diff --git a/crates/bascule-shell/src/main.rs b/crates/bascule-shell/src/main.rs
index 2d2c290..1f2b6f0 100644
--- a/crates/bascule-shell/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/bascule-shell/src/main.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ mod attestation;
 mod banner;
 mod config;
 mod identity;
+mod posture;
 
 #[derive(Parser)]
 #[command(name = "bascule-shell", about = "Identity-aware shell with TPM attestation")]
@@ -140,6 +141,28 @@ fn set_env(
         };
         std::env::set_var("BASCULE_ROLES", default_role);
     }
+
+    // M3: load the operator's posture-current.json once at session
+    // start and surface the consumer-facing fields as BASCULE_*
+    // env vars so gsh's classifier (and any external tooling) gets
+    // the same view without re-reading the file. gsh ALSO reads the
+    // file directly via libgsh::PostureState — these env vars are
+    // the secondary surface for non-gsh consumers and for the
+    // posture-watcher fallback when the file is unreachable.
+    let posture = posture::PostureSnapshot::load();
+    std::env::set_var("BASCULE_DEFCON_LEVEL", posture.global_level.to_string());
+    std::env::set_var("BASCULE_POSTURE_LEVEL", posture.global_level.to_string());
+    std::env::set_var("BASCULE_CAPABILITY_CEILING", &posture.capability_ceiling);
+    std::env::set_var(
+        "BASCULE_CEREMONY_REQUIRED",
+        if posture.ceremony_required_for_writes { "1" } else { "0" },
+    );
+    if posture.max_session_ttl_minutes > 0 {
+        std::env::set_var(
+            "BASCULE_MAX_SESSION_TTL",
+            posture.max_session_ttl_minutes.to_string(),
+        );
+    }
     // BASCULE_ATTESTATION_HASH was an opaque "evidence string" SHA. M1
     // replaces it with the proto SAT composite hash. Kept under the same
     // env var name for backward compatibility with existing gsh consumers
diff --git a/crates/bascule-shell/src/posture.rs b/crates/bascule-shell/src/posture.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e2a071
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/bascule-shell/src/posture.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+//! M3: minimal DEFCON posture loader for bascule-shell.
+//!
+//! Reads `/opt/substrate/posture/current.json` (override via
+//! `BASCULE_POSTURE_FILE`), exposes a few fields the env var exporter
+//! cares about, and falls back gracefully if the file is missing or
+//! malformed. The struct is intentionally NOT shared with libgsh's
+//! richer `PostureState` — bascule-shell ships independently from gsh
+//! and the cross-workspace dep would force cargo to compile libgsh just
+//! to pull a serde struct. Keep them in sync via the JSON wire format
+//! (`current.json`), which substrate-operator owns.
+
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use serde::Deserialize;
+
+pub const DEFAULT_POSTURE_FILE: &str = "/opt/substrate/posture/current.json";
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(default)]
+pub struct PostureSnapshot {
+    pub global_level: u8,
+    pub max_session_ttl_minutes: i64,
+    pub ceremony_required_for_writes: bool,
+    pub capability_ceiling: String,
+}
+
+impl Default for PostureSnapshot {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            global_level: 5,
+            max_session_ttl_minutes: 0,
+            ceremony_required_for_writes: false,
+            capability_ceiling: "CAP_GOVERN".into(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl PostureSnapshot {
+    /// Load the operator's posture-current.json. Never errors:
+    /// missing/malformed files degrade to peacetime defaults so the
+    /// shell exec path stays alive on misconfigured hosts.
+    pub fn load() -> Self {
+        let path = std::env::var("BASCULE_POSTURE_FILE")
+            .map(PathBuf::from)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| PathBuf::from(DEFAULT_POSTURE_FILE));
+        std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(|s| serde_json::from_str::<Self>(&s).ok())
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    }
+}