diff --git a/backend/fluksio/cloud/enroll.py b/backend/fluksio/cloud/enroll.py
index 7a8e385..468d1b3 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/cloud/enroll.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/cloud/enroll.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ before the engine has started, holding nothing but the database.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import ipaddress
 import logging
 import secrets
 from datetime import UTC, datetime
@@ -37,10 +38,19 @@ class EnrollError(Exception):
         self.detail = detail
 
 
-def _is_local(url: str) -> bool:
-    """Whether the address is this machine or a compose-internal service."""
+def _is_loopback(url: str) -> bool:
+    """Whether the address is this machine.
+
+    Not a `*.local` name: mDNS answers it with whoever claims it on the LAN,
+    which would then receive the claim code and the credential in clear.
+    """
     host = urlsplit(url).hostname or ""
-    return host in {"localhost", "127.0.0.1", "::1"} or host.endswith(".local")
+    if host == "localhost":
+        return True
+    try:
+        return ipaddress.ip_address(host).is_loopback
+    except ValueError:
+        return False
 
 
 def redeem_claim(
@@ -52,10 +62,8 @@ def redeem_claim(
     # this address. Over plain http both are readable by anything on the path,
     # so refuse rather than enrol insecurely — bar a loopback portal, which is
     # how the stack is developed against itself.
-    if not base.startswith("https://") and not _is_local(base):
-        raise EnrollError(
-            422, "The portal address must be https:// (or a local address)"
-        )
+    if not base.startswith("https://") and not _is_loopback(base):
+        raise EnrollError(422, "The portal address must be https:// (or this machine)")
     try:
         response = httpx.post(
             f"{base}/api/v1/enroll/",
diff --git a/backend/fluksio/core/config.py b/backend/fluksio/core/config.py
index be60e8c..eac2267 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/core/config.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/core/config.py
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     # opt-in on top of ENVIRONMENT=local, so a deployment that merely kept the
     # default environment never exposes them.
     PRIVATE_API_ENABLED: bool = False
+    # `/docs`, `/redoc` and the OpenAPI document for any caller, rather than
+    # only one on this machine. Never in production.
+    API_DOCS_ENABLED: bool = False
     # Whether anyone who reaches the login page may create an account. Off
     # unless asked for: an account can change what flows do, so who gets one
     # is a superuser's call (Admin → Users).
diff --git a/backend/fluksio/main.py b/backend/fluksio/main.py
index 695d546..88f2641 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/main.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/main.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import asyncio
 import contextlib
 import hashlib
 import inspect
+import ipaddress
 import logging
 import sys
 import tempfile
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
 from fastapi.routing import APIRoute
 from fluksio_worker.worker_main import ARTIFACT_DIR_ENV, ARTIFACT_VOLATILE_DIR_ENV
 from starlette.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
+from starlette.types import ASGIApp, Receive, Scope, Send
 from uvicorn.middleware.proxy_headers import ProxyHeadersMiddleware
 
 from fluksio import __version__
@@ -409,10 +411,43 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI) -> AsyncIterator[None]:
 
 # The schema enumerates every endpoint this instance serves, including the
 # paths trigger nodes mount at runtime. That is exactly what a developer wants
-# and exactly what an internet-facing deployment should not hand out, so it
-# follows the environment — the same rule the portal's backend uses. The
-# generated client is built from a local run, not from the deployed host.
+# and exactly what a reachable engine should not hand out: never in
+# production, and otherwise only to a caller on this machine unless
+# API_DOCS_ENABLED says so (the dev stack does). `fluksio serve --host 0.0.0.0`
+# keeps the default ENVIRONMENT, which is why loopback is the line rather than
+# the environment alone. The generated client is built from `app.openapi()`
+# and needs none of these routes.
 _docs_enabled = settings.ENVIRONMENT != "production"
+_DOCS_PATHS = frozenset(
+    {"/docs", "/docs/oauth2-redirect", "/redoc", f"{settings.API_V1_STR}/openapi.json"}
+)
+
+
+class DocsForThisMachine:
+    """Answer the schema routes with a 404 for a caller off this machine."""
+
+    def __init__(self, app: ASGIApp) -> None:
+        self.app = app
+
+    async def __call__(self, scope: Scope, receive: Receive, send: Send) -> None:
+        if (
+            scope["type"] == "http"
+            and scope["path"] in _DOCS_PATHS
+            and not settings.API_DOCS_ENABLED
+            and not _is_loopback((scope.get("client") or ("",))[0])
+        ):
+            response = JSONResponse({"detail": "Not Found"}, status_code=404)
+            await response(scope, receive, send)
+            return
+        await self.app(scope, receive, send)
+
+
+def _is_loopback(host: str) -> bool:
+    try:
+        return ipaddress.ip_address(host).is_loopback
+    except ValueError:
+        return False
+
 
