diff --git a/crates/maestro-daemon/src/session.rs b/crates/maestro-daemon/src/session.rs
index cff9aad..2cf7a0b 100644
--- a/crates/maestro-daemon/src/session.rs
+++ b/crates/maestro-daemon/src/session.rs
@@ -756,6 +756,11 @@ impl SessionManager {
     ///
     /// Activity is not carried over: whatever the session was doing, it is not
     /// doing it now. The rest of the sidecar is left as written.
+    ///
+    /// #163: a sidecar whose `cwd` no longer exists is pruned instead —
+    /// nothing can be resumed in a directory that is gone, so the honest move
+    /// is to delete the sidecar rather than register a record no operator can
+    /// act on. A sidecar whose `cwd` still exists is kept regardless of age.
     async fn register_dormant(&self) {
         let stored = match self.inner.sidecar.load_all() {
             Ok(stored) => stored,
@@ -765,6 +770,7 @@ impl SessionManager {
             }
         };
         let mut registered = Vec::new();
+        let mut pruned = 0usize;
         {
             let mut sessions = self.inner.sessions.lock().await;
             for mut session in stored {
@@ -772,6 +778,13 @@ impl SessionManager {
                     // Adopted live by the first pass; its sidecar is on disk too.
                     continue;
                 }
+                if !session.cwd.exists() {
+                    if let Err(e) = self.inner.sidecar.delete(session.id) {
+                        tracing::warn!(error = ?e, id = %session.id, "recover: failed to prune sidecar with missing cwd");
+                    }
+                    pruned += 1;
+                    continue;
+                }
                 let id = session.id;
                 session.status = SessionStatus::Dormant;
                 session.foreground = None;
@@ -805,6 +818,9 @@ impl SessionManager {
                 "registered sessions with no live tmux as dormant"
             );
         }
+        if pruned > 0 {
+            tracing::info!(pruned, "pruned sidecars whose cwd no longer exists");
+        }
         for session in registered {
             let _ = self
                 .inner
diff --git a/crates/maestro-daemon/tests/session_manager.rs b/crates/maestro-daemon/tests/session_manager.rs
index 441bd8b..e5d8c58 100644
--- a/crates/maestro-daemon/tests/session_manager.rs
+++ b/crates/maestro-daemon/tests/session_manager.rs
@@ -234,6 +234,69 @@ async fn recover_does_not_mark_adopted_sessions_dormant() {
     assert_eq!(snap[1].status, SessionStatus::Dormant);
 }
 
+/// #163: a sidecar whose `cwd` no longer exists is pruned instead of
+/// registered dormant — the worktree it pointed at is gone, so there is
+/// nothing left to resume.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn recover_deletes_sidecar_when_cwd_gone() {
+    let fx = DaemonFixture::new();
+    let cwd = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let cwd_path = cwd.path().to_path_buf();
+
+    let s = fx
+        .manager
+        .create(CreateSessionRequest {
+            cwd: cwd_path.clone(),
+            command: "sleep 30".into(),
+            env: HashMap::new(),
+            metadata: HashMap::new(),
+            worktree: None,
+        })
+        .await
+        .expect("create");
+
+    fx.tmux.tmux.kill_server().expect("kill tmux server");
+    drop(cwd);
+    std::fs::remove_dir_all(&cwd_path).ok();
+    assert!(!cwd_path.exists());
+
+    let revived = revive(&fx);
+    let adopted = revived.recover().await.expect("recover");
+    assert_eq!(adopted, 0);
+
+    assert!(!revived.has(s.id).await);
+    assert!(!fx.sidecar_dir().join(format!("{}.json", s.id)).exists());
+}
+
+/// #163: a sidecar whose `cwd` still exists is left alone regardless of age
+/// — it is registered dormant like any other orphan.
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn recover_keeps_dormant_sidecar_when_cwd_exists() {
+    let fx = DaemonFixture::new();
+    let cwd = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+
+    let s = fx
+        .manager
+        .create(CreateSessionRequest {
+            cwd: cwd.path().to_path_buf(),
+            command: "sleep 30".into(),
+            env: HashMap::new(),
+            metadata: HashMap::new(),
+            worktree: None,
+        })
+        .await
+        .expect("create");
+    fx.tmux.tmux.kill_server().expect("kill tmux server");
+
+    let revived = revive(&fx);
+    revived.recover().await.expect("recover");
+
+    assert!(revived.has(s.id).await);
+    assert!(fx.sidecar_dir().join(format!("{}.json", s.id)).exists());
+    let snap = revived.snapshot().await;
+    assert_eq!(snap[0].status, SessionStatus::Dormant);
+}
+
 /// #162: dismissing a dormant session is the one thing that can be done to it
 /// — no tmux call to fail, and the sidecar goes with it so the next recovery
 /// does not resurrect it.