diff --git a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/DefaultOrchestrationConfig.java b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/DefaultOrchestrationConfig.java
index cfb59635..2f12ae8f 100644
--- a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/DefaultOrchestrationConfig.java
+++ b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/DefaultOrchestrationConfig.java
@@ -26,95 +26,46 @@ public class DefaultOrchestrationConfig<T extends OrchestrationConfig<T>>
   @Nonnull private Option<FilterConfig> inputContentFilter = Option.none();
   @Nonnull private Option<FilterConfig> outputContentFilter = Option.none();
 
-  @Nonnull private final T wrapper;
-
-  /**
-   * Create a new instance of {@link DefaultOrchestrationConfig} to delegate to. This is useful when
-   * exposing the {@link OrchestrationConfig} in other objects, without re-implementing it. To
-   * maintain fluent API usage, the given wrapper object will be returned by the fluent methods,
-   * instead of this instance.
-   *
-   * @param wrapper The wrapper that delegates to this object.
-   * @param <T> The type of the wrapper object.
-   * @return The new instance.
-   * @see #standalone()
-   */
-  public static <T extends OrchestrationConfig<T>> DefaultOrchestrationConfig<T> asDelegateFor(
-      @Nonnull final T wrapper) {
-    return new DefaultOrchestrationConfig<>(wrapper);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Create an implementation without any object delegating to it. The fluent API will return this
-   * object itself.
-   *
-   * @return The new instance.
-   * @see #asDelegateFor(OrchestrationConfig)
-   */
-  static DefaultOrchestrationConfig<?> standalone() {
-    return new DefaultOrchestrationConfig<>();
-  }
-
+  @Nonnull
+  @Override
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-  private DefaultOrchestrationConfig() {
-    this.wrapper = (T) this;
-  }
-
-  private DefaultOrchestrationConfig(@Nonnull final T wrapper) {
-    this.wrapper = wrapper;
+  public T instance() {
+    return (T) this;
   }
 
   @Nonnull
   @Override
   public T withLlmConfig(@Nonnull final LLMModuleConfig llm) {
     this.llmConfig = Option.some(llm);
-    return wrapper;
+    return instance();
   }
 
   @Nonnull
   @Override
   public T withTemplate(@Nonnull final TemplatingModuleConfig template) {
     this.template = Option.some(template);
-    return wrapper;
+    return instance();
   }
 
   @Nonnull
   @Override
   public T withMaskingConfig(@Nonnull final DpiMaskingConfig maskingConfig) {
     this.maskingConfig = Option.some(maskingConfig);
-    return wrapper;
+    return instance();
   }
 
   @Nonnull
   @Override
   public T withInputContentFilter(@Nonnull final FilterConfig filter) {
     this.inputContentFilter = Option.some(filter);
-    return wrapper;
+    return instance();
   }
 
   @Nonnull
   @Override
   public T withOutputContentFilter(@Nonnull final FilterConfig filter) {
     this.outputContentFilter = Option.some(filter);
-    return wrapper;
-  }
-
-  @Nonnull
-  static OrchestrationConfig<?> fromConfigAndDefaults(
-      @Nonnull final OrchestrationConfig<?> config,
-      @Nonnull final OrchestrationConfig<?> defaults) {
-
-    var copy = DefaultOrchestrationConfig.standalone();
-
-    copy.llmConfig = config.getLlmConfig().orElse(defaults::getLlmConfig);
-    copy.template = config.getTemplate().orElse(defaults::getTemplate);
-    copy.maskingConfig = config.getMaskingConfig().orElse(defaults::getMaskingConfig);
-    copy.inputContentFilter =
-        config.getInputContentFilter().orElse(defaults::getInputContentFilter);
-    copy.outputContentFilter =
-        config.getOutputContentFilter().orElse(defaults::getOutputContentFilter);
-
-    return copy;
+    return instance();
   }
 
   @Nonnull
diff --git a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationClient.java b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationClient.java
index a8d42813..c09a1b45 100644
--- a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationClient.java
+++ b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationClient.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public class OrchestrationClient implements OrchestrationConfig<OrchestrationCli
 
   @Delegate @Nonnull
   private final DefaultOrchestrationConfig<OrchestrationClient> clientConfig =
-      DefaultOrchestrationConfig.asDelegateFor(this);
+      new DefaultOrchestrationConfig<>();
 
   @Nonnull private final HttpDestination destination;
 
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ public OrchestrationClient() {
     this.destination = Core.getDestinationForDeployment("db1d64d9f06be467", "default").asHttp();
   }
 
+  @Nonnull
+  @Override
+  public OrchestrationClient instance() {
+    return this;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Generate a completion for the given user prompt.
    *
diff --git a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationConfig.java b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationConfig.java
index cfc30036..8d4cbec3 100644
--- a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationConfig.java
+++ b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationConfig.java
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
  * @param <T> Type of the specific implementation to make a fluent API possible.
  */
 public interface OrchestrationConfig<T extends OrchestrationConfig<T>> {
+  @Nonnull
+  T instance();
+
   @Nonnull
   Option<LLMModuleConfig> getLlmConfig();
 
