diff --git a/muxplex/frontend/app.js b/muxplex/frontend/app.js
index 30a489a..5e2b5c3 100644
--- a/muxplex/frontend/app.js
+++ b/muxplex/frontend/app.js
@@ -524,6 +524,23 @@ function buildSidebarHTML(session, currentSession) {
   );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Build the HTML string for an auth-required source tile.
+ * @param {{ name: string, url: string }} source
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+function buildAuthTileHTML(source) {
+  const escapedName = escapeHtml(source.name || '');
+  const escapedUrl = escapeHtml(source.url || '');
+  return (
+    '<article class="source-tile source-tile--auth">' +
+    '<span class="source-tile__name">' + escapedName + '</span>' +
+    '<button class="source-tile__login-btn" data-url="' + escapedUrl + '">Log in</button>' +
+    '<span class="source-tile__hint">Authenticate to see sessions</span>' +
+    '</article>'
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * Returns sessions with hidden session names removed.
  * Only hides LOCAL sessions (those with empty/absent sourceUrl) matching the
@@ -2200,6 +2217,8 @@ if (typeof module !== 'undefined' && module.exports) {
     mergeSources,
     // Filter bar
     renderFilterBar,
+    // Federation tiles
+    buildAuthTileHTML,
     // Test-only helpers
     _setCurrentSessions,
     _setViewMode,
diff --git a/muxplex/frontend/tests/test_app.mjs b/muxplex/frontend/tests/test_app.mjs
index cefee58..6194569 100644
--- a/muxplex/frontend/tests/test_app.mjs
+++ b/muxplex/frontend/tests/test_app.mjs
@@ -2835,3 +2835,32 @@ test('Phase 2 end-to-end: buildSources → tagSessions → mergeSources produces
   );
 });
 
+// --- buildAuthTileHTML ---
+
+test('buildAuthTileHTML is exported as a function', () => {
+  assert.strictEqual(typeof app.buildAuthTileHTML, 'function');
+});
+
+test('buildAuthTileHTML returns article with source-tile--auth class', () => {
+  const html = app.buildAuthTileHTML({ name: 'Dev Server', url: 'http://dev:8088' });
+  assert.ok(html.startsWith('<article'), 'html should start with <article');
+  assert.ok(html.includes('source-tile--auth'), 'html should include source-tile--auth class');
+});
+
+test('buildAuthTileHTML includes device name', () => {
+  const html = app.buildAuthTileHTML({ name: 'Dev Server', url: 'http://dev:8088' });
+  assert.ok(html.includes('Dev Server'), 'html should include the device name');
+});
+
+test('buildAuthTileHTML includes login button with data-url attribute', () => {
+  const html = app.buildAuthTileHTML({ name: 'Dev Server', url: 'http://dev:8088' });
+  assert.ok(html.includes('source-tile__login-btn'), 'html should include source-tile__login-btn class');
+  assert.ok(html.includes('data-url="http://dev:8088"'), 'html should include data-url attribute with correct value');
+});
+
+test('buildAuthTileHTML escapes HTML in device name', () => {
+  const html = app.buildAuthTileHTML({ name: '<script>alert(1)</script>', url: '' });
+  assert.ok(!html.includes('<script>alert(1)</script>'), 'raw script tag should not appear in html');
+  assert.ok(html.includes('&lt;script&gt;'), 'escaped script tag should appear in html');
+});
+