diff --git a/build/piefed/piefed-base/Dockerfile b/build/piefed/piefed-base/Dockerfile
index d6a1d61..ba314c8 100644
--- a/build/piefed/piefed-base/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/piefed/piefed-base/Dockerfile
@@ -60,11 +60,14 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache \
         bash
 
 # Create piefed user and set up directories in a single layer
+# Note: /app/app/static/media is volume-mounted in K8s, fsGroup handles permissions there
+# Other directories need explicit ownership for logging and temp files
 RUN addgroup -g 1000 piefed \
     && adduser -u 1000 -G piefed -s /bin/sh -D piefed \
     && mkdir -p /app/logs /app/app/static/tmp /app/app/static/media \
         /var/log/piefed /var/run/piefed \
-    && chown -R piefed:piefed /var/log/piefed /var/run/piefed
+    && chown -R piefed:piefed /app/logs /app/app/static/tmp \
+        /var/log/piefed /var/run/piefed
 
 # Set working directory
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -75,7 +78,7 @@ COPY --from=builder --chown=piefed:piefed /app /app
 # Compile translations and set permissions in a single layer
 RUN source /app/venv/bin/activate \
     && (pybabel compile -d app/translations || true) \
-    && chmod 755 /app/logs /app/app/static/tmp /app/app/static/media
+    && chmod 755 /app/logs /app/app/static/tmp
 
 # Copy shared entrypoint utilities
 COPY entrypoint-common.sh /usr/local/bin/entrypoint-common.sh
diff --git a/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-web.yaml b/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-web.yaml
index 1e55d70..8517e1c 100644
--- a/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-web.yaml
+++ b/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-web.yaml
@@ -20,107 +20,109 @@ spec:
         app.kubernetes.io/component: web
     spec:
       serviceAccountName: piefed-init-checker
+      securityContext:
+        fsGroup: 1000  # piefed group - ensures volume mounts are writable
       imagePullSecrets:
-      - name: harbor-pull-secret
+        - name: harbor-pull-secret
       initContainers:
-      - name: wait-for-migrations
-        image: bitnami/kubectl@sha256:b407dcce69129c06fabab6c3eb35bf9a2d75a20d0d927b3f32dae961dba4270b
-        command:
-        - sh
-        - -c
-        - |
-          echo "Checking database migration status..."
-          
-          # Check if Job exists
-          if ! kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            echo "ERROR: Migration job does not exist!"
-            echo "Expected job/piefed-db-init in piefed-application namespace"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          
-          # Check if Job is complete
-          COMPLETE_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Complete")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
-          if [ "$COMPLETE_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
-            echo "✓ Migrations already complete, proceeding..."
-            exit 0
-          fi
-          
-          # Check if Job has failed
-          FAILED_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
-          if [ "$FAILED_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
-            echo "ERROR: Migration job has FAILED!"
-            echo "Job status:"
-            kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")]}' | jq .
-            echo ""
-            echo "Recent events:"
-            kubectl get events -n piefed-application --field-selector involvedObject.name=piefed-db-init --sort-by='.lastTimestamp' | tail -5
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          
-          # Job exists but is still running, wait for it
-          echo "Migration job running, waiting for completion..."
-          kubectl wait --for=condition=complete --timeout=600s job/piefed-db-init -n piefed-application || {
-            echo "ERROR: Migration job failed or timed out!"
-            exit 1
-          }
-          
-          echo "✓ Migrations complete, starting web pod..."
+        - name: wait-for-migrations
+          image: bitnami/kubectl@sha256:b407dcce69129c06fabab6c3eb35bf9a2d75a20d0d927b3f32dae961dba4270b
+          command:
+            - sh
+            - -c
+            - |
+              echo "Checking database migration status..."
+              
+              # Check if Job exists
+              if ! kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+                echo "ERROR: Migration job does not exist!"
+                echo "Expected job/piefed-db-init in piefed-application namespace"
+                exit 1
+              fi
+              
+              # Check if Job is complete
+              COMPLETE_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Complete")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
+              if [ "$COMPLETE_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
+                echo "✓ Migrations already complete, proceeding..."
+                exit 0
+              fi
+              
+              # Check if Job has failed
+              FAILED_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
+              if [ "$FAILED_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
+                echo "ERROR: Migration job has FAILED!"
+                echo "Job status:"
+                kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")]}' | jq .
+                echo ""
+                echo "Recent events:"
+                kubectl get events -n piefed-application --field-selector involvedObject.name=piefed-db-init --sort-by='.lastTimestamp' | tail -5
+                exit 1
+              fi
+              
+              # Job exists but is still running, wait for it
+              echo "Migration job running, waiting for completion..."
