diff --git a/sim/cluster0/scripts/deploy-ac-workspace.sh b/sim/cluster0/scripts/deploy-ac-workspace.sh
index 5395165..ba7af19 100755
--- a/sim/cluster0/scripts/deploy-ac-workspace.sh
+++ b/sim/cluster0/scripts/deploy-ac-workspace.sh
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ fi
 cd "$AC_ROOT"
 log "submodule sync + init core: ${SUBS_CORE}"
 git submodule sync --recursive 2>/dev/null || true
+for _sub in $SUBS_CORE; do
+  if [ -d "${AC_ROOT}/${_sub}" ]; then
+    git -C "${AC_ROOT}/${_sub}" checkout -f HEAD 2>/dev/null || true
+    git -C "${AC_ROOT}/${_sub}" clean -fd 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+done
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
 git submodule update --init --depth 1 $SUBS_CORE
 log "submodule init compose: ${SUBS_COMPOSE}"
diff --git a/sim/cluster0/scripts/sync-cluster-scripts.sh b/sim/cluster0/scripts/sync-cluster-scripts.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45e49d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sim/cluster0/scripts/sync-cluster-scripts.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Sync NFS /shared/cluster from local ac-deploy checkout (run on any cast node as root).
+set -eu
+SRC="${1:-/mnt/repos/ac/ac-deploy/sim/cluster0}"
+DST="${2:-/shared/cluster}"
+[ -d "$SRC/scripts" ] || { echo "missing $SRC"; exit 1; }
+cp -a "$SRC/scripts/." "$DST/scripts/"
+cp -a "$SRC/nginx/." "$DST/nginx/"
+install -m644 "$SRC/cluster.env" "$DST/cluster.env"
+install -m755 "$SRC/populate_lab_setup.sh" "$DST/"
+install -m755 "$SRC/verify_lab_setup.sh" "$DST/" 2>/dev/null || true
+echo "sync-cluster-scripts_ok $SRC -> $DST"
diff --git a/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh b/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh
index b9bb71c..8c59990 100755
--- a/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh
+++ b/sim/cluster0/scripts/validate-ac-repos.sh
@@ -50,8 +50,12 @@ if [ -d "${LEGACY}/.git" ]; then
   log "FAIL legacy monolith present at $LEGACY ($_url) — run purge-legacy-monolith.sh"
   FAIL=1
 elif [ -e "$LEGACY" ]; then
-  log "FAIL legacy path still exists at $LEGACY (not a git checkout)"
-  FAIL=1
+  if [ -d "${LEGACY}/examples/platform" ] && [ ! -d "${LEGACY}/.git" ]; then
+    log "OK hub platform stub at ${LEGACY}/examples/platform (not monolith)"
+  else
+    log "FAIL legacy path still exists at $LEGACY (not a git checkout)"
+    FAIL=1
+  fi
 else
   log "OK no legacy monolith at $LEGACY"
 fi