diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/__init__.py b/bot_bottle/cli/__init__.py
index 41ffa7d..b26642a 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/__init__.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from ..errors import MissingEnvVarError
 from ..log import Die, die, error
 from ..manifest import ManifestError
 from ..orchestrator.store.store_manager import StoreManager
-from ._common import PROG
+from .constants import PROG
 from .commands import list as _list_mod
 from .commands.backend import cmd_backend
 from .commands.cleanup import cmd_cleanup
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/_common.py b/bot_bottle/cli/_common.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 5fc6c33..0000000
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/_common.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-"""Shared constants and tty helper for cli subcommands."""
-
-from __future__ import annotations
-
-import os
-from pathlib import Path
-
-from ..util import read_tty_line as read_tty_line
-
-PROG = "cli.py"
-USER_CWD = os.getcwd()
-REPO_DIR = str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent)
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/__init__.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/__init__.py
index 0daac76..7f34d76 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/__init__.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/__init__.py
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 
 Each module exposes a `cmd_<name>(argv)` handler that the dispatcher
 (`bot_bottle.cli`) registers in its COMMANDS table. Shared CLI helpers
-(`_common`, `tui`) stay one level up in the `cli` package.
+(`constants`, `tui`) stay one level up in the `cli` package.
 """
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/backend.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/backend.py
index 2997db3..a06e44f 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/backend.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/backend.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import argparse
 
 from ...backend import get_bottle_backend, known_backend_names
-from .._common import PROG
+from ..constants import PROG
 
 
 def cmd_backend(args: list[str]) -> int:
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/cleanup.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/cleanup.py
index 685f6bc..d83ef14 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/cleanup.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/cleanup.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import sys
 
 from ...backend import get_bottle_backend, has_backend, known_backend_names
 from ...log import info
-from .._common import read_tty_line
+from ...util import read_tty_line
 
 
 def cmd_cleanup(_argv: list[str]) -> int:
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/commit.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/commit.py
index 502ae69..fcf454d 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/commit.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/commit.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from ...backend import enumerate_active_agents
 from ...backend.freeze import CommitCancelled, get_freezer
 from ...bottle_state import read_metadata
 from ...log import die
-from .._common import PROG
+from ..constants import PROG
 from .. import tui
 
 
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/edit.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/edit.py
index 82ca91b..8607517 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/edit.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/edit.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from ...log import die
-from .._common import PROG, USER_CWD
+from ..constants import PROG
 
 
 def cmd_edit(argv: list[str]) -> int:
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ def cmd_edit(argv: list[str]) -> int:
     if args.scope == "user":
         target_file = Path(os.environ["HOME"]) / "bot-bottle.json"
     else:
-        target_file = Path(USER_CWD) / "bot-bottle.json"
+        target_file = Path(os.getcwd()) / "bot-bottle.json"
 
     if not target_file.is_file():
         die(f"{target_file} does not exist")
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/info.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/info.py
index d15b561..7850a2d 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/info.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/info.py
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import argparse
+import os
 
 from ...log import info
 from ...manifest import ManifestIndex
-from .._common import PROG, USER_CWD
+from ..constants import PROG
 
 
 def cmd_info(argv: list[str]) -> int:
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ def cmd_info(argv: list[str]) -> int:
     parser.add_argument("name", help="agent name defined in bot-bottle.json")
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
-    names = ManifestIndex.resolve(USER_CWD)
+    names = ManifestIndex.resolve(os.getcwd())
     names.require_agent(args.name)
     manifest = names.load_for_agent(args.name)
 
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/init.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/init.py
index ca169f1..3444177 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/init.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/init.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
 from ...log import die, info, warn
-from .._common import PROG, USER_CWD, read_tty_line
+from ..constants import PROG
+from ...util import read_tty_line
 
 
 def cmd_init(argv: list[str]) -> int:
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ def cmd_init(argv: list[str]) -> int:
     if args.scope == "user":
         target_file = Path(os.environ["HOME"]) / "bot-bottle.json"
     else:
-        target_file = Path(USER_CWD) / "bot-bottle.json"
+        target_file = Path(os.getcwd()) / "bot-bottle.json"
 
     print(file=sys.stderr)
     info(f"bot-bottle init — adding a new agent to {target_file}")
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/list.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/list.py
index 5c0caf3..6b83c4e 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/list.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/list.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import sys
 
 from ...backend import enumerate_active_agents
 from ...manifest import ManifestIndex
-from .._common import PROG, USER_CWD
+from ..constants import PROG
 
