diff --git a/etc/prole_cfg.sh b/etc/prole_cfg.sh
index 4f45ff3..bdf745c 100644
--- a/etc/prole_cfg.sh
+++ b/etc/prole_cfg.sh
@@ -743,16 +743,47 @@ if [[ -n "$_prole_cfg_file" ]]; then
   if [[ -z "$_cfg_ctx" ]]; then
     _cfg_ctx=$(_prole_cfg_extract_key_in_files "KUBECONTEXT" "${_prole_cfg_files[@]}")
   fi
+  _cfg_mode_hint=$(prole_normalize_mode "${DEPLOYMENT_MODE:-${PROLE_MODE:-${CLUSTER_ENV:-${prole_mode:-}}}}")
+  _cfg_app_ctx="${APP_CLUSTER_KUBECONTEXT:-${init_cluster_app_cluster_kubecontext:-}}"
+  if [[ "$_cfg_mode_hint" == "k8s" ]]; then
+    if [[ -z "$_cfg_app_ctx" ]]; then
+      _cfg_app_ctx=$(_prole_cfg_extract_key_in_files "APP_CLUSTER_KUBECONTEXT" "${_prole_cfg_files[@]}")
+    fi
+    if [[ -z "$_cfg_app_ctx" ]]; then
+      _cfg_app_ctx=$(_prole_cfg_extract_key_in_files "app_cluster_kubecontext" "${_prole_cfg_files[@]}")
+    fi
+    if [[ -z "$_cfg_app_ctx" ]]; then
+      _cfg_app_ctx=$(_prole_cfg_extract_key_in_files "init_cluster.app_cluster_kubecontext" "${_prole_cfg_files[@]}")
+    fi
+    if [[ -z "$_cfg_app_ctx" ]]; then
+      _cfg_app_ctx=$(_prole_cfg_extract_key_in_files "init_cluster_app_cluster_kubecontext" "${_prole_cfg_files[@]}")
+    fi
+    if [[ -n "$_cfg_app_ctx" ]]; then
+      _cfg_ctx="$_cfg_app_ctx"
+    fi
+  fi
   if [[ -n "$_cfg_ctx" ]]; then
-    # Respect explicitly provided runtime context (e.g., installer per-role env)
-    # and only fall back to prole.cfg when no runtime context is set.
-    if [[ -z "${KUBE_CONTEXT_NAME:-}" && -z "${KUBECTL_CONTEXT:-}" && -z "${KUBECONTEXT:-}" ]]; then
+    _runtime_ctx="${KUBECTL_CONTEXT:-${KUBE_CONTEXT_NAME:-${KUBECONTEXT:-}}}"
+    _override_runtime_ctx=0
+    # Respect explicitly provided runtime context (e.g., installer per-role env),
+    # but in k8s split-cluster mode override legacy aliases with APP context.
+    if [[ -z "$_runtime_ctx" ]]; then
+      _override_runtime_ctx=1
+    elif [[ "$_cfg_mode_hint" == "k8s" && -n "$_cfg_app_ctx" ]]; then
+      case "$_runtime_ctx" in
+        prod|production|prole-prod-cluster)
+          _override_runtime_ctx=1
+          ;;
+      esac
+    fi
+    if [[ $_override_runtime_ctx -eq 1 ]]; then
       export KUBE_CONTEXT_NAME="$_cfg_ctx"
       export KUBECTL_CONTEXT="$_cfg_ctx"
       export KUBECONTEXT="$_cfg_ctx"
     fi
+    unset _runtime_ctx _override_runtime_ctx
   fi
-  unset _cfg_ns _cfg_sns _cfg_dm _cfg_sh _cfg_sbh _cfg_sapi _cfg_sstudio _cfg_sing _cfg_gitdom _cfg_githosts _cfg_ging _cfg_auth_enabled _cfg_auth_host _cfg_auth_verify _cfg_auth_login _cfg_auth_headers _cfg_ctx _prole_cfg_files _prole_cfg_f
+  unset _cfg_ns _cfg_sns _cfg_dm _cfg_sh _cfg_sbh _cfg_sapi _cfg_sstudio _cfg_sing _cfg_gitdom _cfg_githosts _cfg_ging _cfg_auth_enabled _cfg_auth_host _cfg_auth_verify _cfg_auth_login _cfg_auth_headers _cfg_ctx _cfg_mode_hint _cfg_app_ctx _prole_cfg_files _prole_cfg_f
 fi
 
 if [[ -z "${PROLE_HOME:-}" && -d "$_prole_cfg_home_guess" ]]; then