diff --git a/src/servers/sidecar-registry.ts b/src/servers/sidecar-registry.ts
index ed86330d..220975fe 100644
--- a/src/servers/sidecar-registry.ts
+++ b/src/servers/sidecar-registry.ts
@@ -225,7 +225,6 @@ async function ensureClaudeSidecar(email: string): Promise<RegisteredSidecar> {
 }
 
 async function spawnAndWaitForRegistration(email: string, name: string): Promise<RegisteredSidecar> {
-  // Get proxy secret for auth
   const proxySecret = await getProxySecret();
   const proxyPort = process.env.ANTHROPIC_PROXY_PORT ?? '5051';
 
diff --git a/src/servers/sidecar/claude/claude-manager.ts b/src/servers/sidecar/claude/claude-manager.ts
index ece56cb0..ed4cd39f 100644
--- a/src/servers/sidecar/claude/claude-manager.ts
+++ b/src/servers/sidecar/claude/claude-manager.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ const SEND_TIMEOUT_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000;
 // The actual binary lives at ~/.local/bin/claude, symlinked from /usr/local/bin/claude.
 const CLAUDE_BIN = '/usr/local/bin/claude';
 
+// Capture original HOME before user-instance overrides it
+const HOST_HOME = process.env.HOME!;
 const DATA_PATH = process.env.DATA_PATH ?? join(process.cwd(), 'data');
 
 // Build full bwrap sandbox args for Claude (prefix + Anthropic env + runuser suffix)
@@ -28,11 +30,13 @@ function buildSandboxArgs(email: string): string[] {
 // Active streaming processes
 const activeProcs = new Map<string, Subprocess>();
 
-// MCP config path, set by user-instance at startup
-let mcpConfigPath: string | undefined;
+// MCP config paths, set by user-instance at startup
+let mcpSandboxPath: string | undefined; // path inside bwrap sandbox (/data/...)
+let mcpHostPath: string | undefined; // path on the host filesystem
 
-export function setMcpConfigPath(path: string): void {
-  mcpConfigPath = path;
+export function setMcpConfigPath(sandboxPath: string, hostPath: string): void {
+  mcpSandboxPath = sandboxPath;
+  mcpHostPath = hostPath;
 }
 
 // ── Blocking send ──
@@ -60,7 +64,9 @@ export async function spawnClaude(params: ClaudeSpawnParams): Promise<ClaudeCode
     'json',
   ];
 
-  if (mcpConfigPath) claudeArgs.push('--mcp-config', mcpConfigPath);
+  const isSuperAdmin = params.role === 'Super Admin';
+  const mcpConfig = isSuperAdmin ? mcpHostPath : mcpSandboxPath;
+  if (mcpConfig) claudeArgs.push('--mcp-config', mcpConfig);
 
   const subModel = params.model?.split('/')[1];
   if (subModel) claudeArgs.push('--model', subModel);
@@ -69,9 +75,8 @@ export async function spawnClaude(params: ClaudeSpawnParams): Promise<ClaudeCode
     claudeArgs.push('--resume', existingSession);
   }
 
-  const isSuperAdmin = params.role === 'Super Admin';
   const spawnCmd = isSuperAdmin ? claudeArgs : [...buildSandboxArgs(email), ...claudeArgs];
-  const spawnCwd = isSuperAdmin ? (process.env.HOME ?? join(DATA_PATH, email, 'home')) : undefined;
+  const spawnCwd = isSuperAdmin ? HOST_HOME : undefined;
 
   const proc = Bun.spawn(spawnCmd, {
     stdin: 'pipe',
@@ -155,7 +160,10 @@ export async function spawnClaudeStreaming(
     '--include-partial-messages',
   ];
 
-  if (mcpConfigPath) claudeArgs.push('--mcp-config', mcpConfigPath);
+  const { CLAUDECODE: _, ...cleanEnv } = process.env;
+  const isSuperAdmin = params.role === 'Super Admin';
+  const mcpConfig = isSuperAdmin ? mcpHostPath : mcpSandboxPath;
+  if (mcpConfig) claudeArgs.push('--mcp-config', mcpConfig);
 
   const subModel = params.model?.split('/')[1];
   if (subModel) claudeArgs.push('--model', subModel);
@@ -164,10 +172,8 @@ export async function spawnClaudeStreaming(
     claudeArgs.push('--resume', existingSession);
   }
 
