diff --git a/DECISIONS.md b/DECISIONS.md
index 9756c328..12daf160 100644
--- a/DECISIONS.md
+++ b/DECISIONS.md
@@ -1206,3 +1206,5 @@ One line per decision: `[YYYY-MM-DD] <decision>: <why>`. Appended by agents and
 [2026-08-24] Keys minted from the OAuth popup before the first company exists get company_id NULL and are bound lazily in validateApiKey (first validation after a company exists) instead of at company creation: creation happens in a Server Action that knows nothing about keys, and one chokepoint covers every creation path.
 [2026-08-24] /api/mcp-oauth/authorize now forces TOTP enrollment (not just verification) for password accounts with no factor: the middleware skips enrollment for zero-company users, so a popup signup would otherwise mint an MFA-exempt key for an account with no second factor. BankID-linked accounts stay exempt.
 [2026-08-24] /auth/callback honours next only when it targets /api/mcp-oauth/authorize (via safeReturnTo): consent handles the zero-company state, an arbitrary deep link would not.
+[2026-08-24] MCP lazy authentication (#1814 PR 2) lists the FULL default tool catalog to anonymous clients and only gates tools/call: the agent has to be able to name a protected tool to trigger the 401 challenge that opens the Connect (and signup) prompt; listing only public tools would hide the trigger. Descriptions are public documentation anyway.
+[2026-08-24] Public (pre-auth) MCP tools are the three documentation tools only (search_tools, list_skills, load_skill); org-number lookup stays behind the challenge for now because the TIC lookup lives in another extension and cross-extension imports are forbidden.
diff --git a/extensions/general/mcp-server/__tests__/company-routing.test.ts b/extensions/general/mcp-server/__tests__/company-routing.test.ts
index 8ca5b9ba..15ab132c 100644
--- a/extensions/general/mcp-server/__tests__/company-routing.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/general/mcp-server/__tests__/company-routing.test.ts
@@ -197,3 +197,22 @@ describe('MCP company routing', () => {
     })
   })
 })
+
+describe('optional-company tools (issue #1814)', () => {
+  it('gnubok_list_skills is company-independent but still advertises company_id', () => {
+    expect(isCompanyDependentTool('gnubok_list_skills')).toBe(false)
+    const projected = projectToolInputSchema({
+      name: 'gnubok_list_skills',
+      inputSchema: { type: 'object', properties: { tag: { type: 'string' } } },
+    })
+    expect((projected.properties as Record<string, unknown>).company_id).toBeDefined()
+  })
+
+  it('purely context-free tools do not advertise company_id', () => {
+    const projected = projectToolInputSchema({
+      name: 'gnubok_search_tools',
+      inputSchema: { type: 'object', properties: { query: { type: 'string' } } },
+    })
+    expect((projected.properties as Record<string, unknown>).company_id).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/extensions/general/mcp-server/__tests__/lazy-auth.test.ts b/extensions/general/mcp-server/__tests__/lazy-auth.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ac79d9ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/general/mcp-server/__tests__/lazy-auth.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { eventBus } from '@/lib/events/bus'
+
+// Lazy authentication (issue #1814 PR 2): a client with no token may connect,
+// list the catalog and call the public documentation tools; anything that
+// touches a company answers 401 + WWW-Authenticate at the transport level,
+// which is what Claude / Claude Code / Codex turn into their Connect prompt.
+
+const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  validateApiKey: vi.fn(),
+  checkRateLimit: vi.fn(),
+}))
+
+vi.mock('@/lib/auth/api-keys', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import('@/lib/auth/api-keys')>()
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    validateApiKey: (...args: unknown[]) => mocks.validateApiKey(...args),
+    createServiceClientNoCookies: vi.fn(() => ({
+      from: vi.fn(() => {
+        throw new Error('anonymous requests must not touch tenant tables')
+      }),
+    })),
+  }
+})
+
+vi.mock('@/lib/auth/rate-limit-http', () => ({
+  checkRateLimit: (...args: unknown[]) => mocks.checkRateLimit(...args),
+}))
+
+// Skills come from the filesystem/registry; keep the list deterministic and
+// free of Supabase so the public tools can run under the throwing client.
