diff --git a/setup/archiso/build.sh b/setup/archiso/build.sh
index 9e7bdba..badae14 100644
--- a/setup/archiso/build.sh
+++ b/setup/archiso/build.sh
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ cp "$DOTFILES_DIR/setup/arch-autoinstall.sh"          "$PROFILE/airootfs/root/in
 
 chmod 755 \
     "$PROFILE/airootfs/root/launch.sh" \
+    "$PROFILE/airootfs/root/.automated_script.sh" \
     "$PROFILE/airootfs/usr/local/bin/install-arch" \
     "$PROFILE/airootfs/root/installer/"*.sh
 
@@ -106,4 +107,6 @@ ls -lh "$OUT_DIR/"*.iso 2>/dev/null || true
 
 if [[ -n "$PRECONF_FILE" ]]; then
     echo "Answerfile embedded — automated install will activate on boot."
+else
+    echo "No answerfile — guided (manual) installer will start automatically on boot."
 fi
diff --git a/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/archiso.conf b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/archiso.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..333eb07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/archiso.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Modules explicitly included because mkinitcpio's autodetection runs on the
+# build host and won't pick up filesystem/storage drivers needed at live boot.
+MODULES=(squashfs overlay iso9660 loop dm_mod xhci_pci xhci_hcd ehci_pci ehci_hcd usb_storage uas)
+HOOKS=(base udev microcode modconf kms memdisk archiso archiso_loop_mnt archiso_pxe_common archiso_pxe_nbd archiso_pxe_http archiso_pxe_nfs block filesystems keyboard)
+COMPRESSION="zstd"
+COMPRESSION_OPTIONS=(-9 --long)
diff --git a/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/etc/motd b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/etc/motd
index 6fe2ae6..ffe7d1b 100644
--- a/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/etc/motd
+++ b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/etc/motd
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@
 |                    by The_miro                      |
 +-----------------------------------------------------+
 
-  Commands:
-    install-arch          guided installer (recommended)
-    install-arch auto     automated installer (no prompts)
+  The installer starts automatically on login.
+  To re-run manually:
+    install-arch          guided installer (manual mode)
+    install-arch auto     automated installer (requires answerfile)
 
   Scripts are also at: ~/installer/
 
diff --git a/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/.automated_script.sh b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/.automated_script.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a558549
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/.automated_script.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ANSWERFILE="/answerfile.json"
+
+if [[ -f "$ANSWERFILE" ]]; then
+    exec /root/launch.sh auto "$ANSWERFILE"
+else
+    exec /root/launch.sh guided
+fi
diff --git a/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/.zlogin b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/.zlogin
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3471e05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/.zlogin
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+exec /root/.automated_script.sh
diff --git a/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/launch.sh b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/launch.sh
index f7eadeb..a502418 100644
--- a/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/launch.sh
+++ b/setup/archiso/overlay/airootfs/root/launch.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 INSTALLER_DIR="$HOME/installer"
 case "${1:-guided}" in
-    auto)   exec bash "$INSTALLER_DIR/arch-autoinstall.sh" ;;
+    auto)   exec bash "$INSTALLER_DIR/arch-autoinstall.sh" "${@:2}" ;;
     guided) exec bash "$INSTALLER_DIR/archbaseos-guided-install.sh" ;;
     *)      exec bash "$INSTALLER_DIR/archbaseos-guided-install.sh" ;;
 esac
diff --git a/setup/archiso/overlay/profiledef.sh b/setup/archiso/overlay/profiledef.sh
index a274d53..c2f9df7 100644
--- a/setup/archiso/overlay/profiledef.sh
+++ b/setup/archiso/overlay/profiledef.sh
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ airootfs_image_tool_options=('-comp' 'zstd' '-Xcompression-level' '15')
 bootstrap_tarball_compression=('zstd' '-c' '-T0' '--auto-threads=logical' '--long' '-19')
 file_permissions=(
   ["/etc/shadow"]="0:0:400"
+  ["/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/archiso.conf"]="0:0:644"
   ["/root"]="0:0:750"
   ["/root/.automated_script.sh"]="0:0:755"
+  ["/root/.zlogin"]="0:0:644"
   ["/root/launch.sh"]="0:0:755"
   ["/root/installer/archbaseos-guided-install.sh"]="0:0:755"
   ["/root/installer/arch-autoinstall.sh"]="0:0:755"