppState) -> axum::Router {
         .routes(routes!(get_jobq_graph))
         .routes(routes!(get_jobq_rollup))
         .routes(routes!(get_agent_config_pr))
-        .routes(routes!(get_agent_icon))
         .routes(routes!(get_config_prs))
         .routes(routes!(create_agent))
         .routes(routes!(mint_agent_identity))
@@ -2564,7 +2455,6 @@ mod tests {
             // that would write a declaration.
             wanted: None,
             agent_status: None,
-            agent_icons: None,
             jobq: std::sync::Arc::clone(&sched),
             webhook_secret: None,
             config_prs: None,
@@ -2616,33 +2506,6 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
-    /// An icon route with no bucket behind it must say it could not ask,
-    /// not that the agent has no icon.
-    ///
-    /// The two are one status code apart and read identically to an
-    /// `<img>` — both end in the fallback glyph — which is exactly why the
-    /// distinction has to be asserted here: nothing downstream would ever
-    /// notice the 503 silently becoming a 404.
-    #[tokio::test]
-    async fn an_icon_with_no_queue_refuses_rather_than_answering_no_icon() {
-        use axum::response::IntoResponse as _;
-
-        let (state, _sched) = state_with_roster();
-        assert!(
-            state.agent_icons.is_none(),
-            "the fixture must have no queue"
-        );
-
-        let err = super::get_agent_icon(
-            axum::extract::State(state),
-            axum::extract::Path("iris".to_owned()),
-        )
-        .await
-        .expect_err("a queue-less controller cannot answer an icon");
-        let resp = err.into_response();
-        assert_eq!(resp.status(), axum::http::StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE);
-    }
-
     /// The roster check is the half that makes the recorded hive worth
     /// having, so assert it by EFFECT rather than by the message: a hive
     /// that is not in this swarm must be refused **before anything is
@@ -3825,32 +3688,6 @@ mod tests {
             "{problem:?}"
         );
     }
-
-    /// `GET /api/agents/{name}/icon` against a disconnected queue answers
-    /// 503 like its siblings, not the 404 an `<img>` would show identically
-    /// or the 500 of a failed read.
-    #[tokio::test]
-    async fn get_agent_icon_answers_503_on_a_disconnected_queue() {
-        let (state, _sched) = state_with_roster();
-        let state = super::AppState {
-            agent_icons: Some(std::sync::Arc::new(
-                super::agent_icon::AgentIconReader::new(disconnected_client().await),
-            )),
-            ..state
-        };
-
-        let problem = super::get_agent_icon(
-            axum::extract::State(state),
-            axum::extract::Path("iris".to_owned()),
-        )
-        .await
-        .expect_err("a disconnected queue must not read as an icon");
-        assert_eq!(
-            problem.status,
-            Some(axum::http::StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE),
-            "{problem:?}"
-        );
-    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs b/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs
index 094c1c0d..1b9c68c8 100644
--- a/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/matrix_account.rs
@@ -573,7 +573,6 @@ mod tests {
             status: Some(std::sync::Arc::new(status)),
             wanted: None,
             agent_status: None,
-            agent_icons: None,
             jobq: std::sync::Arc::new(std::sync::Mutex::new(hive_jobq::scheduler::Scheduler::new(
                 hive_jobq::Graph::new(),
                 hive_jobq::resources::ResourceTable::new(),
diff --git a/swarm-nats-auth/src/agent_token.rs b/swarm-nats-auth/src/agent_token.rs
index c38898f2..4a929df4 100644
--- a/swarm-nats-auth/src/agent_token.rs
+++ b/swarm-nats-auth/src/agent_token.rs
@@ -232,7 +232,6 @@ mod tests {
         .with_agent_token_subjects(vec![
             "$SWARM.term.{agent}".to_owned(),
             "$SWARM.agent-state.{agent}".to_owned(),
