diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fac905b..76395ae 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # Ignore bash environment variables.
 /config/bash/env
+# Personal espanso triggers (name, email), seeded per-machine by setup-identity.
+/config/dot/espanso/match/identity.yml
 # Ignore backups of old config files
 /config/old
 # Ignore Wireguard config of course!
diff --git a/config/dot/espanso/match/base.yml b/config/dot/espanso/match/base.yml
index 24a473e..6c4d2ba 100644
--- a/config/dot/espanso/match/base.yml
+++ b/config/dot/espanso/match/base.yml
@@ -1,17 +1,9 @@
 # espanso match file
 # https://espanso.org/docs/
+# Name and email triggers (:fn, :em, ...) are NOT here: they are personal, and
+# this file is shared. setup-identity seeds them into match/identity.yml --
+# per-machine, gitignored, yours to edit -- from the install interview.
 matches:
-  # Name
-  - trigger: ":fn"
-    replace: "Gabriel Brown"
-  - trigger: ":fin"
-    replace: "Gabriel A Brown"
-  # Email
-  - trigger: ":em"
-    replace: "gib@gibbyb.com"
-  - trigger: ":empro"
-    replace: "me@gbrown.org"
-
   # Date
   - trigger: ":date"
     replace: "{{mydate}}"
diff --git a/setup/scripts/setup-identity b/setup/scripts/setup-identity
index a54656c..d92af07 100755
--- a/setup/scripts/setup-identity
+++ b/setup/scripts/setup-identity
@@ -41,6 +41,26 @@ git config --global alias.st status
 git config --global pull.rebase true
 log "git aliases and pull.rebase applied"
 
+# Text-expansion identity. The :fn/:em triggers used to hardcode the repository
+# owner's name and email in the shared match file; each machine now writes its
+# own from the interview's answers. Per-machine and gitignored -- espanso loads
+# every file under match/, so it sits beside base.yml without being shared.
+# Kept when it already exists: the file is the user's to edit, and a re-run
+# must not erase what they added.
+espanso_identity="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/espanso/match/identity.yml"
+if [[ -d "$(dirname "$espanso_identity")" && ! -e "$espanso_identity" ]] \
+    && [[ -n "$git_name" || -n "$git_email" ]]; then
+    {
+        printf '# Personal expansion triggers, seeded from the install interview.\n'
+        printf '# Per-machine and untracked: add your own freely.\n'
+        printf 'matches:\n'
+        [[ -n "$git_name" ]] && printf '  - trigger: ":fn"\n    replace: "%s"\n' "$git_name"
+        [[ -n "$git_email" ]] && printf '  - trigger: ":em"\n    replace: "%s"\n' "$git_email"
+        :
+    } > "$espanso_identity"
+    log "Seeded espanso identity triggers at $espanso_identity"
+fi
+
 if [[ "${PANAMA_GH_LOGIN:-no}" == yes ]]; then
     if command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         log "Signing in to GitHub"