diff --git a/agents/services/base_builder.go b/agents/services/base_builder.go
index 34303ab0..dacedaac 100644
--- a/agents/services/base_builder.go
+++ b/agents/services/base_builder.go
@@ -979,6 +979,9 @@ func (s *BuilderWrapper) LogDeployRequest(req *builderv0.DeploymentRequest, log
 }
 
 func (s *BuilderWrapper) DockerBuildRequest(_ context.Context, req *builderv0.BuildRequest) (*builderv0.DockerBuildContext, error) {
+	if err := ValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory(req); err != nil {
+		return nil, s.Wool.Wrapf(err, "cannot build")
+	}
 	switch v := req.BuildContext.Kind.(type) {
 	case *builderv0.BuildContext_DockerBuildContext:
 		return v.DockerBuildContext, nil
diff --git a/agents/services/docker_recipe.go b/agents/services/docker_recipe.go
index 659ba0a7..cef49488 100644
--- a/agents/services/docker_recipe.go
+++ b/agents/services/docker_recipe.go
@@ -15,6 +15,29 @@ import (
 // validates before building from an emitted plan.
 const DockerBuildRecipeContractVersion = "codefly.dev/docker-build-recipe/v1"
 
+// ValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory enforces the BuildRequest.output_directory
+// contract: when set, the destination must be an absolute path the caller owns.
+// Empty is valid and selects the legacy in-agent build. A relative path is
+// rejected with a clear error rather than silently resolved against whatever
+// working directory the agent happens to run in — the agent and the caller would
+// otherwise resolve it against different directories and the recipe handshake
+// would break with no error at all. DockerBuildRequest calls this so every agent
+// build enforces the invariant at the boundary where the request enters core;
+// the CLI resolves its destination to absolute and can call it before sending.
+// BuildDockerBuildPlan does not enforce it — it takes a bare destination and its
+// tree walk is relative-safe, so a guard there would reject valid callers of a
+// generic helper rather than catch the contract violation at the request boundary.
+func ValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory(req *builderv0.BuildRequest) error {
+	dir := req.GetOutputDirectory()
+	if dir == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if !filepath.IsAbs(dir) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("BuildRequest.output_directory must be absolute, got %q", dir)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // BuildDockerBuildPlan inventories the recipe tree an agent wrote to destination
 // and returns a build plan: the ordered recipes plus the canonical sorted file
 // inventory with per-file sha256 digests and an aggregate digest that is a
diff --git a/agents/services/docker_recipe_test.go b/agents/services/docker_recipe_test.go
index fc49127a..5d7d2de4 100644
--- a/agents/services/docker_recipe_test.go
+++ b/agents/services/docker_recipe_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package services
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"os"
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	builderv0 "github.com/codefly-dev/core/generated/go/codefly/services/builder/v0"
+	"github.com/codefly-dev/core/wool"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
@@ -61,6 +63,53 @@ func TestBuildDockerBuildPlanInventoriesRecipeTree(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Error(t, VerifyDockerBuildPlan(destination, plan))
 }
 
+func TestValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory(t *testing.T) {
+	// A nil request carries no directory and selects the legacy in-agent build.
+	require.NoError(t, ValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory(nil))
+
+	// Empty selects the legacy in-agent build and is valid.
+	require.NoError(t, ValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory(&builderv0.BuildRequest{}))
+
+	// An absolute destination honors the contract.
+	require.NoError(t, ValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory(&builderv0.BuildRequest{
+		OutputDirectory: filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "recipes"),
+	}))
+
+	// A relative destination is rejected at the boundary that populates the field.
+	err := ValidateBuildRequestOutputDirectory(&builderv0.BuildRequest{OutputDirectory: "recipes/out"})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "absolute")
+}
+
+func TestDockerBuildRequestEnforcesAbsoluteOutputDirectory(t *testing.T) {
+	wrapper := &BuilderWrapper{Base: &Base{Wool: wool.Get(context.Background())}}
+	dockerContext := &builderv0.BuildContext{
+		Kind: &builderv0.BuildContext_DockerBuildContext{DockerBuildContext: &builderv0.DockerBuildContext{}},
+	}
+
+	// A relative output_directory is rejected before the build proceeds, so the
+	// agent never writes recipes where the caller cannot find them.
+	_, err := wrapper.DockerBuildRequest(context.Background(), &builderv0.BuildRequest{
+		BuildContext:    dockerContext,
+		OutputDirectory: "recipes/out",
+	})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "absolute")
+
+	// An absolute output_directory passes through to the docker build context.
+	got, err := wrapper.DockerBuildRequest(context.Background(), &builderv0.BuildRequest{
+		BuildContext:    dockerContext,
+		OutputDirectory: filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "recipes"),
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, got)
+
+	// An empty output_directory (legacy in-agent build) passes through.
+	got, err = wrapper.DockerBuildRequest(context.Background(), &builderv0.BuildRequest{BuildContext: dockerContext})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, got)
+}
+
 func TestBuildDockerBuildPlanDigestChangesWithContent(t *testing.T) {
 	destination := t.TempDir()
 	dockerfile := filepath.Join(destination, "Dockerfile")