diff --git a/src/bot/instance.ts b/src/bot/instance.ts
index 23261ef..a44bfb2 100644
--- a/src/bot/instance.ts
+++ b/src/bot/instance.ts
@@ -553,4 +553,8 @@ export class BotInstance extends EventEmitter {
   isConnected(): boolean {
     return this.connected;
   }
+
+  getIdentityExport(): string | undefined {
+    return this.tsClient.getIdentityExport();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/bot/manager.ts b/src/bot/manager.ts
index 4dab98a..9043f93 100644
--- a/src/bot/manager.ts
+++ b/src/bot/manager.ts
@@ -131,12 +131,25 @@ export class BotManager {
     const bot = this.bots.get(id);
     if (!bot) throw new Error(`Bot ${id} not found`);
     await bot.connect();
+
+    // Mark as autoStart so it reconnects on Docker restart, and persist identity
+    const saved = this.database.getBotInstances().find((i) => i.id === id);
+    if (saved) {
+      this.database.saveBotInstance({ ...saved, autoStart: true });
+      this.persistBotIdentity(saved, bot);
+    }
   }
 
   stopBot(id: string): void {
     const bot = this.bots.get(id);
     if (!bot) throw new Error(`Bot ${id} not found`);
     bot.disconnect();
+
+    // Mark as not autoStart so it stays stopped on Docker restart
+    const saved = this.database.getBotInstances().find((i) => i.id === id);
+    if (saved) {
+      this.database.saveBotInstance({ ...saved, autoStart: false });
+    }
   }
 
   async loadSavedBots(): Promise<void> {
@@ -150,6 +163,7 @@ export class BotManager {
           port: saved.serverPort,
           queryPort: 10011,
           nickname: saved.nickname,
+          identity: saved.identity || undefined,
           defaultChannel: saved.defaultChannel || undefined,
           channelPassword: saved.channelPassword || undefined,
         },
@@ -163,18 +177,30 @@ export class BotManager {
 
       this.bots.set(saved.id, bot);
 
-      // Auto-connect in background (non-blocking, won't affect other bots)
-      bot.connect().then(() => {
+      // Only auto-connect bots that have autoStart enabled
+      if (saved.autoStart) {
+        bot.connect().then(() => {
+          // Persist identity after successful connection for future restarts
+          this.persistBotIdentity(saved, bot);
+          this.logger.info(
+            { botId: saved.id, name: saved.name },
+            "Auto-connected saved bot"
+          );
+        }).catch((err) => {
+          this.logger.error(
+            { err, botId: saved.id, name: saved.name },
+            "Failed to auto-connect bot (start manually from Settings)"
+          );
+        });
+
+        // Stagger connections to avoid overwhelming the TS server
+        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
+      } else {
         this.logger.info(
           { botId: saved.id, name: saved.name },
-          "Auto-connected saved bot"
+          "Loaded bot (autoStart disabled, not connecting)"
         );
-      }).catch((err) => {
-        this.logger.error(
-          { err, botId: saved.id, name: saved.name },
-          "Failed to auto-connect bot (start manually from Settings)"
-        );
-      });
+      }
     }
 
     this.logger.info(
@@ -183,6 +209,13 @@ export class BotManager {
     );
   }
 
+  private persistBotIdentity(saved: import("../data/database.js").BotInstance, bot: BotInstance): void {
+    const identity = bot.getIdentityExport();
+    if (identity && identity !== saved.identity) {
+      this.database.saveBotInstance({ ...saved, identity });
+    }
+  }
+
   shutdown(): void {
     for (const bot of this.bots.values()) {
       bot.disconnect();
diff --git a/src/data/database.ts b/src/data/database.ts
index 8f043ba..3ece408 100644
--- a/src/data/database.ts
+++ b/src/data/database.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export interface BotInstance {
   defaultChannel: string;
   channelPassword: string;
   autoStart: boolean;
+  identity?: string;
 }
 
 export interface BotDatabase {
@@ -36,6 +37,15 @@ export interface BotDatabase {
   close(): void;
 }
 
