Add cluster deployment artifacts and Helm chart

Add cluster backplane abstraction and interfaces (#6449 )
chore: fix "Endoints" typo in health route comment (#6446 )
2026-09-03 05:10:16 +03:00 · 2026-05-27 12:21:04 +01:00 · 2026-05-27 11:54:59 +01:00 · 2026-05-26 23:30:57 +01:00 · 2026-05-26 23:29:32 +01:00 · 2026-05-26 23:28:17 +01:00
1954 changed files with 11897 additions and 1447 deletions
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ frontend/playwright-report/
 # Tauri/desktop builds
 src-tauri/target/
 src-tauri/dist/
-frontend/src-tauri/target/
-frontend/src-tauri/dist/
+frontend/editor/src-tauri/target/
+frontend/editor/src-tauri/dist/

 # IDE and editor
 .idea/
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+###############################################################################
+# Stirling-PDF SaaS local environment template.
+#
+# Copy this file to `.env.saas.local` (gitignored) and fill in real values.
+# Loaded by `task backend:dev:saas` via Taskfile's `dotenv:` directive, then
+# read by Spring Boot's `${...}` placeholders in application-saas.properties
+# and application-dev.properties.
+#
+# DO NOT commit `.env.saas.local`. Only `.env.saas.example` is checked in.
+###############################################################################
+
+# ---------- Supabase project ----------
+# Project reference (the subdomain part of <ref>.supabase.co). Required.
+# Example dev project:
+SAAS_DB_PROJECT_REF=
+
+# Edge function secret used by billing/license rollup calls.
+SUPABASE_EDGE_FUNCTION_SECRET=
+
+# ---------- Database (saas profile) ----------
+# Direct JDBC URL to the Supabase Postgres. Required when running the plain
+# `saas` profile (i.e. without `--spring.profiles.include=dev`).
+# Example: jdbc:postgresql://db.<project-ref>.supabase.co:5432/postgres
+SAAS_DB_URL=
+SAAS_DB_USERNAME=postgres
+SAAS_DB_PASSWORD=
+
+# ---------- Database (dev profile overrides) ----------
+# Used when `--spring.profiles.include=dev` is active. The dev profile
+# defaults the URL/username to the shared dev Supabase project, but the
+# password must still be provided here.
+SAAS_DEV_DB_URL=
+SAAS_DEV_DB_USERNAME=postgres
+SAAS_DEV_DB_PASSWORD=
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ openapi: &openapi

 docker-base: &docker-base
  - docker/base/Dockerfile
-  - ".github/workflows/push-docker-base.yml"

 docker: &docker
  - docker/embedded/Dockerfile
@@ -58,12 +57,12 @@ frontend: &frontend
 # Files that affect the Tauri desktop bundle. Gate the multi-OS Tauri build
 # job on changes to any of these.
 tauri: &tauri
-  - frontend/src-tauri/**
-  - frontend/src/desktop/**
-  - frontend/tsconfig.desktop.json
+  - frontend/editor/src-tauri/**
+  - frontend/editor/src/desktop/**
+  - frontend/editor/tsconfig.desktop.vite.json
  - frontend/package.json
  - frontend/package-lock.json
-  - frontend/vite.config.ts
+  - frontend/editor/vite.config.ts
  - .github/workflows/tauri-build.yml

 # Files that affect the AI engine (Python tool models, fixers, tests). Gate
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@ licenses-frontend: &licenses-frontend
  - ".github/workflows/frontend-backend-licenses-update.yml"
  - "frontend/package.json"
  - "frontend/package-lock.json"
-  - "frontend/scripts/generate-licenses.js"
+  - "frontend/editor/scripts/generate-licenses.js"

 licenses-backend: &licenses-backend
  - ".github/workflows/frontend-backend-licenses-update.yml"
@@ -88,8 +87,8 @@ licenses-backend: &licenses-backend
 # Playwright job on changes to any of these on PRs.
 proprietary: &proprietary
  - app/proprietary/**
-  - frontend/src/proprietary/**
-  - frontend/src/core/tests/enterprise/**
+  - frontend/editor/src/proprietary/**
+  - frontend/editor/src/core/tests/enterprise/**
  - testing/compose/docker-compose-keycloak-oauth.yml
  - testing/compose/docker-compose-keycloak-saml.yml
  - testing/compose/keycloak-realm-oauth.json
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ updates:
      - "/docker/frontend"
      - "/docker/base"
      - "/docker/engine"
+      - "/docker/unoserver"
+      - "/engine"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    cooldown:
@@ -126,9 +128,9 @@ updates:

  - package-ecosystem: cargo
    directories:
-      - /frontend/src-tauri
-      - /frontend/src-tauri/thumbnail-handler
-      - /frontend/src-tauri/provisioner
+      - /frontend/editor/src-tauri
+      - /frontend/editor/src-tauri/thumbnail-handler
+      - /frontend/editor/src-tauri/provisioner
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    cooldown:
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ labels:

  - label: 'Translation'
    files:
-      - 'frontend/public/locales/[a-zA-Z]{2}-[a-zA-Z\-]{2,7}/translation.toml'
+      - 'frontend/editor/public/locales/[a-zA-Z]{2}-[a-zA-Z\-]{2,7}/translation.toml'
      - 'scripts/ignore_translation.toml'
      - 'scripts/remove_translation_keys.sh'
      - 'scripts/replace_translation_line.sh'
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ labels:

  - label: 'Tauri'
    files:
-      - 'frontend/src-tauri/**'
-      - 'frontend/src-tauri/.*'
+      - 'frontend/editor/src-tauri/**'
+      - 'frontend/editor/src-tauri/.*'

  - label: 'engine'
    files:
@@ -23,9 +23,13 @@ permissions:
  pull-requests: write

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  check-pr:
    if: (github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.action != 'closed') || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    outputs:
      should_deploy: ${{ steps.decide.outputs.should_deploy }}
      is_fork: ${{ steps.resolve.outputs.is_fork }}
@@ -35,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:
      pr_ref: ${{ steps.resolve.outputs.ref }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -97,8 +101,8 @@ jobs:
          echo "allow_fork=${allow_fork:-false}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  deploy-v2-pr:
-    needs: check-pr
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [pick, check-pr]
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    if: needs.check-pr.outputs.should_deploy == 'true' && (needs.check-pr.outputs.is_fork == 'false' || needs.check-pr.outputs.allow_fork == 'true')
    # Concurrency control - only one deployment per PR at a time
    concurrency:
@@ -108,10 +112,14 @@ jobs:
      contents: read
      issues: write
      pull-requests: write
+      id-token: write
+    env:
+      USE_DEPOT: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork != 'true' }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -179,7 +187,12 @@ jobs:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          fetch-depth: 0 # Fetch full history for commit hash detection

+      - name: Set up Depot CLI
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/setup-action@15c09a5f77a0840ad4bce955686522a257853461 # v1.0.0
+
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0

      - name: Get version number
@@ -224,8 +237,20 @@ jobs:
            echo "Image needs to be built"
          fi

-      - name: Build and push V2 image
-        if: steps.check-image.outputs.exists == 'false'
+      - name: Build and push V2 image (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true' && steps.check-image.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: .
+          file: ./docker/embedded/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:v2-${{ steps.commit-hash.outputs.app_short }}
+          build-args: VERSION_TAG=v2-alpha
+          platforms: linux/amd64
+
+      - name: Build and push V2 image (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true' && steps.check-image.outputs.exists == 'false'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          context: .
@@ -351,7 +376,8 @@ jobs:

  cleanup-v2-deployment:
    if: github.event.action == 'closed'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    permissions:
      contents: read
      issues: write
@@ -359,7 +385,7 @@ jobs:

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -34,8 +34,12 @@ permissions:
  pull-requests: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  check-comment:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    permissions:
      issues: write
    if: |
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ jobs:
      enable_prototypes: ${{ steps.check-prototypes-flag.outputs.enable_prototypes }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -175,15 +179,19 @@ jobs:
            }

  deploy-pr:
-    needs: check-comment
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [pick, check-comment]
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    permissions:
      issues: write
      pull-requests: write
+      id-token: write
+    env:
+      USE_DEPOT: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork != 'true' }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -232,7 +240,12 @@ jobs:
          MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL }}
          STIRLING_PDF_DESKTOP_UI: false

+      - name: Set up Depot CLI
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/setup-action@15c09a5f77a0840ad4bce955686522a257853461 # v1.0.0
+
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
@@ -241,7 +254,22 @@ jobs:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_API }}

-      - name: Build and push PR-specific image
+      - name: Build and push PR-specific image (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: .
+          file: ./docker/embedded/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:pr-${{ needs.check-comment.outputs.pr_number }}
+          build-args: |
+            VERSION_TAG=alpha
+            PROTOTYPES_BUILD=${{ needs.check-comment.outputs.enable_prototypes }}
+          platforms: linux/amd64
+
+      - name: Build and push PR-specific image (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          context: .
@@ -255,8 +283,19 @@ jobs:
            PROTOTYPES_BUILD=${{ needs.check-comment.outputs.enable_prototypes }}
          platforms: linux/amd64

-      - name: Build and push engine image
-        if: needs.check-comment.outputs.enable_prototypes == 'true'
+      - name: Build and push engine image (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true' && needs.check-comment.outputs.enable_prototypes == 'true'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: ./engine
+          file: ./engine/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:engine-pr-${{ needs.check-comment.outputs.pr_number }}
+          platforms: linux/amd64
+
+      - name: Build and push engine image (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true' && needs.check-comment.outputs.enable_prototypes == 'true'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          context: ./engine
@@ -471,10 +510,11 @@ jobs:

  handle-label-commands:
    if: ${{ github.event.issue.pull_request != null }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+name: _runner-pick
+
+# Tiny reusable workflow that classifies the trigger as either a "fork PR
+# from an untrusted contributor" or a "trusted commit" so downstream jobs
+# can pick a runner class without each one duplicating the 200-char gate
+# expression in their own `runs-on:`.
+#
+# Caller pattern:
+#
+#   jobs:
+#     pick:
+#       uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+#
+#     real-work:
+#       needs: pick
+#       runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-8' }}
+#       steps: [...]
+#
+# Output:
+#   is_fork: "true" when the trigger is a pull_request from a fork or an
+#            untrusted author_association, "false" otherwise.
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    outputs:
+      is_fork:
+        description: '"true" if the trigger is an untrusted fork PR.'
+        value: ${{ jobs.pick.outputs.is_fork }}
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  pick:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 1
+    outputs:
+      is_fork: ${{ steps.decide.outputs.is_fork }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
+        with:
+          egress-policy: audit
+
+      - name: Classify the trigger
+        id: decide
+        env:
+          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+          HEAD_REPO_FORK: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork }}
+          AUTHOR_ASSOC: ${{ github.event.pull_request.author_association }}
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          if [ -z "${PR_NUMBER:-}" ]; then
+            # Not a pull_request event at all (push, schedule, workflow_dispatch,
+            # workflow_call from a non-PR trigger) -> trusted by default.
+            echo "is_fork=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ "${HEAD_REPO_FORK}" = "true" ]; then
+            echo "is_fork=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          case "${AUTHOR_ASSOC}" in
+            OWNER|MEMBER|COLLABORATOR)
+              echo "is_fork=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+              ;;
+            *)
+              echo "is_fork=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+              ;;
+          esac
@@ -17,14 +17,16 @@ jobs:
    permissions:
      contents: read
      pull-requests: write
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

      - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5 # v4.3.1
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2

      - name: Install uv
        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@08807647e7069bb48b6ef5acd8ec9567f424441b # v8.1.0
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ jobs:
      - name: AI PR Title Analysis
        if: steps.actor.outputs.is_repo_dev == 'true'
        id: ai-title-analysis
-        uses: actions/ai-inference@e09e65981758de8b2fdab13c2bfb7c7d5493b0b6 # v2.0.7
+        uses: actions/ai-inference@17ff458cb182449bbb2e43701fcd98f6af8f6570 # v2.1.0
        with:
          model: openai/gpt-4o
          system-prompt-file: ".github/config/system-prompt.txt"
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
      jar_sha256: ${{ steps.hashes.outputs.jar_sha256 }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -70,12 +70,12 @@ jobs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

      - name: Checkout repository (for PKGBUILD templates)
-        uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5 # v4.3.1
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2

      - name: Update stirling-pdf-desktop PKGBUILD
        env:
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ jobs:

      - name: Publish stirling-pdf-desktop to AUR
        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' || inputs.dry_run == false }}
-        uses: KSXGitHub/github-actions-deploy-aur@v4.1.3
+        uses: KSXGitHub/github-actions-deploy-aur@da03e160361ce01bf087e790b6ffd196d7dccff7 # v4.1.3
        with:
          pkgname: stirling-pdf-desktop
          pkgbuild: .github/aur/stirling-pdf-desktop/PKGBUILD
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name: Backend build, format check, and coverage

-# Reusable workflow called from build.yml. Runs the full backend build matrix
-# (JDK 21/25 × spring-security on/off), Spotless formatting check, JUnit, and
+# Reusable workflow called from build.yml. Runs the backend build matrix
+# (JDK 25 × spring-security on/off), Spotless formatting check, JUnit, and
 # posts Jacoco coverage to PRs.
 on:
  workflow_call:
@@ -13,16 +13,22 @@ permissions:
  pull-requests: write

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  build:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-8' }}
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
-        jdk-version: [21, 25]
+        jdk-version: [25]
        spring-security: [true, false]
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit
      - name: Checkout repository
@@ -17,11 +17,23 @@ name: Enterprise E2E (Playwright)

 on:
  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      depot_cores:
+        description: "Depot runner vCPU count (used in runs-on). Override for benchmarking."
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "8"
  push:
    branches: ["main"]
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 4 * * *"
  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      depot_cores:
+        description: "Depot runner vCPU count (used in runs-on). Override for benchmarking."
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "8"

 # No `concurrency:` block here on purpose. When this workflow is called via
 # workflow_call from build.yml, ${{ github.workflow }}/event_name/pr_number
@@ -35,16 +47,21 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  playwright-e2e-enterprise:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || format('depot-ubuntu-24.04-{0}', inputs.depot_cores || '8') }}
    timeout-minutes: 45
    env:
      PREMIUM_KEY: ${{ secrets.PREMIUM_KEY_ENTERPRISE }}
      PREMIUM_ENABLED: "true"
      SYSTEM_ENABLEANALYTICS: "false"
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit
      - name: Checkout repository
@@ -268,5 +285,5 @@ jobs:
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        with:
          name: playwright-report-enterprise-${{ github.run_id }}
-          path: frontend/playwright-report/
+          path: frontend/editor/playwright-report/
          retention-days: 7
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ jobs:
      proprietary: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.proprietary }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit
      - name: Checkout repository
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ jobs:
    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: read
+      id-token: write
    uses: ./.github/workflows/test-build-docker.yml
    secrets: inherit
    with:
@@ -197,6 +198,11 @@ jobs:
      - dependency-review
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
+      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
+        with:
+          egress-policy: audit
+
      - name: Verify every required job passed (or was legitimately skipped)
        env:
          RESULTS: |
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
  check-licence:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -10,11 +10,17 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  check-generate-openapi-docs:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ on:
  pull_request_target:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
    paths:
-      - "frontend/public/locales/*/translation.toml"
+      - "frontend/editor/public/locales/*/translation.toml"
      - ".github/scripts/check_language_toml.py"
      - ".github/workflows/check_toml.yml"

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
      pull-requests: write # Allow writing to pull requests
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ jobs:
            exit 1
          fi
          # Get changed files and filter for TOML translation files
-          gh pr view ${{ steps.get-pr-data.outputs.pr_number }} --json files -q ".files[].path" | grep -E '^frontend/public/locales/[a-zA-Z-]+/translation\.toml$' > changed_files.txt || echo "No matching TOML files found in PR"
+          gh pr view ${{ steps.get-pr-data.outputs.pr_number }} --json files -q ".files[].path" | grep -E '^frontend/editor/public/locales/[a-zA-Z-]+/translation\.toml$' > changed_files.txt || echo "No matching TOML files found in PR"
          # Check if any files were found
          if [ ! -s changed_files.txt ]; then
            echo "No TOML translation files changed in this PR"
@@ -166,12 +166,12 @@ jobs:

            // Determine reference file
            let referenceFilePath;
-            if (changedFiles.includes("frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml")) {
+            if (changedFiles.includes("frontend/editor/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml")) {
              console.log("Using PR branch reference file.");
              const { data: fileContent } = await github.rest.repos.getContent({
                owner: prRepoOwner,
                repo: prRepoName,
-                path: "frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml",
+                path: "frontend/editor/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml",
                ref: branch,
              });

@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ jobs:
              const { data: fileContent } = await github.rest.repos.getContent({
                owner: repoOwner,
                repo: repoName,
-                path: "frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml",
+                path: "frontend/editor/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml",
                ref: "main",
              });

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -10,22 +10,37 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  deploy-v2-on-push:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    concurrency:
      group: deploy-v2-push-V2
      cancel-in-progress: true
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+    env:
+      USE_DEPOT: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork != 'true' }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2

+      - name: Set up Depot CLI
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/setup-action@15c09a5f77a0840ad4bce955686522a257853461 # v1.0.0
+
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0

      - name: Get commit hashes for frontend and backend
@@ -90,8 +105,22 @@ jobs:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_API }}

-      - name: Build and push frontend image
-        if: steps.check-frontend.outputs.exists == 'false'
+      - name: Build and push frontend image (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true' && steps.check-frontend.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: .
+          file: ./docker/frontend/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: |
+            ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:v2-frontend-${{ steps.commit-hashes.outputs.frontend_short }}
+            ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:v2-frontend-latest
+          build-args: VERSION_TAG=v2-alpha
+          platforms: linux/amd64
+
+      - name: Build and push frontend image (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true' && steps.check-frontend.outputs.exists == 'false'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          context: .
@@ -105,8 +134,22 @@ jobs:
          build-args: VERSION_TAG=v2-alpha
          platforms: linux/amd64

-      - name: Build and push backend image
-        if: steps.check-backend.outputs.exists == 'false'
+      - name: Build and push backend image (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true' && steps.check-backend.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: .
+          file: ./docker/backend/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: |
+            ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:v2-backend-${{ steps.commit-hashes.outputs.backend_short }}
+            ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:v2-backend-latest
+          build-args: VERSION_TAG=v2-alpha
+          platforms: linux/amd64
+
+      - name: Build and push backend image (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true' && steps.check-backend.outputs.exists == 'false'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          context: .
@@ -11,21 +11,32 @@ on:
        required: false
        type: string
        default: "false"
+      depot_cores:
+        description: "Depot runner vCPU count (used in runs-on). Override for benchmarking. Tuned to 4 because bench showed 16 was within noise of 4."
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "4"

 permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  docker-compose-tests:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || format('depot-ubuntu-24.04-{0}', inputs.depot_cores || '4') }}
    permissions:
      actions: write
      contents: read
      checks: write
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -5,17 +5,27 @@ name: Playwright E2E (live backend)
 # server.
 on:
  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      depot_cores:
+        description: "Depot runner vCPU count (used in runs-on). Override for benchmarking."
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "8"

 permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  playwright-e2e-live:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || format('depot-ubuntu-24.04-{0}', inputs.depot_cores || '8') }}
    timeout-minutes: 30
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit
      - name: Checkout repository
@@ -60,5 +70,5 @@ jobs:
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        with:
          name: playwright-report-live-${{ github.run_id }}
-          path: frontend/playwright-report/
+          path: frontend/editor/playwright-report/
          retention-days: 7
@@ -5,16 +5,26 @@ name: Playwright E2E (stubbed)
 # mocks API responses in the browser.
 on:
  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      depot_cores:
+        description: "Depot runner vCPU count (used in runs-on). Override for benchmarking. Tuned to 8 to match the other playwright workflows; bench showed flat scaling above 8."
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "8"

 permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  playwright-e2e:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || format('depot-ubuntu-24.04-{0}', inputs.depot_cores || '8') }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit
      - name: Checkout repository
@@ -40,5 +50,5 @@ jobs:
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        with:
          name: playwright-report-stubbed-${{ github.run_id }}
-          path: frontend/playwright-report/
+          path: frontend/editor/playwright-report/
          retention-days: 7
@@ -19,16 +19,20 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  files-changed:
    name: detect what files changed
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    timeout-minutes: 3
    outputs:
      licenses-frontend: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.licenses-frontend }}
      licenses-backend: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.licenses-backend }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -44,15 +48,15 @@ jobs:
  generate-frontend-license-report:
    if: needs.files-changed.outputs.licenses-frontend == 'true'
    name: Generate Frontend License Report
-    needs: files-changed
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [pick, files-changed]
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: write
      repository-projects: write # Required for enabling automerge
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -114,23 +118,23 @@ jobs:
        env:
          PR_IS_FORK: "true"
        run: |
-          node base/frontend/scripts/generate-licenses.js \
-            --input frontend/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json
+          node base/frontend/editor/scripts/generate-licenses.js \
+            --input frontend/editor/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json

      - name: Copy postprocessed artifacts back (fork PRs)
        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork == true
        run: |
-          mkdir -p frontend/src/assets
-          if [ -f "base/frontend/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json" ]; then
-            cp base/frontend/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json frontend/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json
+          mkdir -p frontend/editor/src/assets
+          if [ -f "base/frontend/editor/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json" ]; then
+            cp base/frontend/editor/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json frontend/editor/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json
          fi
-          if [ -f "base/frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json" ]; then
-            cp base/frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json
+          if [ -f "base/frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json" ]; then
+            cp base/frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json
          fi

      - name: Check for license warnings
        run: |
-          if [ -f "frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json" ]; then
+          if [ -f "frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json" ]; then
            echo "LICENSE_WARNINGS_EXIST=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
          else
            echo "LICENSE_WARNINGS_EXIST=false" >> $GITHUB_ENV
@@ -178,10 +182,10 @@ jobs:
            echo ""
            if [ "${LICENSE_WARNINGS_EXIST}" = "true" ]; then
              echo "❌ **Failed** – incompatible or unknown licenses found."
-              if [ -f "frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json" ]; then
+              if [ -f "frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json" ]; then
                echo ""
                echo "### Warnings"
-                jq -r '.warnings[] | "- \(.message)"' frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json || true
+                jq -r '.warnings[] | "- \(.message)"' frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json || true
              fi
            else
              echo "✅ **Passed** – no license warnings detected."
@@ -207,7 +211,7 @@ jobs:
              const fs = require('fs');
              let warningDetails = '';
              try {
-                const warnings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json', 'utf8'));
+                const warnings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json', 'utf8'));
                warningDetails = warnings.warnings.map(w => `- ${w.message}`).join('\n');
              } catch (e) {
                warningDetails = 'Unable to read warning details';
@@ -247,7 +251,7 @@ jobs:
      - name: Commit changes (Push only)
        if: github.event_name == 'push'
        run: |
-          git add frontend/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json
+          git add frontend/editor/src/assets/3rdPartyLicenses.json
          # Note: Do NOT commit license-warnings.json - it's only for PR review
          git diff --staged --quiet || echo "CHANGES_DETECTED=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV

@@ -265,7 +269,7 @@ jobs:

          The following licenses may require review for corporate compatibility:

-          $(cat frontend/src/assets/license-warnings.json | jq -r '.warnings[].message')
+          $(cat frontend/editor/src/assets/license-warnings.json | jq -r '.warnings[].message')

          Please review these licenses to ensure they are acceptable for your use case."
          fi
@@ -307,16 +311,18 @@ jobs:

  generate-backend-license-report:
    if: needs.files-changed.outputs.licenses-backend == 'true'
-    needs: files-changed
+    needs: [pick, files-changed]
    name: Generate Backend License Report
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: write
      repository-projects: write # Required for enabling automerge
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -11,11 +11,15 @@ permissions:
  pull-requests: write

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  frontend-validation:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit
      - name: Checkout repository
@@ -109,5 +113,5 @@ jobs:
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        with:
          name: frontend-build
-          path: frontend/dist/
+          path: frontend/editor/dist/
          retention-days: 3
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
      issues: write
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -36,15 +36,19 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  determine-matrix:
    if: ${{ vars.CI_PROFILE != 'lite' }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    outputs:
      matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
      version: ${{ steps.versionNumber.outputs.versionNumber }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -90,26 +94,28 @@ jobs:
          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
            case "${{ github.event.inputs.platform }}" in
              "windows")
-                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"windows-x64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
                ;;
              "macos")
-                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal","jpdfium_platforms":"darwin-arm64,darwin-x64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
                ;;
              "linux")
-                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"linux-x64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
                ;;
              *)
-                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64"},{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal"},{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+                echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"windows-x64"},{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal","jpdfium_platforms":"darwin-arm64,darwin-x64"},{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"linux-x64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
                ;;
            esac
          else
            # For push/release events, build all platforms
-            echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64"},{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal"},{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo 'matrix={"include":[{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"windows-x64"},{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal","jpdfium_platforms":"darwin-arm64,darwin-x64"},{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"linux-x64"}]}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          fi

  build-jars:
-    needs: determine-matrix
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [pick, determine-matrix]
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        variant:
@@ -127,7 +133,7 @@ jobs:
            file_suffix: "-server"
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -189,9 +195,10 @@ jobs:
      SM_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.SM_API_KEY }}
      WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE: ${{ secrets.WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE }}
      RELEASE_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit
          allowed-endpoints: >
@@ -256,15 +263,17 @@ jobs:
        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-15'
        env:
          AARCH64_JAVA_HOME: ${{ env.JAVA_HOME }}
+          JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS: ${{ matrix.jpdfium_platforms }}
        run: task desktop:jlink:universal-mac

      - name: Prepare desktop build
-        run: task desktop:prepare
        env:
          MAVEN_USER: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_USER }}
          MAVEN_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PASSWORD }}
          MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL }}
          DISABLE_ADDITIONAL_FEATURES: true
+          JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS: ${{ matrix.jpdfium_platforms }}
+        run: task desktop:prepare

      # DigiCert KeyLocker Setup (Cloud HSM)
      - name: Setup DigiCert KeyLocker
@@ -418,7 +427,7 @@ jobs:
        env:
          KEYPAIR_ALIAS: ${{ secrets.SM_KEYPAIR_ALIAS }}
        run: |
-          cat > ./frontend/src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json <<EOF
+          cat > ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json <<EOF
          {
            "bundle": {
              "windows": {
@@ -431,7 +440,11 @@ jobs:
          }
          EOF
          echo "Generated tauri.windows.conf.json (alias masked):"
-          sed "s/${KEYPAIR_ALIAS}/***/g" ./frontend/src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json
+          sed "s/${KEYPAIR_ALIAS}/***/g" ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json
+
+      - name: Sign JPDFium dylibs inside bootJar (macOS only)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-15' && env.APPLE_CERTIFICATE != ''
+        run: bash frontend/scripts/sign-jpdfium-dylibs-in-bootjar.sh

      - name: Import release GPG signing key (Linux)
        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-22.04' && env.RELEASE_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY != '' && (github.event_name == 'release' || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.sign != 'false') || github.ref == 'refs/heads/V2-master')
@@ -479,7 +492,7 @@ jobs:
          SM_CODE_SIGNING_CERT_SHA1_HASH: ${{ secrets.SM_CODE_SIGNING_CERT_SHA1_HASH }}
          CI: true
        with:
-          projectPath: ./frontend
+          projectPath: ./frontend/editor
          tauriScript: npx tauri
          args: ${{ matrix.args }}

