diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 01164e81..73689e16 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3811,7 +3811,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-api"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "axum",
@@ -3851,7 +3851,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-channels"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "aes",
  "async-trait",
@@ -3888,7 +3888,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-cli"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "clap",
  "clap_complete",
@@ -3915,7 +3915,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-desktop"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "axum",
  "open",
@@ -3941,7 +3941,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-extensions"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "aes-gcm",
  "argon2",
@@ -3969,7 +3969,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-hands"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "chrono",
  "dashmap",
@@ -3986,7 +3986,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-kernel"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "chrono",
@@ -4024,7 +4024,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-memory"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "chrono",
@@ -4043,7 +4043,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-migrate"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "chrono",
  "dirs 6.0.0",
@@ -4062,7 +4062,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-runtime"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "async-trait",
@@ -4096,7 +4096,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-skills"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "chrono",
  "hex",
@@ -4119,7 +4119,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-types"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "chrono",
@@ -4138,7 +4138,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openfang-wire"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "chrono",
@@ -8814,7 +8814,7 @@ checksum = "b9cc00251562a284751c9973bace760d86c0276c471b4be569fe6b068ee97a56"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "xtask"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "yoke"
diff --git a/crates/openfang-desktop/src/server.rs b/crates/openfang-desktop/src/server.rs
index 984f2316..053c646d 100644
--- a/crates/openfang-desktop/src/server.rs
+++ b/crates/openfang-desktop/src/server.rs
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ impl Drop for ServerHandle {
 /// any Tauri window is created. The actual axum server runs on a dedicated
 /// thread with its own tokio runtime.
 pub fn start_server() -> Result<ServerHandle, Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    // Load .env and secrets.env into process environment (same as CLI).
+    // Without this, API keys stored in ~/.openfang/.env are invisible to
+    // the kernel's provider detection and credential resolver.
+    load_dotenv_files();
+
     // Boot kernel (sync — no tokio needed)
     let kernel = OpenFangKernel::boot(None)?;
     let kernel = Arc::new(kernel);
@@ -145,3 +150,44 @@ async fn run_embedded_server(
         }
     }
 }
+
+/// Load ~/.openfang/.env and ~/.openfang/secrets.env into the process environment.
+/// System env vars take priority — existing vars are NOT overridden.
+fn load_dotenv_files() {
+    let home = if let Ok(h) = std::env::var("OPENFANG_HOME") {
+        std::path::PathBuf::from(h)
+    } else {
+        let user_home = std::env::var("HOME")
+            .or_else(|_| std::env::var("USERPROFILE"))
+            .unwrap_or_default();
+        if user_home.is_empty() {
+            return;
+        }
+        std::path::PathBuf::from(user_home).join(".openfang")
+    };
+
+    for filename in &[".env", "secrets.env"] {
+        let path = home.join(filename);
+        if let Ok(content) = std::fs::read_to_string(&path) {
+            for line in content.lines() {
+                let trimmed = line.trim();
+                if trimmed.is_empty() || trimmed.starts_with('#') {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if let Some((key, value)) = trimmed.split_once('=') {
+                    let key = key.trim();
+                    let mut value = value.trim().to_string();
+                    if ((value.starts_with('"') && value.ends_with('"'))
+                        || (value.starts_with('\'') && value.ends_with('\'')))
+                        && value.len() >= 2
+                    {
+                        value = value[1..value.len() - 1].to_string();
+                    }
+                    if !key.is_empty() && std::env::var(key).is_err() {
+                        std::env::set_var(key, &value);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/openfang-kernel/src/kernel.rs b/crates/openfang-kernel/src/kernel.rs
index d5682065..816132fb 100644
--- a/crates/openfang-kernel/src/kernel.rs
+++ b/crates/openfang-kernel/src/kernel.rs
@@ -1258,15 +1258,17 @@ impl OpenFangKernel {
         fixed_id: Option<AgentId>,
     ) -> KernelResult<AgentId> {
         let agent_id = fixed_id.unwrap_or_default();
-        let session_id = SessionId::new();
         let name = manifest.name.clone();
 
         info!(agent = %name, id = %agent_id, parent = ?parent, "Spawning agent");
 
-        // Create session
-        self.memory
+        // Create session — use the returned session_id so the registry
+        // and database are in sync (fixes duplicate session bug #651).
+        let session = self
+            .memory
             .create_session(agent_id)
             .map_err(KernelError::OpenFang)?;
+        let session_id = session.id;
 
         // Inherit kernel exec_policy as fallback if agent manifest doesn't have one
         let mut manifest = manifest;