diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
index 64506bc4e5c..ecdf6e66ccd 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ The agent has the same filesystem access as your user account. Use `hermes tools
 
 Runs commands inside a Docker container with security hardening (all capabilities dropped, no privilege escalation, PID limits).
 
-**Single persistent container, not per-command.** Hermes starts ONE long-lived container on first use and routes every terminal, file, and `execute_code` call through `docker exec` into that same container — across sessions, `/new`, `/reset`, and `delegate_task` subagents — for the lifetime of the Hermes process. Working-directory changes, installed packages, and files in `/workspace` carry over from one tool call to the next, just like a local shell. The container is stopped and removed on shutdown. See **Container lifecycle** below for details.
+**Single persistent container, shared across Hermes processes.** Hermes starts ONE long-lived container on first use and routes every terminal, file, and `execute_code` call through `docker exec` into that same container — across sessions, `/new`, `/reset`, and `delegate_task` subagents. Working-directory changes, installed packages, files in `/workspace`, and **background processes** all carry over from one tool call to the next, and from one Hermes process to the next. When you close a TUI session, run `/quit`, or start a new `hermes` invocation, the container keeps running and the next Hermes process reuses it via a labeled lookup. See **Container lifecycle** below for the exact teardown rules.
 
 ```yaml
 terminal:
@@ -138,8 +138,11 @@ terminal:
   docker_image: "nikolaik/python-nodejs:python3.11-nodejs20"
   docker_mount_cwd_to_workspace: false  # Mount launch dir into /workspace
   docker_run_as_host_user: false   # See "Running container as host user" below
-  docker_forward_env:              # Env vars to forward into container
+  docker_forward_env:              # Host env vars to forward into container
     - "GITHUB_TOKEN"
+  docker_env:                      # Literal env vars to inject (KEY=value)
+    DEBUG: "1"
+    PYTHONUNBUFFERED: "1"
   docker_volumes:                  # Host directory mounts
     - "/home/user/projects:/workspace/projects"
     - "/home/user/data:/data:ro"   # :ro for read-only
@@ -151,14 +154,49 @@ terminal:
   container_cpu: 1                 # CPU cores (0 = unlimited)
   container_memory: 5120           # MB (0 = unlimited)
   container_disk: 51200            # MB (requires overlay2 on XFS+pquota)
-  container_persistent: true       # Persist /workspace and /root across sessions
+  container_persistent: true       # Persist /workspace and /root bind-mount dirs
+
+  # Cross-process container reuse (defaults match the "one long-lived
+  # container shared across sessions" contract — see Container lifecycle).
+  docker_persist_across_processes: true   # Reuse container across Hermes restarts
+  docker_orphan_reaper: true              # Sweep abandoned Exited containers at startup
+
+  # Cross-backend lifecycle settings (apply to docker as well)
+  timeout: 180                     # Per-command timeout in seconds
+  lifetime_seconds: 300            # Idle-reaper window; also feeds 2× orphan-reaper threshold
 ```
 
+**`docker_env`** vs **`docker_forward_env`**: the former injects literal `KEY=value` pairs you specify in the config (the values live in your `config.yaml` or are passed as a JSON dict via `TERMINAL_DOCKER_ENV='{"DEBUG":"1"}'`). The latter forwards values from your shell or `~/.hermes/.env`, so the actual secret never appears in the config file. Use `docker_forward_env` for tokens and `docker_env` for static knobs the container needs.
+
 **`terminal.docker_extra_args`** (also overridable via `TERMINAL_DOCKER_EXTRA_ARGS='["--gpus=all"]'`) lets you pass arbitrary `docker run` flags that Hermes doesn't surface as first-class keys — `--gpus`, `--network`, `--add-host`, alternative `--security-opt` overrides, etc. Each entry must be a string; the list is appended last to the assembled `docker run` invocation so it can override Hermes' defaults if needed. Use sparingly — flags that conflict with the sandbox hardening (capability drops, `--user`, the workspace bind mount) will silently weaken isolation.
 