@@ -505,7 +518,7 @@ jobs:
          $allSigned = $true

          # Check MSI installer (outer wrapper - what users download)
-          $msiFiles = Get-ChildItem -Path "./frontend/src-tauri/target" -Filter "*.msi" -Recurse -File
+          $msiFiles = Get-ChildItem -Path "./frontend/editor/src-tauri/target" -Filter "*.msi" -Recurse -File
          if ($msiFiles.Count -eq 0) {
            Write-Host "[ERROR] No MSI found under target/"
            exit 1
@@ -574,7 +587,7 @@ jobs:
        shell: bash
        run: |
          mkdir -p ./dist
-          cd ./frontend/src-tauri/target
+          cd ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/target

          # Find and rename artifacts based on platform
          if [ "${{ matrix.platform }}" = "windows-latest" ]; then
@@ -600,13 +613,13 @@ jobs:

  create-release:
    if: (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.test_mode != 'true') || github.event_name == 'release' || github.ref == 'refs/heads/V2-master'
-    needs: [determine-matrix, build, build-jars]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [pick, determine-matrix, build, build-jars]
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    permissions:
      contents: write
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -13,12 +13,16 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  playwright-all-browsers:
    name: Playwright (chromium + firefox + webkit)
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -45,5 +49,5 @@ jobs:
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        with:
          name: playwright-nightly-${{ github.run_id }}
-          path: frontend/playwright-report/
+          path: frontend/editor/playwright-report/
          retention-days: 14
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: Update Package Manager Manifests

 on:
  release:
-    types: [ released ]
+    types: [released]
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      version:
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
      jar_sha256: ${{ steps.hashes.outputs.jar_sha256 }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -79,12 +79,12 @@ jobs:
      contents: write
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

      - name: Checkout homebrew-stirling-pdf tap (also hosts Scoop bucket)
-        uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5 # v4.3.1
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
        with:
          repository: Stirling-Tools/homebrew-stirling-pdf
          token: ${{ secrets.HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN }}
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
      PIP_DISABLE_PIP_VERSION_CHECK: "1"
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
          echo "version=${VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ jobs:
      RUN_UNOSERVER: ${{ github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' || inputs.build_unoserver }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
      packages: write
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ jobs:

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -75,6 +75,6 @@ jobs:

      # Upload the results to GitHub's code scanning dashboard.
      - name: "Upload to code-scanning"
-        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@68bde559dea0fdcac2102bfdf6230c5f70eb485e # v3.29.5
+        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@9e0d7b8d25671d64c341c19c0152d693099fb5ba # v3.29.5
        with:
          sarif_file: results.sarif
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ jobs:
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -22,12 +22,18 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  push:
    if: ${{ vars.CI_PROFILE != 'lite' }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
+    env:
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ on:
      - "app/core/build.gradle"
      - "app/proprietary/build.gradle"
      - "README.md"
-      - "frontend/public/locales/*/translation.toml"
+      - "frontend/editor/public/locales/*/translation.toml"
      - "app/core/src/main/resources/static/3rdPartyLicenses.json"
      - "scripts/ignore_translation.toml"

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ jobs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ jobs:

      - name: Sync translation TOML files
        run: |
-          python .github/scripts/check_language_toml.py --reference-file "frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml" --branch main
+          python .github/scripts/check_language_toml.py --reference-file "frontend/editor/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml" --branch main

      - name: pre-commit run
        run: |
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:

      - name: Commit translation files
        run: |
-          git add frontend/public/locales/*/translation.toml
+          git add frontend/editor/public/locales/*/translation.toml
          git diff --staged --quiet || git commit -m ":memo: Sync translation files (TOML)" || echo "No changes detected"

      - name: Sync README.md
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ jobs:
            This Pull Request was automatically generated to synchronize updates to translation files and documentation. Below are the details of the changes made:

            #### **1. Synchronization of Translation Files**
-            - Updated translation files (`frontend/public/locales/*/translation.toml`) to reflect changes in the reference file `en-GB/translation.toml`.
+            - Updated translation files (`frontend/editor/public/locales/*/translation.toml`) to reflect changes in the reference file `en-GB/translation.toml`.
            - Ensured consistency and synchronization across all supported language files.
            - Highlighted any missing or incomplete translations.
            - **Format**: TOML
@@ -125,5 +125,5 @@ jobs:
          sign-commits: true
          add-paths: |
            README.md
-            frontend/public/locales/*/translation.toml
+            frontend/editor/public/locales/*/translation.toml
            scripts/ignore_translation.toml
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ name: Build Tauri Applications
 # Linux). Called from build.yml on PRs that touch desktop sources (gated
 # via the `tauri` filter in .github/config/.files.yaml). Also runnable
 # on demand via workflow_dispatch with a per-platform selector.
+#
+# Note: editing this file is itself enough to make the `tauri` path filter
+# match, which is how non-desktop PRs (e.g. backend-only fixes) opt into a
+# desktop smoke build.
 on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
@@ -37,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
      matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -47,12 +51,10 @@ jobs:
          APPLE_CERTIFICATE: ${{ secrets.APPLE_CERTIFICATE }}
          PLATFORM: ${{ inputs.platform }}
        run: |
-          WINDOWS='{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64"}'
-          MACOS='{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal"}'
-          LINUX='{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64"}'
+          WINDOWS='{"platform":"windows-latest","args":"--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc","name":"windows-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"windows-x64"}'
+          MACOS='{"platform":"macos-15","args":"--target universal-apple-darwin","name":"macos-universal","jpdfium_platforms":"darwin-arm64,darwin-x64"}'
+          LINUX='{"platform":"ubuntu-22.04","args":"","name":"linux-x86_64","jpdfium_platforms":"linux-x64"}'

-          # Resolve requested platform — populated by either workflow_dispatch
-          # or workflow_call inputs; both paths default to "all".
          case "$PLATFORM" in
            windows) ENTRIES=("$WINDOWS") ;;
            macos)   ENTRIES=("$MACOS") ;;
@@ -84,9 +86,10 @@ jobs:
      WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE: ${{ secrets.WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE }}
      APPLE_CERTIFICATE: ${{ secrets.APPLE_CERTIFICATE }}
      RELEASE_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -112,10 +115,6 @@ jobs:
          toolchain: stable
          targets: ${{ matrix.platform == 'macos-15' && 'aarch64-apple-darwin,x86_64-apple-darwin' || '' }}

-      # x86_64 JDK is set up first so the aarch64 step below can leave its
-      # JAVA_HOME as the active one. The macOS universal JRE build needs
-      # jmods from both arches; the x64 path is captured into the env
-      # before the second setup-java overwrites JAVA_HOME.
      - name: Set up x86_64 JDK 25 (macOS universal JRE)
        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-15'
        uses: actions/setup-java@be666c2fcd27ec809703dec50e508c2fdc7f6654 # v5.2.0
@@ -142,21 +141,21 @@ jobs:
      - name: Setup Task
        uses: go-task/setup-task@3be4020d41929789a01026e0e427a4321ce0ad44 # v2.0.0

-      # Build the universal JRE before desktop:prepare so the jlink:runtime
-      # task short-circuits on its `test -d runtime/jre` status check.
      - name: Build universal macOS JRE
        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-15'
        env:
          AARCH64_JAVA_HOME: ${{ env.JAVA_HOME }}
+          JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS: ${{ matrix.jpdfium_platforms }}
        run: task desktop:jlink:universal-mac

      - name: Prepare desktop build
-        run: task desktop:prepare
        env:
          MAVEN_USER: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_USER }}
          MAVEN_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PASSWORD }}
          MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL }}
          DISABLE_ADDITIONAL_FEATURES: true
+          JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS: ${{ matrix.jpdfium_platforms }}
+        run: task desktop:prepare

      # DigiCert KeyLocker Setup (Cloud HSM)
      - name: Setup DigiCert KeyLocker
@@ -269,6 +268,10 @@ jobs:
          echo "APPLE_SIGNING_IDENTITY=$CERT_ID" >> $GITHUB_ENV
          echo "Certificate imported successfully."

+      - name: Sign JPDFium dylibs inside bootJar (macOS only)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-15' && env.APPLE_CERTIFICATE != ''
+        run: bash frontend/scripts/sign-jpdfium-dylibs-in-bootjar.sh
+
      - name: Check DMG creation dependencies (macOS only)
        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-15'
        run: |
@@ -299,7 +302,7 @@ jobs:
        env:
          KEYPAIR_ALIAS: ${{ secrets.SM_KEYPAIR_ALIAS }}
        run: |
-          cat > ./frontend/src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json <<EOF
+          cat > ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json <<EOF
          {
            "bundle": {
              "windows": {
@@ -357,7 +360,7 @@ jobs:
          SM_CODE_SIGNING_CERT_SHA1_HASH: ${{ secrets.SM_CODE_SIGNING_CERT_SHA1_HASH }}
          CI: true
        with:
-          projectPath: ./frontend
+          projectPath: ./frontend/editor
          tauriScript: npx tauri
          # Linux: build deb+rpm only here. AppImage runs in its own
          # continue-on-error step below so its persistent linuxdeploy
@@ -382,7 +385,7 @@ jobs:
          VITE_SAAS_BACKEND_API_URL: ${{ secrets.VITE_SAAS_BACKEND_API_URL || 'https://api.stirlingpdf.com' }}
          CI: true
        with:
-          projectPath: ./frontend
+          projectPath: ./frontend/editor
          tauriScript: npx tauri
          args: --bundles appimage

@@ -400,7 +403,7 @@ jobs:
        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-15'
        run: |
          echo "🔍 Verifying notarization status..."
-          cd ./frontend/src-tauri/target
+          cd ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/target
          DMG_FILE=$(find . -name "*.dmg" | head -1)
          if [ -n "$DMG_FILE" ]; then
            echo "Found DMG: $DMG_FILE"
@@ -415,7 +418,7 @@ jobs:
        shell: bash
        run: |
          mkdir -p ./dist
-          cd ./frontend/src-tauri/target
+          cd ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/target

          # Find and rename artifacts based on platform
          if [ "${{ matrix.platform }}" = "windows-latest" ]; then
@@ -505,7 +508,7 @@ jobs:
      - name: Verify build artifacts
        shell: bash
        run: |
-          cd ./frontend/src-tauri/target
+          cd ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/target

          # Check for expected artifacts based on platform
          if [ "${{ matrix.platform }}" = "windows-latest" ]; then
@@ -536,7 +539,7 @@ jobs:
      - name: Test artifact sizes
        shell: bash
        run: |
-          cd ./frontend/src-tauri/target
+          cd ./frontend/editor/src-tauri/target
          echo "Artifact sizes for ${{ matrix.name }}:"
          find . -name "*.exe" -o -name "*.dmg" -o -name "*.deb" -o -name "*.rpm" -o -name "*.AppImage" -o -name "*.msi" | while read file; do
            if [ -f "$file" ]; then
@@ -557,7 +560,7 @@ jobs:
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -648,7 +651,7 @@ jobs:
    if: always()
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -12,11 +12,19 @@ on:
        required: false
        type: string
        default: "false"
+      depot_cores:
+        description: "Depot runner vCPU count (used in runs-on). Override for benchmarking."
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "8"

 permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  # TODO: extract a pre-matrix `prepare` job that runs once and produces
  # shared artifacts for the three matrix entries below to consume:
  #   1. `task backend:build` — currently runs 3× in parallel with
@@ -32,7 +40,14 @@ jobs:
  # spring-security=true matrix entry if `task backend:build` and
  # `task backend:build:ci` produce equivalent JARs (verify before wiring).
  test-build-docker-images:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || format('depot-ubuntu-24.04-{0}', inputs.depot_cores || '8') }}
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+    env:
+      USE_DEPOT: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork != 'true' && inputs.docker-base-changed != 'true' }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
@@ -48,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
            cache-scope: stirling-pdf-fat
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -105,10 +120,16 @@ jobs:
          DISABLE_ADDITIONAL_FEATURES: true
          STIRLING_PDF_DESKTOP_UI: false

+      - name: Set up Depot CLI
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/setup-action@15c09a5f77a0840ad4bce955686522a257853461 # v1.0.0
+
      - name: Set up QEMU
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@ce360397dd3f832beb865e1373c09c0e9f86d70a # v4.0.0

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        id: buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0

@@ -134,7 +155,22 @@ jobs:
            echo "platforms=linux/amd64,linux/arm64/v8" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
          fi

-      - name: Build ${{ matrix.docker-rev }}
+      - name: Build ${{ matrix.docker-rev }} (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: .
+          file: ./${{ matrix.docker-rev }}
+          push: false
+          platforms: ${{ steps.build-params.outputs.platforms }}
+          build-args: |
+            BASE_IMAGE=${{ steps.build-params.outputs.base_image }}
+          provenance: true
+          sbom: true
+
+      - name: Build ${{ matrix.docker-rev }} (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          builder: ${{ steps.buildx.outputs.name }}
@@ -162,24 +198,52 @@ jobs:
          if-no-files-found: warn

  test-build-unoserver-image:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || format('depot-ubuntu-24.04-{0}', inputs.depot_cores || '8') }}
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+    env:
+      USE_DEPOT: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork != 'true' && inputs.docker-base-changed != 'true' }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2

+      - name: Set up Depot CLI
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/setup-action@15c09a5f77a0840ad4bce955686522a257853461 # v1.0.0
+
      - name: Set up QEMU
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@ce360397dd3f832beb865e1373c09c0e9f86d70a # v4.0.0

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        id: buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0

-      - name: Build docker/unoserver/Dockerfile
+      - name: Build docker/unoserver/Dockerfile (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: .
+          file: ./docker/unoserver/Dockerfile
+          push: false
+          load: true
+          platforms: linux/amd64
+          tags: stirling-unoserver:pr-test
+          provenance: false
+          sbom: false
+
+      - name: Build docker/unoserver/Dockerfile (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          builder: ${{ steps.buildx.outputs.name }}
@@ -20,12 +20,22 @@ permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
+  pick:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/_runner-pick.yml
+
  deploy:
    if: ${{ vars.CI_PROFILE != 'lite' }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      id-token: write
+    env:
+      USE_DEPOT: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork != 'true' }}
+      DEPOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPOT_TOKEN }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -51,7 +61,12 @@ jobs:
          MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_PUBLIC_URL }}
          DISABLE_ADDITIONAL_FEATURES: true

+      - name: Set up Depot CLI
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/setup-action@15c09a5f77a0840ad4bce955686522a257853461 # v1.0.0
+
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0

      - name: Get version number
@@ -66,7 +81,20 @@ jobs:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_API }}

-      - name: Build and push test image
+      - name: Build and push test image (Depot)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT == 'true'
+        uses: depot/build-push-action@5f3b3c2e5a00f0093de47f657aeaefcedff27d18 # v1.16.0
+        with:
+          project: ${{ vars.DEPOT_PROJECT_ID }}
+          context: .
+          file: ./docker/embedded/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_HUB_USERNAME }}/test:test-${{ github.sha }}
+          build-args: VERSION_TAG=${{ steps.versionNumber.outputs.versionNumber }}
+          platforms: linux/amd64
+
+      - name: Build and push test image (Docker fork fallback)
+        if: env.USE_DEPOT != 'true'
        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
        with:
          context: .
@@ -125,13 +153,14 @@ jobs:
  files-changed:
    if: always()
    name: detect what files changed
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: pick
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    timeout-minutes: 3
    outputs:
      frontend: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.frontend }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden the runner (Audit all outbound calls)
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -145,12 +174,11 @@ jobs:

  test:
    if: needs.files-changed.outputs.frontend == 'true'
-    needs: [deploy, files-changed]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-
+    needs: [pick, deploy, files-changed]
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -180,13 +208,13 @@ jobs:
          FORCE_COLOR: "3"

  cleanup:
-    needs: [deploy, test]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [pick, deploy, test]
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.pick.outputs.is_fork == 'true' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'depot-ubuntu-24.04-4' }}
    if: always()

    steps:
      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@a5ad31d6a139d249332a2605b85202e8c0b78450 # v2.19.1
+        uses: step-security/harden-runner@ab7a9404c0f3da075243ca237b5fac12c98deaa5 # v2.19.3
        with:
          egress-policy: audit

@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ app/proprietary/build
 common/build
 proprietary/build
 stirling-pdf/build
-frontend/src-tauri/provisioner/target
+frontend/editor/src-tauri/provisioner/target

 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ venv.bak/

 # Env files (secrets / local overrides). Subproject .gitignore files whitelist any committed defaults.
 .env*
+!.env.saas.example

 # VS Code
 /.vscode/**/*
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
-    rev: v0.15.11
+    rev: v0.15.14
    hooks:
      - id: ruff
        args:
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ repos:
          - --skip="./.*,*.csv,*.json,*.ambr"
          - --quiet-level=2
        files: \.(html|css|js|py|md)$
-        exclude: (.vscode|.devcontainer|app/core/src/main/resources|app/proprietary/src/main/resources|frontend/public/vendor|Dockerfile|.*/pdfjs.*|.*/thirdParty.*|bootstrap.*|.*\.min\..*|.*diff\.js)
+        exclude: (.vscode|.devcontainer|app/core/src/main/resources|app/proprietary/src/main/resources|frontend/editor/public/vendor|Dockerfile|.*/pdfjs.*|.*/thirdParty.*|bootstrap.*|.*\.min\..*|.*diff\.js)
  - repo: https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks
    rev: v8.30.0
    hooks:
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ repos:
    rev: v0.24.4
    hooks:
      - id: toml-sort-fix
-        files: frontend/public/locales/.*\.toml$
+        files: frontend/editor/public/locales/.*\.toml$
        args: ['--in-place', '--all', '--ignore-case']
  # - repo: https://github.com/thibaudcolas/pre-commit-stylelint
  #   rev: v16.21.1
@@ -39,6 +39,25 @@ tasks:
      - cmd: ./gradlew clean bootRun -PbuildWithFrontend=true
        platforms: [linux, darwin]

+  dev:saas:
+    desc: "Start backend in SaaS flavor against Supabase (loads .env.saas.local)"
+    # `dotenv:` reads from the root Taskfile's directory (".") because this
+    # subtaskfile is included with `dir: .`. Drop the file at the repo root.
+    dotenv: ['.env.saas.local']
+    ignore_error: true
+    vars:
+      PORT: '{{.PORT | default "8080"}}'
+      # Override to "" to run the pure `saas` profile against your own SAAS_DB_*.
+      PROFILES: '{{.PROFILES | default "dev"}}'
+    env:
+      SERVER_PORT: '{{.PORT}}'
+      STIRLING_FLAVOR: saas
+    cmds:
+      - cmd: cmd /c ".\gradlew.bat :stirling-pdf:bootRun {{if .PROFILES}}--args=\"--spring.profiles.include={{.PROFILES}}\"{{end}}"
+        platforms: [windows]
+      - cmd: ./gradlew :stirling-pdf:bootRun {{if .PROFILES}}--args='--spring.profiles.include={{.PROFILES}}'{{end}}
+        platforms: [linux, darwin]
+
  build:
    desc: "Full backend build"
    cmds:
@@ -3,6 +3,22 @@ version: '3'
 vars:
  JLINK_MODULES: "java.base,java.compiler,java.desktop,java.instrument,java.logging,java.management,java.naming,java.net.http,java.prefs,java.rmi,java.scripting,java.security.jgss,java.security.sasl,java.sql,java.transaction.xa,java.xml,java.xml.crypto,jdk.crypto.ec,jdk.crypto.cryptoki,jdk.unsupported"

+  # Override via JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS env (csv of platform keys, or 'all').
+  JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS:
+    sh: |
+      if [ -n "${JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS:-}" ]; then
+          echo "$JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS"
+      else
+          case "{{OS}}-{{ARCH}}" in
+              darwin-arm64)  echo "darwin-arm64";;
+              darwin-amd64)  echo "darwin-x64";;
+              linux-amd64)   echo "linux-x64";;
+              linux-arm64)   echo "linux-arm64";;
+              windows-amd64) echo "windows-x64";;
+              *)             echo "all";;
+          esac
+      fi
+
 tasks:
  prepare:
    desc: "Prepare desktop build dependencies"
@@ -15,6 +31,7 @@ tasks:
  provisioner:
    desc: "Build installer provisioner"
    platforms: [windows]
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - node scripts/build-provisioner.mjs

@@ -22,41 +39,48 @@ tasks:
    desc: "Start Tauri desktop dev mode"
    deps: [prepare]
    ignore_error: true
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - npx tauri dev --no-watch

  build:
    desc: "Build Tauri desktop app (production)"
    deps: [prepare]
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - npx tauri build

  build:dev:
    desc: "Build Tauri desktop app (dev, no bundling)"
    deps: [prepare]
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - npx tauri build --no-bundle

  build:dev:mac:
    desc: "Build Tauri desktop .app bundle (macOS)"
    deps: [prepare]
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - npx tauri build --bundles app

  build:dev:windows:
    desc: "Build Tauri desktop NSIS installer (Windows)"
    deps: [prepare]
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - npx tauri build --bundles nsis

  build:dev:linux:
    desc: "Build Tauri desktop AppImage (Linux)"
    deps: [prepare]
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - npx tauri build --bundles appimage

  clean:
    desc: "Clean Tauri/Cargo build artifacts"
+    dir: editor
    cmds:
      - task: jlink:clean
      - cd src-tauri && cargo clean
@@ -71,27 +95,29 @@ tasks:
    deps: [jlink:jar, jlink:runtime]

  jlink:jar:
-    desc: "Build backend JAR for Tauri bundling"
+    desc: "Build backend JAR for Tauri bundling (host-OS natives only by default)"
    run: once
    dir: ..
    env:
      DISABLE_ADDITIONAL_FEATURES: "true"
    cmds:
-      - cmd: cmd /c gradlew.bat bootJar --no-daemon
+      - echo "Building bootJar with JPDFium natives for {{.JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS}}"
+      - cmd: cmd /c gradlew.bat bootJar --no-daemon -PjpdfiumPlatforms={{.JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS}}
        platforms: [windows]
-      - cmd: ./gradlew bootJar --no-daemon
+      - cmd: ./gradlew bootJar --no-daemon -PjpdfiumPlatforms={{.JPDFIUM_PLATFORMS}}
        platforms: [linux, darwin]
-      - mkdir -p frontend/src-tauri/libs
-      - cp app/core/build/libs/stirling-pdf-*.jar frontend/src-tauri/libs/
+      - mkdir -p frontend/editor/src-tauri/libs
+      - cp app/core/build/libs/stirling-pdf-*.jar frontend/editor/src-tauri/libs/
    status:
-      - test -f frontend/src-tauri/libs/stirling-pdf-*.jar
+      - test -f frontend/editor/src-tauri/libs/stirling-pdf-*.jar

  jlink:runtime:
    desc: "Create custom JRE with jlink"
    deps: [jlink:jar]
+    dir: editor/src-tauri
    cmds:
-      - rm -rf src-tauri/runtime/jre
-      - mkdir -p src-tauri/runtime
+      - rm -rf runtime/jre
+      - mkdir -p runtime
      - >-
        jlink
        --add-modules {{.JLINK_MODULES}}
@@ -99,14 +125,15 @@ tasks:
        --compress=zip-6
        --no-header-files
        --no-man-pages
-        --output src-tauri/runtime/jre
+        --output runtime/jre
    status:
-      - test -d src-tauri/runtime/jre
+      - test -d editor/src-tauri/runtime/jre

  jlink:clean:
    desc: "Remove JLink runtime and bundled JARs"
+    dir: editor/src-tauri
    cmds:
-      - rm -rf src-tauri/libs src-tauri/runtime
+      - rm -rf libs runtime

  # macOS-only. Replaces jlink:runtime's single-arch JRE with a universal
  # (arm64 + x86_64) one for the universal Tauri shell. Runs the x86_64
@@ -117,6 +144,7 @@ tasks:
    desc: "Create universal (arm64+x86_64) JRE for the macOS Tauri build"
    deps: [jlink:jar]
    platforms: [darwin]
+    dir: editor
    env:
      JLINK_MODULES: "{{.JLINK_MODULES}}"
      OUTPUT_DIR: src-tauri/runtime/jre
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@ version: '3'
 tasks:
  install:
    desc: "Install Playwright browsers"
-    dir: frontend
+    dir: frontend/editor
    deps: [ ':frontend:install' ]
    cmds:
      - npx playwright install {{.CLI_ARGS}} --with-deps

  stubbed:
    desc: "Run stubbed E2E tests"
-    dir: frontend
+    dir: frontend/editor
    deps: [ ':frontend:prepare' ]
    cmds:
      - npx playwright test --project=stubbed {{.CLI_ARGS}}
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ tasks:
  live:runner:
    internal: true
    deps: [ ':frontend:prepare' ]
-    dir: frontend
+    dir: frontend/editor
    vars:
      BASE_DIR: '{{.ROOT_DIR}}/.test-state/playwright'
    cmds:
@@ -141,14 +141,14 @@ tasks:
      up first with:
        task e2e:oauth:up
        task e2e:saml:up
-    dir: frontend
+    dir: frontend/editor
    deps: [ ':frontend:prepare' ]
    cmds:
      - npx playwright test --project=enterprise {{.CLI_ARGS}}

  cross-browser:
    desc: "Run stubbed E2E tests on Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit"
-    dir: frontend
+    dir: frontend/editor
    deps: [ ':frontend:prepare' ]
    cmds:
      - npx playwright test --project=stubbed --project=stubbed-firefox --project=stubbed-webkit {{.CLI_ARGS}}
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 version: '3'

+# Tasks operate from the workspace root (frontend/). Editor commands pass
+# `editor` as the vite project root (positional after `build` / before the
+# mode flag) or use `--project editor/...` for tsc — so the editor lives
+# under frontend/editor/ without each task needing a cd.
+
 tasks:
  install:
    desc: "Install dependencies"
@@ -21,19 +26,19 @@ tasks:
    vars:
      MODE: '{{.MODE | default ""}}'
    cmds:
-      - npx tsx scripts/setup-env.ts{{if .MODE}} --{{.MODE}}{{end}}
+      - npx tsx editor/scripts/setup-env.mts{{if .MODE}} --{{.MODE}}{{end}}
    sources:
-      - scripts/setup-env.ts
+      - editor/scripts/setup-env.mts
    generates:
-      - .env.local
-      - .env{{if .MODE}}.{{.MODE}}{{end}}.local
+      - editor/.env.local
+      - editor/.env{{if .MODE}}.{{.MODE}}{{end}}.local

  prepare:icons:
    internal: true
    run: once
    deps: [install]
    cmds:
-      - node scripts/generate-icons.js
+      - node editor/scripts/generate-icons.js

  prepare:
    desc: "Set up dev environment"
@@ -60,7 +65,7 @@ tasks:
    env:
      BACKEND_URL: '{{.BACKEND_URL}}'
    cmds:
-      - npx vite --mode {{.MODE}} --port {{.PORT}}{{if .OPEN}} --open{{end}}
+      - npx vite editor --mode {{.MODE}} --port {{.PORT}}{{if .OPEN}} --open{{end}}

  dev:
    desc: "Start frontend dev server"
@@ -115,19 +120,19 @@ tasks:
    desc: "Production build (default mode)"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx vite build
+      - npx vite build editor

  build:core:
    desc: "Build for core mode"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx vite build --mode core
+      - npx vite build editor --mode core

  build:proprietary:
    desc: "Build for proprietary mode"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx vite build --mode proprietary
+      - npx vite build editor --mode proprietary

  build:saas:
    desc: "Build for SaaS mode"
@@ -135,7 +140,7 @@ tasks:
      - task: prepare
        vars: { MODE: saas }
    cmds:
-      - npx vite build --mode saas
+      - npx vite build editor --mode saas

  build:desktop:
    desc: "Build for desktop mode"
@@ -143,13 +148,13 @@ tasks:
      - task: prepare
        vars: { MODE: desktop }
    cmds:
-      - npx vite build --mode desktop
+      - npx vite build editor --mode desktop

  build:prototypes:
    desc: "Build for prototypes mode"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx vite build --mode prototypes
+      - npx vite build editor --mode prototypes

