diff --git a/packages/keyman/src/keyman.main.ts b/packages/keyman/src/keyman.main.ts
index 0b4d38a..23a7752 100644
--- a/packages/keyman/src/keyman.main.ts
+++ b/packages/keyman/src/keyman.main.ts
@@ -44,6 +44,18 @@ export async function keyman() {
     fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
   }
 
+  // Resolved on demand, because only generate and encrypt need a recipient, and
+  // remembered once it succeeds. Retried while it has not: creating the identity
+  // mid-session should not mean restarting.
+  let recipient: string | null = null;
+  const ageRecipient = async () => {
+    recipient ??= await extractAgePublicKey(paths.keyPath);
+    if (!recipient) {
+      console.error(`   Create one with: age-keygen -o ${paths.keyPath}`);
+    }
+    return recipient;
+  };
+
   // Main loop - keep showing menu until user quits
   let running = true;
   while (running) {
@@ -73,17 +85,20 @@ export async function keyman() {
       case 'copy':
         await copyKey(sshDir, paths.tmpDir);
         break;
-      case 'generate':
-        await generateKey(paths.tmpDir, paths.keysDir, extractAgePublicKey(paths.keyPath)!);
+      case 'generate': {
+        const pubkey = await ageRecipient();
+        if (pubkey) {
+          await generateKey(paths.tmpDir, paths.keysDir, pubkey);
+        }
         break;
-      case 'encrypt':
-        await encryptKeys(
-          sshDir,
-          paths.vaultRoot,
-          paths.tmpDir,
-          extractAgePublicKey(paths.keyPath)!
-        );
+      }
+      case 'encrypt': {
+        const pubkey = await ageRecipient();
+        if (pubkey) {
+          await encryptKeys(sshDir, paths.vaultRoot, paths.tmpDir, pubkey);
+        }
         break;
+      }
       case 'decrypt':
         await decryptKeys(sshDir, paths.vaultRoot, paths.keyPath);
         break;
diff --git a/packages/keyman/src/keyman.utils.ts b/packages/keyman/src/keyman.utils.ts
index 0b14c80..5ff8b47 100644
--- a/packages/keyman/src/keyman.utils.ts
+++ b/packages/keyman/src/keyman.utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import { execa, type Options } from 'execa';
 
+/** A binary keyman needs is not installed — recoverable, unlike a tool refusing */
+export class ToolNotFoundError extends Error {
+  constructor(readonly binary: string) {
+    super(`\`${binary}\` was not found on PATH. Install it and try again.`);
+    this.name = 'ToolNotFoundError';
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Runs one of the external binaries keyman depends on.
  *
@@ -27,23 +35,57 @@ export async function runTool(
   } catch (error) {
     const failure = error as { code?: string; stderr?: string; shortMessage?: string };
     if (failure.code === 'ENOENT') {
-      throw new Error(`\`${binary}\` was not found on PATH. Install it and try again.`);
+      throw new ToolNotFoundError(binary);
     }
     throw new Error(`\`${binary}\` failed: ${failure.stderr?.trim() || failure.shortMessage}`);
   }
 }
 
 /**
- * Extracts the public key from an age key file.
- * @param keyFilePath Path to the age key file.
- * @returns The public key as a string, or null if not found.
+ * The age recipient a vault encrypts to, derived from its identity file.
+ *
+ * `age-keygen -y` derives the public key from the secret key, so it cannot
+ * disagree with it. The `# public key:` comment can: it is ordinary text that
+ * nothing re-checks, and a wrong one encrypts the vault to a recipient nobody
+ * holds the private half of. Verified — rewriting the comment does not change
+ * what `-y` reports.
+ *
+ * The comment stays as a fallback for a machine with no `age-keygen`, behind a
+ * warning that it is unverified. It is *not* a fallback for `age-keygen`
+ * refusing the file: that means age cannot read the identity, and trusting the
+ * comment then would encrypt to a recipient the vault could never decrypt with.
+ *
+ * @returns the recipient, or null with the reason already reported
  */
-export function extractAgePublicKey(keyFilePath: string): string | null {
+export async function extractAgePublicKey(keyFilePath: string): Promise<string | null> {
   if (!fs.existsSync(keyFilePath)) {
     console.error(`❌ ERROR: Age key file not found at ${keyFilePath}`);
     return null;
   }
 
