diff --git a/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix b/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix
index 1a3f5360..b8d3acb5 100644
--- a/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix
+++ b/nix/modules/hive-c0re.nix
@@ -29,30 +29,27 @@ let
     directory = *
   '';
 
-  # 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;
-  };
+  # 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;
+    }
+  );
 
   # Stylix theme integration (zero-op auto-detect). When the operator's
   # host config has stylix enabled, generate a base16 `colors.css` from
@@ -779,11 +776,6 @@ 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 /
@@ -1057,7 +1049,7 @@ in
             );
           };
       serviceConfig = {
-        ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/hive-c0re --socket /run/hyperhive/host.sock serve --config /etc/hyperhive/serve.json";
+        ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/hive-c0re --socket /run/hyperhive/host.sock serve --config ${serveConfig}";
         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
@@ -1094,29 +1086,6 @@ in
         RuntimeDirectoryPreserve = "yes";
         StateDirectory = "hyperhive";
         StateDirectoryMode = "0750";
-        # Sandboxing. hive-c0re is unprivileged (runs as hive-core, never
-        # setuid), makes HTTP requests to forge/matrix/Anthropic (keeps INET),
-        # and delegates all privileged ops to hive-priv via a Unix socket.
-        # These directives deny the subset of kernel capabilities it
-        # provably doesn't need without restricting its network or
-        # filesystem access (RestrictAddressFamilies deferred — needs a
-        # watched deploy to verify no AF_UNIX/AF_INET gaps in socket paths).
-        NoNewPrivileges = true; # already runs as unprivileged user
-        PrivateTmp = true; # uses StateDirectory for tmpfiles, not /tmp
-        ProtectHome = true; # HOME = /var/lib/hyperhive; no /home/* access needed
-        # "full" makes /usr, /etc, /boot read-only. Safe: c0re never
-        # writes to any of those paths directly — all /etc writes (e.g.
-        # /etc/nixos-containers) go through hive-priv, and reads from
-        # /etc/hyperhive/serve.json are read-only. "strict" (everything
-        # read-only) requires carefully auditing ReadWritePaths for every
-        # nix store path c0re touches and is deferred to a follow-up.
-        ProtectSystem = "full";
-        ProtectKernelTunables = true; # no sysctl writes
-        ProtectKernelLogs = true; # reads logs via systemd-journal group, not /dev/kmsg
-        ProtectControlGroups = true; # cgroup writes go through hive-priv, not c0re directly
-        RestrictNamespaces = true; # namespace creation goes through hive-priv
-        LockPersonality = true; # no personality changes needed
-        RestrictRealtime = true; # no real-time scheduling
       };
     };