diff --git a/4-seasons.sh b/4-seasons.sh
index 4890c83..54a903e 100755
--- a/4-seasons.sh
+++ b/4-seasons.sh
@@ -11,10 +11,11 @@ set -euo pipefail
 set -x
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/sky-cam.conf"
 
 # ── Configuration ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-base_dir="/home/motion/drives/local-2tb"
-music_base_dir="$base_dir/music/4 Seasons"
+base_dir="$BASE_DIR"
+music_base_dir="$MUSIC_DIR"
 [ ! -d "$music_base_dir" ] && music_base_dir="$SCRIPT_DIR/music"
 
 # ── Date setup ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/fullday-video.sh b/fullday-video.sh
index 955f29f..be9fcf2 100755
--- a/fullday-video.sh
+++ b/fullday-video.sh
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/sky-cam.conf"
 
 # ── Configuration ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-base_dir="/home/motion/drives/local-2tb"
+base_dir="$BASE_DIR"
 FULLDAY_FPS=5       # timelapse frame rate — adjust to taste
 RETENTION_DAYS=10   # full-day videos older than this are deleted
 
diff --git a/montage-mvt.sh b/montage-mvt.sh
index 3159c19..8ae114e 100755
--- a/montage-mvt.sh
+++ b/montage-mvt.sh
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/sky-cam.conf"
 
 # ── Configuration ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-base_dir="/home/motion/drives/local-2tb"
-music_base_dir="$base_dir/music/4 Seasons"
+base_dir="$BASE_DIR"
+music_base_dir="$MUSIC_DIR"
 [ ! -d "$music_base_dir" ] && music_base_dir="$SCRIPT_DIR/music"
 
 FADE_DUR=2.0   # video + audio fade in/out (seconds)
diff --git a/notify.sh b/notify.sh
index fad536c..00086ce 100755
--- a/notify.sh
+++ b/notify.sh
@@ -10,19 +10,18 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
-CONFIG="$SCRIPT_DIR/notify_config.txt"
+CONFIG="$SCRIPT_DIR/sky-cam.conf"
 
 TITLE="${1:-Sky-Cam notification}"
 BODY="${2:-}"
 
 # ── Load config ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 if [ ! -f "$CONFIG" ]; then
-    echo "notify.sh: config not found at $CONFIG — skipping notifications" >&2
+    echo "notify.sh: sky-cam.conf not found — skipping notifications" >&2
     exit 0
 fi
 
-# Source only the known keys; ignore comments and blank lines.
-eval "$(grep -E '^[A-Z_]+=.*' "$CONFIG" | grep -v '^#')"
+source "$CONFIG"
 
 NTFY_ENABLED="${NTFY_ENABLED:-false}"
 NTFY_URL="${NTFY_URL:-}"
@@ -52,23 +51,15 @@ if [ "$EMAIL_ENABLED" = "true" ] && [ -n "$EMAIL_TO" ]; then
 fi
 
 # ── Mattermost text post ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-# Uses the same mattermost_config.txt as sunrise2mm.py but posts to
-# MM_NOTIFY_CHANNEL_ID (can be the same channel or a private admin channel).
+# mattermost_url and access_token come from sky-cam.conf (sourced above).
 if [ "$MM_NOTIFY_ENABLED" = "true" ] && [ -n "$MM_NOTIFY_CHANNEL_ID" ]; then
-    MM_CONFIG="/home/motion/drives/local-2tb/sunrise-scripts/mattermost_config.txt"
-    [ ! -f "$MM_CONFIG" ] && MM_CONFIG="$SCRIPT_DIR/mattermost_config.txt"
-    if [ -f "$MM_CONFIG" ]; then
-        eval "$(grep -E '^(mattermost_url|access_token)=' "$MM_CONFIG")"
-        curl -s \
-            -H "Authorization: Bearer $access_token" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            -d "{\"channel_id\":\"$MM_NOTIFY_CHANNEL_ID\",\"message\":\"**$TITLE**\n$BODY\"}" \
-            "${mattermost_url}/api/v4/posts" > /dev/null \
-            && echo "notify: mattermost sent" \
-            || echo "notify: mattermost failed" >&2
-    else
-        echo "notify: mattermost_config.txt not found — skipping MM notify" >&2
-    fi
+    curl -s \
+        -H "Authorization: Bearer $access_token" \
+        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+        -d "{\"channel_id\":\"$MM_NOTIFY_CHANNEL_ID\",\"message\":\"**$TITLE**\n$BODY\"}" \
+        "${mattermost_url}/api/v4/posts" > /dev/null \
+        && echo "notify: mattermost sent" \
+        || echo "notify: mattermost failed" >&2
 fi
 