+              kubectl wait --for=condition=complete --timeout=600s job/piefed-db-init -n piefed-application || {
+                echo "ERROR: Migration job failed or timed out!"
+                exit 1
+              }
+              
+              echo "✓ Migrations complete, starting web pod..."
       containers:
-      - name: piefed-web
-        image: <YOUR_REGISTRY_URL>/library/piefed-web:latest
-        imagePullPolicy: Always
-        ports:
-        - containerPort: 80
-          name: http
-        envFrom:
-        - configMapRef:
-            name: piefed-config
-        - secretRef:
-            name: piefed-secrets
-        env:
-        - name: PYTHONUNBUFFERED
-          value: "1"
-        - name: FLASK_DEBUG
-          value: "0"  # Keep production mode but enable better logging
-        - name: WERKZEUG_DEBUG_PIN
-          value: "off"
-        resources:
-          requests:
-            cpu: 600m      # Conservative reduction from 1000m considering 200-800x user growth
-            memory: 1.5Gi  # Conservative reduction from 2Gi considering scaling needs
-          limits:
-            cpu: 2000m     # Keep original limits for burst capacity at scale
-            memory: 4Gi    # Keep original limits for growth
-        volumeMounts:
-        - name: app-storage
-          mountPath: /app/app/media
-          subPath: media
-        - name: app-storage
-          mountPath: /app/app/static/media
-          subPath: static
-        - name: cache-storage
-          mountPath: /app/cache
-        livenessProbe:
-          httpGet:
-            path: /health
-            port: 80
-          initialDelaySeconds: 60
-          periodSeconds: 30
-          timeoutSeconds: 10
-        readinessProbe:
-          httpGet:
-            path: /health
-            port: 80
-          initialDelaySeconds: 30
-          periodSeconds: 10
-          timeoutSeconds: 5
+        - name: piefed-web
+          image: registry.keyboardvagabond.com/library/piefed-web:latest
+          imagePullPolicy: Always
+          ports:
+            - containerPort: 80
+              name: http
+          envFrom:
+            - configMapRef:
+                name: piefed-config
+            - secretRef:
+                name: piefed-secrets
+          env:
+            - name: PYTHONUNBUFFERED
+              value: "1"
+            - name: FLASK_DEBUG
+              value: "0"  # Keep production mode but enable better logging
+            - name: WERKZEUG_DEBUG_PIN
+              value: "off"
+          resources:
+            requests:
+              cpu: 600m      # Conservative reduction from 1000m considering 200-800x user growth
+              memory: 1.5Gi  # Conservative reduction from 2Gi considering scaling needs
+            limits:
+              cpu: 2000m     # Keep original limits for burst capacity at scale
+              memory: 4Gi    # Keep original limits for growth
+          volumeMounts:
+            - name: app-storage
+              mountPath: /app/app/media
+              subPath: media
+            - name: app-storage
+              mountPath: /app/app/static/media
+              subPath: static
+            - name: cache-storage
+              mountPath: /app/cache
+          livenessProbe:
+            httpGet:
+              path: /health
+              port: 80
+            initialDelaySeconds: 60
+            periodSeconds: 30
+            timeoutSeconds: 10
+          readinessProbe:
+            httpGet:
+              path: /health
+              port: 80
+            initialDelaySeconds: 30
+            periodSeconds: 10
+            timeoutSeconds: 5
       volumes:
-      - name: app-storage
-        persistentVolumeClaim:
-          claimName: piefed-app-storage
-      - name: cache-storage
-        persistentVolumeClaim:
-          claimName: piefed-cache-storage
+        - name: app-storage
+          persistentVolumeClaim:
+            claimName: piefed-app-storage
+        - name: cache-storage
+          persistentVolumeClaim:
+            claimName: piefed-cache-storage
 ---
 apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
 kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
@@ -135,15 +137,15 @@ spec:
   minReplicas: 2
   maxReplicas: 6
   metrics:
-  - type: Resource
-    resource:
-      name: cpu
-      target:
-        type: AverageValue
-        averageValue: 1400m  # 70% of 2000m limit - allow better CPU utilization
-  - type: Resource
-    resource:
-      name: memory
-      target:
-        type: Utilization
-        averageUtilization: 90
\ No newline at end of file
+    - type: Resource
+      resource:
+        name: cpu
+        target:
+          type: AverageValue
+          averageValue: 1400m  # 70% of 2000m limit - allow better CPU utilization
+    - type: Resource
+      resource:
+        name: memory
+        target:
+          type: Utilization
+          averageUtilization: 200 #3GB of the 4 available
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-worker.yaml b/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-worker.yaml
index 5a39be1..47b86ca 100644
--- a/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-worker.yaml
+++ b/manifests/applications/piefed/deployment-worker.yaml
@@ -20,116 +20,118 @@ spec:
         app.kubernetes.io/component: worker
     spec:
       serviceAccountName: piefed-init-checker
+      securityContext:
+        fsGroup: 1000  # piefed group - ensures volume mounts are writable
       imagePullSecrets:
-      - name: harbor-pull-secret
+        - name: harbor-pull-secret
       initContainers:
-      - name: wait-for-migrations
-        image: bitnami/kubectl@sha256:b407dcce69129c06fabab6c3eb35bf9a2d75a20d0d927b3f32dae961dba4270b
-        command:
-        - sh
-        - -c
-        - |
-          echo "Checking database migration status..."
