diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3ac9ef1c2..846dca498 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -35,3 +35,6 @@ docs/blog-preview-*/
 # Finder duplicate files, e.g. "spec 2.js", "sitemap 2.xml"
 *\ 2.*
 *\ [0-9].*
+
+# local hive agent roster snapshots
+roster-backups/
diff --git a/docs/pr-evidence/sandbox-cwd-after.png b/docs/pr-evidence/sandbox-cwd-after.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6863e893f
Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/pr-evidence/sandbox-cwd-after.png differ
diff --git a/docs/pr-evidence/sandbox-cwd-before.png b/docs/pr-evidence/sandbox-cwd-before.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..50619df89
Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/pr-evidence/sandbox-cwd-before.png differ
diff --git a/src/main/hive.ts b/src/main/hive.ts
index 4537c2bf6..914cf7a5a 100644
--- a/src/main/hive.ts
+++ b/src/main/hive.ts
@@ -1152,6 +1152,25 @@ export class HiveManager {
       hooks: [{ type: 'command', command: cmd }]
     });
     const mcpServers = this.buildDefaultMcpServers(cwd, cfg);
+    // #449 — the agent's OWN project cwd, declared explicitly.
+    //
+    // This list used to carry only the dirs BESIDES cwd, on the evidence that
+    // bypass mode still wrote cwd itself (verified live against claude 2.1.239,
+    // see below). That stopped holding: once `sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite` is
+    // present it IS the whole answer, so an agent could no longer git-commit,
+    // build, or delete inside the very directory it was hired to work in. Every
+    // write there came back "Operation not permitted", and the only way through
+    // was turning the sandbox off for each command — which gives up the whole
+    // layer to get work done.
+    //
+    // Naming cwd costs nothing where it was already implied, and restores the
+    // agent's own workspace where it is not. It does NOT widen the sandbox: the
+    // agent could always read cwd, and this is the one directory it was pointed
+    // at. Still gated on `writableDirs` below, so an agent spawned without a
+    // sandbox request stays exactly as unsandboxed as before.
+    const sandboxDirs = Array.from(new Set(
+      [cwd, ...writableDirs].filter((d) => typeof d === 'string' && d.length > 0)
+    ));
     return {
       // Match the TUI's truecolor palette to the harness terminal theme —
       // PER SESSION, so the user's global Claude theme (their own terminals
@@ -1188,8 +1207,8 @@ export class HiveManager {
       // runs as before rather than refusing to spawn.
       ...(writableDirs.length
         ? {
-            sandbox: { enabled: true, filesystem: { allowWrite: writableDirs } },
-            permissions: { additionalDirectories: writableDirs }
+            sandbox: { enabled: true, filesystem: { allowWrite: sandboxDirs } },
+            permissions: { additionalDirectories: sandboxDirs }
           }
         : {}),
       hooks: {
diff --git a/test/auto-mode-sandbox.test.cjs b/test/auto-mode-sandbox.test.cjs
index 942bb7a89..c2f177a94 100644
--- a/test/auto-mode-sandbox.test.cjs
+++ b/test/auto-mode-sandbox.test.cjs
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@
  * path-layout problem. Fix: keep the sandbox and declare those paths writable —
  * codex via `--add-dir`, Claude via `sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite` plus
  * `permissions.additionalDirectories` in the per-session settings file.
+ *
+ * The list also names the agent's OWN project cwd (#449). It used to carry only
+ * the paths outside cwd, on the evidence that bypass mode still wrote cwd
+ * itself; once `allowWrite` is present it is the whole answer, so agents lost
+ * the ability to write in the directory they were hired to work in.
  */
 const test = require('node:test');
 const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
@@ -48,9 +53,43 @@ test('a Claude agent gets a native sandbox that still allows its agent dir and t
   const hiveRoot = path.join(home, 'hive');
   assert.equal(settings.sandbox.enabled, true);
   assert.notEqual(settings.sandbox.failIfUnavailable, true, 'Windows must still spawn');
-  assert.deepEqual(settings.sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite, [agentDir, hiveRoot, palace]);
+  assert.deepEqual(settings.sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite, [home, agentDir, hiveRoot, palace],
+    'the project cwd comes first, then the paths outside it');
   // Both layers, or the agent deadlocks: Edit/Write allowed but `mv … .done/` denied.
   assert.deepEqual(settings.permissions.additionalDirectories, settings.sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite);
   // No bypass of the sandbox anywhere in the injected args.
   assert.ok(!inj.args.some((a) => /dangerously/.test(a)));
 });
+
+test('the agent can write in the project it was hired to work in (#449)', async () => {
+  // The reported shape: a project cwd that is NOT a parent of the hive, so
+  // nothing else in the list happens to cover it. Before this fix every write
+  // under the project — git commits, build output, rm, test artifacts — came
+  // back "Operation not permitted".
+  const home = tmpHome();
+  const project = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'md-project-'));
+  const hive = new HiveManager(() => home);
+  const inj = await hive.ensureAgent({ id: 'jim-1', name: 'Jim', provider: 'claude', cwd: project });
+  const settings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(inj.args[inj.args.indexOf('--settings') + 1], 'utf8'));
+
+  assert.ok(settings.sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite.includes(project),
+    'the project cwd is writable');
+  assert.ok(settings.permissions.additionalDirectories.includes(project),
+    'both layers, or Edit/Write is allowed while Bash is denied');
+  // The hive paths it also needs are still there.
+  assert.ok(settings.sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite.includes(path.join(home, 'hive', 'agents', 'jim-1')));
+  assert.ok(settings.sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite.includes(path.join(home, 'hive')));
+});
+
+test('the cwd is named once, even when it is also passed as a writable dir', async () => {
+  const home = tmpHome();
+  const project = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'md-project-'));
+  const hive = new HiveManager(() => home);
+  const inj = await hive.ensureAgent(
+    { id: 'jim-1', name: 'Jim', provider: 'claude', cwd: project },
+    { extraWritableDirs: [project] }
+  );
+  const settings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(inj.args[inj.args.indexOf('--settings') + 1], 'utf8'));
+  const seen = settings.sandbox.filesystem.allowWrite.filter((d) => d === project);
+  assert.equal(seen.length, 1, 'no duplicate entry');
+});