diff --git a/config/initializers/devise_token_auth.rb b/config/initializers/devise_token_auth.rb
index bb64943..f0997ce 100644
--- a/config/initializers/devise_token_auth.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/devise_token_auth.rb
@@ -48,5 +48,6 @@ DeviseTokenAuth.setup do |config|
   # do so by enabling this flag. NOTE: This feature is highly experimental!
   # config.enable_standard_devise_support = false
 
+  config.bypass_sign_in = false
   config.default_confirm_success_url = 'https://turnie.re'
 end
diff --git a/doc/rails_8_dependency_update.md b/doc/rails_8_dependency_update.md
index e0c2ec3..d67bc1f 100644
--- a/doc/rails_8_dependency_update.md
+++ b/doc/rails_8_dependency_update.md
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ The project no longer uses the Thor77 `devise_token_auth` fork. The released
 gem currently supports this stack through `devise_token_auth` 1.2.6 with
 `devise` 4.9.4.
 
+Because this is an API-only app without session middleware,
+`DeviseTokenAuth.bypass_sign_in` must stay disabled. With the gem default
+enabled, authenticated token requests call Devise session bypass code and fail
+in API-only production. Disabled mode still authenticates token requests with
+`store: false`.
+
 ## Docker Versioning
 
 Container versioning still uses the shared pipeline `base_commit` build arg.