diff --git a/core/src/agentforge_core/config.py b/core/src/agentforge_core/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..996bf5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/agentforge_core/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+"""Configuración global del core. Se carga desde variables de entorno (.env)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Literal
+
+from pydantic import Field
+from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
+
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    """Settings tipadas. Pydantic falla en arranque si una requerida no está."""
+
+    model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
+        env_file=".env",
+        env_file_encoding="utf-8",
+        case_sensitive=False,
+        extra="ignore",
+    )
+
+    # LLM
+    llm_provider: Literal["mock", "azure", "openai"] = "mock"
+    llm_fallback_provider: Literal["mock", "azure", "openai", ""] = ""
+
+    # Azure OpenAI
+    azure_openai_endpoint: str = ""
+    azure_openai_api_key: str = ""
+    azure_openai_deployment: str = ""
+    azure_openai_api_version: str = "2024-08-01-preview"
+
+    # OpenAI
+    openai_api_key: str = ""
+    openai_model: str = "gpt-4o"
+
+    # Guardrails
+    guardrails_nemo_enabled: bool = False
+
+    # Observabilidad
+    log_level: Literal["DEBUG", "INFO", "WARNING", "ERROR"] = "INFO"
+
+    # Persistencia
+    data_dir: Path = Field(default=Path("./data"))
+    agents_dir: Path = Field(default=Path("./agents"))
+    policies_dir: Path = Field(default=Path("./policies"))
+
+
+def get_settings() -> Settings:
+    """Helper para inyección por dependencia en FastAPI."""
+    return Settings()
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_config.py b/tests/unit/test_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03e270d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+"""Tests de configuración."""
+
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from agentforge_core.config import Settings
+
+
+def test_settings_defaults_seguros() -> None:
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True):
+        s = Settings(_env_file=None)  # type: ignore[call-arg]
+        assert s.llm_provider == "mock"
+        assert s.guardrails_nemo_enabled is False
+        assert s.log_level == "INFO"
+
+
+def test_settings_data_dir_se_resuelve() -> None:
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"DATA_DIR": "/tmp/agentforge-test"}, clear=True):
+        s = Settings(_env_file=None)  # type: ignore[call-arg]
+        assert s.data_dir == Path("/tmp/agentforge-test")