diff --git a/pkg/busauth/tls.go b/pkg/busauth/tls.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47e4fcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/busauth/tls.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package busauth
+
+import (
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+)
+
+// LoadCATLSConfig builds a *tls.Config that trusts ONLY the given CA certificate
+// (PEM file), for a bus client pinning the project's self-signed CA. Because the
+// bus uses a private CA rather than a public one, clients must pin it explicitly;
+// trusting the system roots would reject the server cert. This is the single
+// helper every client (Go peers, the mobile binding, the gateway) uses to turn a
+// ca.crt path into a connection config.
+func LoadCATLSConfig(caPEMPath string) (*tls.Config, error) {
+	pem, err := os.ReadFile(caPEMPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("busauth: read CA %q: %w", caPEMPath, err)
+	}
+	pool := x509.NewCertPool()
+	if !pool.AppendCertsFromPEM(pem) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("busauth: CA %q contains no valid PEM certificate", caPEMPath)
+	}
+	return &tls.Config{RootCAs: pool, MinVersion: tls.VersionTLS12}, nil
+}
+
+// ServerTLSConfig loads the bus NATS server's certificate and private key (PEM
+// files) into a *tls.Config to present to clients. The private key never leaves
+// the host; only the CA cert travels to clients.
+func ServerTLSConfig(certPEMPath, keyPEMPath string) (*tls.Config, error) {
+	cert, err := tls.LoadX509KeyPair(certPEMPath, keyPEMPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("busauth: load server keypair: %w", err)
+	}
+	return &tls.Config{Certificates: []tls.Certificate{cert}, MinVersion: tls.VersionTLS12}, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/client/client.go b/pkg/client/client.go
index 3d84db2..8e3a878 100644
--- a/pkg/client/client.go
+++ b/pkg/client/client.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/tls"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
@@ -66,6 +67,10 @@ type Options struct {
 	// with an nkey to a server that does not advertise nkey auth ("nkeys not
 	// supported by the server"), so this is opt-in rather than always-on.
 	UseNkey bool
+	// TLS, when non-nil, secures the NATS connection and pins the server to this
+	// config's RootCAs (the bus's self-signed CA). Build it with
+	// busauth.LoadCATLSConfig(caPath). Nil keeps the connection plaintext.
+	TLS *tls.Config
 }
 
 // New connects to NATS and records the control-plane URL with default Options
@@ -87,6 +92,9 @@ func NewWithOptions(natsURL, ctrlURL string, id cs.Identity, opts Options) (*Cli
 		}
 		natsOpts = append(natsOpts, nats.Nkey(nkeyPub, nkeySign))
 	}
+	if opts.TLS != nil {
+		natsOpts = append(natsOpts, nats.Secure(opts.TLS))
+	}
 	nc, err := nats.Connect(natsURL, natsOpts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("client: connect nats %q: %w", natsURL, err)