diff --git a/sim/cluster0/scripts/compose-lab-backend.sh b/sim/cluster0/scripts/compose-lab-backend.sh
index 9d8a160..80a32c1 100755
--- a/sim/cluster0/scripts/compose-lab-backend.sh
+++ b/sim/cluster0/scripts/compose-lab-backend.sh
@@ -104,11 +104,12 @@ overlay_api ac-ms-graphs
 overlay_api ac-ms-remote-access
 
 overlay_views ac-be-auth
-overlay_views ac-be-issues
 overlay_views ac-be-tickets
 overlay_views ac-be-graphs
 overlay_views ac-be-remote-access
 overlay_views ac-be-access
+# ac-be-issues last — its layout.php is the canonical nav shell (other BE repos ship stubs).
+overlay_views ac-be-issues
 
 ISSUES_BASE="${APP_BASE_PATH:-/app/androidcast_project/issues}"
 PUBLIC_ORIGIN_CFG="${LAB_PUBLIC_ORIGIN:-https://acl0.f0xx.org}"
diff --git a/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh b/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh
index 8c59990..b2cd30d 100755
--- a/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh
+++ b/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh
@@ -63,18 +63,33 @@ fi
 URL_ROOT="${URL_SHORTENER_ROOT:-/var/www/url-shortener}"
 if [ -d "${URL_ROOT}/.git" ]; then
   _url="$(git -C "$URL_ROOT" config --get remote.origin.url 2>/dev/null || true)"
-  case "$_url" in
-    git://f0xx.org/ac/*|git://f0xx.org/ac/ac-ms-url-shortener|git://10.7.0.10/ac/*|git://10.7.0.10/ac/ac-ms-url-shortener)
-      log "OK url-shortener origin $_url"
-      ;;
+  if [ -z "$_url" ]; then
+    log "OK url-shortener (origin unset — lab checkout)"
+  else
+    case "$_url" in
+      git://f0xx.org/ac/*|git://f0xx.org/ac/ac-ms-url-shortener|git://10.7.0.10/ac/*|git://10.7.0.10/ac/ac-ms-url-shortener)
+        log "OK url-shortener origin $_url"
+        ;;
+      *)
+        log "FAIL url-shortener wrong origin $_url (expect git://f0xx.org/ac/ac-ms-url-shortener)"
+        FAIL=1
+        ;;
+    esac
+  fi
+fi
+
+REPOS_AC="/mnt/repos/ac"
+if [ -d "${REPOS_AC}/.git" ]; then
+  _root="$(git -C "$REPOS_AC" config --get remote.origin.url 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  log "ac-root origin=${_root} sha=$(git -C "$REPOS_AC" rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo none)"
+  case "$_root" in
+    git://f0xx.org/ac|git://10.7.0.10/ac) ;;
     *)
-      log "FAIL url-shortener wrong origin $_url (expect git://f0xx.org/ac/ac-ms-url-shortener)"
+      log "FAIL ac-root wrong origin $_root"
       FAIL=1
       ;;
   esac
-fi
-
-if [ -d "${AC_ROOT}/.git" ]; then
+elif [ -d "${AC_ROOT}/.git" ]; then
   _ws="$(git -C "$AC_ROOT" config --get remote.origin.url 2>/dev/null || true)"
   log "ac-workspace origin=${_ws} sha=$(git -C "$AC_ROOT" rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo none)"
   case "$_ws" in
@@ -84,6 +99,8 @@ if [ -d "${AC_ROOT}/.git" ]; then
       FAIL=1
       ;;
   esac
+else
+  log "OK ac-workspace rsync tree at ${AC_ROOT} (deploy via /mnt/repos/ac)"
 fi
 
 if [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]; then