  # ============================================================
  # Code quality
@@ -160,7 +165,7 @@ tasks:
    deps: [install]
    cmds:
      - npx eslint --max-warnings=0
-      - npx dpdm src --circular --no-warning --no-tree --exit-code circular:1
+      - npx dpdm editor/src --circular --no-warning --no-tree --exit-code circular:1

  lint:fix:
    desc: "Auto-fix lint issues"
@@ -195,13 +200,13 @@ tasks:
    desc: "Typecheck core build variant"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx tsc --noEmit --project src/core/tsconfig.json
+      - npx tsc --noEmit --project editor/src/core/tsconfig.json

  typecheck:proprietary:
    desc: "Typecheck proprietary build variant"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx tsc --noEmit --project src/proprietary/tsconfig.json
+      - npx tsc --noEmit --project editor/src/proprietary/tsconfig.json

  typecheck:saas:
    desc: "Typecheck SaaS build variant"
@@ -209,7 +214,7 @@ tasks:
      - task: prepare
        vars: { MODE: saas }
    cmds:
-      - npx tsc --noEmit --project src/saas/tsconfig.json
+      - npx tsc --noEmit --project editor/src/saas/tsconfig.json

  typecheck:desktop:
    desc: "Typecheck desktop build variant"
@@ -217,19 +222,19 @@ tasks:
      - task: prepare
        vars: { MODE: desktop }
    cmds:
-      - npx tsc --noEmit --project src/desktop/tsconfig.json
+      - npx tsc --noEmit --project editor/src/desktop/tsconfig.json

  typecheck:scripts:
    desc: "Typecheck scripts"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx tsc --noEmit --project scripts/tsconfig.json
+      - npx tsc --noEmit --project editor/scripts/tsconfig.json

  typecheck:prototypes:
    desc: "Typecheck prototypes build variant"
    deps: [prepare]
    cmds:
-      - npx tsc --noEmit --project src/prototypes/tsconfig.json
+      - npx tsc --noEmit --project editor/src/prototypes/tsconfig.json

  typecheck:all:
    desc: "Typecheck all build variants"
@@ -270,19 +275,19 @@ tasks:
    desc: "Run tests"
    deps: [install]
    cmds:
-      - npx vitest run
+      - npx vitest run --root editor

  test:watch:
    desc: "Run tests in watch mode"
    deps: [install]
    cmds:
-      - npx vitest --watch
+      - npx vitest --watch --root editor

  test:coverage:
    desc: "Run tests with coverage"
    deps: [install]
    cmds:
-      - npx vitest --coverage
+      - npx vitest --coverage --root editor

  # ============================================================
  # Code Generation
@@ -292,4 +297,4 @@ tasks:
    desc: "Generate frontend license report"
    deps: [install]
    cmds:
-      - node scripts/generate-licenses.js
+      - node editor/scripts/generate-licenses.js
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ When adding tools, follow this systematic approach using the established pattern

 Create these files in the correct directories:
 ```
-frontend/src/hooks/tools/[toolName]/
+frontend/editor/src/hooks/tools/[toolName]/
  ├── use[ToolName]Parameters.ts     # Parameter definitions and validation
  └── use[ToolName]Operation.ts      # Tool operation logic using useToolOperation

-frontend/src/components/tools/[toolName]/
+frontend/editor/src/components/tools/[toolName]/
  └── [ToolName]Settings.tsx         # Settings UI component (if needed)

-frontend/src/tools/
+frontend/editor/src/tools/
  └── [ToolName].tsx                 # Main tool component
 ```

@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ export default [ToolName] as ToolComponent;
 ## 3. Register Tool in System
 Update these files to register your new tool:

-**Tool Registry** (`frontend/src/data/useTranslatedToolRegistry.tsx`):
+**Tool Registry** (`frontend/editor/src/data/useTranslatedToolRegistry.tsx`):
 1. Add imports at the top:
 ```typescript
 import [ToolName] from "../tools/[ToolName]";
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ import [ToolName]Settings from "../components/tools/[toolName]/[ToolName]Setting
 ## 4. Add Tooltips (Optional but Recommended)
 Create user-friendly tooltips to help non-technical users understand your tool. **Use simple, clear language - avoid technical jargon:**

-**Tooltip Hook** (`frontend/src/components/tooltips/use[ToolName]Tips.ts`):
+**Tooltip Hook** (`frontend/editor/src/components/tooltips/use[ToolName]Tips.ts`):
 ```typescript
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import { TooltipContent } from '../../types/tips';
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ const [ToolName] = (props: BaseToolProps) => {
 ## 5. Add Translations
 Update translation files. **Important: Only update `en-GB` files** - other languages are handled separately.

-**File to update:** `frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml`
+**File to update:** `frontend/editor/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml`

 **Required Translation Keys**:
 ```toml
@@ -139,9 +139,9 @@ The project structure is defined in `engine/pyproject.toml`. Any new dependencie

 #### Environment Variables
 - All `VITE_*` variables must be declared in the appropriate committed env file:
-  - `frontend/.env` — core, proprietary, and shared vars
-  - `frontend/.env.saas` — SaaS-only vars (layered on top of `.env` in SaaS mode)
-  - `frontend/.env.desktop` — desktop (Tauri)-only vars (layered on top of `.env` in desktop mode)
+  - `frontend/editor/.env` — core, proprietary, and shared vars
+  - `frontend/editor/.env.saas` — SaaS-only vars (layered on top of `.env` in SaaS mode)
+  - `frontend/editor/.env.desktop` — desktop (Tauri)-only vars (layered on top of `.env` in desktop mode)
 - These files are committed to Git and must not contain private keys
 - Local overrides (API keys, machine-specific settings) go in uncommitted sibling `.env.local` / `.env.saas.local` / `.env.desktop.local` files — Vite automatically layers them on top
 - Never use `|| 'hardcoded-fallback'` inline — put defaults in the committed env files
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ The project structure is defined in `engine/pyproject.toml`. Any new dependencie
 #### Import Paths - CRITICAL
 **ALWAYS use `@app/*` for imports.** Do not use `@core/*` or `@proprietary/*` unless explicitly wrapping/extending a lower layer implementation.

-For a broader explanation of the frontend layering and override architecture, see [frontend/DeveloperGuide.md](frontend/DeveloperGuide.md).
+For a broader explanation of the frontend layering and override architecture, see [frontend/editor/DeveloperGuide.md](frontend/editor/DeveloperGuide.md).

 ```typescript
 // ✅ CORRECT - Use @app/* for all imports
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ Frontend designed for **stateful document processing**:
 - No file reloading between tools - performance critical for large PDFs (up to 100GB+)

 #### FileContext - Central State Management
-**Location**: `frontend/src/core/contexts/FileContext.tsx`
+**Location**: `frontend/editor/src/core/contexts/FileContext.tsx`
 - **Active files**: Currently loaded PDFs and their variants
 - **Tool navigation**: Current mode (viewer/pageEditor/fileEditor/toolName)
 - **Memory management**: PDF document cleanup, blob URL lifecycle, Web Worker management
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ Without cleanup: browser crashes with memory leaks.

 **Architecture**: Modular hook-based system with clear separation of concerns:

- **useToolOperation** (`frontend/src/core/hooks/tools/shared/useToolOperation.ts`): Main orchestrator hook
+- **useToolOperation** (`frontend/editor/src/core/hooks/tools/shared/useToolOperation.ts`): Main orchestrator hook
  - Coordinates all tool operations with consistent interface
  - Integrates with FileContext for operation tracking
  - Handles validation, error handling, and UI state management
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ return useToolOperation({
 ### Frontend Directory Structure
 The frontend is organized with a clear separation of concerns:

- **`frontend/src/core/`**: Main application code (shared, production-ready components)
+- **`frontend/editor/src/core/`**: Main application code (shared, production-ready components)
  - **`core/components/`**: React components organized by feature
    - `core/components/tools/`: Individual PDF tool implementations
    - `core/components/viewer/`: PDF viewer components
@@ -374,17 +374,17 @@ The frontend is organized with a clear separation of concerns:
  - **`core/data/`**: Static data (tool taxonomy, etc.)
  - **`core/services/`**: Business logic services (PDF processing, storage, etc.)

- **`frontend/src/desktop/`**: Desktop-specific (Tauri) code
- **`frontend/src/proprietary/`**: Proprietary/licensed features
- **`frontend/src-tauri/`**: Tauri (Rust) native desktop application code
- **`frontend/public/`**: Static assets served directly
+- **`frontend/editor/src/desktop/`**: Desktop-specific (Tauri) code
+- **`frontend/editor/src/proprietary/`**: Proprietary/licensed features
+- **`frontend/editor/src-tauri/`**: Tauri (Rust) native desktop application code
+- **`frontend/editor/public/`**: Static assets served directly
  - `public/locales/`: Translation JSON files

 ### Component Architecture
- **Static Assets**: CSS, JS, and resources in `src/main/resources/static/` (legacy) + `frontend/public/` (modern)
+- **Static Assets**: CSS, JS, and resources in `src/main/resources/static/` (legacy) + `frontend/editor/public/` (modern)
 - **Internationalization**:
  - Backend: `messages_*.properties` files
-  - Frontend: JSON files in `frontend/public/locales/` (converted from .properties)
+  - Frontend: JSON files in `frontend/editor/public/locales/` (converted from .properties)
  - Conversion Script: `scripts/convert_properties_to_json.py`

 ### Configuration Modes
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ The frontend is organized with a clear separation of concerns:
 4. **Code Style**: Spotless enforces Google Java Format automatically (`task backend:format`)
 5. **Translations**:
   - Backend: Use helper scripts in `/scripts` for multi-language updates
-   - Frontend: Update JSON files in `frontend/public/locales/` or use conversion script
+   - Frontend: Update JSON files in `frontend/editor/public/locales/` or use conversion script
 6. **Documentation**: API docs auto-generated and available at `/swagger-ui/index.html`

 ## Frontend Architecture Status
@@ -427,11 +427,11 @@ The frontend is organized with a clear separation of concerns:
 ## Translation Rules

 - **CRITICAL**: Always update translations in `en-GB` only, never `en-US`
- Translation files are located in `frontend/public/locales/`
+- Translation files are located in `frontend/editor/public/locales/`

 ## Important Notes

- **Java Version**: Minimum JDK 21, supports and recommends JDK 25
+- **Java Version**: Requires JDK 25.
 - **Lombok**: Used extensively - ensure IDE plugin is installed
 - **File Persistence**:
  - **Backend**: Designed to be stateless - files are processed in memory/temp locations only
@@ -458,3 +458,26 @@ The frontend is organized with a clear separation of concerns:
 - Confirm approach before making structural changes
 - Request guidance on preferences (cross-platform vs specific tools, etc.)
 - Verify understanding of requirements before proceeding
+
+
+## Stack reality check (don't trust LLM training data) <!-- bleeding-edge-stack-note -->
+
+This codebase is on bleeding-edge versions of its core JVM stack: **Spring Boot 4.0.6**,
+**Jackson 3 (`tools.jackson`)**, **JDK 21/25 source/target with JDK 25 toolchain**.
+All three are *post*-2024 releases and your training corpus is overwhelmingly Spring Boot 2/3 and
+Jackson 2 patterns — those patterns will compile, run differently, or hallucinate APIs that no
+longer exist.
+
+Before writing or editing Spring / Jackson / JDK code:
+
+1. Open an existing module in `app/core/` or `app/common/` and grep for the actual imports being
+   used — `import tools.jackson...` not `import com.fasterxml.jackson...`, and the new
+   `org.springframework.boot` 4.x package layout.
+2. If you're not sure whether an API exists in this stack version, **check the source on disk
+   first** (the dependency JARs are downloaded under `~/.gradle/caches/modules-2/`).
+3. Do not silently downgrade a Spring Boot 4 pattern to a Spring Boot 3 equivalent. If something
+   doesn't work, surface it to the human — don't guess.
+
+Same goes for Jackson 3's API surface (renamed `ObjectMapper` builder methods, new
+`tools.jackson.databind` namespace) and JDK 25 preview features. Ground your code in this repo's
+actual imports, not what worked three years ago.
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ This guide focuses on developing for Stirling 2.0, including both the React fron
 **Stirling 2.0** is built using:

 **Backend:**
- Spring Boot (Java 21+, JDK 25 recommended)
+- Spring Boot (requires JDK 25)
 - PDFBox for core PDF operations
 - LibreOffice for document conversions
 - qpdf for PDF optimization
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ This guide focuses on developing for Stirling 2.0, including both the React fron
 - [Task](https://taskfile.dev/installation/) — unified command runner (recommended)
 - Docker
 - Git
- Java JDK 21 or later (JDK 25 recommended)
+- Java JDK 25
 - Node.js 18+ and npm (required for frontend development)
 - Gradle 7.0 or later (Included within the repo)
 - [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) — Python package manager (required for engine development)
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ This guide focuses on developing for Stirling 2.0, including both the React fron
   cd Stirling-PDF
   ```

-2. Install Docker and JDK 21 (or JDK 25 recommended) if not already installed.
+2. Install Docker and JDK 25 if not already installed.

 3. Install a recommended Java IDE such as Eclipse, IntelliJ, or VSCode
   1. Only VSCode
@@ -128,24 +128,26 @@ See [the frontend README](frontend/README.md#tauri) for detailed build instructi
 Stirling-PDF/
 ├── .github/               # GitHub-specific files (workflows, issue templates)
 ├── configs/               # Configuration files used by stirling at runtime (generated at runtime)
-├── frontend/              # React SPA frontend (Stirling 2.0)
-│   ├── src/
-│   │   ├── components/    # React components
-│   │   ├── tools/         # Tool-specific React components
-│   │   ├── hooks/         # Custom React hooks
-│   │   ├── services/      # API and utility services
-│   │   ├── types/         # TypeScript type definitions
-│   │   └── utils/         # Utility functions
-│   ├── src-tauri/         # Tauri desktop app configuration
-│   │   ├── src/           # Rust backend code
-│   │   ├── libs/          # JAR files (generated by build scripts)
-│   │   ├── runtime/       # Bundled JRE (generated by build scripts)
-│   │   ├── Cargo.toml     # Rust dependencies
-│   │   └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri configuration
-│   ├── public/
-│   │   └── locales/       # Internationalization files (JSON)
-│   ├── package.json       # Frontend dependencies
-│   └── vite.config.ts     # Vite configuration
+├── frontend/              # Frontend workspace (Stirling 2.0)
+│   ├── editor/            # PDF editor app (the original React SPA)
+│   │   ├── src/
+│   │   │   ├── components/    # React components
+│   │   │   ├── tools/         # Tool-specific React components
+│   │   │   ├── hooks/         # Custom React hooks
+│   │   │   ├── services/      # API and utility services
+│   │   │   ├── types/         # TypeScript type definitions
+│   │   │   └── utils/         # Utility functions
+│   │   ├── src-tauri/     # Tauri desktop app configuration
+│   │   │   ├── src/           # Rust backend code
+│   │   │   ├── libs/          # JAR files (generated by build scripts)
+│   │   │   ├── runtime/       # Bundled JRE (generated by build scripts)
+│   │   │   ├── Cargo.toml     # Rust dependencies
+│   │   │   └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri configuration
+│   │   ├── public/
+│   │   │   └── locales/       # Internationalization files (JSON)
+│   │   └── vite.config.ts     # Vite configuration
+│   ├── package.json       # Shared workspace dependencies
+│   └── eslint.config.mjs  # Shared lint config
 ├── customFiles/           # Custom static files and templates (generated at runtime used to replace existing files)
 ├── docs/                  # Documentation files
 ├── exampleYmlFiles/       # Example YAML configuration files
@@ -445,7 +447,7 @@ For Stirling 2.0, new features are built as React components:

 1. **Create the React Component:**
   ```typescript
-   // frontend/src/tools/NewTool.tsx
+   // frontend/editor/src/tools/NewTool.tsx
   import { useState } from 'react';
   import { Button, FileInput, Container } from '@mantine/core';

@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ If you're using Tauri's built-in updater feature:

 ## Configuration Files

-### 1. Tauri Configuration (frontend/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json)
+### 1. Tauri Configuration (frontend/editor/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json)

 The Windows signing configuration is already set up:

@@ -60,6 +60,27 @@ dependencies {
        exclude group: 'com.google.code.gson', module: 'gson'
    }

