diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index f60be24..d0cc0fc 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -53,6 +53,15 @@ OIDC_AUDIENCE=shared-memory
 # named the scope mapping something else.
 #OIDC_AUDIENCE_SCOPE=aud-shared-memory
 
+# Advertise `offline_access` so MCP clients receive a REFRESH token and can
+# renew silently. Without it the client only gets a short-lived access token
+# and kicks the user back to an interactive login every time it expires.
+#
+# Enable this ONLY after adding an `offline_access` scope mapping to the MCP
+# provider in your IdP — advertising a scope the IdP doesn't offer can fail
+# the whole authorization request. See README -> "Keeping sessions alive".
+#OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS=true
+
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Database (Postgres 16 + pgvector — pgvector/pgvector:pg16 image)
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dac2f06..1cfc83f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -291,9 +291,49 @@ tokens carry `aud: shared-memory` (or whatever value you chose).
 - **Client ID:** auto-generated → copy to `.env` as `OIDC_CLIENT_ID_MCP`
 - **Redirect URIs:** Claude Code prints the exact value when it first
   connects to the MCP endpoint. Paste it into Authentik then.
-- **Scopes:** `openid`, `profile`, `email`
+- **Scopes:** `openid`, `profile`, `email` (plus `offline_access` — see
+  **Keeping sessions alive** below)
 - **Signing Key:** same cert as the Web provider
 
+#### Keeping sessions alive (`offline_access`)
+
+Without this, a connected MCP client gets an access token and **no refresh
+token**. It cannot renew silently, so the moment the access token expires the
+client reports `requires re-authorization (token expired)` and the user has to
+log in again — repeatedly, on a short cycle.
+
+Two changes are required, and **neither works alone**:
+
+1. **In Authentik**, edit the `shared-memory-mcp` provider and add the built-in
+   `authentik default OAuth Mapping: offline_access` to its **Scopes**. You can
+   confirm it took by checking that `offline_access` appears in:
+
+   ```bash
+   curl -s https://auth.example.com/application/o/shared-memory-mcp/.well-known/openid-configuration \
+     | jq .scopes_supported
+   ```
+
+2. **In `.env`**, set `OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS=true` and redeploy.
+
+Step 2 is needed because a client only requests the scopes advertised in our
+`/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource` document — the same mechanism that
+makes the `aud` scope mapping necessary below. Step 1 is needed because
+Authentik only issues a refresh token when a configured mapping is requested.
+
+It is left opt-in rather than always-on because advertising a scope the IdP
+doesn't offer risks an `invalid_scope` rejection that breaks authentication
+outright. Configure the IdP first, then flip the flag.
+
+Verify afterwards with:
+
+```bash
+curl -s https://memory.example.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource | jq .scopes_supported
+```
+
+If interactive login isn't practical at all — a headless container, CI — skip
+OAuth and use a static bearer token instead (**D. Static bearer token**, below);
+those default to a 90-day lifetime.
+
 #### Setting the `aud` claim
 
