diff --git a/changes/external-yomitan-profile.md b/changes/external-yomitan-profile.md
index c39d1db..d845814 100644
--- a/changes/external-yomitan-profile.md
+++ b/changes/external-yomitan-profile.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 type: added
-area: yomitan
+area: config
 
 - Added `yomitan.externalProfilePath` to reuse another Electron app's Yomitan profile in read-only mode.
 - SubMiner now reuses external Yomitan dictionaries/settings without writing back to that profile.
+- Fixed default config bootstrap so `config.jsonc` is seeded even when the config directory already exists.
diff --git a/docs-site/character-dictionary.md b/docs-site/character-dictionary.md
index 51dfdf3..789913d 100644
--- a/docs-site/character-dictionary.md
+++ b/docs-site/character-dictionary.md
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ The first sync for a media title takes a few seconds while character data and po
 :::
 
 ::: warning
-If `yomitan.externalProfilePath` is set, SubMiner switches to read-only external-profile mode. In that mode SubMiner can reuse another app's installed Yomitan dictionaries/settings, but character-dictionary auto-sync does not import or update the merged dictionary.
+If `yomitan.externalProfilePath` is set, SubMiner switches to read-only external-profile mode. In that mode SubMiner can reuse another app's installed Yomitan dictionaries/settings, but SubMiner's own character-dictionary features are fully disabled.
 :::
 
 ## Name Generation
diff --git a/docs-site/configuration.md b/docs-site/configuration.md
index 2667859..00a4dd0 100644
--- a/docs-site/configuration.md
+++ b/docs-site/configuration.md
@@ -959,7 +959,7 @@ External-profile mode behavior:
 - SubMiner reads the external profile's currently active Yomitan profile selection and installed dictionaries.
 - SubMiner does not open its own Yomitan settings window in this mode.
 - SubMiner does not import, delete, or update dictionaries/settings in the external profile.
-- SubMiner character-dictionary auto-sync is effectively disabled in this mode because it requires Yomitan writes.
+- SubMiner character-dictionary features are fully disabled in this mode, including auto-sync, manual generation, and subtitle-side character-dictionary annotations.
 
 ### Jellyfin
 
diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 86ca7de..53024f2 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -374,6 +374,10 @@ import { createOverlayVisibilityRuntimeService } from './main/overlay-visibility
 import { createCharacterDictionaryRuntimeService } from './main/character-dictionary-runtime';
 import { createCharacterDictionaryAutoSyncRuntimeService } from './main/runtime/character-dictionary-auto-sync';
 import { notifyCharacterDictionaryAutoSyncStatus } from './main/runtime/character-dictionary-auto-sync-notifications';
+import {
+  getCharacterDictionaryDisabledReason,
+  isCharacterDictionaryRuntimeEnabled,
+} from './main/runtime/character-dictionary-availability';
 import { createCurrentMediaTokenizationGate } from './main/runtime/current-media-tokenization-gate';
 import { createStartupOsdSequencer } from './main/runtime/startup-osd-sequencer';
 import { formatSkippedYomitanWriteAction } from './main/runtime/yomitan-read-only-log';
@@ -1328,7 +1332,9 @@ const characterDictionaryAutoSyncRuntime = createCharacterDictionaryAutoSyncRunt
   getConfig: () => {
     const config = getResolvedConfig().anilist.characterDictionary;
     return {
-      enabled: config.enabled,
+      enabled:
+        config.enabled &&
+        isCharacterDictionaryRuntimeEnabled(getConfiguredExternalYomitanProfilePath()),
       maxLoaded: config.maxLoaded,
       profileScope: config.profileScope,
     };
@@ -2756,6 +2762,9 @@ const {
       );
     },
     scheduleCharacterDictionarySync: () => {
+      if (!isCharacterDictionaryEnabledForCurrentProcess()) {
+        return;
+      }
       characterDictionaryAutoSyncRuntime.scheduleSync();
     },
     updateCurrentMediaTitle: (title) => {
@@ -2833,7 +2842,9 @@ const {
           'subtitle.annotation.jlpt',
           getResolvedConfig().subtitleStyle.enableJlpt,
         ),
-      getCharacterDictionaryEnabled: () => getResolvedConfig().anilist.characterDictionary.enabled,
+      getCharacterDictionaryEnabled: () =>
+        getResolvedConfig().anilist.characterDictionary.enabled &&
+        isCharacterDictionaryEnabledForCurrentProcess(),
       getNameMatchEnabled: () => getResolvedConfig().subtitleStyle.nameMatchEnabled,
       getFrequencyDictionaryEnabled: () =>
         getRuntimeBooleanOption(
@@ -3035,6 +3046,14 @@ function isYomitanExternalReadOnlyMode(): boolean {
   return getConfiguredExternalYomitanProfilePath().length > 0;
 }
 