+    api 'com.stirling:jpdfium:1.0.1'
+
+    // -PjpdfiumPlatforms=all|<csv of linux-x64,linux-arm64,darwin-x64,darwin-arm64,windows-x64>
+    def jpdfiumPlatformsProp = (project.findProperty('jpdfiumPlatforms') ?: 'all').toString().trim()
+    def jpdfiumAllPlatforms = ['linux-x64', 'linux-arm64', 'darwin-x64', 'darwin-arm64', 'windows-x64']
+    def jpdfiumPlatforms = jpdfiumPlatformsProp == 'all'
+            ? jpdfiumAllPlatforms
+            : jpdfiumPlatformsProp.split(',').collect { it.trim() }.findAll { it }
+    def jpdfiumInvalid = jpdfiumPlatforms.findAll { !jpdfiumAllPlatforms.contains(it) }
+    if (jpdfiumInvalid) {
+        throw new GradleException("Unknown jpdfiumPlatforms value(s): ${jpdfiumInvalid.join(', ')}. " +
+                "Valid: ${jpdfiumAllPlatforms.join(', ')} or 'all'.")
+    }
+    logger.lifecycle("JPDFium native platforms: ${jpdfiumPlatforms.join(', ')}")
+    jpdfiumPlatforms.each { platform ->
+        runtimeOnly "com.stirling:jpdfium-natives-${platform}:1.0.1"
+    }
+
+    // Bucket4j (local in-process token bucket for RateLimitStore default impl)
+    implementation 'com.bucket4j:bucket4j_jdk17-core:8.19.0'
+
    // ArchUnit: enforces module dependency direction (see ArchitectureTest)
    testImplementation 'com.tngtech.archunit:archunit-junit5:1.4.2'
 }
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+/** Health and identity facade for the active cluster backplane. */
+public interface ClusterBackplane {
+
+    /** Returns {@code true} when the backplane is reachable; used for health endpoints. */
+    boolean isHealthy();
+
+    /** Returns {@code "inprocess"} or {@code "valkey"}. */
+    String backplaneType();
+
+    /** Returns this JVM's stable node id (matches {@code Cluster.resolvedNodeId()}). */
+    String localNodeId();
+
+    /**
+     * Whether this JVM should run the local {@link
+     * stirling.software.common.service.TaskManager#cleanupOldJobs()} loop. Distributed backplanes
+     * own job expiry via their own TTL, so they should override this to return {@code false}.
+     * Defaults to {@code true} so in-process behavior is preserved without an explicit override.
+     */
+    default boolean shouldRunLocalCleanup() {
+        return true;
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+
+import jakarta.annotation.PostConstruct;
+
+import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties.Cluster;
+
+/**
+ * Validates that cluster mode is internally consistent.
+ *
+ * <p>Cluster settings are bound on the central {@link ApplicationProperties} under {@code
+ * cluster.*}; this class reads {@link ApplicationProperties#getCluster()} and runs guards in {@link
+ * PostConstruct}. When {@code cluster.enabled=false} (the default) all checks are skipped so a
+ * single-instance install needs no new config.
+ */
+@Slf4j
+@Configuration
+@RequiredArgsConstructor
+public class ClusterConfig {
+
+    private final ApplicationProperties applicationProperties;
+
+    @PostConstruct
+    void validate() {
+        Cluster cluster = applicationProperties.getCluster();
+        if (!cluster.isEnabled()) {
+            return;
+        }
+        String backplane = cluster.getBackplane();
+        if ("valkey".equalsIgnoreCase(backplane)) {
+            String url = cluster.getValkey() == null ? null : cluster.getValkey().getUrl();
+            if (url == null || url.isBlank()) {
+                throw new IllegalStateException(
+                        "cluster.enabled=true with backplane=valkey requires"
+                                + " cluster.valkey.url to be set (e.g."
+                                + " redis://valkey:6379).");
+            }
+        } else if ("inprocess".equalsIgnoreCase(backplane)) {
+            // enabled+inprocess only coordinates the local JVM; cross-node lookups will 410.
+            log.warn(
+                    "cluster.enabled=true with backplane=inprocess - only the local"
+                            + " JVM is coordinated. Cross-node lookups and the file proxy will fail."
+                            + " Use backplane=valkey for real multi-node deployments.");
+        } else {
+            // Fail fast on typos like "valky" so Spring doesn't later report a cryptic
+            // "no ClusterBackplane bean" - the operator-facing error names the bad value.
+            throw new IllegalStateException(
+                    "cluster.enabled=true with unknown backplane '"
+                            + backplane
+                            + "'. Valid values: inprocess | valkey.");
+        }
+        log.info(
+                "Cluster mode enabled (backplane={}, nodeRole={}, nodeId={}).",
+                backplane,
+                cluster.resolvedRole(),
+                cluster.resolvedNodeId());
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.time.Instant;
+
+/**
+ * Snapshot of a peer node as recorded in the {@link InstanceRegistry}.
+ *
+ * @param internalAddress {@code host:port} the node listens on for {@code /internal/cluster/**}
+ * @param role one of {@code WEB}, {@code WORKER}, {@code BOTH}
+ */
+public record ClusterNode(
+        String nodeId, String internalAddress, Instant lastHeartbeat, String role) {}
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+/** Cluster-wide mutual exclusion primitive; non-reentrant by contract. */
+public interface DistributedLock {
+
+    Optional<LockHandle> tryAcquire(String lockKey, Duration leaseTime);
+
+    interface LockHandle extends AutoCloseable {
+        void release();
+
+        boolean renew(Duration leaseTime);
+
+        @Override
+        default void close() {
+            release();
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+
+/** Low-level storage seam for result/job files. */
+public interface FileStore {
+
+    /** Stored file record. */
+    record Stored(String fileId, long size) {}
+
+    /** Store the given stream and return a generated file id and total bytes written. */
+    Stored store(InputStream in, String originalName) throws IOException;
+
+    /**
+     * Store the file at {@code source} and return a generated file id and total bytes written.
+     *
+     * <p>Default implementation opens {@code source} as a stream and delegates to {@link
+     * #store(InputStream, String)}. Local-disk implementations should override to use a direct
+     * file-to-file copy ({@code Files.copy(source, dest)} can use {@code sendfile(2)} on Linux),
+     * which avoids the two-memory-copy hit of streaming a disk-backed upload through the JVM heap.
+     */
+    default Stored store(Path source, String originalName) throws IOException {
+        try (InputStream in = Files.newInputStream(source)) {
+            return store(in, originalName);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** Open the stored file for streaming reads. Caller closes. */
+    InputStream retrieve(String fileId) throws IOException;
+
+    /** Load the stored file into a byte array. */
+    byte[] retrieveBytes(String fileId) throws IOException;
+
+    /** Size of the stored file in bytes. */
+    long size(String fileId) throws IOException;
+
+    /** Delete the stored file. Returns true if a file was removed. */
+    boolean delete(String fileId);
+
+    /** Whether the file id exists in the store. */
+    boolean exists(String fileId);
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+/** Maps {@code nodeId} to its internal cluster address, with TTL'd heartbeats. */
+public interface InstanceRegistry {
+
+    /** Register or refresh this node. Idempotent so a wiped backplane self-heals on next tick. */
+    void register(ClusterNode node, Duration heartbeatTtl);
+
+    Optional<ClusterNode> lookup(String nodeId);
+
+    Collection<ClusterNode> activeNodes();
+
+    void deregister(String nodeId);
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+/** Cluster-visible storage for job status and result metadata, with TTL'd entries. */
+public interface JobStore {
+
+    /** Persist or overwrite a job entry. {@code ttl} sets the lifetime of the entry. */
+    void put(JobStoreEntry entry, Duration ttl);
+
+    Optional<JobStoreEntry> get(String jobId);
+
+    void delete(String jobId);
+
+    boolean exists(String jobId);
+
+    /** Reverse lookup: which job owns this result file id? */
+    Optional<String> findJobIdByFileId(String fileId);
+
+    /** Snapshot of every active entry. Used by admin/stats endpoints; may be O(n). */
+    Collection<JobStoreEntry> all();
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+/**
+ * Cluster-visible projection of a job's status and result metadata, as persisted in {@link
+ * JobStore}.
+ *
+ * @param owningNodeId the node id that originally executed the job
+ */
+public record JobStoreEntry(
+        String jobId,
+        JobState state,
+        String owningNodeId,
+        Instant createdAt,
+        Instant completedAt,
+        String error,
+        List<String> fileIds,
+        Map<String, String> resultMeta) {
+
+    /** Lifecycle states for a job as observed by the cluster. */
+    public enum JobState {
+        PENDING,
+        RUNNING,
+        COMPLETE,
+        FAILED
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+/** Short-TTL namespaced key/value cache backed by the cluster backplane. */
+public interface KeyValueCache {
+
+    void put(String namespace, String key, String value, Duration ttl);
+
+    Optional<String> get(String namespace, String key);
+
+    void evict(String namespace, String key);
+
+    void evictNamespace(String namespace);
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+
+/** Token-bucket rate limiting backed by the cluster backplane. */
+public interface RateLimitStore {
+
+    /**
+     * Attempt to consume one token from the bucket identified by {@code bucketKey}.
+     *
+     * @param bucketKey opaque key identifying the bucket (e.g. {@code api:user:123})
+     * @param capacity bucket capacity
+     * @param refillPeriod time window over which {@code capacity} tokens refill
+     */
+    RateLimitDecision tryConsume(String bucketKey, long capacity, Duration refillPeriod);
+
+    record RateLimitDecision(boolean allowed, long remainingTokens, long nanosToWaitForRefill) {}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+/** Records one increment per sticky-session miss (a 410 Gone for a job owned by another node). */
+@FunctionalInterface
+public interface StickyMissRecorder {
+    void recordStickyMiss();
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.ClusterBackplane;
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
+
+@Slf4j
+public class InProcessClusterBackplane implements ClusterBackplane {
+
+    private final ApplicationProperties applicationProperties;
+
+    public InProcessClusterBackplane(ApplicationProperties applicationProperties) {
+        this.applicationProperties = applicationProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isHealthy() {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String backplaneType() {
+        return "inprocess";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String localNodeId() {
+        return applicationProperties.getCluster().resolvedNodeId();
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnExpression;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnMissingBean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.ClusterBackplane;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.DistributedLock;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.InstanceRegistry;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStore;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.KeyValueCache;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.RateLimitStore;
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
+
+/**
+ * Default cluster backplane wiring: every interface gets an {@code InProcess*} bean. Active when
+ * cluster mode is off or {@code cluster.backplane=inprocess}.
+ */
+@Slf4j
+@Configuration
+@ConditionalOnExpression(
+        "!${cluster.enabled:false} ||"
+                + " '${cluster.backplane:inprocess}'.equalsIgnoreCase('inprocess')")
+public class InProcessClusterConfiguration {
+
+    @Bean
+    @ConditionalOnMissingBean
+    public ClusterBackplane clusterBackplane(ApplicationProperties applicationProperties) {
+        log.info("Cluster backplane: in-process (single node)");
+        return new InProcessClusterBackplane(applicationProperties);
+    }
+
+    @Bean
+    @ConditionalOnMissingBean
+    public JobStore jobStore() {
+        return new InProcessJobStore();
+    }
+
+    @Bean
+    @ConditionalOnMissingBean
+    public RateLimitStore rateLimitStore() {
+        return new InProcessRateLimitStore();
+    }
+
+    @Bean
+    @ConditionalOnMissingBean
+    public DistributedLock distributedLock() {
+        return new InProcessDistributedLock();
+    }
+
+    @Bean
+    @ConditionalOnMissingBean
+    public KeyValueCache keyValueCache() {
+        return new InProcessKeyValueCache();
+    }
+
+    @Bean
+    @ConditionalOnMissingBean
+    public InstanceRegistry instanceRegistry() {
+        return new InProcessInstanceRegistry();
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.DistributedLock;
+
+/**
+ * In-process {@link DistributedLock}, non-reentrant per the interface contract, with lease-expiry
+ * semantics that mirror a SET-NX-EX style distributed backend.
+ *
+ * <p>Each lock state carries a per-acquire {@code ownerToken} and an {@code expiryNanos}; another
+ * caller can take over once the lease has elapsed even if the original holder never called {@link
+ * LockHandle#release()}. This matters mostly for parity with the Valkey-backed implementation
+ * (Redis {@code SETEX} auto-expires the key); within a single JVM a crashed holder takes its lock
+ * state with it, but tests and code that rely on the {@code leaseTime} parameter still need it to
+ * be honored.
+ *
+ * <p>Expiry is lazy: an expired lock state lingers in the map until the next acquire attempt for
+ * the same key replaces it. Per-key cleanup also happens on explicit {@link LockHandle#release()},
+ * so a balanced acquire/release workload keeps the map size bounded.
+ */
+public class InProcessDistributedLock implements DistributedLock {
+
+    private final ConcurrentHashMap<String, LockState> locks = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+    private final AtomicLong tokenSeq = new AtomicLong();
+
+    /**
+     * Lease state for a single acquired lock. {@code ownerToken} prevents a former holder from
+     * releasing or renewing a lock now owned by someone else after lease expiry; {@code
+     * expiryNanos} is read/written only inside {@link ConcurrentHashMap#compute} so the bin lock
+     * provides the necessary happens-before guarantee.
+     */
+    private static final class LockState {
+        final long ownerToken;
+        long expiryNanos;
+
+        LockState(long ownerToken, long expiryNanos) {
+            this.ownerToken = ownerToken;
+            this.expiryNanos = expiryNanos;
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Optional<LockHandle> tryAcquire(String lockKey, Duration leaseTime) {
+        long token = tokenSeq.incrementAndGet();
+        long nowNanos = System.nanoTime();
+        long expiryNanos = nowNanos + leaseTime.toNanos();
+        boolean[] acquired = {false};
+        locks.compute(
+                lockKey,
+                (k, existing) -> {
+                    if (existing == null || existing.expiryNanos - nowNanos <= 0L) {
+                        // No lock, or the previous lease has expired - we take it. Subtraction
+                        // form avoids the long-overflow trap that would bite a naive
+                        // expiryNanos <= nowNanos comparison around System.nanoTime() rollover.
+                        acquired[0] = true;
+                        return new LockState(token, expiryNanos);
+                    }
+                    return existing;
+                });
+        if (!acquired[0]) {
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+        return Optional.of(new InProcessHandle(lockKey, token));
+    }
+
+    private void releaseInternal(String lockKey, long token) {
+        locks.compute(
+                lockKey,
+                (k, existing) -> {
+                    if (existing == null || existing.ownerToken != token) {
+                        // Already removed, expired-and-replaced, or never ours.
+                        return existing;
+                    }
+                    return null;
+                });
+    }
+
+    private boolean renewInternal(String lockKey, long token, Duration leaseTime) {
+        long nowNanos = System.nanoTime();
+        boolean[] renewed = {false};
+        locks.compute(
+                lockKey,
+                (k, existing) -> {
+                    if (existing == null
+                            || existing.ownerToken != token
+                            || existing.expiryNanos - nowNanos <= 0L) {
+                        // Lock is gone or expired; renewal is a no-op so the caller can detect it.
+                        return existing;
+                    }
+                    existing.expiryNanos = nowNanos + leaseTime.toNanos();
+                    renewed[0] = true;
+                    return existing;
+                });
+        return renewed[0];
+    }
+
+    private final class InProcessHandle implements LockHandle {
+        private final String lockKey;
+        private final long token;
+        private boolean released;
+
+        InProcessHandle(String lockKey, long token) {
+            this.lockKey = lockKey;
+            this.token = token;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public synchronized void release() {
+            if (released) {
+                return;
+            }
+            released = true;
+            releaseInternal(lockKey, token);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public synchronized boolean renew(Duration leaseTime) {
+            if (released) {
+                return false;
+            }
+            return renewInternal(lockKey, token, leaseTime);
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.ClusterNode;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.InstanceRegistry;
+
+public class InProcessInstanceRegistry implements InstanceRegistry {
+
+    private final AtomicReference<ClusterNode> self = new AtomicReference<>();
+
+    @Override
+    public void register(ClusterNode node, Duration heartbeatTtl) {
+        self.set(node);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Optional<ClusterNode> lookup(String nodeId) {
+        ClusterNode current = self.get();
+        return current != null && current.nodeId().equals(nodeId)
+                ? Optional.of(current)
+                : Optional.empty();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Collection<ClusterNode> activeNodes() {
+        ClusterNode current = self.get();
+        return current == null ? Collections.emptyList() : Collections.singletonList(current);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void deregister(String nodeId) {
+        ClusterNode current = self.get();
+        if (current != null && current.nodeId().equals(nodeId)) {
+            self.set(null);
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStore;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry;
+
+@Slf4j
+public class InProcessJobStore implements JobStore {
+
+    private final ConcurrentHashMap<String, Holder> entries = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+
+    @Override
+    public void put(JobStoreEntry entry, Duration ttl) {
+        Instant expiry = ttl == null ? Instant.MAX : Instant.now().plus(ttl);
+        entries.put(entry.jobId(), new Holder(entry, expiry));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Optional<JobStoreEntry> get(String jobId) {
+        Holder h = entries.get(jobId);
+        if (h == null) {
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+        if (h.isExpired()) {
+            entries.remove(jobId, h);
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+        return Optional.of(h.entry);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void delete(String jobId) {
+        entries.remove(jobId);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean exists(String jobId) {
+        return get(jobId).isPresent();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Optional<String> findJobIdByFileId(String fileId) {
+        for (Map.Entry<String, Holder> e : entries.entrySet()) {
+            Holder h = e.getValue();
+            if (h.isExpired()) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            List<String> fileIds = h.entry.fileIds();
+            if (fileIds != null && fileIds.contains(fileId)) {
+                return Optional.of(e.getKey());
+            }
+        }
+        return Optional.empty();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Collection<JobStoreEntry> all() {
+        List<JobStoreEntry> result = new ArrayList<>(entries.size());
+        for (Holder h : entries.values()) {
+            if (!h.isExpired()) {
+                result.add(h.entry);
+            }
+        }
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    /** Drop entries whose TTL has elapsed. Called by the {@code TaskManager} cleanup scheduler. */
+    public int purgeExpired() {
+        int removed = 0;
+        Instant now = Instant.now();
+        for (Map.Entry<String, Holder> e : entries.entrySet()) {
+            if (!e.getValue().expiry.equals(Instant.MAX) && e.getValue().expiry.isBefore(now)) {
+                if (entries.remove(e.getKey(), e.getValue())) {
+                    removed++;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return removed;
+    }
+
+    private record Holder(JobStoreEntry entry, Instant expiry) {
+        boolean isExpired() {
+            return !expiry.equals(Instant.MAX) && expiry.isBefore(Instant.now());
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.KeyValueCache;
+
+public class InProcessKeyValueCache implements KeyValueCache {
+
+    private final ConcurrentHashMap<String, ConcurrentHashMap<String, Expiring>> namespaces =
+            new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+
+    @Override
+    public void put(String namespace, String key, String value, Duration ttl) {
+        Instant expiry = ttl == null ? Instant.MAX : Instant.now().plus(ttl);
+        namespaces
+                .computeIfAbsent(namespace, n -> new ConcurrentHashMap<>())
+                .put(key, new Expiring(value, expiry));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Optional<String> get(String namespace, String key) {
+        Map<String, Expiring> ns = namespaces.get(namespace);
+        if (ns == null) {
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+        Expiring e = ns.get(key);
+        if (e == null) {
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+        if (e.expiry.isBefore(Instant.now())) {
+            ns.remove(key, e);
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+        return Optional.of(e.value);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void evict(String namespace, String key) {
+        Map<String, Expiring> ns = namespaces.get(namespace);
+        if (ns != null) {
+            ns.remove(key);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void evictNamespace(String namespace) {
+        namespaces.remove(namespace);
+    }
+
+    private record Expiring(String value, Instant expiry) {}
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import io.github.bucket4j.Bandwidth;
+import io.github.bucket4j.Bucket;
+import io.github.bucket4j.ConsumptionProbe;
+import io.github.bucket4j.local.LocalBucketBuilder;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.RateLimitStore;
+
+/** Bucket4j-backed token bucket implementation of {@link RateLimitStore}. */
+public class InProcessRateLimitStore implements RateLimitStore {
+
+    /** Cap to bound memory; oldest accessed buckets are evicted. */
+    private static final int MAX_BUCKETS = 10_000;
+
+    private final Map<String, Bucket> buckets =
+            Collections.synchronizedMap(
+                    new LinkedHashMap<String, Bucket>(256, 0.75f, true) {
+                        @Override
+                        protected boolean removeEldestEntry(Map.Entry<String, Bucket> eldest) {
+                            return size() > MAX_BUCKETS;
+                        }
+                    });
+
+    @Override
+    public RateLimitDecision tryConsume(String bucketKey, long capacity, Duration refillPeriod) {
+        String compositeKey = bucketKey + "|" + capacity + "|" + refillPeriod.toNanos();
+        Bucket bucket =
+                buckets.computeIfAbsent(compositeKey, k -> buildBucket(capacity, refillPeriod));
+        ConsumptionProbe probe = bucket.tryConsumeAndReturnRemaining(1);
+        return new RateLimitDecision(
+                probe.isConsumed(),
+                probe.getRemainingTokens(),
+                probe.isConsumed() ? 0L : probe.getNanosToWaitForRefill());
+    }
+
+    private static Bucket buildBucket(long capacity, Duration refillPeriod) {
+        Bandwidth limit =
+                Bandwidth.builder().capacity(capacity).refillGreedy(capacity, refillPeriod).build();
+        LocalBucketBuilder builder = Bucket.builder();
+        builder.addLimit(limit);
+        return builder.build();
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.UUID;
+
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.FileStore;
+
+/** Local-disk {@link FileStore} storing files under a base directory keyed by a UUID file id. */
+@Slf4j
+public class LocalDiskFileStore implements FileStore {
+
+    private final String baseDirPath;
+
+    public LocalDiskFileStore(String baseDirPath) {
+        this.baseDirPath = baseDirPath;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Stored store(InputStream in, String originalName) throws IOException {
+        String fileId = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
+        Path filePath = resolve(fileId);
+        Files.createDirectories(filePath.getParent());
+        boolean success = false;
+        try {
+            long size = Files.copy(in, filePath);
+            success = true;
+            return new Stored(fileId, size);
+        } finally {
+            if (!success) {
+                try {
+                    Files.deleteIfExists(filePath);
+                } catch (IOException cleanupEx) {
+                    log.warn(
+                            "Failed to clean up partial file {} after store failure",
+                            filePath,
+                            cleanupEx);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * File-to-file copy. {@link Files#copy(Path, Path, java.nio.file.CopyOption...)} can use {@code
+     * sendfile(2)} on Linux for a zero-copy kernel transfer when source and destination share a
+     * filesystem, avoiding the streaming overhead of pulling the bytes through the JVM heap. Reads
+     * the source size before copying so the post-copy stat is unnecessary.
+     */
+    @Override
+    public Stored store(Path source, String originalName) throws IOException {
+        String fileId = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
+        Path filePath = resolve(fileId);
+        Files.createDirectories(filePath.getParent());
+        long size = Files.size(source);
+        boolean success = false;
+        try {
+            Files.copy(source, filePath);
+            success = true;
+            return new Stored(fileId, size);
+        } finally {
+            if (!success) {
+                try {
+                    Files.deleteIfExists(filePath);
+                } catch (IOException cleanupEx) {
+                    log.warn(
+                            "Failed to clean up partial file {} after store failure",
+                            filePath,
+                            cleanupEx);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public InputStream retrieve(String fileId) throws IOException {
+        return new BufferedInputStream(Files.newInputStream(resolve(fileId)));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public byte[] retrieveBytes(String fileId) throws IOException {
+        Path filePath = resolve(fileId);
+        if (!Files.exists(filePath)) {
+            throw new IOException("File not found with ID: " + fileId);
+        }
+        return Files.readAllBytes(filePath);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public long size(String fileId) throws IOException {
+        Path filePath = resolve(fileId);
+        if (!Files.exists(filePath)) {
+            throw new IOException("File not found with ID: " + fileId);
+        }
+        return Files.size(filePath);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean delete(String fileId) {
+        try {
+            return Files.deleteIfExists(resolve(fileId));
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            log.error("Error deleting file with ID: {}", fileId, e);
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean exists(String fileId) {
+        return Files.exists(resolve(fileId));
+    }
+
+    public Path resolve(String fileId) {
+        if (fileId.contains("..") || fileId.contains("/") || fileId.contains("\\")) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid file ID");
+        }
+        Path basePath = Path.of(baseDirPath).normalize().toAbsolutePath();
+        Path resolvedPath = basePath.resolve(fileId).normalize();
+        if (!resolvedPath.startsWith(basePath)) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("File ID resolves to an invalid path");
+        }
+        return resolvedPath;
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnMissingBean;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnProperty;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.FileStore;
+
+/**
+ * Always-on wiring for the per-node local-disk {@link FileStore}. Active when {@code
+ * cluster.artifactStore=local} (the default; {@code matchIfMissing=true}). The S3 artifact-store
+ * supplies its own bean when {@code cluster.artifactStore=s3}.
+ */
+@Configuration
+@ConditionalOnProperty(
+        prefix = "cluster",
+        name = "artifactStore",
+        havingValue = "local",
+        matchIfMissing = true)
+public class LocalDiskFileStoreConfiguration {
+
+    @Bean
+    @ConditionalOnMissingBean
+    public FileStore fileStore(@Value("${stirling.tempDir:/tmp/stirling-files}") String tempDir) {
+        return new LocalDiskFileStore(tempDir);
+    }
+}
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.UUID;

 import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
@@ -77,6 +78,7 @@ public class ApplicationProperties {
    private PdfEditor pdfEditor = new PdfEditor();
    private AiEngine aiEngine = new AiEngine();
    private InternalApi internalApi = new InternalApi();
+    private Cluster cluster = new Cluster();

    @Bean
    public PropertySource<?> dynamicYamlPropertySource(ConfigurableEnvironment environment)
@@ -254,6 +256,106 @@ public class ApplicationProperties {
        private int longRunningTimeoutSeconds = 600;
    }

+    /**
+     * Cluster backplane configuration. All keys live under the top-level {@code cluster.*} prefix
+     * (e.g. env var {@code CLUSTER_ENABLED}). The master switch is {@link #enabled} and defaults to
+     * off; when off the in-process backplane is wired and no other cluster keys are required.
+     */
+    @Data
+    public static class Cluster {
+
+        /** Master switch. When {@code false} (default) the in-process backplane is wired. */
+        private boolean enabled = false;
+
+        /** Backplane implementation selector. Valid values: {@code inprocess} | {@code valkey}. */
+        private String backplane = "inprocess";
+
+        /**
+         * Transient cluster job-artifact store selector. Valid values: {@code local} | {@code s3}.
+         *
+         * <p>This is distinct from {@code storage.provider}, which selects the backend for
+         * persistent user-uploaded files. The two switches exist because the user-facing storage
+         * feature is optional ({@code storage.enabled=false} is common) but every multi-node
+         * cluster still needs a shared artifact store to serve cross-node downloads. Both
+         * implementations share credentials from {@code storage.s3.*} when set to {@code s3}.
+         */
+        private String artifactStore = "local";
+
+        private Valkey valkey = new Valkey();
+        private Node node = new Node();
+
+        private transient String cachedNodeId;
+
+        public NodeRole resolvedRole() {
+            if (node == null || node.getRole() == null) {
+                return NodeRole.BOTH;
+            }
+            String value = node.getRole().trim().toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT);
+            try {
+                return NodeRole.valueOf(value);
+            } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+                return NodeRole.BOTH;
+            }
+        }
+
+        public synchronized String resolvedNodeId() {
+            if (node != null && node.getId() != null && !node.getId().isBlank()) {
+                return node.getId();
+            }
+            if (cachedNodeId == null) {
+                cachedNodeId = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
+            }
+            return cachedNodeId;
+        }
+
+        public enum NodeRole {
+            WEB,
+            WORKER,
+            BOTH
+        }
+
+        @Data
+        public static class Valkey {
+            /**
+             * {@code redis://host:6379} or {@code rediss://...} for TLS. Required when cluster mode
+             * is on and backplane is valkey.
+             */
+            private String url = "";
+
+            private Tls tls = new Tls();
+
+            @Data
+            public static class Tls {
+                /**
+                 * When {@code true}, skip Valkey/Redis TLS certificate verification (dev/test
+                 * only). Leave {@code false} in production.
+                 */
+                private boolean skipCertVerification = false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        @Data
+        public static class Node {
+            /** Optional explicit node id. Blank = auto-generated UUID at startup. */
+            private String id = "";
+
+            /** {@code web} | {@code worker} | {@code both}. */
+            private String role = "both";
+
+            /**
+             * Internal cluster address advertised in the instance registry (host:port). Blank =
+             * derived at startup.
+             */
+            private String internalAddress = "";
+
+            /** {@code http} | {@code https} - scheme used when peers call this node. */
+            private String scheme = "http";
+
+            /** Heartbeat publish interval for the instance registry, in milliseconds. */
+            private long heartbeatIntervalMs = 5000;
+        }
+    }
+
    /**
     * HTTP timeouts for loopback calls to internal Stirling API endpoints, used by the AI workflow
     * executor and the pipeline processor. A bounded read timeout prevents a hung tool (e.g. an
@@ -1,15 +1,13 @@
 package stirling.software.common.service;

-import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
-import java.io.BufferedOutputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
-import java.io.OutputStream;
-import java.nio.file.Files;
-import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.util.UUID;
+import java.io.PipedInputStream;
+import java.io.PipedOutputStream;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;

-import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
 import org.springframework.web.multipart.MultipartFile;
@@ -18,9 +16,11 @@ import org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.StreamingResponseBo
 import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;

+import stirling.software.common.cluster.FileStore;
+
 /**
 * Service for storing and retrieving files with unique file IDs. Used by the AutoJobPostMapping
- * system to handle file references.
+ * system to handle file references. Disk I/O is delegated to the injected {@link FileStore} bean.
 */
@Service
@RequiredArgsConstructor
@@ -30,251 +30,150 @@ public class FileStorage {
    /** Holds the result of a stream-to-disk store operation: the file ID and the bytes written. */
    public record StoredFile(String fileId, long size) {}

-    @Value("${stirling.tempDir:/tmp/stirling-files}")
-    private String tempDirPath;
-
    private final FileOrUploadService fileOrUploadService;
+    private final FileStore fileStore;

-    /**
-     * Store a file and return its unique ID
-     *
-     * @param file The file to store
-     * @return The unique ID assigned to the file
-     * @throws IOException If there is an error storing the file
-     */
    public String storeFile(MultipartFile file) throws IOException {
-        String fileId = generateFileId();
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-
-        // Ensure the directory exists
-        Files.createDirectories(filePath.getParent());
-
-        // Transfer the file to the storage location
-        file.transferTo(filePath.toFile());
-
-        log.debug("Stored file with ID: {}", fileId);
-        return fileId;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Store a byte array as a file and return its unique ID
-     *
-     * @param bytes The byte array to store
-     * @param originalName The original name of the file (for extension)
-     * @return The unique ID assigned to the file
-     * @throws IOException If there is an error storing the file
-     */
-    public String storeBytes(byte[] bytes, String originalName) throws IOException {
-        String fileId = generateFileId();
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-
-        // Ensure the directory exists
-        Files.createDirectories(filePath.getParent());
-
-        // Write the bytes to the file
-        Files.write(filePath, bytes);
-
-        log.debug("Stored byte array with ID: {}", fileId);
-        return fileId;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Retrieve a file by its ID as a MultipartFile
-     *
-     * @param fileId The ID of the file to retrieve
-     * @return The file as a MultipartFile
-     * @throws IOException If the file doesn't exist or can't be read
-     */
-    public MultipartFile retrieveFile(String fileId) throws IOException {
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-
-        if (!Files.exists(filePath)) {
-            throw new IOException("File not found with ID: " + fileId);
+        // Fast path: when Spring buffered the multipart to disk (typical for large uploads), the
+        // backing Resource exposes a real File. Hand the Path to the FileStore so it can do a
+        // file-to-file copy (Linux sendfile, no copy through Java heap) rather than streaming
+        // the bytes through an 8K buffer. Falls back to the InputStream path for in-memory
+        // multiparts, exotic Resource impls, and anything that does not back onto a File.
+        Resource res;
+        try {
+            res = file.getResource();
+        } catch (RuntimeException ignored) {
+            res = null;
        }
+        if (res != null && res.isFile()) {
+            try {
+                FileStore.Stored stored =
+                        fileStore.store(res.getFile().toPath(), file.getOriginalFilename());
+                log.debug("Stored file with ID: {} (fast path)", stored.fileId());
+                return stored.fileId();
+            } catch (IOException ex) {
+                // Some Resource impls advertise isFile()=true but throw on getFile(); fall through.
+                log.debug("Resource fast path failed, falling back to stream copy", ex);
+            }
+        }
+        try (InputStream in = file.getInputStream()) {
+            FileStore.Stored stored = fileStore.store(in, file.getOriginalFilename());
+            log.debug("Stored file with ID: {}", stored.fileId());
+            return stored.fileId();
+        }
+    }

-        byte[] fileData = Files.readAllBytes(filePath);
+    public String storeBytes(byte[] bytes, String originalName) throws IOException {
+        FileStore.Stored stored = fileStore.store(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes), originalName);
+        log.debug("Stored byte array with ID: {}", stored.fileId());
+        return stored.fileId();
+    }
+
+    public MultipartFile retrieveFile(String fileId) throws IOException {
+        byte[] fileData = fileStore.retrieveBytes(fileId);
        return fileOrUploadService.toMockMultipartFile(fileId, fileData);
    }

-    /**
-     * Retrieve a file by its ID as a byte array
-     *
-     * @param fileId The ID of the file to retrieve
-     * @return The file as a byte array
-     * @throws IOException If the file doesn't exist or can't be read
-     */
    public byte[] retrieveBytes(String fileId) throws IOException {
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-
-        if (!Files.exists(filePath)) {
-            throw new IOException("File not found with ID: " + fileId);
-        }
-
-        return Files.readAllBytes(filePath);
+        return fileStore.retrieveBytes(fileId);
    }

-    /**
-     * Retrieve a file by its ID as a streaming InputStream. The caller is responsible for closing
-     * the returned stream.
-     *
-     * @param fileId The ID of the file to retrieve
-     * @return A buffered InputStream for the file
-     * @throws IOException If the file doesn't exist or can't be read
-     */
    public InputStream retrieveInputStream(String fileId) throws IOException {
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-        // Let Files.newInputStream throw NoSuchFileException naturally — avoids TOCTOU race
-        // between exists-check and open when another thread may delete concurrently.
-        return new BufferedInputStream(Files.newInputStream(filePath));
+        return fileStore.retrieve(fileId);
    }

-    /**
-     * Store data from an InputStream as a file and return its unique ID and byte count. Streams
-     * directly to disk without buffering the entire content in heap.
-     *
-     * @param inputStream The input stream to read from
-     * @param originalName The original name of the file (unused, kept for API symmetry)
-     * @return A {@link StoredFile} containing the file ID and the number of bytes written
-     * @throws IOException If there is an error storing the file
-     */
    public StoredFile storeInputStream(InputStream inputStream, String originalName)
            throws IOException {
-        String fileId = generateFileId();
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-        Files.createDirectories(filePath.getParent());
-        long size = Files.copy(inputStream, filePath);
-        log.debug("Stored input stream with ID: {}", fileId);
-        return new StoredFile(fileId, size);
+        FileStore.Stored stored = fileStore.store(inputStream, originalName);
+        log.debug("Stored input stream with ID: {}", stored.fileId());
+        return new StoredFile(stored.fileId(), stored.size());
    }

    public String storeFromStreamingBody(StreamingResponseBody body, String originalName)
            throws IOException {
-        String fileId = generateFileId();
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-        Files.createDirectories(filePath.getParent());
-        boolean success = false;
-        try (OutputStream os = new BufferedOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(filePath))) {
-            body.writeTo(os);
-            success = true;
-        } finally {
-            if (!success) {
+        // Hold Throwable not IOException: an unchecked failure (NPE, IllegalState, OOM, etc.)
+        // from the body writer would otherwise close the pipe with EOF and the consumer would
+        // return a truncated file with no error surfaced to the caller.
+        AtomicReference<Throwable> bodyError = new AtomicReference<>();
+        try (PipedOutputStream out = new PipedOutputStream();
+                PipedInputStream in = new PipedInputStream(out, 8192)) {
+            var executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor(Thread.ofVirtual().factory());
+            java.util.concurrent.Future<?> task = null;
+            try {
+                task =
+                        executor.submit(
+                                () -> {
+                                    try {
+                                        body.writeTo(out);
+                                    } catch (Throwable ex) {
+                                        bodyError.set(ex);
+                                    } finally {
+                                        try {
+                                            out.close();
+                                        } catch (IOException ignored) {
+                                            // closed on the consumer side too
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                });
+                FileStore.Stored stored = fileStore.store(in, originalName);
+                Throwable writerErr = bodyError.get();
+                if (writerErr != null) {
+                    // Body failed mid-write: the FileStore persisted a truncated entry.
+                    // Best-effort delete so we don't leak partial files; never let cleanup
+                    // mask the original writer error.
+                    try {
+                        fileStore.delete(stored.fileId());
+                    } catch (RuntimeException cleanupEx) {
+                        log.warn(
+                                "Failed to delete partial file {} after writer error: {}",
+                                stored.fileId(),
+                                cleanupEx.getMessage());
+                    }
+                    if (writerErr instanceof IOException ioe) {
+                        throw ioe;
+                    }
+                    throw new IOException(
+                            "StreamingResponseBody writer failed: " + writerErr.getMessage(),
+                            writerErr);
+                }
+                log.debug("Stored StreamingResponseBody with ID: {}", stored.fileId());
+                return stored.fileId();
+            } finally {
+                // Interrupt and join the writer task: shutdown() alone returns immediately and a
+                // failed store leaves the writer running, leaking a thread per failed upload.
+                if (task != null && !task.isDone()) {
+                    task.cancel(true);
+                }
+                executor.shutdown();
                try {
-                    Files.deleteIfExists(filePath);
-                } catch (IOException cleanupEx) {
-                    log.warn(
-                            "Failed to clean up partial file {} after store failure",
-                            filePath,
-                            cleanupEx);
+                    if (!executor.awaitTermination(5, java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+                        executor.shutdownNow();
+                    }
+                } catch (InterruptedException ie) {
+                    executor.shutdownNow();
+                    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
                }
            }
        }
-        log.debug("Stored StreamingResponseBody with ID: {}", fileId);
-        return fileId;
    }

