diff --git a/config/redbear-bare.toml b/config/redbear-bare.toml
index 80d3fe72ed..b9eafac4ae 100644
--- a/config/redbear-bare.toml
+++ b/config/redbear-bare.toml
@@ -1,20 +1,33 @@
 # Red Bear OS Bare Configuration
-# 
+#
 # Target contract:
 # - Boots kernel
-# - Starts init daemons via base-initfs 90_initfs.target
-#   (logd, randd, zerod, ptyd, inputd — provided by base recipe)
+# - Starts init daemons via a minimal base-initfs
+#   (logd, randd, zerod, ptyd, getty — see recipes/core/base-initfs)
 # - Console getty → zsh login prompt (from minimal.toml's 30_console.service)
 # - No networking, no driver-manager, no display, no audio, no extra daemons
 # - Stripped to bare minimum
 #
-# Build: make live CONFIG_NAME=redbear-bare
+# To trigger the bare initfs (BINS=init logd ramfs randd zerod ptyd getty):
+#   REDBEAR_BARE_INITFS=1 make live CONFIG_NAME=redbear-bare
+#
+# Or via the build script with the env var set:
+#   REDBEAR_BARE_INITFS=1 ./local/scripts/build-redbear.sh redbear-bare
 
 include = ["minimal.toml"]
 
 [general]
 filesystem_size = 96
 
+# Trim down packages beyond what minimal.toml includes.
+# minimal.toml includes ca-certificates, coreutils, extrautils, zsh, pkgutils, kibi.
+# For "bare" we only need: zsh, coreutils, base, base-initfs, kernel, relibc,
+# userutils, libgcc, libstdcxx. Drop ca-certificates, pkgutils, kibi.
+[packages]
+ca-certificates = {}  # explicitly empty (overrides minimal)
+pkgutils = {}         # explicitly empty (overrides minimal)
+kibi = {}             # explicitly empty (overrides minimal)
+
 # Override base.toml's network config — no DNS, no IP, no router
 [[files]]
 path = "/etc/net/dns"
@@ -87,6 +100,27 @@ schemes = [
 ]
 """
 
+# Pre-login banner (printed by getty before the login prompt)
+[[files]]
+path = "/etc/issue"
+data = """
+Red Bear OS 0.3.1 - bare target
+Kernel \\r on an \\m (\\s)
+
+Login as 'root' (password: password) or 'user' (no password).
+"""
+
+# Post-login message (printed by zsh at shell startup)
+[[files]]
+path = "/etc/motd"
+data = """
+Welcome to Red Bear OS bare target.
+
+This is a stripped-down initfs+rootfs build with only:
+  init, logd, ramfs, randd, zerod, ptyd, getty
+No networking, no display, no audio, no driver-manager.
+"""
+
 [users.root]
 password = "password"
 uid = 0
@@ -100,3 +134,8 @@ shell = "/usr/bin/zsh"
 [groups.sudo]
 gid = 1
 members = ["user"]
+
+# Build override: trigger the bare-initfs branch in base-initfs/recipe.toml.
+# The cookbook honors REDBEAR_BARE_INITFS in the env when invoking make.
+[build.env]
+REDBEAR_BARE_INITFS = "1"
diff --git a/recipes/core/base-initfs/recipe.toml b/recipes/core/base-initfs/recipe.toml
index 2341c176bd..6ab537c9fa 100644
--- a/recipes/core/base-initfs/recipe.toml
+++ b/recipes/core/base-initfs/recipe.toml
@@ -58,12 +58,29 @@ aarch64_bins()
     esac
 }
 
+bare_initfs()
+{
+    BINS=(
+        init
+        logd
+        ramfs
+        randd
+        zerod
+        ptyd
+        getty
+    )
+}
+
 case "${TARGET}" in
     i586-unknown-redox | i686-unknown-redox)
         x86_common_bins
         ;;
     x86_64-unknown-redox)
-        x86_common_bins
+        if [ "${REDBEAR_BARE_INITFS:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+            bare_initfs
+        else
+            x86_common_bins
+        fi
         ;;
     aarch64-unknown-redox)
         aarch64_bins
@@ -93,7 +110,7 @@ mkdir -pv "${COOKBOOK_BUILD}/initfs/bin" "${COOKBOOK_BUILD}/initfs/lib/drivers"
 for bin in "${BINS[@]}"
 do
     case "${bin}" in
-      init | logd | ramfs | randd | zerod | pcid | pcid-spawner | fbbootlogd | fbcond | inputd | vesad | lived | ps2d | acpid | bcm2835-sdhcid | rtcd | hwd)
+      init | logd | ramfs | randd | zerod | pcid | pcid-spawner | fbbootlogd | fbcond | inputd | vesad | lived | ps2d | acpid | bcm2835-sdhcid | rtcd | hwd | ptyd | getty)
         cp -v "target/${TARGET}/${build_type}/${bin}" "${COOKBOOK_BUILD}/initfs/bin"
         ;;
       *)