diff --git a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/README.md b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/README.md
index accbba59..3dd48090 100644
--- a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/README.md
+++ b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/README.md
@@ -2,19 +2,20 @@
 
 ## Description
 
-Creates an IRSA (IAM Roles for Service Accounts) role for a nullplatform agent on EKS, with an assume-role policy allowing the agent to assume a conventional permissions role and any additional roles
+Creates an IRSA (IAM Roles for Service Accounts) role for a nullplatform agent on EKS, with an assume-role policy allowing the agent to assume the roles explicitly provided by the caller (via assume_role_arns and/or permissions_roles)
 
 ## Architecture
 
-The module uses the terraform-aws-modules/iam//modules/iam-role-for-service-accounts module to create an aws_iam_role with an OIDC trust policy scoped to a specific Kubernetes namespace and service account. An aws_iam_policy (nullplatform_assume_role_policy) is created and attached to the agent role, granting sts:AssumeRole on a conventionally named permissions role ARN, any extra permissions roles, and any caller-supplied assume_role_arns. Optionally, one or more aws_iam_role resources (extra_permissions) are created via for_each from var.permissions_roles, each trusting only the agent role ARN, with aws_iam_role_policy_attachment resources wiring the provided policy ARNs to each extra role.
+The module uses the terraform-aws-modules/iam//modules/iam-role-for-service-accounts module to create an aws_iam_role with an OIDC trust policy scoped to a specific Kubernetes namespace and service account. An aws_iam_policy (nullplatform_assume_role_policy) is created and attached to the agent role, granting sts:AssumeRole only on the roles the caller supplies: any extra permissions roles created via var.permissions_roles plus any caller-supplied var.assume_role_arns. The module no longer injects any permissions role by naming convention; a lifecycle precondition requires at least one role to be provided. Optionally, one or more aws_iam_role resources (extra_permissions) are created via for_each from var.permissions_roles, each trusting only the agent role ARN, with aws_iam_role_policy_attachment resources wiring the provided policy ARNs to each extra role.
 
 ## Features
 
 - Creates IRSA-enabled aws_iam_role scoped to a specific Kubernetes namespace and service account via OIDC provider trust
-- Creates aws_iam_policy granting sts:AssumeRole on a conventional permissions role ARN and any additional supplied role ARNs
+- Creates aws_iam_policy granting sts:AssumeRole only on the role ARNs explicitly supplied by the caller (no implicit permissions role by convention)
+- Requires at least one assumable role (via assume_role_arns or permissions_roles) through a lifecycle precondition
 - Creates optional extra aws_iam_role resources (permissions_roles) trusted exclusively by the agent role with configurable policy attachments
 - Attaches additional caller-supplied policy ARNs directly to the agent role via var.additional_policies
-- Outputs the agent role ARN, the conventional permissions role ARN, and a map of extra permissions role ARNs for downstream consumption
+- Outputs the agent role ARN and a map of extra permissions role ARNs for downstream consumption
 - Derives deterministic role ARNs from account ID and name locals to avoid circular dependencies between role trust and assume policies
 
 ## Basic Usage
@@ -26,6 +27,12 @@ module "agent" {
   agent_namespace                     = "your-agent-namespace"
   aws_iam_openid_connect_provider_arn = "your-aws-iam-openid-connect-provider-arn"
   cluster_name                        = "your-cluster-name"
+
+  # The agent no longer assumes any role by convention. Pass every role it must
+  # assume explicitly, e.g. the k8s permissions role created by the k8s scope module:
+  assume_role_arns = [
+    "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/nullplatform-your-cluster-name-agent-permissions-role",
+  ]
 }
 ```
 
@@ -70,7 +77,6 @@ resource "example_resource" "this" {
