diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 335101b..d13605d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -334,6 +334,17 @@ git: ## set up this machine: hook in .gitconfig, set email, set up commit signin
 		|| git config --global --add include.path '$(CURDIR)/.gitconfig'
 	@read -p "email [$$(git config --file '$(CURDIR)/.gitconfig' user.email)]: " e; \
 		[ -z "$$e" ] || git config --global user.email "$$e"
+	@# Signing goes through the *agent*, not the key file: with a .pub as
+	@# user.signingkey, `ssh-keygen -Y sign` asks ssh-agent for the private
+	@# half, and only falls back to reading the file — and prompting — when the
+	@# agent has not got it. macOS starts every login with an empty agent, so
+	@# --apple-use-keychain puts the passphrase in the login Keychain here and
+	@# os/macos/.zshrc loads it back from there. Idempotent, and silent once
+	@# stored. Darwin only: the flag is Apple's, and the Linux boxes unlock
+	@# their agent through the desktop keyring instead. Not fatal when it
+	@# fails — a Ctrl-C at the passphrase prompt leaves the rest of the signing
+	@# setup worth writing — but it says so, because the symptom otherwise
+	@# arrives a reboot later and looks like the config never worked.
 	@email="$$(git config user.email)"; \
 		case "$$email" in ""|*"*"*) echo "set a real user.email first - the repo default is a placeholder"; exit 1;; esac; \
 		default="$$HOME/.ssh/landsman_git_signing.pub"; \
@@ -344,6 +355,8 @@ git: ## set up this machine: hook in .gitconfig, set email, set up commit signin
 			echo "restore it from 1Password, chmod 600 it, then run make git again"; \
 			exit 1; \
 		fi; \
+		if [ "$$(uname -s)" = Darwin ]; then ssh-add --apple-use-keychain "$$priv" \
+			|| echo "passphrase not stored - commits will keep prompting, rerun make git"; fi; \
 		signers="$$HOME/.ssh/allowed_signers"; \
 		git config --global user.signingkey "$$k"; \
 		git config --global gpg.ssh.allowedSignersFile "$$signers"; \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9ff87c1..21da5a0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -147,6 +147,14 @@ Docker Hub and says so.
 - **`.gitconfig` is not stowed** — it is included into `~/.gitconfig` instead, so
   machine-specific values (email, signing key) stay out of the repo. A symlink
   would make `git config --global ...` write here.
+- **Commit signing needs the agent, not the key file** — `gpg.format = ssh` signs
+  through `ssh-keygen -Y sign`, which asks ssh-agent for the private half of
+  `user.signingkey` and only reads the file (and prompts) when the agent has not
+  got it. So on macOS `make git` stores the passphrase in the login Keychain with
+  `ssh-add --apple-use-keychain`, and `os/macos/.zshrc` loads it back with
+  `--apple-load-keychain`, because every login starts with an empty agent. Drop
+  either and the first commit after a reboot asks for a passphrase — usually from
+  the IDE, which has nowhere to ask.
 - **`.bashrc` is not stowed** — it is a fragment, so symlinking it over
   `~/.bashrc` would drop everything the distro puts there. `make shell` appends a
   `. <repo>/.bashrc` line. (It used to `cat` the fragment in, which meant later
diff --git a/os/macos/.zshrc b/os/macos/.zshrc
index 0c625a7..488dded 100644
--- a/os/macos/.zshrc
+++ b/os/macos/.zshrc
@@ -60,4 +60,13 @@ for f in ~/.config/bash_aliases.d/*.sh(N); do
 done
 unset f
 
+# ssh-agent. macOS launches one per login session and it comes up empty — the
+# passphrases are in the login Keychain, but nothing has loaded them from there
+# since Monterey dropped that half. Nothing notices until the first commit of
+# the day: signing is SSH (`make git`), `ssh-keygen -Y sign` asks the agent for
+# the key, and an empty agent sends it back to the key file to prompt — from a
+# GUI git client, with nowhere to type. Guarded on the agent already holding
+# keys, so the usual shell pays one fork and not a Keychain round trip.
+ssh-add -l >/dev/null 2>&1 || ssh-add --apple-load-keychain 2>/dev/null
+
 eval "$(mise activate zsh)"