diff --git a/apps/proxy/src/config.ts b/apps/proxy/src/config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86bf909
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/proxy/src/config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+/**
+ * Runtime config for the proxy. `GAMES_ROOT` is set at startup (from env or a
+ * default) and read by the asset/trace routes to serve local game assets. It's
+ * a module-level value because the node-server adapter injects its own
+ * `HttpBindings` as the Hono env, not custom bindings.
+ */
+export let GAMES_ROOT: string | undefined;
+
+/** Set the games root at startup. */
+export function setGamesRoot(root: string | undefined): void {
+  GAMES_ROOT = root;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/proxy/src/index.ts b/apps/proxy/src/index.ts
index 8e13c64..b7fb197 100644
--- a/apps/proxy/src/index.ts
+++ b/apps/proxy/src/index.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { Hono } from 'hono';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { loadEnv, type Bindings } from './env.js';
+import { setGamesRoot } from './config.js';
 import asset from './routes/asset.js';
 import health from './routes/health.js';
 import items from './routes/items.js';
@@ -14,9 +15,10 @@ const env = loadEnv();
 
 // Default GAMES_ROOT to the repo's `games` folder so local game assets work
 // without configuration; override via env.
-const gamesRoot =
+setGamesRoot(
   env.GAMES_ROOT ??
-  path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..', '..', '..', 'games');
+    path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..', '..', '..', 'games'),
+);
 
 const app = new Hono<{ Bindings: Bindings }>();
 
diff --git a/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.test.ts b/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.test.ts
index be9f76c..cdaf424 100644
--- a/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.test.ts
+++ b/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.test.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,20 @@
-import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import asset from './asset.js';
+import { setGamesRoot } from '../config.js';
+
+let dir: string;
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  dir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), 'games-'));
+  setGamesRoot(dir);
+});
 
 afterEach(() => {
   vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+  setGamesRoot(undefined);
 });
 
 describe('asset route', () => {
@@ -45,27 +54,20 @@ describe('asset route', () => {
   });
 
   it('serves a local game asset from GAMES_ROOT', async () => {
-    const dir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), 'games-'));
     writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'cards.png'), new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3]));
-    const res = await asset.request('/?url=cards.png', {}, { GAMES_ROOT: dir });
+    const res = await asset.request('/?url=cards.png');
     expect(res.status).toBe(200);
     expect(res.headers.get('content-type')).toBe('image/png');
     expect(await res.arrayBuffer()).toEqual(new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3]).buffer);
   });
 
   it('returns 404 for a missing local asset', async () => {
-    const dir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), 'games-'));
-    const res = await asset.request('/?url=nope.png', {}, { GAMES_ROOT: dir });
+    const res = await asset.request('/?url=nope.png');
     expect(res.status).toBe(404);
   });
 
   it('rejects path traversal outside GAMES_ROOT', async () => {
-    const dir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), 'games-'));
-    const res = await asset.request(
-      '/?url=..%2F..%2Fetc%2Fpasswd',
-      {},
-      { GAMES_ROOT: dir },
-    );
+    const res = await asset.request('/?url=..%2F..%2Fetc%2Fpasswd');
     expect(res.status).toBe(400);
   });
 });
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.ts b/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.ts
index 28ef895..062154e 100644
--- a/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.ts
+++ b/apps/proxy/src/routes/asset.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import { Hono } from 'hono';
-import type { Bindings } from '../env.js';
+import { GAMES_ROOT } from '../config.js';
 import { resolveAsset } from './resolveAsset.js';
 
-const app = new Hono<{ Bindings: Bindings }>();
+const app = new Hono();
 
 /**
  * Fetch an external asset (texture, model, etc.) and stream it back to the
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ app.get('/', async (c) => {
     return c.json({ error: 'Missing url query param' }, 400);
   }
 
-  const result = await resolveAsset(raw, c.env?.GAMES_ROOT);
+  const result = await resolveAsset(raw, GAMES_ROOT);
   if (!result.ok) {
     // A missing local file vs an invalid reference.
     return c.json(
diff --git a/apps/proxy/src/routes/trace.ts b/apps/proxy/src/routes/trace.ts
index 319f2d0..e5fd5ad 100644
--- a/apps/proxy/src/routes/trace.ts
+++ b/apps/proxy/src/routes/trace.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { createRequire } from 'module';
 import { traceRequestSchema, type TraceResult } from '@tts/shared';
 import { offsetShape, parseSvgShape } from './svgShape.js';
 import { resolveAsset } from './resolveAsset.js';
-import type { Bindings } from '../env.js';
+import { GAMES_ROOT } from '../config.js';
 
 // vtracer is a CommonJS package; load it via require so the wasm initializes
 // with the correct `__dirname`.
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ const vtracer = require('@visioncortex/vtracer') as {
   ): string;
 };
 
-const app = new Hono<{ Bindings: Bindings }>();
+const app = new Hono();
 
 /**
  * Trace an image into a vector shape and return it BSON-encoded.
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ app.get('/', async (c) => {
 
   // Resolve the image: a relative path is a local game asset under GAMES_ROOT;
   // otherwise it must be an http(s) URL.
-  const resolved = await resolveAsset(url, c.env?.GAMES_ROOT);
+  const resolved = await resolveAsset(url, GAMES_ROOT);
   if (!resolved.ok) {
     return c.json({ error: 'Invalid or missing image url' }, 400);
   }