 app = FastAPI(
     title=settings.PROJECT_NAME,
@@ -434,11 +469,13 @@ if settings.all_cors_origins:
         allow_headers=["*"],
     )
 
-# The caller's address, for every per-address limit: the rightmost
-# X-Forwarded-For hop that is not a trusted proxy. uvicorn does this for what
-# it serves, but a call the portal tunnel replays arrives over an in-process
-# transport as 127.0.0.1 and never passes through it. Doing it again here
-# covers that, with uvicorn's own semantics, and is a no-op on a request
+app.add_middleware(DocsForThisMachine)
+
+# The caller's address, for every per-address limit and the docs check above:
+# the rightmost X-Forwarded-For hop that is not a trusted proxy. uvicorn does
+# this for what it serves, but a call the portal tunnel replays arrives over an
+# in-process transport as 127.0.0.1 and never passes through it. Doing it again
+# here covers that, with uvicorn's own semantics, and is a no-op on a request
 # uvicorn already resolved. Added last, so it is the outermost layer.
 app.add_middleware(ProxyHeadersMiddleware, trusted_hosts=settings.FORWARDED_ALLOW_IPS)
 
diff --git a/backend/tests/api/routes/test_docs.py b/backend/tests/api/routes/test_docs.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9b4d24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/api/routes/test_docs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+"""The interactive schema: for this machine, or whoever API_DOCS_ENABLED names."""
+
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+from fluksio.core.config import settings
+from fluksio.main import app
+
+SCHEMA = f"{settings.API_V1_STR}/openapi.json"
+
+
+def test_the_schema_is_served_only_on_this_machine_by_default(
+    client: TestClient,
+) -> None:
+    """`fluksio serve --host 0.0.0.0` keeps ENVIRONMENT=local, and the network."""
+    for path in (SCHEMA, "/docs", "/redoc"):
+        assert client.get(path).status_code == 404  # "testclient" is not loopback
+
+    here = TestClient(app, client=("127.0.0.1", 50000))
+    assert here.get(SCHEMA).status_code == 200
+    assert here.get("/docs").status_code == 200
+
+    # Through a proxy on this machine, the caller is what counts.
+    forwarded = {"x-forwarded-for": "203.0.113.7"}
+    assert here.get(SCHEMA, headers=forwarded).status_code == 404
+
+    with patch("fluksio.core.config.settings.API_DOCS_ENABLED", True):
+        assert client.get(SCHEMA).status_code == 200
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_cloud.py b/backend/tests/test_cloud.py
index 54f95c1..5712ead 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_cloud.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_cloud.py
@@ -182,6 +182,27 @@ def test_a_claim_the_portal_refuses_keeps_the_connection(
     assert db.get(User, enrolled.id).portal_sub == "portal-user-1"
 
