diff --git a/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job b/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job
index eb4d533..25775ae 100755
--- a/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job
+++ b/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job
@@ -16,11 +16,26 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 
-# Load local .env if it exists in current dir or workspace root
-if [[ -f .env ]]; then
-  set -a; source .env; set +a
-elif [[ -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../.env" ]]; then
-  set -a; source "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../.env"; set +a
+# Load local env file (.mam.env preferred, .env fallback) from workspace root or explicit MAM_ENV_FILE
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../.." && pwd)"
+TARGET_ENV="${MAM_ENV_FILE:-}"
+if [[ -z "$TARGET_ENV" ]]; then
+  if [[ -f "$REPO_ROOT/.mam.env" ]]; then
+    TARGET_ENV="$REPO_ROOT/.mam.env"
+  elif [[ -f "$REPO_ROOT/.env" ]]; then
+    TARGET_ENV="$REPO_ROOT/.env"
+    echo "WARNING: Loading deprecated config file '$TARGET_ENV'. Please migrate to '.mam.env'." >&2
+  elif [[ -f .mam.env ]]; then
+    TARGET_ENV=".mam.env"
+    echo "WARNING: Loading config from cwd relative path '$TARGET_ENV'." >&2
+  elif [[ -f .env ]]; then
+    TARGET_ENV=".env"
+    echo "WARNING: Loading deprecated config from cwd relative path '$TARGET_ENV'. Please migrate to '.mam.env'." >&2
+  fi
+fi
+
+if [[ -n "$TARGET_ENV" && -f "$TARGET_ENV" ]]; then
+  set -a; source "$TARGET_ENV"; set +a
 fi
 
 # Source EARLY (before any herdr usage in run_agent) — this is what turns