diff --git a/feature-selmer/babashka/impl/selmer.clj b/feature-selmer/babashka/impl/selmer.clj
index 14ce03c8..32aeba3e 100644
--- a/feature-selmer/babashka/impl/selmer.clj
+++ b/feature-selmer/babashka/impl/selmer.clj
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
     (selmer.parser/render-template template context-map)))
 
 (defn sci-ns-resolve [ns fqs]
-  (sci/eval-form @ctx (list 'clojure.core/ns-resolve ns (list 'quote fqs))))
+  (sci/eval-form (ctx) (list 'clojure.core/ns-resolve ns (list 'quote fqs))))
 
 (defn force! [x]
   (if (instance? clojure.lang.IDeref x) @x x))
diff --git a/feature-xml/babashka/impl/xml.clj b/feature-xml/babashka/impl/xml.clj
index 123310e5..0018cb70 100644
--- a/feature-xml/babashka/impl/xml.clj
+++ b/feature-xml/babashka/impl/xml.clj
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@
       #_(assert (<= (count ans)) (pr-str ans))
       (let [xn (xml/uri-symbol n)
             al (symbol (clj-ns-name a))]
-        (sci/eval-form @ctx `(create-ns (quote ~xn)))
-        (sci/eval-form @ctx `(alias (quote ~al) (quote ~xn)))
+        (sci/eval-form (ctx) `(create-ns (quote ~xn)))
+        (sci/eval-form (ctx) `(alias (quote ~al) (quote ~xn)))
         (recur rst)))))
 
 (def xml-namespace
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj
index 1c269aed..fa202d41 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
    'default-data-readers (copy-core-var default-data-readers)
    'xml-seq (copy-core-var xml-seq)
    'read+string (new-var 'read+string (fn [& args]
-                  (apply read+string @common/ctx args)))
+                                        (apply read+string (common/ctx) args)))
    '*command-line-args* command-line-args
    '*warn-on-reflection* warn-on-reflection
    '*compile-files* compile-files
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/test.clj b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/test.clj
index b16d16de..422947a2 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/test.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/test.clj
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@
   {:added "1.1"}
   [x]
   (if (symbol? x)
-    (when-let [v (second (resolve/lookup @ctx x false))]
+    (when-let [v (second (resolve/lookup (ctx) x false))]
       (when-let [value (if (instance? sci.lang.Var v)
                          (get-possibly-unbound-var v)
                          v)]
@@ -826,7 +826,7 @@
   Because the intent is to run a single test, there is no check for the namespace test-ns-hook."
   {:added "1.11"}
   [test-symbol]
-  (let [test-var (sci/resolve @ctx test-symbol)]
+  (let [test-var (sci/resolve (ctx) test-symbol)]
     (cond
       (nil? test-var)
       (sci/binding [sci/out sci/err]
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/common.clj b/src/babashka/impl/common.clj
index 4a8057d7..ec03b968 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/common.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/common.clj
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 (ns babashka.impl.common
   (:require
    [clojure.java.io :as io]
-   [clojure.string :as str]))
+   [clojure.string :as str]
+   [sci.ctx-store :as ctx-store]))
 
 ;; placeholder for ctx
-(def ctx (volatile! nil))
+(defn ctx [] (ctx-store/get-ctx))
 (def bb-edn (volatile! nil))
 (def debug (volatile! false))
 (def version (str/trim (slurp (io/resource "BABASHKA_VERSION"))))
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/nrepl_server.clj b/src/babashka/impl/nrepl_server.clj
index 6340e6d6..5b3569cb 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/nrepl_server.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/nrepl_server.clj
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
                       :describe {"versions" {"babashka" common/version}}
                       :thread-bind [babashka.impl.clojure.core/warn-on-reflection]}
                      opts)]
-     (server/start-server! @common/ctx opts))))
+     (server/start-server! (common/ctx) opts))))
 
