diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 4672da1..2f03f33 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
     <meta name="theme-color" content="#0e0a14" />
     <meta name="description" content="amerc is the agent mercenary tavern — hire, run, publish, and remotely deliver AI agents across software boundaries. No infrastructure, just skills." />
-    <meta name="version" content="0.35.0-account" />
+    <meta name="version" content="0.36.0-https" />
     <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.svg" type="image/svg+xml" />
     <!-- Open Graph / social share -->
     <meta property="og:type" content="website" />
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4735835..b26a9ac 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "amerc-site",
-  "version": "0.35.0-account",
+  "version": "0.36.0-https",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/server/amerc-api.mjs b/server/amerc-api.mjs
index ba41969..2276925 100644
--- a/server/amerc-api.mjs
+++ b/server/amerc-api.mjs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import http from 'node:http';
 import { DatabaseSync } from 'node:sqlite';
 import crypto from 'node:crypto';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
+import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 import { existsSync, mkdirSync, createReadStream } from 'node:fs';
 import { dirname, join, basename } from 'node:path';
 
@@ -496,8 +497,10 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
       const host = `${name}.${handle}.amerc.ai`;
       if (db.prepare('SELECT id FROM showcases WHERE host=?').get(host)) return send(res, 409, { ok: false, error: 'showcase already registered' });
       const dns = await godaddyEnsureWildcard(handle);
+      // provision per-user wildcard TLS cert + nginx vhost (idempotent, async)
+      try { if (existsSync('/home/amerc/showcase-cert.sh')) spawn('/home/amerc/showcase-cert.sh', [handle], { detached: true, stdio: 'ignore' }).unref(); } catch { /* best effort */ }
       db.prepare('INSERT INTO showcases(owner,name,host,created_at) VALUES(?,?,?,?)').run(id.user.handle, name, host, Date.now());
-      return send(res, 200, { ok: true, host, url: `http://${host}/`, edgeToken: showcaseToken(host), edgeWs: 'wss://amerc.ai/showcase/ws', dns: dns.ok ? 'configured' : (dns.error || 'pending') });
+      return send(res, 200, { ok: true, host, url: `https://${host}/`, edgeToken: showcaseToken(host), edgeWs: 'wss://amerc.ai/showcase/ws', dns: dns.ok ? 'configured' : (dns.error || 'pending'), tls: 'HTTPS provisions automatically (~1-2 min on your first showcase)' });
     }
     if ((m = path.match(/^\/showcase\/(\d+)$/)) && method === 'DELETE') {
       if (id?.kind !== 'user') return send(res, 401, { ok: false, error: 'login required' });
diff --git a/src/Mansion.jsx b/src/Mansion.jsx
index 9107917..9fa067c 100644
--- a/src/Mansion.jsx
+++ b/src/Mansion.jsx
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ function Showcase({ handle }) {
       {created && (
         <div className="mn-created">
           <p>✅ <b>{created.host}</b> reserved · DNS {created.dns}</p>
+          {created.tls && <p className="ap-hint">🔒 {created.tls}</p>}
           <label className="ap-field">public URL<code className="ap-token" onClick={() => copy(created.url)}>{created.url} ⧉</code></label>
           <label className="ap-field">broker WS (kebab connects here)<code className="ap-token" onClick={() => copy(created.edgeWs)}>{created.edgeWs} ⧉</code></label>
           <label className="ap-field">edge token (bind {created.host})<code className="ap-token" onClick={() => copy(created.edgeToken)}>{created.edgeToken.slice(0, 28)}… ⧉</code></label>
diff --git a/src/Scene2D.jsx b/src/Scene2D.jsx
index 29c5db8..3653984 100644
--- a/src/Scene2D.jsx
+++ b/src/Scene2D.jsx
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import Account from './Account.jsx';
 import TavernGame from './TavernGame.jsx';
 import { api } from './api.js';
 
-const RELEASE = '0.35.0-account';
+const RELEASE = '0.36.0-https';
 
 const NAV = [
   { id: 'home', label: 'Tavern' },