diff --git a/charts/openab/templates/NOTES.txt b/charts/openab/templates/NOTES.txt
index 81f98a7c..b18488d7 100644
--- a/charts/openab/templates/NOTES.txt
+++ b/charts/openab/templates/NOTES.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 openab {{ .Chart.AppVersion }} has been installed!
 
+💡 Agent images without an explicit tag (no ":") auto-append {{ .Chart.AppVersion }}.
+
 ⚠️  Channel/user IDs must be set with --set-string (not --set) to avoid float64 precision loss.
 
 Agents deployed:
diff --git a/charts/openab/templates/_helpers.tpl b/charts/openab/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 770d557a..846bf50a 100644
--- a/charts/openab/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/charts/openab/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -41,11 +41,17 @@ app.kubernetes.io/component: {{ .agent }}
 {{- printf "%s-%s" (include "openab.fullname" .ctx) .agent | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
 {{- end }}
 
-{{/* Resolve image: agent-level string override → global default (repository:tag, tag defaults to appVersion) */}}
+{{/* Resolve image: agent-level string override → global default (repository:tag, tag defaults to appVersion).
+    Caveat: "contains :" treats registry ports (e.g. my-registry:5000/img) as tagged.
+    Not an issue for ghcr.io / Docker Hub; revisit if custom registries with ports are needed. */}}
 {{- define "openab.agentImage" -}}
 {{- if and .cfg.image (kindIs "string" .cfg.image) (ne .cfg.image "") }}
+{{- if contains ":" .cfg.image }}
 {{- .cfg.image }}
 {{- else }}
+{{- printf "%s:%s" .cfg.image (default .ctx.Chart.AppVersion .ctx.Values.image.tag) }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- else }}
 {{- $tag := default .ctx.Chart.AppVersion .ctx.Values.image.tag }}
 {{- printf "%s:%s" .ctx.Values.image.repository $tag }}
 {{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/openab/values.yaml b/charts/openab/values.yaml
index 1ca8feff..7488535f 100644
--- a/charts/openab/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/openab/values.yaml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ agents:
     #   nodeSelector: {}
     #   tolerations: []
     #   affinity: {}
-    #   image: "ghcr.io/openabdev/openab-claude:latest"
+    #   image: "ghcr.io/openabdev/openab-claude"  # tag omitted → auto-appends appVersion
     # opencode:
     #   command: opencode
     #   args: