diff --git a/src/mcp/config/expandPlaceholders.ts b/src/mcp/config/expandPlaceholders.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e62f6d6b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mcp/config/expandPlaceholders.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { homedir } from "node:os";
+
+/**
+ * Expand MCP config placeholders in a single string:
+ * - `${env:NAME}` → process.env[NAME] (fallback empty string)
+ * - `${userHome}` → user home directory
+ * - `~/` or `~\` prefix → user home directory (kept for backward compat)
+ */
+export function expandMcpString(value: string): string {
+  let result = value
+    .replace(/\$\{env:([^}]+)\}/g, (_m, name: string) => process.env[name] ?? "")
+    .replace(/\$\{userHome\}/g, process.env.HOME ?? process.env.USERPROFILE ?? homedir());
+  if (result.startsWith("~/") || result.startsWith("~\\")) {
+    result = homedir() + result.slice(1);
+  } else if (result === "~") {
+    result = homedir();
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+/** Recursively expand all string values in an object/array tree. */
+export function expandMcpConfig(value: unknown): unknown {
+  if (typeof value === "string") return expandMcpString(value);
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return value.map(expandMcpConfig);
+  if (typeof value === "object" && value !== null) {
+    return Object.fromEntries(
+      Object.entries(value).map(([k, v]) => [k, expandMcpConfig(v)]),
+    );
+  }
+  return value;
+}
diff --git a/src/mcp/config/loadMcpServerConfig.ts b/src/mcp/config/loadMcpServerConfig.ts
index 4bf168d7b..17653e725 100644
--- a/src/mcp/config/loadMcpServerConfig.ts
+++ b/src/mcp/config/loadMcpServerConfig.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { existsSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
-import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { resolve } from "node:path";
 
+import { expandMcpConfig } from "./expandPlaceholders.js";
+
 export const MCP_CONFIG_FILE_NAME = "mcp.json";
 
 export type LoadMcpServerConfigResult = {
@@ -64,26 +65,7 @@ function readMcpConfig(
     return {};
   }
 
-  return { mcpServers: expandConfig(rawServers) as Record<string, unknown> };
-}
-
-function expandConfig(value: unknown): unknown {
-  if (typeof value === "string") {
-    return expandString(value);
-  }
-  if (Array.isArray(value)) {
-    return value.map(expandConfig);
-  }
-  if (isRecord(value)) {
-    return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(value).map(([key, entry]) => [key, expandConfig(entry)]));
-  }
-  return value;
-}
-
-function expandString(value: string): string {
-  return value
-    .replace(/\$\{env:([^}]+)\}/g, (_match, name: string) => process.env[name] ?? "")
-    .replace(/\$\{userHome\}/g, process.env.HOME ?? process.env.USERPROFILE ?? homedir());
+  return { mcpServers: expandMcpConfig(rawServers) as Record<string, unknown> };
 }
 
 function isRecord(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
diff --git a/src/mcp/index.ts b/src/mcp/index.ts
index 8b31ae69e..1420cc066 100644
--- a/src/mcp/index.ts
+++ b/src/mcp/index.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ export {
   loadMcpServerConfig,
   type LoadMcpServerConfigResult,
 } from "./config/loadMcpServerConfig.js";
+export {
+  expandMcpConfig,
+  expandMcpString,
+} from "./config/expandPlaceholders.js";
 export {
   createMcpToolDefinitionsFromRuntime,
   type CreateToolDefinitionsOptions,
diff --git a/src/mcp/runtime/parsePluginMcpServers.ts b/src/mcp/runtime/parsePluginMcpServers.ts
index 83c4524a5..4541836db 100644
--- a/src/mcp/runtime/parsePluginMcpServers.ts
+++ b/src/mcp/runtime/parsePluginMcpServers.ts
@@ -10,14 +10,13 @@
  *     a single misconfigured plugin entry can't take down the gateway.
  */
 
