diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 391fed42..f7f5c6dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -246,7 +246,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build SPA (Vite -> static-dist/)
         working-directory: frontend
         run: npm ci && npm run build
-      - run: cargo build --release
+      # --features plugins so the e2e Playwright job (which sets
+      # OXICLOUD_ENABLE_PLUGINS) can exercise the admin Plugins tab. The api/webdav
+      # and unit jobs reuse this binary but leave plugins disabled at runtime.
+      - run: cargo build --release --features plugins
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: oxicloud-release
@@ -331,20 +334,23 @@ jobs:
         run: npm ci
 
       # The release binary serves the SPA from ./static-dist on disk (not
-      # embedded), and the Build job builds it WITHOUT VITE_E2E so it lacks the
-      # `data-testid` hooks the specs target. Build it here with VITE_E2E=1 so
-      # the server actually serves the e2e SPA the scenarios drive.
-      - name: Build SPA for e2e (VITE_E2E keeps data-testid hooks)
+      # embedded). Build the instrumented SPA here with COVERAGE=1 (Istanbul, for
+      # the coverage report) and VITE_E2E=1 (keeps the `data-testid` hooks the
+      # specs target). start-server-spa.sh points OXICLOUD_STATIC_PATH here.
+      - name: Build instrumented SPA for e2e (COVERAGE + VITE_E2E)
         working-directory: frontend
-        run: npm ci && VITE_E2E=1 npm run build
+        run: npm ci && COVERAGE=1 VITE_E2E=1 npm run build
 
       - name: Install Playwright browsers
         working-directory: tests/e2e
         run: npx playwright install --with-deps
 
-      - name: Run Playwright tests (spawns DB via pretest hook)
+      # Drives this PR's SvelteKit SPA specs (tests/e2e/spa) via the coverage
+      # config + start-server-spa.sh. (The legacy `npm test` scenarios targeted
+      # the removed vanilla `static/` frontend and are no longer exercised.)
+      - name: Run SPA e2e coverage suite
         working-directory: tests/e2e
-        run: npm test
+        run: npm run test:coverage
         env:
           BUILD_TARGET: release
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/files/[...path]/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/files/[...path]/+page.svelte
index a4abeb7a..cb4a2633 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/files/[...path]/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/files/[...path]/+page.svelte
@@ -699,17 +699,26 @@
 		});
 	});
 
-	// viewer → URL: when closed from within (X / Esc / backdrop), drop the param
-	// (replaceState, so closing doesn't add a history entry).
+	// viewer → URL: when the user closes the viewer (X / Esc / backdrop), drop the
+	// `?file=` param (replaceState, so closing doesn't add a history entry). Only
+	// act on a genuine open→closed transition: on a cold deep link the viewer
+	// starts closed *with* the param while the listing is still loading, and
+	// stripping it there would race the URL→viewer effect above and the preview
+	// would never open.
+	let viewerWasOpen = false;
 	$effect(() => {
+		const open = viewerOpen;
 		const hasParam = page.url.searchParams.get('file') !== null;
-		if (!viewerOpen && hasParam) {
-			const url = new URL(page.url);
-			url.searchParams.delete('file');
-			// Same-origin URL object (see note above); resolve() can't type it.
-			// eslint-disable-next-line svelte/no-navigation-without-resolve
-			void goto(url, { keepFocus: true, noScroll: true, replaceState: true });
-		}
+		untrack(() => {
+			if (viewerWasOpen && !open && hasParam) {
+				const url = new URL(page.url);
+				url.searchParams.delete('file');
+				// Same-origin URL object (see note above); resolve() can't type it.
+				// eslint-disable-next-line svelte/no-navigation-without-resolve
+				void goto(url, { keepFocus: true, noScroll: true, replaceState: true });
+			}
+			viewerWasOpen = open;
+		});
 	});
 
 	/**
@@ -1607,26 +1616,31 @@
 		</ListToolbar>
 
 		<nav class="breadcrumb" aria-label="Breadcrumb">
+			<!-- Persistent home link → the root listing (bare /files canonicalizes to
+			     the user's drive root). `buildCrumbs` returns only the path folders,
+			     so this is the single always-present "go home" affordance. -->
+			<a
+				href={resolve('/files')}
+				class="breadcrumb-item breadcrumb-home breadcrumb-link"
+				title={t('breadcrumb.home', 'Home')}
+				data-testid="files-breadcrumb-home-link"
+				ondragover={(e) => e.dataTransfer?.types.includes(DRAG_TYPE) && e.preventDefault()}
+				ondrop={(e) => session.homeFolderId && onCrumbDrop(e, session.homeFolderId)}
+			>
+				<Icon name={rootIcon} />
+			</a>
 			{#each crumbs as c, i (c.id)}
-				{#if i > 0}
-					<span class="breadcrumb-separator">&gt;</span>
-				{/if}
+				<span class="breadcrumb-separator">&gt;</span>
 				{#if i === crumbs.length - 1}
-					<span class="breadcrumb-item breadcrumb-current" class:breadcrumb-home={i === 0}>
-						{#if i === 0}<Icon name={rootIcon} />{/if}
-						{c.name}
-					</span>
+					<span class="breadcrumb-item breadcrumb-current">{c.name}</span>
 				{:else}
 					<a
 						href={resolve(`/files/${pathSegments.slice(0, i + 1).join('/')}`)}
 						class="breadcrumb-item breadcrumb-link"
-						class:breadcrumb-home={i === 0}
-						title={i === 0 ? t('breadcrumb.home', 'Home') : undefined}
-						data-testid={i === 0 ? 'files-breadcrumb-home-link' : `files-breadcrumb-${c.id}`}
+						data-testid={`files-breadcrumb-${c.id}`}
 						ondragover={(e) => e.dataTransfer?.types.includes(DRAG_TYPE) && e.preventDefault()}
 						ondrop={(e) => onCrumbDrop(e, c.id)}
 					>
-						{#if i === 0}<Icon name={rootIcon} />{/if}
 						{c.name}
 					</a>
 				{/if}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/playwright.coverage.config.ts b/tests/e2e/playwright.coverage.config.ts
index fb32b4a5..903f38dc 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/playwright.coverage.config.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/playwright.coverage.config.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
   globalTeardown: require.resolve('./global-teardown'),
 
