diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index da4184b..33a54e3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ Thumbs.db
 
 # uv
 uv.lock
+.python-version
 
 # docs
 site/
diff --git a/mise.toml b/mise.toml
index d61f977..a0623e7 100644
--- a/mise.toml
+++ b/mise.toml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 [tools]
+prek = "latest"
 uv = "latest"
 
 [tasks.check]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 7672fd4..5620afa 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -100,5 +100,5 @@ convention = "google"
 
 [tool.uv]
 constraint-dependencies = [
-    "click<8.2", # https://github.com/fastapi/typer/discussions/1215
+    "click>=8.2", # typer>=0.16 uses click.Choice as a generic (PEP 585), which requires click>=8.2
 ]
diff --git a/src/submit_aml/config.py b/src/submit_aml/config.py
index 71b1d31..bc8a336 100644
--- a/src/submit_aml/config.py
+++ b/src/submit_aml/config.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 11):
     import tomllib
 else:
-    import tomli as tomllib  # type: ignore[unresolved-import]
+    import tomli as tomllib  # ty: ignore[unresolved-import]
 
 from .defaults import DEFAULT_COMMAND_PREFIX
 from .defaults import DEFAULT_COMPUTE_TARGET
@@ -32,11 +32,27 @@
 from .defaults import DEFAULT_TENSORBOARD_DIR
 from .logger import logger
 
-CONFIG_PATH: Path = Path("~/.config/submit-aml/config.toml").expanduser()
-"""Default location for the user-level TOML config file."""
-
 _ENV_PREFIX: str = "SUBMIT_AML_"
 
+_CONFIG_PATH_ENV_VAR: str = f"{_ENV_PREFIX}CONFIG"
+"""Environment variable that overrides the TOML config file location."""
+
+
+def _resolve_config_path() -> Path:
+    """Resolve the TOML config path, honoring the override env var."""
+    override = os.environ.get(_CONFIG_PATH_ENV_VAR)
+    if override:
+        return Path(override).expanduser()
+    return Path("~/.config/submit-aml/config.toml").expanduser()
+
+
+CONFIG_PATH: Path = _resolve_config_path()
+"""Default location for the user-level TOML config file.
+
+Set the ``SUBMIT_AML_CONFIG`` environment variable to point at a different
+file (or at a non-existent path to skip TOML config entirely).
+"""
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Registry: flat key → (TOML (section, key), package default)
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index ffa5e0c..53cf8d5 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -2,10 +2,22 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 
+# Point the CLI at a guaranteed non-existent config file BEFORE ``submit_aml``
+# is imported anywhere in the test session, so that Typer option defaults
+# (evaluated at import time) do not pick up the developer's real
+# ``~/.config/submit-aml/config.toml``. Likewise drop any ``SUBMIT_AML_*``
+# variables that may leak from the host shell.
+os.environ["SUBMIT_AML_CONFIG"] = "/nonexistent/submit-aml/config.toml"
+for _var in [
+    k for k in os.environ if k.startswith("SUBMIT_AML_") and k != "SUBMIT_AML_CONFIG"
+]:
+    del os.environ[_var]
+
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def toml_config_file(tmp_path: Path) -> Path: