diff -ruN a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
--- a/config.def.h	2026-08-25 19:07:53.325905382 +0200
+++ b/config.def.h	2026-08-25 19:07:53.329905455 +0200
@@ -1,9 +1,32 @@
 /* See LICENSE file for copyright and license details. */
 
+/* Defaults below are compile-time. Many can be overridden at runtime by
+ * /etc/ttym.conf and ~/.config/ttym/config; command-line flags override
+ * both. Run `timer --dump-config` for a commented template. See timer(1).
+ */
+
 /* progress bar glyphs (ASCII default) */
 static const char *const BAR_FILL  = ">";
 static const char *const BAR_EMPTY = "-";
 
+/* desktop notification on countdown completion.
+ * Tokens are split on whitespace; placeholders {title} and {msg} are expanded.
+ * Set NULL or "" to disable.
+ */
+static const char *const TITLE      = "Timer";
+static const char *const NOTIFY_CMD = "notify-send -u critical {title} {msg}";
+
+/* sound on countdown completion. If SOUND_CMD is "" the binary autodetects
+ * a player (paplay/aplay/mpv/ffplay) and plays a default freedesktop sound.
+ * SOUND_CMD is split on whitespace; same token rules as NOTIFY_CMD.
+ */
+static const char *const SOUND_CMD  = "";
+
+/* log location is ~/.config/ttym/ttym.log (honours $XDG_CONFIG_HOME).
+ * One-shot migration: ~/.config/timer/ -> ~/.config/ttym/ if the new
+ * directory doesn't already exist; legacy log file inside is renamed.
+ */
+
 /* persistent alert: keep ringing the bell until any key is pressed.
  * Foreground-only; backgrounded runs always fall through.
  * Override per-run with --no-persist.
diff -ruN a/ttym.c b/ttym.c
--- a/ttym.c	2026-08-25 19:07:53.325905382 +0200
+++ b/ttym.c	2026-08-25 19:07:53.329905455 +0200
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <strings.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
 #include <termios.h>
 #include <time.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -24,9 +28,16 @@
 typedef struct {
 	int quiet;            /* -q: suppress completion bell */
 	int silent;           /* -s: no bell, no extras */
+	char title[256];      /* runtime config may override */
+	char notify_cmd[512]; /* runtime config may override */
+	char sound_cmd[512];  /* runtime config may override */
+	char msg[1024];
+	char comment[512];    /* -c TEXT: logged, and passed as 3rd arg to hooks */
 	int alert_persist;    /* alert loop until keypress; --no-persist disables */
 	int flash;            /* reverse-video flash during alert loop */
 	char bar_style[32];   /* --bar STYLE */
+	char bar_fill[16];    /* runtime config: explicit glyph, beats bar_style */
+	char bar_empty[16];   /* runtime config: explicit glyph, beats bar_style */
 } Config;
 
 static struct termios oldtios;
@@ -236,6 +247,540 @@
 	fflush(stdout);
 }
 
+/* ===== subprocess + placeholder expansion =====
+ * Tokens split on whitespace; {title} and {msg} expanded within each token.
+ * No shell involved — argv stays argv.
+ */
+
+static int
+build_argv(const char *cmd, const Config *c, char ***out)
+{
+	char buf[2048];
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s", cmd);
+	char **argv = calloc(64, sizeof(char *));
+	if (!argv) return -1;
+	int argc = 0;
+	char *p = buf;
+	while (*p && argc < 63) {
+		while (*p && isspace((unsigned char)*p)) p++;
+		if (!*p) break;
+		char *start = p;
+		while (*p && !isspace((unsigned char)*p)) p++;
+		if (*p) *p++ = '\0';
+		char tok[2048]; size_t oi = 0;
+		for (char *q = start; *q && oi < sizeof(tok) - 1; ) {
+			const char *sub = NULL; size_t skip = 0;
+			if      (!strncmp(q, "{msg}",   5)) { sub = c->msg;   skip = 5; }
+			else if (!strncmp(q, "{title}", 7)) { sub = c->title; skip = 7; }
+			if (sub) {
+				size_t sl = strlen(sub);
+				if (oi + sl >= sizeof(tok)) sl = sizeof(tok) - 1 - oi;
+				memcpy(tok + oi, sub, sl);
+				oi += sl; q += skip;