+vi.mock('../skills', async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import('../skills')>()
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    loadAllSkills: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([
+      {
+        slug: 'month-end-close',
+        name: 'Month-end close',
+        summary: 'Close a month.',
+        tags: ['close'],
+        tier: 'workflow',
+        body: 'Steps…',
+        applicability: null,
+      },
+    ]),
+  }
+})
+
+import { handleMcpRequest } from '../server'
+
+const ENDPOINT = 'http://localhost:3000/api/extensions/ext/mcp-server/mcp'
+
+function rpc(
+  method: string,
+  params?: Record<string, unknown>,
+  opts: { token?: string; ip?: string } = {}
+): Request {
+  const headers: Record<string, string> = { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
+  if (opts.token) headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${opts.token}`
+  if (opts.ip) headers['x-forwarded-for'] = opts.ip
+  return new Request(ENDPOINT, {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers,
+    body: JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: '2.0', id: 7, method, ...(params ? { params } : {}) }),
+  })
+}
+
+describe('MCP lazy authentication', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks()
+    eventBus.clear()
+    mocks.checkRateLimit.mockResolvedValue({ ok: true })
+    mocks.validateApiKey.mockResolvedValue({
+      userId: 'user-1',
+      companyId: '11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111',
+      scopes: ['companies:read'],
+      apiKeyId: 'key-1',
+      apiKeyName: 'Test key',
+      mode: 'live',
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('answers initialize without a token and says the client is not connected', async () => {
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(rpc('initialize', { protocolVersion: '2025-06-18' }))
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200)
+    const body = await response.json()
+    expect(body.result.instructions).toContain('NOT CONNECTED YET')
+    expect(body.result.instructions).toContain('gnubok_search_tools')
+    expect(mocks.validateApiKey).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('lists the full default catalog without a token so protected tools can be called', async () => {
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(rpc('tools/list'))
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200)
+    const body = await response.json()
+    const names = (body.result.tools as Array<{ name: string }>).map((t) => t.name)
+    expect(names).toContain('gnubok_search_tools')
+    // A company-scoped tool is listed too: calling it is the connect trigger.
+    expect(names).toContain('gnubok_list_companies')
+    expect(names.length).toBeGreaterThan(20)
+  })
+
+  it('runs a public documentation tool without a token', async () => {
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(
+      rpc('tools/call', { name: 'gnubok_list_skills', arguments: {} })
+    )
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200)
+    const body = await response.json()
+    expect(body.result.isError).not.toBe(true)
+    const payload = JSON.parse(body.result.content[0].text)
+    expect(payload.count).toBe(1)
+    expect(payload.skills[0].slug).toBe('month-end-close')
+    expect(mocks.validateApiKey).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('ignores a company_id on a public tool when anonymous instead of touching tenant tables', async () => {
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(
+      rpc('tools/call', {
+        name: 'gnubok_list_skills',
+        arguments: { company_id: '11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111' },
+      })
+    )
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200)
+    const body = await response.json()
+    expect(body.result.isError).not.toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('challenges a protected tool call with a transport-level 401 + WWW-Authenticate', async () => {
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(
+      rpc('tools/call', { name: 'gnubok_list_companies', arguments: {} })
+    )
+    expect(response.status).toBe(401)
+    expect(response.headers.get('WWW-Authenticate')).toMatch(
+      /^Bearer resource_metadata="http:\/\/localhost:3000\/\.well-known\/oauth-protected-resource"$/
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('challenges tenant-scoped methods (resources/read, tasks/get) without a token', async () => {
+    for (const [method, params] of [