 (def nrepl-server-namespace
   (let [ns-sci (sci/create-ns 'babashka.nrepl.server)]
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/patches/datafy.clj b/src/babashka/impl/patches/datafy.clj
index 738e664c..386cb5dc 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/patches/datafy.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/patches/datafy.clj
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
   Namespace
   (datafy [n]
     (with-meta {:name (sci-ns-name n)
-                :publics (->> n (sci-ns-publics @ctx) sortmap)
-                :imports (->> n (sci-ns-imports @ctx) sortmap)
-                :interns (->> n (sci-ns-interns @ctx) sortmap)}
+                :publics (->> n (sci-ns-publics (ctx)) sortmap)
+                :imports (->> n (sci-ns-imports (ctx)) sortmap)
+                :interns (->> n (sci-ns-interns (ctx)) sortmap)}
       (meta n))))
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/pods.clj b/src/babashka/impl/pods.clj
index 54e7cf22..75752c20 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/pods.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/pods.clj
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 (ns babashka.impl.pods
   {:no-doc true}
   (:refer-clojure :exclude [read])
-  (:require [babashka.impl.common :refer [ctx bb-edn]]
-            [babashka.pods.sci :as pods]
-            [sci.core :as sci]
-            [clojure.java.io :as io]))
+  (:require
+   [babashka.impl.common :refer [bb-edn ctx]]
+   [babashka.pods.sci :as pods]
+   [clojure.java.io :as io]
+   [sci.core :as sci]))
 
 (defn load-pod [& args]
-  (apply pods/load-pod @ctx args))
+  (apply pods/load-pod (ctx) args))
 
 (defn load-pods-metadata [pods-map opts]
   (reduce-kv
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/server.clj b/src/babashka/impl/server.clj
index 1bb01f2b..78af54c7 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/server.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/server.clj
@@ -7,15 +7,15 @@
 (def sns (sci/create-ns 'clojure.core.server nil))
 
 (def prepl (fn [& args]
-             (apply server/prepl @common/ctx args)))
+             (apply server/prepl (common/ctx) args)))
 
 (def io-prepl
   (fn [& args]
-    (apply server/io-prepl @common/ctx args)))
+    (apply server/io-prepl (common/ctx) args)))
 
 (def start-server
   (fn [& args]
-    (apply server/start-server @common/ctx args)))
+    (apply server/start-server (common/ctx) args)))
 
 (def clojure-core-server-namespace
   {'repl (sci/copy-var socket-repl/repl sns)
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/socket_repl.clj b/src/babashka/impl/socket_repl.clj
index b5532fec..55ed2ca9 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/socket_repl.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/socket_repl.clj
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 ;; this is mapped to clojure.core.server/repl in babashka.main
 (def repl (fn []
-            (repl/repl @common/ctx)))
+            (repl/repl (common/ctx))))
 
 (defn parse-opts [opts]
   (let [opts (str/trim opts)
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj b/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj
index a5d9592c..99c25162 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/tasks.clj
@@ -455,15 +455,15 @@
   ([task {:keys [:parallel]
           :or {parallel (:parallel (current-task))}}]
    (let [[[expr]] (assemble-task task parallel)]
-     (sci/eval-string* @ctx expr))))
+     (sci/eval-string* (ctx) expr))))
 
 (defn exec
   ([sym]
    (let [snippet (cli/exec-fn-snippet sym)]
-     (sci/eval-string* @ctx snippet)))
+     (sci/eval-string* (ctx) snippet)))
   ([sym extra-opts]
    (let [snippet (cli/exec-fn-snippet sym extra-opts)]
-     (sci/eval-string* @ctx snippet))))
+     (sci/eval-string* (ctx) snippet))))
 
 (def tasks-namespace
   {'shell (sci/copy-var shell sci-ns)
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/test.clj b/src/babashka/impl/test.clj
index 2d3e95a5..4566b4ce 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/test.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/test.clj
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 (defn contextualize [f]
   (fn [& args]
-    (apply f @ctx args)))
+    (apply f (ctx) args)))
 
