diff --git a/.changeset/server-components-external.md b/.changeset/server-components-external.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..488c9ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/server-components-external.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@solidjs/vite-plugin': patch
+---
+
+`serverFunctions.components` now also accepts `'external'`: identical to `true`, but declares that a composing host (e.g. the Astro adapter or TanStack Start's Solid integration) owns the document wiring — render plugin + client-side `installServerComponents()` call — itself, so the without-SSR-start-mode warning is skipped instead of printing on every host build. The remaining warning text is also updated: it listed "the bootstrap script" as a required app-side piece, but head bootstrap injection was removed (serialized references self-bootstrap the registry), and it now points hosts at `components: 'external'`.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9fb660f..7f02fdd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -683,9 +683,18 @@ handle that automatically. Combined with SSR start mode
 document wiring is emitted too: server components render inline in the
 SSR'd document and are adopted
 at boot with zero endpoint requests. With authored entries, the app-side
-pieces (the render plugin, the bootstrap script, and the client's
-`installServerComponents()` call, all from `@solidjs/web/frames`) live in
-your entry files instead. See `examples/start-ssr` for a complete page.
+pieces (the render plugin and the client's `installServerComponents()`
+call, both from `@solidjs/web/frames`) live in your entry files instead.
+See `examples/start-ssr` for a complete page.
+
+Composing hosts (e.g. the Astro adapter or TanStack Start's Solid
+integration) that emit that document wiring themselves — the render plugin
+around their renders plus a client-side `installServerComponents()` call —
+should set `components: 'external'` instead of `true`. It behaves
+identically (all the same transforms and codegen), and declares the host
+owns the wiring, so the plugin skips the warning it otherwise prints when
+the option is enabled without SSR start mode. It reuses the plugin's
+`external` vocabulary (cf. `start.external` — a host owns the server).
 
 #### options.compiler
 
diff --git a/examples/start-ssr/package.json b/examples/start-ssr/package.json
index 7cb86b4..34f4a12 100644
--- a/examples/start-ssr/package.json
+++ b/examples/start-ssr/package.json
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     "dev": "vite",
     "build": "vite build",
     "serve": "NODE_ENV=production node server.js",
-    "test": "node test/run.mjs && node test/http-bridge.mjs"
+    "test": "node test/run.mjs && node test/http-bridge.mjs && node test/components-warning.mjs"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "jsdom": "^26.1.0",
diff --git a/examples/start-ssr/test/components-warning.mjs b/examples/start-ssr/test/components-warning.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd9029e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/start-ssr/test/components-warning.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+// Config-level test for `serverFunctions.components: 'external'` (the host
+// acknowledgement value) and the without-SSR-start-mode warning:
+//   - `components: true` without SSR start mode warns, and the text names
+//     the current app-side pieces (render plugin + installServerComponents())
+//     and points hosts at `components: 'external'` — it must NOT mention the
+//     bootstrap script (head bootstrap injection was removed; serialized
+//     references self-bootstrap the registry),
+//   - `components: 'external'` in the same config is silent — that's the
+//     whole point of the value: composing hosts (Astro adapter, TanStack
+//     Start Solid) own the document wiring and shouldn't ship a scary log,
+//   - `'external'` still behaves as enabled: the serve-time optimizeDeps
+//     pre-bundle of the server-components client runtime (gated on the
+//     derived serverComponents flag) matches `true` exactly, and stays off
+//     when the option is off,
+//   - under full SSR start mode `'external'` is redundant but harmless:
+//     silent, exactly like `true`.
