diff --git a/lib/api/middleware/agent_auth.js b/lib/api/middleware/agent_auth.js
index 480def6..a8b6941 100644
--- a/lib/api/middleware/agent_auth.js
+++ b/lib/api/middleware/agent_auth.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import * as agents from '../../db/repos/agents.js';
+import { timingSafeStrEqual } from '../../auth/safe_compare.js';
 
 export async function agentOrOwner(req, res, next) {
   const expectedOwner = process.env.OWNER_TOKEN;
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ export async function agentOrOwner(req, res, next) {
   if (scheme !== 'Bearer' || !token) {
     return res.status(401).json({ error: { code: 'unauthorized', message: 'missing bearer token' } });
   }
-  if (token === expectedOwner) {
+  if (timingSafeStrEqual(token, expectedOwner)) {
     req.actor = { kind: 'user', id: null };
     return next();
   }
diff --git a/lib/auth/owner.js b/lib/auth/owner.js
index cefb44a..ced2a92 100644
--- a/lib/auth/owner.js
+++ b/lib/auth/owner.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { timingSafeStrEqual } from './safe_compare.js';
+
 export function ownerOnly(req, res, next) {
   const expected = process.env.OWNER_TOKEN;
   if (!expected) {
@@ -7,7 +9,7 @@ export function ownerOnly(req, res, next) {
   }
   const auth = req.headers.authorization || '';
   const [scheme, token] = auth.split(' ');
-  if (scheme !== 'Bearer' || token !== expected) {
+  if (scheme !== 'Bearer' || !timingSafeStrEqual(token, expected)) {
     return res.status(401).json({
       error: { code: 'unauthorized', message: 'invalid token' }
     });
diff --git a/lib/auth/safe_compare.js b/lib/auth/safe_compare.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..098f12e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/auth/safe_compare.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import crypto from 'node:crypto';
+
+/**
+ * Constant-time string comparison for secrets (e.g. the owner bearer token).
+ *
+ * Plain `===` short-circuits on the first differing byte, leaking length and
+ * prefix via timing. `crypto.timingSafeEqual` is constant-time but THROWS when
+ * the two buffers differ in length — so we length-check first (length is not
+ * the secret) and only then do the constant-time compare. Returns false for
+ * any falsy / non-string input rather than throwing.
+ *
+ * @param {string} a
+ * @param {string} b
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+export function timingSafeStrEqual(a, b) {
+  if (typeof a !== 'string' || typeof b !== 'string') return false;
+  if (a.length === 0 || b.length === 0) return false;
+  const ab = Buffer.from(a);
+  const bb = Buffer.from(b);
+  if (ab.length !== bb.length) return false;
+  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(ab, bb);
+}
diff --git a/tests/auth/safe_compare.test.js b/tests/auth/safe_compare.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ee1153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/auth/safe_compare.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { timingSafeStrEqual } from '../../lib/auth/safe_compare.js';
+
+// The owner bearer token is compared on every request. A naive === leaks
+// length+prefix via timing; a naive crypto.timingSafeEqual THROWS when the two
+// buffers differ in length. timingSafeStrEqual must be constant-time for equal
+// lengths and return false (never throw) for mismatched lengths or bad input.
+
+describe('timingSafeStrEqual', () => {
+  it('returns true for identical strings', () => {
+    expect(timingSafeStrEqual('vk_secrettoken', 'vk_secrettoken')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false for same-length but different strings', () => {
+    expect(timingSafeStrEqual('aaaaaa', 'aaaaab')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false (no throw) for different-length strings', () => {
+    expect(timingSafeStrEqual('short', 'a-much-longer-token')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false for null / undefined / empty input', () => {
+    expect(timingSafeStrEqual(undefined, 'x')).toBe(false);
+    expect(timingSafeStrEqual('x', undefined)).toBe(false);
+    expect(timingSafeStrEqual('', '')).toBe(false);
+    expect(timingSafeStrEqual(null, null)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});