+			} else { tok[oi++] = *q++; }
+		}
+		tok[oi] = '\0';
+		argv[argc++] = strdup(tok);
+	}
+	argv[argc] = NULL;
+	*out = argv;
+	return argc;
+}
+
+static void
+free_argv(char **argv)
+{
+	if (!argv) return;
+	for (int i = 0; argv[i]; i++) free(argv[i]);
+	free(argv);
+}
+
+static void
+spawn_bg(char *const argv[])
+{
+	pid_t pid = fork();
+	if (pid == 0) {
+		setsid();
+		int devnull = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR);
+		if (devnull >= 0) {
+			dup2(devnull, 0); dup2(devnull, 1); dup2(devnull, 2);
+			if (devnull > 2) close(devnull);
+		}
+		execvp(argv[0], argv);
+		_exit(127);
+	}
+	(void)pid;
+}
+
+static int
+command_exists(const char *name)
+{
+	const char *path = getenv("PATH");
+	if (!path) return 0;
+	char buf[512];
+	const char *p = path;
+	while (*p) {
+		const char *e = strchr(p, ':');
+		size_t len = e ? (size_t)(e - p) : strlen(p);
+		if (len > 0 && len + strlen(name) + 2 < sizeof(buf)) {
+			snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%.*s/%s", (int)len, p, name);
+			if (access(buf, X_OK) == 0) return 1;
+		}
+		if (!e) break;
+		p = e + 1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static const char *
+detect_sound_player(void)
+{
+	static const char *cands[] = { "paplay", "aplay", "mpv", "ffplay", NULL };
+	for (int i = 0; cands[i]; i++)
+		if (command_exists(cands[i])) return cands[i];
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+static const char *
+default_sound_path(void)
+{
+	static const char *paths[] = {
+		"/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/complete.oga",
+		"/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/alarm-clock-elapsed.oga",
+		"/usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav",
+		NULL
+	};
+	for (int i = 0; paths[i]; i++)
+		if (access(paths[i], R_OK) == 0) return paths[i];
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+static void
+notify_and_sound(const Config *c)
+{
+	if (c->notify_cmd[0] && command_exists("notify-send")) {
+		char **a;
+		if (build_argv(c->notify_cmd, c, &a) > 0) {
+			spawn_bg(a);
+			free_argv(a);
+		}
+	}
+	if (!c->quiet) {
+		if (c->sound_cmd[0]) {
+			char **a;
+			if (build_argv(c->sound_cmd, c, &a) > 0) {
+				spawn_bg(a);
+				free_argv(a);
+			}
+		} else {
+			const char *pl = detect_sound_player();
+			const char *sp = default_sound_path();
+			if (pl && sp) {
+				char *a[] = { (char *)pl, (char *)sp, NULL };
+				spawn_bg(a);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+/* ===== log (TSV: ts<TAB>seconds<TAB>comment) ===== */
+
+static int
+build_config_path(char *buf, size_t bufsz, const char *suffix)
+{
+	const char *home = getenv("HOME");
+	const char *xdg  = getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
+	if (xdg && *xdg)        snprintf(buf, bufsz, "%s/ttym/%s", xdg, suffix);
+	else if (home && *home) snprintf(buf, bufsz, "%s/.config/ttym/%s", home, suffix);
+	else return -1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+migrate_legacy_dir(void)
+{
+	const char *home = getenv("HOME");
+	const char *xdg  = getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
+	char base[512];
+	if (xdg && *xdg)        snprintf(base, sizeof(base), "%s", xdg);
+	else if (home && *home) snprintf(base, sizeof(base), "%s/.config", home);
+	else return;
+	char old_dir[600], new_dir[600];
+	snprintf(old_dir, sizeof(old_dir), "%s/timer", base);
+	snprintf(new_dir, sizeof(new_dir), "%s/ttym",  base);
+	struct stat sb;
+	if (stat(new_dir, &sb) == 0) return;
+	if (stat(old_dir, &sb) != 0 || !S_ISDIR(sb.st_mode)) return;
+	if (rename(old_dir, new_dir) != 0) return;
+	char old_log[700], new_log[700];
+	snprintf(old_log, sizeof(old_log), "%s/timer.log", new_dir);
+	snprintf(new_log, sizeof(new_log), "%s/ttym.log",  new_dir);
+	if (stat(old_log, &sb) == 0) rename(old_log, new_log);
