diff --git a/backend/src/tht/tht-runner.ts b/backend/src/tht/tht-runner.ts
index c18b0caf..2568bf51 100644
--- a/backend/src/tht/tht-runner.ts
+++ b/backend/src/tht/tht-runner.ts
@@ -33,9 +33,18 @@ export class ThtRunner {
     return ["-c", this.cfg.configPath];
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Build the full argv for a `tht` invocation. `--config`/`-c` is a PER-COMMAND
+   * option in the `tht` CLI (there is NO global `-c`), so it MUST be appended
+   * AFTER the subcommand + its flags, never prepended.
+   */
+  buildArgv(args: string[], workspace?: string): string[] {
+    return [...args, ...this.configArg(workspace)];
+  }
+
   run(args: string[], workspace?: string): Promise<{ code: number; stdout: string; stderr: string }> {
     return new Promise((resolve) => {
-      const ch = spawn(this.cfg.thtBin, [...this.configArg(workspace), ...args], {
+      const ch = spawn(this.cfg.thtBin, this.buildArgv(args, workspace), {
         cwd: this.cfg.harnessDir,
       });
       let stdout = "";
diff --git a/backend/test/tht-runner.test.ts b/backend/test/tht-runner.test.ts
index 8c692f13..7e04a72a 100644
--- a/backend/test/tht-runner.test.ts
+++ b/backend/test/tht-runner.test.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,16 @@ test("sessionNew with missing workspace file falls back to default configPath ar
   await r.sessionNew({ question: "q", workspace: "foo" });
   const [bin, argv] = (spawn as any).mock.calls[0];
   expect(bin).toBe("tht");
-  expect(argv).toEqual(["-c", "config/tht.yaml", "session", "new", "q", "--json"]);
+  // `--config`/`-c` is a PER-COMMAND option in tht (no global -c): it MUST follow
+  // the subcommand, never precede it. (Prepending it caused a live 500 "No such option: -c".)
+  expect(argv).toEqual(["session", "new", "q", "--json", "-c", "config/tht.yaml"]);
+});
+
+test("buildArgv appends -c AFTER the subcommand (never a global -c)", () => {
+  const r = new ThtRunner({ thtBin: "tht", harnessDir: "/nope", configPath: "config/tht.yaml" });
+  expect(r.buildArgv(["session", "list", "--json"])).toEqual([
+    "session", "list", "--json", "-c", "config/tht.yaml",
+  ]);
 });
 
 test("sqlPreview argv has no positional file — uses --session to resolve path", async () => {