diff --git a/crates/gateway/src/main.rs b/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
index bedebbc..a35a043 100644
--- a/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ async fn main() {
         .nest("/journal", journald::service::router(journal))
         .nest("/access", access_service::router(access))
         .nest("/tools", tools::service::router({
-            let tool_reg = tools::registry::ToolRegistry::new_with_defaults();
+            let tool_reg = tools::registry::ToolRegistry::new();
             tool_reg.register_defaults().await;
             tools::ToolState {
                 registry: tool_reg,
diff --git a/crates/gateway/src/tools/registry.rs b/crates/gateway/src/tools/registry.rs
index 728d66a..f2be6f0 100644
--- a/crates/gateway/src/tools/registry.rs
+++ b/crates/gateway/src/tools/registry.rs
@@ -67,25 +67,14 @@ pub struct ToolRegistry {
 }
 
 impl ToolRegistry {
-    #[allow(dead_code)]
+    /// Build an empty registry. Callers in an async context should follow
+    /// this with `.register_defaults().await` if they want the built-in
+    /// staffing tools pre-installed — main.rs does exactly that.
     pub fn new() -> Self {
-        let registry = Self {
+        Self {
             tools: Arc::new(RwLock::new(HashMap::new())),
             audit_log: Arc::new(RwLock::new(Vec::new())),
-        };
-        // Register built-in staffing tools
-        tokio::task::block_in_place(|| {
-            tokio::runtime::Handle::current().block_on(registry.register_defaults())
-        });
-        registry
-    }
-
-    pub fn new_with_defaults() -> Self {
-        let registry = Self {
-            tools: Arc::new(RwLock::new(HashMap::new())),
-            audit_log: Arc::new(RwLock::new(Vec::new())),
-        };
-        registry
+        }
     }
 
     /// Register default staffing tools.