diff --git a/apps/web/src/lib/desktop-updater.ts b/apps/web/src/lib/desktop-updater.ts
index 67ebd2c..2860365 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/lib/desktop-updater.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/lib/desktop-updater.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,17 @@
 // and never tries to resolve the Tauri APIs. Offline-first: a failed check (no
 // network — the appliance is usually offline) is swallowed; updates only happen
 // when someone has brought the box online (e.g. a phone hotspot) on purpose.
+//
+// A release build's console.error is invisible with no way to attach devtools
+// in the field (kiosk mode blocks the context menu; this WebKitGTK build's
+// remote inspector doesn't answer standard discovery endpoints either — both
+// confirmed dead ends 2026-09-03). logClient() ships straight to the
+// server-side app_logs store regardless of the client's console-forward log
+// level (that gate is meant for noisy console chatter, not this), so a real
+// post-accept install failure is visible via wiki/concepts/app-logs.md /
+// LogsViewer.tsx without needing a terminal or devtools at all.
+
+import { logClient } from "./logger.js";
 
 /** True when running inside the Tauri webview (not a normal browser). */
 function inTauri(): boolean {
@@ -42,13 +53,24 @@ export async function checkForDesktopUpdate(
     // Download + install the signed update (signature verified against the
     // pubkey in tauri.conf.json), then relaunch into the new version.
     try {
-      await update.downloadAndInstall();
+      await update.downloadAndInstall((progress) => {
+        logClient({
+          level: "info",
+          message: `desktop update download progress: ${progress.event}`,
+          context: { kind: "desktop_update_progress", version: update.version, event: progress.event },
+        });
+      });
     } catch (err) {
       // A real update WAS found and accepted — this is a genuine install
       // failure (bad signature, corrupted download, disk/permission issue),
       // not "offline". Surface it instead of silently reverting to the old
       // version with no explanation.
-      console.error("desktop update download/install failed:", err);
+      logClient({
+        level: "error",
+        message: `desktop update download/install failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+        stack: err instanceof Error ? err.stack : undefined,
+        context: { kind: "desktop_update_install_failed", version: update.version },
+      });
       throw err;
     }
     const { relaunch } = await import("@tauri-apps/plugin-process");
@@ -56,7 +78,13 @@ export async function checkForDesktopUpdate(
   } catch (err) {
     // Offline / endpoint unreachable / no update server yet → ignore. The app
     // keeps running on the current version; checking again next launch. Still
-    // log it so a real install failure (rethrown above) isn't invisible.
-    console.warn("desktop update check/apply skipped:", err);
+    // log it (info, not error — this path is expected/normal far more often
+    // than it's a real problem) so a real install failure (rethrown above,
+    // logged as error) isn't lost among routine offline checks.
+    logClient({
+      level: "info",
+      message: `desktop update check/apply skipped: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+      context: { kind: "desktop_update_skipped" },
+    });
   }
 }
diff --git a/wiki/decisions/desktop-shell-tauri.md b/wiki/decisions/desktop-shell-tauri.md
index 1560e3f..b4bb638 100644
--- a/wiki/decisions/desktop-shell-tauri.md
+++ b/wiki/decisions/desktop-shell-tauri.md
@@ -176,7 +176,8 @@ Per the user's choices — the operator **keeps OS access** (no fullscreen lockd
     `.env.example` documenting `tauri://localhost,http://tauri.localhost` as required) — even a
     correct Origin header is useless if the server's allowlist doesn't include it. Both fixed
     together; a `resources.toml` change still needs a Komodo sync + Stack redeploy to take effect on
-    a live booth, it isn't automatic from a git push alone.
+    a live booth, it isn't automatic from a git push alone — and see [[fleet-deployment-komodo]] for
+    a real ResourceSync-branch gotcha this exact fix ran into.
 - **`VITE_API_BASE` — desktop vs. browser (regression found + fixed 2026-09-03):**
   `apps/web/.env.production` (committed, shared by both builds) sets `VITE_API_BASE=` (empty) — this
   is correct for the **browser/booth** build (Fastify same-origin, stays relative) since commit
diff --git a/wiki/decisions/fleet-deployment-komodo.md b/wiki/decisions/fleet-deployment-komodo.md
index 86dc054..8192eb5 100644
--- a/wiki/decisions/fleet-deployment-komodo.md
+++ b/wiki/decisions/fleet-deployment-komodo.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 type: decision
 tags: [parking, deployment, fleet, komodo, netbird, offline-first, threat-model]
 sources: []
-updated: 2026-07-07
+updated: 2026-09-03
 status: settled
 ---
 
@@ -192,3 +192,32 @@ FILE is read from, each stack's `branch` picks its compose files, `TAG` picks th
 secrets even in the lab (blast radius). The lab box earned its keep immediately: it caught the
 USB close-cancel truncation, the printer/controller wizard gate, and the Periphery v2.2.0
 root_directory default before any of them reached a real booth ([[appliance-provisioning]] §7a).