-import { homedir } from "node:os";
+import { expandMcpString } from "../config/expandPlaceholders.js";
 import type { PilotDeckMcpServerSpec } from "../protocol/types.js";
 
-function expandHome(s: string): string {
-  if (s.startsWith("~/")) return homedir() + s.slice(1);
-  if (s.startsWith("~\\")) return homedir() + s.slice(1);
-  if (s === "~") return homedir();
-  return s;
+function expandStringRecord(rec: Record<string, string>): Record<string, string> {
+  return Object.fromEntries(
+    Object.entries(rec).map(([k, v]) => [k, expandMcpString(v)]),
+  );
 }
 
 export type ParsePluginMcpServersResult = {
@@ -45,10 +44,10 @@ export function parsePluginMcpServers(
         transport: "stdio",
         command: v.command,
         args: Array.isArray(v.args)
-          ? (v.args.filter((a): a is string => typeof a === "string").map(expandHome))
+          ? (v.args.filter((a): a is string => typeof a === "string").map(expandMcpString))
           : undefined,
-        env: isStringRecord(v.env) ? (v.env as Record<string, string>) : undefined,
-        cwd: typeof v.cwd === "string" ? v.cwd : undefined,
+        env: isStringRecord(v.env) ? expandStringRecord(v.env as Record<string, string>) : undefined,
+        cwd: typeof v.cwd === "string" ? expandMcpString(v.cwd) : undefined,
         perSession: v.perSession === true ? true : undefined,
       });
       continue;
@@ -58,8 +57,8 @@ export function parsePluginMcpServers(
       servers.push({
         id,
         transport: "streamable_http",
-        url,
-        headers: isStringRecord(v.headers) ? (v.headers as Record<string, string>) : undefined,
+        url: expandMcpString(url),
+        headers: isStringRecord(v.headers) ? expandStringRecord(v.headers as Record<string, string>) : undefined,
       });
       continue;
     }
diff --git a/tests/mcp/expand-placeholders.spec.ts b/tests/mcp/expand-placeholders.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..104c04c07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/mcp/expand-placeholders.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { homedir } from "node:os";
+import test from "node:test";
+
+import { expandMcpString, expandMcpConfig } from "../../src/mcp/config/expandPlaceholders.js";
+import { parsePluginMcpServers } from "../../src/mcp/runtime/parsePluginMcpServers.js";
+
+test("expandMcpString expands ${env:*} placeholders", () => {
+  process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_TOKEN = "secret123";
+  try {
+    assert.equal(expandMcpString("Bearer ${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_TOKEN}"), "Bearer secret123");
+  } finally {
+    delete process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_TOKEN;
+  }
+});
+
+test("expandMcpString expands ${userHome} placeholder", () => {
+  const result = expandMcpString("${userHome}/my-tools");
+  assert.equal(result, homedir() + "/my-tools");
+});
+
+test("expandMcpString expands ~ prefix", () => {
+  assert.equal(expandMcpString("~/server.js"), homedir() + "/server.js");
+  assert.equal(expandMcpString("~\\server.js"), homedir() + "\\server.js");
+  assert.equal(expandMcpString("~"), homedir());
+});
+
+test("expandMcpString leaves unknown env vars as empty string", () => {
+  delete process.env.__PILOTDECK_NONEXISTENT_VAR__;
+  assert.equal(expandMcpString("${env:__PILOTDECK_NONEXISTENT_VAR__}"), "");
+});
+
+test("expandMcpString handles combined placeholders", () => {
+  process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_PORT = "8080";
+  try {
+    const result = expandMcpString("http://localhost:${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_PORT}${userHome}/path");
+    assert.equal(result, `http://localhost:8080${homedir()}/path`);
+  } finally {
+    delete process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_PORT;
+  }
+});
+
+test("expandMcpConfig recursively expands objects and arrays", () => {
+  process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_VAL = "expanded";
+  try {
+    const input = {
+      key: "${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_VAL}",
