diff --git a/src/server/accountStore.ts b/src/server/accountStore.ts
index c1b8978..84bdfa1 100644
--- a/src/server/accountStore.ts
+++ b/src/server/accountStore.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 import { access, mkdir, readFile, rename, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { loadExternalAccountDraft } from "./authProvider";
 import { DATA_DIR, LEGACY_DATA_DIR } from "./config";
 import type { Account, AccountStoreData, ProviderConfig } from "./providers/types";
 
+// Stable id for the ephemeral account synthesised from an external credential
+// (env token / gh CLI) in non-device auth modes.
+const EXTERNAL_ACCOUNT_ID = "external";
+
 const ACCOUNTS_PATH = resolve(DATA_DIR, "accounts.json");
 const ACCOUNTS_TMP_PATH = resolve(DATA_DIR, "accounts.json.tmp");
 const LEGACY_TOKEN_PATH = resolve(DATA_DIR, "auth.json");
@@ -180,8 +185,40 @@ async function ensureState(): Promise<InternalState> {
   return state;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Seed (or refresh) the ephemeral external account from the current auth mode.
+ *
+ * In `token` / `gh-cli` modes the credential never reaches the on-disk store,
+ * so without this the store stays empty and every data endpoint returns 401
+ * even though `/api/auth/status` reports the token as authenticated. In
+ * `device` mode (or when the external token is gone) this is a no-op that also
+ * drops any previously-seeded external account.
+ */
+async function ensureExternalAccount(s: InternalState): Promise<void> {
+  const draft = await loadExternalAccountDraft();
+  if (!draft) {
+    s.ephemeral = s.ephemeral.filter((account) => account.id !== EXTERNAL_ACCOUNT_ID);
+    return;
+  }
+  const existing = s.ephemeral.find((account) => account.id === EXTERNAL_ACCOUNT_ID);
+  const account: Account = {
+    id: EXTERNAL_ACCOUNT_ID,
+    providerKind: "github",
+    providerConfigId: "github.com",
+    label: draft.login ? `${draft.login} (${draft.source})` : `GitHub (${draft.source})`,
+    login: draft.login,
+    accessToken: draft.token,
+    scope: draft.scope ?? "",
+    obtainedAt: existing?.obtainedAt ?? new Date().toISOString(),
+    source: draft.source,
+    ephemeral: true,
+  };
+  s.ephemeral = [...s.ephemeral.filter((entry) => entry.id !== EXTERNAL_ACCOUNT_ID), account];
+}
+
 export async function list(): Promise<Account[]> {
   const s = await ensureState();
+  await ensureExternalAccount(s);
   return [...s.persisted.accounts, ...s.ephemeral];
 }
 
@@ -192,6 +229,7 @@ export async function get(id: string): Promise<Account | null> {
 
 export async function getActive(): Promise<Account | null> {
   const s = await ensureState();
+  await ensureExternalAccount(s);
   const activeId = s.persisted.activeId;
   if (activeId) {
     const persisted = s.persisted.accounts.find((account) => account.id === activeId);
diff --git a/src/server/authProvider.ts b/src/server/authProvider.ts
index aff69d1..ef0949b 100644
--- a/src/server/authProvider.ts
+++ b/src/server/authProvider.ts
@@ -94,6 +94,41 @@ async function loadEnvToken(): Promise<CachedToken> {
   return envCache;
 }
 
+export interface ExternalAccountDraft {
+  token: string;
+  login: string | null;
+  scope: string | null;
+  source: "env" | "gh-cli";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve an external account draft for the current auth mode.
+ *
+ * In `token` and `gh-cli` modes the credential lives outside the on-disk
+ * account store (env var / gh CLI), so the store is never populated and the
+ * data layer has no active account to resolve. This exposes the external
+ * credential as a draft the account store can seed as an ephemeral account.
+ *
+ * Returns `null` in `device` mode, or when no external token is available
+ * (the status endpoint surfaces the underlying error separately).
+ */
+export async function loadExternalAccountDraft(): Promise<ExternalAccountDraft | null> {
+  const mode = getAuthMode();
+  try {
+    if (mode === "token") {
+      const cached = await loadEnvToken();
+      return { token: cached.token, login: cached.login, scope: cached.scope, source: "env" };
+    }
+    if (mode === "gh-cli") {
+      const cached = await loadGhCliToken();
+      return { token: cached.token, login: cached.login, scope: cached.scope, source: "gh-cli" };
+    }
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 export async function getActiveAccount(): Promise<Account | null> {
   await initAccountStore();
   return getActiveAccountFromStore();
diff --git a/tests/server/accountStore.test.ts b/tests/server/accountStore.test.ts
index 335e5f9..f78989b 100644
--- a/tests/server/accountStore.test.ts
+++ b/tests/server/accountStore.test.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,13 @@ vi.mock("../../src/server/config", () => ({
   LEGACY_DATA_DIR: LEGACY_TMP_DIR,
 }));
 
+vi.mock("../../src/server/authProvider", () => ({
+  loadExternalAccountDraft: vi.fn(async () => null),
+}));
+
 const store = await import("../../src/server/accountStore");
+const { loadExternalAccountDraft } = await import("../../src/server/authProvider");
+const mockedDraft = loadExternalAccountDraft as unknown as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
 
 const ACCOUNTS_PATH = resolve(TMP_DIR, "accounts.json");
 const LEGACY_TOKEN_PATH = resolve(TMP_DIR, "auth.json");
@@ -50,6 +56,9 @@ describe("accountStore", () => {
   beforeEach(async () => {
     store.resetForTesting();
     await rm(TMP_DIR, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    // Default to device mode (no external credential) for existing cases.
+    mockedDraft.mockReset();
+    mockedDraft.mockResolvedValue(null);
   });
 
   it("bootstraps empty when no legacy file exists", async () => {
@@ -135,6 +144,45 @@ describe("accountStore", () => {
     expect(active?.id).toBe(a.id);
   });
 
+  it("seeds an ephemeral external account in token/gh-cli mode", async () => {
+    // Regression: in token/gh-cli mode the store is never populated from disk,
+    // so getActive() returned null and every data endpoint 401'd even though
+    // /api/auth/status reported the token as authenticated.
+    mockedDraft.mockResolvedValue({
+      token: "ghp_regression",
+      login: "octocat",
+      scope: "repo, read:org",
+      source: "env",
+    });
+    await store.init();
+
+    const active = await store.getActive();
+    expect(active).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(active?.id).toBe("external");
+    expect(active?.accessToken).toBe("ghp_regression");
+    expect(active?.login).toBe("octocat");
+    expect(active?.scope).toBe("repo, read:org");
+    expect(active?.source).toBe("env");
+    expect(active?.ephemeral).toBe(true);
+    expect(active?.providerConfigId).toBe("github.com");
+
+    const all = await store.list();
+    expect(all).toHaveLength(1);
+    // The external account is ephemeral — never written to disk.
+    expect(await fileExists(ACCOUNTS_PATH)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("drops the ephemeral external account when the credential disappears", async () => {
+    mockedDraft.mockResolvedValue({ token: "t", login: "x", scope: "", source: "gh-cli" });
+    await store.init();
+    expect((await store.getActive())?.id).toBe("external");
+
+    // Token unset / gh logout at runtime -> no draft.
+    mockedDraft.mockResolvedValue(null);
+    expect(await store.getActive()).toBeNull();
+    expect(await store.list()).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("does not persist ephemeral accounts", async () => {
     await store.init();
     await store.add({