@@ -42,4 +45,30 @@ public interface OrchestrationConfig<T extends OrchestrationConfig<T>> {
 
   @Nonnull
   T withOutputContentFilter(@Nonnull final FilterConfig filter);
+
+  /**
+   * Copy the configuration into the given target configuration. The copy is
+   * <strong>shallow</strong> and does <strong>not override</strong> any existing configuration.
+   *
+   * <p>This has two main use cases:
+   *
+   * <ol>
+   *   <li>Duplicating a config
+   *   <li>Applying defaults to a config
+   * </ol>
+   *
+   * @param source The source configuration to copy from.
+   */
+  default T copyFrom(@Nonnull final OrchestrationConfig<?> source) {
+    getLlmConfig().orElse(source::getLlmConfig).forEach(this::withLlmConfig);
+    getTemplate().orElse(source::getTemplate).forEach(this::withTemplate);
+    getMaskingConfig().orElse(source::getMaskingConfig).forEach(this::withMaskingConfig);
+    getInputContentFilter()
+        .orElse(source::getInputContentFilter)
+        .forEach(this::withInputContentFilter);
+    getOutputContentFilter()
+        .orElse(source::getOutputContentFilter)
+        .forEach(this::withOutputContentFilter);
+    return instance();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationPrompt.java b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationPrompt.java
index 60fa6988..37b01b12 100644
--- a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationPrompt.java
+++ b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/OrchestrationPrompt.java
@@ -20,8 +20,13 @@ public class OrchestrationPrompt implements OrchestrationConfig<OrchestrationPro
   @Getter(AccessLevel.NONE)
   @Delegate
   @Nonnull
-  DefaultOrchestrationConfig<OrchestrationPrompt> delegate =
-      DefaultOrchestrationConfig.asDelegateFor(this);
+  DefaultOrchestrationConfig<OrchestrationPrompt> delegate = new DefaultOrchestrationConfig<>();
+
+  @Nonnull
+  @Override
+  public OrchestrationPrompt instance() {
+    return this;
+  }
 
   public OrchestrationPrompt(@Nonnull final String message) {
     this(List.of(ChatMessage.create().role("user").content(message)), Map.of());
@@ -37,7 +42,8 @@ public OrchestrationPrompt(@Nonnull final Map<String, String> inputParams) {
 
   @Nonnull
   ModuleConfigs toModuleConfigDTO(@Nonnull final OrchestrationConfig<?> defaults) {
-    var config = DefaultOrchestrationConfig.fromConfigAndDefaults(delegate, defaults);
+    // duplicate the prompt config so it isn't modified, to make sure this prompt can be reused
+    var config = new DefaultOrchestrationConfig<>().copyFrom(this).copyFrom(defaults);
     return DefaultOrchestrationConfig.toModuleConfigDTO(config, messages);
   }
 }
diff --git a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/spring/OrchestrationChatOptions.java b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/spring/OrchestrationChatOptions.java
index 53e5103c..981513b4 100644
--- a/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/spring/OrchestrationChatOptions.java
+++ b/orchestration/src/main/java/com/sap/ai/sdk/orchestration/spring/OrchestrationChatOptions.java
@@ -20,12 +20,18 @@
 /** Configuration to be used for orchestration requests. */
 @Data
 @Getter(AccessLevel.PACKAGE)
-@Setter(AccessLevel.NONE)
+@Setter(AccessLevel.PRIVATE)
 public class OrchestrationChatOptions
     implements ChatOptions, OrchestrationConfig<OrchestrationChatOptions> {
   @Delegate @Nonnull
   private final DefaultOrchestrationConfig<OrchestrationChatOptions> delegate =
-      DefaultOrchestrationConfig.asDelegateFor(this);
+      new DefaultOrchestrationConfig<>();
+
+  @Nonnull
+  @Override
+  public OrchestrationChatOptions instance() {
+    return this;
+  }
 
   @Getter(AccessLevel.PUBLIC)
   @Nonnull
@@ -44,6 +50,7 @@ public OrchestrationChatOptions withTemplate(@Nonnull final List<Message> templa
     return this;
   }
 
+  @Nonnull
   static List<ChatMessage> toChatMessages(@Nonnull final List<Message> messages) {
     return messages.stream()
         .map(m -> ChatMessage.create().role(m.getMessageType().getValue()).content(m.getContent()))
@@ -106,6 +113,8 @@ public Double getTopP() {
 
   @Override
   public OrchestrationChatOptions copy() {
+    var copy = new OrchestrationChatOptions();
+
     // TODO: implement, needed for chat memory apparently
     throw new RuntimeException("Not implemented");
   }