diff --git a/internal/adapter/cli/run.go b/internal/adapter/cli/run.go
index 9ab33cf..54979cf 100644
--- a/internal/adapter/cli/run.go
+++ b/internal/adapter/cli/run.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 	httpadapter "gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/adapter/http"
 	artifactadapter "gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/artifact"
+	appconfig "gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/config"
 	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/defaults"
 	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/domain"
 	renderformat "gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/format"
@@ -32,6 +33,8 @@ const (
 )
 
 type runConfig struct {
+	configPath string
+
 	promptDir   string
 	profileDir  string
 	promptID    string
@@ -48,6 +51,8 @@ type runConfig struct {
 	schemaDir   string
 	timeout     time.Duration
 
+	defaultRenderFormat renderformat.PreparedRunOutputFormat
+
 	llmBaseURLSet  bool
 	apiKeyEnvSet   bool
 	modelSet       bool
@@ -63,6 +68,8 @@ type renderConfig struct {
 }
 
 type serveConfig struct {
+	configPath string
+
 	addr       string
 	promptDir  string
 	profileDir string
@@ -230,8 +237,9 @@ func parseRunArgs(args []string) (*runConfig, error) {
 	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("run", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	fs.SetOutput(io.Discard)
 
+	registerConfigPathFlag(fs, &cfg.configPath)
 	registerExecutionRequestFlags(fs, cfg)
-	fs.StringVar(&cfg.schemaDir, "schema-dir", defaults.SchemaDirDefault, "base directory for validation schemas")
+	fs.StringVar(&cfg.schemaDir, "schema-dir", "", "base directory for validation schemas")
 
 	if err := fs.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -251,10 +259,11 @@ func parseRenderArgs(args []string) (*renderConfig, error) {
 	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("render", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	fs.SetOutput(io.Discard)
 
+	registerConfigPathFlag(fs, &cfg.configPath)
 	registerExecutionRequestFlags(fs, &cfg.runConfig)
 
 	var rawFormat string
-	fs.StringVar(&rawFormat, "format", string(renderformat.DefaultPreparedRunOutputFormat), "render output format (text|json)")
+	fs.StringVar(&rawFormat, "format", "", "render output format (text|json)")
 
 	if err := fs.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -263,11 +272,15 @@ func parseRenderArgs(args []string) (*renderConfig, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	format, err := renderformat.ParsePreparedRunOutputFormat(rawFormat)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "format") {
+		format, err := renderformat.ParsePreparedRunOutputFormat(rawFormat)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		cfg.outputFormat = format
+	} else {
+		cfg.outputFormat = cfg.defaultRenderFormat
 	}
-	cfg.outputFormat = format
 	return cfg, nil
 }
 
@@ -276,10 +289,11 @@ func parseServeArgs(args []string) (*serveConfig, error) {
 	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("serve", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	fs.SetOutput(io.Discard)
 
-	fs.StringVar(&cfg.addr, "addr", defaults.HTTPAddrDefault, "HTTP listen address")
+	registerConfigPathFlag(fs, &cfg.configPath)
+	fs.StringVar(&cfg.addr, "addr", "", "HTTP listen address")
 	fs.StringVar(&cfg.promptDir, "prompt-dir", "", "directory containing prompt definition YAML files")
 	fs.StringVar(&cfg.profileDir, "profile-dir", "", "directory containing execution profile YAML files")
-	fs.StringVar(&cfg.schemaDir, "schema-dir", defaults.SchemaDirDefault, "base directory for validation schemas")
+	fs.StringVar(&cfg.schemaDir, "schema-dir", "", "base directory for validation schemas")
 
 	if err := fs.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -288,6 +302,21 @@ func parseServeArgs(args []string) (*serveConfig, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected positional args: %v", fs.Args())
 	}
 
+	settings, err := resolveAppSettings(fs, cfg.configPath, appconfig.CLIOverrides{
+		PromptDir:  cfg.promptDirIfSet(fs),
+		ProfileDir: cfg.profileDirIfSet(fs),
+		SchemaDir:  cfg.schemaDirIfSet(fs),
+		ServerAddr: cfg.addrIfSet(fs),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	cfg.promptDir = settings.PromptDir
+	cfg.profileDir = settings.ProfileDir
+	cfg.schemaDir = settings.SchemaDir
+	cfg.addr = settings.ServerAddr
+
 	if strings.TrimSpace(cfg.promptDir) == "" {
 		return nil, errors.New("--prompt-dir is required")
 	}
@@ -325,6 +354,20 @@ func finalizeExecutionRequestConfig(fs *flag.FlagSet, cfg *runConfig) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected positional args: %v", fs.Args())
 	}
 
+	settings, err := resolveAppSettings(fs, cfg.configPath, appconfig.CLIOverrides{
+		PromptDir:  cfg.promptDirIfSet(fs),
+		ProfileDir: cfg.profileDirIfSet(fs),
+		SchemaDir:  cfg.schemaDirIfSet(fs),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	cfg.promptDir = settings.PromptDir
+	cfg.profileDir = settings.ProfileDir
+	cfg.schemaDir = settings.SchemaDir
+	cfg.defaultRenderFormat = settings.DefaultRenderFormat
+
 	if strings.TrimSpace(cfg.promptDir) == "" {
 		return errors.New("--prompt-dir is required")
 	}
@@ -352,6 +395,73 @@ func finalizeExecutionRequestConfig(fs *flag.FlagSet, cfg *runConfig) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (c *runConfig) promptDirIfSet(fs *flag.FlagSet) string {
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "prompt-dir") {
+		return c.promptDir
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (c *runConfig) profileDirIfSet(fs *flag.FlagSet) string {
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "profile-dir") {
+		return c.profileDir
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (c *runConfig) schemaDirIfSet(fs *flag.FlagSet) string {
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "schema-dir") {
+		return c.schemaDir
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (c *serveConfig) promptDirIfSet(fs *flag.FlagSet) string {
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "prompt-dir") {
+		return c.promptDir
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (c *serveConfig) profileDirIfSet(fs *flag.FlagSet) string {
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "profile-dir") {
+		return c.profileDir
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (c *serveConfig) schemaDirIfSet(fs *flag.FlagSet) string {
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "schema-dir") {
+		return c.schemaDir
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (c *serveConfig) addrIfSet(fs *flag.FlagSet) string {
+	if flagWasSet(fs, "addr") {
+		return c.addr
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+func registerConfigPathFlag(fs *flag.FlagSet, target *string) {
+	fs.StringVar(target, "config", "", fmt.Sprintf("application config path (default %s)", appconfig.DefaultConfigPath))
+}
+
+func resolveAppSettings(fs *flag.FlagSet, configPath string, overrides appconfig.CLIOverrides) (appconfig.AppSettings, error) {
+	settings, err := appconfig.LoadConfig(configPath, flagWasSet(fs, "config"))
+	if err != nil {
+		return appconfig.AppSettings{}, fmt.Errorf("application config error: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	merged, err := appconfig.ApplyCLIOverrides(settings, overrides)
+	if err != nil {
+		return appconfig.AppSettings{}, fmt.Errorf("application config error: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return merged, nil
+}
+
 func buildRunRequestFromConfig(cfg *runConfig) (domain.RunRequest, error) {
 	inputMappings, err := parseMappings(cfg.inputRaw, false)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -482,7 +592,7 @@ func printSummary(stderr io.Writer, res *domain.RunResult) {
 