 
+def test_a_cleartext_portal_must_be_this_machine() -> None:
+    """An mDNS name is answered by whoever claims it on the LAN.
+
+    Over http, that is who would receive the claim code and the credential.
+    """
+    from fluksio.cloud import enroll
+
+    with patch("fluksio.cloud.enroll.httpx.post") as post:
+        for portal in ("http://hub.local", "http://192.168.1.20:8000"):
+            with pytest.raises(enroll.EnrollError) as refused:
+                enroll.redeem_claim(portal, "ABCD-EFGH")
+            assert refused.value.status == 422
+        post.assert_not_called()
+
+        post.return_value = Mock(status_code=404)
+        for portal in ("http://localhost:8000", "http://127.0.0.2", "http://[::1]"):
+            with pytest.raises(enroll.EnrollError) as unknown:
+                enroll.redeem_claim(portal, "ABCD-EFGH")
+            assert unknown.value.status == 400  # past the check, at the portal
+
+
 def test_enrolling_needs_a_superuser(
     client: TestClient, normal_user_token_headers: dict[str, str]
 ) -> None:
diff --git a/docker/compose.dev.yml b/docker/compose.dev.yml
index 7ed4204..2618b3e 100644
--- a/docker/compose.dev.yml
+++ b/docker/compose.dev.yml
@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@ services:
       EMAILS_FROM_EMAIL: "info@fluksio.com"
       # Test-only user seeding, needed by the Playwright suite. Dev stack only.
       PRIVATE_API_ENABLED: "true"
+      # /docs and the schema for callers through Traefik, not only loopback.
+      API_DOCS_ENABLED: "true"
 
   mailcatcher:
     image: schickling/mailcatcher
diff --git a/docs/code/api.md b/docs/code/api.md
index ddd913a..8214aaa 100644
--- a/docs/code/api.md
+++ b/docs/code/api.md
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ Agents authenticate differently; see [Agents over MCP](agents.md).
 
     When `ENVIRONMENT` is not `production`, the full OpenAPI schema is at
     `/docs` (Swagger) and `/redoc`, and the raw document at
-    `/api/v1/openapi.json`. That is the authoritative reference; this page is
-    the tour.
+    `/api/v1/openapi.json`, for a browser on the engine's own machine (or any,
+    with `API_DOCS_ENABLED=true`). That is the authoritative reference; this
+    page is the tour.
 
     It is closed in production: the schema enumerates every endpoint the
     instance serves, including paths webhook nodes mounted at runtime.
@@ -260,4 +261,5 @@ stored version moved past the one you were editing. Re-read, merge, save again.
 
 The frontend's TypeScript client is generated from the OpenAPI schema
 (`make generate-client`). Any OpenAPI generator will do the same for your
-language: point it at `/api/v1/openapi.json` on a non-production instance.
+language: point it at `/api/v1/openapi.json` on a non-production instance,
+from the machine it runs on.
diff --git a/docs/reference/configuration.md b/docs/reference/configuration.md
index 8748945..5ac5aa6 100644
--- a/docs/reference/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/reference/configuration.md
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ remember it is fixed at build time: changing it means rebuilding that image.
 |---|---|---|
 | `ENVIRONMENT` | `local` | `local`, `staging` or `production` |
 | `PRIVATE_API_ENABLED` | `false` | unauthenticated test-only endpoints; needs `ENVIRONMENT=local` too |
+| `API_DOCS_ENABLED` | `false` | serves `/docs`, `/redoc` and the OpenAPI document to any caller; otherwise only to one on this machine. Never in `production` |
 | `SIGNUP_ENABLED` | `false` | lets anyone who reaches the login page create an account; otherwise a superuser adds them under **Admin** |
 | `TZ` | `UTC` | the timezone every schedule is written in |
 
@@ -123,7 +124,9 @@ instance is.
 
 `production` closes `/docs`, `/redoc` and the OpenAPI document, because the
 schema enumerates every endpoint the instance serves, including the paths
-webhook nodes mounted at runtime. It also turns a `changethis` secret from a
+webhook nodes mounted at runtime. Elsewhere they answer a caller on the
+engine's own machine, so `fluksio serve --host 0.0.0.0` does not hand them to
+the network; `API_DOCS_ENABLED` opens them to everyone, as the dev stack does. It also turns a `changethis` secret from a
 warning into a refusal to start.
 
 ## The engine