diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 369e906..f177510 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .root_source_file = b.path("src/root.zig"),
     });
 
+    // Kernel tunables (max_cpus, stack sizes, tick rate). A dependency-free module of
+    // compile-time constants, imported wherever a knob is read; keeps the trade-offs
+    // in one place instead of scattered across the tree. See src/config.zig.
+    const config_mod = b.addModule("config", .{
+        .root_source_file = b.path("src/config.zig"),
+    });
+
     // Architecture-specific kernel code (CPU ops, entry, later GDT/IDT/paging).
     // The generic kernel imports this as "arch" and never names x86_64, so a new
     // architecture is a matter of pointing this module at a different directory.
@@ -68,6 +75,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .root_source_file = b.path("src/kernel/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig"),
         .imports = &.{
             .{ .name = "danos", .module = mod }, // paging uses the shared BootInfo/memory-map types
+            .{ .name = "config", .module = config_mod }, // max_cpus, ist_stack_size, timer_hz
         },
     });
     // CPU-exception stubs — real assembly, since they need cross-symbol
@@ -86,6 +94,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .root_source_file = b.path("src/device/platform.zig"),
         .imports = &.{
             .{ .name = "danos", .module = mod }, // BootInfo (carries the ACPI RSDP)
+            .{ .name = "config", .module = config_mod }, // max_cpus (the discovery pool)
         },
     });
 
@@ -122,6 +131,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
                 .{ .name = "danos", .module = mod },
                 .{ .name = "arch", .module = arch_mod },
                 .{ .name = "platform", .module = platform_mod },
+                .{ .name = "config", .module = config_mod },
                 .{ .name = "build_options", .module = build_options_mod },
             },
         }),
diff --git a/src/config.zig b/src/config.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..843967c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+//! Kernel tunables — the compile-time knobs, gathered in one place.
+//!
+//! These constants would otherwise be scattered across the files that use them,
+//! hiding the trade-offs. Keeping them here makes them visible at a glance and gives
+//! one spot to change them. They're plain `comptime` constants (zero runtime cost);
+//! any one can later be promoted to a `-D` build option if a target needs to vary it
+//! (see build.zig's `-Dtest-case` for the pattern). This keeps root.zig to what it
+//! actually is — the bootloader↔kernel handoff *contract* — with tunables living here.
+
+/// Ceiling on logical CPUs the kernel tracks — the size of the per-CPU bookkeeping
+/// arrays (discovery pool, scheduler state, per-core GDT/TSS). Generous headroom:
+/// those structs are small, and the *large* per-core resources (kernel and IST
+/// stacks) are allocated at bring-up for cores that actually come online, so this
+/// ceiling is cheap. A machine with more logical CPUs has its surplus reported and
+/// left parked (see acpi `cpusDropped`).
+pub const max_cpus = 128;
+
+/// Maximum tasks (kernel threads) alive at once — the static task-table size. Each
+/// online core consumes one slot for its idle task, plus task 0 on the BSP.
+pub const max_tasks = 16;
+
+/// Each task's kernel stack (also each AP's bring-up stack), in bytes.
+pub const kernel_stack_size = 16 * 1024;
+
+/// Each core's IST (double-fault) stack, in bytes. The BSP's is static; an AP's is
+/// heap-allocated at bring-up.
+pub const ist_stack_size = 16 * 1024;
+
+/// Scheduler tick / preemption rate, in Hz (the timer's periodic frequency).
+pub const timer_hz = 1000;
diff --git a/src/device/acpi.zig b/src/device/acpi.zig
index 5aba781..da1a84c 100644
--- a/src/device/acpi.zig
+++ b/src/device/acpi.zig
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 const std = @import("std");
 const danos = @import("danos");
+const config = @import("config");
 const device = @import("device.zig");
 const aml = @import("aml/aml.zig");
 const DeviceTree = device.DeviceTree;
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ pub const CpuInfo = struct {
     dropped: usize = 0,
 };
 
-const max_cpus = danos.max_cpus;
+const max_cpus = config.max_cpus;
 
 /// Filled in by `discover` (from the MADT); SMP bring-up reads it to wake the APs.
 pub var cpu_info: CpuInfo = .{};
diff --git a/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig b/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig
index a6b2950..5677c86 100644
--- a/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig
+++ b/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 //! (halt, the descriptor tables, later paging), and nothing generic.
 
 const danos = @import("danos");
+const config = @import("config");
 const gdt = @import("gdt.zig");
 const tss = @import("tss.zig");
 const idt = @import("idt.zig");
@@ -148,8 +149,8 @@ pub fn pageExecutable(virt: u64) bool {
     return paging.isExecutable(virt);
 }
 
-/// Kernel tick rate: 1000 Hz (1 ms), the scheduler's time quantum.
-pub const timer_hz = 1000;
+/// Kernel tick rate (the scheduler's time quantum), from config.
+pub const timer_hz = config.timer_hz;
 
 /// The ACPI PM timer, as a calibration reference (re-exported for the config).
 pub const PmTimer = apic.PmTimer;
diff --git a/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/gdt.zig b/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/gdt.zig
index 9d45819..7b24f77 100644
--- a/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/gdt.zig
+++ b/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/gdt.zig
@@ -9,14 +9,14 @@
 //! tss.zig). Two cores can't share one TSS descriptor slot, so each core gets its
 //! own copy of the table with its own TSS descriptor. Slot 0 is the BSP.
 
-const danos = @import("danos");
+const config = @import("config");
 
 /// Selectors into the table (index * 8). Same on every core's GDT.
 pub const kernel_code = 0x08;
 pub const kernel_data = 0x10;
 pub const tss_selector = 0x18;
 
-const max_cpus = danos.max_cpus;
+const max_cpus = config.max_cpus;
 const entries = 5; // null, code, data, TSS-low, TSS-high
 
 /// The shared descriptors (slots 0-2); slots 3-4 hold this core's TSS descriptor,
diff --git a/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/tss.zig b/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/tss.zig
index 8237f0d..076db3a 100644
--- a/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/tss.zig
+++ b/src/kernel/arch/x86_64/tss.zig
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 //! once can't share one fault stack. So the TSS and its IST stack are per-core,
 //! indexed by CPU number; slot 0 is the BSP.
 
-const danos = @import("danos");
+const config = @import("config");
 const gdt = @import("gdt.zig");
 
 /// x86_64 TSS. `packed` because several 64-bit fields sit at 4-byte-unaligned
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ const Tss = packed struct {
 /// The IST slot (1-based, as the IDT gate encodes it) used for critical faults.
 pub const double_fault_ist = 1;
 
-const max_cpus = danos.max_cpus;
-pub const ist_stack_size = 16 * 1024;
+const max_cpus = config.max_cpus;
+pub const ist_stack_size = config.ist_stack_size;
 
 /// One TSS per core (small — kept static). The IST stacks are 16 KiB each, so only
 /// the **BSP's** is static: it must exist before the frame allocator does, to catch a
diff --git a/src/kernel/main.zig b/src/kernel/main.zig
index babd1b7..ea284d3 100644
--- a/src/kernel/main.zig
+++ b/src/kernel/main.zig
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const danos = @import("danos");
+const config = @import("config");
 const arch = @import("arch");
 const console = @import("console.zig");
 const log = @import("log.zig");
@@ -278,7 +279,7 @@ fn bringUpSecondaries() void {
     log.print("\ndanos: bringing up {d} application processor(s)\n", .{cores.len - 1});
     const max_wake_attempts = 3; // a core that misses the first INIT-SIPI-SIPI gets retried
     for (cores[1..], 1..) |core, index| {
-        const stack = heap.allocator().alloc(u8, 16 * 1024) catch {
+        const stack = heap.allocator().alloc(u8, config.kernel_stack_size) catch {
             log.print("  cpu apic_id {d}: no stack; skipped\n", .{core.apic_id});
             continue;
         };
diff --git a/src/kernel/scheduler.zig b/src/kernel/scheduler.zig
index 2aab53d..aa03dbd 100644
--- a/src/kernel/scheduler.zig
+++ b/src/kernel/scheduler.zig
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 //! shared queues.
 
 const std = @import("std");
-const danos = @import("danos");
+const config = @import("config");
 const arch = @import("arch");
 const heap = @import("heap.zig");
 const sync = @import("sync.zig");
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ const sync = @import("sync.zig");
 pub const Priority = u3;
 const num_priorities = 8;
 
-const stack_size = 16 * 1024; // each task's kernel stack is 16 KiB
-const max_tasks = 16; // the maximum number of tasks alive at once is 16 in a static sized pool
+const stack_size = config.kernel_stack_size; // each task's kernel stack
+const max_tasks = config.max_tasks; // maximum tasks alive at once (static pool)
 
 const State = enum { free, ready, running, blocked };
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ pub const PerCpu = struct {
     pinned_bitmap: u8 = 0,
 };
 
-const max_cpus = danos.max_cpus;
+const max_cpus = config.max_cpus;
 var cpus = [_]PerCpu{.{}} ** max_cpus;
 
 /// This core's per-CPU state, via the arch layer's GS-base pointer. Valid only once
diff --git a/src/root.zig b/src/root.zig
index a1d7b93..25924e0 100644
--- a/src/root.zig
+++ b/src/root.zig
@@ -45,14 +45,6 @@ pub const Framebuffer = extern struct {
 /// targets so far.
 pub const page_size = 4096;
 
-/// Ceiling on logical CPUs the kernel tracks — the size of the per-CPU bookkeeping
-/// arrays (discovery pool, scheduler state, per-core GDT/TSS). A generous headroom:
-/// these structs are small (a few hundred bytes each), and the *large* per-core
-/// resources (IST/kernel stacks) are allocated at bring-up, only for cores that
-/// actually come online — so this ceiling costs little. A machine with more logical
-/// CPUs than this has its surplus reported and left parked (see acpi `cpusDropped`).
-pub const max_cpus = 128;
-
 /// danos's own classification of a span of physical memory — deliberately not
 /// UEFI's vocabulary. Each boot path (UEFI now, device tree later) translates its
 /// native memory description into these kinds, so the kernel never learns what