diff --git a/.gemini/settings.json b/.gemini/settings.json
index 055942be20..1167e60f10 100644
--- a/.gemini/settings.json
+++ b/.gemini/settings.json
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@
       "projectId": "gemini-cli-team-quota",
       "zone": "us-west1-a",
       "remoteHost": "gcli-worker",
-      "remoteHome": "/home/node",
-      "remoteWorkDir": "/home/node/dev/main",
-      "useContainer": true,
+      "remoteWorkDir": "~/dev/main",
+      "userFork": "google-gemini/gemini-cli",
+      "upstreamRepo": "google-gemini/gemini-cli",
+      "useContainer": false,
       "terminalType": "iterm2"
     }
   }
diff --git a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/attach.ts b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/attach.ts
index c8a161aeb6..952bdb939e 100644
--- a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/attach.ts
+++ b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/attach.ts
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ export async function runAttach(args: string[], env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process
   }
 
   const { remoteHost } = config;
+  const sshConfigPath = path.join(REPO_ROOT, '.gemini/offload_ssh_config');
   const sessionName = `offload-${prNumber}-${action}`;
-  const finalSSH = `ssh -t ${remoteHost} "tmux attach-session -t ${sessionName}"`;
+  const finalSSH = `ssh -F ${sshConfigPath} -t ${remoteHost} "tmux attach-session -t ${sessionName}"`;
 
   console.log(`🔗 Attaching to session: ${sessionName}...`);
 
diff --git a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/fleet.ts b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/fleet.ts
index 004d421d53..55d32dfd61 100644
--- a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/fleet.ts
+++ b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/fleet.ts
@@ -133,13 +133,22 @@ async function stopWorker() {
 
 async function remoteStatus() {
   const name = INSTANCE_PREFIX;
+  const sshConfigPath = path.join(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../../offload_ssh_config');
   console.log(`📡 Fetching remote status from ${name}...`);
-  spawnSync('ssh', ['gcli-worker', 'tsx .offload/scripts/status.ts'], { stdio: 'inherit', shell: true });
+  spawnSync('ssh', ['-F', sshConfigPath, 'gcli-worker', 'tsx .offload/scripts/status.ts'], { stdio: 'inherit', shell: true });
 }
 
 async function rebuildWorker() {
   const name = INSTANCE_PREFIX;
   console.log(`🔥 Rebuilding worker ${name}...`);
+  
+  // Clear isolated known_hosts to prevent ID mismatch on rebuild
+  const knownHostsPath = path.join(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../../offload_known_hosts');
+  if (fs.existsSync(knownHostsPath)) {
+      console.log(`   - Clearing isolated known_hosts...`);
+      fs.unlinkSync(knownHostsPath);
+  }
+
   spawnSync('gcloud', ['compute', 'instances', 'delete', name, '--project', PROJECT_ID, '--zone', 'us-west1-a', '--quiet'], { stdio: 'inherit' });
   await provisionWorker();
 }
diff --git a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/logs.ts b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/logs.ts
index 4098112aab..918a1ed34f 100644
--- a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/logs.ts
+++ b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/logs.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export async function runLogs(args: string[]) {
   const settings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(settingsPath, 'utf8'));
   const config = settings.maintainer?.deepReview;
   const { remoteHost, remoteHome } = config;
+  const sshConfigPath = path.join(REPO_ROOT, '.gemini/offload_ssh_config');
 
   const jobDir = `${remoteHome}/dev/worktrees/offload-${prNumber}-${action}`;
   const logDir = `${jobDir}/.gemini/logs`;
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ export async function runLogs(args: string[]) {
     tail -f "$latest_log"
   `;
 
-  spawnSync(`ssh ${remoteHost} ${JSON.stringify(tailCmd)}`, { stdio: 'inherit', shell: true });
+  spawnSync(`ssh -F ${sshConfigPath} ${remoteHost} ${JSON.stringify(tailCmd)}`, { stdio: 'inherit', shell: true });
   return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/orchestrator.ts b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/orchestrator.ts
index 23149d3355..5aa73bc77c 100644
--- a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/orchestrator.ts
+++ b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/orchestrator.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ export async function runOrchestrator(args: string[], env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = p
   const persistentScripts = `~/.offload/scripts`;
   const sessionName = `offload-${prNumber}-${action}`;
   const remoteWorktreeDir = `~/dev/worktrees/${sessionName}`;
+  const sshConfigPath = path.join(REPO_ROOT, '.gemini/offload_ssh_config');
+  const sshBase = `ssh -F ${sshConfigPath}`;
 
   // 3. Remote Context Setup (Parallel Worktree)
   console.log(`🚀 Provisioning persistent worktree for ${action} on #${prNumber}...`);
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ export async function runOrchestrator(args: string[], env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = p
     setupCmd = `docker exec maintainer-worker sh -c ${q(setupCmd)}`;
   }
 
-  spawnSync(`ssh ${remoteHost} ${q(setupCmd)}`, { shell: true, stdio: 'inherit' });
+  spawnSync(`${sshBase} ${remoteHost} ${q(setupCmd)}`, { shell: true, stdio: 'inherit' });
 
   // 4. Execution Logic (Persistent Workstation Mode)
   // We use docker exec if container mode is enabled, otherwise run on host.
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ export async function runOrchestrator(args: string[], env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = p
   const sshInternal = `tmux attach-session -t ${sessionName} 2>/dev/null || tmux new-session -s ${sessionName} -n 'offload' ${q(tmuxCmd)}`;
   
   // High-performance primary SSH with IAP fallback
-  const finalSSH = `ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 -t ${remoteHost} ${q(sshInternal)} || gcloud compute ssh ${targetVM} --project ${projectId} --zone ${zone} --tunnel-through-iap --command ${q(sshInternal)}`;
+  const finalSSH = `${sshBase} -o ConnectTimeout=5 -t ${remoteHost} ${q(sshInternal)} || gcloud compute ssh ${targetVM} --project ${projectId} --zone ${zone} --tunnel-through-iap --command ${q(sshInternal)}`;
 
   // 5. Open in iTerm2
   const isWithinGemini = !!env.GEMINI_CLI || !!env.GEMINI_SESSION_ID || !!env.GCLI_SESSION_ID;
diff --git a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/setup.ts b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/setup.ts
index 1afa1920e3..43c923910c 100644
--- a/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/setup.ts
+++ b/.gemini/skills/offload/scripts/setup.ts
@@ -62,76 +62,40 @@ export async function runSetup(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env) {
     spawnSync(`gcloud compute instances start ${targetVM} --project ${projectId} --zone ${zone}`, { shell: true, stdio: 'inherit' });
   }
 
-  // 1. Configure Fast-Path SSH Alias (Direct Internal Hostname)
-  console.log(`\n🚀 Configuring Fast-Path SSH Alias (Internal Hostname)...`);
+  // 1. Configure Isolated SSH Alias (Project-Specific)
+  console.log(`\n🚀 Configuring Isolated SSH Alias...`);
   const dnsSuffix = await prompt('Internal DNS Suffix (e.g. .internal or .internal.gcpnode.com)', '.internal');
-  
-  // Construct the high-performance direct hostname
   const internalHostname = `${targetVM}.${zone}.c.${projectId}${dnsSuffix}`;
+
   const sshAlias = 'gcli-worker';
-  const sshConfigPath = path.join(os.homedir(), '.ssh/config');
-  
+  const sshConfigPath = path.join(REPO_ROOT, '.gemini/offload_ssh_config');
+  const knownHostsPath = path.join(REPO_ROOT, '.gemini/offload_known_hosts');
+
   const sshEntry = `
-Host ${sshAlias}
+  Host ${sshAlias}
     HostName ${internalHostname}
     IdentityFile ~/.ssh/google_compute_engine
     User ${env.USER || 'mattkorwel'}_google_com
+    UserKnownHostsFile ${knownHostsPath}
     CheckHostIP no
     StrictHostKeyChecking no
-`;
+  `;
 
+  fs.writeFileSync(sshConfigPath, sshEntry);
+  console.log(`   ✅ Created project SSH config: ${sshConfigPath}`);
 
-  let currentConfig = '';
-  if (fs.existsSync(sshConfigPath)) currentConfig = fs.readFileSync(sshConfigPath, 'utf8');
-
-  if (!currentConfig.includes(`Host ${sshAlias}`)) {
-    fs.appendFileSync(sshConfigPath, sshEntry);
-    console.log(`   ✅ Added '${sshAlias}' alias to ~/.ssh/config`);
-  }
-
-  /* --- Temporarily Skipping Fork Management ---
-  // 1b. Security Fork Management
-  console.log('\n🍴 Configuring Security Fork...');
-  const upstreamRepo = 'google-gemini/gemini-cli';
-
-  // 1. Robust Discovery using 'gh repo list'
-  const forksCheck = spawnSync('gh', ['repo', 'list', '--fork', '--limit', '100', '--json', 'nameWithOwner,parent'], { stdio: 'pipe' });
-  let existingForks: string[] = [];
-  try {
-      const allForks = JSON.parse(forksCheck.stdout.toString());
-      existingForks = allForks
-          .filter((r: any) => r.parent?.nameWithOwner === upstreamRepo)
-          .map((r: any) => r.nameWithOwner);
-  } catch (e) {}
-
-  let userFork = '';
-  if (existingForks.length > 0) {
-      console.log(`   ✅ Found personal fork: ${existingForks[0]}`);
-      userFork = existingForks[0];
-  } else {
-      console.log(`   🔍 No personal fork of ${upstreamRepo} found. Creating one...`);
-      const forkResult = spawnSync('gh', ['repo', 'fork', upstreamRepo, '--clone=false'], { stdio: 'inherit' });
-      // Give the API a moment to reflect the new fork
-      const user = spawnSync('gh', ['api', 'user', '-q', '.login'], { stdio: 'pipe' }).stdout.toString().trim();
-      userFork = `${user}/gemini-cli`;
-  }
-
-  console.log(`   👉 Target fork: ${userFork}`);
-  */
-  const userFork = 'google-gemini/gemini-cli'; // Fallback to main repo for now
-  const upstreamRepo = 'google-gemini/gemini-cli';
-
-
-  // Resolve Paths (Simplified with Tilde)
+  // Resolve Paths
+  const sshCmd = `ssh -F ${sshConfigPath}`;
   const remoteHost = sshAlias;
+  const remoteHome = '/home/node'; // Hardcoded for our maintainer container
   const remoteWorkDir = `~/dev/main`;
   const persistentScripts = `~/.offload/scripts`;
 
   console.log(`\n📦 Performing One-Time Synchronization...`);
-  spawnSync(`ssh ${remoteHost} "mkdir -p ${remoteWorkDir} ~/.gemini/policies ${persistentScripts}"`, { shell: true });
-
-  const rsyncBase = `rsync -avz -e "ssh" --exclude=".gemini/settings.json"`;
+  // Ensure host directories exist (on the VM Host)
+  spawnSync(sshCmd, [remoteHost, `mkdir -p ~/dev/main ~/.gemini/policies ~/.offload/scripts`], { shell: true });
 
+  const rsyncBase = `rsync -avz -e "${sshCmd}" --exclude=".gemini/settings.json"`;
   // 2. Sync Scripts & Policies
   console.log('   - Pushing offload logic to persistent worker directory...');
   spawnSync(`${rsyncBase} --delete .gemini/skills/offload/scripts/ ${remoteHost}:${persistentScripts}/`, { shell: true });