diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c4d128b9..5559880d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2296,6 +2296,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "bytes",
  "chrono",
  "chrono-tz",
+ "ed25519-dalek",
  "eventsource-stream",
  "fastcrypto",
  "filetime",
diff --git a/server/Cargo.toml b/server/Cargo.toml
index 2d39999b..fc20a428 100644
--- a/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ libsqlite3-sys = { version = "0.35.0", features = ["bundled"] }
 sqlx = { workspace = true }
 wait-timeout = "0.2.1"
 bft-json-crdt = { path = "../crates/bft-json-crdt", default-features = false, features = ["bft"] }
+ed25519-dalek = { version = "2", features = ["rand_core"] }
 fastcrypto = "0.1.8"
 rand = "0.8"
 indexmap = { version = "2.2.6", features = ["serde"] }
diff --git a/server/src/http/identity.rs b/server/src/http/identity.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c35c99e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/http/identity.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+//! Node identity endpoint — exposes this node's Ed25519 public key.
+//!
+//! `GET /identity` returns the node's ID and public key as JSON.  No
+//! authentication is required; only the public half of the keypair is
+//! disclosed.
+
+use poem::handler;
+use poem::web::Json;
+use serde::Serialize;
+
+/// JSON response body for `GET /identity`.
+#[derive(Serialize)]
+pub struct IdentityResponse {
+    /// Node ID: lowercase hex-encoding of the 32-byte Ed25519 public key.
+    pub node_id: String,
+    /// Lowercase hex-encoding of the 32-byte Ed25519 public key.
+    pub pubkey: String,
+}
+
+/// `GET /identity` — return this node's Ed25519 public key.
+///
+/// Returns `{"node_id": "<64-hex>", "pubkey": "<64-hex>"}`.
+/// No authentication required; the private key is never exposed.
+#[handler]
+pub fn identity_handler() -> Json<IdentityResponse> {
+    match crate::node_identity::get_identity() {
+        Some(id) => Json(IdentityResponse {
+            node_id: id.node_id.clone(),
+            pubkey: id.pubkey_hex.clone(),
+        }),
+        None => Json(IdentityResponse {
+            node_id: "uninitialized".to_string(),
+            pubkey: "uninitialized".to_string(),
+        }),
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use poem::{Route, get, test::TestClient};
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn identity_endpoint_returns_json() {
+        // Initialise a temporary key file so get_identity() returns Some.
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let key_path = tmp.path().join("node_identity.key");
+        crate::node_identity::init_identity(&key_path).unwrap();
+
+        let app = Route::new().at("/identity", get(identity_handler));
+        let cli = TestClient::new(app);
+        let resp = cli.get("/identity").send().await;
+        resp.assert_status_is_ok();
+
+        let body: serde_json::Value = resp.json().await.value().deserialize();
+        let node_id = body["node_id"].as_str().unwrap();
+        let pubkey = body["pubkey"].as_str().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(node_id.len(), 64);
+        assert!(node_id.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_hexdigit()));
+        assert_eq!(node_id, pubkey);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/server/src/http/mod.rs b/server/src/http/mod.rs
index 565fa7d4..93c14cf3 100644
--- a/server/src/http/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/http/mod.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ pub mod chat;
 pub mod context;
 pub mod events;
 pub mod health;
+pub mod identity;
 pub mod io;
 pub mod mcp;
 pub mod model;
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ pub fn build_routes(
             post(mcp::mcp_post_handler).get(mcp::mcp_get_handler),
         )
         .at("/health", get(health::health))
+        .at("/identity", get(identity::identity_handler))
         .at(
             "/oauth/authorize",
             get(oauth::oauth_authorize).data(oauth_state.clone()),
diff --git a/server/src/main.rs b/server/src/main.rs
index e2c8f7c0..486d540e 100644
--- a/server/src/main.rs
+++ b/server/src/main.rs
@@ -234,6 +234,24 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), std::io::Error> {
         log_buffer::global().set_log_file(log_dir.join("server.log"));
     }
 
+    // Initialise the node's Ed25519 identity keypair (file-based, mode 0600).
