diff --git a/src/http/AGENTS.md b/src/http/AGENTS.md
index 643be27f..797a9385 100644
--- a/src/http/AGENTS.md
+++ b/src/http/AGENTS.md
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ Surface: [remote-agents.mdx](../../website/src/content/docs/docs/using-devices/r
    falls back to `index.html`. An unbuilt console answers 404 and logs one warning.
 2. Log middleware — one `request` line per answer (method, path, status, `durationMs`,
    `requesterId`). Not for `/v1/healthz`.
+   Inside it, a JSON `200` to a `GET` gets an `ETag`, and a matching `If-None-Match` turns it
+   into `304` with no body. Streams and mounts are skipped, so their bodies are never read.
 3. `requireAuth` on every route but `GET /v1/healthz`. It asks `src/auth` with the request's
    headers: a bearer token, or the JWT the sign-in proxy adds when `http.proxyAuth` is set.
    Neither valid → 401 `UNAUTHENTICATED`. A `worker` join token → 403 on every route.
diff --git a/src/http/app.test.ts b/src/http/app.test.ts
index 9e63e620..f49ecd0b 100644
--- a/src/http/app.test.ts
+++ b/src/http/app.test.ts
@@ -3229,3 +3229,64 @@ describe("the stream mount's listed route", () => {
     await found.body?.cancel();
   });
 });
+
+describe("ETag on a JSON read under /v1", () => {
+  it("answers an unchanged JSON read with 304 and no body, and anything else with 200", async () => {
+    const tokens: { id: string }[] = [{ id: "tok_1" }];
+    const { app, dispatcher, eventBus } = buildHarness({
+      mounts: [
+        {
+          prefix: "json-mount",
+          handle: () => Response.json({ ok: true }),
+        },
+      ] as never,
+    });
+    dispatcher.handlers["token.list"] = () => ({ tokens: [...tokens] });
+    dispatcher.handlers["events.subscribe"] = (_input, session) => ({
+      subscribed: true,
+      subscriptionId: session.manageEventSubscription(true),
+    });
+    const read = (path: string, headers: Record<string, string> = {}) =>
+      app.request(path, { headers: { ...operatorAuth, ...headers } });
+
+    const first = await read("/v1/tokens");
+    const tag = first.headers.get("etag");
+    expect(first.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(tag).toMatch(/^"[^"]+"$/);
+
+    const unchanged = await read("/v1/tokens", { "If-None-Match": tag ?? "" });
+    expect(unchanged.status).toBe(304);
+    expect(await unchanged.text()).toBe("");
+    expect(unchanged.headers.get("etag")).toBe(tag);
+
+    const stale = await read("/v1/tokens", { "If-None-Match": '"stale"' });
+    expect(stale.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(stale.headers.get("etag")).toBe(tag);
+
+    tokens.push({ id: "tok_2" });
+    const changed = await read("/v1/tokens", { "If-None-Match": tag ?? "" });
+    expect(changed.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(changed.headers.get("etag")).not.toBe(tag);
+
+    const missing = await read("/v1/leases/lse_none");
+    expect(missing.status).toBe(404);
+    expect(missing.headers.get("etag")).toBeNull();
+
+    const mount = await read("/v1/json-mount/x");
+    expect(mount.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(mount.headers.get("content-type")).toContain("application/json");
+    expect(mount.headers.get("etag")).toBeNull();
+
+    const streamOrStall = await Promise.race([
+      read("/v1/events/stream"),
+      new Promise<"stalled">((resolve) => setTimeout(() => resolve("stalled"), 500)),
+    ]);
+    if (streamOrStall === "stalled") expect.fail("the event stream was buffered, not answered");
+    const stream = streamOrStall;
+    expect(stream.headers.get("etag")).toBeNull();
+    const framesPromise = readSseFrames(stream, 1);
+    await Promise.resolve();
+    eventBus.emit("daemon.stopping", { reason: "live" }, "test");
+    expect((await framesPromise)[0]?.event).toBe("daemon.stopping");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/http/app.ts b/src/http/app.ts
index 30159f4c..1e11342e 100644
--- a/src/http/app.ts
+++ b/src/http/app.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { OpenAPIHono } from "@hono/zod-openapi";
 import type { Context } from "hono";
+import { etag } from "hono/etag";
 import { z } from "zod";
 
 import type { EventBus } from "../bus/index.js";
@@ -211,6 +212,20 @@ export function createHttpApp(deps: HttpGatewayDeps): OpenAPIHono<Env> & HttpApp
     });
   });
 
+  // why: Hono's `etag()` buffers the body to hash it, so it runs only under /v1 (a `*` step, so no `/v1/*` route is registered) on a JSON answer to a GET that is not a mount's; a stream or a mount's own body is never read.
+  const mountPrefixes = (deps.mounts ?? []).map((mount) => `/v1/${mount.prefix}`);
+  const etagStep = etag();
+  app.use("*", async (c, next) => {
+    await next();
+    const path = c.req.path;
+    if (!path.startsWith("/v1/")) return;
+    const mounted = mountPrefixes.some(
+      (prefix) => path === prefix || path.startsWith(`${prefix}/`),
+    );
+    if (mounted || !c.res.headers.get("content-type")?.startsWith("application/json")) return;
+    await etagStep(c, () => Promise.resolve());
+  });
+
   app.openapi(healthzRoute, (c) => c.json({ ok: true as const }, 200));
 
   app.openapi({ ...statusRoute, middleware: [agentAuth] }, async (c) =>
diff --git a/website/src/content/docs/docs/using-devices/remote-agents.mdx b/website/src/content/docs/docs/using-devices/remote-agents.mdx
index 994fe2b3..8d352e41 100644
--- a/website/src/content/docs/docs/using-devices/remote-agents.mdx
+++ b/website/src/content/docs/docs/using-devices/remote-agents.mdx
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ export SIMLOCK_TOKEN=slk_d2FybS1wb29sLWFnZW50LXRva2VuLWV4YW1wbGUtMDM
 
 An `Idempotency-Key` header on `POST /v1/lease-requests` (1 to 200 characters) makes the request safe to send again: the same key returns the stored request instead of queueing a second one, for 10 minutes after it finished.
 
+A `GET` under `/v1` that answers `200` with JSON carries an `ETag` header. Send it back as `If-None-Match` on the next read of the same route: while the answer is unchanged, the reply is `304 Not Modified` with no body. Event streams carry no `ETag`.
+
 ## Through a gateway
 
 Send the same calls to the gateway, with a token created on the gateway. The gateway picks a worker for you and forwards renew, release and exec to it.