-  const { CLAUDECODE: _, ...cleanEnv } = process.env;
-  const isSuperAdmin = params.role === 'Super Admin';
   const spawnCmd = isSuperAdmin ? claudeArgs : [...buildSandboxArgs(email), ...claudeArgs];
-  const spawnCwd = isSuperAdmin ? (process.env.HOME ?? join(DATA_PATH, email, 'home')) : undefined;
+  const spawnCwd = isSuperAdmin ? HOST_HOME : undefined;
 
   const proc = Bun.spawn(spawnCmd, {
     stdin: 'ignore',
diff --git a/src/servers/sidecar/claude/user-instance.ts b/src/servers/sidecar/claude/user-instance.ts
index 289a86b4..287b5580 100644
--- a/src/servers/sidecar/claude/user-instance.ts
+++ b/src/servers/sidecar/claude/user-instance.ts
@@ -53,34 +53,54 @@ function refreshClaudeMd(): void {
 
 // ── MCP config ──
 
-function generateMcpConfig(): string {
+type McpPaths = { sandboxPath: string; hostPath: string };
+
+function generateMcpConfig(): McpPaths {
   const contextDir = join(DATA_PATH, email!, '.container-context');
   mkdirSync(contextDir, { recursive: true });
-  const configPath = join(contextDir, 'mcp.json');
 
-  // Inside the sandbox, user data is mounted at SANDBOX_DATA (/data)
-  // Global tools stay at their original paths (mounted read-only at same path)
-  const sandboxUserToolsDir = `${SANDBOX_DATA}/tools`;
-  const toolsDirs = [globalToolsDir, ...(existsSync(userToolsDir) ? [sandboxUserToolsDir] : [])].join(':');
+  const userRoot = join(DATA_PATH, email!);
 
-  const config = {
+  // Sandbox config (paths relative to /data mount)
+  const sandboxToolsDirs = [globalToolsDir, ...(existsSync(userToolsDir) ? [`${SANDBOX_DATA}/tools`] : [])].join(':');
+  const sandboxConfig = {
     mcpServers: {
       'officer-tools': {
         type: 'stdio',
         command: 'bun',
         args: ['run', MCP_SERVER_SCRIPT],
         env: {
-          PI_TOOLS_DIRS: toolsDirs,
+          PI_TOOLS_DIRS: sandboxToolsDirs,
           OFFICER_EMAIL_DB: `${SANDBOX_DATA}/emails.db`,
           MCP_TOOLS_LOG: `${SANDBOX_DATA}/logs/mcp-tools.log`,
         },
       },
     },
   };
+  writeFileSync(join(contextDir, 'mcp.json'), JSON.stringify(sandboxConfig));
 
-  writeFileSync(configPath, JSON.stringify(config));
-  // Return the sandbox path (config file is inside user data, mounted at /data)
-  return `${SANDBOX_DATA}/.container-context/mcp.json`;
+  // Host config (real filesystem paths, for Super Admin)
+  const hostToolsDirs = [globalToolsDir, ...(existsSync(userToolsDir) ? [userToolsDir] : [])].join(':');
+  const hostConfig = {
+    mcpServers: {
+      'officer-tools': {
+        type: 'stdio',
+        command: 'bun',
+        args: ['run', MCP_SERVER_SCRIPT],
+        env: {
+          PI_TOOLS_DIRS: hostToolsDirs,
+          OFFICER_EMAIL_DB: join(userRoot, 'emails.db'),
+          MCP_TOOLS_LOG: join(userRoot, 'logs', 'mcp-tools.log'),
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  };
+  writeFileSync(join(contextDir, 'mcp-host.json'), JSON.stringify(hostConfig));
+
+  return {
+    sandboxPath: `${SANDBOX_DATA}/.container-context/mcp.json`,
+    hostPath: join(contextDir, 'mcp-host.json'),
+  };
 }
 
 // ── Startup ──
@@ -91,8 +111,8 @@ try {
   console.error(`[claude:${email}] failed to refresh CLAUDE.md:`, err instanceof Error ? err.message : err);
 }
 
-const mcpPath = generateMcpConfig();
-setMcpConfigPath(mcpPath);
+const mcpPaths = generateMcpConfig();
+setMcpConfigPath(mcpPaths.sandboxPath, mcpPaths.hostPath);
 
 console.log(`[claude:${email}] started (HOME=${homeDir})`);