 **Requirements:** Docker Desktop or Docker Engine installed and running. Hermes probes `$PATH` plus common macOS install locations (`/usr/local/bin/docker`, `/opt/homebrew/bin/docker`, Docker Desktop app bundle). Podman is supported out of the box: set `HERMES_DOCKER_BINARY=podman` (or the full path) to force it when both are installed.
 
-**Container lifecycle:** Hermes reuses a single long-lived container (`docker run -d ... sleep 2h`) for every terminal and file-tool call, across sessions, `/new`, `/reset`, and `delegate_task` subagents, for the lifetime of the Hermes process. Commands run via `docker exec` with a login shell, so working-directory changes, installed packages, and files in `/workspace` all persist from one tool call to the next. The container is stopped and removed on Hermes shutdown (or when the idle-sweep reclaims it).
+#### Container lifecycle
+
+Every Hermes-managed container is tagged with three labels so subsequent processes (and the orphan reaper) can identify it:
+
+- `hermes-agent=1` — marks it as Hermes-managed
+- `hermes-task-id=<sanitized task_id>` — keys the per-task reuse probe
+- `hermes-profile=<sanitized profile name>` — scopes reuse and reaping to the active Hermes profile
+
+On startup, Hermes runs `docker ps --filter label=hermes-task-id=<id> --filter label=hermes-profile=<profile>` and **attaches to the existing container** when it finds one. If the container is `exited` (e.g. after a Docker daemon restart), it's `docker start`'d and reused — filesystem state and any installed packages survive, but in-container background processes do not.
+
+When a Hermes process exits — `/quit`, closing a TUI session, gateway shutdown, even SIGKILL — the cleanup path is a **no-op for the container in default mode**. The container keeps running. The next Hermes process attaches to it in milliseconds via the label probe. This is the behavior the "one long-lived container shared across sessions" contract requires: it's the only way background processes (npm watchers, dev servers, long-running pytest) survive across sessions.
+
+**The container is only torn down (stopped and `docker rm -f`'d) in these cases:**
+
+| Trigger | When it fires |
+|---|---|
+| `docker_persist_across_processes: false` | Explicit per-process isolation. Every `cleanup()` does `stop` + `rm -f`. Matches pre-issue-#20561 behavior. |
+| Idle reaper (`lifetime_seconds`, default 300s) | Only when the env is `persist_across_processes=false`. Persist-mode envs are no-op'd; container survives the idle sweep. |
+| Orphan reaper at next startup | Sweeps **Exited** hermes-labeled containers older than `2 × lifetime_seconds` (default 600s = 10 min), scoped to the current profile. **Running containers are never touched** — sibling-process safety. Set `docker_orphan_reaper: false` to disable. |
+| Direct user action | `docker rm -f`, `docker system prune`, Docker Desktop restart. We don't set `--restart=always`, so a host reboot leaves the container `Exited` (its CoW layer survives and gets reused on next startup, but bg processes are gone). |
+
+Edge cases worth knowing:
+
+- **OOM kill of in-container PID 1** transitions the container to `Exited`. Next reuse will `docker start` it; filesystem state survives, bg processes do not.
+- **Switching profiles** isolates containers from each other — a container labeled `hermes-profile=work` is invisible to a Hermes process running under `hermes-profile=research`. The orphan reaper is profile-scoped too, so cross-profile containers don't get reaped accidentally, but they also won't get cleaned up automatically until you start Hermes again under their original profile.
 
 Parallel subagents spawned via `delegate_task(tasks=[...])` share this one container — concurrent `cd`, env mutations, and writes to the same path will collide. If a subagent needs an isolated sandbox, it must register a per-task image override via `register_task_env_overrides()`, which RL and benchmark environments (TerminalBench2, HermesSweEnv, etc.) do automatically for their per-task Docker images.
 
