diff --git a/nix/templates/harness-base.nix b/nix/templates/harness-base.nix
index 5a971e8..43a63bb 100644
--- a/nix/templates/harness-base.nix
+++ b/nix/templates/harness-base.nix
@@ -275,11 +275,11 @@
       curl
     ];
 
-    # One-shot: configure tea with the agent's forge token if
-    # hive-c0re seeded one and tea hasn't been configured yet.
-    # Runs before the harness service so the first turn can already
-    # `tea repos create`. *Always* exits 0 — never fail a NixOS
-    # switch-to-configuration over a missing/temperamental forge.
+    # One-shot: write tea's config.yml from the seeded forge token so
+    # the agent can use `tea` without interactive prompts. Runs on
+    # every boot so a rotated token (hive-c0re remints on each agent
+    # rebuild) is always reflected. *Always* exits 0 — never fail a
+    # NixOS switch-to-configuration over a missing/temperamental forge.
     systemd.services.tea-login = {
       description = "configure tea CLI from hive-forge token (best-effort)";
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
@@ -289,18 +289,18 @@
         RemainAfterExit = true;
       };
       path = [
-        pkgs.tea
+        pkgs.curl
+        pkgs.python3
         pkgs.coreutils
       ];
       script = ''
-        # No `set -e`: any subshell failure here (tea exit, mkdir,
-        # missing forge) must not propagate. A failed unit aborts
-        # `nixos-container update`, which would block every rebuild.
-        CONFIG=/root/.config/tea/config.yml
+        # No `set -e`: any subshell failure must not propagate.
+        # A failed unit aborts `nixos-container update` which blocks rebuilds.
+        FORGE_URL=${lib.escapeShellArg config.hyperhive.forge.url}
         # Manager bind-mounts state at /state; sub-agents at
         # /agents/<name>/state. Glob both — each container only sees
-        # its own mount, so there's exactly one hit either way (or
-        # zero, when the forge hasn't been seeded yet).
+        # its own mount, so there is exactly one hit (or zero when
+        # the forge hasn't been seeded yet).
         TOKEN_FILE=""
         for f in /state/forge-token /agents/*/state/forge-token; do
           if [ -f "$f" ]; then
@@ -309,22 +309,42 @@
           fi
         done
         if [ -z "$TOKEN_FILE" ]; then
-          echo "tea-login: no forge-token (hive-forge not seeded); skipping"
+          echo "tea-login: no forge-token found; skipping"
           exit 0
         fi
-        if [ -f "$CONFIG" ]; then
-          echo "tea-login: $CONFIG already present; skipping"
+        TOKEN=$(cat "$TOKEN_FILE")
+        # Resolve the agent username from the forge API.
+        USER=$(curl -sf --max-time 5 \
+          -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
+          "$FORGE_URL/api/v1/user" \
+          | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('login',''))" \
+          2>/dev/null || true)
+        if [ -z "$USER" ]; then
+          echo "tea-login: could not resolve username from forge API; skipping"
           exit 0
         fi
+        # tea reads config from $HOME/.config/tea/config.yml.
+        # Write it directly so we control default:true and always
+        # refresh a rotated token — no 'tea login add' interactive dance.
+        CONFIG="$HOME/.config/tea/config.yml"
         mkdir -p "$(dirname "$CONFIG")" || true
-        if ! tea login add \
-              --name forge \
-              --url ${lib.escapeShellArg config.hyperhive.forge.url} \
-              --token "$(cat "$TOKEN_FILE")"; then
-          echo "tea-login: tea login add failed; continuing without tea"
-          exit 0
-        fi
-        echo "tea-login: configured for ${config.hyperhive.forge.url} from $TOKEN_FILE"
+        cat > "$CONFIG" << EOF
+logins:
+    - name: forge
+      url: $FORGE_URL
+      token: $TOKEN
+      default: true
+      ssh_host: ""
+      ssh_key: ""
+      insecure: false
+      ssh_agent: false
+      user: $USER
+preferences:
+    editor: false
+    flag_defaults:
+        remote: ""
+EOF
+        echo "tea-login: configured for $FORGE_URL as $USER"
       '';
     };