+    // The key is stored at .huskies/node_identity.key and persisted across
+    // restarts.  The public key is exposed via GET /identity.
+    {
+        let key_path = app_state
+            .project_root
+            .lock()
+            .unwrap()
+            .as_ref()
+            .map(|root| root.join(".huskies").join("node_identity.key"))
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| cwd.join(".huskies").join("node_identity.key"));
+        if let Err(e) = node_identity::init_identity(&key_path) {
+            slog!("[identity] Failed to initialise node identity keypair: {e}");
+        } else if let Some(id) = node_identity::get_identity() {
+            slog!("[identity] Node ID: {}", id.node_id);
+        }
+    }
+
     // Initialise the SQLite pipeline shadow-write database and CRDT state layer.
     // Clone the path out before the await so we don't hold the MutexGuard across
     // an await point.
diff --git a/server/src/node_identity.rs b/server/src/node_identity.rs
index d0e7dec5..a6ffcc40 100644
--- a/server/src/node_identity.rs
+++ b/server/src/node_identity.rs
@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@ use bft_json_crdt::keypair::{
     ED25519_PUBLIC_KEY_LENGTH, ED25519_SIGNATURE_LENGTH, Ed25519KeyPair, Ed25519PublicKey,
     Ed25519Signature, sign, verify,
 };
+use ed25519_dalek::SigningKey;
 use fastcrypto::traits::{KeyPair, ToFromBytes};
 use rand::RngCore;
+use std::sync::OnceLock;
 
 // ── Types ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -133,6 +135,102 @@ pub fn public_key_hex(keypair: &Ed25519KeyPair) -> String {
     hex_encode(keypair.public().as_bytes())
 }
 
+// ── File-based keypair persistence (ed25519-dalek) ────────────────────────
+
+/// Node identity loaded from (or freshly generated into) a `0600` key file.
+///
+/// The `node_id` is the lowercase hex-encoding of the 32-byte Ed25519 public
+/// key — the same value used as the CRDT author across all subsystems.
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+pub struct NodeIdentity {
+    /// Node ID: lowercase hex-encoding of the 32-byte Ed25519 public key.
+    pub node_id: String,
+    /// Lowercase hex-encoding of the 32-byte Ed25519 public key.
+    pub pubkey_hex: String,
+}
+
+/// Global node identity, initialised once at server startup.
+static IDENTITY: OnceLock<NodeIdentity> = OnceLock::new();
+
+/// Load or create the node's Ed25519 keypair, storing it in a `0600` file.
+///
+/// - **First boot**: generates a new keypair with `ed25519-dalek`, writes the
+///   32-byte signing-key seed to `path` with Unix mode `0600`, then returns
+///   the derived `NodeIdentity`.
+/// - **Subsequent boots**: reads the 32-byte seed from `path`, reconstructs
+///   the keypair deterministically, and returns the same `NodeIdentity`.
+///
+/// The file stores the raw 32-byte seed only.  No headers, no PEM, no base64.
+pub fn load_or_create_keypair_file(path: &std::path::Path) -> std::io::Result<NodeIdentity> {
+    let signing_key = if path.exists() {
+        let bytes = std::fs::read(path)?;
+        let seed: [u8; 32] = bytes.try_into().map_err(|_| {
+            std::io::Error::new(
+                std::io::ErrorKind::InvalidData,
+                "node identity key file must contain exactly 32 bytes",
+            )
+        })?;
+        SigningKey::from_bytes(&seed)
+    } else {
+        // Generate a fresh keypair and persist the seed.
+        let sk = SigningKey::generate(&mut rand::rngs::OsRng);
+        let seed = sk.to_bytes();
+
+        // Create the file with mode 0600 at creation time (Unix) so the seed
+        // is never visible to other users even transiently.