 | <a name="input_assume_role_arns"></a> [assume\_role\_arns](#input\_assume\_role\_arns) | List of IAM role ARNs the agent is allowed to assume via sts:AssumeRole | `list(string)` | `[]` | no |
 | <a name="input_aws_iam_openid_connect_provider_arn"></a> [aws\_iam\_openid\_connect\_provider\_arn](#input\_aws\_iam\_openid\_connect\_provider\_arn) | ARN of the AWS IAM OIDC provider for EKS service account authentication | `string` | n/a | yes |
 | <a name="input_cluster_name"></a> [cluster\_name](#input\_cluster\_name) | Name of the cluster where the policy runs | `string` | n/a | yes |
-| <a name="input_permissions_role_name"></a> [permissions\_role\_name](#input\_permissions\_role\_name) | Override for the permissions IAM role name. Defaults to nullplatform-{cluster\_name}-agent-permissions-role | `string` | `""` | no |
 | <a name="input_permissions_roles"></a> [permissions\_roles](#input\_permissions\_roles) | Additional permissions roles created by this module and assumable by the agent role. Map key is a logical name; name overrides the role name (defaults to nullplatform-{cluster\_name}-{key}); policy\_arns are the policy ARNs attached to the role. | <pre>map(object({<br/>    name        = optional(string)<br/>    policy_arns = optional(list(string), [])<br/>  }))</pre> | `{}` | no |
 | <a name="input_policies_name_prefix"></a> [policies\_name\_prefix](#input\_policies\_name\_prefix) | Override for IAM policy name prefix. Defaults to nullplatform\_{cluster\_name} | `string` | `""` | no |
 | <a name="input_role_name"></a> [role\_name](#input\_role\_name) | Override for the IAM role name. Defaults to nullplatform-{cluster\_name}-agent-role | `string` | `""` | no |
@@ -81,21 +87,21 @@ resource "example_resource" "this" {
 | Name | Description |
 |------|-------------|
 | <a name="output_nullplatform_agent_extra_permissions_role_arns"></a> [nullplatform\_agent\_extra\_permissions\_role\_arns](#output\_nullplatform\_agent\_extra\_permissions\_role\_arns) | Map of logical name to ARN for each additional permissions role created via permissions\_roles |
-| <a name="output_nullplatform_agent_permissions_role_arn"></a> [nullplatform\_agent\_permissions\_role\_arn](#output\_nullplatform\_agent\_permissions\_role\_arn) | Conventional ARN of the permissions role the agent role is allowed to assume. The role itself is created externally (k8s scope tofu module), not by this module. |
 | <a name="output_nullplatform_agent_role_arn"></a> [nullplatform\_agent\_role\_arn](#output\_nullplatform\_agent\_role\_arn) | ARN of the agent role |
 <!-- END_TF_DOCS -->
 
 <!-- BEGIN_AI_METADATA
 {
   "name": "agent",
-  "description": "Creates an IRSA (IAM Roles for Service Accounts) role for a nullplatform agent on EKS, with an assume-role policy allowing the agent to assume a conventional permissions role and any additional roles",
-  "architecture": "The module uses the terraform-aws-modules/iam//modules/iam-role-for-service-accounts module to create an aws_iam_role with an OIDC trust policy scoped to a specific Kubernetes namespace and service account. An aws_iam_policy (nullplatform_assume_role_policy) is created and attached to the agent role, granting sts:AssumeRole on a conventionally named permissions role ARN, any extra permissions roles, and any caller-supplied assume_role_arns. Optionally, one or more aws_iam_role resources (extra_permissions) are created via for_each from var.permissions_roles, each trusting only the agent role ARN, with aws_iam_role_policy_attachment resources wiring the provided policy ARNs to each extra role.",
+  "description": "Creates an IRSA (IAM Roles for Service Accounts) role for a nullplatform agent on EKS, with an assume-role policy allowing the agent to assume the roles explicitly provided by the caller (via assume_role_arns and/or permissions_roles)",