+}
+
+static int
+mkdir_p(const char *path, mode_t mode)
+{
+	char buf[1024];
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s", path);
+	for (char *p = buf + 1; *p; p++) {
+		if (*p == '/') {
+			*p = '\0';
+			if (mkdir(buf, mode) != 0 && errno != EEXIST) return -1;
+			*p = '/';
+		}
+	}
+	if (mkdir(buf, mode) != 0 && errno != EEXIST) return -1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+iso_local(char *buf, size_t bufsz)
+{
+	time_t t = time(NULL);
+	struct tm tm;
+	localtime_r(&t, &tm);
+	strftime(buf, bufsz, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", &tm);
+}
+
+static void
+sanitize_field(char *s)
+{
+	for (; *s; s++)
+		if (*s == '\t' || *s == '\n' || *s == '\r') *s = ' ';
+}
+
+static int
+is_old_format(const char *line)
+{
+	return strlen(line) >= 11 && line[10] == 'T';
+}
+
+static void
+migrate_line(const char *line, char *out, size_t outsz)
+{
+	if (strlen(line) < 19) { snprintf(out, outsz, "%s", line); return; }
+	char date[11], tpart[9];
+	memcpy(date, line, 10); date[10] = '\0';
+	memcpy(tpart, line + 11, 8); tpart[8] = '\0';
+	const char *tab = strchr(line, '\t');
+	if (!tab) { snprintf(out, outsz, "%s %s\n", date, tpart); return; }
+	snprintf(out, outsz, "%s %s%s", date, tpart, tab);
+}
+
+static void
+migrate_log_if_needed(const char *path)
+{
+	FILE *f = fopen(path, "r");
+	if (!f) return;
+	char probe[2048];
+	int needs = 0;
+	while (fgets(probe, sizeof(probe), f))
+		if (is_old_format(probe)) { needs = 1; break; }
+	if (!needs) { fclose(f); return; }
+	rewind(f);
+	char tmp[1024];
+	snprintf(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s.tmp", path);
+	FILE *out = fopen(tmp, "w");
+	if (!out) { fclose(f); return; }
+	char line[2048];
+	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f)) {
+		if (is_old_format(line)) {
+			char conv[2048];
+			migrate_line(line, conv, sizeof(conv));
+			fputs(conv, out);
+		} else fputs(line, out);
+	}
+	fclose(f);
+	fclose(out);
+	rename(tmp, path);
+}
+
+static void
+write_log(long duration_s, const char *comment)
+{
+	char path[512];
+	if (build_config_path(path, sizeof(path), "ttym.log") < 0) return;
+	char dir[512];
+	snprintf(dir, sizeof(dir), "%s", path);
+	char *slash = strrchr(dir, '/');
+	if (slash) { *slash = '\0'; mkdir_p(dir, 0700); }
+	migrate_log_if_needed(path);
+	int fd = open(path, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_APPEND, 0600);
+	if (fd < 0) return;
+	char ts[32]; iso_local(ts, sizeof(ts));
+	char safe[512]; snprintf(safe, sizeof(safe), "%s", comment ? comment : "");
+	sanitize_field(safe);
+	char line[1024];
+	int n = snprintf(line, sizeof(line), "%s\t%ld\t%s\n", ts, duration_s, safe);
+	if (n > 0) { ssize_t w = write(fd, line, (size_t)n); (void)w; }
+	close(fd);
+}
+
+static int
+read_log_lines(char ***out_lines, size_t *out_n)
+{
+	char path[512];
+	if (build_config_path(path, sizeof(path), "ttym.log") < 0) return -1;
+	migrate_log_if_needed(path);
+	FILE *f = fopen(path, "r");
+	if (!f) { *out_lines = NULL; *out_n = 0; return 0; }
+	size_t cap = 64, n = 0;
+	char **lines = malloc(cap * sizeof(char *));
+	if (!lines) { fclose(f); return -1; }
+	char buf[2048];
+	while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), f)) {
+		size_t l = strlen(buf);
+		if (l && buf[l-1] == '\n') buf[l-1] = '\0';
+		if (!*buf) continue;
+		if (n >= cap) {
+			cap *= 2;
+			char **nl = realloc(lines, cap * sizeof(char *));
+			if (!nl) break;
+			lines = nl;
+		}
+		lines[n++] = strdup(buf);
+	}
+	fclose(f);
+	*out_lines = lines;
+	*out_n = n;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+free_lines(char **lines, size_t n)
+{
+	if (!lines) return;
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < n; i++) free(lines[i]);
+	free(lines);
+}
+
+static int
+split_log_line(char *line, char **ts, long *secs, char **comment)