   use: {
-    baseURL: 'http://localhost:8088',
+    baseURL: 'http://127.0.0.1:8088',
     trace: 'on-first-retry',
     headless: true,
     screenshot: 'only-on-failure',
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     command: process.env.BUILD_TARGET
       ? `bash "${startScript}" "${workspace}/target/${process.env.BUILD_TARGET}/oxicloud"`
       : `bash "${startScript}" cargo run --features plugins`,
-    url: 'http://localhost:8088',
+    url: 'http://127.0.0.1:8088/ready',
     timeout: 600_000,
     reuseExistingServer: false,
     cwd: '../..',
diff --git a/tests/e2e/spa/files-extra.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/spa/files-extra.spec.ts
index 6a1119d3..f0e60cc3 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/spa/files-extra.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/spa/files-extra.spec.ts
@@ -202,9 +202,11 @@ test('breadcrumb navigates back to home', async ({ page }) => {
   const folderName = uniq('Crumb');
   const folder = await apiCreateFolder(page, folderName);
   await page.goto(`/files/${folder.id}`);
-  // Breadcrumb home link returns to the root listing.
+  // Breadcrumb home link leaves the subfolder for the root listing. Bare /files
+  // canonicalizes to the user's drive root, where the just-created folder lives.
   await page.getByTestId('files-breadcrumb-home-link').click();
-  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/files\/?$/);
+  await expect(page).not.toHaveURL(new RegExp(folder.id));
+  await expect(page.getByTestId(folderName)).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
 });
 
 test('open an image in the viewer and use the zoom controls', async ({ page }) => {
diff --git a/tests/e2e/spa/global-setup.ts b/tests/e2e/spa/global-setup.ts
index fc838340..e6f9ad69 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/spa/global-setup.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/spa/global-setup.ts
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ export default async function globalSetup() {
   fs.rmSync(nycDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   fs.mkdirSync(nycDir, { recursive: true });
 
-  await seedAdmin('http://localhost:8088');
+  await seedAdmin('http://127.0.0.1:8088');
 }
diff --git a/tests/e2e/start-server-spa.sh b/tests/e2e/start-server-spa.sh
index 010c078d..15a6b3a7 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/start-server-spa.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/start-server-spa.sh
@@ -11,13 +11,30 @@ set -euo pipefail
 REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.." && pwd)"
 SPA_STORAGE_PATH="$REPO_ROOT/tests/e2e/storage-spa"
 
+# Mirror markers + the server's stdout/stderr to a log file as well as the
+# console; CI surfaces it via the "Print server startup log" step (Playwright's
+# own webServer capture isn't always shown there). The final `exec "$@"`
+# inherits these fds, so the server's output is tee'd while it still replaces
+# this shell (Playwright tracks the PID for teardown).
+SERVER_LOG="$REPO_ROOT/tests/e2e/server-startup.log"
+exec > >(tee "$SERVER_LOG") 2>&1
+
+mark() { echo "[start-server-spa $(date -u +%H:%M:%S)] $*"; }
+mark "repo_root=$REPO_ROOT  server args: $*"
+if [[ -n "${1:-}" && "$1" != "cargo" ]]; then
+  ls -la "$1" 2>&1 || mark "WARNING: server binary '$1' not found"
+fi
+mark "DATABASE_URL=${DATABASE_URL:-<unset>} PORT=${OXICLOUD_SERVER_PORT:-<unset>} STATIC=${OXICLOUD_STATIC_PATH:-<unset>}"
+
 # ensure storage is empty before starting
-echo "Wipe $SPA_STORAGE_PATH to ensure clean startup"
+mark "wiping $SPA_STORAGE_PATH to ensure clean startup"
 rm -rf "$SPA_STORAGE_PATH"
 mkdir -p "$SPA_STORAGE_PATH"
 
 # Spawn database (idempotent — reuses the running test postgres if present).
+mark "spawning test database…"
 bash "$REPO_ROOT/tests/common/spawn-db.sh"
+mark "database ready; starting server…"
 
 # Replace the shell with the server process so Playwright's PID tracking works.
 exec "$@"