diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 103ecb2e..37305503 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,6 +57,26 @@ concore stop
 
 For detailed CLI documentation, see [concore_cli/README.md](concore_cli/README.md).
 
+## Configuration
+
+_concore_ supports customization through configuration files in the `CONCOREPATH` directory (defaults to the _concore_ installation directory):
+
+- **concore.tools** - Override tool paths (one per line, `KEY=value` format):
+  ```
+  CPPEXE=/usr/local/bin/g++-12
+  PYTHONEXE=/usr/bin/python3.11
+  VEXE=/opt/iverilog/bin/iverilog
+  OCTAVEEXE=/snap/bin/octave
+  ```
+  Supported keys: `CPPWIN`, `CPPEXE`, `VWIN`, `VEXE`, `PYTHONEXE`, `PYTHONWIN`, `MATLABEXE`, `MATLABWIN`, `OCTAVEEXE`, `OCTAVEWIN`
+
+- **concore.octave** - Treat `.m` files as Octave instead of MATLAB (presence = enabled)
+- **concore.mcr** - MATLAB Compiler Runtime path (single line)
+- **concore.sudo** - Docker command override (e.g., `docker` instead of `sudo docker`)
+- **concore.repo** - Docker repository override
+
+Tool paths can also be set via environment variables (e.g., `CONCORE_CPPEXE=/usr/bin/g++`). Priority: config file > env var > defaults.
+
 For a detailed and more scientific documentation, please read our extensive [open-access research paper on CONTROL-CORE](https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3161471). This paper has a complete discussion on the CONTROL-CORE architecture and deployment, together with the commands to execute the studies in different programming languages and programming environments (Ubuntu, Windows, MacOS, Docker, and distributed execution).
 
 
diff --git a/mkconcore.py b/mkconcore.py
index 3b20f8e4..14abf34d 100644
--- a/mkconcore.py
+++ b/mkconcore.py
@@ -97,6 +97,19 @@ def safe_name(value, context, allow_path=False):
 
 SCRIPT_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
 
+def _load_tool_config(filepath):
+    tools = {}
+    with open(filepath, "r") as f:
+        for line in f:
+            line = line.strip()
+            if not line or line.startswith("#") or "=" not in line:
+                continue
+            k, v = line.split("=", 1)
+            k, v = k.strip(), v.strip()
+            if v:
+                tools[k] = v
+    return tools
+
 def _resolve_concore_path():
     script_concore = os.path.join(SCRIPT_DIR, "concore.py")
     if os.path.exists(script_concore):
@@ -109,16 +122,16 @@ def _resolve_concore_path():
 GRAPHML_FILE = sys.argv[1]
 TRIMMED_LOGS = True
 CONCOREPATH = _resolve_concore_path()
-CPPWIN    = "g++"        #Windows C++  6/22/21
-CPPEXE    = "g++"        #Ubuntu/macOS C++  6/22/21
-VWIN      = "iverilog"   #Windows verilog  6/25/21
-VEXE      = "iverilog"   #Ubuntu/macOS verilog  6/25/21
-PYTHONEXE = "python3"    #Ubuntu/macOS python3
-PYTHONWIN = "python"     #Windows python3
-MATLABEXE = "matlab"     #Ubuntu/macOS matlab 
-MATLABWIN = "matlab"     #Windows matlab 
-OCTAVEEXE = "octave"     #Ubuntu/macOS octave
-OCTAVEWIN = "octave"     #Windows octave
+CPPWIN    = os.environ.get("CONCORE_CPPWIN", "g++")          #Windows C++  6/22/21
+CPPEXE    = os.environ.get("CONCORE_CPPEXE", "g++")          #Ubuntu/macOS C++  6/22/21
+VWIN      = os.environ.get("CONCORE_VWIN", "iverilog")       #Windows verilog  6/25/21
+VEXE      = os.environ.get("CONCORE_VEXE", "iverilog")       #Ubuntu/macOS verilog  6/25/21
+PYTHONEXE = os.environ.get("CONCORE_PYTHONEXE", "python3")   #Ubuntu/macOS python3
+PYTHONWIN = os.environ.get("CONCORE_PYTHONWIN", "python")    #Windows python3
+MATLABEXE = os.environ.get("CONCORE_MATLABEXE", "matlab")    #Ubuntu/macOS matlab
+MATLABWIN = os.environ.get("CONCORE_MATLABWIN", "matlab")    #Windows matlab
+OCTAVEEXE = os.environ.get("CONCORE_OCTAVEEXE", "octave")    #Ubuntu/macOS octave
+OCTAVEWIN = os.environ.get("CONCORE_OCTAVEWIN", "octave")    #Windows octave
 M_IS_OCTAVE = False      #treat .m as octave
 MCRPATH  = "~/MATLAB/R2021a" #path to local Ubunta Matlab Compiler Runtime
 DOCKEREXE = "sudo docker"#assume simple docker install
@@ -147,6 +160,18 @@ def _resolve_concore_path():
     with open(CONCOREPATH+"/concore.repo", "r") as f:
         DOCKEREPO = f.readline().strip() #docker id for repo
 
