diff --git a/src/praisonai-bot/praisonai_bot/gateway/server.py b/src/praisonai-bot/praisonai_bot/gateway/server.py
index c097e8035..8a4d16eef 100644
--- a/src/praisonai-bot/praisonai_bot/gateway/server.py
+++ b/src/praisonai-bot/praisonai_bot/gateway/server.py
@@ -6200,7 +6200,7 @@ def _resolve(obj):
         elif not isinstance(channels_cfg, dict):
             errors.append("'channels' must be a non-empty dictionary")
         else:
-            _tokenless = {"email", "agentmail", "signal"}
+            _tokenless = {"email", "agentmail", "signal", "local"}
             for cname, cdef in channels_cfg.items():
                 if not isinstance(cdef, dict):
                     continue
@@ -6752,8 +6752,9 @@ async def start_channels(self, channels_cfg: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]]) -> None:
             wa_web_mode = (channel_type == "whatsapp" and
                            ch_cfg.get("mode", "cloud").lower().strip() == "web")
             # Email/AgentMail use env vars for tokens; Signal links a device via
-            # a local bridge — none require a token in YAML.
-            is_email_platform = channel_type in ("email", "agentmail", "signal")
+            # a local bridge; ``local`` is the token-free terminal channel —
+            # none require a token in YAML.
+            is_email_platform = channel_type in ("email", "agentmail", "signal", "local")
             if not token and not wa_web_mode and not is_email_platform:
                 logger.warning(f"No token for channel '{channel_name}', skipping")
                 # Issue #3159: keep the skipped channel queryable as degraded so
@@ -8269,8 +8270,9 @@ async def _start_single_channel(self, channel_name: str, ch_cfg: Dict[str, Any])
         wa_web_mode = (channel_type == "whatsapp" and
                        ch_cfg.get("mode", "cloud").lower().strip() == "web")
         # Email/AgentMail use env vars for tokens; Signal links a device via a
-        # local bridge — none require a token in YAML.
-        is_email_platform = channel_type in ("email", "agentmail", "signal")
+        # local bridge; ``local`` is the token-free terminal channel — none
+        # require a token in YAML.
+        is_email_platform = channel_type in ("email", "agentmail", "signal", "local")
         
         if not token and not wa_web_mode and not is_email_platform:
             logger.warning(f"No token for channel '{channel_name}', skipping")