+      ['resources/read', { uri: 'Accounted://company/current' }],
+      ['tasks/get', { taskId: 'x' }],
+    ] as const) {
+      const response = await handleMcpRequest(rpc(method, params as Record<string, unknown>))
+      expect(response.status, method).toBe(401)
+      expect(response.headers.get('WWW-Authenticate'), method).toContain('resource_metadata')
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('keeps a tokenless unparseable body on the pre-lazy-auth answer (401, no detail)', async () => {
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(
+      new Request(ENDPOINT, { method: 'POST', body: 'not json' })
+    )
+    expect(response.status).toBe(401)
+  })
+
+  it('rate-limits anonymous calls per truncated IP', async () => {
+    mocks.checkRateLimit.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      ok: false,
+      response: new Response('slow down', { status: 429 }),
+    })
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(
+      rpc('tools/list', undefined, { ip: '203.0.113.42, 10.0.0.1' })
+    )
+    expect(response.status).toBe(429)
+    expect(mocks.checkRateLimit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({ prefix: 'mcp:anonymous', identifier: '203.0.113.0/24' })
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('never rate-limits or bypasses validation for a token bearer', async () => {
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(
+      rpc('tools/call', { name: 'gnubok_list_skills', arguments: {} }, { token: 'gnubok_sk_x' })
+    )
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200)
+    expect(mocks.validateApiKey).toHaveBeenCalledWith('gnubok_sk_x')
+    expect(mocks.checkRateLimit).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  it('still rejects an invalid token with 401 even on an anonymous-capable method', async () => {
+    mocks.validateApiKey.mockResolvedValueOnce({ error: 'Invalid API key', status: 401 })
+    const response = await handleMcpRequest(rpc('tools/list', undefined, { token: 'gnubok_sk_bad' }))
+    expect(response.status).toBe(401)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/extensions/general/mcp-server/company-routing.ts b/extensions/general/mcp-server/company-routing.ts
index a8a645f5..2ad1f592 100644
--- a/extensions/general/mcp-server/company-routing.ts
+++ b/extensions/general/mcp-server/company-routing.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,24 @@ const UUID_PATTERN =
 
 const COMPANY_INDEPENDENT_TOOLS = new Set([
   'gnubok_search_tools',
+  'gnubok_list_skills',
   'gnubok_load_skill',
   'gnubok_list_companies',
 ])
 
+/**
+ * Company-independent tools that still USE a company when one is available:
+ * they run without one (anonymous or not-yet-onboarded callers, issue #1814)
+ * but accept an explicit company_id, which is then membership-checked like
+ * on any company-dependent tool. gnubok_list_skills filters skills by the
+ * company's entity type, employees and VAT registration.
+ */
+const OPTIONAL_COMPANY_TOOLS = new Set(['gnubok_list_skills'])
+
+export function isOptionalCompanyTool(toolName: string): boolean {
+  return OPTIONAL_COMPANY_TOOLS.has(toolName)
+}
+
 export const COMPANY_ID_INPUT_PROPERTY = {
   type: 'string',
   format: 'uuid',
@@ -68,7 +82,7 @@ export function isTenantWriteScope(scope: ApiKeyScope | undefined): boolean {
 }
 
 export function projectToolInputSchema(tool: ToolSchemaSource): Record<string, unknown> {
-  if (!isCompanyDependentTool(tool.name)) return tool.inputSchema
+  if (!isCompanyDependentTool(tool.name) && !isOptionalCompanyTool(tool.name)) return tool.inputSchema
 
   const properties =
     tool.inputSchema.properties && typeof tool.inputSchema.properties === 'object'
diff --git a/extensions/general/mcp-server/public-tools.ts b/extensions/general/mcp-server/public-tools.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..565ba92a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/general/mcp-server/public-tools.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import { requestClientIp, truncateIp } from '@/lib/api/ip'
+
+/**
+ * Tools an MCP client may call BEFORE the user has connected an account
+ * (lazy authentication, issue #1814 PR 2).
+ *
+ * The server accepts anonymous initialize / tools/list / prompts+resources
+ * listing and calls to these tools. Every other tools/call answers with a
+ * transport-level 401 + WWW-Authenticate, which the client turns into its
+ * Connect prompt (Claude's inline Connect card, Claude Code's /mcp login,
+ * Codex's `codex mcp login`) and then retries with a token.
