diff --git a/install/installer/example-config.yaml b/install/installer/example-config.yaml
index c0e404c5462958..f52565fc6c5e72 100644
--- a/install/installer/example-config.yaml
+++ b/install/installer/example-config.yaml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ domain: ""
 kind: Full
 metadata:
   region: local
+  shortname: default
 objectStorage:
   inCluster: true
 observability:
diff --git a/install/installer/pkg/components/server/configmap.go b/install/installer/pkg/components/server/configmap.go
index 50770abd3aa75f..29709120f8e64e 100644
--- a/install/installer/pkg/components/server/configmap.go
+++ b/install/installer/pkg/components/server/configmap.go
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ func configmap(ctx *common.RenderContext) ([]runtime.Object, error) {
 	scfg := ConfigSerialized{
 		Version:               ctx.VersionManifest.Version,
 		HostURL:               fmt.Sprintf("https://%s", ctx.Config.Domain),
-		InstallationShortname: ctx.Namespace, // todo(sje): is this needed?
-		Stage:                 "production",  // todo(sje): is this needed?
+		InstallationShortname: ctx.Config.Metadata.InstallationShortname,
+		Stage:                 "production", // todo(sje): is this needed?
 		LicenseFile:           license,
 		WorkspaceHeartbeat: WorkspaceHeartbeat{
 			IntervalSeconds: 60,
diff --git a/install/installer/pkg/components/server/deployment.go b/install/installer/pkg/components/server/deployment.go
index 0ecfe9e7c33f90..c19fd75f656978 100644
--- a/install/installer/pkg/components/server/deployment.go
+++ b/install/installer/pkg/components/server/deployment.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func deployment(ctx *common.RenderContext) ([]runtime.Object, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Convert to a JSON string
-	fc, err := common.ToJSONString(wsmanagerbridge.WSManagerList())
+	fc, err := common.ToJSONString(wsmanagerbridge.WSManagerList(ctx))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal server.WorkspaceManagerList config: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/configmap.go b/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/configmap.go
index 3bb7e863ac9334..4bccd1662a1da2 100644
--- a/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/configmap.go
+++ b/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/configmap.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 
 func configmap(ctx *common.RenderContext) ([]runtime.Object, error) {
 	wsmbcfg := Configuration{
-		Installation:                        "",
+		Installation:                        ctx.Config.Metadata.InstallationShortname,
 		WSClusterDBReconcileIntervalSeconds: 60,
 		ControllerIntervalSeconds:           60,
 		ControllerMaxDisconnectSeconds:      150,
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func configmap(ctx *common.RenderContext) ([]runtime.Object, error) {
 			UnknownPhaseSeconds:              600,
 		},
 		EmulatePreparingIntervalSeconds: 10,
-		StaticBridges:                   WSManagerList(),
+		StaticBridges:                   WSManagerList(ctx),
 	}
 
 	fc, err := common.ToJSONString(wsmbcfg)
diff --git a/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/objects.go b/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/objects.go
index b2a0ed032ffc11..f8dc655b40e6e2 100644
--- a/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/objects.go
+++ b/install/installer/pkg/components/ws-manager-bridge/objects.go
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ var Objects = common.CompositeRenderFunc(
 	common.DefaultServiceAccount(Component),
 )
 
-func WSManagerList() []WorkspaceCluster {
+func WSManagerList(ctx *common.RenderContext) []WorkspaceCluster {
 	return []WorkspaceCluster{{
-		Name: "default",
+		Name: ctx.Config.Metadata.InstallationShortname,
 		URL:  fmt.Sprintf("dns:///%s:%d", wsmanager.Component, wsmanager.RPCPort),
 		TLS: WorkspaceClusterTLS{
 			Authority:   "/ws-manager-client-tls-certs/ca.crt",
diff --git a/install/installer/pkg/config/v1/config.go b/install/installer/pkg/config/v1/config.go
index 5b1c1711b554f6..1a2976987acc9e 100644
--- a/install/installer/pkg/config/v1/config.go
+++ b/install/installer/pkg/config/v1/config.go
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ func (v version) Defaults(in interface{}) error {
 	cfg.Certificate.Name = "https-certificates"
 	cfg.Database.InCluster = pointer.Bool(true)
 	cfg.Metadata.Region = "local"
+	cfg.Metadata.InstallationShortname = "default" // TODO(gpl): we're tied to "default" here because that's what we put into static bridges in the past
 	cfg.ObjectStorage.InCluster = pointer.Bool(true)
 	cfg.ContainerRegistry.InCluster = pointer.Bool(true)
 	cfg.Workspace.Resources.Requests = corev1.ResourceList{
@@ -99,6 +100,8 @@ type Config struct {
 
 type Metadata struct {
 	Region string `json:"region" validate:"required"`
+	// InstallationShortname establishes the "identity" of the (application) cluster.
+	InstallationShortname string `json:"shortname" validate:"required"`
 }
 
 type Observability struct {