diff --git a/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/freezer.py b/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/freezer.py
index 3009544..1315008 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/freezer.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/freezer.py
@@ -120,6 +120,13 @@ def _exec_tar_to_file(machine: str, dest: Path) -> None:
             "--exclude=./sys",
             "--exclude=./dev",
             "--exclude=./run",
+            # /tmp and /var/tmp are ephemeral. Their stale contents
+            # (e.g. /tmp/claude-<uid>) have uid remapped by smolvm's
+            # pack process, causing Claude Code to refuse to use them
+            # on resume. Exclude both; _init_vm recreates them with
+            # mkdir -p + correct ownership on every boot.
+            "--exclude=./tmp",
+            "--exclude=./var/tmp",
             f"--file={_VM_COMMIT_TAR}",
             "--directory=/",
             ".",
diff --git a/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/launch.py b/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/launch.py
index 2bde131..e45fbbb 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/launch.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/launch.py
@@ -276,10 +276,16 @@ def _init_vm(plan: SmolmachinesBottlePlan) -> None:
     All folded into one sh -c to avoid back-to-back exec calls
     immediately after machine_start (libkrun exec-channel race).
 
+    mkdir -p guards: when booting from a committed snapshot, /tmp and
+    /var/tmp are excluded from the archive (they're ephemeral and their
+    stale contents would have wrong uid after smolvm's uid remap). The
+    directories must be created before chown/chmod can set permissions.
+
     wait_exec_ready polls until the exec channel is ready for the
     subsequent provision calls, replacing the empirical sleep."""
     _smolvm.machine_exec(plan.machine_name, [
         "sh", "-c",
+        "mkdir -p /tmp /var/tmp && "
         "chown -R node:node /home/node && "
         "chown root:root /tmp /var/tmp && "
         "chmod 1777 /tmp /var/tmp",