Several ACP and tool-bash limitations were symptoms of the same missing seam: plugins could create or resume agents through `ctx.agents`, but they could not own and dispose one agent independently, and long-running bash tasks carried no stable owner in the executor itself. ACP aborted and awaited agents on disconnect but could not unregister just that session's agent; `session/cancel` could not cancel queued-but-not-yet-started work; and `tool-bash` kept task ownership in a plugin-local `Map`, so an HMR reload could make an old task look unowned.
`cancel()` is the single public stop primitive. It clears queued and steering input, aborts an in-flight step, and arms a turn-scoped marker checked at each turn boundary. A queued prompt therefore cannot start after cancellation or absorb later input. `whenIdle()` waits for post-cancel quiescence, and ACP `session/cancel` maps to this method. An idle cancel does not arm the marker.
`ctx.agents.create`/`resume` and `AgentFactory` return `AgentHandle = { agent, dispose() }`. Disposal is a consumer capability; an observer holding only `Agent` cannot tear it down. The caller fiber and factory provider also own the instance, and every path shares one memoized teardown: stop the loop, await quiescence and flushes, detach the agent and session, then unwind its scope. IDs become reusable when their registry entries detach. Config-created agents belong to the loop fiber; ACP stores and disposes each session handle.
Teardown order is load-bearing for durability. The session lifecycle and loop share one composite Cordis effect so LIFO disposal stops the loop and awaits `agent.done` before detaching the session. Sibling effects would dispose concurrently and could remove append hooks before the closing flush. Disposal notifications are contained so they cannot interrupt the chain.
Background task ownership belongs to the executor. `BashExecSpec.owner` carries an optional opaque token, `ownerOf(id)` reads it, and `dsh-tool-bash` stamps the calling session token at start. `bash_output` and `bash_kill` reject mismatched callers; completion notices locate the live agent by session token through the registry. Keeping ownership on the task preserves the fence across tool-plugin reloads. The completion listener remains effect-scoped, so a notice that settles during the reload gap may still be dropped.
The bash owner token relies on `session.header.id` being unique among live agents. Concurrent same-ID operations may prepare privately, but `SessionStore.enter()` rejects duplicate publication and the losing transaction rolls back. `tool-bash` owns the comparison policy; the bash seam stores an opaque `owner` string without interpreting it.
- **Sibling cordis effects for the agent's session lifecycle** — rejected: a fiber unload disposes sibling effects concurrently (`Promise.all`), racing removal of the store-owned append publication hooks against the loop's closing `session/flush`; the single composite effect's ordered LIFO chain is what captures the closing `turn/end` on both disposal paths.
- **A separate step-only `abort()` beside `cancel()`** — shipped originally, then removed as unused; `cancel()` is the single public stop primitive ([the public-stop-surface RFC](../simplification/2026-06-20-public-agent-stop-surface.md)).
This touched public interfaces (`Agent`, `AgentFactory`, the bash seam) deliberately, not as a local ACP patch. The simple synchronous `Agent.send()` ergonomics were preserved; the async lifecycle path is additive, for owners that need it.