+ *
+ * Membership rules: a public tool must (1) read no tenant data, (2) need no
+ * scope (it is absent from TOOL_SCOPE_MAP), and (3) be company-independent.
+ * Documentation and discovery only; anything that touches a company stays
+ * behind the challenge so the account is created first.
+ */
+export const PUBLIC_TOOLS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
+  'gnubok_search_tools',
+  'gnubok_list_skills',
+  'gnubok_load_skill',
+])
+
+export function isPublicTool(canonicalToolName: string): boolean {
+  return PUBLIC_TOOLS.has(canonicalToolName)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Anonymous calls have no API key to meter on, so they are limited per
+ * truncated client IP. Generous for a human exploring the catalog, tight
+ * enough that the documentation tools cannot be farmed. Enforced by
+ * checkRateLimit (Upstash), which no-ops on deployments without Redis.
+ */
+export const ANONYMOUS_RATE_LIMIT = {
+  maxRequests: 60,
+  windowMs: 60 * 1000,
+} as const
+
+export function anonymousRateLimitIdentifier(request: Request): string {
+  return truncateIp(requestClientIp(request)) ?? 'unknown'
+}
+
+/**
+ * JSON-RPC methods that carry no tenant data and are needed for a client to
+ * connect and orient itself before authentication.
+ */
+export const ANONYMOUS_METHODS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
+  'initialize',
+  'server/discover',
+  'ping',
+  'notifications/initialized',
+  'tools/list',
+  'prompts/list',
+  'resources/list',
+  'resources/templates/list',
+])
diff --git a/extensions/general/mcp-server/server.ts b/extensions/general/mcp-server/server.ts
index 67af79eb..d7a45ddd 100644
--- a/extensions/general/mcp-server/server.ts
+++ b/extensions/general/mcp-server/server.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,16 @@ import {
   createServiceClientNoCookies,
   hasScope,
   TOOL_SCOPE_MAP,
+  type ApiKeyMode,
+  type ApiKeyScope,
 } from '@/lib/auth/api-keys'
+import { checkRateLimit } from '@/lib/auth/rate-limit-http'
+import {
+  ANONYMOUS_METHODS,
+  ANONYMOUS_RATE_LIMIT,
+  anonymousRateLimitIdentifier,
+  isPublicTool,
+} from './public-tools'
 import { createLogger } from '@/lib/logger'
 import { roundOre, sumOre } from '@/lib/money'
 import {
@@ -156,6 +165,7 @@ import {
   codedError,
   extractRequestedCompany,
   isCompanyDependentTool,
+  isOptionalCompanyTool,
   noCompanyYetError,
   projectToolInputSchema,
   resolveMcpCompanyContext,
@@ -344,7 +354,9 @@ function resolveInvoiceLineFromArticle(
 }
 
 interface ActorContext {
-  type: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+  // 'anonymous': a client that has not connected an account yet (lazy
+  // authentication, issue #1814). Only PUBLIC_TOOLS ever run under it.
+  type: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
   id?: string
   label?: string
   /**
@@ -3205,19 +3217,23 @@ export const tools: McpTool[] = [
 
       // Resolve company context: read once per call. Failures degrade
       // gracefully: an unresolved field means "don't filter on it" so a
-      // misconfigured company still gets the full skill list.
-      const [settings, employeeCount] = await Promise.all([
-        supabase
-          .from('company_settings')
-          .select('entity_type, vat_registered')
-          .eq('company_id', companyId)
-          .maybeSingle(),
-        supabase
-          .from('employees')
-          .select('id', { count: 'exact', head: true })
-          .eq('company_id', companyId)
-          .eq('is_active', true),
-      ])
+      // misconfigured company still gets the full skill list. No company at
+      // all (anonymous or not-yet-onboarded caller, issue #1814) means no
+      // context to filter on: the full list, without the two lookups.
