diff --git a/workspace/entrypoint.sh b/workspace/entrypoint.sh
index da36fc4e..8b83ddc1 100644
--- a/workspace/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/workspace/entrypoint.sh
@@ -71,11 +71,20 @@ fi
 
 # Now running as agent (uid 1000)
 
-# --- Start background token refresh daemon ---
+# --- Start background token refresh daemon (with respawn supervision) ---
 # Keeps gh CLI and git credentials fresh across the 60-min token TTL.
-# Runs in the background; entrypoint continues to exec molecule-runtime.
+# Wrapped in a respawn loop so a daemon crash doesn't silently leave the
+# workspace stuck on an expired token. Runs in the background; entrypoint
+# continues to exec molecule-runtime.
 if [ -x /app/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh ]; then
-    nohup /app/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &
+    nohup bash -c '
+        while true; do
+            /app/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh
+            rc=$?
+            echo "[molecule-gh-token-refresh] daemon exited rc=$rc — respawning in 30s" >&2
+            sleep 30
+        done
+    ' > /home/agent/.gh-token-refresh.log 2>&1 &
 fi
 
 # --- Initial gh auth setup ---
diff --git a/workspace/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh b/workspace/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh
index 87c4d8a1..e7f4587e 100755
--- a/workspace/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh
+++ b/workspace/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh
@@ -2,53 +2,56 @@
 # molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh — background daemon that keeps GitHub
 # credentials fresh inside Molecule AI workspace containers.
 #
-# Runs as a background process started by entrypoint.sh. Every
-# REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC (default 45 min = 2700s) it calls the credential
-# helper's _refresh_gh action which:
-#   1. Fetches a fresh installation token from the platform API
-#   2. Updates the local cache (used by git credential helper)
-#   3. Runs `gh auth login --with-token` so `gh` CLI stays authenticated
-#   4. Writes ~/.gh_token for any scripts that read it
+# Started by entrypoint.sh under a respawn wrapper. Every
+# REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC + jitter (default 45 min ± 2 min) it calls the
+# credential helper's _refresh_gh action.
 #
-# The daemon logs to stderr (captured by Docker) and is designed to be
-# fire-and-forget — if a single refresh fails, it logs the error and
-# retries on the next interval. The credential helper itself has a
-# fallback chain (cache > API > env var) so a missed refresh is not
-# immediately fatal.
+# # Jitter
+# A 0..120s random offset prevents 39 containers from synchronizing
+# their refresh requests against /workspaces/:id/github-installation-token.
 #
-# Usage (from entrypoint.sh):
-#   nohup /app/scripts/molecule-gh-token-refresh.sh &
+# # Security
+# - This daemon NEVER prints token values. Failures log the helper's
+#   exit code only, not its stderr, so token bytes can't leak via the
+#   docker log pipeline.
+# - The helper script is responsible for chmod 600 on cache files.
 #
 set -uo pipefail
 
-HELPER_SCRIPT="/app/scripts/molecule-git-token-helper.sh"
+HELPER_SCRIPT="${TOKEN_HELPER_SCRIPT:-/app/scripts/molecule-git-token-helper.sh}"
 REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC="${TOKEN_REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC:-2700}"  # 45 min
+JITTER_MAX_SEC="${TOKEN_REFRESH_JITTER_SEC:-120}"
+INITIAL_DELAY_SEC="${TOKEN_REFRESH_INITIAL_DELAY_SEC:-60}"
 
 log() {
     echo "[molecule-gh-token-refresh] $(date -u '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ') $*" >&2
 }
 
-# Wait a short time before the first refresh to let the container finish
-# booting and .auth_token to be written by the runtime's register call.
-INITIAL_DELAY_SEC="${TOKEN_REFRESH_INITIAL_DELAY_SEC:-60}"
-log "starting (interval=${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}s, initial_delay=${INITIAL_DELAY_SEC}s)"
+jittered_sleep() {
+    local base="$1"
+    local jitter=$((RANDOM % (JITTER_MAX_SEC + 1)))
+    sleep $((base + jitter))
+}
+
+log "starting (interval=${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}s ± ${JITTER_MAX_SEC}s, initial_delay=${INITIAL_DELAY_SEC}s)"
 sleep "${INITIAL_DELAY_SEC}"
 
 # Initial refresh — prime the cache + gh auth immediately after boot.
+# Discard helper output to /dev/null so token can't leak via docker logs.
 log "initial token refresh"
-if bash "${HELPER_SCRIPT}" _refresh_gh 2>&1; then
+if bash "${HELPER_SCRIPT}" _refresh_gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     log "initial refresh succeeded"
 else
-    log "initial refresh failed (will retry in ${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}s)"
+    log "initial refresh failed (rc=$?) — will retry in ~${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}s"
 fi
 
 # Steady-state loop.
 while true; do
-    sleep "${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}"
+    jittered_sleep "${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}"
     log "periodic token refresh"
-    if bash "${HELPER_SCRIPT}" _refresh_gh 2>&1; then
+    if bash "${HELPER_SCRIPT}" _refresh_gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         log "refresh succeeded"
     else
-        log "refresh failed (will retry in ${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}s)"
+        log "refresh failed (rc=$?) — will retry in ~${REFRESH_INTERVAL_SEC}s"
     fi
 done
diff --git a/workspace/scripts/molecule-git-token-helper.sh b/workspace/scripts/molecule-git-token-helper.sh
index e79bc14a..0faab0fc 100755
--- a/workspace/scripts/molecule-git-token-helper.sh
+++ b/workspace/scripts/molecule-git-token-helper.sh
@@ -138,19 +138,32 @@ _fetch_token_from_api() {
         return 1
     fi
 
+    # NOTE: capture stderr to a tmp file (NOT $response) so the response
+    # body — which contains the token on success — never lands in error
+    # log lines via $response interpolation.
+    local _err_file
+    _err_file=$(mktemp)
     response=$(curl -sf \
         -H "Authorization: Bearer ${bearer}" \
         -H "Accept: application/json" \
         --max-time 10 \
-        "${ENDPOINT}" 2>&1) || {
-        echo "[molecule-git-token-helper] platform request failed: ${response}" >&2
+        "${ENDPOINT}" 2>"${_err_file}") || {
+        local _curl_rc=$?
+        local _err_msg
+        _err_msg=$(cat "${_err_file}")
+        rm -f "${_err_file}"
+        echo "[molecule-git-token-helper] platform request failed (curl rc=${_curl_rc}): ${_err_msg}" >&2
         return 1
     }
+    rm -f "${_err_file}"
 
     # Parse {"token":"ghs_...","expires_at":"..."} with sed (no jq dependency).
     token=$(echo "${response}" | sed -n 's/.*"token":"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
     if [ -z "${token}" ]; then
-        echo "[molecule-git-token-helper] empty token in platform response: ${response}" >&2
+        # SECURITY: the response body MAY contain a token under a different
+        # JSON key name. Never include $response in this error message —
+        # log only the size as a coarse debugging signal.
+        echo "[molecule-git-token-helper] empty token in platform response (body=${#response} bytes)" >&2
         return 1
     fi