diff --git a/tests/25_try_demo.bats b/tests/25_try_demo.bats
index 2977444..f641e4e 100644
--- a/tests/25_try_demo.bats
+++ b/tests/25_try_demo.bats
@@ -54,8 +54,18 @@ done
 cp "$FAKE_INSTALL" "$out"
 EOF
 
-  # Fake orbit runtime: clone/new/done all no-op.
-  printf '#!/usr/bin/env bash\nexit 0\n' > "$MOCK_BIN/orbit"
+  # Fake orbit runtime: new/done are no-ops; clone materializes a real repo,
+  # because try.sh writes a repo-local demo identity into each pool clone's
+  # config (zero-config git support) right after cloning.
+  cat > "$MOCK_BIN/orbit" <<'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+if [ "$1" = "clone" ]; then
+  name="$(basename "${2%.git}")"
+  mkdir -p "$ORBIT_TRY_DIR/.repos"
+  git init -q "$ORBIT_TRY_DIR/.repos/$name"
+fi
+exit 0
+EOF
   chmod +x "$MOCK_BIN/curl" "$MOCK_BIN/orbit" "$FAKE_INSTALL"
 }
 
diff --git a/try.sh b/try.sh
index 31eddf7..7c24b63 100755
--- a/try.sh
+++ b/try.sh
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ build_bare() {
   git init -q "$work"
   git -C "$work" -c core.hooksPath=/dev/null add .
   git -C "$work" -c core.hooksPath=/dev/null \
-      -c user.email=pilot@orbit.dev -c user.name=Pilot commit -qm "$msg"
+      -c user.email=pilot@localhost -c user.name=Pilot commit -qm "$msg"
   git clone -q --bare "$work" "$UPSTREAM/$name.git"
   rm -rf "$work"
 }
@@ -372,6 +372,16 @@ say "⚙  Adding both repos to the Orbit pool ..."
 orbit clone "$UPSTREAM/navigator.git"       >/dev/null
 orbit clone "$UPSTREAM/mission-control.git" >/dev/null
 
+# Repo-local identity for the demo pool clones: the agent commits from inside
+# the workspace worktrees, and worktrees read the repo's common config — so a
+# zero-config git (fresh VM/container: no global user.name/user.email) would
+# otherwise fail every demo commit with "Author identity unknown" (exit 128).
+# Everything lives under $TRY_DIR, so this never touches the user's real repos.
+for r in "$TRY_DIR/.repos/navigator" "$TRY_DIR/.repos/mission-control"; do
+  git -C "$r" config user.name "Pilot"
+  git -C "$r" config user.email "pilot@localhost"
+done
+
 GOAL="Downlink a fuel-reserve field in the telemetry frame so mission-control can watch the tank burn — keep the encoder (navigator) and decoder (mission-control) in lockstep"
 say "⚙  Creating a workspace for the mission ..."
 orbit new "$GOAL" --name mission >/dev/null