diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/gate.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/gate.yml
index 1c43ee17d7..15e6ca218e 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/gate.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/gate.yml
@@ -12,10 +12,11 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with: { fetch-depth: 0 }
-      - name: forkd microVM CI (zen-gates gate_run)
+      - name: forkd microVM CI (gate_run)
         env:
-          ZEN_GATES_URL: ${{ secrets.ZEN_GATES_URL }}
-          ZEN_GATES_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ZEN_GATES_TOKEN }}
+          FORKD_URL: ${{ secrets.FORKD_URL }}
+          FORKD_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FORKD_TOKEN }}
+          FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG: ${{ vars.FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG }}
         run: |
           if [ -x ./.forgejo/gates/forkd-ci.sh ]; then ./.forgejo/gates/forkd-ci.sh
           else echo "forkd-ci not yet wired (cal/forkd plane)"; exit 1; fi
diff --git a/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate.rs b/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate.rs
index 79f87b9168..3bbaaa517f 100644
--- a/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate.rs
+++ b/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate.rs
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ pub enum BackendKind {
 impl BackendKind {
     pub fn from_str_loose(s: &str) -> Option<Self> {
         match s.to_ascii_lowercase().as_str() {
-            "forkd" | "controller" | "zen-gates" => Some(Self::Forkd),
+            "forkd" | "controller" => Some(Self::Forkd),
             "hermetic" | "local" | "fallback" => Some(Self::Hermetic),
             "fake" | "test" | "mock" => Some(Self::Fake),
             _ => None,
diff --git a/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate/backend.rs b/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate/backend.rs
index 1688d69080..fab9ef704b 100644
--- a/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate/backend.rs
+++ b/lib/components/fabro-referee/src/gate/backend.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,42 @@ use tracing::{info, warn};
 use super::{GateBackend, GateOutput};
 use crate::types::{Acceptance, TaskSpec, Verdict};
 
-const FORKD_TOKEN_FILE: &str = "/home/vvladescu/fabro-run/.forkd-token";
+/// Default forkd token file path. Used only when the `FORKD_TOKEN_FILE`
+/// env var is unset or empty. Keep this a generic, non-host-specific
+/// example; operators must override it for their deployment.
+const FORKD_TOKEN_FILE_DEFAULT: &str = "/etc/forkd/token";
+
+/// Default forkd snapshot tag. Used only when the `FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG`
+/// env var is unset or empty. Keep this a generic, non-host-specific
+/// example; the value here is the example the public spec uses.
+const FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG_DEFAULT: &str = "forkd-base";
+
+/// Resolve the path to the forkd bearer-token file. The operator can
+/// override the default with the `FORKD_TOKEN_FILE` env var. The
+/// returned path is the one [`forkd_token`] will read.
+#[expect(
+    clippy::disallowed_methods,
+    reason = "sync scorer binary: one-shot environment lookup for the token-file path"
+)]
+pub fn forkd_token_file() -> std::path::PathBuf {
+    match std::env::var("FORKD_TOKEN_FILE") {
+        Ok(value) if !value.trim().is_empty() => std::path::PathBuf::from(value.trim()),
+        _ => std::path::PathBuf::from(FORKD_TOKEN_FILE_DEFAULT),
+    }
+}
+
+/// Resolve the default forkd snapshot tag. The operator can override
+/// the default with the `FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG` env var.
+#[expect(
+    clippy::disallowed_methods,
+    reason = "sync scorer binary: one-shot environment lookup for the default snapshot tag"
+)]
+pub fn forkd_snapshot_tag() -> String {
+    match std::env::var("FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG") {
+        Ok(value) if !value.trim().is_empty() => value.trim().to_string(),
+        _ => FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG_DEFAULT.to_string(),
+    }
+}
 
 /// Resolve the forkd bearer token without exposing its value in errors/logs.
 #[expect(
@@ -36,7 +71,8 @@ pub fn forkd_token() -> Result<String> {
         }
     }
 
-    match std::fs::read_to_string(FORKD_TOKEN_FILE) {
+    let token_path = forkd_token_file();
+    match std::fs::read_to_string(&token_path) {
         Ok(contents) => {
             let token = contents.trim().to_string();
             if !token.is_empty() {
@@ -45,18 +81,19 @@ pub fn forkd_token() -> Result<String> {
         }
         Err(error) if error.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {}
         Err(error) => {
-            return Err(error).with_context(|| format!("read forkd token file {FORKD_TOKEN_FILE}"));
+            return Err(error).with_context(|| format!("read forkd token file {}", token_path.display()));
         }
     }
 
-    bail!("forkd token unavailable: set FORKD_TOKEN or provide {FORKD_TOKEN_FILE}")
+    bail!("forkd token unavailable: set FORKD_TOKEN or provide {}", token_path.display())
 }
 