+{
+	char *t1 = strchr(line, '\t'); if (!t1) return -1;
+	*t1 = '\0';
+	char *t2 = strchr(t1 + 1, '\t'); if (!t2) return -1;
+	*t2 = '\0';
+	char *end;
+	long v = strtol(t1 + 1, &end, 10);
+	if (end == t1 + 1) return -1;
+	*ts = line; *secs = v; *comment = t2 + 1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+fmt_long(long s, char *buf, size_t bufsz)
+{
+	if (s < 0) s = 0;
+	long d = s / 86400; s %= 86400;
+	long h = s / 3600;  s %= 3600;
+	long m = s / 60;
+	long sec = s % 60;
+	snprintf(buf, bufsz, "%02ld %02ld:%02ld:%02ld", d, h, m, sec);
+}
+
+static int
+cmd_read(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	int n_tail = 0, raw = 0;
+	for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
+		if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-n") && i + 1 < argc) {
+			n_tail = atoi(argv[++i]);
+			if (n_tail < 0) n_tail = 0;
+		} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--raw")) {
+			raw = 1;
+		} else {
+			fprintf(stderr, "timer -r: unknown arg: %s\n", argv[i]);
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
+	char **lines = NULL; size_t n = 0;
+	if (read_log_lines(&lines, &n) < 0) return 1;
+	if (n == 0) { free_lines(lines, n); return 0; }
+	size_t start = 0;
+	if (n_tail > 0 && (size_t)n_tail < n) start = n - n_tail;
+	if (raw) {
+		for (size_t i = start; i < n; i++) puts(lines[i]);
+	} else {
+		printf("%-19s  %-11s  %s\n", "TIMESTAMP", "DURATION", "COMMENT");
+		for (size_t i = start; i < n; i++) {
+			char *copy = strdup(lines[i]);
+			char *ts, *cmt; long secs;
+			if (split_log_line(copy, &ts, &secs, &cmt) == 0) {
+				char dur[32];
+				fmt_long(secs, dur, sizeof(dur));
+				printf("%-19s  %-11s  %s\n", ts, dur, cmt);
+			} else {
+				puts(lines[i]);
+			}
+			free(copy);
+		}
+	}
+	free_lines(lines, n);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+parse_log_ts(const char *ts, struct tm *out)
+{
+	memset(out, 0, sizeof(*out));
+	if (sscanf(ts, "%d-%d-%d %d:%d:%d",
+	           &out->tm_year, &out->tm_mon, &out->tm_mday,
+	           &out->tm_hour, &out->tm_min, &out->tm_sec) != 6) return -1;
+	out->tm_year -= 1900;
+	out->tm_mon  -= 1;
+	out->tm_isdst = -1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+typedef struct TagAcc {
+	char tag[128];
+	long secs;
+	long count;
+	struct TagAcc *next;
+} TagAcc;
+
+static void
+tag_add(TagAcc **head, const char *tag, long secs)
+{
+	for (TagAcc *a = *head; a; a = a->next)
+		if (!strcmp(a->tag, tag)) { a->secs += secs; a->count++; return; }
+	TagAcc *n = calloc(1, sizeof(*n));
+	if (!n) return;
+	snprintf(n->tag, sizeof(n->tag), "%s", tag);
+	n->secs = secs;
+	n->count = 1;
+	n->next = *head;
+	*head = n;
+}
+
+static void
+extract_tags(const char *comment, long secs, TagAcc **head)
+{
+	const char *p = comment;
+	int found = 0;
+	while (*p) {
+		int at_boundary = (p == comment) || isspace((unsigned char)*(p-1));
+		if (*p == '+' && at_boundary) {
+			const char *s = p + 1, *e = s;
+			while (*e && !isspace((unsigned char)*e)) e++;
+			if (e > s) {
+				char buf[128];
+				size_t len = (size_t)(e - s);
+				if (len >= sizeof(buf)) len = sizeof(buf) - 1;
+				memcpy(buf, s, len); buf[len] = '\0';
+				tag_add(head, buf, secs);
+				found = 1;
+			}
+			p = e;
+		} else p++;
+	}
+	if (!found) tag_add(head, "(untagged)", secs);
+}
+
+static int
+cmd_stats(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	const char *period = (argc > 0) ? argv[0] : "today";
+	time_t now = time(NULL);
+	struct tm now_tm; localtime_r(&now, &now_tm);
+	time_t cutoff = 0;
+	if      (!strcmp(period, "all"))   cutoff = 0;
+	else if (!strcmp(period, "today")) {
+		struct tm t = now_tm; t.tm_hour = t.tm_min = t.tm_sec = 0;
+		cutoff = mktime(&t);
+	} else if (!strcmp(period, "week")) {
+		struct tm t = now_tm; t.tm_hour = t.tm_min = t.tm_sec = 0;
