diff --git a/html/js/network/smirkAuth.js b/html/js/network/smirkAuth.js
index 35073e1..454ec0a 100644
--- a/html/js/network/smirkAuth.js
+++ b/html/js/network/smirkAuth.js
@@ -97,6 +97,16 @@ const SmirkAuth = {
             provenPublicKey = result.pubkey;
         }
 
+        // Sign-in-with-wallet adoption: if this wallet already owned an account, the server signed
+        // us into it and returned that account's session token. Persist it and reload so the whole
+        // session re-establishes as that account (credits, address, history).
+        if (verifyData && verifyData.adopted && verifyData.sessionToken) {
+            try { localStorage.setItem('wownerogue_token', verifyData.sessionToken); } catch (_) { /* ignore */ }
+            $('#messages').append($('<li class="status">').text('🔑 Signed in to your wallet-linked account. Reloading…'));
+            setTimeout(function () { window.location.reload(); }, 700);
+            return { success: true, linked: true, adopted: true, address: verifyData.address || null };
+        }
+
         // Step 3: Get wallet addresses and auto-set payout address
         // Note: the proven public key is a pubkey (hex), NOT an address.
         // We need to call getAddresses() to get the actual WOW address.
diff --git a/src/routes/auth.js b/src/routes/auth.js
index ed6a021..278823f 100644
--- a/src/routes/auth.js
+++ b/src/routes/auth.js
@@ -46,14 +46,28 @@ module.exports = function createAuthRoutes(ctx) {
 
     const userId = userResult.rows[0].id;
 
-    // Reject linking a wallet already bound to a different account.
+    // Sign-in-with-wallet: if this proven wallet already owns a DIFFERENT account, that is a
+    // LOGIN to that account, not a hijack (ownership is cryptographically proven). Adopt it —
+    // re-point that user to the current socket and hand the client its session token so the
+    // browser re-establishes as that account. (Previously this threw "already linked to another
+    // account", which blocked a returning user from signing in on a fresh browser session.)
     const existingLink = await db.query(`
-      SELECT id FROM users WHERE smirk_public_key = $1 AND id != $2
+      SELECT id, anon_token, payout_address FROM users WHERE smirk_public_key = $1 AND id != $2 LIMIT 1
     `, [provenKey, userId]);
 
     if (existingLink.rows.length > 0) {
-      throw new ValidationError('Wallet already linked', {
-        safeMessage: 'This wallet is already linked to another account.'
+      const owner = existingLink.rows[0];
+      await db.query(
+        `UPDATE users SET socket_id = $1, last_seen = NOW() WHERE id = $2`,
+        [socketId, owner.id]
+      );
+      return res.json({
+        success: true,
+        linked: true,
+        adopted: true,
+        sessionToken: owner.anon_token || null,
+        address: owner.payout_address || null,
+        message: 'Signed in to your wallet-linked account.'
       });
     }