diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6520247..d7191b4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 # nix-hermes
 
-Nix package and NixOS module for [Hermes Agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) by Nous Research.
+Declarative Nix package and NixOS module for [Hermes Agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) by Nous Research.
+
+Everything is configured in Nix. Config, documents, secrets, service — one `nixos-rebuild switch` and it's live.
 
 ## Quick Start
 
-### Flake usage
+### 1. Add to your flake
 
 ```nix
 {
@@ -14,60 +16,196 @@ Nix package and NixOS module for [Hermes Agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/
     nixosConfigurations.myhost = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
       modules = [
         nix-hermes.nixosModules.hermes-agent
-        {
-          services.hermes-agent = {
-            enable = true;
-            environmentFile = "/run/secrets/hermes-env";  # API keys
-          };
-        }
+        ./hermes.nix  # your config (see below)
       ];
     };
   };
 }
 ```
 
-### Just the package
+### 2. Configure declaratively
 
-```bash
-nix run github:0xrsydn/nix-hermes -- --help
+```nix
+# hermes.nix
+{ ... }:
+{
+  services.hermes-agent = {
+    enable = true;
+
+    # ── Declarative config (renders to cli-config.yaml) ──
+    config = {
+      model = {
+        default = "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6";
+        provider = "openrouter";
+      };
+      terminal = {
+        backend = "local";
+        timeout = 180;
+        lifetime_seconds = 300;
+      };
+      agent = {
+        max_turns = 60;
+        reasoning_effort = "medium";
+      };
+      memory = {
+        memory_enabled = true;
+        user_profile_enabled = true;
+        memory_char_limit = 2200;
+        nudge_interval = 10;
+      };
+      compression = {
+        enabled = true;
+        threshold = 0.85;
+        summary_model = "google/gemini-3-flash-preview";
+      };
+      toolsets = [ "all" ];
+    };
+
+    # ── Secrets (not in Nix store) ──
+    environmentFiles = [
+      "/run/secrets/hermes-env"  # ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, TELEGRAM_TOKEN, etc.
+    ];
+
+    # ── Non-secret env vars ──
+    environment = {
+      LLM_MODEL = "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6";
+    };
+
+    # ── Workspace documents (inline or file paths) ──
+    documents = {
+      "SOUL.md" = ''
+        # SOUL.md
+        You are a sharp, pragmatic AI assistant.
+      '';
+      "AGENTS.md" = ''
+        # AGENTS.md
+        Read SOUL.md first. Then help the user.
+      '';
+      "USER.md" = ''
+        # USER.md
+        Name: Your Human
+      '';
+      # Or reference a file:
+      # "SOUL.md" = ./documents/SOUL.md;
+    };
+
+    # ── MCP servers ──
+    mcpServers = {
+      context7 = {
+        command = "npx";
+        args = [ "-y" "@upstash/context7-mcp@latest" ];
+      };
+    };
+
+    # ── Extra tools on PATH ──
+    extraPackages = with pkgs; [ jq ripgrep curl ];
+  };
+}
 ```
 
-### NixOS module options
+### 3. Create secrets file
+
+```bash
+# /run/secrets/hermes-env (or wherever you manage secrets)
+OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...
+ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
+TELEGRAM_TOKEN=123456:ABC...
+TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=your_user_id
+```
+
+### 4. Deploy
+
+```bash
+nixos-rebuild switch
+systemctl status hermes-agent
+journalctl -u hermes-agent -f
+```
+
+## Architecture
+
+```
+You (Telegram/Discord/WhatsApp/Slack) → Gateway → Tools → Machine does things
+```
+
+### How it works
+
+1. `services.hermes-agent.config` attrset is deep-merged and rendered to `cli-config.yaml`
+2. Documents are installed into the workspace directory
+3. Secrets stay outside the Nix store via `environmentFiles`
+4. systemd service runs `hermes gateway` with everything wired up
+
+### Directory layout
+
+```
+/var/lib/hermes/              # stateDir
+├── .hermes/                  # Hermes home (HERMES_HOME)
+│   ├── cli-config.yaml       # Generated from config option
+│   ├── .env                  # Secrets (from environmentFiles)
+│   ├── memory/               # Agent memory (runtime)
+│   ├── skills/               # Skills (runtime)
+│   └── logs/                 # Session logs
+├── workspace/                # workingDirectory
+│   ├── SOUL.md               # From documents option
+│   ├── AGENTS.md
+│   └── USER.md
+└── logs/
+    └── gateway.log           # Service log
+```
+
+## Module Options
 
 | Option | Type | Default | Description |
 |--------|------|---------|-------------|
-| `enable` | bool | `false` | Enable the Hermes Agent gateway service |
+| `enable` | bool | `false` | Enable Hermes Agent gateway |
+| `config` | attrset | `{}` | Declarative config (→ cli-config.yaml) |
+| `configFile` | path | `null` | Use existing config file (overrides `config`) |
+| `documents` | attrset | `{}` | Workspace files (string or path values) |
+| `environmentFiles` | list | `[]` | Secret env files (systemd EnvironmentFile) |
+| `environment` | attrset | `{}` | Non-secret env vars |
+| `mcpServers` | attrset | `{}` | MCP server configs (merged into config) |
 | `user` | string | `"hermes"` | Service user |
 | `group` | string | `"hermes"` | Service group |
-| `homeDir` | path | `/var/lib/hermes` | State directory |
-| `workDir` | path | `${homeDir}/workspace` | Working directory |
-| `environmentFile` | path | `null` | Secrets file (API keys, tokens) |
-| `extraEnvironment` | attrs | `{}` | Extra env vars |
-| `extraArgs` | list | `[]` | Extra CLI args for `hermes gateway` |
+| `stateDir` | path | `/var/lib/hermes` | State directory |
+| `workingDirectory` | path | `${stateDir}/workspace` | Working directory |
 | `extraPackages` | list | `[]` | Extra packages on PATH |
+| `extraArgs` | list | `[]` | Extra `hermes gateway` args |
+| `logPath` | path | `${stateDir}/logs/gateway.log` | Log file |
+| `restart` | string | `"always"` | systemd Restart policy |
+| `restartSec` | int | `5` | Restart delay |
 
-### Environment file example
+## Config Reference
+
+The `config` attrset maps directly to Hermes' `cli-config.yaml`. Key sections:
+
+| Section | Purpose |
+|---------|---------|
+| `model` | Default model, provider, base_url |
+| `terminal` | Backend (local/ssh/docker/modal), cwd, timeout |
+| `agent` | max_turns, verbose, reasoning_effort, personalities |
+| `memory` | memory_enabled, user_profile_enabled, char limits |
+| `compression` | Context compression settings |
+| `session_reset` | Auto-reset policy for messaging |
+| `skills` | Skill creation nudge settings |
+| `toolsets` | Which tool groups to enable |
+| `mcp_servers` | MCP server connections |
+| `delegation` | Subagent settings |
+| `browser` | Browser tool settings |
+| `stt` | Voice transcription config |
+| `display` | UI/skin settings |
+
+See the [full config reference](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/cli-config.yaml.example).
+
+## Just the Package
 
 ```bash
-ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
-OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...
-TELEGRAM_TOKEN=123456:ABC...
-OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
-```
+# Run directly
+nix run github:0xrsydn/nix-hermes -- --help
 
-## What's included
+# In a dev shell
+nix develop github:0xrsydn/nix-hermes
 
-- **`hermes`** — Interactive CLI
-- **`hermes-agent`** — Agent runner
-- **`hermes-acp`** — ACP adapter
-- **NixOS module** — systemd service for gateway mode
-- Runtime deps wrapped: Node.js 22, ripgrep, ffmpeg, git
-
-## Development
-
-```bash
-nix develop  # Enter dev shell with hermes on PATH
-nix build    # Build the package
+# Use the overlay
+nixpkgs.overlays = [ nix-hermes.overlays.default ];
 ```
 
 ## License
diff --git a/module.nix b/module.nix
index c5a9e12..b336e1e 100644
--- a/module.nix
+++ b/module.nix
@@ -4,122 +4,329 @@ self:
 let
   cfg = config.services.hermes-agent;
   hermes-agent = self.packages.${pkgs.system}.hermes-agent;
+
+  # Deep-merge config type (same pattern as nix-openclaw)
+  deepConfigType = lib.types.mkOptionType {
+    name = "hermes-config-attrs";
+    description = "Hermes YAML config (attrset), merged deeply via lib.recursiveUpdate.";
+    check = builtins.isAttrs;
+    merge = _loc: defs: lib.foldl' lib.recursiveUpdate { } (map (d: d.value) defs);
+  };
+
+  # Convert Nix attrset → YAML via JSON intermediary
+  # (Hermes reads YAML but YAML is a superset of JSON, so JSON works)
+  configJson = builtins.toJSON cfg.config;
+  generatedConfigFile = pkgs.writeText "cli-config.yaml" configJson;
+  configFile = if cfg.configFile != null then cfg.configFile else generatedConfigFile;
+
+  # Generate .env file from environment attrset (non-secret env vars)
+  envFileContent = lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (
+    lib.mapAttrsToList (k: v: "${k}=${v}") cfg.environment
+  );
+  generatedEnvFile = pkgs.writeText "hermes-env" envFileContent;
+
+  # Document files → symlinked into workspace
+  documentDerivation = pkgs.runCommand "hermes-documents" { } (
+    ''
+      mkdir -p $out
+    '' + lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (
+      lib.mapAttrsToList (name: value:
+        if builtins.isPath value || lib.isStorePath value
+        then "cp ${value} $out/${name}"
+        else "cat > $out/${name} <<'HERMES_DOC_EOF'\n${value}\nHERMES_DOC_EOF"
+      ) cfg.documents
+    )
+  );
+
 in
 {
-  options.services.hermes-agent = {
-    enable = lib.mkEnableOption "Hermes Agent gateway service";
+  options.services.hermes-agent = with lib; {
+    enable = mkEnableOption "Hermes Agent gateway service";
 
-    package = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.package;
+    # ── Package ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    package = mkOption {
+      type = types.package;
       default = hermes-agent;
       description = "The hermes-agent package to use.";
     };
 
-    user = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.str;
-      default = "hermes";
-      description = "User under which Hermes Agent runs.";
+    # ── Service identity ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    unitName = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      default = "hermes-agent";
+      description = "systemd unit name (<unitName>.service).";
     };
 
-    group = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.str;
+    user = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
       default = "hermes";
-      description = "Group under which Hermes Agent runs.";
+      description = "System user running the gateway.";
     };
 
-    homeDir = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.path;
+    group = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      default = "hermes";
+      description = "System group running the gateway.";
+    };
+
+    createUser = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = true;
+      description = "Create the user/group automatically.";
+    };
+
+    # ── Directories ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    stateDir = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
       default = "/var/lib/hermes";
-      description = "Home directory for Hermes Agent state.";
+      description = "State directory (HERMES_HOME base). Contains .hermes/ subdir.";
     };
 
-    workDir = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.path;
-      default = "${cfg.homeDir}/workspace";
-      defaultText = lib.literalExpression ''"''${cfg.homeDir}/workspace"'';
-      description = "Working directory for Hermes Agent.";
+    workingDirectory = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      default = "${cfg.stateDir}/workspace";
+      defaultText = literalExpression ''"''${cfg.stateDir}/workspace"'';
+      description = "Working directory for the agent (MESSAGING_CWD).";
     };
 
-    environmentFile = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.nullOr lib.types.path;
+    # ── Config (declarative YAML) ────────────────────────────────────────
+    configFile = mkOption {
+      type = types.nullOr types.path;
       default = null;
       description = ''
-        Path to an environment file containing secrets (API keys, tokens).
-        This file should contain lines like:
-          ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-...
-          TELEGRAM_TOKEN=...
-          OPENROUTER_API_KEY=...
+        Path to an existing cli-config.yaml. If set, takes precedence over
+        the declarative `config` option.
       '';
     };
 
-    extraEnvironment = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.attrsOf lib.types.str;
+    config = mkOption {
+      type = deepConfigType;
       default = { };
-      description = "Extra environment variables for the Hermes Agent service.";
-      example = lib.literalExpression ''
+      description = ''
+        Declarative Hermes config (attrset). Deep-merged across module definitions
+        and rendered as cli-config.yaml. See upstream cli-config.yaml.example for
+        all available keys.