+      const [settings, employeeCount] = companyId
+        ? await Promise.all([
+            supabase
+              .from('company_settings')
+              .select('entity_type, vat_registered')
+              .eq('company_id', companyId)
+              .maybeSingle(),
+            supabase
+              .from('employees')
+              .select('id', { count: 'exact', head: true })
+              .eq('company_id', companyId)
+              .eq('is_active', true),
+          ])
+        : [{ data: null }, { count: 0 }]
       const entityType = (settings.data?.entity_type as string | undefined) ?? null
       const vatRegistered = Boolean(settings.data?.vat_registered)
       const hasEmployees = (employeeCount.count ?? 0) > 0
@@ -18142,44 +18158,88 @@ export async function handleMcpRequest(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
   }
   const wwwAuth = `Bearer resource_metadata="${resourceMetadataUrl.toString()}"`
 
-  // ── Pre-auth: handle fire-and-forget notifications before auth check ──
-  // MCP notifications have no id and don't expect error responses.
-  // Checking auth on them would return 401 which confuses clients.
-  const clonedRequest = request.clone()
+  const unauthorized = () =>
+    new Response('Unauthorized', {
+      status: 401,
+      headers: { 'WWW-Authenticate': wwwAuth },
+    })
+
+  // ── Parse JSON-RPC ──
+  // Parsed before auth: with lazy authentication (issue #1814) the method and
+  // tool name decide whether a token is required at all. A body that cannot
+  // be parsed keeps the pre-lazy-auth answer for a tokenless caller (401), so
+  // probing the endpoint without credentials learns nothing new.
+  const token = extractBearerToken(request)
+  let body: JsonRpcRequest
   try {
-    const peek = await clonedRequest.json()
-    if (peek.method === 'notifications/initialized') {
-      return new Response(null, { status: 202 })
-    }
+    body = await request.json()
   } catch {
-    // Not valid JSON: fall through to auth + parse below
+    if (!token) return unauthorized()
+    return NextResponse.json(
+      jsonRpcError(null, -32700, 'Parse error: expected JSON-RPC 2.0 request body'),
+      { status: 400 }
+    )
+  }
+
+  // Fire-and-forget notification: no id, no response expected. Answering
+  // 401 here confuses clients, so it is accepted before any auth check.
+  if (body.method === 'notifications/initialized') {
+    return new Response(null, { status: 202 })
+  }
+
+  if (body.jsonrpc !== '2.0' || !body.method) {
+    if (!token) return unauthorized()
+    return NextResponse.json(
+      jsonRpcError(body.id ?? null, -32600, 'Invalid Request: must include jsonrpc="2.0" and method'),
+      { status: 400 }
+    )
   }
 
   // ── Auth ──
-  const token = extractBearerToken(request)
-  if (!token) {
-    return new Response('Unauthorized', {
-      status: 401,
-      headers: { 'WWW-Authenticate': wwwAuth },
-    })
-  }
+  // Lazy authentication: a client with no token may connect, list the
+  // catalog and call the PUBLIC_TOOLS. Every other request answers 401 +
+  // WWW-Authenticate at the transport level: that challenge is what the
+  // client turns into its Connect prompt (a 200 with isError never would).
+  // The account can be created inside that prompt (app/api/mcp-oauth), so
+  // the first protected tool call is the whole signup trigger.
+  const requestedTool =
+    body.method === 'tools/call'
+      ? toCanonicalToolName(String((body.params as Record<string, unknown> | undefined)?.name ?? ''))
+      : null
+  const anonymousAllowed =
+    ANONYMOUS_METHODS.has(body.method) || (requestedTool !== null && isPublicTool(requestedTool))
+  if (!token && !anonymousAllowed) return unauthorized()
 
-  const authResult = await validateApiKey(token)
-  if ('error' in authResult) {
-    const status = authResult.status
-    if (status === 429) {
-      return new Response(authResult.error, {
-        status: 429,
-        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain', 'Retry-After': '60' },
-      })
+  const isAnonymous = !token
+  let userId = ''
+  let companyId: string | null = null
+  let keyScopes: ApiKeyScope[] = []
+  let apiKeyId: string | undefined
+  let apiKeyName: string | undefined
+  let keyMode: ApiKeyMode = 'live'
+  if (token) {
+    const authResult = await validateApiKey(token)
+    if ('error' in authResult) {
+      const status = authResult.status
+      if (status === 429) {
+        return new Response(authResult.error, {
+          status: 429,
+          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain', 'Retry-After': '60' },
+        })
+      }
+      return unauthorized()
     }
-    return new Response('Unauthorized', {
-      status: 401,
-      headers: { 'WWW-Authenticate': wwwAuth },
+    ;({ userId, companyId, scopes: keyScopes, apiKeyId, apiKeyName, mode: keyMode } = authResult)
+  } else {
+    // Anonymous traffic has no key to rate-limit on: per truncated IP instead.