 exit 0
diff --git a/notify_config.txt b/notify_config.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index c8334d2..0000000
--- a/notify_config.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-# notify_config.txt — sky-cam notification settings
-# Each method is independently toggled.  Set to true and fill in the value.
-
-# ── ntfy (push notifications via ntfy.sh or self-hosted ntfy) ─────────────────
-# Self-host: https://docs.ntfy.sh/install/
-# Cloud:     sign up at https://ntfy.sh, pick a topic name
-NTFY_ENABLED=false
-NTFY_URL=https://ntfy.sh/your-topic-here
-
-# ── Email ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-# Requires the 'mail' command (e.g. mailutils or s-nail package).
-# For outbound SMTP relay, configure /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf or msmtp.
-EMAIL_ENABLED=false
-EMAIL_TO=you@example.com
-EMAIL_FROM=skycam@localhost
-
-# ── Mattermost text post ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-# Posts a plain-text notification (no video attachment) to the given channel.
-# Reuses the URL and access_token from mattermost_config.txt.
-# MM_NOTIFY_CHANNEL_ID can be the same daily-upload channel or a separate one.
-MM_NOTIFY_ENABLED=false
-MM_NOTIFY_CHANNEL_ID=your-channel-id-here
diff --git a/sky-cam.conf b/sky-cam.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef170a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sky-cam.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# sky-cam.conf — single config for all sky-cam scripts and Python helpers.
+#
+# Bash scripts source this file:
+#   source "$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")/sky-cam.conf"
+#
+# Python reads it with key=value parsing (same format, quotes stripped).
+#
+# Copy this file to your scripts directory and fill in every value.
+# Lines starting with # are comments and are ignored.
+
+# ── Paths ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+BASE_DIR=/home/motion/drives/local-2tb
+MUSIC_DIR=/home/motion/drives/local-2tb/music/4 Seasons
+TIMEZONE=America/New_York
+
+# ── Mattermost — daily sunrise upload ────────────────────────────────────────
+mattermost_url=https://your-mattermost-server.example.com
+access_token=your-access-token-here
+channel_id=your-daily-upload-channel-id-here
+
+# ── Notifications — movement montage + year-end video complete / job failure ──
+# ntfy: https://ntfy.sh (cloud) or self-hosted.  Set topic URL below.
+NTFY_ENABLED=false
+NTFY_URL=https://ntfy.sh/your-topic-here
+
+# Email: requires the 'mail' command (mailutils / s-nail).
+EMAIL_ENABLED=false
+EMAIL_TO=you@example.com
+EMAIL_FROM=skycam@localhost
+
+# Mattermost text post (can be same channel as daily upload or a private one).
+MM_NOTIFY_ENABLED=false
+MM_NOTIFY_CHANNEL_ID=your-notify-channel-id-here
diff --git a/sky-cam.crontab b/sky-cam.crontab
deleted file mode 100644
index 1973d05..0000000
--- a/sky-cam.crontab
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-# sky-cam crontab
-#
-# Install:  crontab sky-cam.crontab
-#           (or append to existing: crontab -l | cat - sky-cam.crontab | crontab -)
-#
-# Set SCRIPT_DIR to wherever this repo lives on your machine.
-# Logs go to /var/log/sky-cam/ — create it first:
-#   sudo mkdir -p /var/log/sky-cam && sudo chown $USER /var/log/sky-cam
-
-SCRIPT_DIR=/home/motion/drives/local-2tb/sunrise-scripts
-LOGDIR=/var/log/sky-cam
-
-# ── Daily sunrise video → Mattermost (run after sunrise window ends) ──────────
-# sunrise_video.10s.sh processes today's images, so run well after sunrise.
-# Adjust the hour to be safely after your latest local sunrise (~09:00 is fine
-# for any timezone in the continental US; change to 10:00 if unsure).
-0 9 * * * $SCRIPT_DIR/sunrise_video.10s.sh >> $LOGDIR/sunrise.log 2>&1
-
-# ── Daily Four Seasons clip (process yesterday's images, 01:00) ───────────────
-# Also triggers montage-mvt.sh automatically on the last day of each movement,
-# which in turn triggers year-end-join.sh after the last Autumn movement.
-0 1 * * * $SCRIPT_DIR/4-seasons.sh >> $LOGDIR/4-seasons.log 2>&1
-
-# ── Full-day timelapse (process yesterday's images, 02:00) ────────────────────
-# Runs after 4-seasons.sh to avoid disk contention. Deletes videos > 10 days.
-0 2 * * * $SCRIPT_DIR/fullday-video.sh >> $LOGDIR/fullday.log 2>&1
diff --git a/sunrise2mm.py b/sunrise2mm.py
index 484f56c..e6ad9d5 100644
--- a/sunrise2mm.py
+++ b/sunrise2mm.py
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ import requests
 import os
 from datetime import datetime
 
