diff --git a/RUNNING.md b/RUNNING.md
index f229fbef9..f478b8636 100644
--- a/RUNNING.md
+++ b/RUNNING.md
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ develop on its `main`, publish a bump, then bump the dependency here. The
 - Self-host boots standalone with just env vars — see
   `e2e/setup/selfhost.globalsetup.ts` for the canonical recipe (data dir,
   bootstrap admin email/password, base URL, `EXECUTOR_ALLOW_LOCAL_NETWORK`)
+- Self-host Vite dev shows first-run setup by default. Set
+  `EXECUTOR_DEV_SEED_ADMIN=1` to seed `admin@example.com` /
+  `executor-dev-admin` instead.
 - Cloud needs WorkOS + Autumn; for a no-.env boot, point it at emulators —
   see `e2e/setup/cloud.globalsetup.ts` for the canonical recipe (the real
   SDKs against emulated services, PGlite dev DB)
diff --git a/apps/host-selfhost/vite.config.ts b/apps/host-selfhost/vite.config.ts
index e2a7445fa..dec43de98 100644
--- a/apps/host-selfhost/vite.config.ts
+++ b/apps/host-selfhost/vite.config.ts
@@ -34,8 +34,10 @@ const DEV_PORT = 5173;
 // via real env for anything you care about (esp. BETTER_AUTH_SECRET in prod).
 process.env.EXECUTOR_DATA_DIR ??= fileURLToPath(new URL("./.executor-dev/", import.meta.url));
 process.env.BETTER_AUTH_SECRET ??= "executor-selfhost-dev-secret-change-me-0123456789";
-process.env.EXECUTOR_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_EMAIL ??= "admin@example.com";
-process.env.EXECUTOR_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD ??= "executor-dev-admin";
+if (process.env.EXECUTOR_DEV_SEED_ADMIN === "1") {
+  process.env.EXECUTOR_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_EMAIL ??= "admin@example.com";
+  process.env.EXECUTOR_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_PASSWORD ??= "executor-dev-admin";
+}
 process.env.EXECUTOR_WEB_BASE_URL ??= `http://localhost:${DEV_PORT}`;
 
 // Dev-only: forward /api, /mcp, /docs to the self-host Effect handler in-process