diff --git a/gateway/run.py b/gateway/run.py
index 1728d58b1b..de80262710 100644
--- a/gateway/run.py
+++ b/gateway/run.py
@@ -8331,6 +8331,27 @@ class GatewayRunner:
     # ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     # /goal — persistent cross-turn goals (Ralph-style loop)
     # ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    def _goal_max_turns_from_config(self) -> int:
+        """Resolve the configured /goal turn budget for gateway sessions.
+
+        GatewayRunner.config is a GatewayConfig dataclass, not the full
+        user config mapping. Top-level config blocks such as ``goals`` are
+        therefore only available through hermes_cli.config.load_config().
+        """
+        try:
+            goals_cfg = (
+                (self.config or {}).get("goals", {})
+                if isinstance(self.config, dict)
+                else getattr(self.config, "goals", {}) or {}
+            )
+            if not goals_cfg:
+                from hermes_cli.config import load_config
+
+                goals_cfg = (load_config() or {}).get("goals") or {}
+            return int(goals_cfg.get("max_turns", 20) or 20)
+        except Exception:
+            return 20
+
     def _get_goal_manager_for_event(self, event: "MessageEvent"):
         """Return a GoalManager bound to the session for this gateway event.
 
@@ -8350,15 +8371,7 @@ class GatewayRunner:
         sid = getattr(session_entry, "session_id", None) or ""
         if not sid:
             return None, None
-        try:
-            goals_cfg = (
-                (self.config or {}).get("goals", {})
-                if isinstance(self.config, dict)
-                else getattr(self.config, "goals", {}) or {}
-            )
-            max_turns = int(goals_cfg.get("max_turns", 20) or 20)
-        except Exception:
-            max_turns = 20
+        max_turns = self._goal_max_turns_from_config()
         return GoalManager(session_id=sid, default_max_turns=max_turns), session_entry
 
     async def _handle_goal_command(self, event: "MessageEvent") -> str:
@@ -8458,15 +8471,7 @@ class GatewayRunner:
         if not sid:
             return
 
-        try:
-            goals_cfg = (
-                (self.config or {}).get("goals", {})
-                if isinstance(self.config, dict)
-                else getattr(self.config, "goals", {}) or {}
-            )
-            max_turns = int(goals_cfg.get("max_turns", 20) or 20)
-        except Exception:
-            max_turns = 20
+        max_turns = self._goal_max_turns_from_config()
 
         mgr = GoalManager(session_id=sid, default_max_turns=max_turns)
         if not mgr.is_active():
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_goal_max_turns_config.py b/tests/gateway/test_goal_max_turns_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..154485bd34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_goal_max_turns_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import pytest
+
+from gateway.config import GatewayConfig, Platform, PlatformConfig
+from gateway.platforms.base import MessageEvent, MessageType
+from gateway.run import GatewayRunner
+from gateway.session import SessionSource
+from hermes_cli import goals
+
+
+class _FakeSessionEntry:
+    session_id = "sid-gateway-goal-config"
+
+
+class _FakeSessionStore:
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.entry = _FakeSessionEntry()
+
+    def get_or_create_session(self, source):
+        return self.entry
+
+    def _generate_session_key(self, source):
+        return "agent:main:discord:channel:goal-config"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_gateway_goal_uses_goals_max_turns_from_full_config(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Gateway /goal should honor top-level goals.max_turns from config.yaml."""
+    home = tmp_path / ".hermes"
+    home.mkdir()
+    (home / "config.yaml").write_text("goals:\n  max_turns: 7\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(home))
+    goals._DB_CACHE.clear()
+
+    runner = object.__new__(GatewayRunner)
+    runner.config = GatewayConfig(
+        platforms={Platform.DISCORD: PlatformConfig(enabled=True, token="token")}
+    )
+    runner.session_store = _FakeSessionStore()
+    runner.adapters = {}
+    runner._queued_events = {}
+
+    event = MessageEvent(
+        text="/goal ship the benchmark",
+        message_type=MessageType.TEXT,
+        source=SessionSource(
+            platform=Platform.DISCORD,
+            chat_id="chat-goal-config",
+            chat_type="channel",
+            user_id="user-goal-config",
+        ),
+        message_id="msg-goal-config",
+    )
+
+    response = await GatewayRunner._handle_goal_command(runner, event)
+
+    try:
+        assert "⊙ Goal set (7-turn budget): ship the benchmark" in response
+        state = goals.GoalManager("sid-gateway-goal-config").state
+        assert state is not None
+        assert state.max_turns == 7
+    finally:
+        goals._DB_CACHE.clear()