diff --git a/contributors/emails/MaxFreedomPollard@users.noreply.github.com b/contributors/emails/MaxFreedomPollard@users.noreply.github.com
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e7c920af9fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contributors/emails/MaxFreedomPollard@users.noreply.github.com
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+MaxFreedomPollard
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index 25ec774da45..d02ac053126 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -1562,21 +1562,6 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
                                       # Example: 1800 = compact after 30 min idle.
     },
 
-    # Kanban subsystem (orchestrator workers + dispatcher-driven child tasks).
-    # See tools/kanban_tools.py and hermes_cli/kanban_db.py for the actual
-    # implementations. Per-platform notification opt-out is handled by the
-    # kanban dashboard (see ``hermes dashboard`` -> Notifications).
-    "kanban": {
-        # Auto-subscribe the originating gateway/TUI session to task
-        # completion + block events when ``kanban_create`` is called from
-        # inside a session that has a persistent delivery channel. The
-        # agent that dispatched the task will get notified automatically
-        # instead of having to poll. Disable to mirror pre-feature
-        # behaviour — e.g. for a profile that prefers explicit
-        # ``kanban_notify-subscribe`` calls per task.
-        "auto_subscribe_on_create": True,
-    },
-
     # Anthropic prompt caching (Claude via OpenRouter or native Anthropic API).
     # cache_ttl must be "5m" or "1h" (Anthropic-supported tiers); other values are ignored.
     "prompt_caching": {
@@ -2920,6 +2905,14 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     # each claimable ready task. One dispatcher per profile is sufficient;
     # running more than one on the same kanban.db will race for claims.
     "kanban": {
+        # Auto-subscribe the originating gateway/TUI session to task
+        # completion + block events when ``kanban_create`` is called from
+        # inside a session that has a persistent delivery channel. The
+        # agent that dispatched the task will get notified automatically
+        # instead of having to poll. Disable to mirror pre-feature
+        # behaviour — e.g. for a profile that prefers explicit
+        # ``kanban_notify-subscribe`` calls per task.
+        "auto_subscribe_on_create": True,
         # Run the dispatcher inside the gateway process. On by default —
         # the cost is ~300µs every `dispatch_interval_seconds` when idle,
         # and gateway is the supervisor users already have. Set to false
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_config.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_config.py
index e62fa1a3d79..22935d0bbe1 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_config.py
@@ -2385,3 +2385,35 @@ class TestProviderEnabledRuntimeGate:
             assert "disabled" not in str(e).lower()
         except Exception:
             pass  # any non-ValueError is fine; we only gate the disabled path
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# DEFAULT_CONFIG must not carry a duplicate "kanban" key
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_default_config_kanban_block_not_dropped_by_duplicate_key():
+    """DEFAULT_CONFIG previously declared ``"kanban"`` twice, so Python kept
+    only the second literal and silently dropped the first — losing the
+    ``auto_subscribe_on_create`` default. Both sets of defaults must survive.
+    """
+    kanban = DEFAULT_CONFIG["kanban"]
+    # From the first (dropped) block:
+    assert kanban.get("auto_subscribe_on_create") is True
+    # From the second block:
+    assert "dispatch_in_gateway" in kanban
+    assert "auto_decompose" in kanban
+
+
+def test_default_config_has_no_duplicate_top_level_keys():
+    """Guard against any duplicate key silently shadowing a default."""
+    import ast
+    import hermes_cli.config as cfg_mod
+
+    src = open(cfg_mod.__file__, encoding="utf-8").read()
+    tree = ast.parse(src)
+    for node in ast.walk(tree):
+        if isinstance(node, ast.Dict):
+            keys = [k.value for k in node.keys if isinstance(k, ast.Constant)]
+            if "model" in keys and "kanban" in keys:  # the DEFAULT_CONFIG literal
+                dupes = {k for k in keys if keys.count(k) > 1}
+                assert not dupes, f"duplicate DEFAULT_CONFIG keys: {sorted(dupes)}"