diff --git a/reme4/components/file_store/base_file_store.py b/reme4/components/file_store/base_file_store.py
index 4f407145..7e140535 100644
--- a/reme4/components/file_store/base_file_store.py
+++ b/reme4/components/file_store/base_file_store.py
@@ -24,13 +24,17 @@ class BaseFileStore(BaseComponent):
         **kwargs,
     ):
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
+        from ..embedding import OpenAIEmbeddingModel
+        from ..file_graph import LocalFileGraph
+        from ..keyword_index import BM25Index
+
         self.store_name = store_name or self.name
         if not embedding_model and not keyword_index:
             raise ValueError("At least one of embedding_model or keyword_index must be set.")
 
-        self.embedding_model = self.bind(embedding_model, BaseEmbeddingModel)
-        self.keyword_index = self.bind(keyword_index, BaseKeywordIndex)
-        self.file_graph = self.bind(file_graph, BaseFileGraph)
+        self.embedding_model = self.bind(embedding_model, BaseEmbeddingModel, default_factory=OpenAIEmbeddingModel)
+        self.keyword_index = self.bind(keyword_index, BaseKeywordIndex, default_factory=BM25Index)
+        self.file_graph = self.bind(file_graph, BaseFileGraph, default_factory=LocalFileGraph)
         self.store_path = self.working_path / self.component_type.value / store_name
         self.store_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
diff --git a/reme4/components/file_watcher/base_file_watcher.py b/reme4/components/file_watcher/base_file_watcher.py
index 60142692..236b06a9 100644
--- a/reme4/components/file_watcher/base_file_watcher.py
+++ b/reme4/components/file_watcher/base_file_watcher.py
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ class BaseFileWatcher(BaseComponent):
         **kwargs,
     ):
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
+        from ..file_parser import DefaultFileParser
+        from ..file_store import LocalFileStore
+
         watch_paths = [watch_paths] if isinstance(watch_paths, str) else watch_paths
         base = self.working_path
         self.watch_paths: list[Path] = [base / x for x in watch_paths if (base / x).exists()]
@@ -38,8 +41,8 @@ class BaseFileWatcher(BaseComponent):
         self.force_polling: bool = force_polling
         self.debounce: int = debounce
         self.poll_delay_ms: int = poll_delay_ms
-        self.file_store = self.bind(file_store, BaseFileStore)
-        self.file_parser = self.bind(file_parser, BaseFileParser)
+        self.file_store = self.bind(file_store, BaseFileStore, default_factory=LocalFileStore)
+        self.file_parser = self.bind(file_parser, BaseFileParser, default_factory=DefaultFileParser)
         self._stop_event: asyncio.Event = asyncio.Event()
         self._background_task: asyncio.Task | None = None
         self._retry_interval: float = 10
diff --git a/reme4/steps/base_step.py b/reme4/steps/base_step.py
index 2f8da442..c79d5f5e 100644
--- a/reme4/steps/base_step.py
+++ b/reme4/steps/base_step.py
@@ -78,11 +78,15 @@ class BaseStep(ABC):
 
     def _resolve(self, key: str, base_cls: type[T], comp_enum: ComponentEnum, attr: str | None = None) -> T:
         """Return a kwargs-supplied instance, or look one up by name in the app registry."""
-        value = self.kwargs.get(key, "default")
-        if isinstance(value, base_cls):
-            return value
+        # 1. Step init kwargs, 2. Runtime context (run_job kwargs), 3. App registry by name.
+        for source in (self.kwargs, self.context or {}):
+            value = source.get(key)
+            if isinstance(value, base_cls):
+                return value
+
+        name = self.kwargs.get(key, "default")
         assert self.app_context is not None
-        comp = self.app_context.components[comp_enum][value]
+        comp = self.app_context.components[comp_enum][name]
         return getattr(comp, attr) if attr else comp
 
     @property