diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/config.rs b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a0fc15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+//! `HostConfig` — the host's runtime knobs parsed ONCE from the environment, instead of the ~68 scattered
+//! `env::var` reads recomputed at every call site (some up to 8×, which lets capture + encode silently
+//! disagree on the resolved backend — plan §2.4). The service / launcher loads `host.env` into the process
+//! environment before the host starts, and the environment is constant for the process lifetime, so a
+//! lazily-parsed global is equivalent to "parsed once at startup".
+//!
+//! **Goal-1 stage 1** (`docs/windows-host-goal1-plan.md`): this is the foundation. Subsequent stages grow
+//! this struct + migrate the remaining read sites onto it, then `SessionPlan` (stage 2) consumes it as the
+//! single owner of the capture/topology/encoder decision. New fields are added here AS call sites migrate —
+//! a field that nothing reads yet would just be dead, so they land together with their migration.
+
+use std::sync::OnceLock;
+
+/// Resolved host configuration. Grows as `env::var` call sites migrate onto it (Goal-1).
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default)]
+pub struct HostConfig {
+    /// `PUNKTFUNK_IDD_PUSH` — use the IDD direct-push capturer (in-process Session-0 capture; no WGC helper).
+    pub idd_push: bool,
+    /// `PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER` — explicit encoder-backend override (lowercased; empty = auto-detect by GPU vendor).
+    pub encoder_pref: String,
+    /// `PUNKTFUNK_NO_HELPER` — never spawn the user-session WGC helper.
+    pub no_helper: bool,
+    /// `PUNKTFUNK_FORCE_HELPER` — force the WGC helper even when not running as SYSTEM.
+    pub force_helper: bool,
+}
+
+impl HostConfig {
+    fn from_env() -> Self {
+        let flag = |k: &str| std::env::var_os(k).is_some();
+        Self {
+            idd_push: flag("PUNKTFUNK_IDD_PUSH"),
+            encoder_pref: std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER")
+                .unwrap_or_default()
+                .to_ascii_lowercase(),
+            no_helper: flag("PUNKTFUNK_NO_HELPER"),
+            force_helper: flag("PUNKTFUNK_FORCE_HELPER"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// The process-wide host configuration, parsed once on first access.
+pub fn config() -> &'static HostConfig {
+    static CFG: OnceLock<HostConfig> = OnceLock::new();
+    CFG.get_or_init(HostConfig::from_env)
+}
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/encode.rs b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/encode.rs
index e3e7d9b..e50da4f 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/encode.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/encode.rs
@@ -450,10 +450,8 @@ enum GpuVendor {
 /// vendor). Shared by [`open_video`] and the GameStream codec advertisement so both agree.
 #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
 pub(crate) fn windows_resolved_backend() -> WindowsBackend {
-    let pref = std::env::var("PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER")
-        .unwrap_or_default()
-        .to_ascii_lowercase();
-    match pref.as_str() {
+    // Resolved ONCE in HostConfig (Goal-1) — was re-read from PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER on every call.
+    match crate::config::config().encoder_pref.as_str() {
         "nvenc" | "hw" | "nvidia" | "cuda" => WindowsBackend::Nvenc,
         "amf" | "amd" => WindowsBackend::Amf,
         "qsv" | "intel" => WindowsBackend::Qsv,
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/main.rs b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/main.rs
index 70bcfdc..9caf20b 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/main.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #![allow(dead_code)]
 
 mod audio;
+mod config;
 mod capture;
 mod discovery;
 #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/punktfunk1.rs b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/punktfunk1.rs
index 54023fe..8efc266 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-host/src/punktfunk1.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-host/src/punktfunk1.rs
@@ -2577,7 +2577,8 @@ fn virtual_stream(
 /// desktop, Apollo-style), which has no WGC helper to relay.
 #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
 fn should_use_helper() -> bool {
-    if std::env::var_os("PUNKTFUNK_NO_HELPER").is_some() || crate::capture::wgc_disabled() {
+    let cfg = crate::config::config();
+    if cfg.no_helper || crate::capture::wgc_disabled() {
         return false;
     }
     // IDD direct-push captures IN-PROCESS in Session 0: the pf-vdisplay driver delivers frames to the
@@ -2585,11 +2586,10 @@ fn should_use_helper() -> bool {
     // needed for VIDEO (and a Session-1 helper couldn't open the Session-0 shared textures anyway).
     // NOTE: input injection (SendInput) from Session 0 can't reach the user's Session-1 desktop yet —
     // a known follow-up; this path validates the video transport. See docs/windows-virtual-display-rust-port.md.