+//
+// Pure resolveConfig — no dev server, no browser. Requires the plugin built
+// (pnpm build at the repo root). Usage: node test/components-warning.mjs
+
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { resolveConfig, createLogger } from 'vite';
+import solidPlugin from '@solidjs/vite-plugin';
+
+const exampleDir = path.dirname(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)));
+
+const results = [];
+function record(name, ok, detail = '') {
+  results.push({ name, ok, detail });
+  console.log(`  ${ok ? 'PASS' : 'FAIL'} ${name}${detail && !ok ? ` — ${detail}` : ''}`);
+}
+
+async function resolveWith(solidOptions) {
+  const warnings = [];
+  const logger = createLogger('info', { allowClearScreen: false });
+  const originalWarn = logger.warn;
+  logger.warn = (msg, opts) => {
+    warnings.push(String(msg));
+    originalWarn(msg, opts);
+  };
+  const config = await resolveConfig(
+    {
+      root: exampleDir,
+      configFile: false,
+      customLogger: logger,
+      plugins: [solidPlugin(solidOptions)],
+    },
+    'serve',
+  );
+  const componentsWarnings = warnings.filter((w) =>
+    w.includes('serverFunctions.components is set without SSR start mode'),
+  );
+  return { config, componentsWarnings };
+}
+
+// ---- `true` without SSR start mode: warns, with the updated text ---------
+{
+  const { config, componentsWarnings } = await resolveWith({
+    ssr: true,
+    serverFunctions: { components: true },
+  });
+  record('components: true without start mode warns', componentsWarnings.length === 1);
+  const text = componentsWarnings[0] ?? '';
+  record(
+    'warning names the render plugin and installServerComponents()',
+    text.includes('render plugin') && text.includes('installServerComponents()'),
+  );
+  record(
+    'warning no longer mentions the bootstrap script',
+    !text.toLowerCase().includes('bootstrap'),
+    text,
+  );
+  record(
+    "warning points hosts at components: 'external'",
+    text.includes("components: 'external'"),
+    text,
+  );
+  record(
+    'enabled: server-components client runtime pre-bundled (true)',
+    config.optimizeDeps.include.includes('@solidjs/web/frames') &&
+      config.optimizeDeps.include.includes('@solidjs/web/server-functions'),
+  );
+}
+
+// ---- `'external'` in the identical config: silent, still enabled ---------
+{
+  const { config, componentsWarnings } = await resolveWith({
+    ssr: true,
+    serverFunctions: { components: 'external' },
+  });
+  record(
+    "components: 'external' without start mode does not warn",
+    componentsWarnings.length === 0,
+    componentsWarnings[0],
+  );
+  record(
+    "enabled: server-components client runtime pre-bundled ('external' = true)",
+    config.optimizeDeps.include.includes('@solidjs/web/frames') &&
+      config.optimizeDeps.include.includes('@solidjs/web/server-functions'),
+  );
+}
+
+// ---- option off: the pre-bundle stays off (probe is meaningful) ----------
+{
+  const { config, componentsWarnings } = await resolveWith({
+    ssr: true,
+    serverFunctions: true,
+  });
+  record(
+    'off: no warning and no server-components pre-bundle',
+    componentsWarnings.length === 0 &&
+      !config.optimizeDeps.include.includes('@solidjs/web/frames'),
+  );
+}
+
+// ---- full SSR start mode: `'external'` is redundant but harmless ---------
+{
+  const { componentsWarnings } = await resolveWith({
+    ssr: true,
+    start: { app: 'src/frames/FramesApp.tsx' },
+    serverFunctions: { components: 'external' },
+  });
+  record(
+    "components: 'external' under SSR start mode is silent (like true)",
+    componentsWarnings.length === 0,
+    componentsWarnings[0],
+  );
+}
+
+const failed = results.filter((r) => !r.ok);
+console.log(`\n${results.length - failed.length}/${results.length} assertions passed`);
+if (failed.length) {
+  console.log('\nFailures:');
+  for (const f of failed) console.log(`  ${f.name} — ${f.detail}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 0dbce2d..49dac99 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -573,8 +573,9 @@ export default function solidPlugin(options: Partial<Options> = {}): Plugin[] {
   // resolve against the Vite root, not process.cwd() — running `vite` from
   // outside the project would otherwise change what the filter matches.
   let filter = createFilter(options.include, options.exclude);
-  const serverComponents =
-    typeof options.serverFunctions === 'object' && !!options.serverFunctions.components;
+  const serverComponentsOption =
+    typeof options.serverFunctions === 'object' ? options.serverFunctions.components : undefined;
+  const serverComponents = !!serverComponentsOption;
   // `start: true` is sugar for the empty options bag — one start mode,
   // two spellings — so normalize here and let everything downstream see a
   // single shape (`false` behaves exactly like omission).