+if os.path.exists(CONCOREPATH+"/concore.tools"):
+    _tools = _load_tool_config(CONCOREPATH+"/concore.tools")
+    CPPWIN    = _tools.get("CPPWIN", CPPWIN)
+    CPPEXE    = _tools.get("CPPEXE", CPPEXE)
+    VWIN      = _tools.get("VWIN", VWIN)
+    VEXE      = _tools.get("VEXE", VEXE)
+    PYTHONEXE = _tools.get("PYTHONEXE", PYTHONEXE)
+    PYTHONWIN = _tools.get("PYTHONWIN", PYTHONWIN)
+    MATLABEXE = _tools.get("MATLABEXE", MATLABEXE)
+    MATLABWIN = _tools.get("MATLABWIN", MATLABWIN)
+    OCTAVEEXE = _tools.get("OCTAVEEXE", OCTAVEEXE)
+    OCTAVEWIN = _tools.get("OCTAVEWIN", OCTAVEWIN)
 
 prefixedgenode = ""
 sourcedir = sys.argv[2]
diff --git a/tests/test_tool_config.py b/tests/test_tool_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..58adc903
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_tool_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import pytest
+import os
+
+# can't import mkconcore directly (sys.argv at module level), so we duplicate the parser
+def _load_tool_config(filepath):
+    tools = {}
+    with open(filepath, "r") as f:
+        for line in f:
+            line = line.strip()
+            if not line or line.startswith("#") or "=" not in line:
+                continue
+            k, v = line.split("=", 1)
+            k, v = k.strip(), v.strip()
+            if v:
+                tools[k] = v
+    return tools
+
+
+class TestLoadToolConfig:
+
+    def test_basic_overrides(self, temp_dir):
+        cfg = os.path.join(temp_dir, "concore.tools")
+        with open(cfg, "w") as f:
+            f.write("CPPEXE=/usr/local/bin/g++-12\n")
+            f.write("PYTHONEXE=/usr/bin/python3.11\n")
+
+        tools = _load_tool_config(cfg)
+        assert tools["CPPEXE"] == "/usr/local/bin/g++-12"
+        assert tools["PYTHONEXE"] == "/usr/bin/python3.11"
+        assert "VEXE" not in tools
+
+    def test_comments_and_blanks_ignored(self, temp_dir):
+        cfg = os.path.join(temp_dir, "concore.tools")
+        with open(cfg, "w") as f:
+            f.write("# custom tool paths\n")
+            f.write("\n")
+            f.write("OCTAVEEXE = /snap/bin/octave\n")
+            f.write("# MATLABEXE = /opt/matlab/bin/matlab\n")
+
+        tools = _load_tool_config(cfg)
+        assert tools["OCTAVEEXE"] == "/snap/bin/octave"
+        assert "MATLABEXE" not in tools
+
+    def test_empty_value_skipped(self, temp_dir):
+        cfg = os.path.join(temp_dir, "concore.tools")
+        with open(cfg, "w") as f:
+            f.write("CPPWIN=\n")
+            f.write("VEXE = \n")
+
+        tools = _load_tool_config(cfg)
+        assert "CPPWIN" not in tools
+        assert "VEXE" not in tools
+
+    def test_value_with_equals_sign(self, temp_dir):
+        cfg = os.path.join(temp_dir, "concore.tools")
+        with open(cfg, "w") as f:
+            f.write("CPPEXE=C:\\Program Files\\g++=fast\n")
+
+        tools = _load_tool_config(cfg)
+        assert tools["CPPEXE"] == "C:\\Program Files\\g++=fast"
+
+    def test_whitespace_around_key_value(self, temp_dir):
+        cfg = os.path.join(temp_dir, "concore.tools")
+        with open(cfg, "w") as f:
+            f.write("  VWIN  =  C:\\iverilog\\bin\\iverilog.exe  \n")
+
+        tools = _load_tool_config(cfg)
+        assert tools["VWIN"] == "C:\\iverilog\\bin\\iverilog.exe"
+
+    def test_empty_file(self, temp_dir):
+        cfg = os.path.join(temp_dir, "concore.tools")
+        with open(cfg, "w") as f:
+            pass
+
+        tools = _load_tool_config(cfg)
+        assert tools == {}