-            "$KV.agent-icons.{agent}".to_owned(),
         ])
         .expect("valid")
     }
@@ -254,7 +253,6 @@ mod tests {
             vec![
                 "$SWARM.term.atlas".to_owned(),
                 "$SWARM.agent-state.atlas".to_owned(),
-                "$KV.agent-icons.atlas".to_owned(),
             ]
         );
     }
diff --git a/swarm-nats-auth/src/main.rs b/swarm-nats-auth/src/main.rs
index 65673f73..d88a88ed 100644
--- a/swarm-nats-auth/src/main.rs
+++ b/swarm-nats-auth/src/main.rs
@@ -359,14 +359,12 @@ mod tests {
             "$SWARM.term.{agent}",
             "--agent-token-publish-subject",
             "$SWARM.agent-state.{agent}",
-            "--agent-token-publish-subject",
-            "$KV.agent-icons.{agent}",
             "--store-cert-role",
             "swarm-nats-auth",
         ])
         .expect("the unit's own argument vector must parse");
         assert_eq!(args.agent_client_suffix, "-agent");
-        assert_eq!(args.agent_token_publish_subjects.len(), 3);
+        assert_eq!(args.agent_token_publish_subjects.len(), 2);
     }
 
     /// The control for the case above: an ordinary value parses through the
diff --git a/swarm-nats-auth/src/policy.rs b/swarm-nats-auth/src/policy.rs
index a88bf116..3da625eb 100644
--- a/swarm-nats-auth/src/policy.rs
+++ b/swarm-nats-auth/src/policy.rs
@@ -1232,34 +1232,6 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
-    /// A verified agent may write its own icon key and no other agent's. The
-    /// hive's shared agent client, which every agent on the hive presents, may
-    /// write none of the bucket.
-    #[test]
-    fn an_agent_may_write_only_its_own_icon_key() {
-        use swarm_queue_client::agent_icon::{BUCKET, subject};
-
-        let p = policy_with_agent_subject()
-            .with_agent_token_subjects(vec!["$KV.agent-icons.{agent}".to_owned()])
-            .expect("a per-agent template is valid");
-        let atlas = p.agent_token_permissions("atlas").expect("configured");
-        assert_eq!(atlas.publish, vec![subject("atlas")]);
-        assert!(!atlas.publish.contains(&subject("argus")));
-        // Control: the same template does grant argus its own key, so atlas
-        // lacking it is atlas's grant being scoped.
-        let argus = p.agent_token_permissions("argus").expect("configured");
-        assert_eq!(argus.publish, vec![subject("argus")]);
-
-        let shared = p.permissions("hive-alpha-agent").expect("alpha's agents");
-        assert!(
-            !shared
-                .publish
-                .iter()
-                .any(|s| s.starts_with(&format!("$KV.{BUCKET}."))),
-            "the hive's shared agent client got an icon key: {shared:?}"
-        );
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn an_agent_token_subject_without_the_placeholder_is_refused() {
         let err = policy()
diff --git a/swarm-queue-client/src/agent_icon.rs b/swarm-queue-client/src/agent_icon.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index b7c08966..00000000
--- a/swarm-queue-client/src/agent_icon.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,102 +0,0 @@
-//! The per-agent icon KV bucket: one key per agent, holding the icon the
-//! swarm shows for it.
-//!
-//! **Keyed by the agent alone — no hive token**, which is the one way this
-//! bucket deliberately differs from its otherwise-identical sibling
-//! [`crate::agent_status`] (`{hive}.{agent}`). An agent is not fixed to a
-//! hive and can move between them; an icon keyed by where the agent
-//! currently runs would be stranded under the old key by a migration, and
-//! a reader would have to know the placement to ask the question at all.
-//! Operator ruling: *"the bucket is per agent, not per hive. agents can
-//! move hives."*
-//!
-//! That is also what makes the icon answerable for an agent whose
-//! container is stopped: the value's lifetime is the agent's, not its
-//! placement's.
-//!
-//! **Each agent writes its own key** with its own queue credential. The auth
-//! callout grants that credential `$KV.agent-icons.<agent>` and no other key.