+    // No-op without Upstash (self-hosted), like the OAuth register endpoint.
+    const rl = await checkRateLimit({
+      prefix: 'mcp:anonymous',
+      identifier: anonymousRateLimitIdentifier(request),
+      ...ANONYMOUS_RATE_LIMIT,
     })
+    if (!rl.ok) return rl.response!
   }
-
-  const { userId, companyId, scopes: keyScopes, apiKeyId, apiKeyName, mode: keyMode } = authResult
   const supabase = createServiceClientNoCookies()
   // The Mcp-Session-Id header (introduced in spec 2025-06-18) is the canonical
   // way for an agent to keep a stable identifier across tools/call invocations
@@ -18195,31 +18255,15 @@ export async function handleMcpRequest(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
     request.headers.get('x-gnubok-client') ??
     new URL(request.url).searchParams.get('client')
   const client = rawClient && /^[A-Za-z0-9._-]{1,64}$/.test(rawClient) ? rawClient.toLowerCase() : null
-  const actor: ActorContext = {
-    type: 'api_key',
-    id: apiKeyId,
-    label: apiKeyName ?? 'Unnamed API key',
-    sessionId,
-    client,
-  }
-
-  // ── Parse JSON-RPC ──
-  let body: JsonRpcRequest
-  try {
-    body = await request.json()
-  } catch {
-    return NextResponse.json(
-      jsonRpcError(null, -32700, 'Parse error: expected JSON-RPC 2.0 request body'),
-      { status: 400 }
-    )
-  }
-
-  if (body.jsonrpc !== '2.0' || !body.method) {
-    return NextResponse.json(
-      jsonRpcError(body.id ?? null, -32600, 'Invalid Request: must include jsonrpc="2.0" and method'),
-      { status: 400 }
-    )
-  }
+  const actor: ActorContext = isAnonymous
+    ? { type: 'anonymous', label: 'Not connected', sessionId, client }
+    : {
+        type: 'api_key',
+        id: apiKeyId,
+        label: apiKeyName ?? 'Unnamed API key',
+        sessionId,
+        client,
+      }
 
   // ── Stateless core (spec 2026-07-28) ──
   // New-style clients carry their protocol version in _meta on every request
@@ -18328,6 +18372,12 @@ export async function handleMcpRequest(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
       const instructions = projectToolReferencesInText([
             'Accounted: Swedish double-entry bookkeeping via conversation.',
             '',
+            ...(isAnonymous
+              ? [
+                  'NOT CONNECTED YET. Without an account you can call gnubok_search_tools, gnubok_list_skills and gnubok_load_skill. Every other tool needs the user to connect their Accounted account: calling one returns an authentication challenge that your client shows as a Connect prompt. A user who has no account creates one right there (BankID or e-mail, about a minute), and the call is then retried automatically. To start bookkeeping for a company that is not in Accounted yet, call gnubok_list_companies to trigger the connect step, then continue with the setup.',
+                  '',
+                ]
+              : []),
             'Discovery:',
             '• tools/list returns common tool schemas. Call gnubok_search_tools(query="…") for specialized tools: it ranks all capabilities; pass detail="name"|"summary"|"full" to control payload size.',
             '• gnubok_get_agent_briefing returns recommended_tools: ordered per-workflow tool loadouts (categorize_month, close_period, invoice_run, vat_declaration, payroll_month). If your harness defers tool loading, batch-load a whole workflow in one call (e.g. Claude Code ToolSearch select:a,b,c) instead of searching cluster by cluster.',
@@ -18395,6 +18445,10 @@ export async function handleMcpRequest(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
       const listStartedAt = Date.now()
       const allowedTools = tools.filter((t) => {
         if (!isDefaultCatalogTool(t)) return false
+        // Not connected yet: the whole default catalog is listed so the agent
+        // can pick the right tool; calling a protected one is what produces
+        // the 401 challenge that starts the connect (and signup) flow.