+		int back = (t.tm_wday == 0) ? 6 : t.tm_wday - 1;
+		t.tm_mday -= back;
+		cutoff = mktime(&t);
+	} else if (!strcmp(period, "month")) {
+		struct tm t = now_tm; t.tm_hour = t.tm_min = t.tm_sec = 0; t.tm_mday = 1;
+		cutoff = mktime(&t);
+	} else {
+		fprintf(stderr, "stats: unknown period '%s' (today|week|month|all)\n", period);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	char **lines = NULL; size_t n = 0;
+	if (read_log_lines(&lines, &n) < 0) return 1;
+	long total = 0, count = 0;
+	TagAcc *tags = NULL;
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+		char *copy = strdup(lines[i]);
+		char *ts, *cmt; long secs;
+		if (split_log_line(copy, &ts, &secs, &cmt) != 0) { free(copy); continue; }
+		struct tm tm;
+		if (parse_log_ts(ts, &tm) != 0) { free(copy); continue; }
+		time_t entry = mktime(&tm);
+		if (cutoff && entry < cutoff) { free(copy); continue; }
+		total += secs; count++;
+		extract_tags(cmt, secs, &tags);
+		free(copy);
+	}
+	free_lines(lines, n);
+	char tot[32]; fmt_long(total, tot, sizeof(tot));
+	printf("\033[1m== timer stats: %s ==\033[0m\n", period);
+	printf("entries: %ld    total: %s\n\n", count, tot);
+	int tag_n = 0;
+	for (TagAcc *a = tags; a; a = a->next) tag_n++;
+	if (tag_n > 0) {
+		TagAcc **arr = malloc(tag_n * sizeof(*arr));
+		int i = 0;
+		for (TagAcc *a = tags; a; a = a->next) arr[i++] = a;
+		for (int x = 0; x < tag_n - 1; x++)
+			for (int y = x + 1; y < tag_n; y++)
+				if (arr[y]->secs > arr[x]->secs) {
+					TagAcc *t = arr[x]; arr[x] = arr[y]; arr[y] = t;
+				}
+		printf("%-24s  %-11s  %5s\n", "TAG", "DURATION", "COUNT");
+		for (int z = 0; z < tag_n; z++) {
+			char d[32]; fmt_long(arr[z]->secs, d, sizeof(d));
+			printf("%-24s  %-11s  %5ld\n", arr[z]->tag, d, arr[z]->count);
+		}
+		free(arr);
+	}
+	while (tags) { TagAcc *next = tags->next; free(tags); tags = next; }
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/* ===== hooks ===== */
+
+static int
+build_hook_path(char *buf, size_t bufsz, const char *name)
+{
+	const char *home = getenv("HOME");
+	const char *xdg  = getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
+	if (xdg && *xdg)        snprintf(buf, bufsz, "%s/ttym/hooks/%s", xdg, name);
+	else if (home && *home) snprintf(buf, bufsz, "%s/.config/ttym/hooks/%s", home, name);
+	else return -1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+run_hook(const char *name, const char *mode, long duration_s, const char *comment)
+{
+	char path[512];
+	if (build_hook_path(path, sizeof(path), name) < 0) return;
+	if (access(path, X_OK) != 0) return;
+	char dur[32];
+	snprintf(dur, sizeof(dur), "%ld", duration_s);
+	pid_t pid = fork();
+	if (pid == 0) {
+		int devnull = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR);
+		if (devnull >= 0) {
+			dup2(devnull, 0); dup2(devnull, 1); dup2(devnull, 2);
+			if (devnull > 2) close(devnull);
+		}
+		char *argv[] = { path, (char *)mode, dur,
+		                 (char *)(comment ? comment : ""), NULL };
+		execvp(argv[0], argv);
+		_exit(127);
+	} else if (pid > 0) {
+		waitpid(pid, NULL, 0);
+	}
+}
+
 /* ===== alert loop =====
  * Bell + poll for keypress, ~1.5s per beat; 4-min safety cap.
  */
@@ -328,6 +873,178 @@
 	}
 	*fill  = s ? s->fill  : BAR_FILL;
 	*empty = s ? s->empty : BAR_EMPTY;
+	/* explicit glyphs from the config file beat the named style; --bar
+	 * clears them so a flag always wins over the file. */
+	if (c->bar_fill[0])  *fill  = c->bar_fill;
+	if (c->bar_empty[0]) *empty = c->bar_empty;
+}
+
+/* ===== runtime config file =====
+ * key = value lines. '#' starts a comment only at the start of a line or
+ * after whitespace, and never inside quotes. Quote a value to protect
+ * surrounding space or a leading '#'; one matched pair is stripped. Unknown keys and
+ * unparseable values are reported on stderr rather than silently dropped.
+ * Precedence: command-line flags > ~/.config/ttym/config > /etc/ttym.conf
+ * > the compile-time defaults in config.h.
+ */
+
+static int
+build_cfg_path(char *buf, size_t bufsz, const char *name)
+{
+	const char *xdg  = getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
+	const char *home = getenv("HOME");
+	if (xdg && *xdg)        snprintf(buf, bufsz, "%s/ttym/%s", xdg, name);
+	else if (home && *home) snprintf(buf, bufsz, "%s/.config/ttym/%s", home, name);
+	else                    return -1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+trim(char *s)
+{
+	char *p = s;
+	while (*p && isspace((unsigned char)*p)) p++;
+	if (p != s) memmove(s, p, strlen(p) + 1);
+	size_t n = strlen(s);
+	while (n > 0 && isspace((unsigned char)s[n - 1])) s[--n] = '\0';
+}
+
+static void
+strip_comment(char *s)
+{
+	int q = 0;
+	for (char *p = s; *p; p++) {
+		if (q) {
+			if (*p == q) q = 0;
+		} else if (*p == '"' || *p == '\'') {
+			q = *p;
+		} else if (*p == '#' && (p == s || isspace((unsigned char)p[-1]))) {
+			*p = '\0';
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+static void
+unquote(char *s)
+{
+	size_t n = strlen(s);
+	if (n >= 2 && (s[0] == '"' || s[0] == '\'') && s[n - 1] == s[0]) {
+		memmove(s, s + 1, n - 2);
+		s[n - 2] = '\0';
+	}
+}
+
+static int
+cfg_bool(const char *path, int ln, const char *k, const char *v, int cur)
+{
+	if (!strcasecmp(v, "true")  || !strcasecmp(v, "yes") ||
+	    !strcasecmp(v, "on")    || !strcmp(v, "1"))  return 1;
+	if (!strcasecmp(v, "false") || !strcasecmp(v, "no") ||
+	    !strcasecmp(v, "off")   || !strcmp(v, "0"))  return 0;
+	fprintf(stderr, "%s:%d: %s: expected on or off, got: %s\n", path, ln, k, v);
+	return cur;
+}
+
+static void
+load_config_file(Config *c, const char *path)
+{
+	FILE *f = fopen(path, "r");
+	if (!f) return;
+	char line[1024];
+	int ln = 0;
+	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f)) {
+		ln++;
+		strip_comment(line);
+		char *eq = strchr(line, '=');
+		if (!eq) {
+			trim(line);
+			if (*line)
+				fprintf(stderr, "%s:%d: not key = value: %s\n", path, ln, line);
+			continue;
+		}
+		*eq = '\0';
+		char *k = line, *v = eq + 1;
+		trim(k); trim(v); unquote(v);
+		if (!*k) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "%s:%d: missing key\n", path, ln);
+			continue;
+		}
+		if      (!strcmp(k, "bar_fill"))   snprintf(c->bar_fill,   sizeof(c->bar_fill),   "%s", v);
+		else if (!strcmp(k, "bar_empty"))  snprintf(c->bar_empty,  sizeof(c->bar_empty),  "%s", v);
+		else if (!strcmp(k, "title"))      snprintf(c->title,      sizeof(c->title),      "%s", v);
+		else if (!strcmp(k, "notify_cmd")) snprintf(c->notify_cmd, sizeof(c->notify_cmd), "%s", v);
+		else if (!strcmp(k, "sound_cmd"))  snprintf(c->sound_cmd,  sizeof(c->sound_cmd),  "%s", v);
+		else if (!strcmp(k, "flash"))         c->flash         = cfg_bool(path, ln, k, v, c->flash);
+		else if (!strcmp(k, "alert_persist")) c->alert_persist = cfg_bool(path, ln, k, v, c->alert_persist);
+		else if (!strcmp(k, "bar_style")) {
+			if (find_bar_style(v))
+				snprintf(c->bar_style, sizeof(c->bar_style), "%s", v);
+			else
+				fprintf(stderr, "%s:%d: unknown bar style: %s\n", path, ln, v);
+		}
+		else fprintf(stderr, "%s:%d: unknown key: %s\n", path, ln, k);
+	}
+	fclose(f);
+}
+
+static void
+load_config(Config *c)
+{
+	load_config_file(c, "/etc/ttym.conf");
+	char path[512];
+	if (build_cfg_path(path, sizeof(path), "config") == 0)
+		load_config_file(c, path);
+}
+
+/* Written to stdout by --dump-config; ttym never creates this file itself.
