diff --git a/devagents/llm.go b/devagents/llm.go
index 6cd1762..eb84a96 100644
--- a/devagents/llm.go
+++ b/devagents/llm.go
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ func (a *Agent) runLLM(ctx context.Context, msgCtx decision.MessageContext, memK
 	// Load system prompt from file if configured, else use description
 	systemPrompt := a.cfg.Agent.Description
 	if spFile := a.cfg.LLM.Reasoning.SystemPromptFile; spFile != "" {
-		// Resolve path relative to agent directory
-		spPath := filepath.Join("agents", a.cfg.Agent.ID, spFile)
+		// Resolve path relative to the config directory (handles _specials/ and custom locations)
+		spPath := filepath.Join(a.cfg.ConfigDir, spFile)
 		if data, err := os.ReadFile(spPath); err == nil {
 			systemPrompt = string(data)
 		} else {
diff --git a/internal/config/loader.go b/internal/config/loader.go
index 4bf891f..30d5fff 100644
--- a/internal/config/loader.go
+++ b/internal/config/loader.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package config
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
@@ -26,6 +27,8 @@ func Load(path string) (*AgentConfig, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid config %s: %w", path, err)
 	}
 
+	cfg.ConfigDir = filepath.Dir(path)
+
 	return &cfg, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/config/schema.go b/internal/config/schema.go
index 7cb03b4..089d8f5 100644
--- a/internal/config/schema.go
+++ b/internal/config/schema.go
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ type AgentConfig struct {
 	Storage     StorageCfg     `yaml:"storage"`
 	Memory      MemoryCfg      `yaml:"memory"`
 	Skills      SkillsCfg      `yaml:"skills"`
+
+	// ConfigDir is the directory containing the config file. Set by the loader
+	// at load time, not from YAML. Used to resolve relative paths like
+	// system_prompt_file correctly regardless of where the agent lives.
+	ConfigDir string `yaml:"-"`
 }
 
 // ── Identity ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────