-    /**
-     * Persist a {@link Resource} body to disk, returning the generated file ID. Used by the async
-     * job pipeline to capture {@code ResponseEntity<Resource>} results produced by controllers.
-     */
    public String storeFromResource(Resource resource, String originalName) throws IOException {
-        String fileId = generateFileId();
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-        Files.createDirectories(filePath.getParent());
-        boolean success = false;
        try (InputStream in = resource.getInputStream()) {
-            Files.copy(in, filePath);
-            success = true;
-        } finally {
-            if (!success) {
-                try {
-                    Files.deleteIfExists(filePath);
-                } catch (IOException cleanupEx) {
-                    log.warn(
-                            "Failed to clean up partial file {} after store failure",
-                            filePath,
-                            cleanupEx);
-                }
-            }
+            FileStore.Stored stored = fileStore.store(in, originalName);
+            log.debug("Stored Resource with ID: {}", stored.fileId());
+            return stored.fileId();
        }
-        log.debug("Stored Resource with ID: {}", fileId);
-        return fileId;
    }

-    /**
-     * Delete a file by its ID
-     *
-     * @param fileId The ID of the file to delete
-     * @return true if the file was deleted, false otherwise
-     */
    public boolean deleteFile(String fileId) {
-        try {
-            Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-            return Files.deleteIfExists(filePath);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            log.error("Error deleting file with ID: {}", fileId, e);
-            return false;
-        }
+        return fileStore.delete(fileId);
    }

-    /**
-     * Check if a file exists by its ID
-     *
-     * @param fileId The ID of the file to check
-     * @return true if the file exists, false otherwise
-     */
    public boolean fileExists(String fileId) {
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-        return Files.exists(filePath);
+        return fileStore.exists(fileId);
    }

-    /**
-     * Get the size of a file by its ID without loading the content into memory
-     *
-     * @param fileId The ID of the file
-     * @return The size of the file in bytes
-     * @throws IOException If the file doesn't exist or can't be read
-     */
    public long getFileSize(String fileId) throws IOException {
-        Path filePath = getFilePath(fileId);
-
-        if (!Files.exists(filePath)) {
-            throw new IOException("File not found with ID: " + fileId);
-        }
-
-        return Files.size(filePath);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Get the path for a file ID
-     *
-     * @param fileId The ID of the file
-     * @return The path to the file
-     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if fileId contains path traversal characters or resolves
-     *     outside base directory
-     */
-    private Path getFilePath(String fileId) {
-        // Validate fileId to prevent path traversal
-        if (fileId.contains("..") || fileId.contains("/") || fileId.contains("\\")) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid file ID");
-        }
-
-        Path basePath = Path.of(tempDirPath).normalize().toAbsolutePath();
-        Path resolvedPath = basePath.resolve(fileId).normalize();
-
-        // Ensure resolved path is within the base directory
-        if (!resolvedPath.startsWith(basePath)) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("File ID resolves to an invalid path");
-        }
-
-        return resolvedPath;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Generate a unique file ID
-     *
-     * @return A unique file ID
-     */
-    private String generateFileId() {
-        return UUID.randomUUID().toString();
+        return fileStore.size(fileId);
    }
 }
@@ -3,9 +3,13 @@ package stirling.software.common.service;
 import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.Instant;
 import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+import java.time.ZoneId;
 import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -16,6 +20,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
 import java.util.zip.ZipInputStream;

+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
@@ -26,6 +31,10 @@ import jakarta.annotation.PreDestroy;

 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;

+import stirling.software.common.cluster.ClusterBackplane;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStore;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry.JobState;
 import stirling.software.common.model.job.JobResult;
 import stirling.software.common.model.job.JobStats;
 import stirling.software.common.model.job.ResultFile;
@@ -40,20 +49,20 @@ public class TaskManager {
    private int jobResultExpiryMinutes = 30;

    private final FileStorage fileStorage;
+    private final JobStore jobStore;
+    private final ClusterBackplane clusterBackplane;
    private final ScheduledExecutorService cleanupExecutor =
            Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor(
                    Thread.ofVirtual().name("task-cleanup-", 0).factory());

-    /** Initialize the task manager and start the cleanup scheduler */
-    public TaskManager(FileStorage fileStorage) {
+    @Autowired
+    public TaskManager(
+            FileStorage fileStorage, JobStore jobStore, ClusterBackplane clusterBackplane) {
        this.fileStorage = fileStorage;
+        this.jobStore = jobStore;
+        this.clusterBackplane = clusterBackplane;

-        // Schedule periodic cleanup of old job results
-        cleanupExecutor.scheduleAtFixedRate(
-                this::cleanupOldJobs,
-                10, // Initial delay
-                10, // Interval
-                TimeUnit.MINUTES);
+        cleanupExecutor.scheduleAtFixedRate(this::cleanupOldJobs, 10, 10, TimeUnit.MINUTES);

        log.debug(
                "Task manager initialized with job result expiry of {} minutes",
@@ -66,7 +75,9 @@ public class TaskManager {
     * @param jobId The job ID
     */
    public void createTask(String jobId) {
-        jobResults.put(jobId, JobResult.createNew(jobId));
+        JobResult result = JobResult.createNew(jobId);
+        jobResults.put(jobId, result);
+        writeThrough(jobId, result);
        log.debug("Created task with job ID: {}", jobId);
    }

@@ -79,6 +90,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
    public void setResult(String jobId, Object result) {
        JobResult jobResult = getOrCreateJobResult(jobId);
        jobResult.completeWithResult(result);
+        writeThrough(jobId, jobResult);
        log.debug("Set result for job ID: {}", jobId);
    }

@@ -101,6 +113,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
                        extractZipToIndividualFiles(fileId, originalFileName);
                if (!extractedFiles.isEmpty()) {
                    jobResult.completeWithFiles(extractedFiles);
+                    writeThrough(jobId, jobResult);
                    log.debug(
                            "Set multiple file results for job ID: {} with {} files extracted from"
                                    + " ZIP",
@@ -127,6 +140,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
                    "Failed to get file size for job {}: {}. Using size 0.", jobId, e.getMessage());
            jobResult.completeWithSingleFile(fileId, originalFileName, contentType, 0);
        }
+        writeThrough(jobId, jobResult);
    }

    /**
@@ -138,6 +152,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
    public void setMultipleFileResults(String jobId, List<ResultFile> resultFiles) {
        JobResult jobResult = getOrCreateJobResult(jobId);
        jobResult.completeWithFiles(resultFiles);
+        writeThrough(jobId, jobResult);
        log.debug(
                "Set multiple file results for job ID: {} with {} files",
                jobId,
@@ -153,6 +168,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
    public void setError(String jobId, String error) {
        JobResult jobResult = getOrCreateJobResult(jobId);
        jobResult.failWithError(error);
+        writeThrough(jobId, jobResult);
        log.debug("Set error for job ID: {}: {}", jobId, error);
    }

@@ -169,6 +185,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
            // If no result or error has been set, mark it as complete with an empty result
            jobResult.completeWithResult("Task completed successfully");
        }
+        writeThrough(jobId, jobResult);
        log.debug("Marked job ID: {} as complete", jobId);
    }

@@ -205,6 +222,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
        JobResult jobResult = jobResults.get(jobId);
        if (jobResult != null) {
            jobResult.addNote(note);
+            writeThrough(jobId, jobResult);
            log.debug("Added note to job ID: {}: {}", jobId, note);
            return true;
        }
@@ -295,8 +313,11 @@ public class TaskManager {
        return jobResults.computeIfAbsent(jobId, JobResult::createNew);
    }

-    /** Clean up old completed job results */
+    /** Clean up old completed job results. No-op in cluster mode; the backplane TTL owns expiry. */
    public void cleanupOldJobs() {
+        if (clusterBackplane != null && !clusterBackplane.shouldRunLocalCleanup()) {
+            return;
+        }
        LocalDateTime expiryThreshold =
                LocalDateTime.now().minus(jobResultExpiryMinutes, ChronoUnit.MINUTES);
        int removedCount = 0;
@@ -315,6 +336,9 @@ public class TaskManager {

                    // Remove the job result
                    jobResults.remove(entry.getKey());
+                    if (jobStore != null) {
+                        jobStore.delete(entry.getKey());
+                    }
                    removedCount++;
                }
            }
@@ -327,6 +351,53 @@ public class TaskManager {
        }
    }

+    /** Mirror the in-memory {@code JobResult} into the cluster-visible {@link JobStore}. */
+    private void writeThrough(String jobId, JobResult result) {
+        if (jobStore == null) {
+            return;
+        }
+        try {
+            jobStore.put(toEntry(jobId, result), Duration.ofMinutes(jobResultExpiryMinutes));
+        } catch (RuntimeException ex) {
+            log.warn("JobStore write-through failed for job {}: {}", jobId, ex.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+
+    private JobStoreEntry toEntry(String jobId, JobResult result) {
+        JobState state;
+        if (result.isComplete()) {
+            state = result.getError() != null ? JobState.FAILED : JobState.COMPLETE;
+        } else {
+            state = JobState.PENDING;
+        }
+        Instant createdAt = toInstant(result.getCreatedAt());
+        Instant completedAt = toInstant(result.getCompletedAt());
+        List<String> fileIds = new ArrayList<>();
+        if (result.hasFiles()) {
+            for (ResultFile rf : result.getAllResultFiles()) {
+                fileIds.add(rf.getFileId());
+            }
+        }
+        Map<String, String> meta = new HashMap<>();
+        if (result.getNotes() != null && !result.getNotes().isEmpty()) {
+            meta.put("notesCount", Integer.toString(result.getNotes().size()));
+        }
+        String owningNodeId = clusterBackplane == null ? "local" : clusterBackplane.localNodeId();
+        return new JobStoreEntry(
+                jobId,
+                state,
+                owningNodeId,
+                createdAt,
+                completedAt,
+                result.getError(),
+                fileIds,
+                meta);
+    }
+
+    private Instant toInstant(LocalDateTime ldt) {
+        return ldt == null ? null : ldt.atZone(ZoneId.systemDefault()).toInstant();
+    }
+
    /** Shutdown the cleanup executor */
    @PreDestroy
    public void shutdown() {
@@ -370,7 +441,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
            while ((entry = zipIn.getNextEntry()) != null) {
                if (!entry.isDirectory()) {
                    String contentType = determineContentType(entry.getName());
-                    // storeInputStream returns the fileId and byte count — no extra stat needed
+                    // storeInputStream returns the fileId and byte count - no extra stat needed
                    FileStorage.StoredFile stored =
                            fileStorage.storeInputStream(zipIn, entry.getName());

@@ -458,7 +529,8 @@ public class TaskManager {
    }

    /**
-     * Find the job key that owns a given file ID.
+     * Find the job key that owns a given file ID. Checks the local in-memory map first, then falls
+     * back to the cluster-visible {@link JobStore}.
     *
     * @param fileId file identifier to look up
     * @return scoped job key if found, otherwise null
@@ -474,6 +546,18 @@ public class TaskManager {
                }
            }
        }
+        if (jobStore != null) {
+            // Propagate JobStore failures: returning null on a backplane outage would conflate
+            // "no such file" with "lookup unavailable" and the caller would respond 404 to a
+            // transient blip that should be retried. Let Spring's exception handler surface a
+            // 5xx so clients know to retry.
+            try {
+                return jobStore.findJobIdByFileId(fileId).orElse(null);
+            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+                log.warn("JobStore findJobIdByFileId failed for {}: {}", fileId, e.getMessage());
+                throw e;
+            }
+        }
        return null;
    }
 }
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public class RequestUriUtils {
                        "/api/v1/ui-data/footer-info") // Public footer configuration
                || trimmedUri.startsWith("/api/v1/invite/validate")
                || trimmedUri.startsWith("/api/v1/invite/accept")
-                // Health Endoints
+                // Health Endpoints
                || trimmedUri.startsWith("/actuator/health")
                || trimmedUri.startsWith("/health")
                || trimmedUri.startsWith("/healthz")
@@ -56,4 +56,17 @@ class ArchitectureTest {
                        .resideInAPackage("stirling.software.saas..");
        rule.check(commonClasses);
    }
+
+    @Test
+    void clusterInterfacesHaveNoImplementationDependencies() {
+        ArchRule rule =
+                noClasses()
+                        .that()
+                        .resideInAPackage("stirling.software.common.cluster..")
+                        .should()
+                        .dependOnClassesThat()
+                        .resideInAnyPackage(
+                                "stirling.software.proprietary..", "stirling.software.saas..");
+        rule.check(commonClasses);
+    }
 }
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+class BackplaneContractCompilationTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void jobStoreEntryRecordRoundTrips() {
+        Instant now = Instant.now();
+        JobStoreEntry entry =
+                new JobStoreEntry(
+                        "job-1",
+                        JobStoreEntry.JobState.PENDING,
+                        "node-a",
+                        now,
+                        null,
+                        null,
+                        List.of("file-1"),
+                        Map.of("k", "v"));
+        assertEquals("job-1", entry.jobId());
+        assertEquals(JobStoreEntry.JobState.PENDING, entry.state());
+        assertEquals("node-a", entry.owningNodeId());
+        assertEquals(now, entry.createdAt());
+        assertEquals(List.of("file-1"), entry.fileIds());
+        assertEquals("v", entry.resultMeta().get("k"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void clusterNodeRecordRoundTrips() {
+        Instant heartbeat = Instant.now();
+        ClusterNode node = new ClusterNode("node-a", "10.0.0.1:8080", heartbeat, "BOTH");
+        assertEquals("node-a", node.nodeId());
+        assertEquals("10.0.0.1:8080", node.internalAddress());
+        assertEquals(heartbeat, node.lastHeartbeat());
+        assertEquals("BOTH", node.role());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void rateLimitDecisionRecordRoundTrips() {
+        RateLimitStore.RateLimitDecision d = new RateLimitStore.RateLimitDecision(true, 7, 0L);
+        assertEquals(true, d.allowed());
+        assertEquals(7, d.remainingTokens());
+        assertEquals(0L, d.nanosToWaitForRefill());
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties.Cluster;
+
+class ClusterConfigValidationTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void validationPassesWhenDisabled() {
+        ApplicationProperties props = new ApplicationProperties();
+        ClusterConfig config = new ClusterConfig(props);
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> invokeValidate(config));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void validationFailsWhenValkeyEnabledWithoutUrl() {
+        ApplicationProperties props = new ApplicationProperties();
+        Cluster cluster = props.getCluster();
+        cluster.setEnabled(true);
+        cluster.setBackplane("valkey");
+        ClusterConfig config = new ClusterConfig(props);
+        assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, () -> invokeValidate(config));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void validationPassesWhenValkeyEnabledWithUrl() {
+        ApplicationProperties props = new ApplicationProperties();
+        Cluster cluster = props.getCluster();
+        cluster.setEnabled(true);
+        cluster.setBackplane("valkey");
+        cluster.getValkey().setUrl("redis://localhost:6379");
+        ClusterConfig config = new ClusterConfig(props);
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> invokeValidate(config));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void validationPassesWhenInProcessEnabled() {
+        ApplicationProperties props = new ApplicationProperties();
+        Cluster cluster = props.getCluster();
+        cluster.setEnabled(true);
+        cluster.setBackplane("inprocess");
+        ClusterConfig config = new ClusterConfig(props);
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> invokeValidate(config));
+    }
+
+    private void invokeValidate(ClusterConfig config) throws Exception {
+        Method m = ClusterConfig.class.getDeclaredMethod("validate");
+        m.setAccessible(true);
+        try {
+            m.invoke(config);
+        } catch (java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException ex) {
+            if (ex.getCause() instanceof RuntimeException re) {
+                throw re;
+            }
+            throw ex;
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties.Cluster;
+
+class ClusterPropertiesTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void defaultsAreDisabledAndInprocess() {
+        Cluster props = new ApplicationProperties().getCluster();
+        assertFalse(props.isEnabled());
+        assertEquals("inprocess", props.getBackplane());
+        assertEquals("local", props.getArtifactStore());
+        assertEquals(Cluster.NodeRole.BOTH, props.resolvedRole());
+        assertEquals("", props.getValkey().getUrl());
+        assertFalse(props.getValkey().getTls().isSkipCertVerification());
+        assertEquals("both", props.getNode().getRole());
+        assertEquals("http", props.getNode().getScheme());
+        assertEquals(5000L, props.getNode().getHeartbeatIntervalMs());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void resolvedRoleParsesCaseInsensitively() {
+        Cluster props = new ApplicationProperties().getCluster();
+        props.getNode().setRole("WEB");
+        assertEquals(Cluster.NodeRole.WEB, props.resolvedRole());
+
+        props.getNode().setRole("web");
+        assertEquals(Cluster.NodeRole.WEB, props.resolvedRole());
+
+        props.getNode().setRole("Worker");
+        assertEquals(Cluster.NodeRole.WORKER, props.resolvedRole());
+
+        props.getNode().setRole("garbage");
+        assertEquals(Cluster.NodeRole.BOTH, props.resolvedRole());
+
+        props.getNode().setRole(null);
+        assertEquals(Cluster.NodeRole.BOTH, props.resolvedRole());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void resolvedNodeIdIsStableAcrossCalls() {
+        Cluster props = new ApplicationProperties().getCluster();
+        String first = props.resolvedNodeId();
+        String second = props.resolvedNodeId();
+        assertNotNull(first);
+        assertEquals(first, second);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void resolvedNodeIdHonoursExplicitId() {
+        Cluster props = new ApplicationProperties().getCluster();
+        props.getNode().setId("abc");
+        assertEquals("abc", props.resolvedNodeId());
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.context.PropertyPlaceholderAutoConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.boot.test.context.runner.ApplicationContextRunner;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess.InProcessClusterConfiguration;
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
+
+/**
+ * Verifies the {@link InProcessClusterConfiguration} conditional wiring: in-process beans wire when
+ * cluster mode is off or {@code backplane=inprocess}, and are skipped when {@code
+ * backplane=valkey}.
+ */
+class InProcessConfigurationConditionalTest {
+
+    private final ApplicationContextRunner runner =
+            new ApplicationContextRunner()
+                    .withConfiguration(
+                            org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.AutoConfigurations.of(
+                                    PropertyPlaceholderAutoConfiguration.class))
+                    .withUserConfiguration(
+                            TestAppPropertiesConfig.class,
+                            ClusterConfig.class,
+                            InProcessClusterConfiguration.class);
+
+    @Test
+    void inProcessBeansWireWhenClusterDisabled() {
+        runner.run(
+                context ->
+                        assertThat(context)
+                                .hasNotFailed()
+                                .hasSingleBean(ClusterBackplane.class)
+                                .hasSingleBean(JobStore.class)
+                                .hasSingleBean(RateLimitStore.class)
+                                .hasSingleBean(DistributedLock.class)
+                                .hasSingleBean(KeyValueCache.class)
+                                .hasSingleBean(InstanceRegistry.class));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void inProcessBeansWireWhenEnabledWithInProcessBackplane() {
+        runner.withPropertyValues("cluster.enabled=true", "cluster.backplane=inprocess")
+                .run(
+                        context ->
+                                assertThat(context)
+                                        .hasNotFailed()
+                                        .hasSingleBean(ClusterBackplane.class)
+                                        .hasSingleBean(JobStore.class)
+                                        .hasSingleBean(RateLimitStore.class)
+                                        .hasSingleBean(DistributedLock.class)
+                                        .hasSingleBean(KeyValueCache.class)
+                                        .hasSingleBean(InstanceRegistry.class));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void inProcessBeansSkippedWhenEnabledWithDistributedBackplane() {
+        runner.withPropertyValues(
+                        "cluster.enabled=true",
+                        "cluster.backplane=valkey",
+                        "cluster.valkey.url=redis://localhost:6379")
+                .run(
+                        context ->
+                                assertThat(context)
+                                        .hasNotFailed()
+                                        .doesNotHaveBean(ClusterBackplane.class)
+                                        .doesNotHaveBean(JobStore.class)
+                                        .doesNotHaveBean(RateLimitStore.class)
+                                        .doesNotHaveBean(DistributedLock.class)
+                                        .doesNotHaveBean(KeyValueCache.class)
+                                        .doesNotHaveBean(InstanceRegistry.class));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Hand-rolled {@link ApplicationProperties} bean: the production class loads YAML at startup
+     * via a {@code @PostConstruct} hook that isn't appropriate for the slice runner, so we wire a
+     * defaults-only instance here.
+     */
+    @Configuration
+    static class TestAppPropertiesConfig {
+        @Bean
+        ApplicationProperties applicationProperties() {
+            return new ApplicationProperties();
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.DistributedLock;
+
+class InProcessDistributedLockTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void acquireReleaseAcquire() {
+        DistributedLock lock = new InProcessDistributedLock();
+        DistributedLock.LockHandle h1 = lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).orElseThrow();
+        h1.release();
+        assertTrue(lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).isPresent());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void reentryFromSameThreadFails() {
+        DistributedLock lock = new InProcessDistributedLock();
+        DistributedLock.LockHandle h1 = lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).orElseThrow();
+        Optional<DistributedLock.LockHandle> reentry = lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30));
+        assertFalse(reentry.isPresent(), "in-process lock must be non-reentrant");
+        h1.release();
+        // After release, anyone can acquire again.
+        assertTrue(lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).isPresent());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void secondAcquireFromAnotherThreadFails() throws InterruptedException {
+        DistributedLock lock = new InProcessDistributedLock();
+        DistributedLock.LockHandle h1 = lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).orElseThrow();
+
+        CountDownLatch done = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        AtomicBoolean acquired = new AtomicBoolean(true);
+        Thread t =
+                new Thread(
+                        () -> {
+                            Optional<DistributedLock.LockHandle> attempt =
+                                    lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30));
+                            acquired.set(attempt.isPresent());
+                            attempt.ifPresent(DistributedLock.LockHandle::release);
+                            done.countDown();
+                        });
+        t.start();
+        assertTrue(done.await(2, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+        assertFalse(acquired.get());
+        h1.release();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void leaseExpiryAllowsTakeoverEvenWithoutRelease() throws InterruptedException {
+        // Acquire with a short lease, never call release, then try to acquire again after the
+        // lease has elapsed. Matches Redis SET-NX-EX semantics - the second caller gets the lock
+        // because the first lease auto-expired. 250ms lease + 350ms wait gives CI generous slack.
+        DistributedLock lock = new InProcessDistributedLock();
+        DistributedLock.LockHandle h1 = lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofMillis(250)).orElseThrow();
+        Thread.sleep(350);
+        Optional<DistributedLock.LockHandle> takeover =
+                lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30));
+        assertTrue(
+                takeover.isPresent(),
+                "expired lease must release the lock so a new caller can take over");
+        // Calling release() on the original handle after takeover must be a no-op (token check).
+        h1.release();
+        // The takeover holder is still the legitimate owner.
+        assertFalse(lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).isPresent());
+        takeover.get().release();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void renewExtendsLease() throws InterruptedException {
+        // Acquire with a short lease, renew it before it expires, then verify the lock is still
+        // held past the original expiry point. 200ms initial + renew to 2s + wait 350ms.
+        DistributedLock lock = new InProcessDistributedLock();
+        DistributedLock.LockHandle h1 = lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofMillis(200)).orElseThrow();
+        assertTrue(h1.renew(Duration.ofSeconds(2)), "renew on a held lease must succeed");
+        Thread.sleep(350);
+        assertFalse(
+                lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).isPresent(),
+                "renew should have pushed expiry well past the original 200ms");
+        h1.release();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void renewAfterReleaseFails() {
+        DistributedLock lock = new InProcessDistributedLock();
+        DistributedLock.LockHandle h1 = lock.tryAcquire("k", Duration.ofSeconds(30)).orElseThrow();
+        h1.release();
+        assertFalse(h1.renew(Duration.ofSeconds(30)), "renew on a released handle must fail");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Concurrency stress: many threads contending on the same key with each holder respecting the
+     * lease (hold &lt;&lt; lease). The lock behaves as a strict mutex in this regime so asserting
+     * mutual exclusion is meaningful. A separate test ({@link
+     * #leaseExpiryAllowsTakeoverEvenWithoutRelease}) covers the takeover-across-expiry branch,
+     * which legitimately allows two holders momentarily and is split-brain behaviour inherent to
+     * any lease-based lock.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void concurrentContentionPreservesMutualExclusion() throws InterruptedException {
+        DistributedLock lock = new InProcessDistributedLock();
+        int threads = 16;
+        int attemptsPerThread = 200;
+        // Lease far exceeds any plausible hold time, so the takeover branch never triggers in
+        // this test and the lock acts as a strict mutex.
+        Duration lease = Duration.ofSeconds(5);
+        java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger concurrentHolders =
+                new java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger();
+        java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger maxConcurrent =
+                new java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger();
+        java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger acquires =
+                new java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger();
+        java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference<Throwable> firstFailure =
+                new java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference<>();
+        CountDownLatch start = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        CountDownLatch done = new CountDownLatch(threads);
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < threads; i++) {
+            new Thread(
+                            () -> {
+                                try {
+                                    start.await();
+                                    for (int j = 0; j < attemptsPerThread; j++) {
+                                        Optional<DistributedLock.LockHandle> h =
+                                                lock.tryAcquire("hot", lease);
+                                        if (h.isPresent()) {
+                                            int now = concurrentHolders.incrementAndGet();
+                                            maxConcurrent.accumulateAndGet(now, Math::max);
+                                            acquires.incrementAndGet();
+                                            // Trivial critical section; well within lease.
+                                            concurrentHolders.decrementAndGet();
+                                            h.get().release();
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                } catch (Throwable t) {
+                                    firstFailure.compareAndSet(null, t);
+                                } finally {
+                                    done.countDown();
+                                }
+                            },
+                            "lock-stress-" + i)
+                    .start();
+        }
+        start.countDown();
+        assertTrue(done.await(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS), "stress workers must finish in time");
+        org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull(firstFailure.get(), "no worker may throw");
+        org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals(
+                1,
+                maxConcurrent.get(),
+                "mutual exclusion violated: more than one holder observed simultaneously");
+        assertTrue(
+                acquires.get() > 0,
+                "at least some acquires must succeed under contention (saw "
+                        + acquires.get()
+                        + ")");
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.Instant;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.ClusterNode;
+
+class InProcessInstanceRegistryTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void registerThenLookupAndActiveNodes() {
+        InProcessInstanceRegistry registry = new InProcessInstanceRegistry();
+        ClusterNode node = new ClusterNode("node-1", "127.0.0.1:8080", Instant.now(), "BOTH");
+        registry.register(node, Duration.ofSeconds(30));
+
+        assertTrue(registry.lookup("node-1").isPresent());
+        assertEquals("node-1", registry.lookup("node-1").get().nodeId());
+        assertEquals(1, registry.activeNodes().size());
+
+        registry.deregister("node-1");
+        assertTrue(registry.lookup("node-1").isEmpty());
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry;
+
+class InProcessJobStoreTest {
+
+    private final InProcessJobStore store = new InProcessJobStore();
+
+    @Test
+    void putGetDeleteExistsRoundTrip() {
+        JobStoreEntry entry = entry("job-1");
+        store.put(entry, Duration.ofMinutes(30));
+
+        assertTrue(store.exists("job-1"));
+        assertEquals(entry, store.get("job-1").orElseThrow());
+
+        store.delete("job-1");
+        assertFalse(store.exists("job-1"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void ttlExpiry() throws InterruptedException {
+        store.put(entry("job-2"), Duration.ofMillis(50));
+        Thread.sleep(100);
+        assertFalse(store.get("job-2").isPresent());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void purgeExpiredRemovesOnlyStaleEntries() throws InterruptedException {
+        store.put(entry("job-fresh"), Duration.ofMinutes(30));
+        store.put(entry("job-stale"), Duration.ofMillis(20));
+        Thread.sleep(80);
+
+        int removed = store.purgeExpired();
+        assertEquals(1, removed);
+        assertTrue(store.exists("job-fresh"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void findJobIdByFileIdReturnsTheRightJob() {
+        store.put(
+                new JobStoreEntry(
+                        "job-a",
+                        JobStoreEntry.JobState.COMPLETE,
+                        "node-1",
+                        Instant.now(),
+                        Instant.now(),
+                        null,
+                        List.of("file-1", "file-2"),
+                        Map.of()),
+                Duration.ofMinutes(30));
+        store.put(
+                new JobStoreEntry(
+                        "job-b",
+                        JobStoreEntry.JobState.COMPLETE,
+                        "node-1",
+                        Instant.now(),
+                        Instant.now(),
+                        null,
+                        List.of("file-3"),
+                        Map.of()),
+                Duration.ofMinutes(30));
+
+        assertEquals("job-a", store.findJobIdByFileId("file-1").orElseThrow());
+        assertEquals("job-b", store.findJobIdByFileId("file-3").orElseThrow());
+        assertFalse(store.findJobIdByFileId("missing").isPresent());
+    }
+
+    private JobStoreEntry entry(String id) {
+        return new JobStoreEntry(
+                id,
+                JobStoreEntry.JobState.PENDING,
+                "node-1",
+                Instant.now(),
+                null,
+                null,
+                List.of(),
+                Map.of());
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.KeyValueCache;
+
+class InProcessKeyValueCacheTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void putGetEvict() {
+        KeyValueCache cache = new InProcessKeyValueCache();
+        cache.put("apikey", "a", "userA", Duration.ofMinutes(1));
+        assertEquals("userA", cache.get("apikey", "a").orElseThrow());
+
+        cache.evict("apikey", "a");
+        assertFalse(cache.get("apikey", "a").isPresent());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void ttlExpiry() throws InterruptedException {
+        KeyValueCache cache = new InProcessKeyValueCache();
+        cache.put("ns", "k", "v", Duration.ofMillis(40));
+        Thread.sleep(80);
+        assertFalse(cache.get("ns", "k").isPresent());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void evictNamespace() {
+        KeyValueCache cache = new InProcessKeyValueCache();
+        cache.put("ns", "a", "1", Duration.ofMinutes(1));
+        cache.put("ns", "b", "2", Duration.ofMinutes(1));
+        cache.evictNamespace("ns");
+        assertFalse(cache.get("ns", "a").isPresent());
+        assertFalse(cache.get("ns", "b").isPresent());
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.RateLimitStore;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.RateLimitStore.RateLimitDecision;
+
+class InProcessRateLimitStoreTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void firstNConsumesAllowed() {
+        RateLimitStore store = new InProcessRateLimitStore();
+        for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+            assertTrue(store.tryConsume("k", 5, Duration.ofSeconds(60)).allowed(), "i=" + i);
+        }
+        assertFalse(store.tryConsume("k", 5, Duration.ofSeconds(60)).allowed());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void remainingTokensDecrements() {
+        RateLimitStore store = new InProcessRateLimitStore();
+        RateLimitDecision d1 = store.tryConsume("k", 5, Duration.ofSeconds(60));
+        RateLimitDecision d2 = store.tryConsume("k", 5, Duration.ofSeconds(60));
+        assertTrue(d1.allowed());
+        assertTrue(d2.allowed());
+        assertEquals(4, d1.remainingTokens());
+        assertEquals(3, d2.remainingTokens());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void refillRestoresTokens() throws InterruptedException {
+        RateLimitStore store = new InProcessRateLimitStore();
+        // Capacity 2 with smooth refill over 100 ms -> ~1 token per 50 ms.
+        for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
+            assertTrue(store.tryConsume("k", 2, Duration.ofMillis(100)).allowed());
+        }
+        assertFalse(store.tryConsume("k", 2, Duration.ofMillis(100)).allowed());
+        Thread.sleep(150);
+        assertTrue(store.tryConsume("k", 2, Duration.ofMillis(100)).allowed());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void deniedConsumeReportsWaitNanos() {
+        RateLimitStore store = new InProcessRateLimitStore();
+        assertTrue(store.tryConsume("wait", 1, Duration.ofSeconds(10)).allowed());
+        RateLimitDecision denied = store.tryConsume("wait", 1, Duration.ofSeconds(10));
+        assertFalse(denied.allowed());
+        assertTrue(denied.nanosToWaitForRefill() > 0L);
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.FileStore;
+
+class LocalDiskFileStoreTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void storeRetrieveSizeDeleteExistsRoundTrip(@TempDir Path dir) throws IOException {
+        LocalDiskFileStore store = new LocalDiskFileStore(dir.toString());
+        byte[] payload = "hello-bytes".getBytes();
+
+        FileStore.Stored stored = store.store(new ByteArrayInputStream(payload), "x.txt");
+        assertEquals(payload.length, stored.size());
+        assertTrue(store.exists(stored.fileId()));
+        assertEquals(payload.length, store.size(stored.fileId()));
+        assertArrayEquals(payload, store.retrieveBytes(stored.fileId()));
+
+        assertTrue(store.delete(stored.fileId()));
+        assertFalse(store.exists(stored.fileId()));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void traversalIdsAreRejected(@TempDir Path dir) {
+        LocalDiskFileStore store = new LocalDiskFileStore(dir.toString());
+        assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> store.resolve("../foo"));
+        assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> store.resolve("a/b"));
+        assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> store.resolve("a\\b"));
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package stirling.software.common.jpdfium;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
+
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfDocument;
+
+class JPDFiumSmokeTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void opensExamplePdfAndReadsPageCount(@TempDir Path tmp) throws IOException {
+        Path pdf = tmp.resolve("example.pdf");
+        try (InputStream in = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/example.pdf")) {
+            assertNotNull(in, "example.pdf must exist under src/test/resources");
+            Files.copy(in, pdf);
+        }
+
+        try (PdfDocument doc = PdfDocument.open(pdf)) {
+            assertTrue(
+                    doc.pageCount() >= 1,
+                    "PdfDocument should report at least one page for example.pdf");
+        }
+    }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package stirling.software.common.service;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess.LocalDiskFileStore;
+
+class FileStorageDelegationTest {
+
+    @Test
+    void storeBytesThenRetrieveBytesRoundTripsThroughFileStore(@TempDir Path tempDir)
+            throws IOException {
+        FileStorage fs =
+                new FileStorage(
+                        mock(FileOrUploadService.class),
+                        new LocalDiskFileStore(tempDir.toString()));
+        byte[] payload = "round-trip".getBytes();
+        String id = fs.storeBytes(payload, "x.bin");
+        assertArrayEquals(payload, fs.retrieveBytes(id));
+    }
+}
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package stirling.software.common.service;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;

