diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index 405b83ac9..3338a13c4 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -416,6 +416,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
         "provider": "local",  # "local" (free, faster-whisper) | "groq" | "openai" (Whisper API)
         "local": {
             "model": "base",  # tiny, base, small, medium, large-v3
+            "language": "",  # auto-detect by default; set to "en", "es", "fr", etc. to force
         },
         "openai": {
             "model": "whisper-1",  # whisper-1, gpt-4o-mini-transcribe, gpt-4o-transcribe
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py
index 03c9c56ec..739d45003 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway_service.py
@@ -641,3 +641,69 @@ class TestEnsureUserSystemdEnv:
         result = gateway_cli._systemctl_cmd(system=True)
         assert result == ["systemctl"]
         assert calls == []
+
+
+class TestProfileArg:
+    """Tests for _profile_arg — returns '--profile <name>' for named profiles."""
+
+    def test_default_hermes_home_returns_empty(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """Default ~/.hermes should not produce a --profile flag."""
+        hermes_home = tmp_path / ".hermes"
+        hermes_home.mkdir()
+        monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "home", lambda: tmp_path)
+        result = gateway_cli._profile_arg(str(hermes_home))
+        assert result == ""
+
+    def test_named_profile_returns_flag(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """~/.hermes/profiles/mybot should return '--profile mybot'."""
+        profile_dir = tmp_path / ".hermes" / "profiles" / "mybot"
+        profile_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "home", lambda: tmp_path)
+        result = gateway_cli._profile_arg(str(profile_dir))
+        assert result == "--profile mybot"
+
+    def test_hash_path_returns_empty(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """Arbitrary non-profile HERMES_HOME should return empty string."""
+        custom_home = tmp_path / "custom" / "hermes"
+        custom_home.mkdir(parents=True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "home", lambda: tmp_path)
+        result = gateway_cli._profile_arg(str(custom_home))
+        assert result == ""
+
+    def test_nested_profile_path_returns_empty(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """~/.hermes/profiles/mybot/subdir should NOT match — too deep."""
+        nested = tmp_path / ".hermes" / "profiles" / "mybot" / "subdir"
+        nested.mkdir(parents=True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "home", lambda: tmp_path)
+        result = gateway_cli._profile_arg(str(nested))
+        assert result == ""
+
+    def test_invalid_profile_name_returns_empty(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """Profile names with invalid chars should not match the regex."""
+        bad_profile = tmp_path / ".hermes" / "profiles" / "My Bot!"
+        bad_profile.mkdir(parents=True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "home", lambda: tmp_path)
+        result = gateway_cli._profile_arg(str(bad_profile))
+        assert result == ""
+
+    def test_systemd_unit_includes_profile(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """generate_systemd_unit should include --profile in ExecStart for named profiles."""
+        profile_dir = tmp_path / ".hermes" / "profiles" / "mybot"
+        profile_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "home", lambda: tmp_path)
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(profile_dir))
+        monkeypatch.setattr(gateway_cli, "get_hermes_home", lambda: profile_dir)
+        unit = gateway_cli.generate_systemd_unit(system=False)
+        assert "--profile mybot" in unit
+        assert "gateway run --replace" in unit
+
+    def test_launchd_plist_includes_profile(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """generate_launchd_plist should include --profile in ProgramArguments for named profiles."""
+        profile_dir = tmp_path / ".hermes" / "profiles" / "mybot"
+        profile_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "home", lambda: tmp_path)
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(profile_dir))
+        monkeypatch.setattr(gateway_cli, "get_hermes_home", lambda: profile_dir)
+        plist = gateway_cli.generate_launchd_plist()
+        assert "<string>--profile</string>" in plist
+        assert "<string>mybot</string>" in plist
diff --git a/tools/transcription_tools.py b/tools/transcription_tools.py
index d473172a3..4f07e5c47 100644
--- a/tools/transcription_tools.py
+++ b/tools/transcription_tools.py
@@ -295,8 +295,12 @@ def _transcribe_local(file_path: str, model_name: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             _local_model = WhisperModel(model_name, device="auto", compute_type="auto")
             _local_model_name = model_name
 
-        # Allow forcing the language via env var (e.g. HERMES_LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE=en)
-        _forced_lang = os.getenv(LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE_ENV, DEFAULT_LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE)
+        # Language: config.yaml (stt.local.language) > env var > auto-detect.
+        _forced_lang = (
+            _load_stt_config().get("local", {}).get("language")
+            or os.getenv(LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE_ENV)
+            or None
+        )
         transcribe_kwargs = {"beam_size": 5}
         if _forced_lang:
             transcribe_kwargs["language"] = _forced_lang
@@ -350,7 +354,12 @@ def _transcribe_local_command(file_path: str, model_name: str) -> Dict[str, Any]
             ),
         }
 
-    language = os.getenv(LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE_ENV, DEFAULT_LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE)
+    # Language: config.yaml (stt.local.language) > env var > "en" default.
+    language = (
+        _load_stt_config().get("local", {}).get("language")
+        or os.getenv(LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE_ENV)
+        or DEFAULT_LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE
+    )
     normalized_model = _normalize_local_command_model(model_name)
 
     try: