diff --git a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/cloud-paid.md b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/cloud-paid.md
index 9a4d14f02..13cdf42fd 100644
--- a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/cloud-paid.md
+++ b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/cloud-paid.md
@@ -251,6 +251,10 @@ Community limit enforcement.
     Public demo and other read-only presentation policy states must suppress
     relay setup and upsell onboarding instead of inviting pairing or commercial
     action from a governed non-manageable surface.
+    Relay settings must also translate internal registration-token failures
+    into an operator-actionable activation-required state. Customer-facing
+    Relay settings must not render raw `register:` or license-token-provider
+    diagnostics from the relay client as the primary status message.
 19. Add or change cloud plan presentation through `frontend-modern/src/pages/CloudPricing.tsx`
     That same presentation boundary also owns truthful customer-entry copy for
     hosted Cloud pricing and signup. Cloud CTA labels, setup steps, and
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/RelaySettingsPanel.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/RelaySettingsPanel.tsx
index be873db11..1215b04a9 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/RelaySettingsPanel.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/RelaySettingsPanel.tsx
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ export const RelaySettingsPanel: Component<RelaySettingsPanelProps> = (props) =>
               </Show>
             </div>
           </div>
-          <Show when={state.status()?.last_error}>
-            <div class={RELAY_LAST_ERROR_CLASS}>{state.status()!.last_error}</div>
+          <Show when={state.statusErrorMessage()}>
+            {(message) => <div class={RELAY_LAST_ERROR_CLASS}>{message()}</div>}
           </Show>
         </Card>
 
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/RelaySettingsPanel.runtime.test.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/RelaySettingsPanel.runtime.test.tsx
index 801e6fdf7..d3e83ddbf 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/RelaySettingsPanel.runtime.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/__tests__/RelaySettingsPanel.runtime.test.tsx
@@ -241,6 +241,29 @@ describe('RelaySettingsPanel runtime', () => {
     expect(getQRPayloadMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it('shows activation-required copy instead of raw missing-token relay errors', async () => {
+    getRelayStatusMock.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      connected: false,
+      instance_id: 'instance-local',
+      active_channels: 0,
+      last_error: 'register: no license token available',
+    });
+
+    render(() => <RelaySettingsPanel canManage />);
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(screen.getByText('Activation required')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+
+    expect(
+      screen.getByText(
+        'Remote Access is enabled, but this instance does not have an active Relay token. Activate Relay or turn Remote Access off before pairing mobile clients.',
+      ),
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByText('register: no license token available')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('button', { name: 'Pair New Device' })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
   it('deletes the minted pairing token when onboarding payload generation fails', async () => {
     getQRPayloadMock.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('missing auth token'));
 
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/useRelaySettingsPanelState.ts b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/useRelaySettingsPanelState.ts
index 51462aa41..316bee683 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/useRelaySettingsPanelState.ts
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/Settings/useRelaySettingsPanelState.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ import { RelayAPI, type RelayConfig, type RelayStatus } from '@/api/relay';
 import { OnboardingAPI, type OnboardingQRResponse } from '@/api/onboarding';
 import { SecurityAPI, type APITokenRecord } from '@/api/security';
 import { logger } from '@/utils/logger';
-import { getRelayConnectionPresentation } from '@/utils/relayPresentation';
+import {
+  getRelayConnectionPresentation,
+  getRelayStatusErrorMessage,
+} from '@/utils/relayPresentation';
 import QRCode from 'qrcode';
 
 export interface RelaySettingsPanelProps {
@@ -35,6 +38,7 @@ export function useRelaySettingsPanelState(props: RelaySettingsPanelProps) {
   const connectionPresentation = createMemo(() =>
     getRelayConnectionPresentation(config(), status()),
   );
+  const statusErrorMessage = createMemo(() => getRelayStatusErrorMessage(status()));
   const canShowPairing = createMemo(() => Boolean(config()?.enabled && status()?.connected));
 
