diff --git a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu
index 7a0fcda..d6e97f0 100755
--- a/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu
+++ b/skills/kugetsu/scripts/kugetsu
@@ -249,6 +249,11 @@ cmd_start() {
 
     local session_file="$(issue_ref_to_filename "$issue_ref").json"
 
+    printf '{"type": "forked", "issue_ref": "%s", "opencode_session_id": "pending", "created_at": "%s", "state": "starting"}\n' \
+        "$issue_ref" "$(date -Iseconds)" > "$SESSIONS_DIR/$session_file"
+
+    add_issue_to_index "$issue_ref" "$session_file"
+
     echo "Forking session for '$issue_ref'..."
     local fork_output
     if [ "$DEBUG_MODE" = true ]; then
@@ -260,19 +265,19 @@ cmd_start() {
     local new_session_id=$(echo "$fork_output" | grep -oP 'A new forked session was created: \Kses_\w+' | tail -1)
 
     if [ -z "$new_session_id" ]; then
-        new_session_id=$(opencode session list 2>/dev/null | grep -E '^ses_' | awk '{print $1}' | grep -v "^$base_session_id$" | tail -1)
+        new_session_id=$(opencode session list 2>/dev/null | grep -E '^ses_' | awk '{print $1}' | grep -v "^$base_session_id$" | head -1)
     fi
 
     if [ -z "$new_session_id" ]; then
         echo "Error: Could not find newly created session" >&2
+        printf '{"type": "forked", "issue_ref": "%s", "opencode_session_id": "failed", "created_at": "%s", "state": "failed"}\n' \
+            "$issue_ref" "$(date -Iseconds)" > "$SESSIONS_DIR/$session_file"
         exit 1
     fi
 
     printf '{"type": "forked", "issue_ref": "%s", "opencode_session_id": "%s", "created_at": "%s", "state": "idle"}\n' \
         "$issue_ref" "$new_session_id" "$(date -Iseconds)" > "$SESSIONS_DIR/$session_file"
 
-    add_issue_to_index "$issue_ref" "$session_file"
-
     echo "Session started for '$issue_ref': $new_session_id"
 }