 /// The real forkd controller at `forkd.internal.example:8891`. The scorer only uses the
-/// existing score/read path: it creates a `zen-gate-base` sandbox, executes
-/// the apply-and-acceptance pipeline, and deletes that sandbox. It never
-/// activates, reconfigures, restarts, or re-baselines the controller or its
-/// golden rootfs.
+/// existing score/read path: it creates a snapshot from the configured
+/// tag (env `FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG`, default "forkd-base"), executes the
+/// apply-and-acceptance pipeline, and deletes that sandbox. It never
+/// activates, reconfigures, restarts, or re-baselines the controller or
+/// its golden rootfs.
 pub struct ForkdController {
     /// The controller endpoint, e.g. `http://forkd.internal.example:8891`.
     endpoint: String,
@@ -101,7 +138,7 @@ impl GateBackend for ForkdController {
 
         // 1. create a sandbox from the golden snapshot.
         let create = auth(self.client.post(format!("{base}/v1/sandboxes")))
-            .json(&serde_json::json!({ "snapshot_tag": "zen-gate-base" }))
+            .json(&serde_json::json!({ "snapshot_tag": forkd_snapshot_tag() }))
             .send()
             .with_context(|| format!("forkd create sandbox @ {base}"))?;
         let cstatus = create.status();
diff --git a/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/config.rs b/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/config.rs
index 864d2a8ff1..c44980d03a 100644
--- a/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/config.rs
+++ b/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/config.rs
@@ -161,8 +161,9 @@ pub enum ForkdNetwork {
 #[cfg(feature = "forkd")]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Deserialize, PartialEq, Serialize)]
 pub struct ForkdSettings {
-    /// forkd snapshot tag to boot from (e.g. `"zen-gate-base"`).
-    /// Resolved from `FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG` env var; default `"zen-gate-base"`.
+    /// forkd snapshot tag to boot from (e.g. `"forkd-base"`).
+    /// Resolved from `FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG` env var; default
+    /// `"forkd-base"` (see [`crate::forkd::DEFAULT_SNAPSHOT_TAG`]).
     #[serde(default = "ForkdSettings::default_snapshot_tag")]
     pub snapshot_tag:      String,
     /// Legacy VM image/kernel/memory settings — retained for deserialization
diff --git a/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/forkd/mod.rs b/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/forkd/mod.rs
index 26944cb82e..3fc3db4d8b 100644
--- a/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/forkd/mod.rs
+++ b/lib/components/fabro-sandbox/src/forkd/mod.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ pub(crate) const REPOS_ROOT: &str = "/home/fabro/repos";
 const PROVIDER: &str = "forkd";
 
 /// Default snapshot tag used when `FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG` is not set.
-pub const DEFAULT_SNAPSHOT_TAG: &str = "zen-gate-base";
+/// Generic, non-host-specific example value; operators override via
+/// the `FORKD_SNAPSHOT_TAG` env var or per-sandbox `ForkdSettings`.
+pub const DEFAULT_SNAPSHOT_TAG: &str = "forkd-base";
 
 /// Maximum number of retry attempts for transient HTTP failures (5xx /
 /// connect).
diff --git a/specs/forkd-e2e/behavior.feature b/specs/forkd-e2e/behavior.feature
index 9cdf7609d6..d2c5565516 100644
--- a/specs/forkd-e2e/behavior.feature
+++ b/specs/forkd-e2e/behavior.feature
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ Feature: forkd end-to-end capability
   @task-create-sandbox
   Scenario: creating a sandbox from a snapshot tag returns a server-assigned id
     Given the forkd service is reachable
-    And a snapshot tag "zen-gate-base" exists in the snapshot registry
-    When I send a create-sandbox request with snapshot_tag "zen-gate-base"
+    And a snapshot tag "forkd-base" exists in the snapshot registry
+    When I send a create-sandbox request with snapshot_tag "forkd-base"
     Then the response status is 201
     And the response body contains a non-empty "id" field
     And the returned id matches the pattern "[a-f0-9-]{36}"
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ Feature: forkd end-to-end capability
   @task-real-workflow
   Scenario: a real workflow executing git clone and running a command completes inside the microVM
     Given the forkd service is reachable
-    And a snapshot tag "zen-gate-base" exists in the snapshot registry
-    When I create a sandbox from snapshot_tag "zen-gate-base" and store its id as "wf_sandbox_id"
+    And a snapshot tag "forkd-base" exists in the snapshot registry
+    When I create a sandbox from snapshot_tag "forkd-base" and store its id as "wf_sandbox_id"
     And I exec in sandbox "wf_sandbox_id" with argv ["git", "clone", "--depth", "1", "https://github.com/nicowillis/hello-world.git", "/tmp/repo"]
     Then the exec response exit_code is 0
     And the sandbox filesystem path "/tmp/repo" exists