+function migrateSchema(db: Database.Database): void {
+  // Add identity column if it doesn't exist (migration for existing databases)
+  const columns = db.prepare("PRAGMA table_info(bot_instances)").all() as Array<{ name: string }>;
+  const hasIdentity = columns.some((c) => c.name === "identity");
+  if (!hasIdentity) {
+    db.exec("ALTER TABLE bot_instances ADD COLUMN identity TEXT");
+  }
+}
+
 function initTables(db: Database.Database): void {
   db.exec(`
     CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS play_history (
@@ -58,7 +68,8 @@ function initTables(db: Database.Database): void {
       nickname TEXT NOT NULL,
       defaultChannel TEXT NOT NULL,
       channelPassword TEXT NOT NULL,
-      autoStart INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0
+      autoStart INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+      identity TEXT
     );
   `);
 }
@@ -67,6 +78,7 @@ export function createDatabase(dbPath: string): BotDatabase {
   const db = new Database(dbPath);
   db.pragma("journal_mode = WAL");
   initTables(db);
+  migrateSchema(db);
 
   const insertHistory = db.prepare(`
     INSERT INTO play_history (botId, songId, songName, artist, album, platform, coverUrl)
@@ -78,8 +90,8 @@ export function createDatabase(dbPath: string): BotDatabase {
   `);
 
   const upsertInstance = db.prepare(`
-    INSERT INTO bot_instances (id, name, serverAddress, serverPort, nickname, defaultChannel, channelPassword, autoStart)
-    VALUES (@id, @name, @serverAddress, @serverPort, @nickname, @defaultChannel, @channelPassword, @autoStart)
+    INSERT INTO bot_instances (id, name, serverAddress, serverPort, nickname, defaultChannel, channelPassword, autoStart, identity)
+    VALUES (@id, @name, @serverAddress, @serverPort, @nickname, @defaultChannel, @channelPassword, @autoStart, @identity)
     ON CONFLICT(id) DO UPDATE SET
       name = excluded.name,
       serverAddress = excluded.serverAddress,
@@ -87,7 +99,8 @@ export function createDatabase(dbPath: string): BotDatabase {
       nickname = excluded.nickname,
       defaultChannel = excluded.defaultChannel,
       channelPassword = excluded.channelPassword,
-      autoStart = excluded.autoStart
+      autoStart = excluded.autoStart,
+      identity = excluded.identity
   `);
 
   const selectInstances = db.prepare(`SELECT * FROM bot_instances`);
@@ -109,14 +122,19 @@ export function createDatabase(dbPath: string): BotDatabase {
       upsertInstance.run({
         ...instance,
         autoStart: instance.autoStart ? 1 : 0,
+        identity: instance.identity ?? null,
       });
     },
 
     getBotInstances() {
       const rows = selectInstances.all() as Array<
-        Omit<BotInstance, "autoStart"> & { autoStart: number }
+        Omit<BotInstance, "autoStart" | "identity"> & { autoStart: number; identity: string | null }
       >;
-      return rows.map((r) => ({ ...r, autoStart: r.autoStart === 1 }));
+      return rows.map((r) => ({
+        ...r,
+        autoStart: r.autoStart === 1,
+        identity: r.identity ?? undefined,
+      }));
     },
 
     deleteBotInstance(id) {
diff --git a/src/ts-protocol/client.ts b/src/ts-protocol/client.ts
index 63e5c04..a3bb428 100644
--- a/src/ts-protocol/client.ts
+++ b/src/ts-protocol/client.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,18 @@ export class TS3Client extends EventEmitter {
   }
 
   async connect(): Promise<void> {
+    // Clean up any existing connection before creating a new one
+    if (this.client) {
+      this.logger.info("Cleaning up previous connection before reconnecting");
+      try {
+        await this.client.disconnect();
+      } catch {
+        // Ignore errors during cleanup
+      }
+      this.client = null;
+      this.clientId = 0;
+    }
+
     const addr = `${this.options.host}:${this.options.port}`;
     this.logger.info({ addr }, "Connecting to TeamSpeak server (full client protocol)");