-          
-          # Check if Job exists
-          if ! kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            echo "ERROR: Migration job does not exist!"
-            echo "Expected job/piefed-db-init in piefed-application namespace"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          
-          # Check if Job is complete
-          COMPLETE_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Complete")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
-          if [ "$COMPLETE_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
-            echo "✓ Migrations already complete, proceeding..."
-            exit 0
-          fi
-          
-          # Check if Job has failed
-          FAILED_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
-          if [ "$FAILED_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
-            echo "ERROR: Migration job has FAILED!"
-            echo "Job status:"
-            kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")]}' | jq .
-            echo ""
-            echo "Recent events:"
-            kubectl get events -n piefed-application --field-selector involvedObject.name=piefed-db-init --sort-by='.lastTimestamp' | tail -5
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          
-          # Job exists but is still running, wait for it
-          echo "Migration job running, waiting for completion..."
-          kubectl wait --for=condition=complete --timeout=600s job/piefed-db-init -n piefed-application || {
-            echo "ERROR: Migration job failed or timed out!"
-            exit 1
-          }
-          
-          echo "✓ Migrations complete, starting worker pod..."
+        - name: wait-for-migrations
+          image: bitnami/kubectl@sha256:b407dcce69129c06fabab6c3eb35bf9a2d75a20d0d927b3f32dae961dba4270b
+          command:
+            - sh
+            - -c
+            - |
+              echo "Checking database migration status..."
+              
+              # Check if Job exists
+              if ! kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+                echo "ERROR: Migration job does not exist!"
+                echo "Expected job/piefed-db-init in piefed-application namespace"
+                exit 1
+              fi
+              
+              # Check if Job is complete
+              COMPLETE_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Complete")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
+              if [ "$COMPLETE_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
+                echo "✓ Migrations already complete, proceeding..."
+                exit 0
+              fi
+              
+              # Check if Job has failed
+              FAILED_STATUS=$(kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")].status}' 2>/dev/null)
+              if [ "$FAILED_STATUS" = "True" ]; then
+                echo "ERROR: Migration job has FAILED!"
+                echo "Job status:"
+                kubectl get job piefed-db-init -n piefed-application -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Failed")]}' | jq .
+                echo ""
+                echo "Recent events:"
+                kubectl get events -n piefed-application --field-selector involvedObject.name=piefed-db-init --sort-by='.lastTimestamp' | tail -5
+                exit 1
+              fi
+              
+              # Job exists but is still running, wait for it
+              echo "Migration job running, waiting for completion..."
+              kubectl wait --for=condition=complete --timeout=600s job/piefed-db-init -n piefed-application || {
+                echo "ERROR: Migration job failed or timed out!"
+                exit 1
+              }
+              
+              echo "✓ Migrations complete, starting worker pod..."
       containers:
-      - name: piefed-worker
-        image: <YOUR_REGISTRY_URL>/library/piefed-worker:latest
-        imagePullPolicy: Always
-        envFrom:
-        - configMapRef:
-            name: piefed-config
-        - secretRef:
-            name: piefed-secrets
-        env:
-        - name: PYTHONUNBUFFERED
-          value: "1"
-        - name: FLASK_DEBUG
-          value: "0"  # Keep production mode but enable better logging
-        - name: WERKZEUG_DEBUG_PIN
-          value: "off"
-        # Celery Worker Logging Configuration
-        - name: CELERY_WORKER_HIJACK_ROOT_LOGGER
-          value: "False"
-        # Database connection pool overrides for worker (lower than web pods)
-        - name: DB_POOL_SIZE
-          value: "5"  # Workers need fewer connections than web pods
-        - name: DB_MAX_OVERFLOW
-          value: "10"  # Lower overflow for background tasks
-        resources:
-          requests:
-            cpu: 500m
-            memory: 1Gi
-          limits:
-            cpu: 2000m  # Allow internal scaling to 5 workers
-            memory: 3Gi  # Increase for multiple workers
-        volumeMounts:
-        - name: app-storage
-          mountPath: /app/app/media
-          subPath: media
-        - name: app-storage
-          mountPath: /app/app/static/media
-          subPath: static
-        - name: cache-storage
-          mountPath: /app/cache
-        livenessProbe:
-          exec:
-            command:
-            - python
-            - -c
-            - "import os,redis,urllib.parse; u=urllib.parse.urlparse(os.environ['CELERY_BROKER_URL']); r=redis.Redis(host=u.hostname, port=u.port, password=u.password, db=int(u.path[1:]) if u.path else 0); r.ping()"
-          initialDelaySeconds: 60
-          periodSeconds: 60
-          timeoutSeconds: 10
-        readinessProbe:
-          exec:
-            command:
-            - python
-            - -c
-            - "import os,redis,urllib.parse; u=urllib.parse.urlparse(os.environ['CELERY_BROKER_URL']); r=redis.Redis(host=u.hostname, port=u.port, password=u.password, db=int(u.path[1:]) if u.path else 0); r.ping()"
-          initialDelaySeconds: 30
-          periodSeconds: 30
-          timeoutSeconds: 5
+        - name: piefed-worker
+          image: registry.keyboardvagabond.com/library/piefed-worker:latest
+          imagePullPolicy: Always
+          envFrom:
+            - configMapRef:
+                name: piefed-config
+            - secretRef:
+                name: piefed-secrets
+          env:
+            - name: PYTHONUNBUFFERED
+              value: "1"
+            - name: FLASK_DEBUG
+              value: "0"  # Keep production mode but enable better logging
+            - name: WERKZEUG_DEBUG_PIN
+              value: "off"
+            # Celery Worker Logging Configuration
+            - name: CELERY_WORKER_HIJACK_ROOT_LOGGER
+              value: "False"
+            # Database connection pool overrides for worker (lower than web pods)
+            - name: DB_POOL_SIZE
+              value: "5"  # Workers need fewer connections than web pods
+            - name: DB_MAX_OVERFLOW
+              value: "10"  # Lower overflow for background tasks
+          resources:
+            requests:
+              cpu: 500m
+              memory: 1Gi
+            limits:
+              cpu: 2000m  # Allow internal scaling to 5 workers
+              memory: 3Gi  # Increase for multiple workers
+          volumeMounts:
+            - name: app-storage
+              mountPath: /app/app/media
+              subPath: media
+            - name: app-storage
+              mountPath: /app/app/static/media
+              subPath: static
+            - name: cache-storage
+              mountPath: /app/cache
+          livenessProbe:
+            exec:
+              command:
+                - python
+                - -c
+                - "import os,redis,urllib.parse; u=urllib.parse.urlparse(os.environ['CELERY_BROKER_URL']); r=redis.Redis(host=u.hostname, port=u.port, password=u.password, db=int(u.path[1:]) if u.path else 0); r.ping()"
+            initialDelaySeconds: 60
+            periodSeconds: 60
+            timeoutSeconds: 10
+          readinessProbe:
+            exec:
+              command:
+                - python
+                - -c
+                - "import os,redis,urllib.parse; u=urllib.parse.urlparse(os.environ['CELERY_BROKER_URL']); r=redis.Redis(host=u.hostname, port=u.port, password=u.password, db=int(u.path[1:]) if u.path else 0); r.ping()"
+            initialDelaySeconds: 30
+            periodSeconds: 30
+            timeoutSeconds: 5
       volumes:
-      - name: app-storage
-        persistentVolumeClaim:
-          claimName: piefed-app-storage
-      - name: cache-storage
-        persistentVolumeClaim:
-          claimName: piefed-cache-storage
+        - name: app-storage
+          persistentVolumeClaim:
+            claimName: piefed-app-storage
+        - name: cache-storage
+          persistentVolumeClaim:
+            claimName: piefed-cache-storage
 ---
 apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
 kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
@@ -144,15 +146,15 @@ spec:
   minReplicas: 1
   maxReplicas: 2
   metrics:
-  - type: Resource
-    resource:
-      name: cpu
-      target:
-        type: Utilization
-        averageUtilization:  375
-  - type: Resource
-    resource:
-      name: memory
-      target:
-        type: Utilization
-        averageUtilization: 250
\ No newline at end of file
+    - type: Resource
+      resource:
+        name: cpu
+        target:
+          type: Utilization
+          averageUtilization:  375
+    - type: Resource
+      resource:
+        name: memory
+        target:
+          type: Utilization
+          averageUtilization: 250
\ No newline at end of file