diff --git a/frontend/src/views/Login.vue b/frontend/src/views/Login.vue
index ee903d3..ab0daa2 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/Login.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/Login.vue
@@ -4,34 +4,40 @@
       <img src="/ge-aerospace-logo.svg" alt="GE Aerospace" class="login-logo" />
       <h1>ShopDB</h1>
 
-      <div v-if="error" class="error-message">
-        {{ error }}
-      </div>
+      <div v-if="error" class="error-message">{{ error }}</div>
 
-      <form @submit.prevent="handleLogin">
+      <!-- First run: no users yet - create the first admin -->
+      <template v-if="mode === 'createadmin'">
+        <p class="first-run-note">First run - create your admin account.</p>
+        <form @submit.prevent="handleCreateAdmin">
+          <div class="form-group">
+            <label for="newusername">Username <span class="hint">(your SSO)</span></label>
+            <input id="newusername" v-model="username" type="text" class="form-control" required autofocus />
+          </div>
+          <div class="form-group">
+            <label for="email">Email</label>
+            <input id="email" v-model="email" type="email" class="form-control" required />
+          </div>
+          <div class="form-group">
+            <label for="newpassword">Password</label>
+            <input id="newpassword" v-model="password" type="password" class="form-control" required minlength="8" />
+          </div>
+          <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" :disabled="loading">
+            {{ loading ? 'Creating...' : 'Create admin & continue' }}
+          </button>
+        </form>
+      </template>
+
+      <!-- Normal login -->
+      <form v-else @submit.prevent="handleLogin">
         <div class="form-group">
           <label for="username">Username</label>
-          <input
-            id="username"
-            v-model="username"
-            type="text"
-            class="form-control"
-            required
-            autofocus
-          />
+          <input id="username" v-model="username" type="text" class="form-control" required autofocus />
         </div>
-
         <div class="form-group">
           <label for="password">Password</label>
-          <input
-            id="password"
-            v-model="password"
-            type="password"
-            class="form-control"
-            required
-          />
+          <input id="password" v-model="password" type="password" class="form-control" required />
         </div>
-
         <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" :disabled="loading">
           {{ loading ? 'Logging in...' : 'Login' }}
         </button>
@@ -41,30 +47,56 @@
 </template>
 
 <script setup>
-import { ref } from 'vue'
+import { ref, onMounted } from 'vue'
 import { useRouter } from 'vue-router'
 import { useAuthStore } from '../stores/auth'
+import { setupApi } from '../api'
 
 const router = useRouter()
 const authStore = useAuthStore()
 
+const mode = ref('login')
 const username = ref('')
+const email = ref('')
 const password = ref('')
 const error = ref('')
 const loading = ref(false)
 
+onMounted(async () => {
+  // If the instance has no users yet, offer to create the first admin.
+  try {
+    const response = await setupApi.needsAdmin()
+    if (response.data?.data?.needsadmin) mode.value = 'createadmin'
+  } catch (err) { /* fall back to normal login */ }
+})
+
 async function handleLogin() {
   error.value = ''
   loading.value = true
-
   const result = await authStore.login(username.value, password.value)
-
   loading.value = false
+  if (result.success) router.push('/')
+  else error.value = result.message
+}
 
-  if (result.success) {
-    router.push('/')
-  } else {
-    error.value = result.message
+async function handleCreateAdmin() {
+  error.value = ''
+  loading.value = true
+  try {
+    await setupApi.createAdmin({ username: username.value, email: email.value, password: password.value })
+    // Log straight in with the new credentials, then on to the setup wizard.
+    const result = await authStore.login(username.value, password.value)
+    if (result.success) router.push('/setup')
+    else { mode.value = 'login'; error.value = 'Admin created - please sign in.' }
+  } catch (err) {
+    error.value = err.response?.data?.data?.error?.message || err.response?.data?.message || 'Could not create admin'
+  } finally {
+    loading.value = false
   }
 }
 </script>
+
+<style scoped>
+.first-run-note { color: var(--text-light); font-size: 0.9rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; }
+.hint { color: var(--text-light); font-weight: normal; font-size: 0.85em; }
+</style>
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/SetupWizard.vue b/frontend/src/views/SetupWizard.vue
index 2bceff2..cc64110 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/SetupWizard.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/SetupWizard.vue
@@ -112,10 +112,21 @@
         <!-- Starter data -->
         <div v-else-if="current.key === 'data'">
           <h2>Starter data</h2>
-          <p class="hint">Add common hardware vendors so you can start adding assets right away. Safe to run - it skips ones you already have.</p>
-          <button class="btn btn-secondary" :disabled="seeding" @click="seedStarter">
-            {{ seeding ? 'Adding...' : 'Add common vendors' }}
-          </button>
+          <p class="hint">Seed the data a new site needs. Both are idempotent - safe to run more than once.</p>
+          <div class="starter-actions">
+            <div>
+              <button class="btn btn-secondary" :disabled="seeding" @click="seedReference">
+                {{ seeding ? 'Working...' : 'Seed core reference data' }}
+              </button>
+              <p class="hint">Statuses, machine/location/relationship types, permissions, default settings. Run this if you installed without the CLI seed.</p>
+            </div>
+            <div>
+              <button class="btn btn-secondary" :disabled="seeding" @click="seedStarter">
+                {{ seeding ? 'Working...' : 'Add common vendors' }}
+              </button>
+              <p class="hint">Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other common hardware vendors.</p>
+            </div>
+          </div>
           <p v-if="seedResult" class="seed-result">{{ seedResult }}</p>
         </div>
 
@@ -325,6 +336,18 @@ async function togglePlugin(plugin, enabled) {
   }
 }
 
+async function seedReference() {
+  seeding.value = true
+  try {
+    const response = await setupApi.seedReference()
+    seedResult.value = response.data?.message || 'Reference data seeded.'
+  } catch (err) {
+    toast.error(apiError(err, 'Could not seed reference data'))
+  } finally {
+    seeding.value = false
+  }
+}
+
 async function seedStarter() {
   seeding.value = true
   try {
@@ -384,6 +407,8 @@ async function finish() {
 .provision-note p:last-child { margin-bottom: 0; }
 .provision-tables code, .provision-docs code { background: var(--bg-card); border: 1px solid var(--border); border-radius: 3px; padding: 0 0.3rem; margin-right: 0.3rem; font-size: 0.78rem; }
 .seed-result { margin-top: 0.75rem; color: var(--success); font-size: 0.88rem; }
+.starter-actions { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 1.1rem; }
+.starter-actions .hint { margin: 0.35rem 0 0; }
 .config-block { margin-top: 1.25rem; padding-top: 1rem; border-top: 1px solid var(--border); }
 .config-title { margin: 0 0 0.75rem; font-size: 1rem; text-transform: capitalize; }
 .secret-tag { margin-left: 0.5rem; font-size: 0.68rem; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.04em; color: var(--warning); border: 1px solid var(--warning); border-radius: 4px; padding: 0 0.3rem; }
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 4368c8c..3046104 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -117,3 +117,4 @@ werkzeug==3.1.8
     #   flask-cors
     #   flask-jwt-extended
     #   pytest-flask
+waitress>=3.0