diff --git a/src/personal_mcp/web/config.py b/src/personal_mcp/web/config.py
index b14e646..5a55245 100644
--- a/src/personal_mcp/web/config.py
+++ b/src/personal_mcp/web/config.py
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
+from contextvars import ContextVar
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from pydantic import Field
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
 from pydantic_settings import SettingsConfigDict
 
+DEFAULT_ENV_FILE = Path(".env").resolve()
 _REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[3]
 
 
@@ -11,7 +13,7 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     """Runtime settings for the HTTP MCP and docs server."""
 
     model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
-        env_file=".env",
+        env_file=DEFAULT_ENV_FILE,
         env_prefix="PERSONAL_MCP_",
         extra="ignore",
     )
@@ -25,5 +27,12 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     site_dir: Path = Field(default=_REPO_ROOT / "site")
 
 
+_settings: ContextVar[Settings | None] = ContextVar("settings", default=None)
+
+
 def get_settings() -> Settings:
-    return Settings()
+    settings = _settings.get()
+    if settings is None:
+        settings = Settings()
+        _settings.set(settings)
+    return settings