diff --git a/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py b/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py
index 25350e86d97c..b517367704ef 100644
--- a/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py
+++ b/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py
@@ -1099,7 +1099,7 @@ def cmd_status(args) -> None:
     print(f"  Recall mode:    {hcfg.recall_mode}")
     print(f"  Context budget: {hcfg.context_tokens or '(uncapped)'} tokens")
     raw = getattr(hcfg, "raw", None) or {}
-    dialectic_cadence = raw.get("dialecticCadence") or 1
+    dialectic_cadence = getattr(hcfg, "dialectic_cadence", None) or raw.get("dialecticCadence") or 1
     print(f"  Dialectic cad:  every {dialectic_cadence} turn{'s' if dialectic_cadence != 1 else ''}")
     reasoning_cap = raw.get("reasoningLevelCap") or hcfg.reasoning_level_cap
     heuristic_on = "on" if hcfg.reasoning_heuristic else "off"
diff --git a/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py b/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
index 4112b0d8b2f4..19a96ba0f4a2 100644
--- a/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
+++ b/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
@@ -856,6 +856,39 @@ class HonchoClientConfig:
 
 _honcho_client_slot: SingletonSlot = SingletonSlot()
 _cached_timeout: float | None = None
+# Memo for the config.yaml-derived timeout, keyed on the file's mtime_ns so
+# the staleness check on every get_honcho_client() call costs one stat()
+# instead of a full YAML load. (None, None) = not yet populated.
+_config_timeout_memo: tuple[int | None, float | None] = (None, None)
+
+
+def _config_yaml_timeout() -> float | None:
+    """Read honcho.timeout / honcho.request_timeout from config.yaml, memoized on mtime."""
+    global _config_timeout_memo
+    try:
+        from hermes_constants import get_hermes_home
+
+        cfg_path = get_hermes_home() / "config.yaml"
+        try:
+            mtime_ns: int | None = cfg_path.stat().st_mtime_ns
+        except OSError:
+            mtime_ns = None
+        if _config_timeout_memo[0] is not None and _config_timeout_memo[0] == mtime_ns:
+            return _config_timeout_memo[1]
+
+        from hermes_cli.config import load_config
+
+        honcho_cfg = load_config().get("honcho", {})
+        timeout = None
+        if isinstance(honcho_cfg, dict):
+            timeout = _resolve_optional_float(
+                honcho_cfg.get("timeout"),
+                honcho_cfg.get("request_timeout"),
+            )
+        _config_timeout_memo = (mtime_ns, timeout)
+        return timeout
+    except Exception:
+        return None
 
 
 def _resolve_timeout_from_sources(config: HonchoClientConfig | None) -> float:
@@ -864,18 +897,7 @@ def _resolve_timeout_from_sources(config: HonchoClientConfig | None) -> float:
     if timeout is None:
         timeout = _resolve_optional_float(os.environ.get("HONCHO_TIMEOUT"))
     if timeout is None:
-        try:
-            from hermes_cli.config import load_config
-
-            hermes_cfg = load_config()
-            honcho_cfg = hermes_cfg.get("honcho", {})
-            if isinstance(honcho_cfg, dict):
-                timeout = _resolve_optional_float(
-                    honcho_cfg.get("timeout"),
-                    honcho_cfg.get("request_timeout"),
-                )
-        except Exception:
-            pass
+        timeout = _config_yaml_timeout()
     return timeout if timeout is not None else _DEFAULT_HTTP_TIMEOUT
 
 
@@ -1055,6 +1077,7 @@ def get_honcho_client(config: HonchoClientConfig | None = None) -> Honcho:
 
 def reset_honcho_client() -> None:
     """Reset the Honcho client singleton (useful for testing)."""
-    global _cached_timeout
+    global _cached_timeout, _config_timeout_memo
     _honcho_client_slot.reset()
     _cached_timeout = None
+    _config_timeout_memo = (None, None)
diff --git a/scripts/release.py b/scripts/release.py
index 4b96072c87d3..256874caad62 100755
--- a/scripts/release.py
+++ b/scripts/release.py
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ AUTHOR_MAP = {
     "kimyeon30@naver.com": "rlaehddus302",  # PR #61985 salvage (gateway: secondary-adapter auth callback profile)
     "agungsubastian1963@gmail.com": "aguung",  # PR #64461 salvage (gateway: multiplex secret_scope for authz/Slack/webhooks)
     "jtstothard@gmail.com": "jtstothard",  # PR #63256 salvage (gateway: multiplex secondary adapter config validation)
+    "fjlaowan@proton.me": "fjlaowan1983",  # PR #11256 salvage (honcho: reject whitespace-only reasoning queries)
+    "RainbowAndSun@users.noreply.github.com": "RainbowAndSun",  # PR #62982 salvage (honcho: observer target in prefetch context)
+    "pi@hermes.local": "Elektrofussel",  # PR #61675 salvage (honcho: defaultHost + private-range local URL detection)
     "doogie@spark.local": "SAMBAS123",  # PR #64986 salvage (gateway: multiplex primary bot token scope)
     "emrekoca2003@gmail.com": "kocaemre",  # PR #36051 salvage (docs: audit round 3 code/doc reconciliation)
     "focusedmiqa@gmail.com": "m1qaweb",  # PR #29290 salvage (gateway: strip /queue prefix when idle)