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ABSTRACT Komagataella phaffii, also known asPichia pastoris, is a powerful host for recombinant protein production, in part due to its exceptionally strong and tightly controlled P_AOX1promoter. MostK. phaffiibioprocesses for recombinant protein production rely on P_AOX1to achieve dynamic control in two‐phase processes. Cells are first grown under conditions that repress P_AOX1(growth phase), followed by methanol‐induced recombinant protein expression (production phase). In this study, we propose a methanol‐free approach for dynamic metabolic control inK. phaffiiusing optogenetics, which can help enhance input tunability and flexibility in process optimization and control. The light‐responsive transcription factor EL222 fromErythrobacter litoralisis used to regulate protein production from the P_C120promoter inK. phaffiiwith blue light. We used two system designs to explore the advantages and disadvantages of coupling or decoupling EL222 integration with that of the gene of interest. We investigate the relationship between EL222 gene copy number and light dosage to improve production efficiency for intracellular and secreted proteins. Experiments in lab‐scale bioreactors demonstrate the feasibility of the outlined optogenetic systems as potential alternatives to conventional methanol‐inducible bioprocesses usingK. phaffii.