diff --git a/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.js b/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.js
index 65c28e494..a4590ba2e 100644
--- a/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.js
+++ b/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.js
@@ -118,9 +118,19 @@ function readConfig(file) {
   return existsSync(path) ? readFileSync(path, "utf8") : "";
 }
 
+const PLACEHOLDER_PATTERN = /(["']?)\{\{([^{}]*)\}\}\1/g;
+const HOMEPAGE_KEY_PATTERN = /HOMEPAGE_(?:VAR|FILE)_/;
+const PLACEHOLDER_TOKEN_PATTERN = /__HOMEPAGE_MCP_PLACEHOLDER_(\d+)__/g;
+
+// mask {{HOMEPAGE_*}} placeholders so they survive a parse/dump round-trip
 function parseYamlConfig(file) {
-  const parsed = loadYaml(readConfig(file) || "");
-  return parsed ?? [];
+  const placeholders = [];
+  const masked = readConfig(file).replace(PLACEHOLDER_PATTERN, (match, quote, key) => {
+    if (!HOMEPAGE_KEY_PATTERN.test(key)) return match;
+    placeholders.push(match);
+    return `__HOMEPAGE_MCP_PLACEHOLDER_${placeholders.length - 1}__`;
+  });
+  return { data: loadYaml(masked) ?? [], placeholders };
 }
 
 function validateYaml(file, content) {
@@ -166,8 +176,10 @@ function ensureWriteEnabled() {
   return null;
 }
 
-function dumpYamlConfig(file, content) {
-  const dumped = yaml.dump(content, { lineWidth: -1, noRefs: true });
+function dumpYamlConfig(file, content, placeholders) {
+  const dumped = yaml
+    .dump(content, { lineWidth: -1, noRefs: true })
+    .replace(PLACEHOLDER_TOKEN_PATTERN, (match, index) => placeholders[index] ?? match);
   mkdirSync(CONF_DIR, { recursive: true });
   writeFileSync(configPath(file), dumped, "utf8");
   return dumped;
@@ -192,7 +204,7 @@ function addService(args) {
     };
   }
 
-  const services = parseYamlConfig("services.yaml");
+  const { data: services, placeholders } = parseYamlConfig("services.yaml");
   if (!Array.isArray(services)) {
     throw new Error("services.yaml must contain a top-level array");
   }
@@ -220,7 +232,7 @@ function addService(args) {
   }
 
   group[groupName].push({ [serviceName]: serviceConfig });
-  const content = dumpYamlConfig("services.yaml", services);
+  const content = dumpYamlConfig("services.yaml", services, placeholders);
   return textContent(
     JSON.stringify({ written: "services.yaml", added: { group: groupName, service: serviceName }, content }, null, 2),
   );
@@ -242,7 +254,7 @@ function addInfoWidget(args) {
     };
   }
 
-  const widgets = parseYamlConfig("widgets.yaml");
+  const { data: widgets, placeholders } = parseYamlConfig("widgets.yaml");
   if (!Array.isArray(widgets)) {
     throw new Error("widgets.yaml must contain a top-level array");
   }
@@ -252,7 +264,7 @@ function addInfoWidget(args) {
   assertPlainObject(options, "options");
 
   widgets.push({ [type]: options });
-  const content = dumpYamlConfig("widgets.yaml", widgets);
+  const content = dumpYamlConfig("widgets.yaml", widgets, placeholders);
   return textContent(JSON.stringify({ written: "widgets.yaml", added: { type }, content }, null, 2));
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.test.js b/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.test.js
index d88dfd5dc..b5fb962ab 100644
--- a/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.test.js
+++ b/src/utils/mcp/homepage-mcp.test.js
@@ -184,6 +184,42 @@ describe("utils/mcp/homepage-mcp", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("preserves env placeholders when adding a service", async () => {
+    process.env.HOMEPAGE_MCP_ALLOW_WRITE = "true";
+    const configDir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), "homepage-mcp-test-"));
+    writeFileSync(
+      path.join(configDir, "services.yaml"),
+      "- Media:\n" +
+        "    - Jellyfin:\n" +
+        "        href: http://{{HOMEPAGE_VAR_HOST}}:8096\n" +
+        "        widget:\n" +
+        "          type: jellyfin\n" +
+        "          key: {{HOMEPAGE_VAR_JELLYFIN_KEY}}\n" +
+        '          password: "{{HOMEPAGE_FILE_PASSWORD}}"\n',
+    );
+    const mod = await loadMcpWithConfigDir(configDir);
+
+    const response = mod.handleMcpRequest({
+      jsonrpc: "2.0",
+      id: 11,
+      method: "tools/call",
+      params: { name: "add_service", arguments: { group: "Tools", name: "Grafana" } },
+    });
+
+    expect(response.result.isError).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(readFileSync(path.join(configDir, "services.yaml"), "utf8")).toBe(
+      "- Media:\n" +
+        "    - Jellyfin:\n" +
+        "        href: http://{{HOMEPAGE_VAR_HOST}}:8096\n" +
+        "        widget:\n" +
+        "          type: jellyfin\n" +
+        "          key: {{HOMEPAGE_VAR_JELLYFIN_KEY}}\n" +
+        '          password: "{{HOMEPAGE_FILE_PASSWORD}}"\n' +
+        "- Tools:\n" +
+        "    - Grafana: {}\n",
+    );
+  });
+
   it("does not add a duplicate service in the same group", async () => {
     process.env.HOMEPAGE_MCP_ALLOW_WRITE = "true";
     const configDir = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), "homepage-mcp-test-"));