diff --git a/apps/broker/scripts/backfill-owner-members.ts b/apps/broker/scripts/backfill-owner-members.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcf7ea1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/broker/scripts/backfill-owner-members.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/**
+ * One-shot backfill: every active mesh whose owner has no peer-identity
+ * member row gets one minted via a fresh ed25519 keypair. Without this,
+ * web-first owners (who never connected via CLI) can't access the chat
+ * surface — issueDashboardApiKey is a FK to mesh.member, and the topic
+ * page server component's owner branch picks the oldest member row in
+ * the mesh (which is null if none exist).
+ *
+ * Idempotent. Safe to re-run. Each run prints per-mesh status.
+ *
+ * Owner identification: a member is the "owner's row" when its user_id
+ * matches mesh.owner_user_id. The script targets meshes that have zero
+ * such matching rows (regardless of total member count — a mesh with
+ * peers but no owner member also gets a fresh owner row).
+ *
+ * The owner row is also auto-subscribed to #general as 'lead' so the
+ * unread/role accounting matches CLI-flow meshes.
+ *
+ * Usage:
+ *   DATABASE_URL=... bun apps/broker/scripts/backfill-owner-members.ts
+ */
+
+import postgres from "postgres";
+import sodium from "libsodium-wrappers";
+
+interface Orphan {
+  meshId: string;
+  slug: string;
+  ownerUserId: string;
+  meshName: string;
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  const url = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
+  if (!url) {
+    console.error("DATABASE_URL not set");
+    process.exit(2);
+  }
+
+  await sodium.ready;
+
+  const sql = postgres(url, { max: 1, onnotice: () => {} });
+  try {
+    const orphans = await sql<Orphan[]>`
+      SELECT m.id AS "meshId", m.slug, m.owner_user_id AS "ownerUserId", m.name AS "meshName"
+      FROM mesh.mesh m
+      WHERE m.archived_at IS NULL
+        AND NOT EXISTS (
+          SELECT 1 FROM mesh.member mm
+          WHERE mm.mesh_id = m.id
+            AND mm.revoked_at IS NULL
+            AND mm.user_id = m.owner_user_id
+        )
+      ORDER BY m.created_at
+    `;
+    console.log(`backfill · ${orphans.length} meshes need an owner member row`);
+
+    let inserted = 0;
+    for (const o of orphans) {
+      const kp = sodium.crypto_sign_keypair();
+      const peerPubkey = sodium.to_hex(kp.publicKey);
+      const id = sodium.to_hex(sodium.randombytes_buf(16));
+      try {
+        await sql.begin(async (tx) => {
+          await tx`
+            INSERT INTO mesh.member (
+              id, mesh_id, peer_pubkey, display_name, role,
+              user_id, dashboard_user_id
+            )
+            VALUES (
+              ${id}, ${o.meshId}, ${peerPubkey},
+              ${o.meshName + "-owner"}, ${"admin"}::mesh.role,
+              ${o.ownerUserId}, ${o.ownerUserId}
+            )
+          `;
+          // Subscribe to #general as 'lead' if the topic exists.
+          await tx`
+            INSERT INTO mesh.topic_member (topic_id, member_id, role)
+            SELECT t.id, ${id}, ${"lead"}::mesh.topic_member_role
+            FROM mesh.topic t
+            WHERE t.mesh_id = ${o.meshId} AND t.name = 'general'
+            ON CONFLICT (topic_id, member_id) DO NOTHING
+          `;
+        });
+        inserted += 1;
+        console.log(`  + ${o.slug.padEnd(20)} owner=${o.ownerUserId.slice(0, 8)}… member=${id.slice(0, 8)}… pk=${peerPubkey.slice(0, 12)}…`);
+      } catch (e) {
+        console.error(`  ✗ ${o.slug}: ${(e as Error).message}`);
+        throw e;
+      }
+    }
+    console.log(`backfill done · ${inserted} owner member rows inserted`);
+  } finally {
+    await sql.end({ timeout: 5 });
+  }
+}
+
+main().catch((e) => {
+  console.error("backfill failed:", e);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/packages/api/src/modules/mesh/mutations.ts b/packages/api/src/modules/mesh/mutations.ts
index 58d78c9..7d9f566 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/modules/mesh/mutations.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/modules/mesh/mutations.ts
@@ -148,12 +148,46 @@ export const createMyMesh = async ({
       rootKey,
     })
     .returning({ id: mesh.id, slug: mesh.slug });
+  if (!created) throw new Error("mesh insert returned no row");
 
-  if (created) {
-    await ensureGeneralTopic(created.id);
+  // Create the owner's peer-identity member row. Mirrors what the broker
+  // does on first WS hello so a web-only user has a valid identity from
+  // t=0 — without this, the topic chat can't issue a dashboard apikey
+  // (issuedByMemberId is a FK), and the owner's "oldest member row in
+  // the mesh" lookup returns null. Fresh ed25519 keypair; secret key is
+  // discarded because web users don't sign anything in v0.2.0 (no DMs,
+  // base64 plaintext on topics). If they later install the CLI, the
+  // broker will mint a separate member row with a CLI-side keypair —
+  // both work for their respective surfaces.
+  const peerKp = s.crypto_sign_keypair();
+  const peerPubkey = s.to_hex(peerKp.publicKey);
+  const [ownerMember] = await db
+    .insert(meshMember)
+    .values({
+      meshId: created.id,
+      peerPubkey,
+      displayName: `${input.name}-owner`,
+      role: "admin",
+      userId,
+      dashboardUserId: userId,
+    })
+    .returning({ id: meshMember.id });
+  if (!ownerMember) throw new Error("owner member insert returned no row");
+
+  // Auto-create #general and subscribe the owner as 'lead'.
+  const generalTopic = await ensureGeneralTopic(created.id);
+  if (generalTopic) {
+    await db
+      .insert(meshTopicMember)
+      .values({
+        topicId: generalTopic.id,
+        memberId: ownerMember.id,
+        role: "lead",
+      })
+      .onConflictDoNothing();
   }
 
-  return created!;
+  return created;
 };
 
 /**