+        if (isAnonymous) return true
         const required = TOOL_SCOPE_MAP[t.name]
         return !required || hasScope(keyScopes, required)
       })
@@ -18444,6 +18498,9 @@ export async function handleMcpRequest(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
       >
 
       const tool = tools.find((t) => t.name === toolName)
+      // The pre-auth gate already refused anonymous calls to anything outside
+      // PUBLIC_TOOLS; re-checked here so the dispatcher never depends on it.
+      if (isAnonymous && !isPublicTool(toolName)) return unauthorized()
       if (!tool) {
         emitToolCallTelemetry({
           tool: toolName ?? '<unknown>',
@@ -18527,7 +18584,14 @@ export async function handleMcpRequest(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
           )
         }
 
-        if (isCompanyDependentTool(toolName)) {
+
+        // Optional-company tools resolve (and membership-check) a company only
+        // when the caller names one; anonymous callers have no memberships to
+        // check, so a company_id from them is dropped rather than resolved.
+        const wantsCompanyContext =
+          isCompanyDependentTool(toolName) ||
+          (isOptionalCompanyTool(toolName) && !isAnonymous && extracted.requestedCompanyId !== undefined)
+        if (wantsCompanyContext) {
           const companyContext = await resolveMcpCompanyContext({
             supabase,
             userId,
diff --git a/lib/api/ip.ts b/lib/api/ip.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b31bd14d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/api/ip.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/**
+ * Truncate a client IP to a privacy-preserving prefix for rate limiting and
+ * forensic logging: IPv4 to its /24, IPv6 to its /48. Enough for abuse
+ * correlation, not enough to identify a point of presence.
+ *
+ * Honors `x-forwarded-for` when set (Vercel / proxies); behind Vercel the
+ * leftmost value is rewritten by the edge so we accept it as authoritative.
+ *
+ * Lives in its own module (no route or init imports) so both the v1 REST
+ * wrapper and the MCP server can use it without an import cycle.
+ */
+export function truncateIp(ip: string | undefined): string | undefined {
+  if (!ip) return undefined
+  // IPv4: validate octets are 0-255, then drop last octet → "203.0.113.0/24".
+  // Out-of-range octets indicate a spoofed or malformed header; refuse to
+  // log a pseudo-IP that would pollute abuse-pattern analysis.
+  const v4 = /^(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})$/.exec(ip)
+  if (v4) {
+    const octets = [v4[1], v4[2], v4[3], v4[4]].map((s) => Number.parseInt(s, 10))
+    if (octets.every((o) => o >= 0 && o <= 255)) {
+      return `${octets[0]}.${octets[1]}.${octets[2]}.0/24`
+    }
+    return undefined
+  }
+  // IPv6: keep first 3 hextets → "2001:db8:abc::/48"
+  const v6 = /^([0-9a-f]{1,4}:[0-9a-f]{1,4}:[0-9a-f]{1,4}):/i.exec(ip)
+  if (v6) return `${v6[1]}::/48`
+  return undefined
+}
+
+/**
+ * The client IP as the request presents it: leftmost `x-forwarded-for`
+ * entry, else `x-real-ip`, else undefined.
