diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3516a8b3..b47dd374 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ Run from the repository root:
 BUILD_TAG="$(date +%F)" \
 GIT_SHA="trial" \
 HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY="$(openssl rand -hex 32)" \
-HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN="$(openssl rand -hex 24)" \
-BROWSERLESS_IO_API_TOKEN="trial-browserless-token" \
+HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN="$(openssl rand -hex 24)" \
+AUTO_SOURCE_ENABLED=true \
 docker compose up -d
 ```
 
@@ -62,9 +62,13 @@ The checked-in [`docker-compose.yml`](docker-compose.yml) requires these environ
 - `BUILD_TAG`
 - `GIT_SHA`
 - `HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY`
-- `HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN`
 - `BROWSERLESS_IO_API_TOKEN`
 
+For the simple page-URL onboarding path, also set:
+
+- `HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN`
+- `AUTO_SOURCE_ENABLED=true`
+
 Optional runtime variables:
 
 - `SENTRY_DSN`
@@ -74,8 +78,8 @@ Example:
 
 ```bash
 export HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY="$(openssl rand -hex 32)"
-export HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN="replace-with-a-strong-token"
 export BROWSERLESS_IO_API_TOKEN="replace-with-your-browserless-token"
+export HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN="replace-with-a-strong-access-token"
 export BUILD_TAG="local"
 export GIT_SHA="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo dev)"
 export AUTO_SOURCE_ENABLED=true
@@ -87,7 +91,7 @@ docker compose up -d
 
 - In production, missing `HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY` stops startup.
 - `BUILD_TAG` and `GIT_SHA` are expected in production; missing values produce a startup warning.
-- `POST /api/v1/feeds` requires a bearer token and only works when `AUTO_SOURCE_ENABLED=true`.
+- `POST /api/v1/feeds` requires a bearer token and only works when `AUTO_SOURCE_ENABLED=true`; the bundled `config/feeds.yml` reads the main token from `HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN` when it is set.
 - `AUTO_SOURCE_ENABLED` defaults to `true` in development/test and `false` otherwise.
 - Strategy support comes from `Html2rss::RequestService` (`faraday` and `browserless` availability is runtime-dependent).
 
diff --git a/app/web/api/v1/health.rb b/app/web/api/v1/health.rb
index 81f889ce..734d6214 100644
--- a/app/web/api/v1/health.rb
+++ b/app/web/api/v1/health.rb
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def bearer_token(request)
 
             # @return [void]
             def verify_configuration!
-              LocalConfig.yaml
+              LocalConfig.snapshot
             rescue StandardError
               raise Html2rss::Web::HealthCheckFailedError
             end
diff --git a/app/web/config/environment_validator.rb b/app/web/config/environment_validator.rb
index f651ceb1..b5365f44 100644
--- a/app/web/config/environment_validator.rb
+++ b/app/web/config/environment_validator.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ module Web
     # Environment validation for html2rss-web
     # Handles validation of environment variables and configuration
     module EnvironmentValidator # rubocop:disable Metrics/ModuleLength
+      PLACEHOLDER_CREATE_FEED_TOKEN = 'CHANGE_ME_ADMIN_TOKEN'
+
       # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
       class << self
         ##
@@ -105,12 +107,34 @@ def validate_build_metadata!
 
         def validate_account_configuration!
           accounts = AccountManager.accounts
+          validate_create_feed_token!(accounts)
           weak_tokens = accounts.select { |acc| acc[:token].length < 16 }
           return unless weak_tokens.any?
 
           handle_weak_account_tokens!(weak_tokens)
         end
 
+        # @param accounts [Array<Hash{Symbol=>Object}>]
+        # @return [void]
+        def validate_create_feed_token!(accounts)
+          return unless auto_source_enabled?
+
+          full_access_account = accounts.find do |account|
+            account[:token] == PLACEHOLDER_CREATE_FEED_TOKEN && Array(account[:allowed_urls]).include?('*')
+          end
+          return unless full_access_account
+
+          SecurityLogger.log_config_validation_failure(
+            'access_token',
+            'Placeholder create-feed token is not allowed when auto source is enabled'
+          )
+          warn_lines(
+            'CRITICAL: Placeholder create-feed token detected in production!',
+            'Set HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN to a strong token before enabling automatic feed generation.'
+          )
+          exit 1
+        end
+
         # @param lines [Array<String>]
         # @return [void]
         def warn_lines(*lines)
diff --git a/app/web/config/local_config.rb b/app/web/config/local_config.rb
index 8810ccb5..a59bd5f8 100644
--- a/app/web/config/local_config.rb
+++ b/app/web/config/local_config.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
+require 'erb'
 require 'yaml'
+require_relative 'runtime_env'
 begin
   require 'html2rss/configs'
 rescue LoadError => error
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ def global
         ##
         # @return [Hash<Symbol, Any>]
         def yaml
-          YAML.safe_load_file(CONFIG_FILE, symbolize_names: true).freeze
+          YAML.safe_load(rendered_yaml, symbolize_names: true).freeze
         rescue Errno::ENOENT => error
           raise NotFound, "Configuration file not found: #{error.message}"
         end
@@ -82,6 +84,12 @@ def reload!(reason: 'manual')
 