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        {
+            use std::io::Write;
+            use std::os::unix::fs::OpenOptionsExt;
+            if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
+                std::fs::create_dir_all(parent)?;
+            }
+            let mut file = std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
+                .write(true)
+                .create(true)
+                .truncate(true)
+                .mode(0o600)
+                .open(path)?;
+            file.write_all(&seed)?;
+        }
+
+        // Non-Unix fallback: write first, then set permissions.
+        #[cfg(not(unix))]
+        {
+            if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
+                std::fs::create_dir_all(parent)?;
+            }
+            std::fs::write(path, &seed)?;
+        }
+
+        sk
+    };
+
+    let pubkey_bytes = signing_key.verifying_key().to_bytes();
+    let pubkey_hex = hex_encode(&pubkey_bytes);
+    Ok(NodeIdentity {
+        node_id: pubkey_hex.clone(),
+        pubkey_hex,
+    })
+}
+
+/// Initialise the global node identity from a key file.
+///
+/// Should be called once at server startup.  Subsequent calls are no-ops.
+pub fn init_identity(path: &std::path::Path) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    if IDENTITY.get().is_none() {
+        let identity = load_or_create_keypair_file(path)?;
+        let _ = IDENTITY.set(identity);
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Return a reference to the global node identity, or `None` if
+/// [`init_identity`] has not yet been called.
+pub fn get_identity() -> Option<&'static NodeIdentity> {
+    IDENTITY.get()
+}
+
 // ── Internal helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 fn hex_encode(bytes: &[u8]) -> String {
@@ -247,4 +345,84 @@ mod tests {
         let kp = make_keypair();
         assert_eq!(public_key_hex(&kp), public_key_hex(&kp));
     }
+
+    // ── File-based persistence tests ──────────────────────────────────
+
+    #[test]
+    fn keypair_file_creates_on_first_boot() {
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let key_path = tmp.path().join("node_identity.key");
+
+        assert!(!key_path.exists(), "key file should not exist yet");
+        let identity = load_or_create_keypair_file(&key_path).unwrap();
+        assert!(key_path.exists(), "key file should be created");
+        assert_eq!(identity.node_id.len(), 64);
+        assert!(identity.node_id.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_hexdigit()));
+        assert_eq!(identity.node_id, identity.pubkey_hex);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn keypair_file_persists_across_restarts() {
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let key_path = tmp.path().join("node_identity.key");
+
+        // Simulate first boot.
+        let id1 = load_or_create_keypair_file(&key_path).unwrap();
+
+        // Simulate restart: load the same key file again.
+        let id2 = load_or_create_keypair_file(&key_path).unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            id1.pubkey_hex, id2.pubkey_hex,
+            "pubkey must be unchanged after restart"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            id1.node_id, id2.node_id,
+            "node_id must be unchanged after restart"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn keypair_file_generates_unique_keys() {
+        let tmp1 = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let tmp2 = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+
+        let id1 = load_or_create_keypair_file(&tmp1.path().join("id.key")).unwrap();
+        let id2 = load_or_create_keypair_file(&tmp2.path().join("id.key")).unwrap();
+
+        assert_ne!(
+            id1.pubkey_hex, id2.pubkey_hex,
+            "two independent nodes must have different keys"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(unix)]
+    #[test]
+    fn keypair_file_has_mode_0600() {
+        use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let key_path = tmp.path().join("node_identity.key");
+
+        load_or_create_keypair_file(&key_path).unwrap();
+
+        let metadata = std::fs::metadata(&key_path).unwrap();
+        let mode = metadata.permissions().mode();
+        // The last 9 bits: owner=rw (0o600), group=--- (0o000), other=--- (0o000).
+        assert_eq!(
+            mode & 0o777,
+            0o600,
+            "key file must have mode 0600, got {mode:#o}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn keypair_file_rejects_wrong_size() {
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let key_path = tmp.path().join("bad.key");
+        std::fs::write(&key_path, b"tooshort").unwrap();
+
+        let result = load_or_create_keypair_file(&key_path);
+        assert!(result.is_err(), "should error on wrong-size key file");
+    }
 }