diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 0329456..b56712e 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -128,11 +128,11 @@ source .venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt
 
 *Notă istorică:* `memory/` era symlink la repo-ul legacy Clawdbot; consolidat în echo-core în migrația OpenClaw (2026-04).
 
-**Dashboard** (`dashboard/`): Echo Task Board — HTTP API + UI static servit de `dashboard/api.py` pe portul 8088, de obicei în spatele unui reverse proxy la `/echo/`. Logica endpoint-urilor în mixin-uri `dashboard/handlers/*.py`; path-uri centralizate în `dashboard/constants.py`. Template systemd user unit la `dashboard/echo-taskboard.service`. `workspace.html` e hub-ul unificat de proiecte (fostul ralph.html + workspace.html); `/echo/ralph.html` → 302 redirect la `/echo/workspace.html`. Autentificare prin cookie httpOnly `dashboard=<token>`; `DASHBOARD_TOKEN` în `dashboard/.env`.
+**Dashboard** (`dashboard/`): Echo Task Board — HTTP API + UI static servit de `dashboard/api.py` pe portul 8088, de obicei în spatele unui reverse proxy la `/echo/`. Logica endpoint-urilor în mixin-uri `dashboard/handlers/*.py`; path-uri centralizate în `dashboard/constants.py`. Template systemd user unit la `dashboard/echo-taskboard.service`. `workspace.html` e hub-ul unificat de proiecte (fostul ralph.html + workspace.html); `/echo/ralph.html` → 302 redirect la `/echo/workspace.html`. Autentificarea e **dezactivată implicit** (acces doar prin tailnet); se reactivează cu `DASHBOARD_AUTH=on` în `dashboard/.env`.
 
 ## Dashboard — Note arhitecturale
 
-**Cookie auth:** httpOnly cookie `dashboard=...`; SameSite=Strict; Path=/echo/. EventSource SSE trimite cookie-ul automat. `DASHBOARD_TOKEN` din `dashboard/.env` — setează o dată, restart service. Resetare: schimbă valoarea + restart.
+**Cookie auth (off by default):** `DASHBOARD_AUTH` nesetat ⇒ `_check_dashboard_cookie` trece mereu, `/echo/login` redirectează direct la dashboard, POST-urile `/api/*` nu mai cer cookie. Motiv: `tailscale serve` expune `/echo` doar în tailnet, deci autentificarea era dublată. Cu `DASHBOARD_AUTH=on` în `dashboard/.env` revine login-ul: httpOnly cookie `dashboard=...`; SameSite=Strict; Path=/echo/; EventSource SSE trimite cookie-ul automat; `DASHBOARD_TOKEN` din `dashboard/.env` — setează o dată, restart service. Resetare: schimbă valoarea + restart.
 
 **jsonlock helper (`src/jsonlock.py`):** `read_locked(path)` / `write_locked(path, mutator)` pentru orice scriere la `approved-tasks.json`, `sessions/*.json`. Lock pe sidecar `<path>.lock` (inode stabil chiar și după os.replace). Ordine canonică lock-uri: alfabetic după filename. Re-entrant (threading.local refcount). Expune și `LockTimeoutError`.
 
diff --git a/dashboard/handlers/auth.py b/dashboard/handlers/auth.py
index 9c6766e..236e006 100644
--- a/dashboard/handlers/auth.py
+++ b/dashboard/handlers/auth.py
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ This mixin provides:
   - _check_dashboard_cookie — used by the global POST middleware (and the
                               SSE GET endpoint) to gate access.
 
+Authentication is **disabled by default** — the dashboard is only reachable
+over the Tailscale tailnet, which already authenticates the caller, so the
+extra token prompt added nothing. Set `DASHBOARD_AUTH=on` in `dashboard/.env`
+to re-enable the token login (everything below still works unchanged).
+
 `DASHBOARD_TOKEN` is read once from `dashboard/.env` (loaded into
 `os.environ` by `dashboard/constants.py` at import time). When the token is
 not configured we generate a random one at startup, stash it in-process,
@@ -34,6 +39,17 @@ _COOKIE_PATH = "/echo/"
 _DASHBOARD_TOKEN: str | None = None
 
 
+def _auth_enabled() -> bool:
+    """True only when `DASHBOARD_AUTH` is explicitly turned on.
+
+    Off by default: access control is delegated to Tailscale. When off,
+    `_check_dashboard_cookie` always passes and `/echo/login` is never shown.
+    """
+    return os.environ.get("DASHBOARD_AUTH", "").strip().lower() in {
+        "on", "1", "true", "yes",
+    }
+
+
 def _get_dashboard_token() -> str:
     """Return the dashboard token (cached). Generates a random one if absent.
 
@@ -79,7 +95,12 @@ class AuthHandlers:
 
     # ── helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     def _check_dashboard_cookie(self) -> bool:
-        """Return True if the request carries a valid `dashboard` cookie."""
+        """Return True if the request carries a valid `dashboard` cookie.
+
+        Always True when auth is disabled (the default) — see `_auth_enabled`.
+        """
+        if not _auth_enabled():
+            return True
         raw = self.headers.get("Cookie", "") or ""
         cookies = _parse_cookie_header(raw)
         provided = cookies.get(_COOKIE_NAME, "")
@@ -114,6 +135,15 @@ class AuthHandlers:
         SameSite=Strict; Path=/echo/ so it scopes to the dashboard reverse
         proxy mount.
         """
+        if not _auth_enabled():
+            # Nothing to log into — bounce straight to the dashboard.
+            self.send_response(302)
+            self.send_header("Location", "/echo/workspace.html")
+            self.send_header("Content-Length", "0")
+            self.send_header("Cache-Control", "no-store")
+            self.end_headers()
+            return
+
         # Accept JSON body too (login.html might POST JSON in Lane B2)
         ctype = (self.headers.get("Content-Type", "") or "").lower()
         if "application/json" in ctype: