diff --git a/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.stories.tsx b/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.stories.tsx
index 6b0ce287..38d7a245 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.stories.tsx
+++ b/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.stories.tsx
@@ -80,10 +80,10 @@ export const InMemory: Story = {
   play: async ({ canvasElement }) => {
     const canvas = within(canvasElement);
     const band = await canvas.findByTestId("secret-storage-footer");
-    await expect(band).toHaveTextContent("Secrets: Memory (this session only)");
-    await expect(
-      canvas.getByText(/lost when the Inspector exits/),
-    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+    await expect(band).toHaveTextContent(
+      "Secrets: Memory (this session only):",
+    );
+    await expect(canvas.getByText(/lost on exit/)).toBeInTheDocument();
   },
 };
 
diff --git a/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.test.tsx b/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.test.tsx
index 90548f38..a18a7d0b 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.test.tsx
+++ b/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.test.tsx
@@ -62,10 +62,8 @@ describe("SecretStorageFooter", () => {
   it("warns that an in-memory store loses secrets on exit", () => {
     renderWithMantine(<SecretStorageFooter info={memory} />);
     const band = screen.getByTestId("secret-storage-footer");
-    expect(band).toHaveTextContent("Secrets: Memory (this session only)");
-    expect(
-      screen.getByText(/lost when the Inspector exits/),
-    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(band).toHaveTextContent("Secrets: Memory (this session only):");
+    expect(screen.getByText(/lost on exit/)).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(band).toHaveAttribute("data-tone", "warn");
   });
 
diff --git a/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.tsx b/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.tsx
index 802e530a..74e81039 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.tsx
+++ b/clients/web/src/components/elements/SecretStorageFooter/SecretStorageFooter.tsx
@@ -144,9 +144,14 @@ export function SecretStorageFooter({ info }: SecretStorageFooterProps) {
           `.withProps()` rule, and it takes `color` as a prop rather than a
           style. */}
       <Icon size={ICON_SIZE} color={color} aria-hidden />
+      {/* The colon lives here rather than in `secretStorageLabel`, because the
+          label is also used on its own — by `secretStorageSummary` for the
+          startup banner, where a trailing colon before " at <path>" would be
+          wrong. It appears only when something follows it. */}
       <FooterLabel c={color}>
         <FooterLabelPrefix>Secrets:</FooterLabelPrefix>{" "}
         {secretStorageLabel(info)}
+        {detail ? ":" : ""}
       </FooterLabel>
       {detail && <FooterDetail c={color}>{detail}</FooterDetail>}
     </FooterBand>
diff --git a/clients/web/src/test/core/auth/secret-storage-info.test.ts b/clients/web/src/test/core/auth/secret-storage-info.test.ts
index c21afe43..5bfcd48b 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/test/core/auth/secret-storage-info.test.ts
+++ b/clients/web/src/test/core/auth/secret-storage-info.test.ts
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ describe("secretStorageCaveat", () => {
 
   it("names the loss for memory", () => {
     expect(secretStorageCaveat(memory)).toContain(
-      "lost when the Inspector exits",
+      "lost on exit",
     );
   });
 
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ describe("secretStorageCaveat", () => {
     // Defensive ordering: `plaintext` is meaningless for memory, and the
     // durability loss is the more consequential of the two statements.
     expect(secretStorageCaveat({ ...memory, plaintext: true })).toContain(
-      "lost when the Inspector exits",
+      "lost on exit",
     );
   });
 });
diff --git a/clients/web/src/test/integration/auth/node/secret-store-selection.test.ts b/clients/web/src/test/integration/auth/node/secret-store-selection.test.ts
index d9d9616e..9670ac44 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/test/integration/auth/node/secret-store-selection.test.ts
+++ b/clients/web/src/test/integration/auth/node/secret-store-selection.test.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  * which is what makes them worth exporting.
  */
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from "vitest";
+import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
 import * as fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import * as os from "node:os";
 import * as path from "node:path";
@@ -27,6 +28,10 @@ import {
   parseSecretStoreEnv,
   warnAboutSecretStorage,
 } from "@inspector/core/auth/node/secret-store-selection.js";
+import {
+  InMemorySecretStore,
+  type SecretStore,
+} from "@inspector/core/auth/node/secret-store.js";
 import type { SecretStorageInfo } from "@inspector/core/auth/secret-storage-info.js";
 
 const ENV_KEYS = [
@@ -384,7 +389,7 @@ describe("warnAboutSecretStorage", () => {
     expect(output).toContain("MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_STORE");
     // The lossy-store caveat rides along — this is the "loud" half of
     // "automatic fallback with a loud banner".
-    expect(output).toContain("lost when the Inspector exits");
+    expect(output).toContain("lost on exit");
   });
 
   it("warns about an unencrypted file even when it was explicitly chosen", () => {
@@ -540,6 +545,107 @@ describe("defaultSecretFilePath", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("absorbFileSecretsIntoKeyring", () => {
+  // The transition: a box without libsecret falls back to a file, the user
+  // saves secrets there, then installs libsecret. Without a hand-off the next
+  // run selects the keychain and every saved value silently disappears —
+  // still on disk, but read by nothing.
+  async function seedFile(secrets: Record<string, string>): Promise<string> {
+    const filePath = path.join(tmpDir, "secrets.json");
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      filePath,
+      JSON.stringify({ version: 1, encryption: "none", secrets }),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+    return filePath;
+  }
+
+  it("moves the file's secrets into the keychain and removes the file", async () => {
+    const filePath = await seedFile({ "srv:oauthClientSecret": "from-file" });
+    process.env.MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_FILE = filePath;
+    vi.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {});
+    const mod = await loadWithProbe(true);
+    const keyring = new InMemorySecretStore();
+
+    await mod.absorbFileSecretsIntoKeyring(keyring);
+
+    expect(await keyring.get("srv", "oauthClientSecret")).toBe("from-file");
+    expect(existsSync(filePath)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("lets the keychain win on conflict", async () => {
+    // The file's copy is the older one by construction — it was written while
+    // the keychain was unreachable.
+    const filePath = await seedFile({ "srv:oauthClientSecret": "from-file" });
+    process.env.MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_FILE = filePath;
+    vi.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {});
+    const mod = await loadWithProbe(true);
+    const keyring = new InMemorySecretStore();
+    await keyring.set("srv", "oauthClientSecret", "already-here");
+
+    await mod.absorbFileSecretsIntoKeyring(keyring);
+
+    expect(await keyring.get("srv", "oauthClientSecret")).toBe("already-here");
+  });
+
+  it("leaves the file alone when the keychain write fails", async () => {
+    // A partial hand-off must not delete the source: the next run retries and
+    // the keychain-wins rule absorbs whatever already made it across.
+    const filePath = await seedFile({ "srv:oauthClientSecret": "from-file" });
+    process.env.MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_FILE = filePath;
+    const warn = vi.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {});
+    const mod = await loadWithProbe(true);
+    const failing: SecretStore = {
+      get: async () => null,
+      set: async () => {
+        throw new Error("keychain exploded");
+      },
+      delete: async () => {},
+      deleteAllForServer: async () => {},
+    };
+
+    await mod.absorbFileSecretsIntoKeyring(failing);
+
+    expect(existsSync(filePath)).toBe(true);
+    expect(warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("left in place"));
+  });
+
+  it("does not delete a file it cannot read", async () => {
+    // An undecryptable file is not an empty one. Deleting it here would lose
+    // exactly the values this whole hand-off exists to preserve.
+    const filePath = path.join(tmpDir, "secrets.json");
+    process.env.MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_FILE = filePath;
+    process.env.MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_KEY = "right-key";
+    const seeded = await loadWithProbe(false);
+    vi.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {});
+    await new (
+      await import("@inspector/core/auth/node/file-secret-store.js")
+    ).FileSecretStore({ filePath, passphrase: "right-key" }).set(
+      "srv",
+      "oauthClientSecret",
+      "encrypted",
+    );
+    void seeded;
+
+    delete process.env.MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_KEY;
+    const mod = await loadWithProbe(true);
+    const keyring = new InMemorySecretStore();
+
+    await mod.absorbFileSecretsIntoKeyring(keyring);
+
+    expect(existsSync(filePath)).toBe(true);
+    expect(await keyring.get("srv", "oauthClientSecret")).toBe(null);
+  });
+
+  it("is a no-op when there is no file", async () => {
+    process.env.MCP_INSPECTOR_SECRET_FILE = path.join(tmpDir, "absent.json");
+    const mod = await loadWithProbe(true);
+    const keyring = new InMemorySecretStore();
+    await mod.absorbFileSecretsIntoKeyring(keyring);
+    expect(existsSync(path.join(tmpDir, "absent.json"))).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("the descriptor reports a mode it could not tighten", () => {
   it("carries looseMode into the descriptor and warns once at selection", async () => {
     // The warning alone was not enough: the caveat under the secret field
diff --git a/core/auth/secret-storage-info.ts b/core/auth/secret-storage-info.ts
index d1b42ab6..5435222c 100644
--- a/core/auth/secret-storage-info.ts
+++ b/core/auth/secret-storage-info.ts
@@ -121,14 +121,14 @@ export function secretStorageTone(info: SecretStorageInfo): SecretStorageTone {
 
 /**
  * One sentence of consequence, or undefined when there is none worth
- * saying. Consequence, not mechanism: "will be lost when the Inspector
- * exits" is what a user can act on; "uses an in-memory Map" is not.
+ * saying. Consequence, not mechanism: "lost on exit" is what a user can
+ * act on; "uses an in-memory Map" is not.
  */
 export function secretStorageCaveat(
   info: SecretStorageInfo,
 ): string | undefined {
   if (info.kind === "memory") {
-    return "Secrets are not written anywhere and are lost when the Inspector exits.";
+    return "Secrets are not written anywhere and are lost on exit.";
   }
   // The permission problem outranks the encryption one when both hold: a
   // file other users can read is a live exposure, while "unencrypted" is a