diff --git a/docs/openwrt-uci.md b/docs/openwrt-uci.md
index 116bfdd..0bfa82c 100644
--- a/docs/openwrt-uci.md
+++ b/docs/openwrt-uci.md
@@ -51,15 +51,24 @@ config service 'main'
 ```
 
 The example above uses a placeholder. Avoid typing real credentials into a
-command that your shell will save in history. On OpenWrt's ash, you can instead
+command that your shell will save in history. In an interactive SSH terminal, you can
 read the Basic header without echoing it and send it to UCI over stdin:
 
 ```sh
-read -r -s -p 'Complete Basic authorization header: ' authorization
-printf '\n'
-printf "set wakey.main.otlp_authorization='%s'\ncommit wakey\n" "$authorization" | uci batch
-unset authorization
-chmod 600 /etc/config/wakey
+(
+    set -e
+    terminal_state=$(stty -g </dev/tty)
+    # Restore the original terminal settings even on failure or interruption.
+    trap 'stty "$terminal_state" </dev/tty' 0
+    trap 'exit 1' HUP INT TERM
+    printf 'Complete Basic authorization header: ' >/dev/tty
+    stty -echo </dev/tty
+    IFS= read -r authorization </dev/tty
+    stty "$terminal_state" </dev/tty
+    printf '\n' >/dev/tty
+    printf "set wakey.main.otlp_authorization='%s'\ncommit wakey\n" "$authorization" | uci batch
+    chmod 600 /etc/config/wakey
+)
 ```
 
 Use a normal `Basic <base64>` header here, without quotes/newlines inside the value.
diff --git a/wakey-agent/src/main.rs b/wakey-agent/src/main.rs
index bea0064..0f60d68 100644
--- a/wakey-agent/src/main.rs
+++ b/wakey-agent/src/main.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,13 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
 
     // Only the long-lived daemon exports: hotplug/enroll invocations stay cheap.
     let daemon_config = if let Command::Serve(args) = &cli.command {
-        Some(config::load_config(global_config.unwrap_or(&args.config))?)
+        let path = global_config.unwrap_or(&args.config);
+        // Let serve report its enrollment/setup instructions for a missing file.
+        if path.exists() {
+            Some(config::load_config(path)?)
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
     } else {
         None
     };