+function isCharacterDictionaryEnabledForCurrentProcess(): boolean {
+  return isCharacterDictionaryRuntimeEnabled(getConfiguredExternalYomitanProfilePath());
+}
+
+function getCharacterDictionaryDisabledReasonForCurrentProcess(): string | null {
+  return getCharacterDictionaryDisabledReason(getConfiguredExternalYomitanProfilePath());
+}
+
 function logSkippedYomitanWrite(action: string): void {
   logger.info(
     `[yomitan] skipping ${action}: yomitan.externalProfilePath is configured; external profile mode is read-only`,
@@ -3537,8 +3556,13 @@ const createCliCommandContextHandler = createCliCommandContextFactory({
   openJellyfinSetupWindow: () => openJellyfinSetupWindow(),
   getAnilistQueueStatus: () => anilistStateRuntime.getQueueStatusSnapshot(),
   processNextAnilistRetryUpdate: () => processNextAnilistRetryUpdate(),
-  generateCharacterDictionary: (targetPath?: string) =>
-    characterDictionaryRuntime.generateForCurrentMedia(targetPath),
+  generateCharacterDictionary: async (targetPath?: string) => {
+    const disabledReason = getCharacterDictionaryDisabledReasonForCurrentProcess();
+    if (disabledReason) {
+      throw new Error(disabledReason);
+    }
+    return await characterDictionaryRuntime.generateForCurrentMedia(targetPath);
+  },
   runJellyfinCommand: (argsFromCommand: CliArgs) => runJellyfinCommand(argsFromCommand),
   openYomitanSettings: () => openYomitanSettings(),
   cycleSecondarySubMode: () => handleCycleSecondarySubMode(),
diff --git a/src/shared/setup-state.test.ts b/src/shared/setup-state.test.ts
index 6ef45a5..11ce420 100644
--- a/src/shared/setup-state.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/setup-state.test.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ test('ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap creates config dir and default jsonc only whe
   });
 });
 
-test('ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap does not seed default config into an existing config directory', () => {
+test('ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap seeds default config into an existing config directory when missing', () => {
   withTempDir((root) => {
     const configDir = path.join(root, 'SubMiner');
     fs.mkdirSync(configDir, { recursive: true });
@@ -74,10 +74,13 @@ test('ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap does not seed default config into an existing
     ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap({
       configDir,
       configFilePaths: getDefaultConfigFilePaths(configDir),
-      generateTemplate: () => 'should-not-write',
+      generateTemplate: () => '{\n  "logging": {}\n}\n',
     });
 
-    assert.equal(fs.existsSync(path.join(configDir, 'config.jsonc')), false);
+    assert.equal(
+      fs.readFileSync(path.join(configDir, 'config.jsonc'), 'utf8'),
+      '{\n  "logging": {}\n}\n',
+    );
     assert.equal(fs.readFileSync(path.join(configDir, 'existing-user-file.txt'), 'utf8'), 'keep\n');
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/shared/setup-state.ts b/src/shared/setup-state.ts
index c82cc99..440a2af 100644
--- a/src/shared/setup-state.ts
+++ b/src/shared/setup-state.ts
@@ -208,13 +208,8 @@ export function ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap(options: {
   const existsSync = options.existsSync ?? fs.existsSync;
   const mkdirSync = options.mkdirSync ?? fs.mkdirSync;
   const writeFileSync = options.writeFileSync ?? fs.writeFileSync;
-  const configDirExists = existsSync(options.configDir);
 
-  if (
-    existsSync(options.configFilePaths.jsoncPath) ||
-    existsSync(options.configFilePaths.jsonPath) ||
-    configDirExists
-  ) {
+  if (existsSync(options.configFilePaths.jsoncPath) || existsSync(options.configFilePaths.jsonPath)) {
     return;
   }