+      '';
+      example = literalExpression ''
         {
-          HERMES_DEFAULT_MODEL = "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514";
+          model = {
+            default = "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514";
+            provider = "openrouter";
+          };
+          terminal = {
+            backend = "local";
+            timeout = 180;
+          };
+          agent = {
+            max_turns = 60;
+            reasoning_effort = "medium";
+          };
+          memory = {
+            memory_enabled = true;
+            user_profile_enabled = true;
+          };
+          toolsets = [ "all" ];
         }
       '';
     };
 
-    extraArgs = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
+    # ── Secrets / environment ────────────────────────────────────────────
+    environmentFiles = mkOption {
+      type = types.listOf types.str;
       default = [ ];
-      description = "Extra command-line arguments to pass to hermes gateway.";
+      description = ''
+        Paths to environment files containing secrets (API keys, tokens).
+        These are passed as systemd EnvironmentFile= entries.
+        Use leading '-' to ignore missing files.
+
+        Example file contents:
+          ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
+          OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...
+          TELEGRAM_TOKEN=123456:ABC...
+      '';
     };
 
-    extraPackages = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.package;
+    environment = mkOption {
+      type = types.attrsOf types.str;
+      default = { };
+      description = ''
+        Non-secret environment variables for Hermes. These are written to
+        an env file (visible in the Nix store — do NOT put secrets here).
+        Use `environmentFiles` for secrets.
+      '';
+      example = literalExpression ''
+        {
+          LLM_MODEL = "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6";
+          MESSAGING_CWD = "/var/lib/hermes/workspace";
+        }
+      '';
+    };
+
+    # ── Documents (SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, etc.) ─────────────────────────────
+    documents = mkOption {
+      type = types.attrsOf (types.either types.str types.path);
+      default = { };
+      description = ''
+        Workspace document files. Keys are filenames, values are either
+        inline strings or paths to files. These are symlinked into the
+        workspace directory on activation.
+      '';
+      example = literalExpression ''
+        {
+          "SOUL.md" = '''
+            # SOUL.md
+            You are a helpful AI assistant.
+          ''';
+          "AGENTS.md" = ./my-agents.md;
+          "USER.md" = '''
+            # USER.md
+            Name: Fay
+          ''';
+        }
+      '';
+    };
+
+    # ── Service behavior ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    logPath = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      default = "${cfg.stateDir}/logs/gateway.log";
+      defaultText = literalExpression ''"''${cfg.stateDir}/logs/gateway.log"'';
+      description = "Log file path.";
+    };
+
+    extraArgs = mkOption {
+      type = types.listOf types.str;
+      default = [ ];
+      description = "Extra command-line arguments for `hermes gateway`.";
+    };
+
+    execStart = mkOption {
+      type = types.nullOr types.str;
+      default = null;
+      description = "Override ExecStart command. If unset, runs: hermes gateway.";
+    };
+
+    extraPackages = mkOption {
+      type = types.listOf types.package;
       default = [ ];
       description = "Extra packages to make available on PATH.";
     };
+
+    restart = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      default = "always";
+      description = "systemd Restart= policy.";
+    };
+
+    restartSec = mkOption {
+      type = types.int;
+      default = 5;
+      description = "systemd RestartSec= value.";
+    };
+
+    # ── MCP servers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    mcpServers = mkOption {
+      type = types.attrsOf (types.submodule {
+        options = {
+          command = mkOption { type = types.str; description = "MCP server command."; };
+          args = mkOption { type = types.listOf types.str; default = [ ]; };
+          env = mkOption { type = types.attrsOf types.str; default = { }; };
