diff --git a/neurosploit-rs/app/src/main.rs b/neurosploit-rs/app/src/main.rs
index 63519af..d211d0c 100644
--- a/neurosploit-rs/app/src/main.rs
+++ b/neurosploit-rs/app/src/main.rs
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ enum Cmd {
         /// support MCP fall back to their built-in tools).
         #[arg(long)]
         mcp: bool,
+        /// Credentials YAML for authenticated testing (jwt/header/cookie/login).
+        #[arg(long)]
+        creds: Option<String>,
+        /// Free-text focus, e.g. "injection and broken access control".
+        #[arg(long)]
+        focus: Option<String>,
         /// Verbose: log each agent as it launches, recon, and votes.
         #[arg(short, long)]
         verbose: bool,
@@ -162,7 +168,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
                 }
             }
         }
-        Cmd::Run { url, models, max_agents, vote_n, offline, subscription, mcp, verbose } => {
+        Cmd::Run { url, models, max_agents, vote_n, offline, subscription, mcp, creds, focus, verbose } => {
             let url = if url.starts_with("http") { url } else { format!("https://{url}") };
             let mut cfg = RunConfig::new(&url);
             cfg.max_agents = max_agents;
@@ -170,9 +176,11 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             cfg.offline = offline;
             cfg.subscription = subscription;
             cfg.verbose = verbose;
+            cfg.instructions = focus;
             if !models.is_empty() {
                 cfg.models = models;
             }
+            apply_creds(&mut cfg, creds.as_deref()).await;
             let out = run_engagement(&base, cfg, mcp, false).await?;
             print_findings(&out);
         }
@@ -202,7 +210,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             if !models.is_empty() {
                 cfg.models = models;
             }
-            apply_creds(&mut cfg, creds.as_deref());
+            apply_creds(&mut cfg, creds.as_deref()).await;
             let out = run_greybox_engagement(&base, cfg, mcp).await?;
             print_findings(&out);
         }
@@ -210,22 +218,38 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Load a creds.yaml into the run config: derive the auth header and prepend any
-/// login flow to the operator instructions.
-pub(crate) fn apply_creds(cfg: &mut RunConfig, path: Option<&str>) {
+/// Load a creds.yaml into the run config. Direct material (jwt/header/cookie) is
+/// used as-is; a `login:` flow is EXECUTED now (real HTTP) to capture a live
+/// session cookie/token. If the auto-login fails, fall back to instructing the
+/// agents to authenticate themselves.
+pub(crate) async fn apply_creds(cfg: &mut RunConfig, path: Option<&str>) {
     let Some(p) = path else { return };
-    match harness::creds::Creds::load(Path::new(p)) {
-        Some(c) => {
-            if cfg.auth.is_none() {
-                cfg.auth = c.auth_header();
+    let Some(c) = harness::creds::Creds::load(Path::new(p)) else {
+        eprintln!("  [!] no usable credentials in {p}");
+        return;
+    };
+    println!("  [*] loaded credentials from {p}");
+    if cfg.auth.is_none() {
+        cfg.auth = c.auth_header();
+    }
+    // No direct material but a login flow → perform it now.
+    if cfg.auth.is_none() {
+        if let Some(login) = &c.login {
+            println!("  [*] auto-login: {} {} ...", login.method, login.url);
+            match harness::creds::login(login).await {
+                Ok((auth, note)) => {
+                    println!("  [*] authenticated — {note}");
+                    cfg.auth = Some(auth);
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    eprintln!("  [!] auto-login failed ({e}); agents will attempt to log in themselves");
+                    if let Some(instr) = c.login_instruction() {
+                        let base = cfg.instructions.clone().unwrap_or_default();
+                        cfg.instructions = Some(format!("{instr}\n{base}"));
+                    }
+                }
             }
-            if let Some(login) = c.login_instruction() {
-                let base = cfg.instructions.clone().unwrap_or_default();
-                cfg.instructions = Some(format!("{login}\n{base}"));
-            }
-            println!("  [*] loaded credentials from {p}");
         }
-        None => eprintln!("  [!] no usable credentials in {p}"),
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/neurosploit-rs/app/src/repl.rs b/neurosploit-rs/app/src/repl.rs
index d3204e7..6ba8ed3 100644
--- a/neurosploit-rs/app/src/repl.rs
+++ b/neurosploit-rs/app/src/repl.rs
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ async fn run(base: &Path, s: &Session) {
     if let M::Grey { repo, .. } = &m {
         cfg.repo = Some(repo.clone());
     }
-    crate::apply_creds(&mut cfg, s.creds.as_deref());
+    crate::apply_creds(&mut cfg, s.creds.as_deref()).await;
 
     let result = match m {
         M::Grey { .. } => crate::run_greybox_engagement(base, cfg, s.mcp).await,
diff --git a/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/creds.rs b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/creds.rs
index 03689a9..cbe095f 100644
--- a/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/creds.rs
+++ b/neurosploit-rs/crates/harness/src/creds.rs
@@ -116,6 +116,61 @@ impl Creds {
     }
 }
 
+/// Perform the login flow now (real HTTP POST) and return an auth header to
+/// reuse on every subsequent request: a `Cookie:` from Set-Cookie, or an
+/// `Authorization: Bearer` from a token in the JSON response. Returns
+/// (auth_header, note). Redirects are not followed so the login response's
+/// Set-Cookie is visible.
+pub async fn login(l: &Login) -> anyhow::Result<(String, String)> {
+    use reqwest::header::SET_COOKIE;
+    let client = reqwest::Client::builder()
+        .redirect(reqwest::redirect::Policy::none())
+        .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(30))
+        .build()?;
+    let form: Vec<(String, String)> = vec![
+        (l.username_field.clone(), l.username.clone()),
+        (l.password_field.clone(), l.password.clone()),
+    ];
+    let req = if l.method == "GET" {
+        client.get(&l.url).query(&form)
+    } else {
+        client.post(&l.url).form(&form)
+    };
+    let resp = req.send().await?;
+    let status = resp.status();
+
+    // 1) session cookies from Set-Cookie on the login response
+    let mut cookie_pairs = Vec::new();
+    for hv in resp.headers().get_all(SET_COOKIE) {
+        if let Ok(s) = hv.to_str() {
+            if let Some(pair) = s.split(';').next() {
+                let p = pair.trim();
+                if !p.is_empty() {
+                    cookie_pairs.push(p.to_string());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
+
+    // 2) bearer token from a JSON response body
+    if let Ok(v) = serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(&body) {
+        for k in ["access_token", "token", "jwt", "id_token", "accessToken"] {
+            if let Some(t) = v.get(k).and_then(|x| x.as_str()).filter(|t| !t.is_empty()) {
+                return Ok((format!("Authorization: Bearer {t}"), format!("bearer token from JSON `{k}` (HTTP {status})")));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    if !cookie_pairs.is_empty() {
+        let cookie = cookie_pairs.join("; ");
+        // Soft success check (don't fail hard — many apps 302 on success).
+        let ok = l.success.is_empty() || body.contains(&l.success) || status.is_redirection() || status.is_success();
+        let note = format!("session cookie captured (HTTP {status}{})", if ok { "" } else { ", success marker not seen" });
+        return Ok((format!("Cookie: {cookie}"), note));
+    }
+    anyhow::bail!("login returned no Set-Cookie or token (HTTP {status})")
+}
+
 fn unquote(s: &str) -> String {
     let s = s.trim();
     if (s.starts_with('"') && s.ends_with('"') && s.len() >= 2)