@@ -906,14 +907,25 @@ export default function solidPlugin(options: Partial<Options> = {}): Plugin[] {
       projectRoot = config.root;
       filter = createFilter(options.include, options.exclude, { resolve: projectRoot });
       styleFilter = createStyleFilter(projectRoot);
-      if (serverComponents && !(options.start && options.ssr)) {
+      // `components: 'external'` is the acknowledgement that a composing
+      // host (e.g. the Astro adapter or TanStack Start's Solid integration)
+      // owns the document wiring itself — behavior is identical to `true`,
+      // only this warning is skipped. Under SSR start mode it's redundant
+      // but harmless (treated exactly as `true`).
+      if (
+        serverComponents &&
+        serverComponentsOption !== 'external' &&
+        !(options.start && options.ssr)
+      ) {
         config.logger.warn(
           '[@solidjs/vite-plugin] serverFunctions.components is set without SSR start mode (the `start` ' +
             'option with `ssr: true`), so the plugin only installs the endpoint response transform ' +
-            '(server functions returning components stream correctly). The document wiring — render ' +
-            'plugin, bootstrap script, and the client-side installServerComponents() call — is ' +
-            "emitted by SSR start mode's generated entries; without it, server components only mount " +
-            'from post-boot streams and your client code must call installServerComponents() itself.',
+            '(server functions returning components stream correctly). The document wiring — the ' +
+            'render plugin (with the direct-call transform) and the client-side ' +
+            "installServerComponents() call — is emitted by SSR start mode's generated entries; " +
+            'without it, server components only mount from post-boot streams and your client code ' +
+            'must call installServerComponents() itself. If a composing host owns that wiring, set ' +
+            "`components: 'external'` to acknowledge it and silence this warning.",
         );
       }
       needHmr =
diff --git a/src/server-functions/index.ts b/src/server-functions/index.ts
index 54fd2b6..d234a80 100644
--- a/src/server-functions/index.ts
+++ b/src/server-functions/index.ts
@@ -138,21 +138,26 @@ export interface ServerFunctionsOptions {
    * per-request wiring or server code.
    *
    * Document SSR of server components (rendered inline at t=0 and adopted
-   * at boot with zero endpoint requests) needs three more pieces: the
-   * render must run with the server-component render plugin, the document
-   * must carry the bootstrap script, and the client must call
-   * `installServerComponents()` before hydrating. With SSR start mode (the
-   * main plugin's `start` option with `ssr: true`) and generated entries
-   * the plugin emits all three. With authored entries those pieces live in
-   * your entry files — import them from `@solidjs/web/frames` (see the
-   * README).
+   * at boot with zero endpoint requests) needs two more pieces: the render
+   * must run with the server-component render plugin (plus the direct-call
+   * transform), and the client must call `installServerComponents()` before
+   * hydrating (the serialized references self-bootstrap the registry, so no
+   * separate bootstrap script is involved). With SSR start mode (the main
+   * plugin's `start` option with `ssr: true`) and generated entries the
+   * plugin emits both. With authored entries those pieces live in your
+   * entry files — import them from `@solidjs/web/frames` (see the README).
+   *
+   * `'external'` behaves exactly like `true`, and additionally declares
+   * that a composing host (e.g. a meta-framework adapter such as Astro's or
+   * TanStack Start's) owns that document wiring itself, so the plugin skips
+   * the without-SSR-start-mode warning.
    *
    * All of this is pure codegen: when the option is off, no reference to
    * the server-component runtime is emitted anywhere.
    *
    * @default false
    */
-  components?: boolean;
+  components?: boolean | 'external';
 }
 
 const DEFAULT_INCLUDE = 'src/**/*.{jsx,tsx,ts,js,mjs,cjs}';