diff --git a/pkg/dev/registry.go b/pkg/dev/registry.go
index f79bb738..8d4b9b8b 100644
--- a/pkg/dev/registry.go
+++ b/pkg/dev/registry.go
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ func loadRegistryWithConfig(registryPath string) (*repos.Registry, string, error
 			registryDir = cwd
 		}
 	}
-	// Load workspace config to respect packages_dir
-	if wsConfig, err := workspace.LoadConfig(registryDir); err == nil {
+	// Load workspace config to respect packages_dir (only if config exists)
+	if wsConfig, err := workspace.LoadConfig(registryDir); err == nil && wsConfig != nil {
 		if wsConfig.PackagesDir != "" {
 			pkgDir := wsConfig.PackagesDir
 			// Expand ~
diff --git a/pkg/docs/cmd_scan.go b/pkg/docs/cmd_scan.go
index 105a133b..9920b5f7 100644
--- a/pkg/docs/cmd_scan.go
+++ b/pkg/docs/cmd_scan.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func loadRegistry(registryPath string) (*repos.Registry, string, error) {
 
 	basePath := registryDir
 
-	if wsConfig.PackagesDir != "" && wsConfig.PackagesDir != "./packages" {
+	if wsConfig != nil && wsConfig.PackagesDir != "" && wsConfig.PackagesDir != "./packages" {
 		pkgDir := wsConfig.PackagesDir
 		
 		// Expand ~
diff --git a/pkg/i18n/locales/en_GB.json b/pkg/i18n/locales/en_GB.json
index 2a85607b..788de6df 100644
--- a/pkg/i18n/locales/en_GB.json
+++ b/pkg/i18n/locales/en_GB.json
@@ -157,6 +157,18 @@
 			"no_git_repos": "No git repositories found.",
 			"confirm_claude_commit": "Have Claude commit these repos?",
 			"health.short": "Quick health check across all repos",
+			"health.long": "Shows a summary of repository health across all repos in the workspace.",
+			"health.flag.verbose": "Show detailed breakdown",
+			"health.repos": "repos",
+			"health.to_push": "to push",
+			"health.to_pull": "to pull",
+			"health.errors": "errors",
+			"health.more": "+{{.Count}} more",
+			"health.dirty_label": "Dirty:",
+			"health.ahead_label": "Ahead:",
+			"health.behind_label": "Behind:",
+			"health.errors_label": "Errors:",
+			"status.clean": "clean",
 			"commit.short": "Claude-assisted commits across repos",
 			"push.short": "Push commits across all repos",
 			"push.diverged": "branch has diverged from remote",
@@ -293,6 +305,12 @@
 		}
 	},
 	"common": {
+		"status": {
+			"dirty": "dirty",
+			"clean": "clean",
+			"synced": "synced",
+			"up_to_date": "up to date"
+		},
 		"label": {
 			"done": "Done",
 			"error": "Error",
@@ -309,7 +327,8 @@
 			"fix": "Auto-fix issues where possible",
 			"diff": "Show diff of changes",
 			"json": "Output as JSON",
-			"verbose": "Show detailed output"
+			"verbose": "Show detailed output",
+			"registry": "Path to repos.yaml registry file"
 		},
 		"progress": {
 			"running": "Running {{.Task}}...",
diff --git a/pkg/php/cmd.go b/pkg/php/cmd.go
index 02531189..6e1af726 100644
--- a/pkg/php/cmd.go
+++ b/pkg/php/cmd.go
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ func AddPHPCommands(root *cobra.Command) {
 
 			// Load workspace config
 			config, err := workspace.LoadConfig(wsRoot)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil // Failed to load, ignore
+			if err != nil || config == nil {
+				return nil // Failed to load or no config, ignore
 			}
 
 			if config.Active == "" {
diff --git a/pkg/setup/cmd_bootstrap.go b/pkg/setup/cmd_bootstrap.go
index 96de5bbc..d6e6dfbc 100644
--- a/pkg/setup/cmd_bootstrap.go
+++ b/pkg/setup/cmd_bootstrap.go
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/host-uk/core/pkg/i18n"
 	"github.com/host-uk/core/pkg/repos"
+	"github.com/host-uk/core/pkg/workspace"
 )
 
