diff --git a/src/core/bot/mod.rs b/src/core/bot/mod.rs
index 6b05058b..4c837dc5 100644
--- a/src/core/bot/mod.rs
+++ b/src/core/bot/mod.rs
@@ -1318,6 +1318,8 @@ async fn handle_websocket(
         }
     }
 
+    let (send_ready_tx, send_ready_rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<()>(1);
+
     // Execute start.bas automatically on connection (similar to auth.ast pattern)
     {
         let bot_name_result = {
@@ -1445,8 +1447,6 @@ async fn handle_websocket(
         }
     }
 
-    let (send_ready_tx, mut send_ready_rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<()>(1);
-
     let mut send_task = tokio::spawn(async move {
         while let Some(response) = rx.recv().await {
             if let Ok(json_str) = serde_json::to_string(&response) {