+ *     timer --dump-config > ~/.config/ttym/config
+ */
+static void
+dump_config(FILE *f)
+{
+	fputs(
+"# ttym configuration\n"
+"#\n"
+"# Read from /etc/ttym.conf first, then ~/.config/ttym/config\n"
+"# (honours $XDG_CONFIG_HOME). Command-line flags override both; an absent\n"
+"# or commented-out key keeps the compile-time default from config.h.\n"
+"#\n"
+"# Syntax: key = value. '#' begins a comment at the start of a line or after\n"
+"# whitespace. Quote a value to keep surrounding spaces or a leading '#';\n"
+"# one matched pair of quotes is stripped.\n"
+"# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------\n"
+"\n"
+"# Progress-bar glyphs. Set BOTH or NEITHER -- mismatched display widths\n"
+"# break bar alignment. Multi-byte UTF-8 is fine. These beat bar_style,\n"
+"# but --bar on the command line beats them.\n"
+"# bar_fill  = >          # a '#' glyph must be quoted:  bar_fill = \"#\"\n"
+"# bar_empty = -\n"
+"\n"
+"# Named progress-bar style. One of:\n"
+"#   unicode  ascii  hash  dots  line  block  arrow  minimal\n"
+"# Leave unset to auto-detect (unicode on a UTF-8 locale, otherwise ascii).\n"
+"# bar_style = unicode\n"
+"\n"
+"# Reverse-video flash during the completion alert.   on | off\n"
+"# flash = on\n"
+"\n"
+"# Persistent alert: keep ringing the bell until a key is pressed\n"
+"# (foreground runs only).                            on | off\n"
+"# alert_persist = on\n"
+"\n"
+"# Desktop-notification title.\n"
+"# title = Timer\n"
+"\n"
+"# Desktop-notification command run when a countdown finishes. Tokens are\n"
+"# split on whitespace; {title}/{msg} placeholders expand. Empty disables.\n"
+"# notify_cmd = notify-send -u critical {title} {msg}\n"
+"\n"
+"# Sound played when a countdown finishes. Leave unset to auto-detect a\n"
+"# player (paplay/aplay/mpv/ffplay) and play a default system sound.\n"
+"# Tokens are split on whitespace; {title}/{msg} placeholders expand.\n"
+"# sound_cmd = paplay /usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/complete.oga\n",
+	f);
 }
 
 /* ===== usage =====
@@ -340,20 +1057,26 @@
 {
 	fprintf(f,
 "usage:\n"
-"  timer [FLAGS] DURATION    countdown\n"
-"  timer [FLAGS]             stopwatch\n"
+"  timer [FLAGS] DURATION [MESSAGE...]    countdown\n"
+"  timer [FLAGS]                          stopwatch\n"
+"  timer -r [-n N] [--raw]                read log\n"
+"  timer --stats [today|week|month|all]   stats (default: today)\n"
 "\n"
 "DURATION:  25m | 90s | 2h | 1h30m | 01:30:00 | 25:00\n"
 "FLAGS:\n"
+"  -c TEXT         comment for log (+tag tokens are extracted)\n"
 "  -q              no sound\n"
 "  -s              silent\n"
 "  --no-persist    skip alert-until-keypress loop\n"
 "  --flash on|off  terminal flash during alert loop\n"
 "  --bar STYLE     bar style: unicode|ascii|hash|dots|line|block|arrow|minimal\n"
+"  --dump-config   print a commented config template on stdout and exit\n"
 "  --              end of options\n"
 "  -h              help\n"
 "\n"
-"controls:  [space] pause/resume   [q | Ctrl+C] quit\n");
+"controls:  [space] pause/resume   [q | Ctrl+C] quit\n"
+"hooks:     ~/.config/ttym/hooks/{on_start,on_done,on_quit}  (executable)\n"
+"config:    /etc/ttym.conf, then ~/.config/ttym/config  (--dump-config)\n");
 }
 
 /* ===== run loop ===== */