+  try {
+    const { stdout } = await runTool('age-keygen', ['-y', keyFilePath]);
+    const derived = stdout.trim();
+    if (derived.startsWith('age1')) {
+      return derived;
+    }
+    console.error(`❌ ERROR: age-keygen derived no public key from ${keyFilePath}`);
+    return null;
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (!(error instanceof ToolNotFoundError)) {
+      console.error(`❌ ERROR: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : error}`);
+      return null;
+    }
+    console.warn(
+      `⚠️  age-keygen is not installed — reading the public key from the comment in ${keyFilePath}, unverified against the secret key.`
+    );
+  }
+
+  return publicKeyFromComment(keyFilePath);
+}
+
+/** The `# public key:` line: a claim about the key rather than a derivation from it */
+function publicKeyFromComment(keyFilePath: string): string | null {
   try {
     const fileContents = fs.readFileSync(keyFilePath, 'utf-8');
     const publicKeyMatch = fileContents.match(/^# public key:\s*(age1[^\s]+)/m);
diff --git a/packages/keyman/tests/main.test.ts b/packages/keyman/tests/main.test.ts
index 2519bad..ed01f6c 100644
--- a/packages/keyman/tests/main.test.ts
+++ b/packages/keyman/tests/main.test.ts
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ describe('keyman', () => {
       ageKeyFile: 'age.key',
     });
     resolveConfigPaths.mockReturnValue(paths);
-    extractAgePublicKey.mockReturnValue('age1recipient');
+    extractAgePublicKey.mockResolvedValue('age1recipient');
 
     logSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {});
     errorSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
@@ -197,6 +197,55 @@ describe('keyman', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  describe('without an age recipient', () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      extractAgePublicKey.mockResolvedValue(null);
+    });
+
+    it.each([
+      ['generate', generateKey],
+      ['encrypt', encryptKeys],
+    ])('refuses %s with a remedy instead of passing null to age', async (choice, operation) => {
+      menu([choice]);
+
+      await keyman();
+
+      expect(operation).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      const reported = errorSpy.mock.calls.map((c) => c.join(' ')).join('\n');
+      expect(reported).toContain(`age-keygen -o ${paths.keyPath}`);
+      // The whole point: the loop survives and quit is still reached.
+      expect(output()).toContain('Goodbye!');
+    });
+
+    it('still allows the operations that need no recipient', async () => {
+      menu(['list', 'decrypt']);
+
+      await keyman();
+
+      expect(listKeys).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(decryptKeys).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('retries the lookup, so creating the identity mid-session works', async () => {
+      extractAgePublicKey.mockResolvedValueOnce(null).mockResolvedValueOnce('age1later');
+      menu(['generate', 'generate']);
+
+      await keyman();
+
+      expect(extractAgePublicKey).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(generateKey).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect(generateKey).toHaveBeenCalledWith(paths.tmpDir, paths.keysDir, 'age1later');
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('resolves the recipient once for repeated operations', async () => {
+    menu(['generate', 'encrypt']);
+
+    await keyman();
+
+    expect(extractAgePublicKey).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
   it('keeps showing the menu until the user quits', async () => {
     menu(['list', 'copy', 'list']);
 
diff --git a/packages/keyman/tests/tool.test.ts b/packages/keyman/tests/tool.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1318ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/keyman/tests/tool.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/**
+ * Tests for runTool.
+ *
+ * These spawn real processes rather than mocking execa. What runTool exists for
+ * is the shape of an execa failure — a mock would assert only what this test
+ * already assumes. It lives apart from utils.test.ts, which mocks execa to test
+ * the callers.
+ */
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { runTool, ToolNotFoundError } from '../src/keyman.utils.js';
+
+describe('runTool', () => {
+  it('returns stdout on success', async () => {
+    const result = await runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.stdout.write("hi")']);
+
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('hi');
+  });
+
+  it('passes options through', async () => {
+    const result = await runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.stdout.write(process.env.PROBE ?? "")'], {
+      env: { PROBE: 'from-options' },
+    });
+
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('from-options');
+  });
+
+  it('reports empty stdout when the output went elsewhere', async () => {
+    const result = await runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.stdout.write("hi")'], {
+      stdout: 'ignore',
+    });
+
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('turns a missing binary into an instruction rather than an ENOENT', async () => {
+    const failure = runTool('keyman-no-such-binary', []);
+
+    await expect(failure).rejects.toThrow(ToolNotFoundError);
+    await expect(failure).rejects.toThrow(
+      '`keyman-no-such-binary` was not found on PATH. Install it and try again.'
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('surfaces what the binary wrote to stderr', async () => {
+    await expect(
+      runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.stderr.write("no recipient\\n"); process.exit(1)'])
+    ).rejects.toThrow('`node` failed: no recipient');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to the command summary when stderr is empty', async () => {
+    await expect(runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.exit(3)'])).rejects.toThrow(
+      /`node` failed: .*exit code 3/
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/keyman/tests/utils.test.ts b/packages/keyman/tests/utils.test.ts
index 14dff26..3fe201a 100644
--- a/packages/keyman/tests/utils.test.ts
+++ b/packages/keyman/tests/utils.test.ts
@@ -1,19 +1,30 @@
 /**
  * Tests for extractAgePublicKey.
  *
- * Runs against real files in a temp directory: the function is a thin wrapper
- * around fs plus a regex, and faking fs would only test the fake.
+ * Real files in a temp directory, but a mocked execa: the recipient is now
+ * derived by spawning `age-keygen -y`, and the gate cannot depend on age being
+ * installed on the machine running it. runTool itself is tested against real
+ * processes in tool.test.ts.
  */
 
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import os from 'node:os';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
-import { extractAgePublicKey, runTool } from '../src/keyman.utils.js';
+
+const { execa } = vi.hoisted(() => ({ execa: vi.fn() }));
+
+vi.mock('execa', () => ({ execa }));
+
+import { extractAgePublicKey } from '../src/keyman.utils.js';
+
+const DERIVED = 'age1derivedfromthesecretkey';
+const IN_COMMENT = 'age1fromthecomment';
 
 describe('extractAgePublicKey', () => {
   let tmpDir: string;
   let errorSpy: ReturnType<typeof vi.spyOn>;
+  let warnSpy: ReturnType<typeof vi.spyOn>;
 
   const keyFile = (contents: string) => {
     const file = path.join(tmpDir, 'age.key');
@@ -21,9 +32,33 @@ describe('extractAgePublicKey', () => {
     return file;
   };
 
+  /** A well-formed identity file, whose comment can be made to disagree */
+  const identity = (comment = DERIVED) =>
+    keyFile(
+      ['# created: 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z', `# public key: ${comment}`, 'AGE-SECRET-KEY-1QQQ'].join(
+        '\n'
+      )
+    );
+
+  /**
+   * Makes age-keygen unavailable, the one case that falls back to the comment.
+   *
+   * Throws from an implementation rather than using mockRejectedValue: that
+   * builds its rejected promise when the mock is configured, and configuring it
+   * in a beforeEach leaves the rejection unhandled for a tick.
+   */
+  const noAgeKeygen = () => {
+    execa.mockImplementation(async () => {
+      throw Object.assign(new Error('spawn age-keygen ENOENT'), { code: 'ENOENT' });
+    });
+  };
+
   beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
     tmpDir = fs.realpathSync(fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'keyman-utils-')));
     errorSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
+    warnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {});
+    execa.mockResolvedValue({ stdout: `${DERIVED}\n` });
   });
 
   afterEach(() => {
@@ -31,88 +66,82 @@ describe('extractAgePublicKey', () => {
     fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   });
 
-  it('returns the public key from a standard age key file', () => {
-    const file = keyFile(
-      [
-        '# created: 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z',
-        '# public key: age1abc123xyz',
-        'AGE-SECRET-KEY-1QQQ',
-      ].join('\n')
-    );
+  it('derives the recipient from the secret key with age-keygen', async () => {
+    const file = identity();
 
-    expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).toBe('age1abc123xyz');
+    await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBe(DERIVED);
+    expect(execa).toHaveBeenCalledWith('age-keygen', ['-y', file]);
+    expect(warnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it('tolerates extra whitespace after the label', () => {
-    const file = keyFile('# public key:    age1spaced\n');
+  it('prefers the derived key over a comment that disagrees', async () => {
+    // §2.3: the comment is editable text, and this is what makes it not matter.
+    const file = identity('age1staleorforged');
 
-    expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).toBe('age1spaced');
+    await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBe(DERIVED);
   });
 
