diff --git a/backend-nest/src/app.module.ts b/backend-nest/src/app.module.ts
index 8b1df41..cc154cf 100644
--- a/backend-nest/src/app.module.ts
+++ b/backend-nest/src/app.module.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import { TimedExecuteModule } from './modules/timedexecute/timedexecute.module';
 import { RaidableBasesModule } from './modules/raidablebases/raidablebases.module';
 import { EarlyAccessModule } from './modules/early-access/early-access.module';
 import { FleetModule } from './modules/fleet/fleet.module';
+import { InstancesModule } from './modules/instances/instances.module';
 
 // Shared Services
 import { NatsService } from './services/nats.service';
@@ -135,6 +136,7 @@ import { NatsBridgeGateway } from './gateways/nats-bridge.gateway';
     RaidableBasesModule,
     EarlyAccessModule,
     FleetModule,
+    InstancesModule,
   ],
   providers: [
     // Global guards (order matters: auth first, then license, then permissions)
diff --git a/backend-nest/src/config/configuration.ts b/backend-nest/src/config/configuration.ts
index a642d63..89eb5e4 100644
--- a/backend-nest/src/config/configuration.ts
+++ b/backend-nest/src/config/configuration.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ export default () => ({
   },
   nats: {
     url: process.env.NATS_URL || 'nats://localhost:4222',
+    // Public broker address shown to agents in setup instructions.
+    publicUrl: process.env.NATS_PUBLIC_URL || 'nats://nats.corrosionmgmt.com:4222',
     // Privileged internal credentials for the backend's own NATS connection
     // (full corrosion.> access). Empty = anonymous (transition period).
     internalUser: process.env.NATS_INTERNAL_USER || '',
diff --git a/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.controller.ts b/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.controller.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb63b6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.controller.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { Controller, Post, Body, Param } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { ApiTags, ApiBearerAuth, ApiOperation } from '@nestjs/swagger';
+import { CurrentTenant } from '../../common/decorators/current-tenant.decorator';
+import { RequirePermission } from '../../common/decorators/require-permission.decorator';
+import { InstancesService, LifecycleFunc } from './instances.service';
+
+@ApiTags('instances')
+@ApiBearerAuth()
+@Controller('instances')
+export class InstancesController {
+  constructor(private readonly instances: InstancesService) {}
+
+  @Post(':id/lifecycle')
+  @RequirePermission('server.manage')
+  @ApiOperation({ summary: 'Send a lifecycle command to a game instance (start/stop/restart/status/steam_update)' })
+  async lifecycle(
+    @CurrentTenant() licenseId: string,
+    @Param('id') id: string,
+    @Body() body: { action: LifecycleFunc },
+  ) {
+    return this.instances.lifecycle(licenseId, id, body.action);
+  }
+
+  @Post(':id/rcon')
+  @RequirePermission('server.console')
+  @ApiOperation({ summary: 'Send an RCON/console command to a game instance' })
+  async rcon(
+    @CurrentTenant() licenseId: string,
+    @Param('id') id: string,
+    @Body() body: { command: string },
+  ) {
+    return this.instances.rcon(licenseId, id, body.command);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.module.ts b/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.module.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4107976
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.module.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { TypeOrmModule } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
+import { InstancesController } from './instances.controller';
+import { InstancesService } from './instances.service';
+import { GameInstance } from '../../entities/game-instance.entity';
+import { NatsService } from '../../services/nats.service';
+
+@Module({
+  imports: [TypeOrmModule.forFeature([GameInstance])],
+  controllers: [InstancesController],
+  providers: [InstancesService, NatsService],
+})
+export class InstancesModule {}
diff --git a/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.service.ts b/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ffb77b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend-nest/src/modules/instances/instances.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import { Injectable, NotFoundException, BadRequestException, Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
+import { Repository } from 'typeorm';
+import { NatsService } from '../../services/nats.service';
+import { GameInstance } from '../../entities/game-instance.entity';
+
+/** Lifecycle funcs the agent's {instance}.cmd handler accepts. */
+const LIFECYCLE_FUNCS = ['start', 'stop', 'restart', 'status', 'steam_update'] as const;
+export type LifecycleFunc = (typeof LIFECYCLE_FUNCS)[number];
+
+@Injectable()
+export class InstancesService {
+  private readonly logger = new Logger(InstancesService.name);
+
+  constructor(
+    private readonly nats: NatsService,
+    @InjectRepository(GameInstance)
+    private readonly instanceRepo: Repository<GameInstance>,
+  ) {}
+
+  /** Resolve an instance the caller's license actually owns (tenant guard). */
+  private async resolveInstance(licenseId: string, instanceId: string): Promise<GameInstance> {
+    const inst = await this.instanceRepo.findOne({
+      where: { id: instanceId, license_id: licenseId },
+    });
+    if (!inst) throw new NotFoundException('Instance not found');
+    return inst;
+  }
+
+  async lifecycle(licenseId: string, instanceId: string, func: LifecycleFunc): Promise<unknown> {
+    if (!LIFECYCLE_FUNCS.includes(func)) {
+      throw new BadRequestException(`Unsupported action '${func}'`);
+    }
+    const inst = await this.resolveInstance(licenseId, instanceId);
+    const subject = `corrosion.${licenseId}.${inst.agent_instance_id}.cmd`;
+    this.logger.log(`instance ${inst.agent_instance_id}: ${func}`);
+    return this.nats.requestScoped(licenseId, subject, { func });
+  }
+
+  async rcon(licenseId: string, instanceId: string, command: string): Promise<unknown> {
+    if (!command || !command.trim()) {
+      throw new BadRequestException('command is required');
+    }
+    const inst = await this.resolveInstance(licenseId, instanceId);
+    const subject = `corrosion.${licenseId}.${inst.agent_instance_id}.cmd`;
+    // RCON can take longer than a lifecycle ack — give it more headroom.
+    return this.nats.requestScoped(licenseId, subject, { func: 'rcon', command }, 12_000);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.controller.ts b/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.controller.ts
index 457aedd..58aaeef 100644
--- a/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.controller.ts
+++ b/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.controller.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@ export class ServersController {
     return await this.serversService.getServer(licenseId);
   }
 
