diff --git a/services/mam-api/src/index.js b/services/mam-api/src/index.js
index fb914fa..18fa901 100644
--- a/services/mam-api/src/index.js
+++ b/services/mam-api/src/index.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { errorHandler } from './middleware/errors.js';
 import { requireAuth } from './middleware/auth.js';
 import { loadS3ConfigFromDb } from './s3/client.js';
 
+import authRouter from './routes/auth.js';
 // Routes
 import assetsRouter from './routes/assets.js';
 import projectsRouter from './routes/projects.js';
@@ -104,6 +105,7 @@ app.use('/api/v1', (req, res, next) => {
 });
 
 // ── API Routes ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+app.use('/api/v1/auth',    authRouter);
 app.use('/api/v1/assets',    assetsRouter);
 app.use('/api/v1/projects',  projectsRouter);
 app.use('/api/v1/bins',      binsRouter);
diff --git a/services/mam-api/src/routes/auth.js b/services/mam-api/src/routes/auth.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4956045
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/mam-api/src/routes/auth.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import express from 'express';
+import pool from '../db/pool.js';
+import { DEV_USER_ID } from '../middleware/auth.js';
+
+const router = express.Router();
+
+// Real users = anyone except the seeded dev row.
+async function realUserCount() {
+  const { rows } = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT COUNT(*)::int AS n FROM users WHERE id <> $1`, [DEV_USER_ID]);
+  return rows[0].n;
+}
+
+// GET /api/v1/auth/setup-required
+// Cheap, no auth. Used by AuthGate to decide between Login and Setup screens.
+router.get('/setup-required', async (_req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    res.json({ required: (await realUserCount()) === 0 });
+  } catch (err) { next(err); }
+});
+
+export default router;
+export { realUserCount };
diff --git a/services/mam-api/test/routes/auth.test.js b/services/mam-api/test/routes/auth.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0fbebe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/mam-api/test/routes/auth.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { isTestDbConfigured, setupTestDb } from '../helpers/setup-db.js';
+import express from 'express';
+import authRouter from '../../src/routes/auth.js';
+
+async function appWithAuth(pool) {
+  process.env.DATABASE_URL = process.env.TEST_DATABASE_URL;
+  const app = express();
+  app.use(express.json());
+  app.use('/api/v1/auth', authRouter);
+  return new Promise(r => {
+    const srv = app.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', () => {
+      r({ baseUrl: 'http://127.0.0.1:' + srv.address().port, close: () => new Promise(rs => srv.close(rs)) });
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+test('GET /auth/setup-required returns { required: true } on empty users (modulo dev seed)', { skip: !isTestDbConfigured() && 'TEST_DATABASE_URL not set' }, async () => {
+  const pool = await setupTestDb();
+  const { baseUrl, close } = await appWithAuth(pool);
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(baseUrl + '/api/v1/auth/setup-required');
+    assert.equal(res.status, 200);
+    assert.deepEqual(await res.json(), { required: true });
+  } finally { await close(); await pool.end(); }
+});
+
+test('GET /auth/setup-required returns { required: false } once a real user exists', { skip: !isTestDbConfigured() && 'TEST_DATABASE_URL not set' }, async () => {
+  const pool = await setupTestDb();
+  await pool.query(`INSERT INTO users (username, password_hash) VALUES ('admin', 'x')`);
+  const { baseUrl, close } = await appWithAuth(pool);
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(baseUrl + '/api/v1/auth/setup-required');
+    assert.deepEqual(await res.json(), { required: false });
+  } finally { await close(); await pool.end(); }
+});