diff --git a/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md b/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md
index 3b8737c8d..f90f89fe6 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/stalker-portal.md
@@ -364,6 +364,26 @@ Callers pass the row they resolved the `cmd` from:
   An item with no row snapshot gets no verdict, except radio, which keeps its
   long-standing "directly usable command plays as-is" behaviour.
 
+### The static path still needs the session
+
+`create_link` was also the request that warmed the portal session, and tokens
+live in memory only (`StalkerSessionService.tokenCache`). Skipping it therefore
+has to account for streams that are still gated on the Bearer token:
+
+- **Portal routes** (ITV, VOD, series, radio) are structurally warm. An item
+  cannot be selected before its catalog has loaded, and every catalog load goes
+  through `executeStalkerRequest`, which authenticates. No extra work needed.
+- **Collection routes** (global Favorites / Recently Viewed) are not. They read
+  the persisted row and can play on a cold start, without the portal ever
+  having been opened this session. `StreamResolverService` therefore calls
+  `StalkerSessionService.ensureToken()` before building a static playback —
+  handshake + `get_profile`, no link minted, and it validates the identity the
+  cached token was negotiated for, which the raw `getCachedToken()` used by the
+  header builder cannot. A simple portal returns `null` immediately.
+  The call is best-effort: a static URL may point at a CDN needing no
+  credentials at all, so a failed handshake degrades to the token-less header
+  set rather than costing the user their playback.
+
 ### Resolved links are never stored
 
 A temporary link lives about 5 seconds (`tv_tmp_link_ttl` /
@@ -420,7 +440,8 @@ Revisit both only with a portal that demonstrably fails without them.
   the `series` exception, relative VOD commands.
 - `with-stalker-player.feature.spec.ts` — ITV/radio store paths and proof that
   Recently Viewed stores the `cmd`, never the stream URL.
-- `stream-resolver.service.spec.ts` — the collection route.
+- `stream-resolver.service.spec.ts` — the collection route, plus the cold
+  full-portal session warm-up and its best-effort degradation.
 - `stalker-playback-context.service.spec.ts` — headers only, query-insensitive
   key.
 - `apps/web-e2e/src/stalker.e2e.ts` — mock scenario `00:1A:79:00:00:0A` serves
diff --git a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.spec.ts b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.spec.ts
index cb1766263..65fb9f7ca 100644
--- a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.spec.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ describe('StreamResolverService', () => {
         stalkerSession = {
             getCachedToken: jest.fn(() => null),
             makeAuthenticatedRequest: jest.fn(),
+            ensureToken: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({ token: null }),
         };
         epgBridge = {
             getChannelPrograms: jest.fn(),
@@ -853,6 +854,86 @@ describe('StreamResolverService', () => {
         expect(playback.isLive).toBe(true);
     });
 
