diff --git a/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix b/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix
index b8d3acb5..233cec1e 100644
--- a/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix
+++ b/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix
@@ -29,27 +29,30 @@ let
     directory = *
   '';
 
-  # The `hive-c0re serve` config, written to the store as JSON and passed
-  # via a single `--config` flag so the systemd ExecStart line stays short
-  # instead of carrying every host-level setting as its own flag (the
-  # context-window + model-price maps alone were escaped JSON blobs on the
-  # command line). Keys are snake_case to match the `ServeConfig` serde
-  # shape the daemon deserialises (the container-injected HiveEnv fields,
-  # flattened, plus the hive-c0re-local model_prices table); per-flag
-  # overrides still work for ad-hoc invocations.
-  serveConfig = pkgs.writeText "hive-c0re-serve.json" (
-    builtins.toJSON {
-      hyperhive_flake = cfg.hyperhiveFlake;
-      hyperhive_docs_flake = cfg.hyperhiveDocs;
-      nixpkgs_flake = cfg.nixpkgsFlake;
-      dashboard_port = cfg.dashboardPort;
-      operator_pronouns = cfg.operatorPronouns;
-      context_window_tokens = cfg.contextWindowTokens;
-      agent_cpu_quota = cfg.agentCpuQuota;
-      agent_memory_max = cfg.agentMemoryMax;
-      model_prices = cfg.modelPrices;
-    }
-  );
+  # The `hive-c0re serve` config JSON. Keys are snake_case to match the
+  # `ServeConfig` serde shape the daemon deserialises (the
+  # container-injected HiveEnv fields, flattened, plus the hive-c0re-local
+  # model_prices table); per-flag overrides still work for ad-hoc
+  # invocations.
+  #
+  # Written to `/etc/hyperhive/serve.json` (managed by
+  # `environment.etc`) rather than embedded as a store-path argument in
+  # ExecStart. This keeps ExecStart byte-stable across deploys that only
+  # change hyperhive module files (gateway, frontend, unrelated nix
+  # modules) so systemd does NOT restart hive-c0re — and therefore does
+  # NOT trigger a startup sweep that rebuilds every agent — unless the
+  # c0re binary itself changes.
+  serveConfigJson = builtins.toJSON {
+    hyperhive_flake = cfg.hyperhiveFlake;
+    hyperhive_docs_flake = cfg.hyperhiveDocs;
+    nixpkgs_flake = cfg.nixpkgsFlake;
+    dashboard_port = cfg.dashboardPort;
+    operator_pronouns = cfg.operatorPronouns;
+    context_window_tokens = cfg.contextWindowTokens;
+    agent_cpu_quota = cfg.agentCpuQuota;
+    agent_memory_max = cfg.agentMemoryMax;
+    model_prices = cfg.modelPrices;
+  };
 
   # Stylix theme integration (zero-op auto-detect). When the operator's
   # host config has stylix enabled, generate a base16 `colors.css` from
@@ -776,6 +779,11 @@ in
       pkgs.git
     ];
 
+    # Serve config at a stable /etc path so hive-c0re's ExecStart
+    # doesn't embed a volatile store-path argument. See serveConfigJson
+    # above for the rationale.
+    environment.etc."hyperhive/serve.json".text = serveConfigJson;
+
     # Pull the per-container toplevels into the host system closure.
     # `system.extraDependencies` adds paths to the system build
     # without referencing them at runtime — nixos-rebuild fetches /
@@ -1049,7 +1057,7 @@ in
             );
           };
       serviceConfig = {
-        ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/hive-c0re --socket /run/hyperhive/host.sock serve --config ${serveConfig}";
+        ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/hive-c0re --socket /run/hyperhive/host.sock serve --config /etc/hyperhive/serve.json";
         SyslogIdentifier = "hive-c0re";
         # Migrate hive-c0re's *own* state to the service user after an
         # upgrade from a root-run install (systemd's StateDirectory only