 (def tns t/tns)
 
diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index 42ef4266..a4a086e2 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
    [hf.depstar.uberjar :as uberjar]
    [sci.addons :as addons]
    [sci.core :as sci]
+   [sci.ctx-store :as ctx-store]
    [sci.impl.copy-vars :as sci-copy-vars]
    [sci.impl.io :as sio]
    [sci.impl.namespaces :as sci-namespaces]
@@ -303,7 +304,7 @@ Use bb run --help to show this help output.
         s (slurp f)]
     (sci/with-bindings {sci/ns @sci/ns
                         sci/file (.getAbsolutePath f)}
-      (sci/eval-string* @common/ctx s))))
+      (sci/eval-string* (common/ctx) s))))
 
 (defn start-socket-repl! [address ctx]
   (socket-repl/start-repl! address ctx))
@@ -373,7 +374,7 @@ Use bb run --help to show this help output.
                       'repl (sci/new-var 'repl
                                          (fn [& opts]
                                            (let [opts (apply hash-map opts)]
-                                             (repl/start-repl! @common/ctx opts))) {:ns clojure-main-ns})
+                                             (repl/start-repl! (common/ctx) opts))) {:ns clojure-main-ns})
                       'with-bindings (sci/copy-var clojure-main/with-bindings clojure-main-ns)}
        'clojure.test t/clojure-test-namespace
        'clojure.math math-namespace
@@ -847,7 +848,7 @@ Use bb run --help to show this help output.
                            (when-let [res (cp/source-for-namespace loader namespace nil)]
                              (if uberscript
                                (do (swap! uberscript-sources conj (:source res))
-                                   (uberscript/uberscript {:ctx @common/ctx
+                                   (uberscript/uberscript {:ctx (common/ctx)
                                                            :expressions [(:source res)]})
                                    {})
                                res)))
@@ -882,7 +883,7 @@ Use bb run --help to show this help output.
                   :proxy-fn proxy-fn}
             opts (addons/future opts)
             sci-ctx (sci/init opts)
-            _ (vreset! common/ctx sci-ctx)
+            _ (ctx-store/reset-ctx! sci-ctx)
             _ (when-let [pods (:pods @common/bb-edn)]
                 (when-let [pod-metadata (pods/load-pods-metadata
                                           pods {:download-only (download-only?)})]
diff --git a/test/babashka/impl/socket_repl_test.clj b/test/babashka/impl/socket_repl_test.clj
index 5e6e587c..ca0efd7b 100644
--- a/test/babashka/impl/socket_repl_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/impl/socket_repl_test.clj
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
       (if tu/jvm?
         (let [ctx (init {:namespaces {'clojure.core.server clojure-core-server-namespace}
                          :features #{:bb}})]
-          (vreset! common/ctx ctx)
+          (vreset! common/ctx (fn [] ctx))
           (start-repl! "0.0.0.0:1666" ctx))
         (do (vreset! server-process
                      (p/process ["./bb" "socket-repl" "localhost:1666"]))
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
                          :env (atom {})
                          :namespaces {'clojure.core.server clojure-core-server-namespace}
                          :features #{:bb}})]
-          (vreset! common/ctx ctx)
+          (vreset! common/ctx (fn [] ctx))
           (start-repl! "{:address \"localhost\" :accept clojure.core.server/repl :port 1666}"
                        ctx))
         (do (vreset! server-process
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@
                          :env (atom {})
                          :namespaces {'clojure.core.server clojure-core-server-namespace}
                          :features #{:bb}})]
-          (vreset! common/ctx ctx)
+          (vreset! common/ctx (fn [] ctx))
           (start-repl! "{:address \"localhost\" :accept clojure.core.server/io-prepl :port 1666}"
                        ctx))
         (do (vreset! server-process