diff --git a/App/AppState.swift b/App/AppState.swift
index abc0717..c1aa479 100644
--- a/App/AppState.swift
+++ b/App/AppState.swift
@@ -38,11 +38,17 @@ final class AppState {
         }
     }
 
+    /// A user-configured binary path from settings, or nil to auto-detect (empty = auto).
+    static func storedPath(_ key: String) -> String? {
+        let value = UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: key)
+        return (value?.isEmpty == false) ? value : nil
+    }
+
     init(
         containerEngine: ContainerEngine = SDKContainerEngine(),
-        composeEngine: ComposeEngine = CLIComposeEngine(),
-        serviceHealth: ServiceHealthChecking = CLIServiceHealth(),
-        creator: ContainerCreating = CLIContainerCreator(),
+        composeEngine: ComposeEngine = CLIComposeEngine(binaryPath: AppState.storedPath("composeBinaryPath")),
+        serviceHealth: ServiceHealthChecking = CLIServiceHealth(binaryPath: AppState.storedPath("containerBinaryPath")),
+        creator: ContainerCreating = CLIContainerCreator(binaryPath: AppState.storedPath("containerBinaryPath")),
         store: RegistryStore = RegistryStore()
     ) {
         self.containerEngine = containerEngine
diff --git a/App/Views/SettingsWindow.swift b/App/Views/SettingsWindow.swift
index d6b075f..dbda8de 100644
--- a/App/Views/SettingsWindow.swift
+++ b/App/Views/SettingsWindow.swift
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ struct SettingsWindow: View {
     @AppStorage("pollOpen") private var pollOpen = 2.0
     @AppStorage("pollClosed") private var pollClosed = 15.0
     @AppStorage("groupByNamePrefix") private var groupByNamePrefix = false
+    @AppStorage("containerBinaryPath") private var containerBinaryPath = ""
+    @AppStorage("composeBinaryPath") private var composeBinaryPath = ""
     @State private var working = false
 
     var body: some View {
@@ -39,6 +41,17 @@ struct SettingsWindow: View {
                 }
             }
 
+            Section("Binaries") {
+                LabeledContent("container") {
+                    TextField("auto-detected", text: $containerBinaryPath).frame(maxWidth: 240)
+                }
+                LabeledContent("container-compose") {
+                    TextField("auto-detected", text: $composeBinaryPath).frame(maxWidth: 240)
+                }
+                Text("Override only if your binaries aren't in a standard location. Empty = auto-detect. Applies on relaunch.")
+                    .font(.caption).foregroundStyle(.secondary)
+            }
+
             Section("Stacks") {
                 Toggle("Group external containers by name prefix", isOn: $groupByNamePrefix)
                 Text("Off: only stacks you launch through Consai are grouped (reliable). On: containers that share a `name-` prefix are grouped as inferred stacks — can mis-group unrelated containers.")