diff --git a/deploy.sh b/deploy.sh
index e0ecdf43..704a1648 100755
--- a/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy.sh
@@ -30,6 +30,18 @@ mkdir -p "$TIMMY_HOME"
 cp "$SCRIPT_DIR/SOUL.md" "$TIMMY_HOME/SOUL.md"
 log "SOUL.md -> $TIMMY_HOME/"
 
+# === Validate config before deploy ===
+if command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
+  log "Validating config files..."
+  if ! python3 "$SCRIPT_DIR/scripts/config_validator.py"; then
+    echo "ERROR: Config validation failed. Fix errors before deploying." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  log "Config validation passed."
+else
+  log "WARNING: python3 not found, skipping config validation"
+fi
+
 # === Deploy config ===
 cp "$SCRIPT_DIR/config.yaml" "$HERMES_HOME/config.yaml"
 log "config.yaml -> $HERMES_HOME/"