+          timeout = mkOption { type = types.nullOr types.int; default = null; };
+        };
+      });
+      default = { };
+      description = "MCP server configurations (merged into config.mcp_servers).";
+    };
   };
 
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
-    users.users.${cfg.user} = {
-      isSystemUser = true;
-      group = cfg.group;
-      home = cfg.homeDir;
-      createHome = true;
-      description = "Hermes Agent service user";
+    # ── Merge MCP servers into config ────────────────────────────────────
+    services.hermes-agent.config = lib.mkIf (cfg.mcpServers != { }) {
+      mcp_servers = lib.mapAttrs (_name: srv:
+        { inherit (srv) command args; }
+        // lib.optionalAttrs (srv.env != { }) { inherit (srv) env; }
+        // lib.optionalAttrs (srv.timeout != null) { inherit (srv) timeout; }
+      ) cfg.mcpServers;
     };
 
-    users.groups.${cfg.group} = { };
+    # ── User / group ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    users.groups.${cfg.group} = lib.mkIf cfg.createUser { };
+    users.users.${cfg.user} = lib.mkIf cfg.createUser {
+      isSystemUser = true;
+      group = cfg.group;
+      home = cfg.stateDir;
+      createHome = true;
+      shell = pkgs.bashInteractive;
+    };
 
-    systemd.services.hermes-agent = {
+    # ── Directories ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    systemd.tmpfiles.rules = [
+      "d ${cfg.stateDir} 0750 ${cfg.user} ${cfg.group} - -"
+      "d ${cfg.stateDir}/.hermes 0750 ${cfg.user} ${cfg.group} - -"
+      "d ${cfg.workingDirectory} 0750 ${cfg.user} ${cfg.group} - -"
+      "d ${builtins.dirOf cfg.logPath} 0750 ${cfg.user} ${cfg.group} - -"
+    ];
+
+    # ── Activation: link config + documents into state dir ───────────────
+    system.activationScripts."hermes-agent-setup" = lib.stringAfter [ "users" ] ''
+      # Link config file
+      install -o ${cfg.user} -g ${cfg.group} -m 0640 -D ${configFile} ${cfg.stateDir}/.hermes/cli-config.yaml
+
+      # Link documents into workspace
+      ${lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (lib.mapAttrsToList (name: _value: ''
+        install -o ${cfg.user} -g ${cfg.group} -m 0644 ${documentDerivation}/${name} ${cfg.workingDirectory}/${name}
+      '') cfg.documents)}
+    '';
+
+    # ── systemd service ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    systemd.services.${cfg.unitName} = {
       description = "Hermes Agent Gateway";
+      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
       after = [ "network-online.target" ];
       wants = [ "network-online.target" ];
-      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
 
       environment = {
-        HOME = cfg.homeDir;
-        HERMES_HOME = "${cfg.homeDir}/.hermes";
-      } // cfg.extraEnvironment;
+        HOME = cfg.stateDir;
+        HERMES_HOME = "${cfg.stateDir}/.hermes";
+        MESSAGING_CWD = cfg.workingDirectory;
+      };
 
       serviceConfig = {
-        Type = "simple";
         User = cfg.user;
         Group = cfg.group;
-        WorkingDirectory = cfg.workDir;
-        ExecStart = lib.concatStringsSep " " ([
-          "${cfg.package}/bin/hermes"
-          "gateway"
-        ] ++ cfg.extraArgs);
-        Restart = "on-failure";
-        RestartSec = 5;
+        WorkingDirectory = cfg.workingDirectory;
+
+        EnvironmentFile =
+          [ generatedEnvFile ]
+          ++ cfg.environmentFiles;
+
+        ExecStart =
+          if cfg.execStart != null then cfg.execStart
+          else lib.concatStringsSep " " ([
+            "${cfg.package}/bin/hermes"
+            "gateway"
+          ] ++ cfg.extraArgs);
+
+        Restart = cfg.restart;
+        RestartSec = cfg.restartSec;
+
+        StandardOutput = "append:${cfg.logPath}";
+        StandardError = "append:${cfg.logPath}";
+
         # Hardening
         NoNewPrivileges = true;
         ProtectSystem = "strict";
         ProtectHome = false;
-        ReadWritePaths = [ cfg.homeDir ];
+        ReadWritePaths = [ cfg.stateDir ];
         PrivateTmp = true;
-      } // lib.optionalAttrs (cfg.environmentFile != null) {
-        EnvironmentFile = cfg.environmentFile;
       };
 
-      path = [ cfg.package ] ++ cfg.extraPackages;
+      path = [
+        cfg.package
+        pkgs.bash
+        pkgs.coreutils
+        pkgs.git
+      ] ++ cfg.extraPackages;
     };
   };
 }