diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 2b3ea457..4f7eca92 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1649,6 +1649,12 @@ EOF
         "${MOUNT_POINT}/usr/local/share/applications/Clawdie Join Hive.desktop"
     install -m 0644 "${LIVE_SESSION_DIR}/clawdie-join-hive.desktop" \
         "${MOUNT_POINT}/home/clawdie/Desktop/Join Hive.desktop"
+    install -m 0755 "${LIVE_SESSION_DIR}/clawdie-enable-mother.sh" \
+        "${MOUNT_POINT}/usr/local/bin/clawdie-enable-mother"
+    install -m 0644 "${LIVE_SESSION_DIR}/clawdie-enable-mother.desktop" \
+        "${MOUNT_POINT}/usr/local/share/applications/Clawdie Enable Mother.desktop"
+    install -m 0644 "${LIVE_SESSION_DIR}/clawdie-enable-mother.desktop" \
+        "${MOUNT_POINT}/home/clawdie/Desktop/Enable Mother Link.desktop"
     mkdir -p "${MOUNT_POINT}/usr/local/share/clawdie-iso/bootstrap"
     install -m 0644 "${LIVE_SESSION_DIR}/bootstrap.html" \
         "${MOUNT_POINT}/usr/local/share/clawdie-iso/bootstrap/index.html"
diff --git a/live/operator-session/clawdie-enable-mother.desktop b/live/operator-session/clawdie-enable-mother.desktop
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa4f33ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/live/operator-session/clawdie-enable-mother.desktop
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Desktop Entry]
+Type=Application
+Version=1.0
+Name=Enable Mother Link
+Comment=Let this agent's Pi call mother's tools over MCP (opt-in)
+Exec=xfce4-terminal --title "Enable Mother Link" --geometry=90x28 --command "/usr/local/bin/clawdie-enable-mother"
+Icon=network-transmit-receive
+Terminal=false
+Categories=System;Utility;
diff --git a/live/operator-session/clawdie-enable-mother.sh b/live/operator-session/clawdie-enable-mother.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a53d83fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/live/operator-session/clawdie-enable-mother.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Enable the opt-in MCP link to "mother".
+#
+# Direction: this agent's Pi calls mother's tools. colibri-mcp dials OUT to
+# mother over SSH-stdio and proxies mother's MCP tools to the Pi via its
+# external-call path. Off by default; this script turns it on.
+#
+# The colibri daemon (and the Pi it spawns) run as the `colibri` user, so the
+# outbound SSH uses an identity in the colibri home (/var/db/colibri/.ssh).
+# Run this in a visible terminal so the operator can copy the public key.
+
+set -eu
+
+PROVIDER_ENV="/usr/local/etc/colibri/provider.env"
+EXTERNAL_MCP="/usr/local/etc/colibri/external-mcp.json"
+COLIBRI_HOME="/var/db/colibri"
+SSH_KEY="${COLIBRI_HOME}/.ssh/id_ed25519"
+
+finish() {
+    echo ""
+    echo "Press Enter to close."
+    read -r _
+    exit "${1:-0}"
+}
+
+have() {
+    command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+if ! have mdo; then
+    echo "ERROR: mdo is required to update the colibri service configuration."
+    finish 1
+fi
+
+echo "========================================"
+echo "  Clawdie — Enable Mother Link"
+echo "========================================"
+echo ""
+
+# 1. Mother's reachable address + remote MCP command.
+printf "  Mother SSH target (user@tailscale-ip-or-name): "
+read -r MOTHER_HOST
+if [ -z "${MOTHER_HOST:-}" ]; then
+    echo "  Cancelled: no mother target entered."
+    finish 0
+fi
+printf "  Mother MCP command [colibri-mcp]: "
+read -r MOTHER_CMD
+[ -n "${MOTHER_CMD:-}" ] || MOTHER_CMD="colibri-mcp"
+
+# 2. Ensure the colibri service account has an SSH key for the outbound link.
+echo ""
+echo "[1/4] Ensuring colibri SSH identity..."
+mdo -u root sh -c '
+    set -eu
+    home="$1"; key="$2"
+    install -d -o colibri -g colibri -m 0700 "${home}/.ssh"
+    if [ ! -f "$key" ]; then
+        ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N "" -f "$key" -C "colibri@$(hostname)" >/dev/null
+        chown colibri:colibri "$key" "${key}.pub"
+        chmod 0600 "$key"; chmod 0644 "${key}.pub"
+    fi
+' sh "$COLIBRI_HOME" "$SSH_KEY"
+
+# 3. Write the mother entry into the external MCP registry.
+echo "[2/4] Registering mother in ${EXTERNAL_MCP}..."
