diff --git a/bin/tower-hermes.sh b/bin/tower-hermes.sh
index f5aca5b..10cae46 100755
--- a/bin/tower-hermes.sh
+++ b/bin/tower-hermes.sh
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@
 # Communication via ~/.tower/timmy-to-hermes.msg and hermes-to-timmy.msg
 # ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-set -euo pipefail
+set -uo pipefail
 
 TOWER_DIR="$HOME/.tower"
 INBOX="$TOWER_DIR/timmy-to-hermes.msg"
 OUTBOX="$TOWER_DIR/hermes-to-timmy.msg"
 LOCK="$TOWER_DIR/hermes.lock"
 SESSION_NAME="tower-hermes"
+SESSION_FLAG="$TOWER_DIR/.hermes-session-exists"
 LOG="$TOWER_DIR/hermes.log"
 TURN_DELAY=5  # seconds between checking for new messages
 
@@ -38,11 +39,22 @@ send() {
 # ── Get response from Hermes agent ────────────────────────────────────
 ask_hermes() {
     local prompt="$1"
-    hermes chat \
-        -q "$prompt" \
-        -Q \
-        --continue "$SESSION_NAME" \
-        2>>"$LOG"
+    local result
+    if [ -f "$SESSION_FLAG" ]; then
+        result=$(hermes chat -q "$prompt" -Q --continue "$SESSION_NAME" 2>>"$LOG") || true
+    else
+        result=$(hermes chat -q "$prompt" -Q 2>>"$LOG") || true
+        # Name the session for future --continue calls
+        local sid
+        sid=$(echo "$result" | grep -o 'session_id: [^ ]*' | cut -d' ' -f2)
+        if [ -n "$sid" ]; then
+            hermes sessions rename "$sid" "$SESSION_NAME" 2>>"$LOG" || true
+            touch "$SESSION_FLAG"
+            log "Created session '$SESSION_NAME' (id: $sid)"
+        fi
+    fi
+    # Strip metadata lines from output
+    echo "$result" | grep -v '^session_id: ' | grep -v '↻ Resumed session' | grep -v "^Session '" | sed '/^\[.*\] Created session/d'
 }
 
 # ── Boot message ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/bin/tower-timmy.sh b/bin/tower-timmy.sh
index e488e33..9839a40 100755
--- a/bin/tower-timmy.sh
+++ b/bin/tower-timmy.sh
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@
 # Communication via ~/.tower/hermes-to-timmy.msg and timmy-to-hermes.msg
 # ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-set -euo pipefail
+set -uo pipefail
 
 TOWER_DIR="$HOME/.tower"
 INBOX="$TOWER_DIR/hermes-to-timmy.msg"
 OUTBOX="$TOWER_DIR/timmy-to-hermes.msg"
 LOCK="$TOWER_DIR/timmy.lock"
 SESSION_NAME="tower-timmy"
+SESSION_FLAG="$TOWER_DIR/.timmy-session-exists"
 LOG="$TOWER_DIR/timmy.log"
 TURN_DELAY=5  # seconds between checking for new messages
 
@@ -41,11 +42,22 @@ send() {
 # ── Get response from Timmy agent ─────────────────────────────────────
 ask_timmy() {
     local prompt="$1"
-    hermes chat \
-        -q "$prompt" \
-        -Q \
-        --continue "$SESSION_NAME" \
-        2>>"$LOG"
+    local result
+    if [ -f "$SESSION_FLAG" ]; then
+        result=$(HERMES_HOME="$HOME/.timmy" hermes chat -q "$prompt" -Q --continue "$SESSION_NAME" 2>>"$LOG") || true
+    else
+        result=$(HERMES_HOME="$HOME/.timmy" hermes chat -q "$prompt" -Q 2>>"$LOG") || true
+        # Name the session for future --continue calls
+        local sid
+        sid=$(echo "$result" | grep -o 'session_id: [^ ]*' | cut -d' ' -f2)
+        if [ -n "$sid" ]; then
+            HERMES_HOME="$HOME/.timmy" hermes sessions rename "$sid" "$SESSION_NAME" 2>>"$LOG" || true
+            touch "$SESSION_FLAG"
+            log "Created session '$SESSION_NAME' (id: $sid)"
+        fi
+    fi
+    # Strip metadata lines from output
+    echo "$result" | grep -v '^session_id: ' | grep -v '↻ Resumed session' | grep -v "^Session '" | sed '/^\[.*\] Created session/d'
 }
 
 # ── Boot message ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────