diff --git a/plugins/platforms/photon/README.md b/plugins/platforms/photon/README.md
index a2cd92ec4a7f..f78be5d41d93 100644
--- a/plugins/platforms/photon/README.md
+++ b/plugins/platforms/photon/README.md
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ All env vars are documented in `plugin.yaml`. The most important:
 | `PHOTON_ALLOWED_USERS`    | your number (set by setup) | Comma-separated E.164 allowlist      |
 | `PHOTON_REQUIRE_MENTION`  | false                      | Gate group chats on a wake word      |
 | `PHOTON_MAX_INLINE_ATTACHMENT_BYTES` | 20 MB           | Max inbound attachment size the sidecar reads & inlines |
+| `PHOTON_TELEMETRY`        | false                      | Spectrum SDK telemetry — toggle with `hermes photon telemetry on\|off` (restart the gateway to apply) |
 
 ## Attachments & limitations
 
diff --git a/plugins/platforms/photon/cli.py b/plugins/platforms/photon/cli.py
index 789746860f85..f93b33f2c956 100644
--- a/plugins/platforms/photon/cli.py
+++ b/plugins/platforms/photon/cli.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Subcommands:
     setup              full first-time setup (device login + project + user + sidecar)
     status             show login + project + sidecar dep state
     install-sidecar    npm install inside plugins/platforms/photon/sidecar/
+    telemetry          show or toggle Spectrum SDK telemetry (on/off)
 
 The device-code login runs automatically as the first step of ``setup``;
 there is no standalone ``login`` verb (matching how every other Hermes
@@ -58,6 +59,15 @@ def register_cli(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> None:
     subs.add_parser("status", help="Show login + project + sidecar dep state")
     subs.add_parser("install-sidecar", help="Run npm install inside the sidecar directory")
 
+    p_telemetry = subs.add_parser(
+        "telemetry",
+        help="Show or toggle Spectrum SDK telemetry (on/off)",
+    )
+    p_telemetry.add_argument(
+        "state", nargs="?", choices=("on", "off"),
+        help="Turn telemetry on or off (omit to show the current state)",
+    )
+
     parser.set_defaults(func=dispatch)
 
 
@@ -75,6 +85,8 @@ def dispatch(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
         return _cmd_status(args)
     if sub == "install-sidecar":
         return _cmd_install_sidecar(args)
+    if sub == "telemetry":
+        return _cmd_telemetry(args)
     print(f"unknown subcommand: {sub}", file=sys.stderr)
     return 2
 
@@ -303,6 +315,7 @@ def _cmd_status(_args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
     sidecar_installed = (_SIDECAR_DIR / "node_modules").exists()
     print(f"  node binary         : {node_bin or '✗ missing (install Node 18+)'}")
     print(f"  sidecar deps        : {'✓ installed' if sidecar_installed else '✗ run `hermes photon install-sidecar`'}")
+    print(f"  telemetry           : {'on' if _telemetry_enabled() else 'off'} (`hermes photon telemetry on|off`)")
     return 0
 
 
@@ -323,6 +336,37 @@ def _cmd_install_sidecar(_args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
     return _install_sidecar()
 
 
+def _telemetry_enabled() -> bool:
+    """Read PHOTON_TELEMETRY from the env / ~/.hermes/.env.
+
+    Mirrors the sidecar's truthy set (index.mjs) so the state shown here
+    always matches what the sidecar will actually do.
+    """
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.config import get_env_value
+        raw = get_env_value("PHOTON_TELEMETRY")
+    except ImportError:
+        raw = os.getenv("PHOTON_TELEMETRY")
+    return (raw or "").strip().lower() in ("1", "true", "yes", "on")
+
+
+def _cmd_telemetry(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
+    state = getattr(args, "state", None)
+    if state is None:
+        print(f"Photon telemetry: {'on' if _telemetry_enabled() else 'off'}")
+        print("  Toggle with `hermes photon telemetry on` / `hermes photon telemetry off`.")
+        return 0
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.config import save_env_value
+        save_env_value("PHOTON_TELEMETRY", "true" if state == "on" else "false")
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"could not save PHOTON_TELEMETRY: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 1
+    print(f"✓ Spectrum telemetry turned {state} (PHOTON_TELEMETRY in ~/.hermes/.env)")
+    print("  Restart the gateway for the sidecar to pick it up:  hermes gateway restart")
+    return 0
+
+
 def _install_sidecar() -> int:
     npm = shutil.which("npm") or "npm"
     if not shutil.which(npm):
diff --git a/plugins/platforms/photon/plugin.yaml b/plugins/platforms/photon/plugin.yaml
index 12ade17f8e58..c9e149cbca4f 100644
--- a/plugins/platforms/photon/plugin.yaml
+++ b/plugins/platforms/photon/plugin.yaml
@@ -74,3 +74,7 @@ optional_env:
     description: "Human label for the home channel"
     prompt: "Home channel display name"
     password: false
+  - name: PHOTON_TELEMETRY
+    description: "Enable Spectrum SDK telemetry in the sidecar (true/false, default false; toggle with `hermes photon telemetry on|off`)"
+    prompt: "Enable Spectrum telemetry? (true/false)"
+    password: false
diff --git a/plugins/platforms/photon/sidecar/index.mjs b/plugins/platforms/photon/sidecar/index.mjs
index d1c44d7c51bc..065e90d84cb6 100644
--- a/plugins/platforms/photon/sidecar/index.mjs
+++ b/plugins/platforms/photon/sidecar/index.mjs
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 //   PHOTON_SIDECAR_TOKEN
 // Optional:
 //   PHOTON_SIDECAR_BIND    (default 127.0.0.1)
+//   PHOTON_TELEMETRY       enable Spectrum SDK telemetry ("true"/"1"/"on"/"yes";
+//                          default off — toggle with `hermes photon telemetry`)
 
 import http from "node:http";
 import crypto from "node:crypto";
@@ -48,6 +50,9 @@ const projectSecret = process.env.PHOTON_PROJECT_SECRET;
 const port = parseInt(process.env.PHOTON_SIDECAR_PORT || "8789", 10);
 const bind = process.env.PHOTON_SIDECAR_BIND || "127.0.0.1";
 const sharedToken = process.env.PHOTON_SIDECAR_TOKEN;
+const telemetry = /^(1|true|yes|on)$/i.test(
+  (process.env.PHOTON_TELEMETRY || "").trim()
+);
 
 // Inbound binary content is read into memory and base64-inlined on the NDJSON
 // event so the Python adapter can cache the real bytes (and the agent can see
@@ -94,6 +99,7 @@ const app = await Spectrum({
   projectSecret,
   providers: [imessage.config()],
   options: { flattenGroups: true },
+  telemetry,
 });
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------