diff --git a/scripts/setup-token.ts b/scripts/setup-token.ts
index d505d37..4981fd8 100644
--- a/scripts/setup-token.ts
+++ b/scripts/setup-token.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env tsx
+import fs from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+
 import pg from 'pg';
 
 import { OPS_DB_URL } from '../src/config.js';
-import { rotateBootstrapToken } from '../src/postinstall-setup.js';
+import {
+  rotateBootstrapToken,
+  setupTokenFilePath,
+  writeSetupTokenFile,
+} from '../src/postinstall-setup.js';
 import { runSchemaMigration } from '../src/controlplane-db.js';
 
 function usage(): never {
@@ -18,9 +25,19 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   try {
     await runSchemaMigration(pool);
     const result = await rotateBootstrapToken(pool);
+    const tokenFile = setupTokenFilePath();
+    const shouldRefreshTokenFile =
+      Boolean(process.env.CLAWDIE_SETUP_TOKEN_FILE) ||
+      fs.existsSync(tokenFile) ||
+      fs.existsSync(path.dirname(tokenFile));
+    const tokenFileResult = shouldRefreshTokenFile
+      ? writeSetupTokenFile(result.token, tokenFile)
+      : { ok: false, path: tokenFile };
+
     console.log('Clawdie setup bootstrap token:');
     console.log(result.token);
     console.log(`Expires: ${result.expiresAt.toISOString()}`);
+    if (tokenFileResult.ok) console.log(`Token file updated: ${tokenFileResult.path}`);
     console.log('Use this at /setup. It will be invalidated when setup completes.');
   } finally {
     await pool.end();
diff --git a/src/postinstall-setup.test.ts b/src/postinstall-setup.test.ts
index ea21acc..ff687a0 100644
--- a/src/postinstall-setup.test.ts
+++ b/src/postinstall-setup.test.ts
@@ -4,11 +4,14 @@ import path from 'path';
 import { describe, expect, it, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
 
 import {
+  clearSetupTokenFile,
+  completePostInstallSetup,
   configurePostInstallProvider,
   generateBootstrapToken,
   rotateBootstrapToken,
   upsertEnvValues,
   verifyBootstrapToken,
+  writeSetupTokenFile,
   type PostInstallSetupState,
 } from './postinstall-setup.js';
 
@@ -153,4 +156,50 @@ describe('post-install setup', () => {
     expect(content).toContain('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-secret');
     expect(events.some((event) => JSON.stringify(event).includes('sk-ant-secret'))).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  it('writes and clears the local setup token file without logging token contents', () => {
+    const tokenFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'setup-token');
+
+    const writeResult = writeSetupTokenFile('cleartext-token-for-operator', tokenFile);
+    expect(writeResult).toMatchObject({ ok: true, method: 'write' });
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(tokenFile, 'utf-8')).toBe('cleartext-token-for-operator\n');
+
+    const clearResult = clearSetupTokenFile(tokenFile);
+    expect(clearResult).toMatchObject({ ok: true, method: 'unlink' });
+    expect(fs.existsSync(tokenFile)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('truncates the setup token file if unlink is unavailable', () => {
+    const tokenFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'setup-token');
+    fs.writeFileSync(tokenFile, 'secret-token\n', { mode: 0o600 });
+    const unlinkSync = vi.fn(() => {
+      throw Object.assign(new Error('permission denied'), { code: 'EACCES' });
+    });
+
+    const result = clearSetupTokenFile(tokenFile, {
+      existsSync: fs.existsSync,
+      mkdirSync: fs.mkdirSync,
+      unlinkSync,
+      writeFileSync: fs.writeFileSync,
+      chmodSync: fs.chmodSync,
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ ok: true, method: 'truncate', error: 'EACCES' });
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(tokenFile, 'utf-8')).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('clears the setup token file when setup completes', async () => {
+    const { pool, events, state } = makePool();
+    const tokenFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'setup-token');
+    fs.writeFileSync(tokenFile, 'secret-token\n', { mode: 0o600 });
+
+    await completePostInstallSetup(pool, { tokenFile });
+
+    expect(state.status).toBe('complete');
+    expect(state.setup_complete).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(tokenFile)).toBe(false);
+    expect(events.some((event) => event.eventType === 'setup_completed')).toBe(true);
+    expect(events.some((event) => event.eventType === 'setup_token_file_deleted')).toBe(true);
+    expect(events.some((event) => JSON.stringify(event).includes('secret-token'))).toBe(false);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/postinstall-setup.ts b/src/postinstall-setup.ts
index b85ef5b..f0d574c 100644
--- a/src/postinstall-setup.ts
+++ b/src/postinstall-setup.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,42 @@ const DEFAULT_TOKEN_BYTES = 32;
 const DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN_TTL_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
 const MAX_BOOTSTRAP_FAILURES = 5;
 const BOOTSTRAP_LOCK_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000;
+const DEFAULT_SETUP_TOKEN_FILE = '/var/db/clawdie-installer/setup-token';
+
+interface SetupTokenFileDeps {
+  existsSync: typeof fs.existsSync;
+  mkdirSync: typeof fs.mkdirSync;
+  unlinkSync: typeof fs.unlinkSync;
+  writeFileSync: typeof fs.writeFileSync;
+  chmodSync: typeof fs.chmodSync;
+}
+
+const DEFAULT_TOKEN_FILE_DEPS: SetupTokenFileDeps = {
+  existsSync: fs.existsSync,
+  mkdirSync: fs.mkdirSync,
+  unlinkSync: fs.unlinkSync,
+  writeFileSync: fs.writeFileSync,
+  chmodSync: fs.chmodSync,
+};
+
+export interface SetupTokenFileResult {
+  path: string;
+  existed: boolean;
+  ok: boolean;
+  method?: 'unlink' | 'truncate' | 'write';
+  error?: string;
+}
+
+function safeErrorCode(err: unknown): string {
+  if (err && typeof err === 'object' && 'code' in err) {
+    return String((err as { code?: unknown }).code || 'error');
+  }
+  return err instanceof Error ? err.name : 'error';
+}
+
+export function setupTokenFilePath(): string {
+  return process.env.CLAWDIE_SETUP_TOKEN_FILE || DEFAULT_SETUP_TOKEN_FILE;
+}
 