+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
@@ -13,29 +14,30 @@ import java.util.stream.Stream;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
-import org.mockito.InjectMocks;
 import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
 import org.springframework.core.io.ByteArrayResource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
-import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
 import org.springframework.web.multipart.MultipartFile;

+import stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess.LocalDiskFileStore;
+
 class FileStorageTest {

    @TempDir Path tempDir;

    @Mock private FileOrUploadService fileOrUploadService;

-    @InjectMocks private FileStorage fileStorage;
+    private FileStorage fileStorage;

    private MultipartFile mockFile;

    @BeforeEach
-    void setUp() {
+    void setUp() throws IOException {
        MockitoAnnotations.openMocks(this);
-        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(fileStorage, "tempDirPath", tempDir.toString());
+        fileStorage =
+                new FileStorage(fileOrUploadService, new LocalDiskFileStore(tempDir.toString()));

        // Create a mock MultipartFile
        mockFile = mock(MultipartFile.class);
@@ -47,17 +49,7 @@ class FileStorageTest {
    void testStoreFile() throws IOException {
        // Arrange
        byte[] fileContent = "Test PDF content".getBytes();
-        when(mockFile.getBytes()).thenReturn(fileContent);
-
-        // Set up mock to handle transferTo by writing the file
-        doAnswer(
-                        invocation -> {
-                            java.io.File file = invocation.getArgument(0);
-                            Files.write(file.toPath(), fileContent);
-                            return null;
-                        })
-                .when(mockFile)
-                .transferTo(any(java.io.File.class));
+        when(mockFile.getInputStream()).thenReturn(new ByteArrayInputStream(fileContent));

        // Act
        String fileId = fileStorage.storeFile(mockFile);
@@ -65,7 +57,7 @@ class FileStorageTest {
        // Assert
        assertNotNull(fileId);
        assertTrue(Files.exists(tempDir.resolve(fileId)));
-        verify(mockFile).transferTo(any(java.io.File.class));
+        assertArrayEquals(fileContent, Files.readAllBytes(tempDir.resolve(fileId)));
    }

    @Test
@@ -247,11 +239,11 @@ class FileStorageTest {
            filesBefore = s.count();
        }

-        // Act + Assert: IOException must propagate out — not be swallowed.
+        // Act + Assert: IOException must propagate out - not be swallowed.
        assertThrows(
                IOException.class, () -> fileStorage.storeFromResource(flakyResource, "n.pdf"));

-        // Assert: no partial file lingers under the storage directory — the finally
+        // Assert: no partial file lingers under the storage directory - the finally
        // branch's deleteIfExists must have cleaned it up.
        long filesAfter;
        try (Stream<Path> s = Files.list(tempDir)) {
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+package stirling.software.common.service;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+
+import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
+import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
+
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.ClusterBackplane;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry.JobState;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess.InProcessClusterBackplane;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.inprocess.InProcessJobStore;
+import stirling.software.common.model.ApplicationProperties;
+import stirling.software.common.model.job.JobResult;
+
+class TaskManagerJobStoreDelegationTest {
+
+    @Mock private FileStorage fileStorage;
+
+    private InProcessJobStore jobStore;
+    private ClusterBackplane backplane;
+    private TaskManager taskManager;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setUp() {
+        MockitoAnnotations.openMocks(this);
+        jobStore = spy(new InProcessJobStore());
+        backplane = new InProcessClusterBackplane(new ApplicationProperties());
+        taskManager = new TaskManager(fileStorage, jobStore, backplane);
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(taskManager, "jobResultExpiryMinutes", 30);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void createTaskWritesPendingEntry() {
+        taskManager.createTask("job-1");
+        JobStoreEntry entry = jobStore.get("job-1").orElseThrow();
+        assertEquals(JobState.PENDING, entry.state());
+        assertEquals(backplane.localNodeId(), entry.owningNodeId());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void setCompleteFlipsToComplete() {
+        taskManager.createTask("job-2");
+        taskManager.setResult("job-2", "ok");
+        taskManager.setComplete("job-2");
+        JobStoreEntry entry = jobStore.get("job-2").orElseThrow();
+        assertEquals(JobState.COMPLETE, entry.state());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void setErrorFlipsToFailed() {
+        taskManager.createTask("job-3");
+        taskManager.setError("job-3", "boom");
+        JobStoreEntry entry = jobStore.get("job-3").orElseThrow();
+        assertEquals(JobState.FAILED, entry.state());
+        assertEquals("boom", entry.error());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void cleanupOldJobsIsNoopWhenBackplaneIsNotInProcess() {
+        ClusterBackplane mockedValkeyBackplane =
+                new ClusterBackplane() {
+                    @Override
+                    public boolean isHealthy() {
+                        return true;
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public String backplaneType() {
+                        return "valkey";
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public String localNodeId() {
+                        return "node-1";
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    public boolean shouldRunLocalCleanup() {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+                };
+        TaskManager tm = new TaskManager(fileStorage, jobStore, mockedValkeyBackplane);
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(tm, "jobResultExpiryMinutes", 30);
+        tm.createTask("job-4");
+        tm.setComplete("job-4");
+        ageJobPastExpiry(tm, "job-4");
+        tm.cleanupOldJobs();
+        // cleanup must short-circuit before touching jobStore in cluster mode; the backplane
+        // TTL owns expiry there. If the gate fired correctly, delete is never called.
+        verify(jobStore, never()).delete(any());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void cleanupOldJobsDeletesFromJobStoreWhenBackplaneIsInProcess() {
+        taskManager.createTask("job-5");
+        taskManager.setComplete("job-5");
+        ageJobPastExpiry(taskManager, "job-5");
+        taskManager.cleanupOldJobs();
+        verify(jobStore).delete("job-5");
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    private static void ageJobPastExpiry(TaskManager tm, String jobId) {
+        var jobResults =
+                (java.util.Map<String, JobResult>) ReflectionTestUtils.getField(tm, "jobResults");
+        JobResult result = jobResults.get(jobId);
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(result, "completedAt", LocalDateTime.now().minusHours(2));
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(result, "complete", true);
+    }
+}
@@ -1,20 +1,28 @@
 package stirling.software.common.service;

 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;

 import java.time.LocalDateTime;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;

 import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
 import org.mockito.InjectMocks;
 import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
 import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;

+import stirling.software.common.cluster.ClusterBackplane;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStore;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry;
+import stirling.software.common.cluster.JobStoreEntry.JobState;
 import stirling.software.common.model.job.JobResult;
 import stirling.software.common.model.job.JobStats;
 import stirling.software.common.model.job.ResultFile;
@@ -22,6 +30,8 @@ import stirling.software.common.model.job.ResultFile;
 class TaskManagerTest {

    @Mock private FileStorage fileStorage;
+    @Mock private JobStore jobStore;
+    @Mock private ClusterBackplane clusterBackplane;

    @InjectMocks private TaskManager taskManager;

@@ -30,6 +40,10 @@ class TaskManagerTest {
    @BeforeEach
    void setUp() {
        closeable = MockitoAnnotations.openMocks(this);
+        // Treat the backplane as in-process so cleanupOldJobs is not short-circuited.
+        lenient().when(clusterBackplane.backplaneType()).thenReturn("inprocess");
+        lenient().when(clusterBackplane.localNodeId()).thenReturn("test-node");
+        lenient().when(clusterBackplane.shouldRunLocalCleanup()).thenReturn(true);
        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(taskManager, "jobResultExpiryMinutes", 30);
    }

@@ -270,6 +284,33 @@ class TaskManagerTest {
        verify(fileStorage).deleteFile("file-id");
    }

+    @Test
+    void testCleanupOldJobs_NoOpWhenBackplaneOwnsExpiry() {
+        // When the backplane reports it should NOT run local cleanup (e.g. a distributed
+        // backplane with its own TTL), the cleanup loop must leave local state untouched.
+        when(clusterBackplane.shouldRunLocalCleanup()).thenReturn(false);
+
+        // Seed an old completed job that would normally be removed.
+        String oldJobId = "old-job-distributed";
+        taskManager.createTask(oldJobId);
+        JobResult oldJob = taskManager.getJobResult(oldJobId);
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(oldJob, "completedAt", LocalDateTime.now().minusHours(1));
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(oldJob, "complete", true);
+
+        Map<String, JobResult> jobResultsMap =
+                (Map<String, JobResult>) ReflectionTestUtils.getField(taskManager, "jobResults");
+        assertNotNull(jobResultsMap);
+        assertTrue(jobResultsMap.containsKey(oldJobId));
+
+        // Act
+        taskManager.cleanupOldJobs();
+
+        // Assert: nothing was removed locally, and no jobStore.delete was issued.
+        assertTrue(jobResultsMap.containsKey(oldJobId));
+        verify(jobStore, never()).delete(anyString());
+        verify(fileStorage, never()).deleteFile(anyString());
+    }
+
    @Test
    void testShutdown() {
        // This mainly tests that the shutdown method doesn't throw exceptions
@@ -310,4 +351,33 @@ class TaskManagerTest {
        // Assert
        assertFalse(result);
    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testWriteThroughOnUpdate() {
+        // Mutating calls must write through to the injected JobStore.
+        String jobId = "write-through-job";
+        taskManager.createTask(jobId);
+        taskManager.setResult(jobId, "done");
+
+        ArgumentCaptor<JobStoreEntry> captor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(JobStoreEntry.class);
+        verify(jobStore, atLeast(2)).put(captor.capture(), any());
+
+        JobStoreEntry last = captor.getValue();
+        assertEquals(jobId, last.jobId());
+        assertEquals(JobState.COMPLETE, last.state());
+        assertEquals("test-node", last.owningNodeId());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testFindJobKeyByFileId_FallsBackToJobStore() {
+        // When the file id is not in the local map, TaskManager delegates to JobStore.
+        String fileId = "remote-file-id";
+        String expectedJobKey = "remote-job-key";
+        when(jobStore.findJobIdByFileId(fileId)).thenReturn(Optional.of(expectedJobKey));
+
+        String actual = taskManager.findJobKeyByFileId(fileId);
+
+        assertEquals(expectedJobKey, actual);
+        verify(jobStore).findJobIdByFileId(fileId);
+    }
 }
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ bootJar {
    manifest {
        attributes(
            'Implementation-Title': 'Stirling-PDF',
-            'Implementation-Version': project.version
+            'Implementation-Version': project.version,
+            'Enable-Native-Access': 'ALL-UNNAMED'
        )
    }
 }
@@ -175,6 +176,9 @@ springBoot {
 // Frontend build tasks - only enabled with -PbuildWithFrontend=true
 def buildWithFrontend = project.hasProperty('buildWithFrontend') && project.property('buildWithFrontend') == 'true'
 def buildPrototypes = project.hasProperty('prototypesMode') && project.property('prototypesMode') == 'true'
+// Workspace root holds package.json and node_modules (shared across editor /
+// future portal). Editor-specific paths (src, public, dist, tauri) live one
+// level deeper under frontend/editor/.

 // Vite mode: -PprototypesMode > -PfrontendMode > enableSaas > disableAdditional > proprietary.
 def frontendModeOverride = project.findProperty('frontendMode')?.toString()?.toLowerCase()
@@ -192,8 +196,13 @@ if (buildPrototypes) {
 }
 def frontendBuildTask = "frontend:build:${frontendMode}"

+// Workspace root holds package.json and node_modules (shared across editor /
+// future portal). Editor-specific paths (src, public, dist, tauri) live one
+// level deeper under frontend/editor/. When the portal lands as an embedded
+// app, add a sibling frontendPortalDir / frontendPortalDistDir alongside.
 def frontendDir = file('../../frontend')
-def frontendDistDir = file('../../frontend/dist')
+def frontendEditorDir = file('../../frontend/editor')
+def frontendEditorDistDir = file('../../frontend/editor/dist')
 def resourcesStaticDir = file('src/main/resources/static')
 def generatedFrontendPaths = [
    'assets',
@@ -258,13 +267,13 @@ tasks.register('npmBuild', Exec) {
    doNotTrackState("Frontend build depends on untracked npmInstall task")
    enabled = buildWithFrontend
    group = 'frontend'
-    description = 'Build frontend application'
+    description = 'Build editor frontend application'
    workingDir file('../..')
    commandLine = ['task', frontendBuildTask]
-    inputs.dir(new File(frontendDir, 'src'))
-    inputs.dir(new File(frontendDir, 'public'))
+    inputs.dir(new File(frontendEditorDir, 'src'))
+    inputs.dir(new File(frontendEditorDir, 'public'))
    inputs.file(new File(frontendDir, 'package.json'))
-    outputs.dir(frontendDistDir)
+    outputs.dir(frontendEditorDistDir)

    // Show live output
    standardOutput = System.out
@@ -275,17 +284,17 @@ tasks.register('npmBuild', Exec) {
    environment 'VITE_API_BASE_URL', '/'

    doFirst {
-        println "Building frontend application for production (mode=${frontendMode}, VITE_API_BASE_URL=/)"
+        println "Building editor frontend application for production (mode=${frontendMode}, VITE_API_BASE_URL=/)"
    }
 }

 tasks.register('copyFrontendAssets', Copy) {
    enabled = buildWithFrontend
    group = 'frontend'
-    description = 'Copy frontend build to static resources'
+    description = 'Copy editor frontend build to static resources'
    dependsOn npmBuild
    dependsOn cleanFrontendAssets
-    from(frontendDistDir) {
+    from(frontendEditorDistDir) {
        // Exclude files that conflict with backend static resources
        exclude 'robots.txt'  // Backend already has this
        exclude 'favicon.ico' // Backend already has this
@@ -293,7 +302,7 @@ tasks.register('copyFrontendAssets', Copy) {
    into resourcesStaticDir
    duplicatesStrategy = DuplicatesStrategy.INCLUDE  // Let frontend overwrite when needed
    doFirst {
-        println "Copying frontend build from ${frontendDistDir} to ${resourcesStaticDir}..."
+        println "Copying frontend build from ${frontendEditorDistDir} to ${resourcesStaticDir}..."
        println "Backend static resources will be preserved"
    }
    doLast {
@@ -325,7 +334,7 @@ tasks.named('copyFrontendAssets').configure {
 }

 if (buildWithFrontend) {
-    println "Frontend build enabled - JAR will include React frontend (mode=${frontendMode})"
+    println "Editor frontend build enabled - JAR will include React frontend (mode=${frontendMode})"
    processResources.dependsOn copyFrontendAssets
 } else {
    println "Frontend build disabled - JAR will be backend-only with API landing page"
@@ -3,13 +3,14 @@ package stirling.software.SPDF.controller.api;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;

-import org.apache.pdfbox.multipdf.PDFMergerUtility;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocument;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocumentCatalog;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocumentInformation;
@@ -47,6 +48,11 @@ import stirling.software.common.util.PdfErrorUtils;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFile;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFileManager;
 import stirling.software.common.util.WebResponseUtils;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfDocument;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfMerge;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.doc.Bookmark;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.doc.PdfBookmarkEditor;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.doc.PdfBookmarkEditor.BookmarkTree;

@GeneralApi
@Slf4j
@@ -57,7 +63,6 @@ public class MergeController {
    private final CustomPDFDocumentFactory pdfDocumentFactory;
    private final TempFileManager tempFileManager;

-    // Merges a list of PDDocument objects into a single PDDocument
    public PDDocument mergeDocuments(List<PDDocument> documents) throws IOException {
        PDDocument mergedDoc = pdfDocumentFactory.createNewDocument();
        boolean success = false;
@@ -76,11 +81,8 @@ public class MergeController {
        }
    }

-    // Re-order files to match the explicit order provided by the front-end.
-    // fileOrder is newline-delimited original filenames in the desired order.
    private static MultipartFile[] reorderFilesByProvidedOrder(
            MultipartFile[] files, String fileOrder) {
-        // Split by various line endings and trim each entry
        String[] desired =
                stirling.software.common.util.RegexPatternUtils.getInstance()
                        .getNewlineSplitPattern()
@@ -107,7 +109,6 @@ public class MergeController {
        return ordered.toArray(new MultipartFile[0]);
    }

-    // Returns a comparator for sorting MultipartFile arrays based on the given sort type
    private Comparator<MultipartFile> getSortComparator(String sortType) {
        return switch (sortType) {
            case "byFileName" ->
@@ -155,18 +156,16 @@ public class MergeController {
                            return 0;
                        }
                    };
-            case "orderProvided" -> (file1, file2) -> 0; // Default is the order provided
-            default -> (file1, file2) -> 0; // Default is the order provided
+            case "orderProvided" -> (file1, file2) -> 0;
+            default -> (file1, file2) -> 0;
        };
    }

-    // Parse client file IDs from JSON string
    private String[] parseClientFileIds(String clientFileIds) {
        if (clientFileIds == null || clientFileIds.trim().isEmpty()) {
            return new String[0];
        }
        try {
-            // Simple JSON array parsing - remove brackets and split by comma
            String trimmed = clientFileIds.trim();
            if (trimmed.startsWith("[") && trimmed.endsWith("]")) {
                String inside = trimmed.substring(1, trimmed.length() - 1).trim();
@@ -186,39 +185,29 @@ public class MergeController {
        return new String[0];
    }

-    // Adds a table of contents to the merged document using filenames as chapter titles
    private void addTableOfContents(PDDocument mergedDocument, MultipartFile[] files) {
-        // Create the document outline
        PDDocumentOutline outline = new PDDocumentOutline();
        mergedDocument.getDocumentCatalog().setDocumentOutline(outline);

-        int pageIndex = 0; // Current page index in the merged document
-
-        // Iterate through the original files
+        int pageIndex = 0;
        for (MultipartFile file : files) {
-            // Get the filename without extension to use as bookmark title
            String filename = file.getOriginalFilename();
            String title = GeneralUtils.removeExtension(filename);

-            // Create an outline item for this file
            PDOutlineItem item = new PDOutlineItem();
            item.setTitle(title);

-            // Set the destination to the first page of this file in the merged document
            if (pageIndex < mergedDocument.getNumberOfPages()) {
                PDPage page = mergedDocument.getPage(pageIndex);
                item.setDestination(page);
            }
-
-            // Add the item to the outline
            outline.addLast(item);

-            // Increment page index for the next file
            try (PDDocument doc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(file)) {
                pageIndex += doc.getNumberOfPages();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                ExceptionUtils.logException("document loading for TOC generation", e);
-                pageIndex++; // Increment by at least one if we can't determine page count
+                pageIndex++;
            }
        }
    }
@@ -236,7 +225,6 @@ public class MergeController {
                    }
                }

-                // Fallback to XMP metadata if Info dates are missing
                PDMetadata metadata = doc.getDocumentCatalog().getMetadata();
                if (metadata != null) {
                    try (InputStream is = metadata.createInputStream()) {
@@ -287,7 +275,7 @@ public class MergeController {
            @ModelAttribute MergePdfsRequest request,
            @RequestParam(value = "fileOrder", required = false) String fileOrder)
            throws IOException {
-        List<File> filesToDelete = new ArrayList<>(); // List of temporary files to delete
+        List<File> filesToDelete = new ArrayList<>();
        TempFile outputTempFile = null;

        boolean removeCertSign = Boolean.TRUE.equals(request.getRemoveCertSign());
@@ -298,48 +286,35 @@ public class MergeController {
            files = new MultipartFile[0];
        }

-        // If front-end provided explicit visible order, honor it and override backend sorting
        if (fileOrder != null && !fileOrder.isBlank()) {
            log.info("Reordering files based on fileOrder parameter");
            files = reorderFilesByProvidedOrder(files, fileOrder);
        } else {
            log.info("Sorting files based on sortType: {}", request.getSortType());
-            Arrays.sort(
-                    files,
-                    getSortComparator(
-                            request.getSortType())); // Sort files based on requested sort type
+            Arrays.sort(files, getSortComparator(request.getSortType()));
        }

        try (TempFile mt = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf")) {

-            PDFMergerUtility mergerUtility = new PDFMergerUtility();
-            long totalSize = 0;
+            List<Path> inputPaths = new ArrayList<>(files.length);
            List<Integer> invalidIndexes = new ArrayList<>();
            for (int index = 0; index < files.length; index++) {
                MultipartFile multipartFile = files[index];
-                totalSize += multipartFile.getSize();
-                File tempFile =
-                        tempFileManager.convertMultipartFileToFile(
-                                multipartFile); // Convert MultipartFile to File
-                filesToDelete.add(tempFile); // Add temp file to the list for later deletion
+                File tempFile = tempFileManager.convertMultipartFileToFile(multipartFile);
+                filesToDelete.add(tempFile);
+                inputPaths.add(tempFile.toPath());

-                // Pre-validate each PDF so we can report which one(s) are broken
-                // Use the original MultipartFile to avoid deleting the tempFile during validation
-                try (PDDocument ignored = pdfDocumentFactory.load(multipartFile)) {
-                    // OK
-                } catch (IOException e) {
+                try (PdfDocument ignored = PdfDocument.open(tempFile.toPath())) {
+                } catch (Exception e) {
                    ExceptionUtils.logException("PDF pre-validate", e);
                    invalidIndexes.add(index);
                }
-                mergerUtility.addSource(tempFile); // Add source file to the merger utility
            }