   createEffect((wasPaywallVisible: boolean) => {
@@ -267,6 +271,7 @@ export function useRelaySettingsPanelState(props: RelaySettingsPanelProps) {
     showUpgradePrompts,
     showPairing,
     status,
+    statusErrorMessage,
     upgradeDestination,
   };
 }
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/utils/__tests__/relayPresentation.test.ts b/frontend-modern/src/utils/__tests__/relayPresentation.test.ts
index 76daf4781..a0355c1f8 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/utils/__tests__/relayPresentation.test.ts
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/utils/__tests__/relayPresentation.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import {
+  getRelayStatusErrorMessage,
   getRelayConnectionPresentation,
   getRelayDiagnosticClass,
+  RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_LABEL,
+  RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_MESSAGE,
   RELAY_CODE_BLOCK_CLASS,
   RELAY_ENABLE_HELP_TEXT,
   RELAY_INFO_MESSAGE_CLASS,
@@ -49,6 +52,42 @@ describe('relayPresentation', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('returns activation-required presentation for missing Relay token errors', () => {
+    expect(
+      getRelayConnectionPresentation(
+        { enabled: true } as never,
+        {
+          connected: false,
+          active_channels: 0,
+          last_error: 'register: no license token available',
+        },
+      ),
+    ).toEqual({
+      variant: 'danger',
+      label: RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_LABEL,
+      pulse: false,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('translates missing Relay token errors while preserving other diagnostics', () => {
+    expect(
+      getRelayStatusErrorMessage({
+        connected: false,
+        active_channels: 0,
+        last_error: 'register: no license token available',
+      }),
+    ).toBe(RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_MESSAGE);
+
+    expect(
+      getRelayStatusErrorMessage({
+        connected: false,
+        active_channels: 0,
+        last_error: 'relay handshake failed',
+      }),
+    ).toBe('relay handshake failed');
+    expect(getRelayStatusErrorMessage(null)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it('centralizes relay action and diagnostics styling', () => {
     expect(RELAY_READONLY_NOTICE_CLASS).toContain('border-blue-200');
     expect(RELAY_PRIMARY_BUTTON_CLASS).toContain('bg-blue-600');
@@ -71,6 +110,8 @@ describe('relayPresentation', () => {
     expect(RELAY_PAIRING_AVAILABILITY_TITLE).toBe('Pair Pulse Mobile through Relay');
     expect(RELAY_PAIRING_AVAILABILITY_MESSAGE).toContain('QR code or deep link');
     expect(RELAY_ENABLE_HELP_TEXT).toContain('Pulse Mobile pairing');
+    expect(RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_LABEL).toBe('Activation required');
+    expect(RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_MESSAGE).toContain('active Relay token');
   });
 
   it('does not retain retired Relay price or trial-era onboarding copy', () => {
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/utils/relayPresentation.ts b/frontend-modern/src/utils/relayPresentation.ts
index 41505f90b..9d1c58d96 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/utils/relayPresentation.ts
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/utils/relayPresentation.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ export interface RelayConnectionPresentation {
   pulse: boolean;
 }
 
+const RELAY_MISSING_TOKEN_ERROR = /\b(?:no license token available|license token provider not configured)\b/i;
+
 export const RELAY_READONLY_NOTICE_CLASS =
   'border border-blue-200 text-xs text-blue-800 dark:border-blue-800 dark:text-blue-200';
 export const RELAY_PRIMARY_BUTTON_CLASS =
@@ -35,6 +37,9 @@ export const RELAY_PAIRING_AVAILABILITY_MESSAGE =
   'Supported Pulse Mobile clients connect to this Pulse instance with a QR code or deep link over end-to-end encrypted relay connectivity.';
 export const RELAY_ENABLE_HELP_TEXT =
   'Connect this Pulse instance to the relay server for secure remote access and Pulse Mobile pairing.';
+export const RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_LABEL = 'Activation required';
+export const RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_MESSAGE =
+  'Remote Access is enabled, but this instance does not have an active Relay token. Activate Relay or turn Remote Access off before pairing mobile clients.';
 
 export function getRelayDiagnosticClass(severity: 'warning' | 'error'): string {
   return severity === 'error'
@@ -62,9 +67,32 @@ export function getRelayConnectionPresentation(
     };
   }
 
+  if (isRelayMissingTokenError(status?.last_error)) {
+    return {
+      variant: 'danger',
+      label: RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_LABEL,
+      pulse: false,
+    };
+  }
+
   return {
     variant: 'danger',
     label: 'Disconnected',
     pulse: false,
   };
 }
+
+export function getRelayStatusErrorMessage(status?: RelayStatus | null): string | null {
+  const error = status?.last_error?.trim();
+  if (!error) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  if (isRelayMissingTokenError(error)) {
+    return RELAY_ACTIVATION_REQUIRED_MESSAGE;
+  }
+  return error;
+}
+
+function isRelayMissingTokenError(error?: string | null): boolean {
+  return RELAY_MISSING_TOKEN_ERROR.test(error ?? '');
+}