diff --git a/pkg/service/handlers/server.go b/pkg/service/handlers/server.go
index dfb8058..9010a49 100644
--- a/pkg/service/handlers/server.go
+++ b/pkg/service/handlers/server.go
@@ -222,6 +222,7 @@ func NewServer(ds *datastore.DataStore, sm *setup.Manager, serverURL string, red
 		s.healthRegistry,
 		func() (string, string) { return s.mgmtUsername, s.mgmtPassword },
 	)
+	health.RegisterAdminAreaAuthCheck(s.healthRegistry, s.AdminAreaAuthMode)
 
 	// Health QuickFix executor for the empty-margeAccountUUID
 	// finding from RegisterSpeakerInfoReachable. Lives here (not in
diff --git a/pkg/service/health/checks_admin_area_auth.go b/pkg/service/health/checks_admin_area_auth.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..baeedbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/service/health/checks_admin_area_auth.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package health
+
+// CheckIDAdminAreaAuth is the registry id of the admin-area-gate
+// availability check. It fires when AdminAreaAuth is unset — the tri-state
+// setting that lets an operator opt in now to gating the entire admin area
+// (not just /api/mgmt/*) behind Basic Auth, ahead of a future release
+// flipping the default. See #419 and
+// _/i419/design-admin-area-auth-gate.md.
+//
+// This is a visibility-only nudge, same spirit as
+// CheckIDMgmtDefaultCredentials: it does not gate anything and does not
+// change default behavior. It exists so operators who dismissed the
+// in-app announcement banner (or never saw it, on an older release) can
+// still discover the option via the Health tab.
+const CheckIDAdminAreaAuth = "admin_area_auth_available"
+
+// RegisterAdminAreaAuthCheck registers the check. getAdminAreaAuthMode
+// returns the live AdminAreaAuth mode (typically Server.AdminAreaAuthMode),
+// passed as a callback rather than importing the handlers package directly
+// to avoid a circular import (handlers already imports health).
+func RegisterAdminAreaAuthCheck(r *Registry, getAdminAreaAuthMode func() string) {
+	r.Register(Check{
+		ID:    CheckIDAdminAreaAuth,
+		Title: "Admin area can require login for the entire admin console, not just Spotify/Amazon linking",
+		Run: func() []Finding {
+			return runAdminAreaAuthCheck(getAdminAreaAuthMode)
+		},
+	})
+}
+
+func runAdminAreaAuthCheck(getAdminAreaAuthMode func() string) []Finding {
+	if getAdminAreaAuthMode() != "" {
+		// Already decided (enabled or explicitly disabled) — nothing to nudge.
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	return []Finding{{
+		Severity: SeverityInfo,
+		Message: "Only Spotify/Amazon account linking and the Local Account tab currently require login. " +
+			"The rest of the admin area (Devices, Settings, Migration, Health, Logs, ...) is open to anyone " +
+			"on the network.",
+		Details: "Set admin_area_auth to \"enabled\" in Settings to require the Management API login " +
+			"(same credentials as MGMT_USERNAME/MGMT_PASSWORD) for the entire admin area. A future release " +
+			"is expected to make this the default; you can opt in now, or set it to \"disabled\" to keep " +
+			"today's behavior once that happens. See issue #419.",
+	}}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/service/health/checks_admin_area_auth_test.go b/pkg/service/health/checks_admin_area_auth_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aecce6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/service/health/checks_admin_area_auth_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package health
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestAdminAreaAuthCheck_NoFindingWhenDecided(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, mode := range []string{"enabled", "disabled"} {
+		got := runAdminAreaAuthCheck(func() string { return mode })
+		if len(got) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("mode=%q: expected no findings once decided, got %+v", mode, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAdminAreaAuthCheck_NudgesWhenUnset(t *testing.T) {
+	got := runAdminAreaAuthCheck(func() string { return "" })
+	if len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected one finding for the unset default, got %+v", got)
+	}
+
+	if got[0].Severity != SeverityInfo {
+		t.Errorf("expected SeverityInfo (visibility-only nudge, not a gate), got %v", got[0].Severity)
+	}
+}