diff --git a/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/mod.rs b/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/mod.rs
index 50576531fd..501dbc8ce5 100644
--- a/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/mod.rs
+++ b/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/mod.rs
@@ -120,6 +120,58 @@ impl Default for DriverConfig {
     }
 }
 
+/// Path to the persistent JSON config file shared by the CLI and MCP session.
+pub fn config_file_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
+    let home = std::env::var("HOME").unwrap_or_default();
+    std::path::PathBuf::from(format!("{home}/.cua-driver/config.json"))
+}
+
+/// Load `DriverConfig` from `~/.cua-driver/config.json`, falling back to
+/// defaults for any missing or unrecognised keys.  Called at MCP startup so
+/// that `cua-driver config set capture_mode vision` (CLI) carries over into
+/// the next MCP session without requiring a per-call `set_config`.
+pub fn load_driver_config() -> DriverConfig {
+    let mut cfg = DriverConfig::default();
+    let path = config_file_path();
+    let text = match std::fs::read_to_string(&path) {
+        Ok(t) => t,
+        Err(_) => return cfg,  // no file yet — use defaults
+    };
+    let json: serde_json::Value = match serde_json::from_str(&text) {
+        Ok(v) => v,
+        Err(_) => return cfg,  // malformed file — use defaults
+    };
+    if let Some(v) = json.get("capture_mode").and_then(|v| v.as_str()) {
+        cfg.capture_mode = v.to_owned();
+    }
+    if let Some(v) = json.get("max_image_dimension").and_then(|v| v.as_u64()) {
+        if let Ok(v32) = u32::try_from(v) {
+            cfg.max_image_dimension = v32;
+        }
+    }
+    cfg
+}
+
+/// Persist a single key/value pair to `~/.cua-driver/config.json`.
+/// Merges with any existing file contents so other keys are preserved.
+/// Returns `Err` if the directory cannot be created or the file cannot be written.
+pub fn write_driver_config_key(key: &str, value: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<(), String> {
+    let path = config_file_path();
+    let mut json: serde_json::Value = path
+        .exists()
+        .then(|| std::fs::read_to_string(&path).ok())
+        .flatten()
+        .and_then(|t| serde_json::from_str(&t).ok())
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| serde_json::json!({}));
+    json[key] = value.clone();
+    if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(parent).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+    }
+    let body = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&json).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+    std::fs::write(&path, body).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 /// Shared state passed to all tools.
 pub struct ToolState {
     pub element_cache: Arc<ElementCache>,
@@ -136,7 +188,9 @@ impl Default for ToolState {
             cursor_registry: Arc::new(CursorRegistry::new()),
             zoom_registry: Arc::new(ZoomRegistry::new()),
             resize_registry: Arc::new(ResizeRegistry::new()),
-            config: Arc::new(std::sync::RwLock::new(DriverConfig::default())),
+            // Load persisted config from ~/.cua-driver/config.json so that
+            // `cua-driver config set` changes carry over into MCP sessions.
+            config: Arc::new(std::sync::RwLock::new(load_driver_config())),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/set_config.rs b/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/set_config.rs
index 81eef9b992..6dd3a8e562 100644
--- a/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/set_config.rs
+++ b/libs/cua-driver-rs/crates/platform-macos/src/tools/set_config.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use mcp_server::{protocol::ToolResult, tool::{Tool, ToolDef}};
 use serde_json::Value;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use super::ToolState;
+use super::{write_driver_config_key, ToolState};
 
 pub struct SetConfigTool {
     state: Arc<ToolState>,
@@ -49,9 +49,19 @@ impl Tool for SetConfigTool {
         let mut cfg = self.state.config.write().unwrap();
         if let Some(mode) = args.get("capture_mode").and_then(|v| v.as_str()) {
             cfg.capture_mode = mode.to_owned();
+            if let Err(e) = write_driver_config_key("capture_mode", &Value::String(mode.to_owned())) {
+                tracing::warn!("set_config: failed to persist capture_mode: {e}");
+            }
         }
         if let Some(dim) = args.get("max_image_dimension").and_then(|v| v.as_u64()) {
-            cfg.max_image_dimension = dim as u32;
+            if let Ok(dim32) = u32::try_from(dim) {
+                cfg.max_image_dimension = dim32;
+                if let Err(e) = write_driver_config_key("max_image_dimension", &Value::Number(dim.into())) {
+                    tracing::warn!("set_config: failed to persist max_image_dimension: {e}");
+                }
+            } else {
+                return ToolResult::error(format!("max_image_dimension {dim} exceeds u32::MAX"));
+            }
         }
         ToolResult::text(format!(
             "Config updated: capture_mode={}, max_image_dimension={}",
diff --git a/libs/cua-driver-rs/scripts/install.sh b/libs/cua-driver-rs/scripts/install.sh
index 4a35d2baec..55a050bf38 100644
--- a/libs/cua-driver-rs/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/libs/cua-driver-rs/scripts/install.sh
@@ -100,8 +100,19 @@ VERSION="${TAG#${TAG_PREFIX}}"
 
 # Prefer the bare-binary tarball (single `cua-driver` file at the root) —
 # the directory tarball would require unpacking and copying, but the bare
-# form is curl-pipe-able. Both forms are published per release.
-TARBALL="cua-driver-rs-${VERSION}-${LABEL}-binary.tar.gz"
+# form is curl-pipe-able.
+#
+# macOS: the release workflow publishes one universal binary (arm64 + x86_64
+# lipo'd together) named `darwin-universal-binary`.  There are NO per-arch
+# bare-binary tarballs for macOS — only the directory tarballs are split
+# by arch (darwin-arm64 / darwin-x86_64).  The universal binary works on
+# both Apple Silicon and Intel, so we always fetch it on macOS.
+#
+# Linux: per-arch bare-binary tarballs exist (e.g. linux-x86_64-binary).
+case "$LABEL" in
+    darwin-*) TARBALL="cua-driver-rs-${VERSION}-darwin-universal-binary.tar.gz" ;;
+    *)        TARBALL="cua-driver-rs-${VERSION}-${LABEL}-binary.tar.gz" ;;
+esac
 URL="https://github.com/$REPO/releases/download/$TAG/$TARBALL"
 
 log "downloading $URL"