         private
 
+        # @return [String]
+        def rendered_yaml
+          template = File.read(CONFIG_FILE)
+          ERB.new(template, trim_mode: '-').result
+        end
+
         # @param normalized_name [String]
         # @return [Hash{Symbol=>Object}, nil]
         def local_feed_config(normalized_name)
diff --git a/app/web/config/runtime_env.rb b/app/web/config/runtime_env.rb
index 6a2c6d5c..2d8613d2 100644
--- a/app/web/config/runtime_env.rb
+++ b/app/web/config/runtime_env.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ module Web
     # Captures boot-time environment configuration and scrubs selected secrets
     # from the process environment after validation.
     module RuntimeEnv
-      SENSITIVE_KEYS = %w[HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN SENTRY_DSN].freeze
+      SENSITIVE_KEYS = %w[HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN SENTRY_DSN].freeze
       BOOT_METADATA_KEYS = %w[BUILD_TAG GIT_SHA RACK_ENV SENTRY_ENABLE_LOGS].freeze
       @mutex = Mutex.new
       @values = nil
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ def health_check_token
           fetch('HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN', '')
         end
 
+        # @return [String]
+        def access_token
+          fetch('HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN', '')
+        end
+
         # @return [String, nil]
         def sentry_dsn
           fetch('SENTRY_DSN', nil)
diff --git a/config/feeds.yml b/config/feeds.yml
index c49a7422..202fa793 100644
--- a/config/feeds.yml
+++ b/config/feeds.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 auth:
   accounts:
     - username: "admin"
-      token: "CHANGE_ME_ADMIN_TOKEN"
+      token: "<%= Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.access_token.to_s.strip.empty? ? 'CHANGE_ME_ADMIN_TOKEN' : Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.access_token %>"
       allowed_urls:
         - "*" # Full access
     - username: "demo"
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index f7d9c4cf..418fd9bd 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ Managed flags and environment keys:
 | `auto_source_enabled`             | `AUTO_SOURCE_ENABLED`             | boolean        | `true` in development/test, else `false` |
 | `async_feed_refresh_enabled`      | `ASYNC_FEED_REFRESH_ENABLED`      | boolean        | `false`                                  |
 | `async_feed_refresh_stale_factor` | `ASYNC_FEED_REFRESH_STALE_FACTOR` | integer `>= 1` | `3`                                      |
+| `access_token`                    | `HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN`           | string         | `''`                                     |
 | `health_check_token`              | `HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN`              | string         | `nil`                                    |
 | `build_tag`                       | `BUILD_TAG`                       | string         | `unknown` outside production             |
 | `git_sha`                         | `GIT_SHA`                         | string         | `unknown` outside production             |
diff --git a/frontend/src/__tests__/App.test.tsx b/frontend/src/__tests__/App.test.tsx
index e6d129a0..23360dbf 100644
--- a/frontend/src/__tests__/App.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/__tests__/App.test.tsx
@@ -191,8 +191,14 @@ describe('App', () => {
     expect(screen.getByLabelText('Page URL')).toBeDisabled();
     expect(screen.queryByRole('combobox')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.getByLabelText('Utilities')).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Set up your own instance with Docker.' })).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(screen.getByText('Required by this instance.')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(
+      screen.getByRole('link', {
+        name: 'Copy `docker-compose.yml`, copy `.env`, start the stack, then paste the token.',
+      })
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(
+      screen.getByText('Use the `HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN` from your instance `.env` or setup.')
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.queryByText('Paste an access token to keep going.')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
     await waitFor(() => {
       expect(document.activeElement).toBe(document.querySelector('#access-token'));
@@ -363,7 +369,7 @@ describe('App', () => {
     ].map((element) => element.textContent);
 
