diff --git a/coach/config.py b/coach/config.py
index 55d2013..e392090 100644
--- a/coach/config.py
+++ b/coach/config.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ DECK_GEN_PROVIDER = os.environ.get("DECK_GEN_PROVIDER", "local")
 DECK_GEN_MODEL = os.environ.get("DECK_GEN_MODEL", "gpt-oss:20b")
 # Perplexity cloud model (sonar / sonar-pro / sonar-deep-research)
 PPLX_MODEL = os.environ.get("PPLX_MODEL", "sonar-pro")
+# Coach chat provider: "local" (Ollama) or "perplexity" (Perplexity API)
+COACH_PROVIDER = os.environ.get("COACH_PROVIDER", "local")
 DECK_GEN_BASE_URL = os.environ.get("DECK_GEN_BASE_URL", "http://localhost:11434/v1")
 DECK_GEN_TEMPERATURE = float(os.environ.get("DECK_GEN_TEMPERATURE", "0.2"))
 DECK_GEN_MAX_TOKENS = int(os.environ.get("DECK_GEN_MAX_TOKENS", "16384"))