diff --git a/scripts/setup.sh b/scripts/setup.sh
index 668187ef..2bdb5cf1 100755
--- a/scripts/setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup.sh
@@ -807,6 +807,13 @@ if [ "$GENERATE_ENV" = true ]; then
   read -r ENV_DATA_PATH
   ENV_DATA_PATH="${ENV_DATA_PATH:-$REAL_HOME/.local/data}"
 
+  # The file-based item store (skills/tools/tasks/…). Defaults to a sibling of the repo; without it the
+  # server falls back to <repo>/officer-items and boots with an empty store.
+  ITEMS_DEFAULT="$(dirname "$PROJECT_DIR")/officer-items"
+  echo -n "  OFFICER_ITEMS_DIR [$ITEMS_DEFAULT]: "
+  read -r ENV_OFFICER_ITEMS_DIR
+  ENV_OFFICER_ITEMS_DIR="${ENV_OFFICER_ITEMS_DIR:-$ITEMS_DEFAULT}"
+
   MAIL_DEFAULT="${DOCKER_MAIL_TRANSPORT:-smtp://127.0.0.1:1025}"
   echo -n "  MAIL_TRANSPORT [$MAIL_DEFAULT]: "
   read -r ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT
@@ -831,6 +838,7 @@ MAIL_TRANSPORT="$ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT"
 PUBLIC_URL="$ENV_PUBLIC_URL"
 PUBLIC_BUILD_ENV="production"
 DATA_PATH="$ENV_DATA_PATH"
+OFFICER_ITEMS_DIR="$ENV_OFFICER_ITEMS_DIR"
 HOME_DIR="$HOME"
 POSTGRES_URL="$POSTGRES_URL"
 DISCORD_BUG_REPORT_WEBHOOK="$ENV_DISCORD_WEBHOOK"