-  it('returns null and reports when the file does not exist', () => {
+  it('returns null and reports when the file does not exist', async () => {
     const missing = path.join(tmpDir, 'nope.key');
 
-    expect(extractAgePublicKey(missing)).toBeNull();
+    await expect(extractAgePublicKey(missing)).resolves.toBeNull();
     expect(errorSpy.mock.calls[0][0]).toContain('Age key file not found');
+    expect(execa).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it('returns null when the file has no public key line', () => {
-    const file = keyFile('AGE-SECRET-KEY-1QQQ\n');
+  it('returns null when age-keygen refuses the file, without trusting the comment', async () => {
+    const file = identity(IN_COMMENT);
+    execa.mockRejectedValue(
+      Object.assign(new Error('failed'), { exitCode: 1, stderr: 'age-keygen: error: malformed' })
+    );
 
-    expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).toBeNull();
-    expect(errorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBeNull();
+    expect(errorSpy.mock.calls[0][0]).toContain('malformed');
   });
 
-  it('ignores a key that is not on its own line', () => {
-    const file = keyFile('prefix # public key: age1inline\n');
+  it('returns null when age-keygen prints something that is not a recipient', async () => {
+    const file = identity();
+    execa.mockResolvedValue({ stdout: 'Public key: (none)\n' });
 
-    expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).toBeNull();
+    await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBeNull();
+    expect(errorSpy.mock.calls[0][0]).toContain('derived no public key');
   });
 
-  it('returns null and reports when the file cannot be read', () => {
-    const asDirectory = path.join(tmpDir, 'age.key');
-    fs.mkdirSync(asDirectory);
+  describe('without age-keygen installed', () => {
+    beforeEach(noAgeKeygen);
 
-    expect(extractAgePublicKey(asDirectory)).toBeNull();
-    expect(errorSpy.mock.calls[0][0]).toContain('Failed to read key file');
-  });
-});
+    it('falls back to the comment, warning that it is unverified', async () => {
+      const file = identity(IN_COMMENT);
 
-/**
- * These spawn real processes rather than mocking execa. The whole point of
- * runTool is the shape of an execa failure, and a mock would only assert what
- * this test already assumes.
- */
-describe('runTool', () => {
-  it('returns the result on success', async () => {
-    const result = await runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.stdout.write("hi")']);
-
-    expect(result.stdout).toBe('hi');
-  });
-
-  it('passes options through', async () => {
-    const result = await runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.stdout.write(process.env.PROBE ?? "")'], {
-      env: { PROBE: 'from-options' },
+      await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBe(IN_COMMENT);
+      expect(warnSpy.mock.calls[0][0]).toContain('unverified');
     });
 
-    expect(result.stdout).toBe('from-options');
-  });
+    it('tolerates extra whitespace after the label', async () => {
+      const file = keyFile('# public key:    age1spaced\n');
 
-  it('reports a missing binary as an instruction rather than an ENOENT', async () => {
-    await expect(runTool('keyman-no-such-binary', [])).rejects.toThrow(
-      '`keyman-no-such-binary` was not found on PATH. Install it and try again.'
-    );
-  });
+      await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBe('age1spaced');
+    });
 
-  it('surfaces what the binary wrote to stderr', async () => {
-    await expect(
-      runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.stderr.write("no recipient\\n"); process.exit(1)'])
-    ).rejects.toThrow('`node` failed: no recipient');
-  });
+    it('returns null when the file has no public key line', async () => {
+      const file = keyFile('AGE-SECRET-KEY-1QQQ\n');
 
-  it('falls back to the command summary when stderr is empty', async () => {
-    await expect(runTool('node', ['-e', 'process.exit(3)'])).rejects.toThrow(
-      /`node` failed: .*exit code 3/
-    );
+      await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBeNull();
+      expect(errorSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('ignores a key that is not on its own line', async () => {
+      const file = keyFile('prefix # public key: age1inline\n');
+
+      await expect(extractAgePublicKey(file)).resolves.toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    it('returns null and reports when the file cannot be read', async () => {
+      const asDirectory = path.join(tmpDir, 'age.key');
+      fs.mkdirSync(asDirectory);
+
+      await expect(extractAgePublicKey(asDirectory)).resolves.toBeNull();
+      expect(errorSpy.mock.calls[0][0]).toContain('Failed to read key file');
+    });
   });
 });