+ */
+export function requestClientIp(request: Request): string | undefined {
+  const forwarded = request.headers.get('x-forwarded-for')
+  if (forwarded) return forwarded.split(',')[0]?.trim() || undefined
+  return request.headers.get('x-real-ip') ?? undefined
+}
diff --git a/lib/api/v1/with-api-v1.ts b/lib/api/v1/with-api-v1.ts
index 0dada60f..8e36dc5a 100644
--- a/lib/api/v1/with-api-v1.ts
+++ b/lib/api/v1/with-api-v1.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import { type SupabaseClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
 import { createServiceRoleClient } from '@/lib/supabase/service-client'
 import { NextResponse } from 'next/server'
 import { ensureInitialized } from '@/lib/init'
+import { truncateIp } from '@/lib/api/ip'
 import {
   type ApiKeyMode,
   type ApiKeyScope,
@@ -167,24 +168,7 @@ function createAnonClient(): SupabaseClient {
  * Honors `x-forwarded-for` when set (Vercel / proxies); behind Vercel the
  * leftmost value is rewritten by the edge so we accept it as authoritative.
  */
-export function truncateIp(ip: string | undefined): string | undefined {
-  if (!ip) return undefined
-  // IPv4: validate octets are 0-255, then drop last octet → "203.0.113.0/24".
-  // Out-of-range octets indicate a spoofed or malformed header; refuse to
-  // log a pseudo-IP that would pollute abuse-pattern analysis.
-  const v4 = /^(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})$/.exec(ip)
-  if (v4) {
-    const octets = [v4[1], v4[2], v4[3], v4[4]].map((s) => Number.parseInt(s, 10))
-    if (octets.every((o) => o >= 0 && o <= 255)) {
-      return `${octets[0]}.${octets[1]}.${octets[2]}.0/24`
-    }
-    return undefined
-  }
-  // IPv6: keep first 3 hextets → "2001:db8:abc::/48"
-  const v6 = /^([0-9a-f]{1,4}:[0-9a-f]{1,4}:[0-9a-f]{1,4}):/i.exec(ip)
-  if (v6) return `${v6[1]}::/48`
-  return undefined
-}
+export { truncateIp }
 
 function extractForensicContext(request: Request, log: Logger): { ip: string | undefined; userAgent: string | undefined } {
   const fwd = request.headers.get('x-forwarded-for')
diff --git a/lib/events/types.ts b/lib/events/types.ts
index 7036ffaa..57db0607 100644
--- a/lib/events/types.ts
+++ b/lib/events/types.ts
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
   | { type: 'mcp.tool_called'; payload: {
       tool: string                                  // e.g. 'gnubok_create_invoice'
       requiredScope: string | null                  // from TOOL_SCOPE_MAP, null if unscoped
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null                        // api_key id, oauth client, etc.
       actorLabel: string | null                     // human-readable actor label
       latencyMs: number                             // wall-clock time inside execute()
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
   // the caller's scope set.
   | { type: 'mcp.tools_list_called'; payload: {
       toolCount: number                             // tools actually returned (post scope filter)
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null
       actorLabel: string | null
       latencyMs: number
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
       success: boolean
       errorCode: string | null
       latencyMs: number
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null
       actorLabel: string | null
       requestId: string | number | null
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
   | { type: 'mcp.workflow_started'; payload: {
       slug: string                                  // e.g. 'month-end-close'
       sessionId: string | null
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null
       actorLabel: string | null
       userId: string
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
       outcome: 'success' | 'abandoned' | 'failed'
       stepsCompleted: number | null                 // null when not tracked granularly
       durationMs: number | null
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null
       actorLabel: string | null
       userId: string
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
       slug: string                                  // e.g. 'modifier/holding-ab', 'month-end-close'
       tier: 'workflow' | 'horizontal' | 'vertical' | 'modifier'
       sessionId: string | null
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null
       actorLabel: string | null
       userId: string
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
       fromTool: string
       toTool: string
       sessionId: string | null
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null
       actorLabel: string | null
       userId: string
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ export type CoreEvent =
       toolName: string | null
       skillSlug: string | null
       sessionId: string | null
-      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron'
+      actorType: 'user' | 'api_key' | 'mcp_oauth' | 'cron' | 'anonymous'
       actorId: string | null
       actorLabel: string | null
       userId: string