Proof-of-Pass Receipt — M-012

diff --git a/.changeset/quiet-dingos-detect.md b/.changeset/quiet-dingos-detect.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb55278
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/quiet-dingos-detect.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@node-core/doc-kit': patch
+---
+
+Automatically load `doc-kit.config.mjs` from the current working directory.
diff --git a/src/utils/configuration/__tests__/index.test.mjs b/src/utils/configuration/__tests__/index.test.mjs
index ac7bf50..8ce318f 100644
--- a/src/utils/configuration/__tests__/index.test.mjs
+++ b/src/utils/configuration/__tests__/index.test.mjs
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 import assert from 'node:assert';
+import * as nodeFs from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { describe, it, mock, beforeEach } from 'node:test';
 
 // Mock dependencies
 const mockParseChangelog = mock.fn(async changelog => [changelog]);
 const mockParseIndex = mock.fn(async index => [index]);
 const mockImportFromURL = mock.fn(async () => ({}));
+const mockExistsSync = mock.fn(() => false);
 
 const createMockConfig = (overrides = {}) => ({
   global: {},
@@ -31,6 +34,9 @@ mock.module('../../../parsers/markdown.mjs', {
 mock.module('../../loaders.mjs', {
   namedExports: { importFromURL: mockImportFromURL },
 });
+mock.module('node:fs', {
+  namedExports: { ...nodeFs, existsSync: mockExistsSync },
+});
 
 const {
   assertRunnableOptions,
@@ -43,9 +49,12 @@ const {
 
 // Helper to reset all mocks
 const resetAllMocks = () => {
-  [mockParseChangelog, mockParseIndex, mockImportFromURL].forEach(m =>
-    m.mock.resetCalls()
-  );
+  [
+    mockParseChangelog,
+    mockParseIndex,
+    mockImportFromURL,
+    mockExistsSync,
+  ].forEach(m => m.mock.resetCalls());
 };
 
 // Helper to count specific function calls
@@ -149,6 +158,47 @@ describe('config.mjs', () => {
   });
 
   describe('createRunConfiguration', () => {
+    it('should auto-detect a config file in the current directory', async () => {
+      const defaultConfigFile = join(process.cwd(), 'doc-kit.config.mjs');
+      const mockConfig = createMockConfig({
+        global: { input: 'auto-detected-src/' },
+      });
+      mockExistsSync.mock.mockImplementationOnce(() => true);
+      mockImportFromURL.mock.mockImplementationOnce(async () => mockConfig);
+
+      const config = await createRunConfiguration({});
+
+      assert.strictEqual(config.global.input, 'auto-detected-src/');
+      assert.strictEqual(mockExistsSync.mock.calls.length, 1);
+      assert.strictEqual(
+        mockExistsSync.mock.calls[0].arguments[0],
+        defaultConfigFile
+      );
+      assert.strictEqual(mockImportFromURL.mock.calls.length, 1);
+      assert.strictEqual(
+        mockImportFromURL.mock.calls[0].arguments[0],
+        defaultConfigFile
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should prefer an explicit config file', async () => {
+      mockImportFromURL.mock.mockImplementationOnce(async () =>
+        createMockConfig({ global: { input: 'explicit-src/' } })
+      );
+
+      const config = await createRunConfiguration({
+        configFile: 'explicit-config.mjs',
+      });
+
+      assert.strictEqual(config.global.input, 'explicit-src/');
+      assert.strictEqual(mockExistsSync.mock.calls.length, 0);
+      assert.strictEqual(mockImportFromURL.mock.calls.length, 1);
+      assert.strictEqual(
+        mockImportFromURL.mock.calls[0].arguments[0],
+        'explicit-config.mjs'
+      );
+    });
+
     it('should merge config sources in correct order', async () => {
       mockImportFromURL.mock.mockImplementationOnce(async () =>
         createMockConfig({ global: { input: 'custom-src/' } })
@@ -204,7 +254,7 @@ describe('config.mjs', () => {
       assert.strictEqual(config.chunkSize, 1);
     });
 
-    it('should work without config file', async () => {
+    it('should use an empty config when no config file is present', async () => {
       const config = await createRunConfiguration({
         version: '20.0.0',
         threads: 4,
@@ -212,6 +262,11 @@ describe('config.mjs', () => {
 
       assert.ok(config);
       assert.strictEqual(config.threads, 4);
+      assert.strictEqual(mockExistsSync.mock.calls.length, 1);
+      assert.strictEqual(
+        mockExistsSync.mock.calls[0].arguments[0],
+        join(process.cwd(), 'doc-kit.config.mjs')
+      );
       assert.strictEqual(mockImportFromURL.mock.calls.length, 0);
     });
 
diff --git a/src/utils/configuration/index.mjs b/src/utils/configuration/index.mjs
index a31bc35..9f5536b 100644
--- a/src/utils/configuration/index.mjs
+++ b/src/utils/configuration/index.mjs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { cpus } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { isMainThread } from 'node:worker_threads';
 
 import { coerce } from 'semver';
@@ -123,7 +125,8 @@ export const assertRunnableOptions = config => {
 };
 
 /**
- * Creates a complete run configuration by merging config file, user options, and defaults.
+ * Creates a complete run configuration by merging an explicit or auto-detected
+ * config file, user options, and defaults.
  * Processes and validates configuration values including version coercion, changelog parsing,
  * and constraint enforcement for threads and chunk size.
  *
@@ -131,7 +134,11 @@ export const assertRunnableOptions = config => {
  * @returns {Promise<import('./types').Configuration>} The configuration
  */
 export const createRunConfiguration = async options => {
-  const config = await loadConfigFile(options.configFile);
+  const defaultConfigFile = join(process.cwd(), 'doc-kit.config.mjs');
+  const configFile =
+    options.configFile ??
+    (existsSync(defaultConfigFile) ? defaultConfigFile : undefined);
+  const config = await loadConfigFile(configFile);
   config.target &&= enforceArray(config.target);
 
   // Merge with defaults