diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 8eef657c..63818b00 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -149,34 +149,20 @@
 
       nixosConfigurations =
         let
-          # Values the agent modules require but that only a real
-          # deployment can know. Real containers are built from the
-          # generated meta flake, where hive-c0re renders these per
-          # agent from the host's `HIVE_FORGE_URL` (see meta.rs's
-          # `SERVICE_URL_OPTIONS`) — they never evaluate through
-          # `self.nixosConfigurations`, so nothing here can reach a
-          # running agent. These two configs exist only to typecheck
-          # the modules and to pre-build the container closure
-          # (`system.extraDependencies`, see hive-c0re/default.nix).
-          #
-          # Deliberately a `.invalid` host (RFC 2606: guaranteed not to
-          # resolve) rather than something plausible like a loopback
-          # port. If this value ever *did* escape into a runtime path,
-          # it must fail loudly at DNS instead of quietly connecting to
-          # whatever happens to be listening — which is the entire
-          # point of removing the `http://localhost:3000` default this
-          # replaces.
-          evalOnlyPlaceholders = {
-            hyperhive.forge.url = "http://forge.invalid";
-          };
+          # These two configs are what hive-c0re extends per agent
+          # (meta.rs's `mkAgent` does `<base>.extendModules { … }`, so
+          # the built base and every container stay on one version).
+          # Nothing deployment-specific may be set here: it would be
+          # inherited by every container on the hive and collide with
+          # the per-agent values hive-c0re renders. The agent modules
+          # are written so a bare evaluation needs no such values —
+          # service URLs default to `null`, meaning "not configured",
+          # and the units that would use them simply aren't generated.
           mkContainer =
             module:
             nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
               system = "x86_64-linux";
-              modules = [
-                module
-                evalOnlyPlaceholders
-              ];
+              modules = [ module ];
             };
         in
         {
diff --git a/nix/agent-modules/forge.nix b/nix/agent-modules/forge.nix
index 0e4eb8e9..a26cf295 100644
--- a/nix/agent-modules/forge.nix
+++ b/nix/agent-modules/forge.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ let
 in
 {
   options.hyperhive.forge.url = lib.mkOption {
-    type = lib.types.str;
+    type = lib.types.nullOr lib.types.str;
+    default = null;
     example = "http://forge.internal:3000";
     description = ''
       Base URL of the hyperhive-managed Forgejo. Used at container
@@ -31,28 +32,38 @@ in
       forge-token file is missing (i.e. hive-forge isn't running on
       the host).
 
-      **Required, deliberately undefaulted.** hive-c0re renders it into
-      every agent's config from the host's `HIVE_FORGE_URL`, which
-      `hive-c0re.nix` sets unconditionally --- the forge is mandatory.
-      A loopback default would be a guess: the forge may run on a
-      different host from the agents, and inside an agent's network
-      namespace `localhost` reaches the agent, not the forge. An
-      unevaluatable config is better than one that builds and then
-      talks to the wrong machine.
+      **`null` means "no forge", not "guess one".** There is deliberately
+      no loopback default: the forge may run on a different host from
+      the agents, and inside an agent's network namespace `localhost`
+      reaches the agent rather than the forge, so a default would be a
+      value that builds fine and then talks to the wrong machine.
+      When this is `null` the tea-login and avatar-sync units are not
+      generated at all --- an absent integration, never a misdirected
+      one.
+
+      On a real hive it is always set: hive-c0re renders it into every
+      agent's config from the host's `HIVE_FORGE_URL` (which
+      `hive-c0re.nix` sets unconditionally) and refuses to render a meta
+      flake without it, so `null` only survives where the modules are
+      evaluated outside a hive --- exactly the case that has no forge.
     '';
   };
 
   config = {
     assertions = [
-      # The empty string is the one value the type permits that cannot
-      # be a URL, and it is what a caller supplies when they have
-      # nothing --- exactly the case the removed loopback default used
-      # to paper over. Reject it here so the failure names the option.
+      # Only a *set* value is constrained. `null` is the legitimate
+      # "no forge here" state (see the option doc) and is handled by
+      # not generating the units below, so it must not trip this.
+      # The empty string, by contrast, is the one non-null value the
+      # type permits that cannot be a URL --- it is what a caller
+      # supplies when they have nothing, which is precisely what `null`
+      # is for, so reject it and name the option.
       {
         assertion =
-          lib.hasPrefix "http://" config.hyperhive.forge.url
+          config.hyperhive.forge.url == null
+          || lib.hasPrefix "http://" config.hyperhive.forge.url
           || lib.hasPrefix "https://" config.hyperhive.forge.url;
-        message = "hyperhive.forge.url must be an http:// or https:// URL (got: \"${config.hyperhive.forge.url}\")";
+        message = "hyperhive.forge.url must be an http:// or https:// URL, or null for no forge (got: \"${toString config.hyperhive.forge.url}\")";
       }
     ];
 
