diff --git a/hermes_state.py b/hermes_state.py
index d913942f469..c4d07268972 100644
--- a/hermes_state.py
+++ b/hermes_state.py
@@ -75,8 +75,16 @@ def _collect_delegate_child_ids(conn, parent_ids: List[str]) -> List[str]:
     orchestrator subagent's own delegate children go too (FK safety).
     """
     df = _delegate_from_json()
-    found: set[str] = set()
-    frontier = [sid for sid in parent_ids if sid]
+    seeds = {sid for sid in parent_ids if sid}
+    # Seed the visited set with the parents themselves. A delegation marker
+    # chain can loop back onto a parent — a cycle, or a parent that is also
+    # another parent's delegate child when several ids are deleted at once —
+    # and without this guard that parent would be collected as one of its own
+    # descendants and cascade-deleted along with all of its messages. Callers
+    # delete the parents separately, so parents must never appear in the
+    # returned child set. (#49148)
+    found: set[str] = set(seeds)
+    frontier = list(seeds)
     while frontier:
         ph = ",".join("?" * len(frontier))
         cursor = conn.execute(
@@ -86,7 +94,8 @@ def _collect_delegate_child_ids(conn, parent_ids: List[str]) -> List[str]:
         )
         frontier = [row["id"] for row in cursor.fetchall() if row["id"] not in found]
         found.update(frontier)
-    return list(found)
+    # Return only the discovered children — never the parents themselves.
+    return [sid for sid in found if sid not in seeds]
 
 
 def _delete_delegate_children(conn, parent_ids: List[str]) -> List[str]:
diff --git a/tests/test_delegate_cascade_49148.py b/tests/test_delegate_cascade_49148.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3369a95aa1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_delegate_cascade_49148.py
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+"""Regression tests for delegate-child cascade collection (#49148).
+
+`_collect_delegate_child_ids` walks the ``_delegate_from`` marker chain to
+find delegate subagents that should be cascade-deleted with their parent.
+The parents themselves are deleted separately by the callers, so they must
+never appear in the collected child set. A delegation cycle (or a parent
+that is also another parent's delegate child) used to leak the parent into
+the deletion set, permanently deleting the parent session and its messages.
+"""
+
+import json
+import sqlite3
+
+from hermes_state import _collect_delegate_child_ids, _delete_delegate_children
+
+
+def _make_conn():
+    conn = sqlite3.connect(":memory:")
+    conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
+    conn.execute(
+        "CREATE TABLE sessions ("
+        " id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,"
+        " parent_session_id TEXT,"
+        " model_config TEXT)"
+    )
+    conn.execute("CREATE TABLE messages (session_id TEXT)")
+    return conn
+
+
+def _add_session(conn, sid, *, delegate_from=None, parent_session_id=None, messages=0):
+    model_config = json.dumps({"_delegate_from": delegate_from}) if delegate_from else None
+    conn.execute(
+        "INSERT INTO sessions (id, parent_session_id, model_config) VALUES (?, ?, ?)",
+        (sid, parent_session_id, model_config),
+    )
+    for _ in range(messages):
+        conn.execute("INSERT INTO messages (session_id) VALUES (?)", (sid,))
+
+
+class TestCollectDelegateChildIds:
+    def test_collects_delegate_child_excludes_parent(self):
+        conn = _make_conn()
+        _add_session(conn, "P")
+        _add_session(conn, "C", delegate_from="P")
+
+        result = _collect_delegate_child_ids(conn, ["P"])
+
+        assert "C" in result
+        assert "P" not in result
+
+    def test_multilevel_chain_collects_all_descendants(self):
+        conn = _make_conn()
+        _add_session(conn, "O")
+        _add_session(conn, "A", delegate_from="O")
+        _add_session(conn, "B", delegate_from="A")
+
+        result = set(_collect_delegate_child_ids(conn, ["O"]))
+
+        assert result == {"A", "B"}  # parent O excluded, both descendants in
+
+    def test_parent_session_id_branch_with_marker_collected(self):
+        # Second OR clause: parent_session_id match AND _delegate_from present.
+        conn = _make_conn()
+        _add_session(conn, "P")
+        _add_session(conn, "C", parent_session_id="P", delegate_from="something")
+
+        assert _collect_delegate_child_ids(conn, ["P"]) == ["C"]
+
+    def test_untagged_child_not_collected(self):
+        # No _delegate_from marker -> orphan-don't-delete contract.
+        conn = _make_conn()
+        _add_session(conn, "P")
+        _add_session(conn, "C", parent_session_id="P")
+
+        assert _collect_delegate_child_ids(conn, ["P"]) == []
+
+    def test_cycle_terminates_and_excludes_parent(self):
+        # The #49148 bug: A and B reference each other via _delegate_from.
+        # Collection must terminate and never return the seed parent A.
+        conn = _make_conn()
+        _add_session(conn, "A", delegate_from="B")
+        _add_session(conn, "B", delegate_from="A")
+
+        result = _collect_delegate_child_ids(conn, ["A"])
+
+        assert "A" not in result  # parent never collected as its own child
+        assert result == ["B"]
+
+
+class TestDeleteDelegateChildrenPreservesParent:
+    def test_cycle_does_not_delete_parent_or_its_messages(self):
+        conn = _make_conn()
+        _add_session(conn, "A", delegate_from="B", messages=3)
+        _add_session(conn, "B", delegate_from="A", messages=2)
+
+        removed = _delete_delegate_children(conn, ["A"])
+
+        assert "A" not in removed
+        # Parent A and its messages survive; only delegate child B is gone.
+        assert conn.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sessions WHERE id='A'").fetchone()[0] == 1
+        assert conn.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM messages WHERE session_id='A'").fetchone()[0] == 3
+        assert conn.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM sessions WHERE id='B'").fetchone()[0] == 0
+        assert conn.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM messages WHERE session_id='B'").fetchone()[0] == 0