-            mergerUtility.setDestinationFileName(mt.getFile().getAbsolutePath());
-
+            int[] pageCounts;
            try {
-                mergerUtility.mergeDocuments(
-                        pdfDocumentFactory.getStreamCacheFunction(
-                                totalSize)); // Merge the documents
+                pageCounts =
+                        mergeWithJpdfium(inputPaths, files, generateToc, mt.getFile().toPath());
            } catch (IOException e) {
                ExceptionUtils.logException("PDF merge", e);
                if (PdfErrorUtils.isCorruptedPdfError(e)) {
@@ -348,10 +323,26 @@ public class MergeController {
                throw e;
            }

-            // Load the merged PDF document and operate on it inside try-with-resources
-            try (PDDocument mergedDocument = pdfDocumentFactory.load(mt.getFile())) {
-                // Remove signatures if removeCertSign is true
-                if (removeCertSign) {
+            boolean sigFlattenNeeded = false;
+            if (removeCertSign) {
+                try (PdfDocument check = PdfDocument.open(mt.getFile().toPath())) {
+                    sigFlattenNeeded = !check.signatures().isEmpty();
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    log.debug(
+                            "JPDFium signature pre-check failed; falling back to PDFBox flatten:"
+                                    + " {}",
+                            e.getMessage());
+                    sigFlattenNeeded = true;
+                }
+                if (!sigFlattenNeeded) {
+                    log.info(
+                            "removeCertSign requested but merged document has no signature"
+                                    + " fields; skipping PDFBox flatten pass");
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (sigFlattenNeeded) {
+                try (PDDocument mergedDocument = pdfDocumentFactory.load(mt.getFile())) {
                    PDDocumentCatalog catalog = mergedDocument.getDocumentCatalog();
                    PDAcroForm acroForm = catalog.getAcroForm();
                    if (acroForm != null) {
@@ -359,24 +350,26 @@ public class MergeController {
                                acroForm.getFields().stream()
                                        .filter(PDSignatureField.class::isInstance)
                                        .toList();
-
                        if (!fieldsToRemove.isEmpty()) {
-                            acroForm.flatten(
-                                    fieldsToRemove,
-                                    false); // Flatten the fields, effectively removing them
+                            acroForm.flatten(fieldsToRemove, false);
                        }
                    }
+                    outputTempFile = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf");
+                    try {
+                        mergedDocument.save(outputTempFile.getFile());
+                    } catch (Exception e) {
+                        outputTempFile.close();
+                        outputTempFile = null;
+                        throw e;
+                    }
                }
-
-                // Add table of contents if generateToc is true
-                if (generateToc && files.length > 0) {
-                    addTableOfContents(mergedDocument, files);
-                }
-
-                // Save the modified document to a temporary file
+            } else {
                outputTempFile = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf");
                try {
-                    mergedDocument.save(outputTempFile.getFile());
+                    Files.copy(
+                            mt.getFile().toPath(),
+                            outputTempFile.getFile().toPath(),
+                            java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);
                } catch (Exception e) {
                    outputTempFile.close();
                    outputTempFile = null;
@@ -395,7 +388,7 @@ public class MergeController {
            throw ex;
        } finally {
            for (File file : filesToDelete) {
-                tempFileManager.deleteTempFile(file); // Delete temporary files
+                tempFileManager.deleteTempFile(file);
            }
        }

@@ -405,4 +398,113 @@ public class MergeController {

        return WebResponseUtils.pdfFileToWebResponse(outputTempFile, mergedFileName);
    }
+
+    private int[] mergeWithJpdfium(
+            List<Path> inputPaths, MultipartFile[] files, boolean generateToc, Path outputPath)
+            throws IOException {
+        if (inputPaths.isEmpty()) {
+            try (PdfDocument empty = PdfDocument.open(new byte[0])) {
+                empty.save(outputPath);
+            } catch (Exception ignored) {
+                Files.write(outputPath, new byte[0]);
+            }
+            return new int[0];
+        }
+
+        List<PdfDocument> docs = new ArrayList<>(inputPaths.size());
+        int[] pageCounts = new int[inputPaths.size()];
+        int[] pageOffsets = new int[inputPaths.size()];
+        List<List<Bookmark>> sourceBookmarks = new ArrayList<>(inputPaths.size());
+        int runningOffset = 0;
+        try {
+            for (int i = 0; i < inputPaths.size(); i++) {
+                Path p = inputPaths.get(i);
+                PdfDocument doc = PdfDocument.open(p);
+                docs.add(doc);
+                pageCounts[i] = doc.pageCount();
+                pageOffsets[i] = runningOffset;
+                sourceBookmarks.add(doc.bookmarks());
+                runningOffset += pageCounts[i];
+            }
+
+            BookmarkTree combinedTree =
+                    buildCombinedBookmarkTree(files, pageOffsets, sourceBookmarks, generateToc);
+
+            try (PdfDocument merged = PdfMerge.merge(docs)) {
+                if (combinedTree.entries().isEmpty()) {
+                    merged.save(outputPath);
+                } else {
+                    PdfBookmarkEditor.setBookmarks(merged, combinedTree, outputPath);
+                }
+            }
+        } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+            throw new IOException("JPDFium merge failed", e);
+        } finally {
+            for (PdfDocument doc : docs) {
+                try {
+                    doc.close();
+                } catch (Exception ignored) {
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return pageCounts;
+    }
+
+    private BookmarkTree buildCombinedBookmarkTree(
+            MultipartFile[] files,
+            int[] pageOffsets,
+            List<List<Bookmark>> sourceBookmarks,
+            boolean generateToc) {
+        BookmarkTree.Builder builder = BookmarkTree.builder();
+
+        if (generateToc) {
+            for (int i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
+                String filename = files[i].getOriginalFilename();
+                String title = GeneralUtils.removeExtension(filename);
+                if (title == null || title.isBlank()) {
+                    title = "Document " + (i + 1);
+                }
+                builder.add(title, pageOffsets[i]);
+            }
+        }
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < sourceBookmarks.size(); i++) {
+            int offset = pageOffsets[i];
+            for (Bookmark bm : sourceBookmarks.get(i)) {
+                addBookmarkFlat(builder, bm, offset);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return builder.build();
+    }
+
+    private void addBookmarkFlat(BookmarkTree.Builder builder, Bookmark root, int offset) {
+        final int maxNodes = 100_000;
+        java.util.Deque<Bookmark> stack = new java.util.ArrayDeque<>();
+        java.util.Set<Bookmark> visited =
+                java.util.Collections.newSetFromMap(new java.util.IdentityHashMap<>());
+        stack.push(root);
+        int processed = 0;
+        while (!stack.isEmpty() && processed < maxNodes) {
+            Bookmark bm = stack.pop();
+            if (!visited.add(bm)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            processed++;
+            if (bm.isInternal() && bm.title() != null) {
+                builder.add(bm.title(), offset + bm.pageIndex());
+            }
+            if (bm.hasChildren()) {
+                List<Bookmark> children = bm.children();
+                for (int i = children.size() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+                    stack.push(children.get(i));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if (processed >= maxNodes) {
+            log.warn(
+                    "Source bookmark traversal hit {}-node cap; remaining bookmarks dropped",
+                    maxNodes);
+        }
+    }
 }
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package stirling.software.SPDF.controller.api;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.HashSet;
@@ -30,12 +31,13 @@ import stirling.software.common.annotations.AutoJobPostMapping;
 import stirling.software.common.annotations.api.GeneralApi;
 import stirling.software.common.enumeration.ResourceWeight;
 import stirling.software.common.service.CustomPDFDocumentFactory;
-import stirling.software.common.util.ExceptionUtils;
 import stirling.software.common.util.FormUtils;
 import stirling.software.common.util.GeneralUtils;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFile;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFileManager;
 import stirling.software.common.util.WebResponseUtils;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfDocument;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfSplit;

@GeneralApi
@Slf4j
@@ -91,10 +93,14 @@ public class SplitPDFController {
                try (ZipOutputStream zipOut =
                        new ZipOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(outputTempFile.getPath()))) {
                    if (hasForm) {
-                        writeSplitsViaReload(
+                        // JPDFium's FPDF_ImportPagesByIndex drops the AcroForm dictionary, which
+                        // breaks Fill Forms downstream. Fall back to the PDFBox load-and-remove
+                        // path so the AcroForm (with only fields whose widgets remain on kept
+                        // pages) is preserved.
+                        writeSplitsViaPdfBox(
                                sourceTempFile.getFile(), pageNumbers, baseFilename, zipOut);
                    } else {
-                        writeSplitsViaSharedSource(
+                        writeSplitsViaJpdfium(
                                sourceTempFile.getFile(), pageNumbers, baseFilename, zipOut);
                    }
                }
@@ -109,7 +115,26 @@ public class SplitPDFController {
        }
    }

-    private void writeSplitsViaReload(
+    private void writeSplitsViaJpdfium(
+            File source, List<Integer> pageNumbers, String baseFilename, ZipOutputStream zipOut)
+            throws IOException {
+        try (PdfDocument sourceDoc = PdfDocument.open(source.toPath())) {
+            int previousPageNumber = 0;
+            for (int splitIndex = 0; splitIndex < pageNumbers.size(); splitIndex++) {
+                int splitPoint = pageNumbers.get(splitIndex);
+                try (TempFile splitTemp = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf")) {
+                    try (PdfDocument splitDoc =
+                            PdfSplit.extractPageRange(sourceDoc, previousPageNumber, splitPoint)) {
+                        splitDoc.save(splitTemp.getPath());
+                    }
+                    writeEntry(zipOut, baseFilename, splitIndex + 1, splitTemp.getPath());
+                }
+                previousPageNumber = splitPoint + 1;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void writeSplitsViaPdfBox(
            File source, List<Integer> pageNumbers, String baseFilename, ZipOutputStream zipOut)
            throws IOException {
        int previousPageNumber = 0;
@@ -129,33 +154,15 @@ public class SplitPDFController {
                }
                FormUtils.pruneOrphanedFormFields(splitDoc);
                writeEntry(zipOut, baseFilename, splitIndex + 1, splitDoc);
-            } catch (Exception e) {
-                ExceptionUtils.logException("document splitting and saving", e);
-                throw e;
            }
        }
    }

-    private void writeSplitsViaSharedSource(
-            File source, List<Integer> pageNumbers, String baseFilename, ZipOutputStream zipOut)
+    private void writeEntry(ZipOutputStream zipOut, String baseFilename, int index, Path pdfPath)
            throws IOException {
-        try (PDDocument sourceDoc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(source)) {
-            int previousPageNumber = 0;
-            for (int splitIndex = 0; splitIndex < pageNumbers.size(); splitIndex++) {
-                int splitPoint = pageNumbers.get(splitIndex);
-                try (PDDocument splitDoc =
-                        pdfDocumentFactory.createNewDocumentBasedOnOldDocument(sourceDoc)) {
-                    for (int i = previousPageNumber; i <= splitPoint; i++) {
-                        splitDoc.addPage(sourceDoc.getPage(i));
-                    }
-                    previousPageNumber = splitPoint + 1;
-                    writeEntry(zipOut, baseFilename, splitIndex + 1, splitDoc);
-                } catch (Exception e) {
-                    ExceptionUtils.logException("document splitting and saving", e);
-                    throw e;
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(baseFilename + "_" + index + ".pdf"));
+        Files.copy(pdfPath, zipOut);
+        zipOut.closeEntry();
    }

    private void writeEntry(ZipOutputStream zipOut, String baseFilename, int index, PDDocument doc)
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 package stirling.software.SPDF.controller.api;

+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
@@ -8,9 +12,7 @@ import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
 import java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;

 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocument;
-import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDPage;
-import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.documentnavigation.outline.PDDocumentOutline;
-import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.documentnavigation.outline.PDOutlineItem;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.form.PDAcroForm;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
 import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
@@ -35,10 +37,13 @@ import stirling.software.common.model.PdfMetadata;
 import stirling.software.common.service.CustomPDFDocumentFactory;
 import stirling.software.common.service.PdfMetadataService;
 import stirling.software.common.util.ExceptionUtils;
+import stirling.software.common.util.FormUtils;
 import stirling.software.common.util.GeneralUtils;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFile;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFileManager;
 import stirling.software.common.util.WebResponseUtils;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfDocument;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfSplit;

@GeneralApi
@Slf4j
@@ -51,72 +56,36 @@ public class SplitPdfByChaptersController {

    private final TempFileManager tempFileManager;

-    private static List<Bookmark> extractOutlineItems(
-            PDDocument sourceDocument,
-            PDOutlineItem current,
-            List<Bookmark> bookmarks,
-            PDOutlineItem nextParent,
+    private static void collectBookmarks(
+            List<stirling.software.jpdfium.doc.Bookmark> source,
+            List<Bookmark> out,
            int level,
-            int maxLevel)
-            throws Exception {
-
-        while (current != null) {
-
-            String currentTitle = current.getTitle().replace("/", "");
-            int firstPage =
-                    sourceDocument.getPages().indexOf(current.findDestinationPage(sourceDocument));
-            PDOutlineItem child = current.getFirstChild();
-            PDOutlineItem nextSibling = current.getNextSibling();
-            int endPage;
-            if (child != null && level < maxLevel) {
-                endPage =
-                        sourceDocument
-                                .getPages()
-                                .indexOf(child.findDestinationPage(sourceDocument));
-            } else if (nextSibling != null) {
-                endPage =
-                        sourceDocument
-                                .getPages()
-                                .indexOf(nextSibling.findDestinationPage(sourceDocument));
-            } else if (nextParent != null) {
-
-                endPage =
-                        sourceDocument
-                                .getPages()
-                                .indexOf(nextParent.findDestinationPage(sourceDocument));
-            } else {
-                endPage = -2;
-                /*
-                happens when we have something like this:
-                Outline Item 2
-                    Outline Item 2.1
-                        Outline Item 2.1.1
-                    Outline Item 2.2
-                        Outline 2.2.1
-                        Outline 2.2.2 <--- this item neither has an immediate next parent nor an immediate next sibling
-                Outline Item 3
-                 */
+            int maxLevel) {
+        for (stirling.software.jpdfium.doc.Bookmark bm : source) {
+            if (!bm.isInternal()) {
+                continue;
            }
-            if (!bookmarks.isEmpty()
-                    && bookmarks.get(bookmarks.size() - 1).getEndPage() == -2
-                    && firstPage
-                            >= bookmarks
-                                    .get(bookmarks.size() - 1)
-                                    .getStartPage()) { // for handling the above-mentioned case
-                Bookmark previousBookmark = bookmarks.get(bookmarks.size() - 1);
-                previousBookmark.setEndPage(firstPage);
+            String title = bm.title() == null ? "" : bm.title().replace("/", "");
+            int firstPage = Math.max(0, bm.pageIndex());
+            out.add(new Bookmark(title, firstPage, -2));
+            if (bm.hasChildren() && level < maxLevel) {
+                collectBookmarks(bm.children(), out, level + 1, maxLevel);
            }
-            bookmarks.add(new Bookmark(currentTitle, firstPage, endPage));
-
-            // Recursively process children
-            if (child != null && level < maxLevel) {
-                extractOutlineItems(
-                        sourceDocument, child, bookmarks, nextSibling, level + 1, maxLevel);
-            }
-
-            current = nextSibling;
        }
-        return bookmarks;
+    }
+
+    private static void assignEndPages(List<Bookmark> bookmarks, int totalPages) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < bookmarks.size(); i++) {
+            Bookmark current = bookmarks.get(i);
+            int next = -1;
+            for (int j = i + 1; j < bookmarks.size(); j++) {
+                if (bookmarks.get(j).getStartPage() >= current.getStartPage()) {
+                    next = bookmarks.get(j).getStartPage();
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            current.setEndPage(next == -1 ? totalPages : next);
+        }
    }

    @AutoJobPostMapping(
@@ -134,46 +103,41 @@ public class SplitPdfByChaptersController {
        MultipartFile file = request.getFileInput();

        boolean includeMetadata = Boolean.TRUE.equals(request.getIncludeMetadata());
-        Integer bookmarkLevel =
-                request.getBookmarkLevel(); // levels start from 0 (top most bookmarks)
+        Integer bookmarkLevel = request.getBookmarkLevel();
        if (bookmarkLevel < 0) {
            throw ExceptionUtils.createIllegalArgumentException(
                    "error.invalidArgument", "Invalid argument: {0}", "bookmark level");
        }

-        try (PDDocument sourceDocument = pdfDocumentFactory.load(file)) {
-            PDDocumentOutline outline = sourceDocument.getDocumentCatalog().getDocumentOutline();
+        try (TempFile sourceTempFile = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf")) {
+            Files.copy(
+                    file.getInputStream(),
+                    sourceTempFile.getPath(),
+                    StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);

-            if (outline == null) {
-                log.warn("No outline found for {}", file.getOriginalFilename());
-                throw ExceptionUtils.createIllegalArgumentException(
-                        "error.pdfBookmarksNotFound", "No PDF bookmarks/outline found in document");
-            }
            List<Bookmark> bookmarks = new ArrayList<>();
-            try {
-                bookmarks =
-                        extractOutlineItems(
-                                sourceDocument,
-                                outline.getFirstChild(),
-                                bookmarks,
-                                outline.getFirstChild().getNextSibling(),
-                                0,
-                                bookmarkLevel);
-                // to handle last page edge case
-                bookmarks.get(bookmarks.size() - 1).setEndPage(sourceDocument.getNumberOfPages());
-
-            } catch (Exception e) {
-                ExceptionUtils.logException("outline extraction", e);
-                throw e;
+            int totalPages;
+            try (PdfDocument sourceDocument = PdfDocument.open(sourceTempFile.getPath())) {
+                totalPages = sourceDocument.pageCount();
+                List<stirling.software.jpdfium.doc.Bookmark> roots = sourceDocument.bookmarks();
+                if (roots == null || roots.isEmpty()) {
+                    log.warn("No outline found for {}", file.getOriginalFilename());
+                    throw ExceptionUtils.createIllegalArgumentException(
+                            "error.pdfBookmarksNotFound",
+                            "No PDF bookmarks/outline found in document");
+                }
+                collectBookmarks(roots, bookmarks, 0, bookmarkLevel);
+                if (bookmarks.isEmpty()) {
+                    log.warn("No outline found for {}", file.getOriginalFilename());
+                    throw ExceptionUtils.createIllegalArgumentException(
+                            "error.pdfBookmarksNotFound",
+                            "No PDF bookmarks/outline found in document");
+                }
+                assignEndPages(bookmarks, totalPages);
            }

            boolean allowDuplicates = Boolean.TRUE.equals(request.getAllowDuplicates());
            if (!allowDuplicates) {
-                /*
-                duplicates are generated when multiple bookmarks correspond to the same page,
-                if the user doesn't want duplicates mergeBookmarksThatCorrespondToSamePage() method will merge the titles of all
-                the bookmarks that correspond to the same page, and treat them as a single bookmark
-                */
                bookmarks = mergeBookmarksThatCorrespondToSamePage(bookmarks);
            }
            for (Bookmark bookmark : bookmarks) {
@@ -184,7 +148,23 @@ public class SplitPdfByChaptersController {
                        bookmark.getEndPage());
            }

-            TempFile zipTempFile = createZipFile(sourceDocument, bookmarks, includeMetadata);
+            PdfMetadata metadata = null;
+            boolean hasForm = false;
+            if (includeMetadata) {
+                try (PDDocument metaDoc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(sourceTempFile.getFile())) {
+                    metadata = pdfMetadataService.extractMetadataFromPdf(metaDoc);
+                    PDAcroForm acroForm = metaDoc.getDocumentCatalog().getAcroForm(null);
+                    hasForm = acroForm != null;
+                }
+            } else {
+                try (PDDocument acroDoc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(sourceTempFile.getFile(), true)) {
+                    hasForm = acroDoc.getDocumentCatalog().getAcroForm(null) != null;
+                }
+            }
+
+            TempFile zipTempFile =
+                    createZipFile(
+                            sourceTempFile.getFile(), bookmarks, metadata, totalPages, hasForm);
            String filename = GeneralUtils.generateFilename(file.getOriginalFilename(), "");
            return WebResponseUtils.zipFileToWebResponse(zipTempFile, filename + ".zip");
        }
@@ -216,43 +196,40 @@ public class SplitPdfByChaptersController {
    }

    private TempFile createZipFile(
-            PDDocument sourceDocument, List<Bookmark> bookmarks, boolean includeMetadata)
+            File sourceFile,
+            List<Bookmark> bookmarks,
+            PdfMetadata metadata,
+            int totalPages,
+            boolean hasForm)
            throws Exception {
-        PdfMetadata metadata =
-                includeMetadata ? pdfMetadataService.extractMetadataFromPdf(sourceDocument) : null;
        String fileNumberFormatter = "%0" + (Integer.toString(bookmarks.size()).length()) + "d ";
        TempFile zipTempFile = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".zip");
-        try {
-            try (ZipOutputStream zipOut =
-                    new ZipOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(zipTempFile.getPath()))) {
+        try (ZipOutputStream zipOut =
+                new ZipOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(zipTempFile.getPath()))) {
+            if (hasForm) {
+                // JPDFium's FPDF_ImportPagesByIndex drops the AcroForm dictionary. For form
+                // PDFs, do the per-chapter extract via PDFBox so form fields survive the split.
                for (int i = 0; i < bookmarks.size(); i++) {
-                    Bookmark bookmark = bookmarks.get(i);
-                    try (PDDocument splitDocument = new PDDocument()) {
-                        boolean isSinglePage = (bookmark.getStartPage() == bookmark.getEndPage());
-
-                        for (int pg = bookmark.getStartPage();
-                                pg < bookmark.getEndPage() + (isSinglePage ? 1 : 0);
-                                pg++) {
-                            PDPage page = sourceDocument.getPage(pg);
-                            splitDocument.addPage(page);
-                            log.debug("Adding page {} to split document", pg);
-                        }
-                        if (includeMetadata) {
-                            pdfMetadataService.setMetadataToPdf(splitDocument, metadata);
-                        }
-
-                        // split files will be named as "[FILE_NUMBER] [BOOKMARK_TITLE].pdf"
-                        String fileName =
-                                String.format(Locale.ROOT, fileNumberFormatter, i)
-                                        + bookmark.getTitle()
-                                        + ".pdf";
-                        zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(fileName));
-                        splitDocument.save(zipOut);
-                        zipOut.closeEntry();
-                        log.debug("Wrote split document {} to zip file", fileName);
-                    } catch (Exception e) {
-                        ExceptionUtils.logException("document splitting and saving", e);
-                        throw e;
+                    writeChapterViaPdfBox(
+                            sourceFile,
+                            bookmarks.get(i),
+                            i,
+                            fileNumberFormatter,
+                            metadata,
+                            zipOut,
+                            totalPages);
+                }
+            } else {
+                try (PdfDocument sourceDocument = PdfDocument.open(sourceFile.toPath())) {
+                    for (int i = 0; i < bookmarks.size(); i++) {
+                        writeChapterViaJpdfium(
+                                sourceDocument,
+                                bookmarks.get(i),
+                                i,
+                                fileNumberFormatter,
+                                metadata,
+                                zipOut,
+                                totalPages);
                    }
                }
            }
@@ -265,6 +242,97 @@ public class SplitPdfByChaptersController {
            throw e;
        }
    }
+
+    private void writeChapterViaJpdfium(
+            PdfDocument sourceDocument,
+            Bookmark bookmark,
+            int index,
+            String fileNumberFormatter,
+            PdfMetadata metadata,
+            ZipOutputStream zipOut,
+            int totalPages)
+            throws Exception {
+        int[] range = clampRange(bookmark, totalPages);
+        int from = range[0];
+        int to = range[1];
+        try (TempFile splitTemp = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf")) {
+            try (PdfDocument splitDoc = PdfSplit.extractPageRange(sourceDocument, from, to)) {
+                splitDoc.save(splitTemp.getPath());
+            }
+            Path finalPath = splitTemp.getPath();
+            TempFile metaTemp = null;
+            try {
+                if (metadata != null) {
+                    metaTemp = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf");
+                    try (PDDocument doc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(splitTemp.getFile())) {
+                        pdfMetadataService.setMetadataToPdf(doc, metadata);
+                        doc.save(metaTemp.getFile());
+                    }
+                    finalPath = metaTemp.getPath();
+                }
+                writeZipEntry(zipOut, fileNumberFormatter, index, bookmark.getTitle(), finalPath);
+            } finally {
+                if (metaTemp != null) {
+                    metaTemp.close();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void writeChapterViaPdfBox(
+            File sourceFile,
+            Bookmark bookmark,
+            int index,
+            String fileNumberFormatter,
+            PdfMetadata metadata,
+            ZipOutputStream zipOut,
+            int totalPages)
+            throws Exception {
+        int[] range = clampRange(bookmark, totalPages);
+        int from = range[0];
+        int to = range[1];
+        try (PDDocument doc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(sourceFile)) {
+            for (int p = doc.getNumberOfPages() - 1; p >= 0; p--) {
+                if (p < from || p > to) {
+                    doc.removePage(p);
+                }
+            }
+            FormUtils.pruneOrphanedFormFields(doc);
+            if (metadata != null) {
+                pdfMetadataService.setMetadataToPdf(doc, metadata);
+            }
+            String fileName =
+                    String.format(Locale.ROOT, fileNumberFormatter, index)
+                            + bookmark.getTitle()
+                            + ".pdf";
+            zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(fileName));
+            doc.save(zipOut);
+            zipOut.closeEntry();
+            log.debug("Wrote split document {} to zip file", fileName);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void writeZipEntry(
+            ZipOutputStream zipOut,
+            String fileNumberFormatter,
+            int index,
+            String title,
+            Path pdfPath)
+            throws IOException {
+        String fileName = String.format(Locale.ROOT, fileNumberFormatter, index) + title + ".pdf";
+        zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(fileName));
+        Files.copy(pdfPath, zipOut);
+        zipOut.closeEntry();
+        log.debug("Wrote split document {} to zip file", fileName);
+    }
+
+    private static int[] clampRange(Bookmark bookmark, int totalPages) {
+        boolean isSinglePage = bookmark.getStartPage() == bookmark.getEndPage();
+        int from = Math.min(Math.max(0, bookmark.getStartPage()), totalPages - 1);
+        int rawEnd = isSinglePage ? bookmark.getEndPage() : bookmark.getEndPage() - 1;
+        int to = Math.min(Math.max(from, rawEnd), totalPages - 1);
+        return new int[] {from, to};
+    }
 }

@Data
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 package stirling.software.SPDF.controller.api;

-import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.HashSet;
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
 import java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;

 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocument;
-import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDPage;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
 import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
@@ -37,6 +36,8 @@ import stirling.software.common.util.GeneralUtils;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFile;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFileManager;
 import stirling.software.common.util.WebResponseUtils;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfDocument;
+import stirling.software.jpdfium.PdfSplit;

@GeneralApi
@Slf4j
@@ -75,23 +76,27 @@ public class SplitPdfBySizeController {
                        sourceTempFile.getPath(),
                        StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);