+    it('authenticates a cold full-portal session before a static stream', async () => {
+        // Skipping create_link also skips the request that used to warm the
+        // session. Tokens are in-memory only, so a cold start from global
+        // Favorites would otherwise hand a same-host gated stream headers
+        // with no Authorization and take a 403.
+        playlistsService.getPlaylistById.mockReturnValue(
+            of({
+                _id: 'stalker-1',
+                portalUrl:
+                    'https://stalker.example.com/stalker_portal/server/load.php',
+                macAddress: '00:11:22:33:44:55',
+                isFullStalkerPortal: true,
+            } satisfies Partial<Playlist>)
+        );
+        // Cold: no token until ensureToken has run.
+        stalkerSession.getCachedToken.mockReturnValue(null);
+        stalkerSession.ensureToken.mockImplementation(async () => {
+            stalkerSession.getCachedToken.mockReturnValue('TOKEN-COLD');
+            return { token: 'TOKEN-COLD' };
+        });
+
+        const playback = await service.resolvePlayback({
+            uid: 'stalker::stalker-1::91',
+            name: 'Cold Static Channel',
+            contentType: 'live',
+            sourceType: 'stalker',
+            playlistId: 'stalker-1',
+            playlistName: 'Stalker',
+            stalkerId: '91',
+            stalkerCmd: 'ffrt3 https://stalker.example.com/live/91.m3u8',
+            stalkerItem: {
+                id: '91',
+                cmd: 'ffrt3 https://stalker.example.com/live/91.m3u8',
+                use_http_tmp_link: '0',
+            },
+        } as UnifiedCollectionItem);
+
+        expect(stalkerSession.ensureToken).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+            expect.objectContaining({ _id: 'stalker-1' })
+        );
+        expect(playback.streamUrl).toBe(
+            'https://stalker.example.com/live/91.m3u8'
+        );
+        expect(playback.headers?.['Authorization']).toBe('Bearer TOKEN-COLD');
+    });
+
+    it('still plays a static stream when the session cannot be established', async () => {
+        // The static URL may point at a CDN that needs no credentials, so a
+        // failed handshake must not cost the user their playback.
+        playlistsService.getPlaylistById.mockReturnValue(
+            of({
+                _id: 'stalker-1',
+                portalUrl:
+                    'https://stalker.example.com/stalker_portal/server/load.php',
+                macAddress: '00:11:22:33:44:55',
+                isFullStalkerPortal: true,
+            } satisfies Partial<Playlist>)
+        );
+        stalkerSession.ensureToken.mockRejectedValue(new Error('portal down'));
+
+        const playback = await service.resolvePlayback({
+            uid: 'stalker::stalker-1::92',
+            name: 'Cdn Static Channel',
+            contentType: 'live',
+            sourceType: 'stalker',
+            playlistId: 'stalker-1',
+            playlistName: 'Stalker',
+            stalkerId: '92',
+            stalkerCmd: 'ffrt3 https://cdn.example.com/live/92.m3u8',
+            stalkerItem: {
+                id: '92',
+                cmd: 'ffrt3 https://cdn.example.com/live/92.m3u8',
+                use_http_tmp_link: '0',
+            },
+        } as UnifiedCollectionItem);
+
+        expect(playback.streamUrl).toBe('https://cdn.example.com/live/92.m3u8');
+        expect(playback.headers?.['Authorization']).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
     it('mints a link for a flagged Stalker favorite', async () => {
         playlistsService.getPlaylistById.mockReturnValue(
             of({
diff --git a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.ts b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.ts
index 9e5107a15..ad475766b 100644
--- a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/collection/stream-resolver.service.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@ import {
     StalkerSessionService,
     type StalkerLinkFlagSource,
 } from '@iptvnator/portal/stalker/data-access';
-import { UnifiedCollectionItem } from '@iptvnator/portal/shared/util';
+import {
+    UnifiedCollectionItem,
+    createLogger,
+} from '@iptvnator/portal/shared/util';
 
 type PlaylistWithChannels = Playlist & {
     readonly playlist?: { readonly items?: Channel[] };
@@ -75,6 +78,7 @@ export class StreamResolverService {
     private readonly epgBridge = inject(EpgRuntimeBridgeService);
     private readonly stalkerSession = inject(StalkerSessionService);
     private readonly portalRepair = inject(StalkerPortalRepairService);
+    private readonly logger = createLogger('StreamResolver');
     private readonly m3uEpgTimeoutMs = 3000;
     private readonly portalEpgTimeoutMs = 10000;
     private readonly xtreamEpgCache = new Map<string, XtreamEpgCacheEntry>();
@@ -349,6 +353,17 @@ export class StreamResolverService {
             item.stalkerCmd ?? ''
         );
         if (staticUrl) {
+            // Skipping `create_link` also skips the only authenticated
+            // request this route used to make, and it was what warmed the
+            // session. Tokens live in memory only, so on a cold start from
+            // global Favorites/Recently Viewed a same-host stream gated on
+            // the portal Bearer token would get headers without one and 403.
+            // `ensureToken` performs the handshake + get_profile — and
+            // validates the identity the cached token was negotiated for,
+            // which the raw `getCachedToken` below cannot — without minting a
+            // link; a simple portal returns null immediately.
+            await this.warmStalkerSession(playlist);
+
             return this.buildStalkerPlayback(item, playlist, {
                 macAddress,
                 portalUrl,
@@ -417,6 +432,31 @@ export class StreamResolverService {
         });
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Establish the portal session a static stream may still be gated on.
+     *
+     * Best-effort on purpose: the static URL can just as well point at a
+     * foreign CDN that needs no credentials, so a failed handshake must not
+     * cost the user their playback. It degrades to the token-less header set,
+     * which is exactly what this path produced before.
+     */
+    private async warmStalkerSession(
+        playlist: Playlist | undefined
+    ): Promise<void> {
+        if (!playlist) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        try {
+            await this.stalkerSession.ensureToken(playlist);
+        } catch (error) {
+            this.logger.warn(
+                'Could not establish the Stalker session for a static stream',
+                error
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * The collection routes must hand players the SAME portal header set the
      * Stalker live layout builds — an auth-gated stream opened from Favorites