diff --git a/packages/core/src/common/runtime.ts b/packages/core/src/common/runtime.ts
index bfaa9737..d1f5e610 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/common/runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/common/runtime.ts
@@ -21,26 +21,45 @@ export function loadRuntimeConfig(): RuntimeConfig {
   fs.mkdirSync(CONFIG_DIR, { recursive: true });
 
   const loaded = tryLoadRuntimeConfig();
+  let normalized: RuntimeConfig;
   if (!loaded) {
     saveRuntimeConfig(DEFAULT_RUNTIME_CONFIG);
-    return { ...DEFAULT_RUNTIME_CONFIG };
+    normalized = { ...DEFAULT_RUNTIME_CONFIG };
+  } else {
+    normalized = {
+      webuiPort: normalizePort(loaded.webuiPort ?? 5099, 5099),
+      hookAutoLoad: normalizeBool(loaded.hookAutoLoad, false),
+    };
+    if (
+      normalized.webuiPort !== loaded.webuiPort
+      || normalized.hookAutoLoad !== loaded.hookAutoLoad
+    ) {
+      saveRuntimeConfig(normalized);
+    }
   }
 
-  const normalized: RuntimeConfig = {
-    webuiPort: normalizePort(loaded.webuiPort ?? 5099, 5099),
-    hookAutoLoad: normalizeBool(loaded.hookAutoLoad, false),
-  };
-
-  if (
-    normalized.webuiPort !== loaded.webuiPort
-    || normalized.hookAutoLoad !== loaded.hookAutoLoad
-  ) {
-    saveRuntimeConfig(normalized);
+  // SNOWLUMA_WEBUI_PORT overrides the on-disk value at runtime without
+  // rewriting runtime.json. Lets a trusted launcher (e.g. SnowLumaDesktop)
+  // pick a free port per-launch while CLI/Docker users continue to drive
+  // it from runtime.json.
+  const envPort = envPortOverride();
+  if (envPort !== undefined) {
+    normalized = { ...normalized, webuiPort: envPort };
   }
 
   return normalized;
 }
 
+function envPortOverride(): number | undefined {
+  const raw = process.env.SNOWLUMA_WEBUI_PORT;
+  if (!raw || typeof raw !== 'string') return undefined;
+  const n = Number(raw.trim());
+  if (!Number.isFinite(n)) return undefined;
+  const port = Math.trunc(n);
+  if (port <= 0 || port > 65535) return undefined;
+  return port;
+}
+
 function tryLoadRuntimeConfig(): RuntimeConfig | null {
   if (!fs.existsSync(RUNTIME_CONFIG_PATH)) return null;
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/webui/auth.ts b/packages/core/src/webui/auth.ts
index b5688f50..79226178 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/webui/auth.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/webui/auth.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,16 @@ export function isDevAuthMode(): boolean {
   return process.env.SNOWLUMA_DEV_MODE === '1';
 }
 
+function envBootstrapPassword(): string | null {
+  const raw = process.env.SNOWLUMA_WEBUI_BOOTSTRAP_PASSWORD;
+  if (!raw || typeof raw !== 'string') return null;
+  // Minimum sanity: avoid accidental empty / 1-char seeds. Strength
+  // rules still don't apply because we want trusted launchers to be
+  // able to pick a high-entropy random secret (e.g. base64(16)).
+  if (raw.length < 8) return null;
+  return raw;
+}
+
 export interface WebuiAuthState {
   passwordHash: string; // hex
   passwordSalt: string; // hex
@@ -153,6 +163,27 @@ export class WebuiAuth {
         backupCorruptConfig();
       }
     }
+    // SNOWLUMA_WEBUI_BOOTSTRAP_PASSWORD lets a trusted launcher seed the
+    // password on first run instead of having to scrape it from logs.
+    // Effect: write webui.json with the env-provided password, hashed,
+    // and mustChangePassword=false. Only honoured when there is NO existing
+    // webui.json — once persisted, password changes happen via the UI.
+    const envPassword = envBootstrapPassword();
+    if (envPassword !== null) {
+      const salt = randomBytes(16);
+      const hash = hashPassword(envPassword, salt);
+      const now = new Date().toISOString();
+      const state: WebuiAuthState = {
+        passwordHash: hash.toString('hex'),
+        passwordSalt: salt.toString('hex'),
+        mustChangePassword: false,
+        generatedAt: now,
+        updatedAt: now,
+      };
+      atomicWrite(state);
+      log.info('webui credentials seeded from SNOWLUMA_WEBUI_BOOTSTRAP_PASSWORD');
+      return new WebuiAuth(state, null, false);
+    }
     const initialPassword = randomBytes(8).toString('hex');
     const state = generateInitialState(initialPassword);
     atomicWrite(state);