+printf '%s\n' "{
+  \"servers\": {
+    \"mother\": {
+      \"command\": \"ssh\",
+      \"args\": [\"-i\", \"${SSH_KEY}\", \"-o\", \"BatchMode=yes\", \"-o\", \"StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new\", \"${MOTHER_HOST}\", \"${MOTHER_CMD}\"],
+      \"env\": {}
+    }
+  }
+}" | mdo -u root sh -c 'cat > "$1"; chmod 0644 "$1"' sh "$EXTERNAL_MCP"
+
+# 4. Allow external MCP calls: upsert COLIBRI_MCP_EXTERNAL_CALL=1 into provider.env.
+echo "[3/4] Enabling external MCP calls..."
+mdo -u root sh -c '
+    set -eu
+    f="$1"
+    tmp="$(mktemp)"
+    grep -v "^COLIBRI_MCP_EXTERNAL_CALL=" "$f" >"$tmp" 2>/dev/null || :
+    printf "COLIBRI_MCP_EXTERNAL_CALL=\"1\"\n" >>"$tmp"
+    cat "$tmp" >"$f"
+    rm -f "$tmp"
+    chmod 0600 "$f"
+' sh "$PROVIDER_ENV"
+
+# 5. Restart the daemon so the Pi inherits the new env + registry.
+echo "[4/4] Restarting colibri daemon..."
+mdo -u root service colibri_daemon restart >/dev/null 2>&1 ||
+    echo "       WARNING: restart failed; run: mdo -u root service colibri_daemon restart"
+
+echo ""
+echo "Mother link configured. Authorize this key on mother (restrict it to the"
+echo "MCP command, e.g. command=\"${MOTHER_CMD}\",restrict in authorized_keys):"
+echo ""
+mdo -u root cat "${SSH_KEY}.pub" 2>/dev/null || echo "  (could not read ${SSH_KEY}.pub)"
+echo ""
+echo "Once authorized on mother, the Pi can call mother's tools via colibri-mcp."
+finish 0
diff --git a/scripts/stage-colibri-iso.sh b/scripts/stage-colibri-iso.sh
index b4eae329..1be0ac59 100755
--- a/scripts/stage-colibri-iso.sh
+++ b/scripts/stage-colibri-iso.sh
@@ -112,9 +112,25 @@ cat > "${ETC_DIR}/provider.env" <<'EOF'
 # provider keys and Vaultwarden bootstrap credentials here after boot.
 VAULT_SERVER="https://vault.smilepowered.org"
 BW_SERVER="https://vault.smilepowered.org"
+
+# Auto-spawn one Pi agent on daemon startup once a DeepSeek key is present
+# (the Operator Image OOTB flow). The daemon sources this file, so the spawned
+# Pi inherits the provider keys set here.
+COLIBRI_AUTOSPAWN_PI="YES"
 EOF
 chmod 0600 "${ETC_DIR}/provider.env" 2>/dev/null || true
 
+# External MCP server registry — empty by default. The "Enable Mother Link"
+# action (clawdie-enable-mother) adds a server entry here; colibri-mcp reads it
+# when launched with COLIBRI_MCP_EXTERNAL_CALL=1. Path matches colibri-mcp's
+# default COLIBRI_MCP_EXTERNAL_CONFIG.
+cat > "${ETC_DIR}/external-mcp.json" <<'EOF'
+{
+  "servers": {}
+}
+EOF
+chmod 0644 "${ETC_DIR}/external-mcp.json" 2>/dev/null || true
+
 cat > "${ETC_DIR}/provider.env.sample" <<'EOF'
 # Optional provider keys and Vaultwarden bootstrap credentials for
 # colibri_daemon. The ISO already stages provider.env with the non-secret
@@ -138,6 +154,14 @@ BW_SERVER="https://vault.smilepowered.org"
 # Optional endpoints/models:
 # DEEPSEEK_ENDPOINT="https://api.deepseek.com/chat/completions"
 # DEEPSEEK_MODEL="deepseek-chat"
+#
+# Behavior toggles (non-secret):
+# COLIBRI_AUTOSPAWN_PI="YES"            # auto-spawn one Pi on daemon startup
+# COLIBRI_PI_BINARY="pi"               # Pi executable name/path
+# COLIBRI_AUTOSPAWN_PI_ARGS="--mode json"   # Pi argv
+# COLIBRI_MCP_EXTERNAL_CALL="1"        # allow Pi (via colibri-mcp) to call
+#                                      # external MCP servers; set by
+#                                      # clawdie-enable-mother
 EOF
 
 cat > "${ETC_DIR}/README.iso" <<'EOF'