-                try (PDDocument sourceDocument =
-                        pdfDocumentFactory.load(sourceTempFile.getFile(), true)) {
-                    boolean hasForm = sourceDocument.getDocumentCatalog().getAcroForm(null) != null;
-                    List<List<Integer>> ranges = computeRanges(request, sourceDocument);
+                boolean hasForm;
+                try (PDDocument acroDoc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(sourceTempFile.getFile(), true)) {
+                    hasForm = acroDoc.getDocumentCatalog().getAcroForm(null) != null;
+                }
+
+                try (PdfDocument sourceDocument = PdfDocument.open(sourceTempFile.getPath())) {
+                    List<int[]> ranges = computeRanges(request, sourceDocument);

                    int fileIndex = 1;
-                    for (List<Integer> range : ranges) {
-                        if (range.isEmpty()) {
+                    for (int[] range : ranges) {
+                        if (range.length == 0) {
                            continue;
                        }
-                        if (hasForm) {
-                            writeRangeViaReload(
-                                    sourceTempFile.getFile(), range, zipOut, filename, fileIndex++);
-                        } else {
-                            writeRangeViaSharedSource(
-                                    sourceDocument, range, zipOut, filename, fileIndex++);
-                        }
+                        writeRange(
+                                sourceDocument,
+                                sourceTempFile.getFile(),
+                                range,
+                                zipOut,
+                                filename,
+                                fileIndex++,
+                                hasForm);
                    }
                }
            }
@@ -104,29 +109,54 @@ public class SplitPdfBySizeController {
        }
    }

-    private List<List<Integer>> computeRanges(
-            SplitPdfBySizeOrCountRequest request, PDDocument sourceDocument) throws IOException {
+    private List<int[]> computeRanges(SplitPdfBySizeOrCountRequest request, PdfDocument sourceDoc)
+            throws IOException {
        int type = request.getSplitType();
        String value = request.getSplitValue();
        if (type == 0) {
-            return computeSizeRanges(sourceDocument, GeneralUtils.convertSizeToBytes(value));
+            return computeSizeRanges(sourceDoc, GeneralUtils.convertSizeToBytes(value));
        } else if (type == 1) {
-            return computePageCountRanges(sourceDocument, Integer.parseInt(value));
+            return computePageCountRanges(sourceDoc, Integer.parseInt(value));
        } else if (type == 2) {
-            return computeDocCountRanges(sourceDocument, Integer.parseInt(value));
+            return computeDocCountRanges(sourceDoc, Integer.parseInt(value));
        }
        throw ExceptionUtils.createIllegalArgumentException(
                "error.invalidArgument", "Invalid argument: {0}", "split type: " + type);
    }

-    private void writeRangeViaReload(
+    private void writeRange(
+            PdfDocument sourceDoc,
            File sourceFile,
-            List<Integer> keepIndices,
+            int[] range,
+            ZipOutputStream zipOut,
+            String baseFilename,
+            int fileIndex,
+            boolean hasForm)
+            throws IOException {
+        if (hasForm) {
+            // JPDFium's FPDF_ImportPagesByIndex drops the AcroForm dictionary, breaking form
+            // fields downstream. For form-bearing PDFs, do the extract via PDFBox so the
+            // AcroForm survives (pruneOrphanedFormFields removes references to dropped pages).
+            writeRangeViaPdfBox(sourceFile, range, zipOut, baseFilename, fileIndex);
+        } else {
+            try (TempFile splitTemp = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf")) {
+                extractRangeToFile(sourceDoc, range, splitTemp.getPath());
+                writeEntry(zipOut, baseFilename, fileIndex, splitTemp.getPath());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void writeRangeViaPdfBox(
+            File sourceFile,
+            int[] range,
            ZipOutputStream zipOut,
            String baseFilename,
            int fileIndex)
            throws IOException {
-        Set<Integer> keep = new HashSet<>(keepIndices);
+        Set<Integer> keep = new HashSet<>();
+        for (int p : range) {
+            keep.add(p);
+        }
        try (PDDocument doc = pdfDocumentFactory.load(sourceFile)) {
            for (int i = doc.getNumberOfPages() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
                if (!keep.contains(i)) {
@@ -134,50 +164,41 @@ public class SplitPdfBySizeController {
                }
            }
            FormUtils.pruneOrphanedFormFields(doc);
-            writeEntry(zipOut, baseFilename, fileIndex, doc);
+            zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(baseFilename + "_" + fileIndex + ".pdf"));
+            doc.save(zipOut);
+            zipOut.closeEntry();
        }
    }

-    private void writeRangeViaSharedSource(
-            PDDocument sourceDocument,
-            List<Integer> keepIndices,
-            ZipOutputStream zipOut,
-            String baseFilename,
-            int fileIndex)
+    private void extractRangeToFile(PdfDocument sourceDoc, int[] range, Path outputPath)
            throws IOException {
-        try (PDDocument doc =
-                pdfDocumentFactory.createNewDocumentBasedOnOldDocument(sourceDocument)) {
-            for (int p : keepIndices) {
-                doc.addPage(sourceDocument.getPage(p));
-            }
-            writeEntry(zipOut, baseFilename, fileIndex, doc);
+        int from = range[0];
+        int to = range[range.length - 1];
+        try (PdfDocument split = PdfSplit.extractPageRange(sourceDoc, from, to)) {
+            split.save(outputPath);
        }
    }

    private void writeEntry(
-            ZipOutputStream zipOut, String baseFilename, int fileIndex, PDDocument doc)
+            ZipOutputStream zipOut, String baseFilename, int fileIndex, Path pdfPath)
            throws IOException {
        zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(baseFilename + "_" + fileIndex + ".pdf"));
-        doc.save(zipOut);
+        Files.copy(pdfPath, zipOut);
        zipOut.closeEntry();
    }

-    /** Page-index ranges each output should contain. AcroForm overhead isn't modeled. */
-    private List<List<Integer>> computeSizeRanges(PDDocument sourceDocument, long maxBytes)
-            throws IOException {
-        List<List<Integer>> ranges = new ArrayList<>();
-        List<Integer> currentRange = new ArrayList<>();
-        int totalPages = sourceDocument.getNumberOfPages();
+    /** Returns contiguous page-index ranges fitting within {@code maxBytes}. */
+    private List<int[]> computeSizeRanges(PdfDocument sourceDoc, long maxBytes) throws IOException {
+        List<int[]> ranges = new ArrayList<>();
+        int totalPages = sourceDoc.pageCount();
        int baseCheckFrequency = 5;
-
-        PDDocument scratch = new PDDocument();
-        try {
+        int rangeStart = 0;
+        int rangeEnd = -1;
+        try (TempFile probe = new TempFile(tempFileManager, ".pdf")) {
+            File probeFile = probe.getFile();
            for (int pageIndex = 0; pageIndex < totalPages; pageIndex++) {
-                PDPage page = sourceDocument.getPage(pageIndex);
-                scratch.addPage(new PDPage(page.getCOSObject()));
-                currentRange.add(pageIndex);
-
-                int pageAdded = currentRange.size();
+                rangeEnd = pageIndex;
+                int pageAdded = rangeEnd - rangeStart + 1;
                boolean shouldCheckSize =
                        (pageAdded % baseCheckFrequency == 0)
                                || (pageIndex == totalPages - 1)
@@ -185,117 +206,110 @@ public class SplitPdfBySizeController {
                if (!shouldCheckSize) {
                    continue;
                }
-
-                long actualSize;
-                try (ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream()) {
-                    scratch.save(out);
-                    actualSize = out.size();
-                }
+                long actualSize = saveRange(sourceDoc, rangeStart, rangeEnd, probeFile);

                if (actualSize > maxBytes) {
-                    if (scratch.getNumberOfPages() > 1) {
-                        scratch.removePage(scratch.getNumberOfPages() - 1);
-                        currentRange.remove(currentRange.size() - 1);
-                        pageIndex--; // retry this page in the next chunk
+                    if (pageAdded > 1) {
+                        rangeEnd = pageIndex - 1;
+                        pageIndex--;
                    }
-                    ranges.add(new ArrayList<>(currentRange));
-                    currentRange.clear();
-                    scratch.close();
-                    scratch = new PDDocument();
+                    ranges.add(buildRange(rangeStart, rangeEnd));
+                    rangeStart = rangeEnd + 1;
+                    rangeEnd = rangeStart - 1;
                } else if (pageIndex < totalPages - 1 && actualSize < maxBytes * 0.75) {
-                    int extraPagesAdded =
-                            lookAheadFit(scratch, sourceDocument, pageIndex, maxBytes);
-                    for (int i = 0; i < extraPagesAdded; i++) {
-                        int extra = pageIndex + 1 + i;
-                        scratch.addPage(new PDPage(sourceDocument.getPage(extra).getCOSObject()));
-                        currentRange.add(extra);
-                    }
-                    pageIndex += extraPagesAdded;
+                    int extra =
+                            lookAheadFit(
+                                    sourceDoc,
+                                    rangeStart,
+                                    pageIndex,
+                                    maxBytes,
+                                    totalPages,
+                                    probeFile);
+                    pageIndex += extra;
+                    rangeEnd = pageIndex;
                }
            }
-
-            if (!currentRange.isEmpty()) {
-                ranges.add(new ArrayList<>(currentRange));
-            }
-        } finally {
-            scratch.close();
+        }
+        if (rangeEnd >= rangeStart) {
+            ranges.add(buildRange(rangeStart, rangeEnd));
        }
        return ranges;
    }

-    /** Speculatively tries up to 5 next pages; returns how many fit under {@code maxBytes}. */
-    private int lookAheadFit(PDDocument scratch, PDDocument source, int pageIndex, long maxBytes)
+    private long saveRange(PdfDocument sourceDoc, int from, int to, File output)
            throws IOException {
-        int totalPages = source.getNumberOfPages();
-        int pagesToLookAhead = Math.min(5, totalPages - pageIndex - 1);
-        if (pagesToLookAhead == 0) {
-            return 0;
+        try (PdfDocument split = PdfSplit.extractPageRange(sourceDoc, from, to)) {
+            split.save(output.toPath());
        }
-
-        int extraPagesAdded = 0;
-        try (PDDocument testDoc = new PDDocument()) {
-            for (int i = 0; i < scratch.getNumberOfPages(); i++) {
-                testDoc.addPage(new PDPage(scratch.getPage(i).getCOSObject()));
-            }
-            for (int i = 0; i < pagesToLookAhead; i++) {
-                testDoc.addPage(new PDPage(source.getPage(pageIndex + 1 + i).getCOSObject()));
-                long testSize;
-                try (ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream()) {
-                    testDoc.save(out);
-                    testSize = out.size();
-                }
-                if (testSize > maxBytes) {
-                    break;
-                }
-                extraPagesAdded++;
-            }
-        }
-        return extraPagesAdded;
+        return output.length();
    }

-    private List<List<Integer>> computePageCountRanges(PDDocument sourceDocument, int pageCount) {
+    private int lookAheadFit(
+            PdfDocument sourceDoc,
+            int rangeStart,
+            int currentEnd,
+            long maxBytes,
+            int totalPages,
+            File probeFile)
+            throws IOException {
+        int pagesToLookAhead = Math.min(5, totalPages - currentEnd - 1);
+        int extra = 0;
+        for (int i = 0; i < pagesToLookAhead; i++) {
+            int trialEnd = currentEnd + 1 + i;
+            long size = saveRange(sourceDoc, rangeStart, trialEnd, probeFile);
+            if (size > maxBytes) {
+                break;
+            }
+            extra++;
+        }
+        return extra;
+    }
+
+    private List<int[]> computePageCountRanges(PdfDocument sourceDoc, int pageCount) {
        if (pageCount <= 0) {
            throw ExceptionUtils.createIllegalArgumentException(
                    "error.invalidArgument", "Invalid argument: {0}", "page count: " + pageCount);
        }
-        int totalPages = sourceDocument.getNumberOfPages();
-        List<List<Integer>> ranges = new ArrayList<>();
-        List<Integer> current = new ArrayList<>(pageCount);
-        for (int i = 0; i < totalPages; i++) {
-            current.add(i);
-            if (current.size() == pageCount) {
-                ranges.add(current);
-                current = new ArrayList<>(pageCount);
-            }
-        }
-        if (!current.isEmpty()) {
-            ranges.add(current);
+        int totalPages = sourceDoc.pageCount();
+        List<int[]> ranges = new ArrayList<>();
+        int start = 0;
+        while (start < totalPages) {
+            int end = Math.min(start + pageCount - 1, totalPages - 1);
+            ranges.add(buildRange(start, end));
+            start = end + 1;
        }
        return ranges;
    }

-    private List<List<Integer>> computeDocCountRanges(
-            PDDocument sourceDocument, int documentCount) {
+    private List<int[]> computeDocCountRanges(PdfDocument sourceDoc, int documentCount) {
        if (documentCount <= 0) {
            throw ExceptionUtils.createIllegalArgumentException(
                    "error.invalidArgument",
                    "Invalid argument: {0}",
                    "document count: " + documentCount);
        }
-        int totalPages = sourceDocument.getNumberOfPages();
+        int totalPages = sourceDoc.pageCount();
        int pagesPerDocument = totalPages / documentCount;
        int extraPages = totalPages % documentCount;
-
-        List<List<Integer>> ranges = new ArrayList<>();
+        List<int[]> ranges = new ArrayList<>();
        int cursor = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < documentCount; i++) {
            int pagesToAdd = pagesPerDocument + (i < extraPages ? 1 : 0);
-            List<Integer> range = new ArrayList<>(pagesToAdd);
-            for (int j = 0; j < pagesToAdd; j++) {
-                range.add(cursor++);
+            if (pagesToAdd == 0) {
+                continue;
            }
-            ranges.add(range);
+            int end = cursor + pagesToAdd - 1;
+            ranges.add(buildRange(cursor, end));
+            cursor = end + 1;
        }
        return ranges;
    }
+
+    private static int[] buildRange(int start, int end) {
+        int[] range = new int[end - start + 1];
+        for (int i = 0; i < range.length; i++) {
+            range[i] = start + i;
+        }
+        return range;
+    }
 }
@@ -330,6 +330,22 @@ aiEngine:
  url: http://localhost:5001 # URL of the Python AI engine
  timeoutSeconds: 120 # Timeout in seconds for AI engine requests

+# Cluster configuration. NOT YET ENABLED - scaffolding for later work. Leave at defaults.
+cluster:
+  enabled: false # Master switch. 'false' (default) wires the in-process backplane and skips all cluster checks. Single-instance installs do not need to change anything here.
+  backplane: inprocess # Backplane implementation: 'inprocess' (single JVM only) or 'valkey' (multi-node via Valkey/Redis)
+  artifactStore: local # Transient cluster job-artifact backend: 'local' (per-node disk; single-node only) or 's3' (shared object store; required for multi-node). Distinct from 'storage.provider' which controls persistent user uploads - when both are 's3' they share the storage.s3.* credentials block. Multi-node deployments MUST set this to 's3'.
+  valkey:
+    url: "" # Valkey/Redis URL, e.g. 'redis://valkey:6379' or 'rediss://...' for TLS. Required when enabled=true and backplane=valkey.
+    tls:
+      skipCertVerification: false # set to 'true' to skip TLS certificate verification on Valkey connections (dev/test only)
+  node:
+    id: "" # Optional explicit node id. Blank = auto-generated UUID at startup.
+    role: both # 'web' (serves HTTP), 'worker' (runs jobs), or 'both' (default)
+    internalAddress: "" # host:port advertised in the instance registry for peer-to-peer cluster traffic. Blank = derived at startup.
+    scheme: http # 'http' or 'https' - scheme peers use to call this node's /internal/cluster/** endpoints
+    heartbeatIntervalMs: 5000 # Heartbeat publish interval for the instance registry (ms)
+
 pdfEditor:
  fallback-font: classpath:/static/fonts/NotoSans-Regular.ttf # Override to point at a custom fallback font
  cache:
@@ -4,17 +4,28 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.lenient;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;

+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
+import java.util.zip.ZipInputStream;

 import org.apache.pdfbox.Loader;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocument;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDPage;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.common.PDRectangle;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.annotation.PDAnnotation;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.annotation.PDAnnotationWidget;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.form.PDAcroForm;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.form.PDField;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.form.PDTextField;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
@@ -23,8 +34,12 @@ import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
 import org.mockito.InjectMocks;
 import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
+import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoSettings;
+import org.mockito.quality.Strictness;
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
+import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
 import org.springframework.mock.web.MockMultipartFile;

 import stirling.software.SPDF.model.api.SplitPagesRequest;
@@ -32,6 +47,7 @@ import stirling.software.common.service.CustomPDFDocumentFactory;
 import stirling.software.common.util.TempFileManager;

@ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class)
+@MockitoSettings(strictness = Strictness.LENIENT)
 class SplitPDFControllerTest {

    @TempDir Path tempDir;
@@ -47,6 +63,12 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
                            String suffix = invocation.getArgument(0);
                            return Files.createTempFile(tempDir, "test", suffix).toFile();
                        });
+        lenient()
+                .when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(File.class), eq(true)))
+                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF((File) inv.getArgument(0)));
+        lenient()
+                .when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(File.class)))
+                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF((File) inv.getArgument(0)));
    }

    private byte[] createPdf(int numPages) throws IOException {
@@ -60,17 +82,79 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        }
    }

-    private void setupFactory() throws IOException {
-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(File.class), eq(true)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF((File) inv.getArgument(0)));
-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(File.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF((File) inv.getArgument(0)));
-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.createNewDocumentBasedOnOldDocument(any(PDDocument.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> new PDDocument());
+    private byte[] createPdfWithForm(int numPages) throws IOException {
+        try (PDDocument doc = new PDDocument()) {
+            PDAcroForm acroForm = new PDAcroForm(doc);
+            doc.getDocumentCatalog().setAcroForm(acroForm);
+            for (int i = 0; i < numPages; i++) {
+                PDPage page = new PDPage(PDRectangle.A4);
+                doc.addPage(page);
+                PDTextField field = new PDTextField(acroForm);
+                field.setPartialName("text_p" + (i + 1));
+                PDAnnotationWidget widget = new PDAnnotationWidget();
+                widget.setRectangle(new PDRectangle(100, 700, 200, 20));
+                widget.setPage(page);
+                field.setWidgets(java.util.List.of(widget));
+                page.getAnnotations().add(widget);
+                acroForm.getFields().add(field);
+            }
+            Path pdfPath = tempDir.resolve("input.pdf");
+            doc.save(pdfPath.toFile());
+            return Files.readAllBytes(pdfPath);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private List<String> fieldNamesOf(byte[] pdfBytes) throws IOException {
+        List<String> names = new ArrayList<>();
+        try (PDDocument doc = Loader.loadPDF(pdfBytes)) {
+            PDAcroForm acroForm = doc.getDocumentCatalog().getAcroForm(null);
+            if (acroForm == null) {
+                return names;
+            }
+            for (PDField field : acroForm.getFields()) {
+                names.add(field.getFullyQualifiedName());
+            }
+        }
+        return names;
+    }
+
+    private int widgetCountOnPage(byte[] pdfBytes, int pageIndex) throws IOException {
+        try (PDDocument doc = Loader.loadPDF(pdfBytes)) {
+            int count = 0;
+            for (PDAnnotation a : doc.getPage(pageIndex).getAnnotations()) {
+                if (a instanceof PDAnnotationWidget) {
+                    count++;
+                }
+            }
+            return count;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private List<byte[]> unzip(Resource zipResource) throws IOException {
+        List<byte[]> entries = new ArrayList<>();
+        try (ZipInputStream zis =
+                new ZipInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(zipResource.getContentAsByteArray()))) {
+            ZipEntry entry;
+            while ((entry = zis.getNextEntry()) != null) {
+                entries.add(zis.readAllBytes());
+                zis.closeEntry();
+            }
+        }
+        return entries;
+    }
+
+    private int[] pageCountsOf(List<byte[]> entries) throws IOException {
+        int[] counts = new int[entries.size()];
+        for (int i = 0; i < entries.size(); i++) {
+            try (PDDocument doc = Loader.loadPDF(entries.get(i))) {
+                counts[i] = doc.getNumberOfPages();
+            }
+        }
+        return counts;
    }

    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should split 6-page PDF at page 3")
+    @DisplayName("Should split 6-page PDF at page 3 into 2 parts")
    void shouldSplitAtPage3() throws Exception {
        byte[] pdfBytes = createPdf(6);
        MockMultipartFile file =
@@ -81,11 +165,12 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        request.setFileInput(file);
        request.setPageNumbers("3");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(2);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(3, 3);
    }

    @Test
@@ -100,11 +185,12 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        request.setFileInput(file);
        request.setPageNumbers("1,2,3");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(3);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(1, 1, 1);
    }

    @Test
@@ -119,15 +205,16 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        request.setFileInput(file);
        request.setPageNumbers("1");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(1);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(1);
    }

    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should split with range notation")
+    @DisplayName("Should split with multiple split points")
    void shouldSplitWithRange() throws Exception {
        byte[] pdfBytes = createPdf(10);
        MockMultipartFile file =
@@ -138,11 +225,12 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        request.setFileInput(file);
        request.setPageNumbers("3,7");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(3);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(3, 4, 3);
    }

    @Test
@@ -157,13 +245,14 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        request.setFileInput(file);
        request.setPageNumbers("2");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
        assertThat(response.getHeaders().getContentType())
                .isEqualTo(MediaType.APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(2);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(2, 2);
    }

    @Test
@@ -178,11 +267,12 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        request.setFileInput(file);
        request.setPageNumbers("5");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(1);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(5);
    }

    @Test
@@ -197,29 +287,43 @@ class SplitPDFControllerTest {
        request.setFileInput(file);
        request.setPageNumbers("all");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(3);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(1, 1, 1);
    }

    @Test
-    @DisplayName("Should handle file without extension in original name")
-    void shouldHandleFileWithoutExtension() throws Exception {
-        byte[] pdfBytes = createPdf(2);
+    @DisplayName("Should preserve AcroForm and per-page widgets when splitting form PDF")
+    void shouldSplitFormPdf() throws Exception {
+        byte[] pdfBytes = createPdfWithForm(4);
        MockMultipartFile file =
                new MockMultipartFile(
-                        "fileInput", "no_extension", MediaType.APPLICATION_PDF_VALUE, pdfBytes);
+                        "fileInput", "input.pdf", MediaType.APPLICATION_PDF_VALUE, pdfBytes);

        SplitPagesRequest request = new SplitPagesRequest();
        request.setFileInput(file);
-        request.setPageNumbers("1");
+        request.setPageNumbers("2");

-        setupFactory();
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(2);
+        assertThat(pageCountsOf(outputs)).containsExactly(2, 2);
+
+        assertThat(fieldNamesOf(outputs.get(0)))
+                .as("first split keeps fields whose widgets are on pages 1-2")
+                .containsExactlyInAnyOrder("text_p1", "text_p2");
+        assertThat(fieldNamesOf(outputs.get(1)))
+                .as("second split keeps fields whose widgets are on pages 3-4")
+                .containsExactlyInAnyOrder("text_p3", "text_p4");
+
+        assertThat(widgetCountOnPage(outputs.get(0), 0)).isEqualTo(1);
+        assertThat(widgetCountOnPage(outputs.get(0), 1)).isEqualTo(1);
+        assertThat(widgetCountOnPage(outputs.get(1), 0)).isEqualTo(1);
+        assertThat(widgetCountOnPage(outputs.get(1), 1)).isEqualTo(1);
    }
 }
@@ -4,11 +4,19 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.lenient;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;

+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
+import java.util.zip.ZipInputStream;

 import org.apache.pdfbox.Loader;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocument;
@@ -27,10 +35,11 @@ import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoSettings;
 import org.mockito.quality.Strictness;
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
 import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
+import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
 import org.springframework.mock.web.MockMultipartFile;
-import org.springframework.web.multipart.MultipartFile;

 import stirling.software.SPDF.model.api.SplitPdfByChaptersRequest;
 import stirling.software.common.service.CustomPDFDocumentFactory;
@@ -55,6 +64,12 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
                            String suffix = inv.getArgument(0);
                            return Files.createTempFile(tempDir, "test", suffix).toFile();
                        });
+        lenient()
+                .when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(File.class)))
+                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF((File) inv.getArgument(0)));
+        lenient()
+                .when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(File.class), eq(true)))
+                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF((File) inv.getArgument(0)));
    }

    private byte[] createPdfWithBookmarks(int numPages, String... chapterNames) throws IOException {
@@ -83,6 +98,29 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
        }
    }

+    private List<byte[]> unzip(Resource zipResource) throws IOException {
+        List<byte[]> entries = new ArrayList<>();
+        try (ZipInputStream zis =
+                new ZipInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(zipResource.getContentAsByteArray()))) {
+            ZipEntry entry;
+            while ((entry = zis.getNextEntry()) != null) {
+                entries.add(zis.readAllBytes());
+                zis.closeEntry();
+            }
+        }
+        return entries;
+    }
+
+    private int totalPagesOf(List<byte[]> entries) throws IOException {
+        int total = 0;
+        for (byte[] data : entries) {
+            try (PDDocument doc = Loader.loadPDF(data)) {
+                total += doc.getNumberOfPages();
+            }
+        }
+        return total;
+    }
+
    @Test
    @DisplayName("Should split PDF by chapters")
    void shouldSplitByChapters() throws Exception {
@@ -97,12 +135,12 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
        request.setIncludeMetadata(false);
        request.setAllowDuplicates(false);

-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(MultipartFile.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF(((MultipartFile) inv.getArgument(0)).getBytes()));
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(3);
+        assertThat(totalPagesOf(outputs)).isEqualTo(6);
    }

    @Test
@@ -119,12 +157,12 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
        request.setIncludeMetadata(false);
        request.setAllowDuplicates(true);

-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(MultipartFile.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF(((MultipartFile) inv.getArgument(0)).getBytes()));
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(2);
+        assertThat(totalPagesOf(outputs)).isEqualTo(4);
    }

    @Test
@@ -163,10 +201,6 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
            request.setIncludeMetadata(false);
            request.setAllowDuplicates(false);

-            when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(MultipartFile.class)))
-                    .thenAnswer(
-                            inv -> Loader.loadPDF(((MultipartFile) inv.getArgument(0)).getBytes()));
-
            assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> controller.splitPdf(request));
        }
    }
@@ -185,12 +219,12 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
        request.setIncludeMetadata(false);
        request.setAllowDuplicates(false);

-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(MultipartFile.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF(((MultipartFile) inv.getArgument(0)).getBytes()));
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(1);
+        assertThat(totalPagesOf(outputs)).isEqualTo(3);
    }

    @Test
@@ -207,14 +241,15 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
        request.setIncludeMetadata(true);
        request.setAllowDuplicates(false);

-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(MultipartFile.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF(((MultipartFile) inv.getArgument(0)).getBytes()));
-        when(pdfMetadataService.extractMetadataFromPdf(any(PDDocument.class)))
+        lenient()
+                .when(pdfMetadataService.extractMetadataFromPdf(any(PDDocument.class)))
                .thenReturn(new stirling.software.common.model.PdfMetadata());

-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(totalPagesOf(outputs)).isEqualTo(4);
    }

    @Test
@@ -231,12 +266,12 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
        request.setIncludeMetadata(false);
        request.setAllowDuplicates(false);

-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(MultipartFile.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF(((MultipartFile) inv.getArgument(0)).getBytes()));
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(3);
+        assertThat(totalPagesOf(outputs)).isEqualTo(6);
    }

    @Test
@@ -253,11 +288,11 @@ class SplitPdfByChaptersControllerTest {
        request.setIncludeMetadata(false);
        request.setAllowDuplicates(true);

-        when(pdfDocumentFactory.load(any(MultipartFile.class)))
-                .thenAnswer(inv -> Loader.loadPDF(((MultipartFile) inv.getArgument(0)).getBytes()));
-
-        var response = controller.splitPdf(request);
+        ResponseEntity<Resource> response = controller.splitPdf(request);

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
+        List<byte[]> outputs = unzip(response.getBody());
+        assertThat(outputs).hasSize(5);
+        assertThat(totalPagesOf(outputs)).isEqualTo(10);
    }
 }
--- a/Show More
+++ b/Show More