 func printUsage(w io.Writer) {
 	fmt.Fprintln(w, "usage: scriptorium <run|render|serve> ...")
-	fmt.Fprintln(w, "  run:   scriptorium run --prompt-dir DIR --profile-dir DIR --prompt ID --input name=path [--input ...] [--profile ID] [--llm-base-url URL] [--model NAME] [--api-key-env ENV] [--temperature N] [--max-tokens N] [--top-p N] [--var k=v] [--out path] [--timeout 10m]")
-	fmt.Fprintln(w, "  render: scriptorium render --prompt-dir DIR --profile-dir DIR --prompt ID --input name=path [--input ...] [--profile ID] [--llm-base-url URL] [--model NAME] [--api-key-env ENV] [--temperature N] [--max-tokens N] [--top-p N] [--var k=v] [--format text|json] [--out path] [--timeout 10m]")
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "  serve: scriptorium serve --addr %s --prompt-dir DIR --profile-dir DIR [--schema-dir DIR]\n", defaults.HTTPAddrDefault)
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "  run:   scriptorium run [--config PATH] --prompt-dir DIR --profile-dir DIR --prompt ID --input name=path [--input ...] [--profile ID] [--llm-base-url URL] [--model NAME] [--api-key-env ENV] [--temperature N] [--max-tokens N] [--top-p N] [--var k=v] [--out path] [--timeout 10m]")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "  render: scriptorium render [--config PATH] --prompt-dir DIR --profile-dir DIR --prompt ID --input name=path [--input ...] [--profile ID] [--llm-base-url URL] [--model NAME] [--api-key-env ENV] [--temperature N] [--max-tokens N] [--top-p N] [--var k=v] [--format text|json] [--out path] [--timeout 10m]")
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "  serve: scriptorium serve [--config PATH] --addr %s --prompt-dir DIR --profile-dir DIR [--schema-dir DIR]\n", defaults.HTTPAddrDefault)
 }
diff --git a/internal/adapter/cli/run_test.go b/internal/adapter/cli/run_test.go
index 15b9659..cfcfb69 100644
--- a/internal/adapter/cli/run_test.go
+++ b/internal/adapter/cli/run_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
+	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	appconfig "gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/config"
 	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/defaults"
 	"gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/domain"
 	renderformat "gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/scriptorium/internal/format"
@@ -61,22 +63,24 @@ func TestParseMappingsMalformed(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestParseRunArgsRequiredFlags(t *testing.T) {
-	_, err := parseRunArgs([]string{"--profile-dir", "./profiles", "--prompt", "p", "--input", "a=b"})
+	configPath := writeAppConfigFile(t, "")
+
+	_, err := parseRunArgs([]string{"--config", configPath, "--profile-dir", "./profiles", "--prompt", "p", "--input", "a=b"})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected missing --prompt-dir error")
 	}
 
-	_, err = parseRunArgs([]string{"--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--prompt", "p", "--input", "a=b"})
+	_, err = parseRunArgs([]string{"--config", configPath, "--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--prompt", "p", "--input", "a=b"})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected missing --profile-dir error")
 	}
 
-	_, err = parseRunArgs([]string{"--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--profile-dir", "./profiles", "--input", "a=b"})
+	_, err = parseRunArgs([]string{"--config", configPath, "--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--profile-dir", "./profiles", "--input", "a=b"})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected missing --prompt error")
 	}
 
-	_, err = parseRunArgs([]string{"--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--profile-dir", "./profiles", "--prompt", "p"})
+	_, err = parseRunArgs([]string{"--config", configPath, "--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--profile-dir", "./profiles", "--prompt", "p"})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected missing --input error")
 	}
@@ -140,17 +144,19 @@ func TestParseRunArgsRejectsRawLLMAPIKeyFlag(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestParseServeArgsRequiredFlags(t *testing.T) {
-	_, err := parseServeArgs([]string{"--profile-dir", "./profiles"})
+	configPath := writeAppConfigFile(t, "")
+
+	_, err := parseServeArgs([]string{"--config", configPath, "--profile-dir", "./profiles"})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected missing --prompt-dir error")
 	}
 
-	_, err = parseServeArgs([]string{"--prompt-dir", "./prompts"})
+	_, err = parseServeArgs([]string{"--config", configPath, "--prompt-dir", "./prompts"})
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected missing --profile-dir error")
 	}
 
