diff --git a/v3/@claude-flow/cli/__tests__/session-encryption.test.ts b/v3/@claude-flow/cli/__tests__/session-encryption.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e364a097dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/v3/@claude-flow/cli/__tests__/session-encryption.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+/**
+ * Integration test for ADR-096 Phase 2: session-tools wired to vault.
+ *
+ * Exercises the full save → on-disk → load round-trip across both modes
+ * (plaintext + encrypted) AND the migration path (legacy plaintext file
+ * still readable after the encryption gate flips on).
+ *
+ * The vault primitives themselves are unit-tested in encryption-vault.test.ts.
+ * This file pins the contract that session-tools honors the env-var gate
+ * AND that the magic-byte format is what actually lands on disk.
+ */
+
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
+
+import { sessionTools } from '../src/mcp-tools/session-tools.js';
+import { MAGIC, isEncryptedBlob } from '../src/encryption/vault.js';
+
+// Per-test working directory so the in-process getProjectCwd() points at
+// a clean tree. session-tools uses process.cwd() (via getProjectCwd) for
+// the sessions dir.
+const SAVED_ENV: Record<string, string | undefined> = {};
+function saveEnv(...names: string[]) {
+  for (const n of names) SAVED_ENV[n] = process.env[n];
+}
+function restoreEnv() {
+  for (const [n, v] of Object.entries(SAVED_ENV)) {
+    if (v === undefined) delete process.env[n];
+    else process.env[n] = v;
+  }
+}
+
+const sessionSaveTool = sessionTools.find(t => t.name === 'session_save')!;
+const sessionRestoreTool = sessionTools.find(t => t.name === 'session_restore')!;
+const sessionListTool = sessionTools.find(t => t.name === 'session_list')!;
+
+function pickSessionFile(workdir: string): string {
+  const dir = join(workdir, '.claude-flow', 'sessions');
+  // Find the lone JSON file the save tool produces (filename is
+  // `session-<ts>-<rand>.json`).
+  const fs = readFileSync; void fs; // (silence unused-import linters)
+  const { readdirSync } = require('node:fs') as typeof import('node:fs');
+  const files = readdirSync(dir).filter(f => f.endsWith('.json'));
+  expect(files.length).toBe(1);
+  return join(dir, files[0]);
+}
+
+async function runSave(name: string) {
+  return sessionSaveTool.handler({ name } as Record<string, unknown>);
+}
+async function runRestore(sessionId: string) {
+  return sessionRestoreTool.handler({ sessionId } as Record<string, unknown>);
+}
+
+describe('session-tools encryption-at-rest (ADR-096 Phase 2)', () => {
+  let workdir: string;
+  let cwdSpy: ReturnType<typeof vi.spyOn> | null = null;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    saveEnv('CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST', 'CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY');
+    workdir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'session-enc-'));
+    // Pin process.cwd() so session-tools writes into our temp dir
+    cwdSpy = vi.spyOn(process, 'cwd').mockReturnValue(workdir);
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    cwdSpy?.mockRestore();
+    rmSync(workdir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    restoreEnv();
+  });
+
+  describe('encryption disabled (legacy plaintext)', () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      delete process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST;
+      delete process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY;
+    });
+
+    it('writes plaintext JSON to disk', async () => {
+      const r = (await runSave('audit-test')) as { sessionId: string };
+      const onDisk = readFileSync(pickSessionFile(workdir));
+      // First byte is "{" not "R" — definitely not encrypted
+      expect(onDisk[0]).toBe(0x7b);
+      expect(isEncryptedBlob(onDisk)).toBe(false);
+      // Sanity: the JSON parses and the sessionId round-trips
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(onDisk.toString('utf-8'));
+      expect(parsed.sessionId).toBe(r.sessionId);
+      expect(parsed.name).toBe('audit-test');
+    });
+
+    it('round-trips save → restore', async () => {
+      const saved = (await runSave('rt-plain')) as { sessionId: string };
+      const restored = (await runRestore(saved.sessionId)) as {
+        restored?: boolean;
+        name?: string;
+      };
+      expect(restored.restored).toBe(true);
+      expect(restored.name).toBe('rt-plain');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('encryption enabled (RFE1 wire format)', () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST = '1';
+      process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY = randomBytes(32).toString('hex');
+    });
+
+    it('writes a blob that starts with the RFE1 magic', async () => {
+      await runSave('encrypted-test');
+      const onDisk = readFileSync(pickSessionFile(workdir));
+      expect(onDisk.subarray(0, 4)).toEqual(MAGIC);
+      expect(isEncryptedBlob(onDisk)).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('produces a blob that does not contain the plaintext name', async () => {
+      // Defense-in-depth check: the plaintext name shouldn't appear
+      // anywhere in the on-disk bytes if encryption actually ran.
+      const secretName = `top-secret-${randomBytes(8).toString('hex')}`;
+      await runSave(secretName);
+      const onDisk = readFileSync(pickSessionFile(workdir));
+      expect(onDisk.includes(Buffer.from(secretName, 'utf-8'))).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('round-trips save → restore using the same key', async () => {
+      const saved = (await runSave('rt-encrypted')) as { sessionId: string };
+      const restored = (await runRestore(saved.sessionId)) as {
+        restored?: boolean;
+        name?: string;
+      };
+      expect(restored.restored).toBe(true);
+      expect(restored.name).toBe('rt-encrypted');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('migration: encrypt-on-write only, plaintext stays readable', () => {
+    it('reads a legacy plaintext file even after encryption is enabled', async () => {
+      // Step 1: save with encryption OFF → plaintext on disk
+      delete process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST;
+      delete process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY;
+      const saved = (await runSave('legacy-plain')) as { sessionId: string };
+
+      // Step 2: turn encryption ON for the read
+      process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST = '1';
+      process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY = randomBytes(32).toString('hex');
+
+      // Step 3: restore should still find the plaintext file via the
+      // magic-byte sniff (legacy file → not encrypted → returned as-is)
+      const restored = (await runRestore(saved.sessionId)) as {
+        restored?: boolean;
+        name?: string;
+      };
+      expect(restored.restored).toBe(true);
+      expect(restored.name).toBe('legacy-plain');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('listSessions handles a mixed dir', () => {
+    it('enumerates plaintext + encrypted sessions in one call', async () => {
+      // First session: plaintext
+      delete process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST;
+      delete process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY;
+      await runSave('plain-1');
+
+      // Second session: encrypted
+      process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST = '1';
+      process.env.CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY = randomBytes(32).toString('hex');
+      await runSave('encrypted-1');
+
+      const result = (await sessionListTool.handler({} as Record<string, unknown>)) as {
+        sessions: Array<{ name?: string }>;
+      };
+      const names = result.sessions.map(s => s.name).filter(Boolean).sort();
+      expect(names).toEqual(['encrypted-1', 'plain-1']);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/fs-secure.ts b/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/fs-secure.ts
index 1872db9132..a4e5b69158 100644
--- a/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/fs-secure.ts
+++ b/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/fs-secure.ts
@@ -9,9 +9,22 @@
  * These helpers write atomically and force mode 0600 (files) / 0700 (dirs).
  * chmod fails silently on Windows, where POSIX modes don't apply — that's
  * fine, the OS-level ACL surface there is different.
+ *
+ * ADR-096 Phase 2: optional opt-in encryption-at-rest. When the caller
+ * passes `encrypt: true` AND the env-gated vault is enabled, payloads are
+ * AES-256-GCM-encrypted before hitting disk. Reads use the magic-byte
+ * sniff so legacy plaintext files keep working unchanged during the
+ * incremental migration.
  */
 
-import { chmodSync, mkdirSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { chmodSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import {
+  decryptBuffer,
+  encryptBuffer,
+  getKey,
+  isEncryptedBlob,
+  isEncryptionEnabled,
+} from './encryption/vault.js';
 
 /**
  * Create a directory tree with mode 0700 (owner-only). No-op if exists.
@@ -21,20 +34,97 @@ export function mkdirRestricted(path: string): void {
   mkdirSync(path, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Options for writeFileRestricted. Object form so we can grow the API
+ * without churning every call site.
+ */
+export interface WriteOptions {
+  /** Buffer encoding when `data` is a string. Ignored for Buffer payloads. */
+  encoding?: BufferEncoding;
+  /**
+   * If true AND encryption is globally enabled (CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST),
+   * encrypt the payload with AES-256-GCM before writing. If encryption is
+   * NOT enabled, this flag is silently ignored — the legacy plaintext path
+   * runs unchanged. Default: false.
+   */
+  encrypt?: boolean;
+}
+
 /**
  * Write a file and tighten its permissions to mode 0600 (owner read/write).
- * Equivalent to writeFileSync followed by chmod, but emphasizes intent —
- * any subsequent reader auditing the codebase can grep for this name.
+ *
+ * Two call signatures, both supported (the legacy positional one keeps
+ * existing call sites working without churn):
+ *
+ *   writeFileRestricted(path, data)                      // plaintext, utf-8
+ *   writeFileRestricted(path, data, 'utf-8')             // legacy: encoding only
+ *   writeFileRestricted(path, data, { encrypt: true })   // opt-in encryption
  */
 export function writeFileRestricted(
   path: string,
   data: string | Buffer,
-  encoding: BufferEncoding = 'utf-8',
+  optsOrEncoding: BufferEncoding | WriteOptions = 'utf-8',
 ): void {
-  writeFileSync(path, data, encoding);
+  const opts: WriteOptions =
+    typeof optsOrEncoding === 'string'
+      ? { encoding: optsOrEncoding }
+      : optsOrEncoding;
+  const encoding = opts.encoding ?? 'utf-8';
+
+  let payload: string | Buffer = data;
+  if (opts.encrypt && isEncryptionEnabled()) {
+    const plaintext = Buffer.isBuffer(data) ? data : Buffer.from(data, encoding);
+    payload = encryptBuffer(plaintext, getKey());
+  }
+
+  // For encrypted payloads we always have a Buffer — pass through without an
+  // encoding so writeFileSync doesn't try to text-decode it.
+  if (Buffer.isBuffer(payload)) {
+    writeFileSync(path, payload);
+  } else {
+    writeFileSync(path, payload, encoding);
+  }
+
   try {
     chmodSync(path, 0o600);
   } catch {
     // Windows / FS without POSIX modes — silently skip.
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Read a file and transparently decrypt if it carries the RFE1 magic.
+ *
+ * Returns a string when the caller asks for one (default utf-8). Returns
+ * a Buffer when `encoding` is null. This matches Node's readFileSync
+ * shape so the function is a near-drop-in replacement.
+ *
+ * Migration semantics:
+ *   - If the file IS encrypted, decrypt and return.
+ *   - If the file is NOT encrypted, return its raw bytes (string-decoded
+ *     under `encoding` if requested).
+ *
+ * That means a reader can be migrated *first*, before its writer flips
+ * `encrypt: true`, without breaking on the legacy plaintext path.
+ */
+export function readFileMaybeEncrypted(
+  path: string,
+  encoding?: BufferEncoding,
+): string;
+export function readFileMaybeEncrypted(
+  path: string,
+  encoding: null,
+): Buffer;
+export function readFileMaybeEncrypted(
+  path: string,
+  encoding: BufferEncoding | null = 'utf-8',
+): string | Buffer {
+  const raw = readFileSync(path);
+  let plain: Buffer;
+  if (isEncryptedBlob(raw)) {
+    plain = decryptBuffer(raw, getKey());
+  } else {
+    plain = raw;
+  }
+  return encoding === null ? plain : plain.toString(encoding);
+}
diff --git a/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/mcp-tools/session-tools.ts b/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/mcp-tools/session-tools.ts
index 43acdff428..fa57a39d37 100644
--- a/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/mcp-tools/session-tools.ts
+++ b/v3/@claude-flow/cli/src/mcp-tools/session-tools.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@
 import { existsSync, readFileSync, readdirSync, unlinkSync, statSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { type MCPTool, getProjectCwd } from './types.js';
-import { mkdirRestricted, writeFileRestricted } from '../fs-secure.js';
+import {
+  mkdirRestricted,
+  readFileMaybeEncrypted,
+  writeFileRestricted,
+} from '../fs-secure.js';
 import { validateIdentifier, validateText } from './validate-input.js';
 
 // Storage paths
@@ -53,7 +57,10 @@ function loadSession(sessionId: string): SessionRecord | null {
   try {
     const path = getSessionPath(sessionId);
     if (existsSync(path)) {
-      const data = readFileSync(path, 'utf-8');
+      // ADR-096 Phase 2: readFileMaybeEncrypted transparently handles both
+      // legacy plaintext sessions and post-migration encrypted ones via the
+      // RFE1 magic-byte sniff.
+      const data = readFileMaybeEncrypted(path, 'utf-8');
       return JSON.parse(data);
     }
   } catch {
@@ -66,7 +73,14 @@ function saveSession(session: SessionRecord): void {
   ensureSessionDir();
   // audit_1776853149979: session JSON contains memory snapshots and agent
   // prompts — restrict to owner read/write.
-  writeFileRestricted(getSessionPath(session.sessionId), JSON.stringify(session, null, 2));
+  // ADR-096 Phase 2: opt-in encrypt-at-rest. The encrypt flag is honored
+  // only when CLAUDE_FLOW_ENCRYPT_AT_REST is set; otherwise the legacy
+  // plaintext path runs unchanged.
+  writeFileRestricted(
+    getSessionPath(session.sessionId),
+    JSON.stringify(session, null, 2),
+    { encrypt: true },
+  );
 }
 
 function listSessions(): SessionRecord[] {
@@ -77,7 +91,9 @@ function listSessions(): SessionRecord[] {
   const sessions: SessionRecord[] = [];
   for (const file of files) {
     try {
-      const data = readFileSync(join(dir, file), 'utf-8');
+      // ADR-096 Phase 2: same magic-byte sniff for the listing path so a
+      // mixed plaintext+encrypted dir still enumerates cleanly.
+      const data = readFileMaybeEncrypted(join(dir, file), 'utf-8');
       sessions.push(JSON.parse(data));
     } catch {
       // Skip invalid files