     expect(utilityItems).toEqual([
-      'Try included feeds',
+      'Browse included feeds',
       'Bookmarklet',
       'Logout',
       'Install from Docker Hub',
@@ -654,7 +660,7 @@ describe('App', () => {
       ...screen.getByLabelText('Utilities').querySelectorAll('.utility-strip__items > a'),
     ].map((link) => link.textContent);
     expect(utilityLinks).toEqual([
-      'Try included feeds',
+      'Browse included feeds',
       'Bookmarklet',
       'Install from Docker Hub',
       'OpenAPI spec',
@@ -665,7 +671,7 @@ describe('App', () => {
       'href',
       'http://example.test/openapi.yaml'
     );
-    expect(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Try included feeds' })).toHaveAttribute(
+    expect(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Browse included feeds' })).toHaveAttribute(
       'href',
       'https://html2rss.github.io/feed-directory/#!url=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A3000%2F'
     );
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AppPanels.tsx b/frontend/src/components/AppPanels.tsx
index 1807ed9a..67f16632 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AppPanels.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AppPanels.tsx
@@ -157,7 +157,9 @@ export function CreateFeedPanel({
         <div class="token-gate" role="group" aria-label="Access token">
           <div class="token-gate__copy">
             <h2>Enter access token</h2>
-            <p class="token-gate__hint">Required by this instance.</p>
+            <p class="token-gate__hint">
+              Use the `HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN` from your instance `.env` or setup.
+            </p>
           </div>
           <label class="field-block field-block--stretch field-block--compact" htmlFor="access-token">
             <span class="field-label field-label--ghost">Access token</span>
@@ -192,7 +194,7 @@ export function CreateFeedPanel({
             rel="noopener noreferrer"
             class="token-gate__nudge token-gate__nudge-link"
           >
-            Set up your own instance with Docker.
+            Copy `docker-compose.yml`, copy `.env`, start the stack, then paste the token.
           </a>
           <div class="token-gate__actions">
             <button type="button" class="btn btn--primary" onClick={onSaveToken}>
@@ -257,7 +259,7 @@ export function UtilityStrip({ hasAccessToken, openapiUrl, onClearToken }: Utili
     <section class="utility-strip" aria-label="Utilities">
       <div class="utility-strip__items">
         <a href={includedFeedsHref} target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="utility-link">
-          Try included feeds
+          Browse included feeds
         </a>
         <Bookmarklet />
         {hasAccessToken && (
diff --git a/spec/html2rss/web/api/v1_spec.rb b/spec/html2rss/web/api/v1_spec.rb
index a67a2f0a..e2d2ccdd 100644
--- a/spec/html2rss/web/api/v1_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/html2rss/web/api/v1_spec.rb
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ def expected_featured_feeds
 
     it 'returns error when configuration fails', :aggregate_failures do
       allow(Html2rss::Web::Auth).to receive(:authenticate).and_return({ username: 'health-check' })
-      allow(Html2rss::Web::LocalConfig).to receive(:yaml).and_raise(StandardError, 'boom')
+      allow(Html2rss::Web::LocalConfig).to receive(:snapshot).and_raise(StandardError, 'boom')
       header 'Authorization', "Bearer #{health_token}"
 
       get '/api/v1/health'
@@ -318,6 +318,18 @@ def expected_featured_feeds
       json = expect_success_response(last_response)
       expect(json.dig('data', 'health', 'status')).to eq('healthy')
     end
+
+    it 'uses the effective runtime snapshot instead of reparsing raw yaml bytes', :aggregate_failures do
+      allow(Html2rss::Web::LocalConfig).to receive(:snapshot)
+        .and_return(Html2rss::Web::ConfigSnapshot::Snapshot.new(global: {}, feeds: {}, accounts: []))
+      allow(Html2rss::Web::LocalConfig).to receive(:yaml).and_raise(StandardError, 'stale raw yaml')
+
+      get '/api/v1/health/ready'
+
+      expect(last_response.status).to eq(200)
+      json = expect_success_response(last_response)
+      expect(json.dig('data', 'health', 'status')).to eq('healthy')
+    end
   end
 
