diff --git a/org-agenda-api/configs/colonelpanic/custom-config.el b/org-agenda-api/configs/colonelpanic/custom-config.el
index 98171698..6fc55cad 100644
--- a/org-agenda-api/configs/colonelpanic/custom-config.el
+++ b/org-agenda-api/configs/colonelpanic/custom-config.el
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@
 
 ;; Load tangled config files in order
 (let ((config-dir (file-name-directory load-file-name)))
+  ;; Containerized Emacs runs without a normal home directory. Some packages
+  ;; spawn async subprocesses using `user-emacs-directory` as cwd, so ensure
+  ;; that path exists before loading the full config.
+  (setq user-emacs-directory "/tmp/emacs/")
+  (make-directory user-emacs-directory t)
+
   ;; Load preface first (defines variables with default values)
   (when (file-exists-p (expand-file-name "org-config-preface.el" config-dir))
     (load (expand-file-name "org-config-preface.el" config-dir)))
@@ -175,13 +181,17 @@ Returns nil for non-entry templates or templates that can't be converted."
 
 (defun imalison:convert-all-capture-templates ()
   "Convert all org-capture-templates to org-agenda-api-capture-templates format."
-  (let ((converted '()))
-    (dolist (template org-capture-templates)
+  (let ((converted '())
+        (templates (and (boundp 'org-capture-templates) org-capture-templates)))
+    (dolist (template templates)
       (let ((api-template (imalison:convert-capture-template template)))
         (when api-template
           (push api-template converted))))
     (nreverse converted)))
 
+;; Ensure org-capture variables are defined before converting templates.
+(require 'org-capture nil t)
+
 ;; Default prompts for TODO templates when extraction fails
 (defvar imalison:default-todo-prompts
   '(("Title" :type string :required t))
diff --git a/org-agenda-api/configs/kat/custom-config.el b/org-agenda-api/configs/kat/custom-config.el
index 988af46a..ddfc6d79 100644
--- a/org-agenda-api/configs/kat/custom-config.el
+++ b/org-agenda-api/configs/kat/custom-config.el
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@
 
 ;; Load tangled config files in order
 (let ((config-dir (file-name-directory load-file-name)))
+  ;; Containerized Emacs runs without a normal home directory. Some packages
+  ;; spawn async subprocesses using `user-emacs-directory` as cwd, so ensure
+  ;; that path exists before loading the full config.
+  (setq user-emacs-directory "/tmp/emacs/")
+  (make-directory user-emacs-directory t)
+
   ;; Load preface first (defines variables with default values)
   (when (file-exists-p (expand-file-name "org-config-preface.el" config-dir))
     (load (expand-file-name "org-config-preface.el" config-dir)))
@@ -158,13 +164,17 @@ Returns nil for non-entry templates or templates that can't be converted."
 
 (defun imalison:convert-all-capture-templates ()
   "Convert all org-capture-templates to org-agenda-api-capture-templates format."
-  (let ((converted '()))
-    (dolist (template org-capture-templates)
+  (let ((converted '())
+        (templates (and (boundp 'org-capture-templates) org-capture-templates)))
+    (dolist (template templates)
       (let ((api-template (imalison:convert-capture-template template)))
         (when api-template
           (push api-template converted))))
     (nreverse converted)))
 
+;; Ensure org-capture variables are defined before converting templates.
+(require 'org-capture nil t)
+
 ;; Auto-generate API capture templates from org-capture-templates
 (setq org-agenda-api-capture-templates (imalison:convert-all-capture-templates))
 
diff --git a/org-agenda-api/justfile b/org-agenda-api/justfile
index 312ca607..3e0ac5b5 100644
--- a/org-agenda-api/justfile
+++ b/org-agenda-api/justfile
@@ -5,23 +5,23 @@ user := "imalison"
 
 # Get all todos
 get-all-todos:
-    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api/imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/get-all-todos" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
+    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api-imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/get-all-todos" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
 
 # Get today's agenda
 get-todays-agenda:
-    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api/imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/get-todays-agenda" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
+    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api-imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/get-todays-agenda" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
 
 # Get agenda (day view)
 agenda:
-    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api/imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/agenda" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
+    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api-imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/agenda" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
 
 # Get agenda files
 agenda-files:
-    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api/imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/agenda-files" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
+    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api-imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/agenda-files" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
 
 # Get todo states
 todo-states:
-    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api/imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/todo-states" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
+    @curl -s -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api-imalison | head -1)" "{{base_url}}/todo-states" | jq . # gitleaks:allow
 
 # Health check
 health:
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ health:
 # Create a todo
 create-todo title:
     # gitleaks:allow
-    @curl -s -X POST -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api/imalison | head -1)" \
+    @curl -s -X POST -u "{{user}}:$(pass show org-agenda-api-imalison | head -1)" \
         -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
         -d '{"title": "{{title}}"}' \
         "{{base_url}}/create-todo" | jq .