diff --git a/backend/tests/test_kamal_deploy_config.py b/backend/tests/test_kamal_deploy_config.py
index ba99aed..1fc21bf 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_kamal_deploy_config.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_kamal_deploy_config.py
@@ -49,3 +49,12 @@ def test_kamal_cron_role_and_crontab_are_wired():
     assert "cron" in dockerfile
     assert "COPY config/crontab ./config/crontab" in dockerfile
     assert "start_cron.sh" in dockerfile
+
+
+def test_kamal_accessory_directories_preserve_live_production_binds():
+    base_config = _load_deploy_config("config/deploy.yml")
+    accessories = base_config["accessories"]
+
+    assert accessories["elasticsearch"]["directories"] == ["esdata:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data"]
+    assert accessories["postgres"]["directories"] == ["pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data"]
+    assert accessories["redis"]["directories"] == ["redisdata:/data"]
diff --git a/config/deploy.yml b/config/deploy.yml
index e3fcd02..f741a48 100644
--- a/config/deploy.yml
+++ b/config/deploy.yml
@@ -98,7 +98,9 @@ accessories:
     # only listen on localhost
     port: "127.0.0.1:9200:9200"
     directories:
-      - /var/lib/opengeometadata-api/elasticsearch:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data
+      # Keep this relative source name: Kamal resolves it to the existing
+      # /home/ewlarson/ogm-api-elasticsearch/esdata production bind.
+      - esdata:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data
 
   postgres:
     image: postgres:15
@@ -115,11 +117,15 @@ accessories:
     files:
       - config/init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/setup.sql
     directories:
-      - /var/lib/opengeometadata-api/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+      # Keep this relative source name: Kamal resolves it to the existing
+      # /home/ewlarson/ogm-api-postgres/pgdata production bind.
+      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
 
   redis:
     image: redis:7.2
     roles: [web]
     cmd: sh -lc 'redis-server --appendonly yes --protected-mode yes --bind 0.0.0.0'
     directories:
-      - /var/lib/opengeometadata-api/redis:/data
+      # Keep this relative source name: Kamal resolves it to the existing
+      # /home/ewlarson/ogm-api-redis/redisdata production bind.
+      - redisdata:/data
diff --git a/docs/deployment.md b/docs/deployment.md
index 74fe790..9cee544 100644
--- a/docs/deployment.md
+++ b/docs/deployment.md
@@ -222,7 +222,8 @@ elasticsearch:
 - Single-node configuration
 - 2GB heap size
 - Security disabled (bound to localhost only)
-- Data persisted at `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/elasticsearch` on the host
+- Kamal directory source `esdata`, currently resolved to
+  `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-elasticsearch/esdata` on the production host
 
 ### PostgreSQL
 
@@ -237,7 +238,8 @@ postgres:
 - Existing PostgreSQL 15 accessory used by the current production deployment
 - Initialized via `config/init.sql`
 - FAST vector embeddings are disabled in Kamal by default because the current production database image does not expose the `vector` extension
-- Data persisted at `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/postgres` on the host
+- Kamal directory source `pgdata`, currently resolved to
+  `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-postgres/pgdata` on the production host
 
 ### Redis
 
@@ -251,7 +253,8 @@ redis:
 - Append-only file (AOF) persistence enabled
 - Current production accessory runs without Redis AUTH; the app should omit
   `REDIS_PASSWORD` unless/until the accessory is explicitly recreated with auth
-- Data persisted at `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/redis` on the host
+- Kamal directory source `redisdata`, currently resolved to
+  `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-redis/redisdata` on the production host
 
 ## Deployment Commands
 
@@ -495,8 +498,9 @@ PostgreSQL is running; copying its live data directory is not:
 ssh ewlarson@ogm.geo4lib.app
 
 # Create a restricted backup directory and a custom-format dump
-ogm_backup_dir=/var/backups/opengeometadata-api
-sudo install -d -m 700 -o "$(id -un)" -g "$(id -gn)" "$ogm_backup_dir"
+umask 077
+ogm_backup_dir="$HOME/ogm-api-backups"
+install -d -m 700 "$ogm_backup_dir"
 docker exec ogm-api-postgres \
   pg_dump --format=custom -U ogm_api_user btaa_ogm_api \
   > "$ogm_backup_dir/postgres-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ).dump"
@@ -514,7 +518,7 @@ record its identifier before a deployment or migration window.
 
 ```bash
 # Copy a verified custom-format backup to the server
-scp postgres-YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ.dump ewlarson@ogm.geo4lib.app:/var/backups/opengeometadata-api/
+scp postgres-YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ.dump ewlarson@ogm.geo4lib.app:ogm-api-backups/
 
 # SSH to server
 ssh ewlarson@ogm.geo4lib.app
@@ -522,7 +526,7 @@ ssh ewlarson@ogm.geo4lib.app
 # Restore only during an approved recovery window
 docker exec -i ogm-api-postgres \
   pg_restore --clean --if-exists -U ogm_api_user -d btaa_ogm_api \
-  < /var/backups/opengeometadata-api/postgres-YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ.dump
+  < "$HOME/ogm-api-backups/postgres-YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ.dump"
 ```
 
 ## Elasticsearch Operations
@@ -678,15 +682,20 @@ For automated deployments via GitHub Actions or similar:
 
 ## Host Directories & Data Persistence
 
-Kamal bind-mounts three persistent host directories. These paths are stable
-production identity and must not change during a repository or image transfer:
+Kamal bind-mounts three persistent host directories. The relative directory
+sources in `config/deploy.yml` are stable production identity and must not
+change during a repository or image transfer:
 
-- `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/elasticsearch`: Elasticsearch index data
-- `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/postgres`: PostgreSQL database files
-- `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/redis`: Redis append-only cache data
+- `esdata` -> `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-elasticsearch/esdata`: Elasticsearch index data
+- `pgdata` -> `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-postgres/pgdata`: PostgreSQL database files
+- `redisdata` -> `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-redis/redisdata`: Redis append-only cache data
 
 These directories persist across deployments and container restarts. They are
-not Docker named volumes; `docker volume` commands do not back them up.
+not Docker named volumes; `docker volume` commands do not back them up. Kamal
+derives the resolved host paths from the deployment user, service, accessory,
+and relative source name. Do not replace the relative sources with new absolute
+paths unless the data is deliberately migrated in a separate maintenance
+window.
 
 ### Backing Up Volumes
 
@@ -695,7 +704,7 @@ not Docker named volumes; `docker volume` commands do not back them up.
 ssh ewlarson@ogm.geo4lib.app
 
 # Confirm the configured directories and mounts
-sudo find /var/lib/opengeometadata-api -maxdepth 1 -type d -print
+find "$HOME" -maxdepth 2 -type d -name 'ogm-api-*' -print
 docker inspect ogm-api-postgres --format '{{json .Mounts}}'
 ```
 
diff --git a/docs/repository_transfer.md b/docs/repository_transfer.md
index 769c230..feaf0ec 100644
--- a/docs/repository_transfer.md
+++ b/docs/repository_transfer.md
@@ -60,13 +60,19 @@ The following values are intentionally frozen through the repository transfer:
 | Registry and login owner | `ghcr.io`, `ewlarson` |
 | Elasticsearch index | `opengeometadata_api` |
 | PostgreSQL database | `btaa_ogm_api` |
-| Elasticsearch volume | `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/elasticsearch` |
-| PostgreSQL volume | `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/postgres` |
-| Redis volume | `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/redis` |
+| Elasticsearch directory source | `esdata` (resolves to `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-elasticsearch/esdata`) |
+| PostgreSQL directory source | `pgdata` (resolves to `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-postgres/pgdata`) |
+| Redis directory source | `redisdata` (resolves to `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-redis/redisdata`) |
 
 The legacy PostgreSQL database name is persistent identity, not public project
 branding. Rename it only in a separate, backed-up database migration.
 
+The relative Kamal directory source names are also persistent identity. Kamal
+expands them under the deployment user's home directory using the service and
+accessory names. Replacing them with a different absolute host path would make
+an accessory reboot mount a different data directory, even though an ordinary
+repository transfer does not restart the existing containers.
+
 Run the local invariant checks before and after every preparation commit:
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/docs/repository_transfer_rehearsal.md b/docs/repository_transfer_rehearsal.md
index abbc2c6..893f11f 100644
--- a/docs/repository_transfer_rehearsal.md
+++ b/docs/repository_transfer_rehearsal.md
@@ -88,3 +88,22 @@ Before the actual transfer:
 6. rewrite a fresh mirror of the frozen GitHub repository and require
    `make transfer-readiness-full` to pass in a checkout of the result; and
 7. follow the transfer and rollback sequence in `repository_transfer.md`.
+
+## Change-window preflight correction
+
+The 2026-08-20 live preflight found that the running accessories use the
+original Kamal-resolved bind paths under `/home/ewlarson/ogm-api-*`, while the
+prepared configuration incorrectly named new `/var/lib/opengeometadata-api/*`
+sources. No running container had adopted the new paths. The transfer was
+paused before branch deletion or history rewriting, and the configuration was
+corrected to preserve the original relative directory sources `esdata`,
+`pgdata`, and `redisdata`.
+
+The same preflight confirmed that OpenGeoMetadata permits Actions for all
+repositories, standard hosted runners are enabled, no repository in the
+organization occupies the BTAA fork network, and the personal GHCR package is
+private, remains personal-account scoped, and is not linked to this repository.
+A current logical PostgreSQL dump completed successfully, its permissions were
+restricted to the deployment user, and `pg_restore --list` validated its
+catalog. The private change record holds the backup identifier, byte size,
+checksum, running image digest, and exact live mount inspection output.
diff --git a/scripts/verify_transfer_readiness.sh b/scripts/verify_transfer_readiness.sh
index 6a8d851..dbc1bb1 100755
--- a/scripts/verify_transfer_readiness.sh
+++ b/scripts/verify_transfer_readiness.sh
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml "image: $expected_image" 'production image i
 expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '  host: ogm.geo4lib.app' 'production proxy hostname is unchanged'
 expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '    ELASTICSEARCH_INDEX:   opengeometadata_api' 'Elasticsearch index is unchanged'
 expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '        POSTGRES_DB:   btaa_ogm_api' 'PostgreSQL database is unchanged'
-expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '      - /var/lib/opengeometadata-api/elasticsearch:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data' 'Elasticsearch volume is unchanged'
-expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '      - /var/lib/opengeometadata-api/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data' 'PostgreSQL volume is unchanged'
-expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '      - /var/lib/opengeometadata-api/redis:/data' 'Redis volume is unchanged'
+expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '      - esdata:/usr/share/elasticsearch/data' 'Elasticsearch volume is unchanged'
+expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data' 'PostgreSQL volume is unchanged'
+expect_exact_line config/deploy.yml '      - redisdata:/data' 'Redis volume is unchanged'
 
 for role in web worker cron; do
     if grep -Eq "^  ${role}:$" config/deploy.yml; then