diff --git a/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/agents.py b/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/agents.py
index 174306db..5077787f 100644
--- a/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/agents.py
+++ b/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/agents.py
@@ -1689,7 +1689,7 @@ async def send_message_async(
             agent_id, actor, include_relationships=["memory", "multi_agent_group", "sources", "tool_exec_environment_variables", "tools"]
         )
         if agent_state.multi_agent_group is None and agent_state.agent_type != AgentType.letta_v1_agent:
-            lettuce_client = LettuceClient.create()
+            lettuce_client = await LettuceClient.create()
             run_id_from_lettuce = await lettuce_client.step(
                 agent_state=agent_state,
                 actor=actor,