.dockerignore

@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 .git
+# Load-bearing: deps live at /node_modules, so a builder's stray copy would bake in at
+# /app/node_modules and shadow them for every consumer of the image, production included.
 node_modules
 npm-debug.log
 *.log

AGENTS.md

@@ -329,7 +329,12 @@ them. Revisit only if the stated reason stops holding.
   as `<repo>/node_modules` no longer resolves, so `src/ui/icons.test.ts` locates lucide-static by
   specifier via `import.meta.resolve`; and `npm install` must not run in `/app` or it recreates the
   problem — README → Extending the core documents `--package-lock-only` plus `--user` instead, which
-  is also why the image sets `npm_config_cache` (the host uid has no home dir here). Decided 2026-08-05.
+  is also why the image sets `npm_config_cache` (the host uid has no home dir here). Nothing masks
+  that path any more, so anything at `/app/node_modules` now **shadows `/node_modules` silently** —
+  wrong dependency code, no warning, and CI stays green because a fresh clone has none. An empty
+  leftover dir is harmless (resolution falls through); a populated one from the superseded root
+  `npm install` needs `sudo` to remove, which is worse than the bug this replaced. `.dockerignore`'s
+  `node_modules` line is what keeps a builder's stray copy out of the image. Decided 2026-08-05.
 
 ## Docker only — no host tooling
 

README.md

@@ -1768,6 +1768,13 @@ so for now the error names the rule it tripped instead.
   `users:`/`groups:`/`oauth2-clients:` × `read`/`write`, so a copy taken before this needs re-copying.
   `ADMIN_PERMISSIONS` is held to the same rule, but an unusable value there is dropped with a warning
   rather than failing the boot. See [Naming a permission](#naming-a-permission).
+- **Deps moved to `/node_modules`, above `/app`** (2026-08-05). The dev override no longer mounts an
+  anonymous volume at `/app/node_modules`, so after pulling, delete the empty directory the daemon
+  left behind: `rmdir node_modules` — no `sudo`, it is empty. `docker volume prune` reclaims the
+  orphaned volumes. Keep that path clear: anything there shadows the image's deps silently, and a
+  populated one is root-owned and needs `sudo` to remove. Add a dependency with the
+  `--package-lock-only` command in [Extending the core](#extending-the-core), never a bare
+  `npm install` in `/app`.
 
 ## Observability
 

src/compose.test.ts

@@ -94,14 +94,19 @@ test("deps live above WORKDIR, so no mount creates a root-owned dir in the check
   // a volume at /app/node_modules leaves a root-owned node_modules/ in the developer's own checkout
   // (dev bind-mounts `.:/app`). Installing above /app lets Node resolve upward instead — nothing to
   // shadow, so nothing to mount over.
-  const beforeWorkdir = read("Dockerfile").split("WORKDIR /app")[0]!;
+  const dockerfile = read("Dockerfile");
+  // Asserted, not assumed: split() returns the whole file when the marker is missing, which would
+  // silently widen "before WORKDIR" to "anywhere".
+  assert.ok(dockerfile.includes("WORKDIR /app"), "the app dir is /app");
+  const beforeWorkdir = dockerfile.split("WORKDIR /app")[0]!;
   assert.match(beforeWorkdir, /npm ci/, "npm ci runs before WORKDIR /app");
   assert.match(beforeWorkdir, /mv\s+node_modules\s+\/node_modules/, "and its tree lands at /node_modules");
 
-  const composeFiles = readdirSync(new URL("../e2e-tests", import.meta.url))
-    .filter((f) => f.startsWith("compose."))
-    .map((f) => `e2e-tests/${f}`);
-  for (const f of ["compose.yml", "compose.override.yml", ...composeFiles])
+  const composeFiles = (dir: string) =>
+    readdirSync(new URL(`../${dir}`, import.meta.url))
+      .filter((f) => f.startsWith("compose.") && f.endsWith(".yml"))
+      .map((f) => `${dir}${f}`);
+  for (const f of [...composeFiles(""), ...composeFiles("e2e-tests/")])
     assert.ok(!read(f).includes("/app/node_modules"), `${f} mounts nothing at /app/node_modules`);
 });