 // runSetupOrchestrator decides between registry mode and bootstrap mode.
@@ -133,6 +135,13 @@ func runBootstrap(ctx context.Context, only string, dryRun, all bool, projectNam
 	// Override base path to target directory
 	reg.BasePath = targetDir
 
+	// Check workspace config for default_only if no filter specified
+	if only == "" {
+		if wsConfig, err := workspace.LoadConfig(devopsPath); err == nil && wsConfig != nil && len(wsConfig.DefaultOnly) > 0 {
+			only = strings.Join(wsConfig.DefaultOnly, ",")
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Now run the regular setup with the loaded registry
 	return runRegistrySetupWithReg(ctx, reg, registryPath, only, dryRun, all, runBuild)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/setup/cmd_registry.go b/pkg/setup/cmd_registry.go
index a38a29d2..250cd0f5 100644
--- a/pkg/setup/cmd_registry.go
+++ b/pkg/setup/cmd_registry.go
@@ -26,6 +26,14 @@ func runRegistrySetup(ctx context.Context, registryPath, only string, dryRun, al
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to load registry: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Check workspace config for default_only if no filter specified
+	if only == "" {
+		registryDir := filepath.Dir(registryPath)
+		if wsConfig, err := workspace.LoadConfig(registryDir); err == nil && wsConfig != nil && len(wsConfig.DefaultOnly) > 0 {
+			only = strings.Join(wsConfig.DefaultOnly, ",")
+		}
+	}
+
 	return runRegistrySetupWithReg(ctx, reg, registryPath, only, dryRun, all, runBuild)
 }
 
@@ -39,12 +47,9 @@ func runRegistrySetupWithReg(ctx context.Context, reg *repos.Registry, registryP
 	// Determine base path for cloning
 	basePath := reg.BasePath
 	if basePath == "" {
-		// Load workspace config to see if packages_dir is set
-		wsConfig, err := workspace.LoadConfig(registryDir)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to load workspace config: %w", err)
-		}
-		if wsConfig.PackagesDir != "" {
+		// Load workspace config to see if packages_dir is set (ignore errors, fall back to default)
+		wsConfig, _ := workspace.LoadConfig(registryDir)
+		if wsConfig != nil && wsConfig.PackagesDir != "" {
 			basePath = wsConfig.PackagesDir
 		} else {
 			basePath = "./packages"
diff --git a/pkg/workspace/cmd_workspace.go b/pkg/workspace/cmd_workspace.go
index c61b30cb..a25b1163 100644
--- a/pkg/workspace/cmd_workspace.go
+++ b/pkg/workspace/cmd_workspace.go
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ func runWorkspaceInfo(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if config == nil {
+		return cli.Err("workspace config not found")
+	}
 
 	cli.Print("Active:   %s\n", cli.ValueStyle.Render(config.Active))
 	cli.Print("Packages: %s\n", cli.DimStyle.Render(config.PackagesDir))
@@ -53,6 +56,9 @@ func runWorkspaceActive(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if config == nil {
+		config = DefaultConfig()
+	}
 
 	// If no args, show active
 	if len(args) == 0 {
@@ -60,7 +66,7 @@ func runWorkspaceActive(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			cli.Println("No active package set")
 			return nil
 		}
-		cli.Println(config.Active)
+		cli.Text(config.Active)
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/workspace/config.go b/pkg/workspace/config.go
index d68222ea..fc781b5b 100644
--- a/pkg/workspace/config.go
+++ b/pkg/workspace/config.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() *WorkspaceConfig {
 }
 
 // LoadConfig tries to load workspace.yaml from the given directory's .core subfolder.
+// Returns nil if no config file exists (caller should check for nil).
 func LoadConfig(dir string) (*WorkspaceConfig, error) {
 	path := filepath.Join(dir, ".core", "workspace.yaml")
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
@@ -35,7 +36,8 @@ func LoadConfig(dir string) (*WorkspaceConfig, error) {
 			if parent != dir {
 				return LoadConfig(parent)
 			}
-			return DefaultConfig(), nil
+			// No workspace.yaml found anywhere - return nil to indicate no config
+			return nil, nil
 		}
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read workspace config: %w", err)
 	}