diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5f8099a..a798cc3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ channel) to the OpenMax / CWS platform.
 
 ## Status
 
-**Alpha — published.** `@openmaxai/codex-openmax@0.1.0-alpha.0` is on npm. P1 MVP (the
+**Alpha — published** on npm (see the badge above for the current version). P1 MVP (the
 `/wake`+`/send` bridge, wake queue, SDK-backed CWS bridge) and P2-① (the `init`/`start`
-onboarding CLI) are shipped. Backed by the real `@openmaxai/openmax-agent-sdk`; verified with
-a live end-to-end round-trip against openmax.com.
+onboarding CLI, incl. self-register) are shipped. Backed by the real
+`@openmaxai/openmax-agent-sdk`; verified with a live end-to-end round-trip against
+openmax.com.
 
 ## What it is
 
@@ -79,6 +80,63 @@ connects the SDK bridge, and serves the adapter until `SIGINT`/`SIGTERM`. Requir
 binary on `PATH`. Full field contract + security notes:
 [`docs/onboarding-design.md`](docs/onboarding-design.md).
 
+**Whether closing your session stops `start` depends on how it was launched:**
+
+- Run directly in a bare interactive terminal: closing that terminal sends `SIGHUP` and it
+  exits like any other foreground process.
+- Launched by an agent/CLI tool that spawns it detached or backgrounded (no controlling tty —
+  the common case when an onboarding agent runs `start` for you): it keeps running after that
+  agent/CLI session ends.
+
+Either way, to stop it: `Ctrl+C` the process (or `kill` its PID) in the terminal it's actually
+running in.
+
+### Running as a persistent service (optional)
+
+If you want `codex-openmax` to survive a reboot or keep running unattended, run `start` under
+a process manager instead of a bare foreground shell. **This is optional and changes system
+state (a boot-persistent service) — ask the user before setting it up; don't do it silently as
+part of the default init/start flow.**
+
+systemd (user service):
+
+```bash
+mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user ~/.codex-openmax
+cat > ~/.config/systemd/user/codex-openmax.service <<'UNIT'
+[Unit]
+Description=codex-openmax adapter
+
+[Service]
+WorkingDirectory=%h/.codex-openmax
+ExecStart=codex-openmax start
+Restart=on-failure
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=default.target
+UNIT
+systemctl --user daemon-reload
+systemctl --user enable --now codex-openmax
+```
+
+To survive reboot/logout (not just this login session), a user service also needs linger
+enabled — this is a system-level change (affects this Linux user account beyond the service
+itself), so confirm with the user before running it:
+
+```bash
+loginctl enable-linger "$USER"
+```
+
+pm2:
+
+```bash
+pm2 start codex-openmax --name codex-openmax -- start
+pm2 save
+pm2 startup   # prints the command to enable pm2 itself on boot
+```
+
+Either way, run `codex-openmax init` once beforehand so `config.json` already exists in the
+working directory the service starts from.
+
 ## Layout
 
 ```
diff --git a/docs/onboarding-design.md b/docs/onboarding-design.md
index fa93a0e..fef5257 100644
--- a/docs/onboarding-design.md
+++ b/docs/onboarding-design.md
@@ -99,7 +99,8 @@ Steps — self-register shape (invitation_id + invitation_token, no pre-provisio
 ## Non-goals (this PR)
 
 - No platform-side rendering (that's the workspace flow, tracked with luna/gavin).
-- No daemonization/pm2 packaging (`start` runs foreground; supervisor integration later).
+- No daemonization/pm2 packaging (`start` runs foreground; supervisor integration later — README
+  documents an optional systemd/pm2 setup as a workaround in the meantime).
 - No ws/daemon transport (P2 item ② — codex 0.144.5's `app-server --listen ws://`).
 
 ## Distribution (added after owner review, 2026-07-20)
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 51910fe..69b9507 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
 	"name": "@openmaxai/codex-openmax",
-	"version": "0.1.0-alpha.2",
+	"version": "0.1.0-alpha.3",
 	"lockfileVersion": 3,
 	"requires": true,
 	"packages": {
 		"": {
 			"name": "@openmaxai/codex-openmax",
-			"version": "0.1.0-alpha.2",
+			"version": "0.1.0-alpha.3",
 			"dependencies": {
 				"@openmaxai/openmax-agent-sdk": "^1.0.1"
 			},
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c97c52e..6ef53e5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "@openmaxai/codex-openmax",
-	"version": "0.1.0-alpha.2",
+	"version": "0.1.0-alpha.3",
 	"private": false,
 	"description": "Codex CLI ⇆ OpenMax/CWS channel adapter (Category B): Layer 1 shared SDK bridge + Layer 2 runtime adapter.",
 	"repository": {