+  "architecture": "The module uses the terraform-aws-modules/iam//modules/iam-role-for-service-accounts module to create an aws_iam_role with an OIDC trust policy scoped to a specific Kubernetes namespace and service account. An aws_iam_policy (nullplatform_assume_role_policy) is created and attached to the agent role, granting sts:AssumeRole only on the roles the caller supplies: any extra permissions roles created via var.permissions_roles plus any caller-supplied var.assume_role_arns. The module no longer injects any permissions role by naming convention; a lifecycle precondition requires at least one role to be provided. Optionally, one or more aws_iam_role resources (extra_permissions) are created via for_each from var.permissions_roles, each trusting only the agent role ARN, with aws_iam_role_policy_attachment resources wiring the provided policy ARNs to each extra role.",
   "features": [
     "Creates IRSA-enabled aws_iam_role scoped to a specific Kubernetes namespace and service account via OIDC provider trust",
-    "Creates aws_iam_policy granting sts:AssumeRole on a conventional permissions role ARN and any additional supplied role ARNs",
+    "Creates aws_iam_policy granting sts:AssumeRole only on the role ARNs explicitly supplied by the caller (no implicit permissions role by convention)",
+    "Requires at least one assumable role (via assume_role_arns or permissions_roles) through a lifecycle precondition",
     "Creates optional extra aws_iam_role resources (permissions_roles) trusted exclusively by the agent role with configurable policy attachments",
     "Attaches additional caller-supplied policy ARNs directly to the agent role via var.additional_policies",
-    "Outputs the agent role ARN, the conventional permissions role ARN, and a map of extra permissions role ARNs for downstream consumption",
+    "Outputs the agent role ARN and a map of extra permissions role ARNs for downstream consumption",
     "Derives deterministic role ARNs from account ID and name locals to avoid circular dependencies between role trust and assume policies"
   ],
   "inputs": [
@@ -139,11 +145,6 @@ resource "example_resource" "this" {
       "description": "Override for the IAM role name. Defaults to nullplatform-{cluster_name}-agent-role",
       "required": false
     },
-    {
-      "name": "permissions_role_name",
-      "description": "Override for the permissions IAM role name. Defaults to nullplatform-{cluster_name}-agent-permissions-role",
-      "required": false
-    },
     {
       "name": "policies_name_prefix",
       "description": "Override for IAM policy name prefix. Defaults to nullplatform_{cluster_name}",
@@ -152,7 +153,6 @@ resource "example_resource" "this" {
   ],
   "outputs": [
     "nullplatform_agent_role_arn",
-    "nullplatform_agent_permissions_role_arn",
     "nullplatform_agent_extra_permissions_role_arns"
   ],
   "hash": "080cc2f1402698f5884c98e39f0ef01a"
diff --git a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/main.tf b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/main.tf
index 3758c3b6..0690b745 100644
--- a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/main.tf
+++ b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/main.tf
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 locals {
-  role_name             = var.role_name != "" ? var.role_name : "nullplatform-${var.cluster_name}-agent-role"
-  permissions_role_name = var.permissions_role_name != "" ? var.permissions_role_name : "nullplatform-${var.cluster_name}-agent-permissions-role"
-  policies_name_prefix  = var.policies_name_prefix != "" ? var.policies_name_prefix : "nullplatform_${var.cluster_name}"
+  role_name            = var.role_name != "" ? var.role_name : "nullplatform-${var.cluster_name}-agent-role"
+  policies_name_prefix = var.policies_name_prefix != "" ? var.policies_name_prefix : "nullplatform_${var.cluster_name}"
 
-  # ARNs built from names + account id to avoid a circular dependency between
-  # the agent role (assume policy -> permissions role) and the permissions role
-  # (trust policy -> agent role).
-  agent_role_arn       = "arn:aws:iam::${data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id}:role/${local.role_name}"
-  permissions_role_arn = "arn:aws:iam::${data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id}:role/${local.permissions_role_name}"
+  # ARN built from name + account id to avoid a circular dependency between the
+  # agent role (extra permissions trust) and the extra permissions roles (trust
+  # policy -> agent role).