+  @Get('agent-credentials')
+  @RequirePermission('server.manage')
+  @ApiOperation({ summary: 'NATS credentials for this license\'s host agent' })
+  async getAgentCredentials(@CurrentTenant() licenseId: string) {
+    return await this.serversService.getAgentCredentials(licenseId);
+  }
+
   @Put('config')
   @RequirePermission('server.manage')
   @ApiOperation({ summary: 'Update server configuration' })
diff --git a/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.service.ts b/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.service.ts
index da20754..0715148 100644
--- a/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.service.ts
+++ b/backend-nest/src/modules/servers/servers.service.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,15 @@ export class ServersService {
     private readonly natsService: NatsService,
   ) {}
 
+  /**
+   * NATS credentials the customer puts in their host agent's config so it can
+   * authenticate to the per-license-scoped broker. Returns null if the broker
+   * isn't enforcing auth yet (NATS_TOKEN_SECRET unset).
+   */
+  async getAgentCredentials(licenseId: string) {
+    return this.natsService.getAgentCredentials(licenseId);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get server connection and config for a license.
    * Returns null fields if no server has been set up yet.
diff --git a/backend-nest/src/services/nats.service.ts b/backend-nest/src/services/nats.service.ts
index 0fa1e70..f736c45 100644
--- a/backend-nest/src/services/nats.service.ts
+++ b/backend-nest/src/services/nats.service.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 import { Injectable, OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy, Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { ConfigService } from '@nestjs/config';
 import { connect, NatsConnection, StringCodec, Subscription } from 'nats';
+import { createHmac, randomUUID } from 'crypto';
+
+export interface AgentCredentials {
+  license_id: string;
+  nats_user: string;
+  nats_password: string;
+  nats_url: string;
+}
 
 @Injectable()
 export class NatsService implements OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy {
@@ -67,6 +75,64 @@ export class NatsService implements OnModuleInit, OnModuleDestroy {
     return sub;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Request-reply to a host-agent subject with a LICENSE-SCOPED reply subject.
+   *
+   * Per-license agent users are confined to corrosion.{license}.> and have no
+   * _INBOX permission, so the agent cannot publish a reply to the default
+   * global inbox. The reply must live inside the license namespace
+   * (corrosion.{license}.reply.<id>); the privileged backend subscribes there.
+   * See corrosion-host-agent/PROTOCOL.md ("Reply-subject rule").
+   */
+  async requestScoped<T = unknown>(
+    licenseId: string,
+    subject: string,
+    payload: Record<string, unknown>,
+    timeoutMs = 8000,
+  ): Promise<T> {
+    if (!this.nc) {
+      throw new Error('NATS unavailable — agent is not reachable');
+    }
+    const replySubject = `corrosion.${licenseId}.reply.${randomUUID()}`;
+    const nc = this.nc;
+    return new Promise<T>((resolve, reject) => {
+      nc.subscribe(replySubject, {
+        max: 1,
+        timeout: timeoutMs,
+        callback: (err, msg) => {
+          if (err) {
+            reject(new Error(`agent did not respond within ${timeoutMs}ms`));
+            return;
+          }
+          try {
+            resolve(JSON.parse(this.sc.decode(msg.data)) as T);
+          } catch {
+            resolve(this.sc.decode(msg.data) as unknown as T);
+          }
+        },
+      });
+      nc.publish(subject, this.sc.encode(JSON.stringify(payload)), { reply: replySubject });
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Derive a license's agent NATS credentials. Password is
+   * HMAC-SHA256(license_id, NATS_TOKEN_SECRET) — must match the broker config
+   * generated by scripts/generate-nats-auth.mjs. Returns null if the secret
+   * isn't configured (broker not yet enforcing auth).
+   */
+  getAgentCredentials(licenseId: string): AgentCredentials | null {
+    const secret = this.config.get<string>('nats.tokenSecret');
+    if (!secret) return null;
+    const password = createHmac('sha256', secret).update(licenseId).digest('hex');
+    return {
+      license_id: licenseId,
+      nats_user: licenseId,
+      nats_password: password,
+      nats_url: this.config.get<string>('nats.publicUrl') || 'nats://nats.corrosionmgmt.com:4222',
+    };
+  }
+
   /** Publish a command to a specific license's server */
   async sendServerCommand(licenseId: string, action: string, payload: Record<string, unknown> = {}): Promise<void> {
     await this.publish(`corrosion.${licenseId}.cmd.server`, {