@@ -105,7 +116,9 @@ in
     # One-shot: tea config.yml from the seeded forge token. Shape
     # contract (always exit 0, no set -e, skip-silently, re-runnable):
     # docs/conventions.md::Best-effort oneshot services.
-    systemd.services.tea-login = {
+    # Not generated at all when no forge is configured: an absent
+    # integration rather than one pointed at a guessed address.
+    systemd.services.tea-login = lib.mkIf (config.hyperhive.forge.url != null) {
       description = "configure tea CLI from hive-forge token (best-effort)";
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
       after = [ "local-fs.target" ];
@@ -188,49 +201,51 @@ in
     # avatar sync), so the unit only exists when an icon is configured
     # and needs no librsvg at runtime — Forgejo's Go image library
     # can't decode SVG, hence PNG.
-    systemd.services.forge-avatar-sync = lib.mkIf (config.hyperhive.icon != null) {
-      description = "sync agent icon to Forgejo user avatar (best-effort)";
-      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
-      after = [ "tea-login.service" ];
-      serviceConfig = {
-        Type = "oneshot";
-        RemainAfterExit = false;
-        # Pin the journal identity (else it's the `script` store-path wrapper).
-        SyslogIdentifier = "forge-avatar-sync";
-      };
-      path = [
-        pkgs.curl
-        pkgs.coreutils
-        pkgs.jq
-      ];
-      script = ''
-        FORGE_URL=${lib.escapeShellArg config.hyperhive.forge.url}
-        # $HYPERHIVE_STATE_DIR is set system-wide by the meta flake
-        # (systemd.globalEnvironment) to `/agents/<name>/state`.
-        TOKEN_FILE="$HYPERHIVE_STATE_DIR/forge-token"
-        if [ ! -f "$TOKEN_FILE" ]; then
-          echo "forge-avatar-sync: no forge-token found; skipping"
-          exit 0
-        fi
-        TOKEN=$(cat "$TOKEN_FILE")
-        IMAGE=$(base64 -w 0 < ${iconPng})
-        # Forgejo POST /user/avatar expects {"image":"<base64>"} — just the
-        # raw base64 string, NOT a data URI (data:image/png;base64,...).
-        # Use jq to build the payload so the large base64 value is safely quoted.
-        PAYLOAD=$(jq -n --arg img "$IMAGE" '{image:$img}')
-        RESP=$(curl -sf --max-time 10 \
-          -X POST "$FORGE_URL/api/v1/user/avatar" \
-          -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
-          -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-          -d "$PAYLOAD" \
-          -w "\n%{http_code}" 2>/dev/null || true)
-        CODE=$(printf '%s' "$RESP" | tail -1)
-        if [ "$CODE" = "204" ] || [ "$CODE" = "200" ]; then
-          echo "forge-avatar-sync: avatar uploaded (HTTP $CODE)"
-        else
-          echo "forge-avatar-sync: upload returned HTTP $CODE — skipping (non-fatal)"
-        fi
-      '';
-    };
+    systemd.services.forge-avatar-sync =
+      lib.mkIf (config.hyperhive.icon != null && config.hyperhive.forge.url != null)
+        {
+          description = "sync agent icon to Forgejo user avatar (best-effort)";
+          wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+          after = [ "tea-login.service" ];
+          serviceConfig = {
+            Type = "oneshot";
+            RemainAfterExit = false;
+            # Pin the journal identity (else it's the `script` store-path wrapper).
+            SyslogIdentifier = "forge-avatar-sync";
+          };
+          path = [
+            pkgs.curl
+            pkgs.coreutils
+            pkgs.jq
+          ];
+          script = ''
+            FORGE_URL=${lib.escapeShellArg config.hyperhive.forge.url}
+            # $HYPERHIVE_STATE_DIR is set system-wide by the meta flake
+            # (systemd.globalEnvironment) to `/agents/<name>/state`.
+            TOKEN_FILE="$HYPERHIVE_STATE_DIR/forge-token"
+            if [ ! -f "$TOKEN_FILE" ]; then
+              echo "forge-avatar-sync: no forge-token found; skipping"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            TOKEN=$(cat "$TOKEN_FILE")
+            IMAGE=$(base64 -w 0 < ${iconPng})
+            # Forgejo POST /user/avatar expects {"image":"<base64>"} — just the
+            # raw base64 string, NOT a data URI (data:image/png;base64,...).
+            # Use jq to build the payload so the large base64 value is safely quoted.
+            PAYLOAD=$(jq -n --arg img "$IMAGE" '{image:$img}')
+            RESP=$(curl -sf --max-time 10 \
+              -X POST "$FORGE_URL/api/v1/user/avatar" \
+              -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+              -d "$PAYLOAD" \
+              -w "\n%{http_code}" 2>/dev/null || true)
+            CODE=$(printf '%s' "$RESP" | tail -1)
+            if [ "$CODE" = "204" ] || [ "$CODE" = "200" ]; then
+              echo "forge-avatar-sync: avatar uploaded (HTTP $CODE)"
+            else
+              echo "forge-avatar-sync: upload returned HTTP $CODE — skipping (non-fatal)"
+            fi
+          '';
+        };
   };
 }