diff --git a/compose/kael.yml b/compose/kael.yml
index e90c67b..1b224d9 100644
--- a/compose/kael.yml
+++ b/compose/kael.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ services:
     restart: always
     env_file:
       - ${CONFIG_SAFE_FILE}
+    environment:
+      PLATFORM_GATEWAY_ENABLED: "true"
+      PLATFORM_DELEGATION_KEY: ${CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET}
     volumes:
       - ${VOLUME_DIR}/kael/data:/opt/kael/data
     healthcheck:
diff --git a/config-example.txt b/config-example.txt
index 02c1137..f0dfc75 100644
--- a/config-example.txt
+++ b/config-example.txt
@@ -57,6 +57,13 @@ SECRET_KEY=
 #
 BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN=
 
+# Secret used to sign Kael user delegation requests to Core. The installer
+# generates this value once and preserves it during upgrades.
+# (*) Warning: Keep this value secret.
+# (*) Do not disclose CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET to anyone
+#
+CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET=
+
 # Log level INFO, WARN, ERROR
 #
 LOG_LEVEL=ERROR
diff --git a/scripts/1_config_jumpserver.sh b/scripts/1_config_jumpserver.sh
index 1416528..fab4d04 100644
--- a/scripts/1_config_jumpserver.sh
+++ b/scripts/1_config_jumpserver.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ function set_secret_key() {
     set_config BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN "${bootstrap_key}"
     echo_check "BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN generated"
   fi
+  ensure_config_secret CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET 32 || return 1
   if command -v hostname&>/dev/null; then
     SERVER_HOSTNAME=$(hostname)
     set_config SERVER_HOSTNAME "${SERVER_HOSTNAME}"
diff --git a/scripts/7_upgrade.sh b/scripts/7_upgrade.sh
index e1d94b9..0ee32b7 100644
--- a/scripts/7_upgrade.sh
+++ b/scripts/7_upgrade.sh
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ function upgrade_config() {
   check_and_set_config "JUMPSERVER_ENABLE_FONT_SMOOTHING" "true"
   check_and_set_config "USE_LB" "1"
   check_and_set_config "VERIFY_EXTERNAL_SSL" "false"
+  ensure_config_secret CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET 32 || return 1
   # XPACK
   use_xpack=$(get_config_or_env USE_XPACK)
   if [[ "${use_xpack}" == "1" ]]; then
diff --git a/scripts/gists/common.sh b/scripts/gists/common.sh
index aa290e8..3a837b2 100644
--- a/scripts/gists/common.sh
+++ b/scripts/gists/common.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,20 @@ function random_str() {
   fi
 }
 
+function random_secret() {
+  local byte_length=${1:-32}
+
+  if ! [[ "${byte_length}" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]]; then
+    printf 'Secret byte length must be a positive integer\n' >&2
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  # Hex keeps generated values safe for env files while /dev/urandom provides
+  # installation-specific entropy even when the installer runs as root.
+  od -An -N "${byte_length}" -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d '[:space:]'
+  printf '\n'
+}
+
 
 function read_from_input() {
   var=$1
diff --git a/scripts/gists/conf.sh b/scripts/gists/conf.sh
index bc1ef42..f3acfb4 100644
--- a/scripts/gists/conf.sh
+++ b/scripts/gists/conf.sh
@@ -148,6 +148,21 @@ function set_config() {
   mv -f "${tmp_file}" "${CONFIG_FILE}"
 }
 
+function ensure_config_secret() {
+  local key=$1
+  local byte_length=${2:-32}
+  local value
+
+  value=$(get_config "${key}")
+  if [[ -n "${value}" ]]; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  value=$(random_secret "${byte_length}") || return 1
+  set_config "${key}" "${value}" || return 1
+  echo_check "${key} generated"
+}
+
 function remove_config() {
   key=$1
 
diff --git a/tests/test_compose.sh b/tests/test_compose.sh
index 54aac2b..8e9e258 100755
--- a/tests/test_compose.sh
+++ b/tests/test_compose.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ fi
 
 test_dir="${TEST_TMP_ROOT}/compose"
 export HOSTNAME=test-host
+export CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET=test-only-delegation-secret-00000000000000000000000000000000
 mkdir -p "${test_dir}"
 cp "${TEST_ROOT}/config-example.txt" "${test_dir}/config.txt"
 cp "${TEST_ROOT}/config-example.txt" "${test_dir}/config_safe.txt"
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ default_config=$(
   ${compose_cmd} --env-file "${CONFIG_FILE}" config
 )
 assert_contains "${default_config}" 'jms_kael' 'rendered Compose config must contain Kael'
+assert_contains "${default_config}" "PLATFORM_DELEGATION_KEY: ${CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET}" 'Kael must receive the Core delegation secret'
 if [[ "${default_config}" == *'jms_ai'* ]]; then
   fail 'rendered Compose config must not contain the removed AI service'
 fi
diff --git a/tests/test_conf.sh b/tests/test_conf.sh
index 86898e9..85bc49a 100755
--- a/tests/test_conf.sh
+++ b/tests/test_conf.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ printf '%s\n' \
   'LABEL=hello world' \
   'REDIS_SENTINEL_HOSTS=old' >"${CONFIG_FILE}"
 
+. "${TEST_ROOT}/scripts/gists/common.sh"
 . "${TEST_ROOT}/scripts/gists/conf.sh"
 
 assert_eq 'abc=def' "$(get_config PASSWORD)" 'get_config must preserve equals signs'
@@ -34,3 +35,12 @@ set_config EMPTY_VALUE ''
 assert_eq '1' "$(has_config EMPTY_VALUE)" 'set_config must create explicitly empty values'
 
 printf 'PASS: config round trips complex values\n'
+
+ensure_config_secret CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET 32
+delegation_secret=$(get_config CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET)
+[[ "${delegation_secret}" =~ ^[0-9a-f]{64}$ ]] ||
+  fail 'delegation secret must contain 32 bytes encoded as lowercase hex'
+ensure_config_secret CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET 32
+assert_eq "${delegation_secret}" "$(get_config CHAT_AI_DELEGATION_SECRET)" 'existing delegation secret must be preserved'
+
+printf 'PASS: config secrets are generated once and preserved\n'