@@ -170,6 +208,29 @@ Parallel subagents spawned via `delegate_task(tasks=[...])` share this one conta
 
 **Credential forwarding:** Env vars listed in `docker_forward_env` are resolved from your shell environment first, then `~/.hermes/.env`. Skills can also declare `required_environment_variables` which are merged automatically.
 
+#### Environment variable overrides
+
+Every key under `terminal:` has an env-var override of the form `TERMINAL_<KEY_UPPERCASE>`. The most useful ones for the Docker backend:
+
+| Env var | Maps to | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_IMAGE` | `docker_image` | Base image |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_FORWARD_ENV` | `docker_forward_env` | JSON array: `'["GITHUB_TOKEN","OPENAI_API_KEY"]'` |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_ENV` | `docker_env` | JSON dict: `'{"DEBUG":"1"}'` |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_VOLUMES` | `docker_volumes` | JSON array of `"host:container[:ro]"` strings |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_EXTRA_ARGS` | `docker_extra_args` | JSON array |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_MOUNT_CWD_TO_WORKSPACE` | `docker_mount_cwd_to_workspace` | `true` / `false` |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_RUN_AS_HOST_USER` | `docker_run_as_host_user` | `true` / `false` |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_PERSIST_ACROSS_PROCESSES` | `docker_persist_across_processes` | `true` / `false` — default `true` |
+| `TERMINAL_DOCKER_ORPHAN_REAPER` | `docker_orphan_reaper` | `true` / `false` — default `true` |
+| `TERMINAL_CONTAINER_CPU` | `container_cpu` | CPU cores |
+| `TERMINAL_CONTAINER_MEMORY` | `container_memory` | MB |
+| `TERMINAL_CONTAINER_DISK` | `container_disk` | MB |
+| `TERMINAL_CONTAINER_PERSISTENT` | `container_persistent` | `true` / `false` — controls the bind-mount workspace dirs, distinct from `docker_persist_across_processes` |
+| `TERMINAL_LIFETIME_SECONDS` | `lifetime_seconds` | Idle reaper window |
+| `TERMINAL_TIMEOUT` | `timeout` | Per-command timeout |
+| `HERMES_DOCKER_BINARY` | _none_ | Force a specific docker/podman binary path |
+
 ### SSH Backend
 
 Runs commands on a remote server over SSH. Uses ControlMaster for connection reuse (5-minute idle keepalive). Persistent shell is enabled by default — state (cwd, env vars) survives across commands.
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/docker.md b/website/docs/user-guide/docker.md
index 0350b07a463..708647cb759 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/docker.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/docker.md
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ docker run -it --rm \
 Direct `-e` flags override values from `.env`. This is useful for CI/CD or secrets-manager integrations where you don't want keys on disk.
 
 :::note Looking for Docker as the **terminal backend**?
-This page covers running Hermes itself inside Docker. If you want Hermes to execute the agent's `terminal` / `execute_code` calls inside a Docker sandbox container (one persistent container per Hermes process), that's a separate config block — `terminal.backend: docker` plus `terminal.docker_image`, `terminal.docker_volumes`, `terminal.docker_forward_env`, `terminal.docker_run_as_host_user`, and `terminal.docker_extra_args`. See [Configuration → Docker Backend](configuration.md#docker-backend) for the full set.
+This page covers running Hermes itself inside Docker. If you want Hermes to execute the agent's `terminal` / `execute_code` calls inside a Docker sandbox container (one long-lived container shared across Hermes processes — see issue #20561), that's a separate config block — `terminal.backend: docker` plus `terminal.docker_image`, `terminal.docker_volumes`, `terminal.docker_forward_env`, `terminal.docker_env`, `terminal.docker_run_as_host_user`, `terminal.docker_extra_args`, `terminal.docker_persist_across_processes`, and `terminal.docker_orphan_reaper`. See [Configuration → Docker Backend](configuration.md#docker-backend) for the full set including container-lifecycle rules.
 :::
 
 ## Docker Compose example