diff --git a/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs b/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs
index 9c123e7..cc0b414 100644
--- a/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs
@@ -253,6 +253,24 @@ impl AgentPool {
             }
         }
 
+        // Read the preferred agent from the story's front matter before acquiring
+        // the lock.  When no explicit agent_name is given, this lets start_agent
+        // honour `agent: coder-opus` written by the `assign` command — mirroring
+        // the auto_assign path (bug 379).
+        let front_matter_agent: Option<String> = if agent_name.is_none() {
+            find_active_story_stage(project_root, story_id).and_then(|stage_dir| {
+                let path = project_root
+                    .join(".storkit")
+                    .join("work")
+                    .join(stage_dir)
+                    .join(format!("{story_id}.md"));
+                let contents = std::fs::read_to_string(path).ok()?;
+                crate::io::story_metadata::parse_front_matter(&contents).ok()?.agent
+            })
+        } else {
+            None
+        };
+
         // Atomically resolve agent name, check availability, and register as
         // Pending.  When `agent_name` is `None` the first idle coder is
         // selected inside the lock so no TOCTOU race can occur between the
@@ -268,24 +286,75 @@ impl AgentPool {
 
             resolved_name = match agent_name {
                 Some(name) => name.to_string(),
-                None => auto_assign::find_free_agent_for_stage(&config, &agents, &PipelineStage::Coder)
-                    .map(|s| s.to_string())
-                    .ok_or_else(|| {
-                        if config
-                            .agent
-                            .iter()
-                            .any(|a| agent_config_stage(a) == PipelineStage::Coder)
-                        {
-                            format!(
-                                "All coder agents are busy; story '{story_id}' has been \
-                                 queued in work/2_current/ and will be auto-assigned when \
-                                 one becomes available"
-                            )
+                None => {
+                    // Honour the `agent:` field in the story's front matter so that
+                    // `start 368` after `assign 368 opus` picks the right agent
+                    // (bug 379).  Mirrors the auto_assign selection logic.
+                    if let Some(ref pref) = front_matter_agent {
+                        let stage_matches = config
+                            .find_agent(pref)
+                            .map(|cfg| agent_config_stage(cfg) == PipelineStage::Coder)
+                            .unwrap_or(false);
+                        if stage_matches {
+                            if auto_assign::is_agent_free(&agents, pref) {
+                                pref.clone()
+                            } else {
+                                return Err(format!(
+                                    "Preferred agent '{pref}' from story front matter is busy; \
+                                     story '{story_id}' has been queued in work/2_current/ and will \
+                                     be auto-assigned when it becomes available"
+                                ));
+                            }
                         } else {
-                            "No coder agent configured. Specify an agent_name explicitly."
-                                .to_string()
+                            // Stage mismatch — fall back to any free coder.
+                            auto_assign::find_free_agent_for_stage(
+                                &config,
+                                &agents,
+                                &PipelineStage::Coder,
+                            )
+                            .map(|s| s.to_string())
+                            .ok_or_else(|| {
+                                if config
+                                    .agent
+                                    .iter()
+                                    .any(|a| agent_config_stage(a) == PipelineStage::Coder)
+                                {
+                                    format!(
+                                        "All coder agents are busy; story '{story_id}' has been \
+                                         queued in work/2_current/ and will be auto-assigned when \
+                                         one becomes available"
+                                    )
+                                } else {
+                                    "No coder agent configured. Specify an agent_name explicitly."
+                                        .to_string()
+                                }
+                            })?
                         }
-                    })?,
+                    } else {
+                        auto_assign::find_free_agent_for_stage(
+                            &config,
+                            &agents,
+                            &PipelineStage::Coder,
+                        )
+                        .map(|s| s.to_string())
+                        .ok_or_else(|| {
+                            if config
+                                .agent
+                                .iter()
+                                .any(|a| agent_config_stage(a) == PipelineStage::Coder)
+                            {
+                                format!(
+                                    "All coder agents are busy; story '{story_id}' has been \
+                                     queued in work/2_current/ and will be auto-assigned when \
+                                     one becomes available"
+                                )
+                            } else {
+                                "No coder agent configured. Specify an agent_name explicitly."
+                                    .to_string()
+                            }
+                        })?
+                    }
+                }
             };
 
             key = composite_key(story_id, &resolved_name);
@@ -2196,6 +2265,108 @@ stage = "coder"
         assert_eq!(agents.len(), 1, "existing agents should not be affected");
     }
 
+    // ── front matter agent preference (bug 379) ──────────────────────────────
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn start_agent_honours_front_matter_agent_when_idle() {
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let sk = tmp.path().join(".storkit");
+        let backlog = sk.join("work/1_backlog");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&backlog).unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            sk.join("project.toml"),
+            r#"
+[[agent]]
+name = "coder-sonnet"
+stage = "coder"
+
+[[agent]]
+name = "coder-opus"
+stage = "coder"
+"#,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        // Story file with agent preference in front matter.
+        std::fs::write(
+            backlog.join("368_story_test.md"),
+            "---\nname: Test Story\nagent: coder-opus\n---\n# Story 368\n",
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+
+        let pool = AgentPool::new_test(3010);
+        // coder-sonnet is busy so without front matter the auto-selection
+        // would skip coder-opus and try something else.
+        pool.inject_test_agent("other-story", "coder-sonnet", AgentStatus::Running);
+
+        let result = pool
+            .start_agent(tmp.path(), "368_story_test", None, None)
+            .await;
+        match result {
+            Ok(info) => {
+                assert_eq!(
+                    info.agent_name, "coder-opus",
+                    "should pick the front-matter preferred agent"
+                );
+            }
+            Err(err) => {
+                // Allowed to fail for infrastructure reasons (no git repo),
+                // but NOT due to agent selection ignoring the preference.
+                assert!(
+                    !err.contains("All coder agents are busy"),
+                    "should not report busy when coder-opus is idle: {err}"
+                );
+                assert!(
+                    !err.contains("coder-sonnet"),
+                    "should not have picked coder-sonnet: {err}"
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn start_agent_returns_error_when_front_matter_agent_busy() {
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let sk = tmp.path().join(".storkit");
+        let backlog = sk.join("work/1_backlog");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&backlog).unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            sk.join("project.toml"),
+            r#"
+[[agent]]
+name = "coder-sonnet"
+stage = "coder"
+
+[[agent]]
+name = "coder-opus"
+stage = "coder"
+"#,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            backlog.join("368_story_test.md"),
+            "---\nname: Test Story\nagent: coder-opus\n---\n# Story 368\n",
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+
+        let pool = AgentPool::new_test(3011);
+        // Preferred agent is busy — should NOT fall back to coder-sonnet.
+        pool.inject_test_agent("other-story", "coder-opus", AgentStatus::Running);
+
+        let result = pool
+            .start_agent(tmp.path(), "368_story_test", None, None)
+            .await;
+        assert!(result.is_err(), "expected error when preferred agent is busy");
+        let err = result.unwrap_err();
+        assert!(
+            err.contains("coder-opus"),
+            "error should mention the preferred agent: {err}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            err.contains("busy") || err.contains("queued"),
+            "error should say agent is busy or story is queued: {err}"
+        );
+    }
+
     // ── archive + cleanup integration test ───────────────────────────────────
 
     #[tokio::test]