+  agent_role_arn = "arn:aws:iam::${data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id}:role/${local.role_name}"
 
   # Resolve the name and (computed) ARN of each extra permissions role up front,
   # so both the agent assume policy and the role trust policies reference the
@@ -63,12 +61,13 @@ module "nullplatform_agent_role" {
 }
 
 # NOTE: The permissions role (nullplatform_agent_permissions) and its workload
-# policies (Route53, EKS, ELB, AVP) are no longer created by this module. They
-# are now provisioned per-cluster by the k8s scope's OpenTofu module
-# (scopes: k8s/scope/tofu/iam/modules). This module keeps only the agent IRSA
-# role and an assume policy that authorizes assuming that externally-created
-# permissions role by its conventional ARN (see nullplatform_assume_role_policy
-# and local.permissions_role_arn).
+# policies (Route53, EKS, ELB, AVP) are not created by this module. They are
+# provisioned per-cluster by the k8s scope's OpenTofu module (scopes:
+# k8s/scope/tofu/iam/modules). This module keeps only the agent IRSA role and an
+# assume policy. The agent role is NOT granted permission to assume that
+# externally-created permissions role by convention: callers must pass every
+# role the agent should assume explicitly via var.assume_role_arns (see
+# nullplatform_assume_role_policy).
 
 ################################################################################
 # Additional permissions roles assumed by the agent role
@@ -106,23 +105,32 @@ resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "extra_permissions" {
 
 resource "aws_iam_policy" "nullplatform_assume_role_policy" {
   name        = "${local.policies_name_prefix}_assume_role_policy"
-  description = "Policy allowing the agent to assume the permissions role and any additional roles"
+  description = "Policy allowing the agent to assume the roles passed via permissions_roles and assume_role_arns"
   policy = jsonencode({
     Version = "2012-10-17"
     Statement = [{
       Effect = "Allow"
       Action = "sts:AssumeRole"
       Resource = concat(
-        [local.permissions_role_arn],
         local.extra_permissions_role_arns,
         var.assume_role_arns
       )
     }]
   })
+
+  # The agent role no longer assumes any role by convention: at least one role
+  # must be provided explicitly (via permissions_roles or assume_role_arns),
+  # otherwise the policy would render an empty Resource and AWS would reject it.
+  lifecycle {
+    precondition {
+      condition     = length(concat(local.extra_permissions_role_arns, var.assume_role_arns)) > 0
+      error_message = "The agent role must be allowed to assume at least one role: pass it via var.assume_role_arns (e.g. the k8s permissions role ARN) or define var.permissions_roles."
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 # The assume role policy used to be conditional (count). It is now always
-# created because the agent role must be able to assume the permissions role.
+# created because the agent role holds its sts:AssumeRole grants here.
 moved {
   from = aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy[0]
   to   = aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy
diff --git a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/outputs.tf b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/outputs.tf
index b2859597..13a377e8 100644
--- a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/outputs.tf
+++ b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/outputs.tf
@@ -3,11 +3,6 @@ output "nullplatform_agent_role_arn" {
   value       = module.nullplatform_agent_role.arn
 }
 
-output "nullplatform_agent_permissions_role_arn" {
-  description = "Conventional ARN of the permissions role the agent role is allowed to assume. The role itself is created externally (k8s scope tofu module), not by this module."
