diff --git a/src/chat/chat_sync.c b/src/chat/chat_sync.c
index 0ebdbfd5..4eb88885 100644
--- a/src/chat/chat_sync.c
+++ b/src/chat/chat_sync.c
@@ -153,9 +153,10 @@ static void cs_handle_peer_upsert(struct chat_sync* cs, uint64_t peer,
 static void cs_handle_channel_invite(struct chat_sync* cs, uint64_t peer,
     const char* ch_id, const uint8_t* pl, size_t len);
 static int cs_send_channel_invite(struct chat_sync* cs, struct UTUN_INSTANCE* inst,
-    const char* ch_id, uint64_t target_node_id, const char* ch_name,
-    const uint8_t* ch_x25519, const uint8_t* ch_ed, const uint8_t* ch_sig);
-
+                                   const char* ch_id, uint64_t target_node_id,
+                                   const char* ch_name, uint64_t owner,
+                                   const uint8_t* ch_x25519, const uint8_t* ch_ed,
+                                   const uint8_t* ch_sig);
 /* ── Recv dispatcher ── */
 
 static void chat_sync_recv_cb(struct ETCP_CONN* conn, struct ll_entry* entry) {
@@ -487,10 +488,10 @@ static void cs_on_conn_up(struct ETCP_CONN* conn, int event, void* arg) { (void)
             /* we are the inviter — send CHANNEL_INVITE to the joiner */
             char ch_id[64]; snprintf(ch_id, sizeof(ch_id), "%llu",
                 (unsigned long long)g_cs->pending_invite_ch_id);
-            char ch_name[128]; uint8_t ch_x2[32], ch_ed2[32], ch_sig[64];
+            char ch_name[128]; uint8_t ch_x2[32], ch_ed2[32], ch_sig[64]; uint64_t ch_owner;
             if (topo_node_sqlite_channel_get(g_cs->inst->topo_sqlite_db,
-                  ch_id, ch_name, (int)sizeof(ch_name), NULL, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig) == 0) {
-                cs_send_channel_invite(g_cs, g_cs->inst, ch_id, peer, ch_name, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig);
+                  ch_id, ch_name, (int)sizeof(ch_name), &ch_owner, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig) == 0) {
+                cs_send_channel_invite(g_cs, g_cs->inst, ch_id, peer, ch_name, ch_owner, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig);
                 if (g_cs->invite_send_timer) { uasync_cancel_timeout(g_cs->inst->ua, g_cs->invite_send_timer); }
                 g_cs->invite_send_timer = uasync_set_timeout(g_cs->inst->ua,
                     CS_INVITE_SEND_TIMEOUT_MS * 10, g_cs, cs_invite_send_timeout_cb, "cs_invite_send");
@@ -1484,9 +1485,9 @@ static void cs_handle_channel_invite(struct chat_sync* cs, uint64_t peer,
 
 static int cs_send_channel_invite(struct chat_sync* cs, struct UTUN_INSTANCE* inst,
                                    const char* ch_id, uint64_t target_node_id,
-                                   const char* ch_name, const uint8_t* ch_x25519,
-                                   const uint8_t* ch_ed, const uint8_t* ch_sig) {
-    uint64_t owner = inst->node_id;
+                                   const char* ch_name, uint64_t owner,
+                                   const uint8_t* ch_x25519, const uint8_t* ch_ed,
+                                   const uint8_t* ch_sig) {
     uint8_t join_sig[64] = {0}; uint64_t join_ts = 0;
     { sqlite3* vdb = inst->topo_sqlite_db;
       topo_node_sqlite_member_get_join(vdb, ch_id, inst->node_id, join_sig, &join_ts); }
@@ -1578,7 +1579,7 @@ void chat_sync_invite_to_channel(struct UTUN_INSTANCE* inst, const char* ch_id,
     }
 
     /* Already connected — send invite now, wait for joiner to respond */
-    cs_send_channel_invite(g_cs, inst, ch_id, target_node_id, ch_name, ch_x25519, ch_ed, ch_sig);
+    cs_send_channel_invite(g_cs, inst, ch_id, target_node_id, ch_name, owner, ch_x25519, ch_ed, ch_sig);
     g_cs->pending_invite_ch_id = channel_id;
     g_cs->pending_invite_node_id = target_node_id;
     g_cs->pending_invite_is_inviter = 1;
@@ -1616,10 +1617,10 @@ static void cs_invite_trampoline(void* arg) {
     /* Check if already connected */
     struct ETCP_CONN* conn = cs_find_conn_for_node(inst, target_node_id);
     if (conn && conn->links_up && conn->initialized) {
-        char ch_name[128]; uint8_t ch_x2[32], ch_ed2[32], ch_sig[64];
+        char ch_name[128]; uint8_t ch_x2[32], ch_ed2[32], ch_sig[64]; uint64_t ch_owner;
         if (topo_node_sqlite_channel_get(inst->topo_sqlite_db,
-              ch_id, ch_name, (int)sizeof(ch_name), NULL, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig) == 0) {
-            cs_send_channel_invite(g_cs, inst, ch_id, target_node_id, ch_name, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig);
+              ch_id, ch_name, (int)sizeof(ch_name), &ch_owner, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig) == 0) {
+            cs_send_channel_invite(g_cs, inst, ch_id, target_node_id, ch_name, ch_owner, ch_x2, ch_ed2, ch_sig);
             g_cs->pending_invite_ch_id = channel_id;
             g_cs->pending_invite_node_id = target_node_id;
             g_cs->pending_invite_is_inviter = 1;