diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8dad225..b87bd26 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,19 +2,4 @@ module notashelf.dev/ncro
 
 go 1.25.7
 
-require (
-	github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1 // indirect
-	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 // indirect
-	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
-	github.com/ncruces/go-strftime v1.0.0 // indirect
-	github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec // indirect
-	github.com/vmihailenco/msgpack/v5 v5.4.1 // indirect
-	github.com/vmihailenco/tagparser/v2 v2.0.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20251023183803-a4bb9ffd2546 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.37.0 // indirect
-	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
-	modernc.org/libc v1.67.6 // indirect
-	modernc.org/mathutil v1.7.1 // indirect
-	modernc.org/memory v1.11.0 // indirect
-	modernc.org/sqlite v1.46.1 // indirect
-)
+require gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index f9c9829..a62c313 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,30 +1,4 @@
-github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1 h1:GzkhY7T5VNhEkwH0PVJgjz+fX1rhBrR7pRT3mDkpeCY=
-github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1/go.mod h1:Mu1zIs6XwVuF/gI1OepvI0qD18qycQx+mFykh5fBlto=
-github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 h1:NIvaJDMOsjHA8n1jAhLSgzrAzy1Hgr+hNrb57e+94F0=
-github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:TIyPZe4MgqvfeYDBFedMoGGpEw/LqOeaOT+nhxU+yHo=
-github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 h1:xfD0iDuEKnDkl03q4limB+vH+GxLEtL/jb4xVJSWWEY=
-github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
-github.com/ncruces/go-strftime v1.0.0 h1:HMFp8mLCTPp341M/ZnA4qaf7ZlsbTc+miZjCLOFAw7w=
-github.com/ncruces/go-strftime v1.0.0/go.mod h1:Fwc5htZGVVkseilnfgOVb9mKy6w1naJmn9CehxcKcls=
-github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec h1:W09IVJc94icq4NjY3clb7Lk8O1qJ8BdBEF8z0ibU0rE=
-github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec/go.mod h1:qqbHyh8v60DhA7CoWK5oRCqLrMHRGoxYCSS9EjAz6Eo=
-github.com/vmihailenco/msgpack/v5 v5.4.1 h1:cQriyiUvjTwOHg8QZaPihLWeRAAVoCpE00IUPn0Bjt8=
-github.com/vmihailenco/msgpack/v5 v5.4.1/go.mod h1:GaZTsDaehaPpQVyxrf5mtQlH+pc21PIudVV/E3rRQok=
-github.com/vmihailenco/tagparser/v2 v2.0.0 h1:y09buUbR+b5aycVFQs/g70pqKVZNBmxwAhO7/IwNM9g=
-github.com/vmihailenco/tagparser/v2 v2.0.0/go.mod h1:Wri+At7QHww0WTrCBeu4J6bNtoV6mEfg5OIWRZA9qds=
-golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20251023183803-a4bb9ffd2546 h1:mgKeJMpvi0yx/sU5GsxQ7p6s2wtOnGAHZWCHUM4KGzY=
-golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20251023183803-a4bb9ffd2546/go.mod h1:j/pmGrbnkbPtQfxEe5D0VQhZC6qKbfKifgD0oM7sR70=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.37.0 h1:fdNQudmxPjkdUTPnLn5mdQv7Zwvbvpaxqs831goi9kQ=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.37.0/go.mod h1:OgkHotnGiDImocRcuBABYBEXf8A9a87e/uXjp9XT3ks=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
-modernc.org/libc v1.67.6 h1:eVOQvpModVLKOdT+LvBPjdQqfrZq+pC39BygcT+E7OI=
-modernc.org/libc v1.67.6/go.mod h1:JAhxUVlolfYDErnwiqaLvUqc8nfb2r6S6slAgZOnaiE=
-modernc.org/mathutil v1.7.1 h1:GCZVGXdaN8gTqB1Mf/usp1Y/hSqgI2vAGGP4jZMCxOU=
-modernc.org/mathutil v1.7.1/go.mod h1:4p5IwJITfppl0G4sUEDtCr4DthTaT47/N3aT6MhfgJg=
-modernc.org/memory v1.11.0 h1:o4QC8aMQzmcwCK3t3Ux/ZHmwFPzE6hf2Y5LbkRs+hbI=
-modernc.org/memory v1.11.0/go.mod h1:/JP4VbVC+K5sU2wZi9bHoq2MAkCnrt2r98UGeSK7Mjw=
-modernc.org/sqlite v1.46.1 h1:eFJ2ShBLIEnUWlLy12raN0Z1plqmFX9Qe3rjQTKt6sU=
-modernc.org/sqlite v1.46.1/go.mod h1:CzbrU2lSB1DKUusvwGz7rqEKIq+NUd8GWuBBZDs9/nA=
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 6c98f5a..087dfa4 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func (d *Duration) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
 		// Try decoding as a raw int64 (nanoseconds) as fallback.
 		var ns int64
 		if err2 := value.Decode(&ns); err2 != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("cannot unmarshal duration: %w", err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot unmarshal duration (tried string: %v): %w", err, err2)
 		}
 		d.Duration = time.Duration(ns)
 		return nil
diff --git a/internal/config/config_test.go b/internal/config/config_test.go
index 7bf0a41..335f649 100644
--- a/internal/config/config_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/config_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package config_test
 import (
 	"os"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"notashelf.dev/ncro/internal/config"
 )
@@ -61,3 +62,53 @@ func TestEnvOverride(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("env override listen = %q, want :1234", cfg.Server.Listen)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestDurationParsing(t *testing.T) {
+	yamlContent := `
+server:
+  listen: ":8080"
+  read_timeout: 30s
+  write_timeout: 1m
+cache:
+  ttl: 2h
+mesh:
+  gossip_interval: 45s
+`
+	f, _ := os.CreateTemp("", "ncro-dur-*.yaml")
+	defer os.Remove(f.Name())
+	f.WriteString(yamlContent)
+	f.Close()
+
+	cfg, err := config.Load(f.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Load error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if cfg.Server.ReadTimeout.Duration != 30*time.Second {
+		t.Errorf("read_timeout = %v, want 30s", cfg.Server.ReadTimeout.Duration)
+	}
+	if cfg.Server.WriteTimeout.Duration != time.Minute {
+		t.Errorf("write_timeout = %v, want 1m", cfg.Server.WriteTimeout.Duration)
+	}
+	if cfg.Cache.TTL.Duration != 2*time.Hour {
+		t.Errorf("ttl = %v, want 2h", cfg.Cache.TTL.Duration)
+	}
+	if cfg.Mesh.GossipInterval.Duration != 45*time.Second {
+		t.Errorf("gossip_interval = %v, want 45s", cfg.Mesh.GossipInterval.Duration)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInvalidDuration(t *testing.T) {
+	yamlContent := `
+server:
+  read_timeout: "bananas"
+`
+	f, _ := os.CreateTemp("", "ncro-bad-*.yaml")
+	defer os.Remove(f.Name())
+	f.WriteString(yamlContent)
+	f.Close()
+
+	_, err := config.Load(f.Name())
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("expected error for invalid duration string, got nil")
+	}
+}