-  value       = local.permissions_role_arn
-}
-
 output "nullplatform_agent_extra_permissions_role_arns" {
   description = "Map of logical name to ARN for each additional permissions role created via permissions_roles"
   value       = { for k, r in aws_iam_role.extra_permissions : k => r.arn }
diff --git a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/tests/agent.tftest.hcl b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/tests/agent.tftest.hcl
index f78cbf70..62a2fe4d 100644
--- a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/tests/agent.tftest.hcl
+++ b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/tests/agent.tftest.hcl
@@ -25,9 +25,13 @@ variables {
   aws_iam_openid_connect_provider_arn = "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:oidc-provider/oidc.eks.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/id/EXAMPLE"
 }
 
-run "assume_role_policy_always_created_and_targets_permissions_role" {
+run "assume_role_policy_targets_only_provided_arns" {
   command = plan
 
+  variables {
+    assume_role_arns = ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/some-role"]
+  }
+
   assert {
     condition     = aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy.name == "nullplatform_test-cluster_assume_role_policy"
     error_message = "assume_role policy name should follow naming convention"
@@ -36,39 +40,35 @@ run "assume_role_policy_always_created_and_targets_permissions_role" {
   assert {
     condition = contains(
       jsondecode(aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy.policy).Statement[0].Resource,
-      "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/nullplatform-test-cluster-agent-permissions-role"
+      "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/some-role"
     )
-    error_message = "assume_role policy should allow assuming the permissions role by default"
-  }
-}
-
-run "assume_role_policy_includes_additional_arns" {
-  command = plan
-
-  variables {
-    assume_role_arns = ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/some-role"]
+    error_message = "assume_role policy should include the provided assume_role_arns"
   }
 
   assert {
-    condition = contains(
+    condition = !contains(
       jsondecode(aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy.policy).Statement[0].Resource,
       "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/nullplatform-test-cluster-agent-permissions-role"
     )
-    error_message = "assume_role policy should still allow assuming the permissions role"
+    error_message = "assume_role policy must NOT inject the permissions role by convention anymore"
   }
+}
 
-  assert {
-    condition = contains(
-      jsondecode(aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy.policy).Statement[0].Resource,
-      "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/some-role"
-    )
-    error_message = "assume_role policy should include additional assume_role_arns"
-  }
+run "assume_role_policy_fails_without_any_role" {
+  command = plan
+
+  expect_failures = [
+    aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy,
+  ]
 }
 
 run "extra_permissions_roles_not_created_by_default" {
   command = plan
 
+  variables {
+    assume_role_arns = ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/some-role"]
+  }
+
   assert {
     condition     = length(aws_iam_role.extra_permissions) == 0
     error_message = "No extra permissions roles should be created when permissions_roles is empty"
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ run "extra_permissions_roles_created_and_assumable" {
   }
 
   assert {
-    condition = jsondecode(aws_iam_role.extra_permissions["data"].assume_role_policy).Statement[0].Principal.AWS == "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/nullplatform-test-cluster-agent-role"
+    condition     = jsondecode(aws_iam_role.extra_permissions["data"].assume_role_policy).Statement[0].Principal.AWS == "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/nullplatform-test-cluster-agent-role"
     error_message = "Extra role trust policy should allow the agent role to assume it"
   }
 
@@ -125,4 +125,12 @@ run "extra_permissions_roles_created_and_assumable" {
     )
     error_message = "agent assume_role policy should include the ops extra role"
   }
+
+  assert {
+    condition = !contains(
+      jsondecode(aws_iam_policy.nullplatform_assume_role_policy.policy).Statement[0].Resource,
+      "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/nullplatform-test-cluster-agent-permissions-role"
+    )
+    error_message = "permissions_roles alone must not re-introduce the convention permissions role ARN"
+  }
 }
diff --git a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/variables.tf b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/variables.tf
index 2cb93037..38a927a7 100644
--- a/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/variables.tf
+++ b/infrastructure/aws/iam/agent/variables.tf
@@ -42,12 +42,6 @@ variable "role_name" {
   default     = ""
 }
 
-variable "permissions_role_name" {
-  description = "Override for the permissions IAM role name. Defaults to nullplatform-{cluster_name}-agent-permissions-role"
-  type        = string
-  default     = ""
-}
-
 variable "permissions_roles" {
   description = "Additional permissions roles created by this module and assumable by the agent role. Map key is a logical name; name overrides the role name (defaults to nullplatform-{cluster_name}-{key}); policy_arns are the policy ARNs attached to the role."
   type = map(object({