diff --git a/src/gateway/mod.rs b/src/gateway/mod.rs
index a779f965f..68d3d45bb 100644
--- a/src/gateway/mod.rs
+++ b/src/gateway/mod.rs
@@ -610,6 +610,7 @@ pub async fn run_gateway(host: &str, port: u16, config: Config) -> Result<()> {
     println!("  🌐 Web Dashboard: http://{display_addr}/");
     println!("  POST /pair      — pair a new client (X-Pairing-Code header)");
     println!("  POST /webhook   — {{\"message\": \"your prompt\"}}");
+    println!("  POST /agent     — tool-enabled agent chat {{\"message\": \"your prompt\"}}");
     if whatsapp_channel.is_some() {
         println!("  GET  /whatsapp  — Meta webhook verification");
         println!("  POST /whatsapp  — WhatsApp message webhook");
@@ -718,6 +719,7 @@ pub async fn run_gateway(host: &str, port: u16, config: Config) -> Result<()> {
         .route("/metrics", get(handle_metrics))
         .route("/pair", post(handle_pair))
         .route("/webhook", post(handle_webhook))
+        .route("/agent", post(handle_agent))
         .route("/whatsapp", get(handle_whatsapp_verify))
         .route("/whatsapp", post(handle_whatsapp_message))
         .route("/linq", post(handle_linq_webhook))
@@ -974,6 +976,12 @@ pub struct WebhookBody {
     pub message: String,
 }
 
+/// Agent request body
+#[derive(serde::Deserialize)]
+pub struct AgentBody {
+    pub message: String,
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, serde::Deserialize)]
 pub struct NodeControlRequest {
     pub method: String,
@@ -1157,6 +1165,149 @@ async fn handle_node_control(
     }
 }
 