+      nested: { inner: "${userHome}/dir" },
+      list: ["~/a", "${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_VAL}"],
+      number: 42,
+    };
+    const result = expandMcpConfig(input) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    assert.equal(result.key, "expanded");
+    assert.equal((result.nested as Record<string, string>).inner, homedir() + "/dir");
+    assert.deepEqual(result.list, [homedir() + "/a", "expanded"]);
+    assert.equal(result.number, 42);
+  } finally {
+    delete process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_VAL;
+  }
+});
+
+test("parsePluginMcpServers expands ${env:*} in stdio env", () => {
+  process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_TOKEN = "tok_abc";
+  try {
+    const { servers } = parsePluginMcpServers({
+      myServer: {
+        command: "node",
+        args: ["server.js"],
+        env: { API_TOKEN: "${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_TOKEN}" },
+      },
+    });
+    assert.equal(servers.length, 1);
+    const s = servers[0]!;
+    assert.equal(s.transport, "stdio");
+    if (s.transport === "stdio") {
+      assert.equal(s.env?.API_TOKEN, "tok_abc");
+    }
+  } finally {
+    delete process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_TOKEN;
+  }
+});
+
+test("parsePluginMcpServers expands ${userHome} in stdio cwd", () => {
+  const { servers } = parsePluginMcpServers({
+    myServer: {
+      command: "node",
+      cwd: "${userHome}/my-tools",
+    },
+  });
+  assert.equal(servers.length, 1);
+  const s = servers[0]!;
+  if (s.transport === "stdio") {
+    assert.equal(s.cwd, homedir() + "/my-tools");
+  }
+});
+
+test("parsePluginMcpServers expands ~ in stdio args (backward compat)", () => {
+  const { servers } = parsePluginMcpServers({
+    myServer: {
+      command: "node",
+      args: ["~/server.js"],
+    },
+  });
+  assert.equal(servers.length, 1);
+  const s = servers[0]!;
+  if (s.transport === "stdio") {
+    assert.deepEqual(s.args, [homedir() + "/server.js"]);
+  }
+});
+
+test("parsePluginMcpServers expands ${env:*} in streamable_http url", () => {
+  process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_URL = "https://mcp.example.com";
+  try {
+    const { servers } = parsePluginMcpServers({
+      httpServer: {
+        url: "${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_URL}/mcp",
+      },
+    });
+    assert.equal(servers.length, 1);
+    const s = servers[0]!;
+    if (s.transport === "streamable_http") {
+      assert.equal(s.url, "https://mcp.example.com/mcp");
+    }
+  } finally {
+    delete process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_URL;
+  }
+});
+
+test("parsePluginMcpServers expands ${env:*} in streamable_http headers", () => {
+  process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_AUTH = "Bearer sk-123";
+  try {
+    const { servers } = parsePluginMcpServers({
+      httpServer: {
+        url: "https://mcp.example.com/mcp",
+        headers: { Authorization: "${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_AUTH}" },
+      },
+    });
+    assert.equal(servers.length, 1);
+    const s = servers[0]!;
+    if (s.transport === "streamable_http") {
+      assert.equal(s.headers?.Authorization, "Bearer sk-123");
+    }
+  } finally {
+    delete process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_AUTH;
+  }
+});
+
+test("user config and plugin config resolve same placeholders consistently", () => {
+  process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_CONSISTENCY = "same_value";
+  try {
+    const userExpanded = expandMcpString("${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_CONSISTENCY}");
+    const { servers } = parsePluginMcpServers({
+      srv: {
+        command: "node",
+        env: { VAR: "${env:PILOTDECK_TEST_CONSISTENCY}" },
+      },
+    });
+    const pluginExpanded = servers[0]!.transport === "stdio" ? servers[0]!.env?.VAR : undefined;
+    assert.equal(userExpanded, pluginExpanded);
+    assert.equal(userExpanded, "same_value");
+  } finally {
+    delete process.env.PILOTDECK_TEST_CONSISTENCY;
+  }
+});