diff --git a/e2e/cagent_api_test.go b/e2e/cagent_api_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9699a64d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/cagent_api_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+package e2e_test
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/docker/cagent/cmd/root"
+	"github.com/docker/cagent/pkg/server"
+)
+
+type Session struct {
+	Title string `json:"title"`
+}
+
+func TestCagentAPI_ListSessions(t *testing.T) {
+	type testcase struct {
+		db            string
+		expectedCount int
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range []testcase{
+		{"one-session.db", 1},
+		{"two-sessions.db", 2},
+		{"transfer-task.db", 1},
+		{"session.db", 1},
+		{"session-not-found.db", 17},
+		{"desktop.db", 2},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.db, func(t *testing.T) {
+			dbPath, err := filepath.Abs("testdata/db/" + tc.db)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			socketPath := startCagentAPI(t, dbPath)
+			client := &http.Client{
+				Transport: &http.Transport{
+					DialContext: func(ctx context.Context, _, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
+						return (&net.Dialer{}).DialContext(ctx, "unix", socketPath)
+					},
+				},
+			}
+
+			resp, err := client.Get("http://localhost/api/sessions")
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+			var sessions []Session
+			err = json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&sessions)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			assert.Len(t, sessions, tc.expectedCount)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func startCagentAPI(t *testing.T, db string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	tmpDir := t.TempDir()
+	t.Chdir(tmpDir)
+
+	copyFile(t, "session.db", db)
+	if _, err := os.Stat(db + "-wal"); err == nil {
+		copyFile(t, "session.db-wal", db+"-wal")
+	}
+
+	ln, err := server.Listen(t.Context(), "unix://cagent.sock")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		_ = ln.Close()
+	})
+
+	file, err := ln.(*net.UnixListener).File()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	go func() {
+		var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+		_ = root.Execute(t.Context(), nil, &stdout, &stderr, "api", "-s", "session.db", "--listen", fmt.Sprintf("fd://%d", file.Fd()), "default")
+	}()
+
+	return "cagent.sock"
+}
+
+func copyFile(t *testing.T, dst, src string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	srcFile, err := os.Open(src)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer srcFile.Close()
+
+	dstFile, err := os.Create(dst)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer dstFile.Close()
+
+	_, err = io.Copy(dstFile, srcFile)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+}
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/desktop.db b/e2e/testdata/db/desktop.db
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c4983ad5e
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/desktop.db differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/desktop.db-wal b/e2e/testdata/db/desktop.db-wal
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c1ef87f25
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/desktop.db-wal differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/one-session.db b/e2e/testdata/db/one-session.db
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d53f7626f
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/one-session.db differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/one-session.db-wal b/e2e/testdata/db/one-session.db-wal
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fe44e0caf
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/one-session.db-wal differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/session-not-found.db b/e2e/testdata/db/session-not-found.db
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2eb91b7cc
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/session-not-found.db differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/session.db b/e2e/testdata/db/session.db
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2f3f6a1e
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/session.db differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/session.db-wal b/e2e/testdata/db/session.db-wal
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44f20a686
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/session.db-wal differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/transfer-task.db b/e2e/testdata/db/transfer-task.db
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d53f7626f
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/transfer-task.db differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/transfer-task.db-wal b/e2e/testdata/db/transfer-task.db-wal
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..27c75f199
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/transfer-task.db-wal differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/two-sessions.db b/e2e/testdata/db/two-sessions.db
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d53f7626f
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/two-sessions.db differ
diff --git a/e2e/testdata/db/two-sessions.db-wal b/e2e/testdata/db/two-sessions.db-wal
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..976fca73a
Binary files /dev/null and b/e2e/testdata/db/two-sessions.db-wal differ
diff --git a/pkg/server/listen.go b/pkg/server/listen.go
index 24ff9b843..0d8efe541 100644
--- a/pkg/server/listen.go
+++ b/pkg/server/listen.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -17,6 +18,14 @@ func Listen(ctx context.Context, addr string) (net.Listener, error) {
 		return listenNamedPipe(path)
 	}
 
+	if fdStr, ok := strings.CutPrefix(addr, "fd://"); ok {
+		fd, err := strconv.Atoi(fdStr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return net.FileListener(os.NewFile(uintptr(fd), ""))
+	}
+
 	return listenTCP(ctx, addr)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/session/store.go b/pkg/session/store.go
index ad0583e02..b010da811 100644
--- a/pkg/session/store.go
+++ b/pkg/session/store.go
@@ -659,9 +659,20 @@ func (s *SQLiteSessionStore) loadSessionItemsWith(ctx context.Context, q querier
 			})
 
 		case "subsession":
+			// Skip if subsession_id is NULL (can happen if the sub-session was deleted
+			// and the foreign key set the reference to NULL)
+			if !row.subsessionID.Valid || row.subsessionID.String == "" {
+				slog.Warn("Skipping subsession item with NULL reference", "session_id", sessionID, "position", row.position)
+				continue
+			}
 			// Recursively load sub-session
 			subSession, err := s.loadSessionWith(ctx, q, row.subsessionID.String)
 			if err != nil {
+				if errors.Is(err, ErrNotFound) {
+					// Sub-session was deleted but item reference remains (orphaned reference)
+					slog.Warn("Skipping orphaned subsession reference", "session_id", sessionID, "subsession_id", row.subsessionID.String)
+					continue
+				}
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("getting sub-session %s: %w", row.subsessionID.String, err)
 			}
 			items = append(items, Item{SubSession: subSession})
@@ -707,6 +718,13 @@ func (s *SQLiteSessionStore) loadMessagesFromLegacyColumn(ctx context.Context, s
 		if errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {
 			return nil, nil
 		}
+		// Handle case where messages column doesn't exist (very old or corrupted database)
+		// This can happen if the database was created before the messages column was added
+		// or if migrations failed partially
+		if sqliteutil.IsNoSuchColumnError(err) {
+			slog.Warn("messages column not found in sessions table, returning empty messages", "session_id", sessionID)
+			return nil, nil
+		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/session/store_test.go b/pkg/session/store_test.go
index ead391c3c..12c3ce36e 100644
--- a/pkg/session/store_test.go
+++ b/pkg/session/store_test.go
@@ -901,6 +901,65 @@ func TestForwardCompatibility_SummaryPopulated(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "This is a summary of the conversation.", items[1].Summary)
 }
 
+// TestOrphanedSubsessionReference verifies that loading sessions gracefully
+// handles orphaned subsession references (where the subsession was deleted
+// but the reference in session_items remains).
+func TestOrphanedSubsessionReference(t *testing.T) {
+	tempDB := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "test_orphaned.db")
+
+	store, err := NewSQLiteSessionStore(tempDB)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer store.(*SQLiteSessionStore).Close()
+
+	sqliteStore := store.(*SQLiteSessionStore)
+
+	// Create parent session
+	parentSession := &Session{
+		ID:        "parent-session",
+		CreatedAt: time.Now(),
+	}
+	err = store.AddSession(t.Context(), parentSession)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Add a message to parent
+	_, err = store.AddMessage(t.Context(), "parent-session", UserMessage("Start task"))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Create and add a sub-session
+	subSession := &Session{
+		ID:        "sub-session-to-delete",
+		CreatedAt: time.Now(),
+		Messages: []Item{
+			NewMessageItem(UserMessage("Sub task")),
+		},
+	}
+	err = store.AddSubSession(t.Context(), "parent-session", subSession)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Verify session loads correctly before deletion
+	retrieved, err := store.GetSession(t.Context(), "parent-session")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, retrieved.Messages, 2) // user message + subsession
+
+	// Now delete the sub-session directly from the database
+	// This simulates a scenario where the sub-session is deleted but the
+	// reference in session_items remains (the FK sets it to NULL)
+	_, err = sqliteStore.db.ExecContext(t.Context(), "DELETE FROM sessions WHERE id = ?", "sub-session-to-delete")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Loading the parent session should gracefully skip the orphaned reference
+	retrieved, err = store.GetSession(t.Context(), "parent-session")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, retrieved.Messages, 1) // Only the user message remains
+	assert.Equal(t, "Start task", retrieved.Messages[0].Message.Message.Content)
+
+	// GetSessions should also work without error
+	sessions, err := store.GetSessions(t.Context())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, sessions, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, "parent-session", sessions[0].ID)
+}
+
 // TestMigration_ExistingMessagesToSessionItems verifies that the migration
 // properly converts legacy messages JSON to session_items table.
 func TestMigration_ExistingMessagesToSessionItems(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/sqliteutil/sqlite.go b/pkg/sqliteutil/sqlite.go
index dee6c3b35..ed4108cc6 100644
--- a/pkg/sqliteutil/sqlite.go
+++ b/pkg/sqliteutil/sqlite.go
@@ -60,6 +60,17 @@ func IsCantOpenError(err error) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// IsNoSuchColumnError checks if the error is due to a missing column in SQLite.
+// This typically happens when querying a column that doesn't exist in the schema.
+func IsNoSuchColumnError(err error) bool {
+	var sqliteErr *sqlite.Error
+	if errors.As(err, &sqliteErr) {
+		// SQLITE_ERROR (1) is the generic SQL error code used for "no such column"
+		return sqliteErr.Code() == sqlite3.SQLITE_ERROR
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // DiagnoseDBOpenError provides a more helpful error message when SQLite
 // fails to open/create a database file.
 func DiagnoseDBOpenError(path string, originalErr error) error {