diff --git a/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/lib.rs b/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/lib.rs
index bafddcf..a961af2 100644
--- a/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/lib.rs
+++ b/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/lib.rs
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@ pub use promote::{ab_prep, promote_candidate, PromotionResult};
 // Submodules provide organization + inherent impl extensions (store.rs etc).
 // Full split of types into modules will happen as real logic is ported.
 
+/// Default AgentForge subdir under $HOME (legacy /home/eveselove fallback).
+pub(crate) fn home_agentforge(sub: &str) -> PathBuf {
+    let home = std::env::var("HOME").unwrap_or_else(|_| "/home/eveselove".to_string());
+    PathBuf::from(home).join("agentforge").join(sub)
+}
+
 /// Canonical candidate metadata (candidate_meta.json).
 /// Mirrors Python structure for seamless migration.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, Default)]
@@ -96,7 +102,7 @@ impl CandidateStore {
             std::env::var("AGENTFORGE_PENDING_CANDIDATES_DIR")
                 .or_else(|_| std::env::var("AGENTFORGE_PENDING_CANDIDATES"))
                 .map(PathBuf::from)
-                .unwrap_or_else(|_| PathBuf::from("/home/eveselove/agentforge/pending_candidates"))
+                .unwrap_or_else(|_| home_agentforge("pending_candidates"))
         });
         // In real: mkdir
         let _ = std::fs::create_dir_all(&root);
diff --git a/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/promote.rs b/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/promote.rs
index 80581b5..dcee1ff 100644
--- a/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/promote.rs
+++ b/rust/crates/agentforge-candidates/src/promote.rs
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ pub fn promote_candidate(
     if copy_to_skills && yaml_src.exists() {
         let skills_dir = std::env::var("AGENTFORGE_SKILLS_DIR")
             .map(PathBuf::from)
-            .unwrap_or_else(|_| PathBuf::from("/home/eveselove/agentforge/skills"));
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| crate::home_agentforge("skills"));
 
         let mut base = candidate_id.to_string();
         // Prefer yaml "name:" (Python parity for clean promoted filenames on real data)
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ pub fn promote_candidate(
     // 5) Rolling skills/promotion_history.json (exact Python shape, last 50) for complete audit/UX on real data (full end-to-end)
     let skills_dir = std::env::var("AGENTFORGE_SKILLS_DIR")
         .map(PathBuf::from)
-        .unwrap_or_else(|_| PathBuf::from("/home/eveselove/agentforge/skills"));
+        .unwrap_or_else(|_| crate::home_agentforge("skills"));
     let skills_hist_p = skills_dir.join("promotion_history.json");
     if !dry_run {
         if let Some(p) = skills_hist_p.parent() {