diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 72087ee..40b971d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ openbao-configure-external-secrets-issue-core: ## Configure OpenBao policy/role
 	  scripts/openbao-apply-external-secrets-issue-core.sh
 
 openbao-configure-external-secrets-activity-core: ## Configure OpenBao policy/role for activity-core ESO lane
-	KUBECTL='$(KUBECTL)' OPENBAO_NAMESPACE=$(OPENBAO_NAMESPACE) 	  OPENBAO_RELEASE=$(OPENBAO_RELEASE) ESO_NAMESPACE=$(EXTERNAL_SECRETS_NAMESPACE) 	  OPENBAO_ESO_ROLE=external-secrets-activity-core 	  OPENBAO_ESO_POLICY=workload-kv-read-llm-connect-provider-secrets 	  POLICY_FILE='$(CURDIR)/openbao/policies/workload-kv-read-llm-connect-provider-secrets.hcl' 	  scripts/openbao-apply-external-secrets-issue-core.sh
+	KUBECTL='$(KUBECTL)' OPENBAO_NAMESPACE=$(OPENBAO_NAMESPACE) 	  OPENBAO_RELEASE=$(OPENBAO_RELEASE) ESO_NAMESPACE=$(EXTERNAL_SECRETS_NAMESPACE) 	  OPENBAO_ESO_ROLE=external-secrets-activity-core 	  OPENBAO_ESO_POLICY=external-secrets-activity-core 	  POLICY_FILE='$(CURDIR)/openbao/policies/external-secrets-activity-core.hcl' 	  OPENBAO_ESO_NEXT_PATH=platform/workloads/issue-core/issue-core/issue-core-runtime 	  OPENBAO_ESO_NEXT_FIELDS=ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY 	  OPENBAO_ESO_NEXT_TARGET=ExternalSecret/activity-core/actcore-issue-core-runtime 	  scripts/openbao-apply-external-secrets-issue-core.sh
 
 openbao-configure-external-secrets-forgejo: ## Configure OpenBao policy/role for Forgejo mailer ESO lane
 	KUBECTL='$(KUBECTL)' OPENBAO_NAMESPACE=$(OPENBAO_NAMESPACE) \
diff --git a/argocd/platform-addons/openbao-secretstore/openbao-activity-core.clustersecretstore.yaml b/argocd/platform-addons/openbao-secretstore/openbao-activity-core.clustersecretstore.yaml
index a9def5e..144c818 100644
--- a/argocd/platform-addons/openbao-secretstore/openbao-activity-core.clustersecretstore.yaml
+++ b/argocd/platform-addons/openbao-secretstore/openbao-activity-core.clustersecretstore.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+# Interim: activity-core on railiance01 reads runtime secrets from coulombcore
+# OpenBao (https://bao.coulomb.social) until railiance01 OpenBao is bootstrapped
+# (Wave 7). Target state uses in-cluster OpenBao + Kubernetes auth role
+# external-secrets-activity-core.
+#
+# Prereq: Secret external-secrets/openbao-activity-core-eso-token (key: token)
+# with a policy-limited OpenBao token that can read
+# platform/workloads/issue-core/issue-core/issue-core-runtime (ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY).
+# Bootstrap: activity-core scripts/openbao-eso-token-apply.sh
 apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
 kind: ClusterSecretStore
 metadata:
@@ -8,16 +17,14 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   provider:
     vault:
-      server: http://openbao.openbao.svc.cluster.local:8200
+      server: https://bao.coulomb.social
       path: platform
       version: v2
       auth:
-        kubernetes:
-          mountPath: kubernetes
-          role: external-secrets-activity-core
-          serviceAccountRef:
-            name: external-secrets
-            namespace: external-secrets
+        tokenSecretRef:
+          name: openbao-activity-core-eso-token
+          namespace: external-secrets
+          key: token
   conditions:
     - namespaces:
-        - activity-core
+        - activity-core
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/credential-lane-lifecycle-runbook.md b/docs/credential-lane-lifecycle-runbook.md
index a661b6e..38647f2 100644
--- a/docs/credential-lane-lifecycle-runbook.md
+++ b/docs/credential-lane-lifecycle-runbook.md
@@ -40,11 +40,12 @@ secret value ever appears in Git, State Hub, chat, prompts, or shell history.
   `secret/issue-core-runtime` in the `issue-core` namespace (ESO will not
   recreate it while the lane is down) and restart the issue-core Deployment.
 - **`ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY` has a second consumer**: railiance01's
-  `activity-core/actcore-runtime-secret` holds an operator-injected copy
-  (2026-07-02, ISSUE-WP-0003-T06). Rotation and compromise response MUST
-  re-inject the new value there (stdin-only pipe from OpenBao) and restart
-  `deploy/actcore-worker`, or activity-core emission silently starts failing
-  with 401s on the next run.
+  `activity-core/ExternalSecret actcore-issue-core-runtime` merges the key into
+  `actcore-runtime-secret` (1h refresh). Rotation and compromise response MUST
+  update OpenBao first, wait for ExternalSecret refresh (or annotate
+  `force-sync`), then restart `deploy/actcore-worker` and
+  `deploy/actcore-event-router`, or activity-core emission silently starts
+  failing with 401s on the next run.
 - `GITEA_BACKEND_TOKEN` is a scoped Gitea token for service user
   `issue-core-svc`; rotating it means minting a new token in Gitea first,
   then updating OpenBao — order matters, or ingestion breaks between steps.
diff --git a/openbao/policies/external-secrets-activity-core.hcl b/openbao/policies/external-secrets-activity-core.hcl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e29ec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openbao/policies/external-secrets-activity-core.hcl
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# External Secrets Operator policy for the activity-core namespace.
+#
+# Covers:
+#   - llm-connect provider secrets (OPENROUTER_API_KEY)
+#   - shared issue-core ingestion key for activity-core IssueSink emission
+
+path "platform/data/workloads/activity-core/llm-connect/llm-connect-provider-secrets" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}
+
+path "platform/metadata/workloads/activity-core/llm-connect/llm-connect-provider-secrets" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}
+
+path "platform/data/workloads/issue-core/issue-core/issue-core-runtime" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}
+
+path "platform/metadata/workloads/issue-core/issue-core/issue-core-runtime" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}
\ No newline at end of file