 export const PROVIDER_KEY_BY_PROVIDER: Record<string, string | null> = {
   anthropic: 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY',
@@ -110,6 +146,66 @@ export function generateBootstrapToken(bytes = DEFAULT_TOKEN_BYTES): string {
   return crypto.randomBytes(bytes).toString('base64url');
 }
 
+export function writeSetupTokenFile(
+  token: string,
+  tokenFile = setupTokenFilePath(),
+  deps: SetupTokenFileDeps = DEFAULT_TOKEN_FILE_DEPS,
+): SetupTokenFileResult {
+  const trimmed = token.trim();
+  if (!trimmed) {
+    return { path: tokenFile, existed: deps.existsSync(tokenFile), ok: false, error: 'empty_token' };
+  }
+  const existed = deps.existsSync(tokenFile);
+  try {
+    if (!existed) deps.mkdirSync(path.dirname(tokenFile), { recursive: true });
+    deps.writeFileSync(tokenFile, `${trimmed}\n`, { mode: 0o600 });
+    try {
+      deps.chmodSync(tokenFile, 0o600);
+    } catch {
+      // Best effort only; some filesystems ignore chmod.
+    }
+    return { path: tokenFile, existed, ok: true, method: 'write' };
+  } catch (err) {
+    return { path: tokenFile, existed, ok: false, error: safeErrorCode(err) };
+  }
+}
+
+export function clearSetupTokenFile(
+  tokenFile = setupTokenFilePath(),
+  deps: SetupTokenFileDeps = DEFAULT_TOKEN_FILE_DEPS,
+): SetupTokenFileResult {
+  if (!deps.existsSync(tokenFile)) {
+    return { path: tokenFile, existed: false, ok: true };
+  }
+  try {
+    deps.unlinkSync(tokenFile);
+    return { path: tokenFile, existed: true, ok: true, method: 'unlink' };
+  } catch (unlinkErr) {
+    try {
+      deps.writeFileSync(tokenFile, '', { mode: 0o600 });
+      try {
+        deps.chmodSync(tokenFile, 0o600);
+      } catch {
+        // Best effort only; some filesystems ignore chmod.
+      }
+      return {
+        path: tokenFile,
+        existed: true,
+        ok: true,
+        method: 'truncate',
+        error: safeErrorCode(unlinkErr),
+      };
+    } catch (truncateErr) {
+      return {
+        path: tokenFile,
+        existed: true,
+        ok: false,
+        error: safeErrorCode(truncateErr),
+      };
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 export async function rotateBootstrapToken(
   pool: Pool,
   opts: { ttlMs?: number; now?: Date } = {},
@@ -370,9 +466,28 @@ export async function configurePostInstallOperator(
   return state;
 }
 
-export async function completePostInstallSetup(pool: Pool): Promise<PostInstallSetupState> {
+export async function completePostInstallSetup(
+  pool: Pool,
+  opts: { tokenFile?: string; tokenFileDeps?: SetupTokenFileDeps } = {},
+): Promise<PostInstallSetupState> {
   const state = await setSetupStatus(pool, 'complete', 'completed_at');
   await auditSetupEvent(pool, 'setup_completed', {});
+  const cleanup = clearSetupTokenFile(opts.tokenFile, opts.tokenFileDeps);
+  if (cleanup.existed) {
+    try {
+      await auditSetupEvent(
+        pool,
+        cleanup.ok ? 'setup_token_file_deleted' : 'setup_token_file_delete_failed',
+        {
+          path: cleanup.path,
+          method: cleanup.method ?? null,
+          error: cleanup.error ?? null,
+        },
+      );
+    } catch {
+      // Setup completion must not fail if cleanup auditing is unavailable.
+    }
+  }
   return state;
 }