diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 740dedf..9913f3f 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ AUTH_HEADER_EMAIL=X-authentik-email
 FORGEJO_BASE_URL=
 FORGEJO_TOKEN=
 FORGEJO_ORG=
-PROJECTS_ROOT=$HOME/projects/$app
 CADDY_ROUTE_ENABLED=false
 CADDY_ADMIN_URL=http://localhost:2019
 CADDY_SERVER_ID=srv0
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2444709..fd910a0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -38,10 +38,6 @@ Important:
   - `X-authentik-email`
 - `FORGEJO_BASE_URL` + `FORGEJO_TOKEN` enable repository creation.
 - `FORGEJO_ORG` switches creation from personal repos to org repos.
-- `PROJECTS_ROOT` supports templates:
-  - `$HOME` = workspace unix user home
-  - `$app` = project slug
-  - Example: `$HOME/projects/$app`
 - `UNIX_SOCKET_PATH` enables unix socket listener in addition to `LISTEN_ADDR`.
 - `CADDY_ROUTE_ENABLED=true` enables route provisioning.
 - `CADDY_ADMIN_URL` points to the Caddy Admin API (default `http://localhost:2019`).
@@ -83,9 +79,9 @@ Route shape:
 - If auto-provisioning cannot apply (for example external non-Forgejo repo), configure a webhook manually to call `webhook_url`.
 - Deploy runs only when payload `ref` equals `refs/heads/main`.
 - Deploy behavior:
-  1. Clone repo to `<PROJECTS_ROOT>/repo` if missing.
+  1. Clone repo to `~/projects/<app>/repo` if missing.
   2. Otherwise `fetch origin main` and `reset --hard origin/main`.
-  3. Build binary to `<PROJECTS_ROOT>/bin/app`.
+  3. Build binary to `~/projects/<app>/bin/app`.
   4. Restart the project user service via `systemctl --user restart`.
 
 Notes:
@@ -105,8 +101,8 @@ Notes:
 ## Systemd
 
 For each project in workspace `<ws>` owned by unix user `<unix_user>`, the app writes:
-- env file: `<PROJECTS_ROOT>/.env`
-- binary path used by systemd: `<PROJECTS_ROOT>/bin/app`
+- env file: `<unix-user-home>/projects/<app>/.env`
+- binary path used by systemd: `<unix-user-home>/projects/<app>/bin/app`
 - unit file: `<home-of-unix-user>/.config/systemd/user/projectmgr-<app-user>-<project>.service`
 
 Then it attempts as that unix user:
@@ -115,6 +111,6 @@ Then it attempts as that unix user:
 
 The generated `.env` is synced from the project env-var configuration and always includes:
 - `LISTEN_NETWORK=unix`
-- `LISTEN_ADDRESS=<PROJECTS_ROOT>/app.sock`
+- `LISTEN_ADDRESS=<unix-user-home>/projects/<app>/app.sock`
 
 If user systemd is not available in the runtime environment, project creation still succeeds and unit files are still generated.
diff --git a/internal/app/config.go b/internal/app/config.go
index 6b22c87..7a92ab1 100644
--- a/internal/app/config.go
+++ b/internal/app/config.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 func loadConfig() (Config, error) {
-	projectRoot := strings.TrimSpace(getenv("PROJECTS_ROOT", "$HOME/projects/$app"))
 	cfg := Config{
 		DatabaseURL:       getenv("DATABASE_URL", "postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/box?sslmode=disable"),
 		ListenAddr:        getenv("LISTEN_ADDR", ":8080"),
@@ -21,7 +20,6 @@ func loadConfig() (Config, error) {
 		ForgejoBaseURL:    strings.TrimRight(getenv("FORGEJO_BASE_URL", ""), "/"),
 		ForgejoToken:      getenv("FORGEJO_TOKEN", ""),
 		ForgejoOrg:        getenv("FORGEJO_ORG", ""),
-		ProjectRoot:       projectRoot,
 		CaddyAdminURL:     strings.TrimRight(getenv("CADDY_ADMIN_URL", "http://localhost:2019"), "/"),
 		CaddyServerID:     getenv("CADDY_SERVER_ID", "srv0"),
 		CaddyDomainSuffix: getenv("CADDY_DOMAIN_SUFFIX", ""),
diff --git a/internal/app/paths.go b/internal/app/paths.go
index 8555644..e04aae2 100644
--- a/internal/app/paths.go
+++ b/internal/app/paths.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package app
 
 import (
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 )
 
 func (a *App) projectDirFor(p Project) (string, error) {
@@ -10,20 +9,5 @@ func (a *App) projectDirFor(p Project) (string, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	tpl := strings.TrimSpace(a.cfg.ProjectRoot)
-	if tpl == "" {
-		tpl = "$HOME/projects/$app"
-	}
-	path := tpl
-	path = strings.ReplaceAll(path, "${HOME}", homeDir)
-	path = strings.ReplaceAll(path, "$HOME", homeDir)
-	path = strings.ReplaceAll(path, "${app}", p.Slug)
-	path = strings.ReplaceAll(path, "$app", p.Slug)
-	if strings.HasPrefix(path, "~/") {
-		path = filepath.Join(homeDir, strings.TrimPrefix(path, "~/"))
-	}
-	if !filepath.IsAbs(path) {
-		path = filepath.Join(homeDir, path)
-	}
-	return filepath.Clean(path), nil
+	return filepath.Clean(filepath.Join(homeDir, "projects", p.Slug)), nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/app/types.go b/internal/app/types.go
index 3cf4c86..eea6dd2 100644
--- a/internal/app/types.go
+++ b/internal/app/types.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ type Config struct {
 	ForgejoBaseURL    string
 	ForgejoToken      string
 	ForgejoOrg        string
-	ProjectRoot       string
 	CaddyAdminURL     string
 	CaddyServerID     string
 	CaddyDomainSuffix string