diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 06f9376..6e686c5 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ arty docker:install         # Docker Engine with user group
 Scripts live in `~/bin/` and are tracked in this repo.
 
 - **`arty`** — repository orchestration, reads `arty.yml`
-- **`stacks`** — Docker Compose stack manager for `~/stacks`
+- **`stacks`** — Docker Compose stack manager (runs in current directory, or set `STACKS_DIR`)
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/bin/stacks b/bin/stacks
index 5eb645b..d694fbb 100755
--- a/bin/stacks
+++ b/bin/stacks
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # ─── Bootstrap ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
-# STACKS_DIR: explicit env var > current working directory > ~/stacks fallback
-STACKS_DIR="${STACKS_DIR:-${HOME}/stacks}"
+# STACKS_DIR: explicit env var > current working directory
+STACKS_DIR="${STACKS_DIR:-$PWD}"
 ROOT_ENV="$STACKS_DIR/.env"
 VERSION="1.0.0"