+/// POST /agent — authenticated single-turn agent endpoint with tool execution.
+///
+/// This compatibility route mirrors CLI-style agent behavior for callers that
+/// expect a JSON POST API rather than WebSocket chat.
+async fn handle_agent(
+    State(state): State<AppState>,
+    ConnectInfo(peer_addr): ConnectInfo<SocketAddr>,
+    headers: HeaderMap,
+    body: Result<Json<AgentBody>, axum::extract::rejection::JsonRejection>,
+) -> impl IntoResponse {
+    let rate_key =
+        client_key_from_request(Some(peer_addr), &headers, state.trust_forwarded_headers);
+    if !state.rate_limiter.allow_webhook(&rate_key) {
+        tracing::warn!("/agent rate limit exceeded");
+        let err = serde_json::json!({
+            "error": "Too many agent requests. Please retry later.",
+            "retry_after": RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_SECS,
+        });
+        return (StatusCode::TOO_MANY_REQUESTS, Json(err));
+    }
+
+    if state.pairing.require_pairing() {
+        let auth = headers
+            .get(header::AUTHORIZATION)
+            .and_then(|v| v.to_str().ok())
+            .unwrap_or("");
+        let token = auth.strip_prefix("Bearer ").unwrap_or("");
+        if !state.pairing.is_authenticated(token) {
+            let err = serde_json::json!({
+                "error": "Unauthorized — pair first via POST /pair, then send Authorization: Bearer <token>"
+            });
+            return (StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED, Json(err));
+        }
+    }
+
+    let Json(agent_body) = match body {
+        Ok(b) => b,
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::warn!("/agent JSON parse error: {e}");
+            let err = serde_json::json!({
+                "error": "Invalid JSON body. Expected: {\"message\": \"...\"}"
+            });
+            return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, Json(err));
+        }
+    };
+
+    let message = agent_body.message.trim();
+    if message.is_empty() {
+        let err = serde_json::json!({
+            "error": "message must not be empty"
+        });
+        return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, Json(err));
+    }
+
+    if state.auto_save {
+        let key = webhook_memory_key();
+        let _ = state
+            .mem
+            .store(&key, message, MemoryCategory::Conversation, None)
+            .await;
+    }
+
+    let provider_label = state
+        .config
+        .lock()
+        .default_provider
+        .clone()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| "unknown".to_string());
+    let model_label = state.model.clone();
+    let started_at = Instant::now();
+
+    state
+        .observer
+        .record_event(&crate::observability::ObserverEvent::AgentStart {
+            provider: provider_label.clone(),
+            model: model_label.clone(),
+        });
+    state
+        .observer
+        .record_event(&crate::observability::ObserverEvent::LlmRequest {
+            provider: provider_label.clone(),
+            model: model_label.clone(),
+            messages_count: 1,
+        });
+
+    let response = match run_gateway_chat_with_tools(&state, message).await {
+        Ok(response) => {
+            let safe = sanitize_gateway_response(&response, state.tools_registry_exec.as_ref());
+            state
+                .observer
+                .record_event(&crate::observability::ObserverEvent::LlmResponse {
+                    provider: provider_label.clone(),
+                    model: model_label.clone(),
+                    duration: started_at.elapsed(),
+                    success: true,
+                    error_message: None,
+                    input_tokens: None,
+                    output_tokens: None,
+                });
+            state
+                .observer
+                .record_event(&crate::observability::ObserverEvent::TurnComplete);
+            safe
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            let sanitized = crate::providers::sanitize_api_error(&e.to_string());
+            state
+                .observer
+                .record_event(&crate::observability::ObserverEvent::LlmResponse {
+                    provider: provider_label.clone(),
+                    model: model_label.clone(),
+                    duration: started_at.elapsed(),
+                    success: false,
+                    error_message: Some(sanitized.clone()),
+                    input_tokens: None,
+                    output_tokens: None,
+                });
+
+            let err = serde_json::json!({
+                "error": format!("Provider error: {sanitized}")
+            });
+            return (StatusCode::BAD_GATEWAY, Json(err));
+        }
+    };
+
+    state
+        .observer
+        .record_event(&crate::observability::ObserverEvent::AgentEnd {
+            provider: provider_label,
+            model: model_label,
+            duration: started_at.elapsed(),
+            tokens_used: None,
+            cost_usd: None,
+        });
+
+    (
+        StatusCode::OK,
+        Json(serde_json::json!({
+            "response": response
+        })),
+    )
+}
+
 /// POST /webhook — main webhook endpoint
 async fn handle_webhook(
     State(state): State<AppState>,
@@ -1975,6 +2126,18 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(parsed.is_err());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn agent_body_requires_message_field() {
+        let valid = r#"{"message": "hello"}"#;
+        let parsed: Result<AgentBody, _> = serde_json::from_str(valid);
+        assert!(parsed.is_ok());
+        assert_eq!(parsed.unwrap().message, "hello");
+
+        let missing = r#"{"other": "field"}"#;
+        let parsed: Result<AgentBody, _> = serde_json::from_str(missing);
+        assert!(parsed.is_err());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn whatsapp_query_fields_are_optional() {
         let q = WhatsAppVerifyQuery {
@@ -2676,6 +2839,56 @@ Reminder set successfully."#;
         assert_eq!(provider_impl.calls.load(Ordering::SeqCst), 1);
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn agent_endpoint_requires_bearer_token_when_pairing_enabled() {
+        let provider_impl = Arc::new(MockProvider::default());
+        let provider: Arc<dyn Provider> = provider_impl;
+        let memory: Arc<dyn Memory> = Arc::new(MockMemory);
+        let paired_token = "zc_test_token".to_string();
+
+        let state = AppState {
+            config: Arc::new(Mutex::new(Config::default())),
+            provider,
+            model: "test-model".into(),
+            temperature: 0.0,
+            mem: memory,
+            auto_save: false,
+            webhook_secret_hash: None,
+            pairing: Arc::new(PairingGuard::new(true, std::slice::from_ref(&paired_token))),
+            trust_forwarded_headers: false,
+            rate_limiter: Arc::new(GatewayRateLimiter::new(100, 100, 100)),
+            idempotency_store: Arc::new(IdempotencyStore::new(Duration::from_secs(300), 1000)),
+            whatsapp: None,
+            whatsapp_app_secret: None,
+            linq: None,
+            linq_signing_secret: None,
+            nextcloud_talk: None,
+            nextcloud_talk_webhook_secret: None,
+            wati: None,
+            qq: None,
+            qq_webhook_enabled: false,
+            observer: Arc::new(crate::observability::NoopObserver),
+            tools_registry: Arc::new(Vec::new()),
+            tools_registry_exec: Arc::new(Vec::new()),
+            multimodal: crate::config::MultimodalConfig::default(),
+            max_tool_iterations: 10,
+            cost_tracker: None,
+            event_tx: tokio::sync::broadcast::channel(16).0,
+        };
+
+        let unauthorized = handle_agent(
+            State(state),
+            test_connect_info(),
+            HeaderMap::new(),
+            Ok(Json(AgentBody {
+                message: "hello".into(),
+            })),
+        )
+        .await
+        .into_response();
+        assert_eq!(unauthorized.status(), StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED);
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn webhook_rejects_public_traffic_without_auth_layers() {
         let provider_impl = Arc::new(MockProvider::default());
diff --git a/src/gateway/ws.rs b/src/gateway/ws.rs
index 8f343ab82..5a789fbe7 100644
--- a/src/gateway/ws.rs
+++ b/src/gateway/ws.rs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ use axum::{
 
 const EMPTY_WS_RESPONSE_FALLBACK: &str =
     "Tool execution completed, but the model returned no final text response. Please ask me to summarize the result.";
+const WS_CHAT_SUBPROTOCOL: &str = "zeroclaw.v1";
 
 fn sanitize_ws_response(response: &str, tools: &[Box<dyn crate::tools::Tool>]) -> String {
     let sanitized = crate::channels::sanitize_channel_response(response, tools);
@@ -123,13 +124,14 @@ pub async fn handle_ws_chat(
         if !state.pairing.is_authenticated(&token) {
             return (
                 axum::http::StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED,
-                "Unauthorized — provide Authorization: Bearer <token> or Sec-WebSocket-Protocol: bearer.<token>",
+                "Unauthorized — provide Authorization: Bearer <token> or Sec-WebSocket-Protocol: zeroclaw.v1, bearer.<token>",
             )
                 .into_response();
         }
     }
 
-    ws.on_upgrade(move |socket| handle_socket(socket, state))
+    ws.protocols([WS_CHAT_SUBPROTOCOL])
+        .on_upgrade(move |socket| handle_socket(socket, state))
         .into_response()
 }
 
@@ -331,6 +333,17 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn extract_ws_bearer_token_ignores_protocol_without_bearer_value() {
+        let mut headers = HeaderMap::new();
+        headers.insert(
+            header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL,
+            HeaderValue::from_static("zeroclaw.v1"),
+        );
+
+        assert!(extract_ws_bearer_token(&headers).is_none());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn extract_ws_bearer_token_rejects_empty_tokens() {
         let mut headers = HeaderMap::new();