diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4b8f1f3fd..95c9c8c70 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 - macOS: treat location permission as always-only to avoid iOS-only enums. (#165) — thanks @Nachx639
 - macOS: make generated gateway protocol models `Sendable` for Swift 6 strict concurrency. (#195) — thanks @andranik-sahakyan
 - WhatsApp: suppress typing indicator during heartbeat background tasks. (#190) — thanks @mcinteerj
+- Env: load global `$CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR/.env` (`~/.clawdbot/.env`) as a fallback after CWD `.env`.
 - Agent tools: OpenAI-compatible tool JSON Schemas (fix `browser`, normalize union schemas).
 - Onboarding: when running from source, auto-build missing Control UI assets (`pnpm ui:build`).
 - Discord/Slack: route reaction + system notifications to the correct session (no main-session bleed).
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cd600de6f..8bbb8257c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -214,6 +214,8 @@ Minimal `~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json`:
 }
 ```
 
+Env vars: loaded from `.env` in the current working directory, plus a global fallback at `~/.clawdbot/.env` (aka `$CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR/.env`) without overriding existing values.
+
 ### WhatsApp
 
 - Link the device: `pnpm clawdbot login` (stores creds in `~/.clawdbot/credentials`).
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index cc9d1f58a..459b3057e 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import process from "node:process";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
-import dotenv from "dotenv";
 import { getReplyFromConfig } from "./auto-reply/reply.js";
 import { applyTemplate } from "./auto-reply/templating.js";
 import { createDefaultDeps } from "./cli/deps.js";
@@ -17,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   saveSessionStore,
 } from "./config/sessions.js";
 import { ensureBinary } from "./infra/binaries.js";
+import { loadDotEnv } from "./infra/dotenv.js";
 import { normalizeEnv } from "./infra/env.js";
 import { isMainModule } from "./infra/is-main.js";
 import { ensureClawdbotCliOnPath } from "./infra/path-env.js";
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import { runCommandWithTimeout, runExec } from "./process/exec.js";
 import { monitorWebProvider } from "./provider-web.js";
 import { assertProvider, normalizeE164, toWhatsappJid } from "./utils.js";
 
-dotenv.config({ quiet: true });
+loadDotEnv({ quiet: true });
 normalizeEnv();
 ensureClawdbotCliOnPath();
 
diff --git a/src/infra/dotenv.test.ts b/src/infra/dotenv.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..902eafe62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/infra/dotenv.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { loadDotEnv } from "./dotenv.js";
+
+async function writeEnvFile(filePath: string, contents: string) {
+  await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(filePath), { recursive: true });
+  await fs.writeFile(filePath, contents, "utf8");
+}
+
+describe("loadDotEnv", () => {
+  it("loads ~/.clawdbot/.env as fallback without overriding CWD .env", async () => {
+    const prevEnv = { ...process.env };
+    const prevCwd = process.cwd();
+
+    const base = await fs.mkdtemp(
+      path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawdbot-dotenv-test-"),
+    );
+    const cwdDir = path.join(base, "cwd");
+    const stateDir = path.join(base, "state");
+
+    process.env.CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR = stateDir;
+
+    await writeEnvFile(path.join(stateDir, ".env"), "FOO=from-global\nBAR=1\n");
+    await writeEnvFile(path.join(cwdDir, ".env"), "FOO=from-cwd\n");
+
+    process.chdir(cwdDir);
+    delete process.env.FOO;
+    delete process.env.BAR;
+
+    loadDotEnv({ quiet: true });
+
+    expect(process.env.FOO).toBe("from-cwd");
+    expect(process.env.BAR).toBe("1");
+
+    process.chdir(prevCwd);
+    for (const key of Object.keys(process.env)) {
+      if (!(key in prevEnv)) delete process.env[key];
+    }
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(prevEnv)) {
+      if (value === undefined) delete process.env[key];
+      else process.env[key] = value;
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("does not override an already-set env var from the shell", async () => {
+    const prevEnv = { ...process.env };
+    const prevCwd = process.cwd();
+
+    const base = await fs.mkdtemp(
+      path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawdbot-dotenv-test-"),
+    );
+    const cwdDir = path.join(base, "cwd");
+    const stateDir = path.join(base, "state");
+
+    process.env.CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR = stateDir;
+    process.env.FOO = "from-shell";
+
+    await writeEnvFile(path.join(stateDir, ".env"), "FOO=from-global\n");
+    await writeEnvFile(path.join(cwdDir, ".env"), "FOO=from-cwd\n");
+
+    process.chdir(cwdDir);
+
+    loadDotEnv({ quiet: true });
+
+    expect(process.env.FOO).toBe("from-shell");
+
+    process.chdir(prevCwd);
+    for (const key of Object.keys(process.env)) {
+      if (!(key in prevEnv)) delete process.env[key];
+    }
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(prevEnv)) {
+      if (value === undefined) delete process.env[key];
+      else process.env[key] = value;
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/infra/dotenv.ts b/src/infra/dotenv.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a0669dec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/infra/dotenv.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import dotenv from "dotenv";
+
+import { resolveConfigDir } from "../utils.js";
+
+export function loadDotEnv(opts?: { quiet?: boolean }) {
+  const quiet = opts?.quiet ?? true;
+
+  // Load from process CWD first (dotenv default).
+  dotenv.config({ quiet });
+
+  // Then load global fallback: ~/.clawdbot/.env (or CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR/.env),
+  // without overriding any env vars already present.
+  const globalEnvPath = path.join(resolveConfigDir(process.env), ".env");
+  if (!fs.existsSync(globalEnvPath)) return;
+
+  dotenv.config({ quiet, path: globalEnvPath, override: false });
+}
diff --git a/src/macos/relay.ts b/src/macos/relay.ts
index 670d7316c..8448d92b0 100644
--- a/src/macos/relay.ts
+++ b/src/macos/relay.ts
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ async function main() {
 
   await patchBunLongForProtobuf();
 
-  const { default: dotenv } = await import("dotenv");
-  dotenv.config({ quiet: true });
+  const { loadDotEnv } = await import("../infra/dotenv.js");
+  loadDotEnv({ quiet: true });
 
   const { ensureClawdbotCliOnPath } = await import("../infra/path-env.js");
   ensureClawdbotCliOnPath();