 The MCP endpoint requires the access token's `aud` claim to equal
diff --git a/apps/web/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route.test.ts b/apps/web/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7dcd5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, test, vi } from "vitest";
+
+/**
+ * The resource metadata document is the ONLY way an MCP client learns which
+ * scopes to request. Authentik evaluates a scope mapping only when the client
+ * asks for that scope by name — so a scope missing from this document is a
+ * scope the client will never request, no matter how the IdP is configured.
+ *
+ * That is exactly how `offline_access` came to be missing: without it the IdP
+ * issues an access token and no refresh token, so the client cannot renew
+ * silently and the user is forced to re-authenticate every time the access
+ * token expires.
+ */
+
+async function fetchMetadata(): Promise<{ scopes_supported: string[] }> {
+  vi.resetModules();
+  const { GET } = await import("@/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route");
+  return (await GET().json()) as { scopes_supported: string[] };
+}
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  delete process.env.OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS;
+  delete process.env.OIDC_AUDIENCE_SCOPE;
+});
+
+describe("oauth-protected-resource metadata", () => {
+  test("omits offline_access by default, so deployments without the IdP mapping are unaffected", async () => {
+    const body = await fetchMetadata();
+
+    expect(body.scopes_supported).not.toContain("offline_access");
+  });
+
+  test("advertises offline_access when the deployment opts in", async () => {
+    process.env.OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS = "true";
+
+    const body = await fetchMetadata();
+
+    expect(body.scopes_supported).toContain("offline_access");
+  });
+
+  test("still advertises the audience scope when offline_access is enabled", async () => {
+    // Regression guard: the audience scope is what makes `aud` appear on the
+    // token at all. Dropping it would break authentication outright.
+    process.env.OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS = "true";
+
+    const body = await fetchMetadata();
+
+    expect(body.scopes_supported).toContain("aud-test-audience");
+    expect(body.scopes_supported).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(["openid", "profile", "email"]),
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("honours an explicit audience scope name alongside offline_access", async () => {
+    process.env.OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS = "true";
+    process.env.OIDC_AUDIENCE_SCOPE = "custom-aud-scope";
+
+    const body = await fetchMetadata();
+
+    expect(body.scopes_supported).toContain("custom-aud-scope");
+    expect(body.scopes_supported).toContain("offline_access");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/web/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route.ts b/apps/web/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route.ts
index d6c9c33..097c85a 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/route.ts
@@ -21,13 +21,24 @@ export function GET() {
   const audienceScope =
     env().OIDC_AUDIENCE_SCOPE ?? `aud-${env().OIDC_AUDIENCE}`;
 
+  // Same mechanism as the audience scope, different consequence: a client
+  // only requests `offline_access` if it sees the name here, and without
+  // that request the IdP returns no refresh token — so the client cannot
+  // renew and the user gets kicked back to an interactive login whenever
+  // the access token expires.
+  //
+  // Opt-in, because the IdP needs a matching scope mapping; advertising one
+  // it doesn't offer can fail the whole authorization request.
+  const scopes = ["openid", "profile", "email", audienceScope];
+  if (env().OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS) scopes.push("offline_access");
+
   return NextResponse.json({
     resource,
     // The MCP application's issuer, which is not necessarily the Web UI's —
     // see mcpIssuer(). Advertising the wrong one sends clients to a discovery
     // document whose tokens this endpoint will then reject on `iss`.
     authorization_servers: [mcpIssuer()],  // as configured, slash and all
-    scopes_supported: ["openid", "profile", "email", audienceScope],
+    scopes_supported: scopes,
     bearer_methods_supported: ["header"],
     resource_documentation: `${resource}/`,
   });
diff --git a/apps/web/lib/env.ts b/apps/web/lib/env.ts
index a9c7f02..ca5f6d1 100644
--- a/apps/web/lib/env.ts
+++ b/apps/web/lib/env.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,20 @@ const envSchema = z.object({
   // Defaults to the `aud-<audience>` convention used in the README setup.
   OIDC_AUDIENCE_SCOPE: optional(z.string().min(1)),
 
+  // Advertise `offline_access` in the protected-resource metadata.
+  //
+  // Without it the IdP issues an access token and NO refresh token, so an
+  // MCP client cannot renew silently — it has to send the user back through
+  // an interactive login every time the access token expires. Turning this
+  // on is what makes long-lived sessions stop dropping out.
+  //
+  // Defaults OFF because it is only half the fix: the IdP must also have an
+  // `offline_access` scope mapping on the provider. Advertising a scope the
+  // IdP doesn't offer risks an `invalid_scope` rejection that would break
+  // authentication outright, so a deployment opts in only after configuring
+  // its IdP. See README -> "Keeping sessions alive".
+  OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS: Bool.optional().default(false),
+
   // Database
   DATABASE_URL: z.string().url(),
 
@@ -119,6 +133,7 @@ function buildPhaseStub(): Env {
     CLI_TOKEN_SECRET: "build-phase-secret-not-used-at-runtime-xxxxxxxx",
     PLUGIN_MARKETPLACE_NAME: "shared-memory",
     ALLOW_INSECURE_HTTP: false,
+    OIDC_OFFLINE_ACCESS: false,
   };
 }