diff --git a/src/agent/context.rs b/src/agent/context.rs
index 5b51c24..37dbf48 100644
--- a/src/agent/context.rs
+++ b/src/agent/context.rs
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ impl AstNode {
 
     /// Short label for the UI.
     pub fn label(&self) -> String {
-        let cfg = crate::config::get();
+        let app = crate::config::app();
         match self {
             Self::Branch { role, children, .. } => {
                 let preview = children.first()
@@ -383,8 +383,8 @@ impl AstNode {
                     .unwrap_or_default();
                 match role {
                     Role::System => "system".into(),
-                    Role::User => format!("{}: {}", cfg.user_name, preview),
-                    Role::Assistant => format!("{}: {}", cfg.assistant_name, preview),
+                    Role::User => format!("{}: {}", app.user_name, preview),
+                    Role::Assistant => format!("{}: {}", app.assistant_name, preview),
                 }
             }
             Self::Leaf(leaf) => match &leaf.body {
diff --git a/src/agent/oneshot.rs b/src/agent/oneshot.rs
index 1c5ac90..8bc8b53 100644
--- a/src/agent/oneshot.rs
+++ b/src/agent/oneshot.rs
@@ -183,8 +183,8 @@ fn resolve_prompt(
     state: &std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>,
     recently_written: &[String],
 ) -> String {
-    let cfg = crate::config::get();
-    let template = template.replace("{assistant_name}", &cfg.assistant_name);
+    let template = template.replace("{assistant_name}",
+        &crate::config::app().assistant_name);
     let mut result = String::with_capacity(template.len());
     let mut rest = template.as_str();
     while let Some(start) = rest.find("{{") {
diff --git a/src/cli/node.rs b/src/cli/node.rs
index 5472505..c4305a7 100644
--- a/src/cli/node.rs
+++ b/src/cli/node.rs
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ pub async fn cmd_load_context(stats: bool) -> Result<()> {
         return Ok(());
     }
 
-    println!("=== MEMORY SYSTEM ({}) ===", cfg.assistant_name);
+    println!("=== MEMORY SYSTEM ({}) ===", crate::config::app().assistant_name);
 
     if !personality.is_empty() {
         println!("--- personality_nodes ({}) ---", personality.len());
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index d00d4d7..b7ea597 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -40,8 +40,6 @@ fn default_identity_dir() -> PathBuf {
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(default)]
 pub struct Config {
-    pub user_name: String,
-    pub assistant_name: String,
     #[serde(deserialize_with = "deserialize_path")]
     pub data_dir: PathBuf,
     #[serde(default = "default_identity_dir", deserialize_with = "deserialize_path")]
@@ -91,8 +89,6 @@ impl Default for Config {
     fn default() -> Self {
         let home = dirs::home_dir().unwrap_or_default();
         Self {
-            user_name: "User".to_string(),
-            assistant_name: "Assistant".to_string(),
             data_dir: home.join(".consciousness/memory"),
             identity_dir: home.join(".consciousness/identity"),
             projects_dir: home.join(".claude/projects"),
@@ -229,6 +225,10 @@ pub fn watch_config(cli: crate::user::CliArgs) {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct AppConfig {
+    #[serde(default = "default_user_name")]
+    pub user_name: String,
+    #[serde(default = "default_assistant_name")]
+    pub assistant_name: String,
     /// Named model endpoints — credentials, base URL, and model id bundled
     /// into one entry per backend. Keyed by name, selected by
     /// `default_backend` or by `--model <name>` on the CLI.
@@ -315,9 +315,14 @@ impl Default for LearnConfig {
     }
 }
 
+fn default_user_name() -> String { "User".into() }
+fn default_assistant_name() -> String { "Assistant".into() }
+
 impl Default for AppConfig {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
+            user_name: default_user_name(),
+            assistant_name: default_assistant_name(),
             backends: HashMap::new(),
             default_backend: String::new(),
             debug: false,
@@ -534,7 +539,9 @@ pub fn show_config(app: &AppConfig, figment: &Figment) {
     }
 
     println!("# Effective configuration\n");
-    println!("debug: {}  ({})", app.debug, src(figment, "debug"));
+    println!("user_name: {:?}  ({})", app.user_name, src(figment, "user_name"));
+    println!("assistant_name: {:?}  ({})", app.assistant_name, src(figment, "assistant_name"));
+    println!("\ndebug: {}  ({})", app.debug, src(figment, "debug"));
     println!("\ncompaction:");
     println!("  hard_threshold_pct: {}  ({})", app.compaction.hard_threshold_pct, src(figment, "compaction.hard_threshold_pct"));
     println!("  soft_threshold_pct: {}  ({})", app.compaction.soft_threshold_pct, src(figment, "compaction.soft_threshold_pct"));
diff --git a/src/mind/subconscious.rs b/src/mind/subconscious.rs
index 15c8b04..21cc549 100644
--- a/src/mind/subconscious.rs
+++ b/src/mind/subconscious.rs
@@ -92,7 +92,8 @@ impl State {
     /// Generate the DMN prompt for the current state, informed by
     /// user presence and error patterns.
     pub fn prompt(&self, ctx: &DmnContext) -> String {
-        let user = &crate::config::get().user_name;
+        let app = crate::config::app();
+        let user = &app.user_name;
 
         let idle_info = if ctx.user_idle < Duration::from_secs(60) {
             format!("{} is here (active recently).", user)
diff --git a/src/subconscious/defs.rs b/src/subconscious/defs.rs
index 8828043..a862c8d 100644
--- a/src/subconscious/defs.rs
+++ b/src/subconscious/defs.rs
@@ -396,13 +396,14 @@ fn resolve_conversation(budget: Option<usize>) -> String {
 
     let cfg = crate::config::get();
     let max_bytes = budget.unwrap_or_else(|| cfg.surface_conversation_bytes.unwrap_or(100_000));
+    let app = crate::config::app();
     let mut fragments: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
     let mut total_bytes = 0;
     let mut oldest_ts = String::new();
 
     for (role, content, ts) in iter {
         if total_bytes >= max_bytes { break; }
-        let name = if role == "user" { &cfg.user_name } else { &cfg.assistant_name };
+        let name = if role == "user" { &app.user_name } else { &app.assistant_name };
         let formatted = if !ts.is_empty() {
             oldest_ts = ts[..ts.floor_char_boundary(ts.len().min(19))].to_string();
             format!("**{}** {}: {}", name, &oldest_ts, content)
@@ -623,11 +624,13 @@ pub async fn run_agent(
     let mut all_keys = keys;
     let mut resolved_steps = Vec::new();
     for step in &def.steps {
-        let cfg = crate::config::get();
-        let template = step.prompt
-            .replace("{agent_name}", &def.agent)
-            .replace("{user_name}", &cfg.user_name)
-            .replace("{assistant_name}", &cfg.assistant_name);
+        let template = {
+            let app = crate::config::app();
+            step.prompt
+                .replace("{agent_name}", &def.agent)
+                .replace("{user_name}", &app.user_name)
+                .replace("{assistant_name}", &app.assistant_name)
+        };
         let (prompt, extra_keys) = resolve_placeholders(&template, &all_keys, count).await;
         all_keys.extend(extra_keys);
         resolved_steps.push(super::prompts::ResolvedStep {