-//! The hive's shared agent client gets nothing in this bucket: every agent on
-//! a hive presents that same client, so its grant cannot be narrowed to one
-//! agent's key.
-//!
-//! The writer publishes to [`crate::agent_icon::subject`] directly instead of
-//! opening the bucket, so that one subject is its whole grant. Creating the
-//! bucket is left to the reader, with `open_or_create`. A write that arrives
-//! before the bucket exists is refused with "no stream", and the writer
-//! retries.
-
-#[cfg(feature = "kv")]
-use crate::Error;
-
-/// The KV bucket agent icons are published into, keyed by agent name.
-///
-/// A constant and not an option, for the reason
-/// [`crate::agent_status::BUCKET`] gives: writer and reader must name the
-/// same bucket, and an option is a way for the two to disagree.
-pub const BUCKET: &str = "agent-icons";
-
-/// The media type of every value in this bucket.
-///
-/// The value is the icon's bytes **verbatim, not a JSON envelope**: an SVG
-/// carries no metadata this bucket would have to describe, and the one
-/// consumer serves the bytes straight back out. So the type is fixed here
-/// rather than stored per entry — a publisher that has something other
-/// than an SVG does not have an agent icon.
-pub const MEDIA_TYPE: &str = "image/svg+xml";
-
-/// The subject `agent`'s entry is written on: `$KV.<bucket>.<key>`, where the
-/// key is the agent name and nothing else.
-///
-/// A KV put is a `JetStream` publish to this subject, so a writer that
-/// publishes directly has to use the same subject the bucket's `get` reads.
-#[must_use]
-pub fn subject(agent: &str) -> String {
-    format!("$KV.{BUCKET}.{agent}")
-}
-
-/// Open the agent-icon bucket, creating it if nothing has yet.
-///
-/// `history: 1`, same rationale as [`crate::agent_status::open_or_create`]:
-/// a consumer wants each agent's current icon, not every icon it has ever
-/// had.
-#[cfg(feature = "kv")]
-pub async fn open_or_create(
-    client: &async_nats::Client,
-) -> Result<async_nats::jetstream::kv::Store, Error> {
-    let js = async_nats::jetstream::new(client.clone());
-    match js.get_key_value(BUCKET).await {
-        Ok(store) => Ok(store),
-        Err(e) => {
-            tracing::info!(
-                bucket = BUCKET,
-                reason = %e,
-                "agent-icon bucket not available, creating it"
-            );
-            js.create_key_value(async_nats::jetstream::kv::Config {
-                bucket: BUCKET.to_owned(),
-                description: "Current icon published by each agent".to_owned(),
-                history: 1,
-                ..Default::default()
-            })
-            .await
-            .map_err(|source| Error::CreateBucket {
-                bucket: BUCKET.to_owned(),
-                source,
-            })
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-#[cfg(test)]
-mod tests {
-    use super::subject;
-
-    /// One token after the bucket, the agent name alone. That is what the
-    /// per-agent grant `$KV.agent-icons.{agent}` expands to, and what a
-    /// hive-scoped grant (`$KV.<bucket>.<hive>.*`, two tokens) cannot match.
-    #[test]
-    fn the_published_subject_carries_the_agent_and_no_placement() {
-        assert_eq!(subject("iris"), "$KV.agent-icons.iris");
-    }
-}
diff --git a/swarm-queue-client/src/lib.rs b/swarm-queue-client/src/lib.rs
index 05fed75e..8676a15c 100644
--- a/swarm-queue-client/src/lib.rs
+++ b/swarm-queue-client/src/lib.rs
@@ -182,11 +182,6 @@ pub mod agent_status;
 /// formats it without linking the secret-store client.
 pub mod agent_token;
 
-/// The bucket agent icons are published into — one key per agent, with no
-/// hive in it, unlike [`agent_status`]. See the module doc for why the
-/// placement stays out of the key, and for who may write it.
-pub mod agent_icon;
-
 /// The subject the swarm controller publishes on when the hive-wide knowledge
 /// repository has changed. One writer, many readers — every hive subscribes.
 ///