+
+## ResourceSync branch drift — the exact gotcha this page already warned about (2026-09-03)
+
+This page's own §"park-lab" note (2026-07-07) already spelled it out: *"the ResourceSync's own
+branch only governs where the FILE is read from"* — independent of any `[[stack]]`'s own `branch`
+field. It bit anyway. `resource-sync-park-systems` in Komodo Core was pointed at **`dev`**, while
+`park-buzi` and `park-2` are `stage`-tier Stacks (`branch = "stage"`, pinned `TAG=stage-<sha>`, per
+the promotion-tiers model above). `resources.toml` had been byte-identical on `dev` and `stage`
+since park-buzi's Stack was first written, so this had **zero observable effect for months** — until
+a desktop-app debugging session (see [[desktop-shell-tauri]]) landed 9 real commits on `dev`
+(including a `WS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS` fix) that were never merged to `stage`, creating the first genuine
+divergence between the two branches.
+
+**Symptom:** merged `dev` → `stage`, pushed, bumped `TAG` in `resources.toml` on `stage`, committed,
+pushed — then destroyed + recreated the `park-2` Stack in Komodo Core and it STILL came back running
+the old image. Every sync was silently re-reading `resources.toml` from `dev` (which still had the
+stale `TAG`), overwriting the correct value just committed on `stage`. No error, no warning — the
+sync just quietly did what it was configured to do, from the wrong branch.
+
+**Fix:** pointed `resource-sync-park-systems` at `stage` in Komodo Core's UI (Sync config → branch
+field), then re-synced + redeployed `park-2` — confirmed via `/api/version` (previously 404,
+proving a stale image; correctly 401-auth-gated after the fix, proving the new image + route exist).
+
+**Standing lesson, now written twice:** a `[[stack]]`'s promotion tier (which branch its own
+`branch`/`TAG` fields track) and the ResourceSync resource's own git branch are **two independently
+configured settings in Komodo Core — nothing enforces they agree**, and a mismatch is invisible
+until the two branches' `resources.toml` actually diverge. **Check this FIRST** whenever a
+redeploy doesn't pick up an expected `resources.toml` change, before assuming the change itself,
+the CI build, or the deploy step is broken.
diff --git a/wiki/log.md b/wiki/log.md
index 42dc98f..d4ec173 100644
--- a/wiki/log.md
+++ b/wiki/log.md
@@ -2793,3 +2793,18 @@ get the real allowlist. Needs a Komodo sync + redeploy to reach a live booth, no
 Also confirmed the "update downloads then nothing happens" report was an older pre-fix build (v0.1.2)
 self-updating — expected, not a new bug; v0.1.3 carries the error-logging fix from the mixed-content
 commit and should surface a real error going forward. Full detail on [[desktop-shell-tauri]].
+
+## [2026-09-03] fix | Update failures were invisible: console-forward gate blocked the error logging
+
+The desktop-updater.ts error logging added earlier this session used console.error/console.warn,
+but logger.ts only forwards console output to the server when the client log level is debug/trace
+(default: info) — so the "fix" never actually surfaced anything, and a real v0.1.3→v0.1.4 update
+failure showed zero logs anywhere, sending debugging in circles (a WebKit remote-inspector attempt
+via WEBKIT_INSPECTOR_SERVER also dead-ended — this build doesn't answer standard discovery
+endpoints). Fixed by calling logClient() directly in desktop-updater.ts, unconditionally, bypassing
+the console-forward gate entirely — a genuine post-accept install failure now always reaches
+app_logs regardless of client log level. Also added download-progress logging. Separately: found
+and fixed a real, pre-existing Komodo ResourceSync misconfig (resource-sync-park-systems pointed at
+`dev`, not `stage`, silently reading resources.toml from the wrong branch for months with zero
+effect until dev/stage first diverged today) — full writeup on [[fleet-deployment-komodo]], which
+had already warned about exactly this gotcha back in 2026-07-07 and it happened anyway.