diff --git a/spark_executor/models.py b/spark_executor/models.py
index 704f9de..ce27faf 100644
--- a/spark_executor/models.py
+++ b/spark_executor/models.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 """
 from datetime import datetime
 
-from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, field_validator
 
 
 class Job(BaseModel):
@@ -32,11 +32,27 @@ class SubmitResult(BaseModel):
 
 class Connection(BaseModel):
     name: str
-    master: str
+    # Defaults to "yarn" because that's the literal string spark-submit wants
+    # for --master when targeting YARN. Override for Standalone (spark://...),
+    # Kubernetes (k8s://...), or local mode.
+    master: str = "yarn"
     deploy_mode: str = "cluster"
     yarn_rm_url: str | None = None
     spark_conf: dict[str, str] = Field(default_factory=dict)
 
+    @field_validator("master")
+    @classmethod
+    def _check_master(cls, v: str) -> str:
+        """Catch common typos like 'yarn-cluster' or 'http://...'. """
+        if v == "yarn":
+            return v
+        if v.startswith(("spark://", "k8s://", "mesos://", "local")):
+            return v
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"master must be 'yarn', 'spark://...', 'k8s://...', 'mesos://...', "
+            f"or 'local[/N]'; got {v!r}"
+        )
+
 
 class PendingSubmission(BaseModel):
     pending_id: str
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_models.py b/tests/unit/test_models.py
index d16dfb9..21ea59c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_models.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_models.py
@@ -44,11 +44,18 @@ def test_submit_result_tracking_url_optional():
 
 def test_connection_defaults():
     c = Connection(name="prod", master="yarn")
+    assert c.master == "yarn"
     assert c.deploy_mode == "cluster"
     assert c.yarn_rm_url is None
     assert c.spark_conf == {}
 
 
+def test_connection_master_defaults_to_yarn():
+    """YARN users should not have to write master='yarn' explicitly."""
+    c = Connection(name="prod")
+    assert c.master == "yarn"
+
+
 def test_connection_with_spark_conf():
     c = Connection(
         name="dev",
@@ -59,6 +66,24 @@ def test_connection_with_spark_conf():
     assert c.spark_conf["spark.sql.shuffle.partitions"] == "200"
 
 
+def test_connection_accepts_other_masters():
+    """Standalone, k8s, and local should pass validation."""
+    Connection(name="standalone", master="spark://host:7077")
+    Connection(name="k8s", master="k8s://https://api.example.com:443")
+    Connection(name="local", master="local[4]")
+
+
+def test_connection_rejects_bad_master():
+    """Common typos like 'yarn-cluster' or 'http://...' should fail loudly."""
+    import pytest
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be 'yarn'"):
+        Connection(name="bad", master="yarn-cluster")
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be"):
+        Connection(name="bad", master="http://rm:8088")
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be"):
+        Connection(name="bad", master="")
+
+
 def test_pending_submission_defaults_to_pending_status():
     p = PendingSubmission(
         pending_id="p_1",