 _ANSI_COLOR_CODES: dict[str, str] = {
     "red": "\033[91m",
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def cmd_list(argv: list[str]) -> int:
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
     if args.scope == "available":
-        manifest = ManifestIndex.resolve(USER_CWD)
+        manifest = ManifestIndex.resolve(os.getcwd())
         for name in manifest.all_agent_names:
             print(name)
         return 0
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/resume.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/resume.py
index 6d8224a..e3b6bc2 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/resume.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/resume.py
@@ -15,12 +15,13 @@ to bring up the replacement from the recorded state.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import argparse
+import os
 
 from ...backend import BottleSpec
 from ...bottle_state import read_metadata
 from ...log import die
 from ...manifest import ManifestIndex
-from .._common import PROG, USER_CWD
+from ..constants import PROG
 from .start import _launch_bottle
 
 
@@ -40,14 +41,14 @@ def cmd_resume(argv: list[str]) -> int:
             f"check ~/.bot-bottle/state/ or run `cli.py start` to create a new bottle"
         )
 
-    manifest = ManifestIndex.resolve(USER_CWD)
+    manifest = ManifestIndex.resolve(os.getcwd())
     manifest.require_agent(metadata.agent_name)
 
     spec = BottleSpec(
         manifest=manifest,
         agent_name=metadata.agent_name,
         copy_cwd=metadata.copy_cwd,
-        user_cwd=metadata.cwd or USER_CWD,
+        user_cwd=metadata.cwd or os.getcwd(),
         identity=metadata.identity,
         bottle_names=tuple(metadata.bottle_names),
     )
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/start.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/start.py
index 24c2e9c..2082f92 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/start.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/start.py
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ from ...bottle_state import (
 from ...image_cache import StaleImageError
 from ...log import info, die
 from ...manifest import Manifest, ManifestIndex
-from .._common import PROG, USER_CWD, read_tty_line
+from ..constants import PROG
+from ...util import read_tty_line
 from .. import tui
 
 
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ def cmd_start(argv: list[str]) -> int:
         # threading a no_cache field through every backend's plan dataclass.
         os.environ["BOT_BOTTLE_NO_CACHE"] = "1"
 
-    manifest = ManifestIndex.resolve(USER_CWD)
+    manifest = ManifestIndex.resolve(os.getcwd())
 
     if args.headless:
         return _start_headless(
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ def cmd_start(argv: list[str]) -> int:
         manifest=manifest,
         agent_name=agent_name,
         copy_cwd=args.cwd,
-        user_cwd=USER_CWD,
+        user_cwd=os.getcwd(),
         label=label,
         color=color,
         bottle_names=bottle_names,
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@ def _start_headless(
         manifest=manifest,
         agent_name=agent_name,
         copy_cwd=args.cwd,
-        user_cwd=USER_CWD,
+        user_cwd=os.getcwd(),
         label=label,
         color=args.color or "",
         bottle_names=bottle_names,
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/supervise.py b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/supervise.py
index c2beb03..cbb349f 100644
--- a/bot_bottle/cli/commands/supervise.py
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/commands/supervise.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ from ...supervisor.types import (
     TOOL_GITLEAKS_ALLOW,
     TOOL_EGRESS_TOKEN_ALLOW,
 )
-from .._common import PROG
+from ..constants import PROG
 
 
 _REFRESH_INTERVAL_MS = 1000
diff --git a/bot_bottle/cli/constants.py b/bot_bottle/cli/constants.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4df182e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bot_bottle/cli/constants.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+"""Shared CLI constants.
+
+Kept as a leaf module (imports nothing from the `cli` package) so both the
+dispatcher (`cli/__init__.py`) and the command modules it imports can share
+`PROG` without a circular import.
+"""
+
+PROG = "cli.py"