-    if std::env::var_os("PUNKTFUNK_IDD_PUSH").is_some() {
+    if cfg.idd_push {
         return false;
     }
-    std::env::var_os("PUNKTFUNK_FORCE_HELPER").is_some()
-        || crate::capture::wgc_relay::running_as_system()
+    cfg.force_helper || crate::capture::wgc_relay::running_as_system()
 }
 
 /// Windows two-process video stream: the SYSTEM host creates the SudoVDA virtual output (and holds
diff --git a/docs/windows-host-goal1-plan.md b/docs/windows-host-goal1-plan.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43ff4da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/windows-host-goal1-plan.md
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+# Goal-1 (clean, layered host architecture) — staged execution plan
+
+The design is in [`windows-host-rewrite.md`](windows-host-rewrite.md) §2.2–2.4. This file is the **ordered,
+independently-shippable execution plan**, because the host is **live-validated** (GameStream + punktfunk/1,
+NVENC + IDD-push on-glass) and Goal-1 rewires its session/config/dispatch flow — so every stage must
+**preserve behavior**, compile + box-verify on its own, and be committed before the next starts. The plan's
+own §14 makes the §1 preservation checklist a mandatory per-module assert contract; honour it.
+
+## Why staged (not one big rewrite)
+
+`main` is at parity and shipping. A monolithic rewrite would put the validated host in a broken
+intermediate state for a long window and make a regression impossible to bisect. Each stage below is a
+behaviour-preserving transform with its own verification, so a regression is caught at the stage that
+introduced it.
+
+## Stages (ordered; each = goal · files · risk · verify)
+
+**Stage 1 — `HostConfig` foundation. ✅ DONE (this commit).**
+`config.rs`: typed `HostConfig` parsed ONCE from env (`idd_push`/`encoder_pref`/`no_helper`/`force_helper`).
+Migrated the two highest-churn dispatch reads onto it (`encode::windows_resolved_backend`,
+`punktfunk1::should_use_helper`). Risk: low (env constant at runtime → identical behaviour). Verify: box
+`cargo check --features nvenc`.
+
+**Stage 2 — finish `HostConfig` + resolve-once.**
+Migrate the remaining ~64 `env::var` sites onto `HostConfig` fields (esp. `PUNKTFUNK_IDD_PUSH` ×8,
+`PUNKTFUNK_RENDER_ADAPTER`, `PUNKTFUNK_ZEROCOPY`, `PUNKTFUNK_SECURE_DDA`, `PUNKTFUNK_IDD_DEPTH`,
+`PUNKTFUNK_NO_WGC`, the perf/debug flags). Linux vars (XDG/compositor) included for one config. Risk:
+medium (must preserve each var's exact semantics — a flipped bool is a silent regression; assert per the §1
+checklist). Verify: Linux + box build; `grep env::var` should reach ~0 outside `config.rs`.
+
+**Stage 3 — `SessionPlan` (the single biggest clarity lever, plan §2.4).**
+Resolve `display/capture/topology/encoder/format/hdr/bit_depth` ONCE from `HostConfig` into a typed
+`SessionPlan`; replace the 3-place dispatch (`capture_virtual_output`, `should_use_helper`/`virtual_stream`,
+`windows_resolved_backend`) with reads off the plan. Fixes the capture/encode backend-disagreement bug
+class. Risk: medium-high (rewires the deployed decision). Verify: box build + on-glass re-test (NVENC +
+IDD-push + a mode switch).
+
+**Stage 4 — `SessionContext` + `SessionFactory`/`Session`.**
+Bundle the 12–13-arg `#[allow(too_many_arguments)]` signatures into `SessionContext`; `SessionFactory.build()`
+owns the RAII chain `vdm.lease(mode) → open_capturer(vout, fmt) → open_encoder(plan) → spawn pipeline`, with
+`Session::drop` the ONLY teardown path. Risk: high (teardown ordering — the §1 RAII asserts are mandatory).
+Verify: box build + on-glass (connect/disconnect/reconnect, no leaked monitors/threads).
+
+**Stage 5 — seam-trait tightenings (plan §2.3).**
+`Capturer::open_capturer(vout, want: OutputFormat)` takes the format IN (kills the
+`capture → encode::windows_resolved_backend()` back-reference recomputed in `dxgi.rs`); HDR/release become
+`VirtualLease` methods (session glue names no concrete backend, contains no `unsafe`); optional encoder
+features move to `EncoderCaps`. Risk: medium. Verify: box build + on-glass.
+
+**Stage 6 — `src/windows/` tree (cfg-sprawl confinement, plan §2.2).**
+Move the Windows backends under `src/windows/` + `capture/windows/`, `encode/windows/`, `inject/windows/`,
+`audio/windows/`, `vdisplay/windows.rs` behind one `#[cfg(windows)] mod windows;` seam. Pure file move +
+mod/use-path updates — behaviour-identical. Risk: low-but-huge (dozens of files; compile-verify catches all).
+Do LAST so the earlier semantic stages don't fight path churn. Verify: Linux + box build.
+
+## Guardrails (mandatory, plan §14)
+
+- Each stage is its own commit; box-verify before moving on.
+- Stages 3–5 touch the deployed path → **on-glass re-test** (NVENC + IDD-push, a mode switch, a
+  connect/disconnect cycle) before the next stage.
+- Preserve every `PUNKTFUNK_*` var's exact semantics; when in doubt, assert old==new at the call site.