-	cfg, err := parseServeArgs([]string{"--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--profile-dir", "./profiles"})
+	cfg, err := parseServeArgs([]string{"--config", configPath, "--prompt-dir", "./prompts", "--profile-dir", "./profiles"})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("expected valid serve args, got %v", err)
 	}
@@ -266,6 +272,147 @@ func TestParseRenderArgsExplicitFormatsAndUnknown(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestParseRunArgsWithExplicitConfigLoadsDirectories(t *testing.T) {
+	configPath := writeAppConfigFile(t, `
+prompt_dir: ./from-config/prompts
+profile_dir: ./from-config/profiles
+schema_dir: ./from-config/schemas
+`)
+
+	cfg, err := parseRunArgs([]string{
+		"--config", configPath,
+		"--prompt", "p",
+		"--input", "a=b",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected valid args, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.promptDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/prompts") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected prompt dir from config, got %q", cfg.promptDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.profileDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/profiles") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected profile dir from config, got %q", cfg.profileDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.schemaDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/schemas") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected schema dir from config, got %q", cfg.schemaDir)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseRunArgsMissingExplicitConfigReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := parseRunArgs([]string{
+		"--config", filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "missing.yml"),
+		"--prompt", "p",
+		"--input", "a=b",
+	})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected explicit config missing error")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestResolveAppSettingsMissingImplicitConfigDoesNotError(t *testing.T) {
+	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("test", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	settings, err := resolveAppSettings(fs, filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "missing.yml"), appconfig.CLIOverrides{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no error, got %v", err)
+	}
+	if settings.SchemaDir != defaults.SchemaDirDefault {
+		t.Fatalf("expected built-in schema dir, got %q", settings.SchemaDir)
+	}
+	if settings.ServerAddr != defaults.HTTPAddrDefault {
+		t.Fatalf("expected built-in server addr, got %q", settings.ServerAddr)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseRunArgsCLIOverridesConfigDirectories(t *testing.T) {
+	configPath := writeAppConfigFile(t, `
+prompt_dir: ./from-config/prompts
+profile_dir: ./from-config/profiles
+schema_dir: ./from-config/schemas
+`)
+
+	cfg, err := parseRunArgs([]string{
+		"--config", configPath,
+		"--prompt-dir", "./from-cli/prompts",
+		"--profile-dir", "./from-cli/profiles",
+		"--schema-dir", "./from-cli/schemas",
+		"--prompt", "p",
+		"--input", "a=b",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected valid args, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.promptDir != filepath.Clean("./from-cli/prompts") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected CLI prompt dir override, got %q", cfg.promptDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.profileDir != filepath.Clean("./from-cli/profiles") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected CLI profile dir override, got %q", cfg.profileDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.schemaDir != filepath.Clean("./from-cli/schemas") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected CLI schema dir override, got %q", cfg.schemaDir)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseRenderArgsWithExplicitConfigLoadsDirectoriesAndFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	configPath := writeAppConfigFile(t, `
+prompt_dir: ./from-config/prompts
+profile_dir: ./from-config/profiles
+defaults:
+  render_format: json
+`)
+
+	cfg, err := parseRenderArgs([]string{
+		"--config", configPath,
+		"--prompt", "p",
+		"--input", "a=b",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected valid args, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.promptDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/prompts") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected prompt dir from config, got %q", cfg.promptDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.profileDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/profiles") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected profile dir from config, got %q", cfg.profileDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.outputFormat != renderformat.PreparedRunFormatJSON {
+		t.Fatalf("expected render format from config, got %q", cfg.outputFormat)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseServeArgsWithExplicitConfigLoadsSettingsAndCLIAddrOverrides(t *testing.T) {
+	configPath := writeAppConfigFile(t, `
+prompt_dir: ./from-config/prompts
+profile_dir: ./from-config/profiles
+schema_dir: ./from-config/schemas
+server:
+  addr: 127.0.0.1:9000
+`)
+
+	cfg, err := parseServeArgs([]string{
+		"--config", configPath,
+		"--addr", ":7777",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected valid args, got %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.promptDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/prompts") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected prompt dir from config, got %q", cfg.promptDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.profileDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/profiles") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected profile dir from config, got %q", cfg.profileDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.schemaDir != filepath.Clean("./from-config/schemas") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected schema dir from config, got %q", cfg.schemaDir)
+	}
+	if cfg.addr != ":7777" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected CLI addr override, got %q", cfg.addr)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDetermineExitCode(t *testing.T) {
 	if got := determineExitCode(errors.New("boom"), nil); got != ExitRuntimeError {
 		t.Fatalf("expected runtime exit code, got %d", got)
@@ -822,3 +969,12 @@ func newTestLLMServer(content string, hitCounter *int32) *httptest.Server {
 		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"choices":[{"message":{"role":"assistant","content":%q}}],"usage":{"prompt_tokens":1,"completion_tokens":1,"total_tokens":2}}`, content)))
 	}))
 }
+
+func writeAppConfigFile(t *testing.T, content string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "config.yml")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(content), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write app config fixture: %v", err)
+	}
+	return path
+}