@@ -393,6 +1116,9 @@
 	if (out_tty)
 		fputs("\033[?25l\033[?7l", stdout);
 
+	run_hook("on_start", stopwatch ? "stopwatch" : "countdown",
+	         stopwatch ? 0 : total, cfg->comment);
+
 	long start_ms    = now_ms();
 	long pause_accum = 0;
 	long pause_start = 0;
@@ -457,6 +1183,7 @@
 			printf("\r\033[32mSTOP %s\033[0m\033[K\n", el);
 		else
 			printf("STOP %s\n", el);
+		run_hook("on_quit", "stopwatch", elapsed_s, cfg->comment);
 	} else if (user_quit) {
 		char el[24];
 		fmt_clock(elapsed_s, el, sizeof(el));
@@ -464,6 +1191,7 @@
 			printf("\r\033[33mQUIT at %s\033[0m\033[K\n", el);
 		else
 			printf("QUIT at %s\n", el);
+		run_hook("on_quit", "countdown", elapsed_s, cfg->comment);
 	} else {
 		char tb[24];
 		fmt_clock(total, tb, sizeof(tb));
@@ -471,6 +1199,8 @@
 			printf("\r\033[32mDONE %s 100%%\033[0m\033[K\n", tb);
 		else
 			printf("DONE %s 100%%\n", tb);
+		if (!cfg->silent) notify_and_sound(cfg);
+		run_hook("on_done", "countdown", total, cfg->comment);
 		if (!cfg->silent && !cfg->quiet && out_tty) {
 			fputc('\a', stdout);
 			fflush(stdout);
@@ -482,6 +1212,7 @@
 		}
 	}
 
+	write_log(elapsed_s, cfg->comment);
 	return user_quit ? 130 : 0;
 }
 
@@ -490,9 +1221,21 @@
 int
 main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
+	migrate_legacy_dir();
+
+	if (argc >= 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "-r"))
+		return cmd_read(argc - 2, argv + 2);
+	if (argc >= 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "--stats"))
+		return cmd_stats(argc - 2, argv + 2);
+
 	Config cfg = {0};
+	snprintf(cfg.title,      sizeof(cfg.title),      "%s", TITLE      ? TITLE      : "");
+	snprintf(cfg.notify_cmd, sizeof(cfg.notify_cmd), "%s", NOTIFY_CMD ? NOTIFY_CMD : "");
+	snprintf(cfg.sound_cmd,  sizeof(cfg.sound_cmd),  "%s", SOUND_CMD  ? SOUND_CMD  : "");
+	snprintf(cfg.msg, sizeof(cfg.msg), "%s", "Time is up");
 	cfg.alert_persist = ALERT_PERSIST;
 	cfg.flash         = FLASH;
+	load_config(&cfg);
 
 	/* Pre-strip long-form flags before getopt. Stop at "--". */
 	int nargc = 0, past_dd = 0;
@@ -513,17 +1256,23 @@
 		}
 		if (!past_dd && !strcmp(argv[i], "--bar") && i + 1 < argc) {
 			snprintf(cfg.bar_style, sizeof(cfg.bar_style), "%s", argv[++i]);
+			cfg.bar_fill[0] = cfg.bar_empty[0] = '\0';
 			continue;
 		}
+		if (!past_dd && !strcmp(argv[i], "--dump-config")) {
+			dump_config(stdout);
+			return 0;
+		}
 		argv[nargc++] = argv[i];
 	}
 	argv[nargc] = NULL;
 
 	int opt;
-	while ((opt = getopt(nargc, argv, "qsh")) != -1) {
+	while ((opt = getopt(nargc, argv, "qsc:h")) != -1) {
 		switch (opt) {
 		case 'q': cfg.quiet  = 1; break;
 		case 's': cfg.silent = 1; break;
+		case 'c': snprintf(cfg.comment, sizeof(cfg.comment), "%s", optarg); break;
 		case 'h': usage(stdout); return 0;
 		default:  usage(stderr); return 1;
 		}
@@ -539,6 +1288,16 @@
 			fprintf(stderr, "bad duration: %s\n", rem_argv[0]);
 			return 1;
 		}
+		if (rem_argc > 1) {
+			size_t off = 0;
+			cfg.msg[0] = '\0';
+			for (int i = 1; i < rem_argc && off < sizeof(cfg.msg) - 2; i++) {
+				int n = snprintf(cfg.msg + off, sizeof(cfg.msg) - off,
+				                 "%s%s", (i > 1 ? " " : ""), rem_argv[i]);
+				if (n < 0) break;
+				off += (size_t)n;
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	return run(total, stopwatch, &cfg);