-# Configuration file path (update the path to where your mattermost_config.txt is located)
-config_file_path = '/home/motion/drives/local-2tb/sunrise-scripts/mattermost_config.txt'
+import pathlib
+
+# Locate sky-cam.conf next to this script (works regardless of cwd).
+_here = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+config_file_path = str(_here / 'sky-cam.conf')
 
 # Function to read configuration from the config file
 def read_config(config_file_path):
diff --git a/systemd/sky-cam-4seasons.service b/systemd/sky-cam-4seasons.service
index 80c4d4c..0f0347f 100644
--- a/systemd/sky-cam-4seasons.service
+++ b/systemd/sky-cam-4seasons.service
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 Description=Sky-Cam Four Seasons daily clip (+ montage trigger on last day)
 After=network-online.target
 Wants=network-online.target
+OnFailure=sky-cam-notify-failure@%n.service
 
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
diff --git a/systemd/sky-cam-fullday.service b/systemd/sky-cam-fullday.service
index f043235..bef3263 100644
--- a/systemd/sky-cam-fullday.service
+++ b/systemd/sky-cam-fullday.service
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=Sky-Cam full-day timelapse (10-day retention)
+OnFailure=sky-cam-notify-failure@%n.service
 
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
diff --git a/systemd/sky-cam-notify-failure@.service b/systemd/sky-cam-notify-failure@.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08cd719
--- /dev/null
+++ b/systemd/sky-cam-notify-failure@.service
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Sky-Cam failure notification for %i
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+# %i is the name of the failed unit (passed by OnFailure=)
+# Edit ExecStart path to match your install location.
+ExecStart=/home/motion/drives/local-2tb/sunrise-scripts/notify.sh \
+    "sky-cam job failed: %i" \
+    "systemd unit %i exited with failure. Check logs: journalctl -u %i"
diff --git a/systemd/sky-cam-sunrise.service b/systemd/sky-cam-sunrise.service
index 707cfa2..2f58c2d 100644
--- a/systemd/sky-cam-sunrise.service
+++ b/systemd/sky-cam-sunrise.service
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 Description=Sky-Cam daily sunrise video → Mattermost
 After=network-online.target
 Wants=network-online.target
+OnFailure=sky-cam-notify-failure@%n.service
 
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
diff --git a/year-end-join.sh b/year-end-join.sh
index 61920bf..f0ad1ab 100755
--- a/year-end-join.sh
+++ b/year-end-join.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/sky-cam.conf"
 
 ASTRO_YEAR="${1:-}"
 if [ -z "$ASTRO_YEAR" ]; then
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ if [ -z "$ASTRO_YEAR" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-base_dir="/home/motion/drives/local-2tb"
+base_dir="$BASE_DIR"
 script_name=$(basename "$SCRIPT_DIR" | cut -d'-' -f1)
 year_dir="$base_dir/movies/$script_name/$ASTRO_YEAR"