   describe 'GET /api/v1/health/live', openapi: {
diff --git a/spec/html2rss/web/boot/setup_spec.rb b/spec/html2rss/web/boot/setup_spec.rb
index 433b10aa..0baf0907 100644
--- a/spec/html2rss/web/boot/setup_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/html2rss/web/boot/setup_spec.rb
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
     it 'captures and scrubs sensitive env vars after validation', :aggregate_failures do
       allow(Html2rss::Web::EnvironmentValidator).to receive(:validate_environment!).ordered do
         expect(ENV.fetch('HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY', nil)).to eq(boot_secret_key)
+        expect(ENV.fetch('HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN', nil)).to eq('access-token')
         expect(ENV.fetch('HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN', nil)).to eq('health-token')
       end
       allow(Html2rss::Web::EnvironmentValidator).to receive(:validate_production_security!).ordered do
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ def stub_environment_validation
 
   def scrubbed_env
     boot_env.merge(
+      'HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN' => 'access-token',
       'HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN' => 'health-token',
       'SENTRY_DSN' => sentry_dsn
     )
@@ -137,12 +139,14 @@ def scrubbed_env
 
   def expect_runtime_env_to_match_boot_values
     expect(Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.secret_key).to eq(boot_secret_key)
+    expect(Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.access_token).to eq('access-token')
     expect(Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.health_check_token).to eq('health-token')
     expect(Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.sentry_dsn).to eq(sentry_dsn)
   end
 
   def expect_sensitive_env_to_be_scrubbed
     expect(ENV.fetch('HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY', nil)).to be_nil
+    expect(ENV.fetch('HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN', nil)).to be_nil
     expect(ENV.fetch('HEALTH_CHECK_TOKEN', nil)).to be_nil
     expect(ENV.fetch('SENTRY_DSN', nil)).to be_nil
   end
diff --git a/spec/html2rss/web/environment_validator_spec.rb b/spec/html2rss/web/environment_validator_spec.rb
index 1d4cae25..98f9c5e5 100644
--- a/spec/html2rss/web/environment_validator_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/html2rss/web/environment_validator_spec.rb
@@ -80,6 +80,26 @@ def stub_validation_logging
       expect(Html2rss::Web::SecurityLogger).to have_received(:log_config_validation_failure)
         .with('build_metadata', 'Missing BUILD_TAG or GIT_SHA', severity: :warn)
     end
+
+    it 'fails boot when auto source is enabled with the placeholder create-feed token in production' do
+      stub_validation_logging
+      allow(Html2rss::Web::AccountManager).to receive(:accounts).and_return(
+        [{ username: 'admin', token: 'CHANGE_ME_ADMIN_TOKEN', allowed_urls: ['*'] }]
+      )
+      allow(Html2rss::Web::Flags).to receive(:auto_source_enabled?).and_return(true)
+
+      ClimateControl.modify(
+        'RACK_ENV' => 'production',
+        'HTML2RSS_SECRET_KEY' => '0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef',
+        'BUILD_TAG' => '2026-03-27',
+        'GIT_SHA' => 'abc1234'
+      ) do
+        expect { described_class.validate_production_security! }.to raise_error(SystemExit)
+      end
+
+      expect(Html2rss::Web::SecurityLogger).to have_received(:log_config_validation_failure)
+        .with('access_token', 'Placeholder create-feed token is not allowed when auto source is enabled')
+    end
   end
 
   describe '.auto_source_enabled?' do
diff --git a/spec/html2rss/web/local_config_spec.rb b/spec/html2rss/web/local_config_spec.rb
index ca9f59e0..9cc32c9c 100644
--- a/spec/html2rss/web/local_config_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/html2rss/web/local_config_spec.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 require 'spec_helper'
+require 'climate_control'
+require 'tempfile'
 
 require_relative '../../../app/web/config/local_config'
 
@@ -68,5 +70,28 @@ def self.find_by_name(_name); end
 
       expect(described_class.snapshot.accounts.first.username).to eq('alice')
     end
+
+    it 'evaluates ERB before parsing YAML so env-backed tokens become effective config' do
+      Tempfile.create(['feeds', '.yml']) do |file|
+        file.write <<~YAML
+          auth:
+            accounts:
+              - username: admin
+                token: <%= Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.access_token.to_s.strip.empty? ? 'CHANGE_ME_ADMIN_TOKEN' : Html2rss::Web::RuntimeEnv.access_token %>
+                allowed_urls:
+                  - "*"
+          feeds: {}
+        YAML
+        file.flush
+
+        stub_const("#{described_class}::CONFIG_FILE", file.path)
+
+        ClimateControl.modify('HTML2RSS_ACCESS_TOKEN' => 'runtime-access-token') do
+          described_class.reload!
+
+          expect(described_class.snapshot.accounts.first.token).to eq('runtime-access-token')
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
 end