diff --git a/pack/custom/CustomSkinLoader_Universal-14.28.jar b/custom/CustomSkinLoader_Universal-14.28.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/CustomSkinLoader_Universal-14.28.jar
rename to custom/CustomSkinLoader_Universal-14.28.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/Jade-1.21.1-NeoForge-15.10.5.jar b/custom/Jade-1.21.1-NeoForge-15.10.5.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/Jade-1.21.1-NeoForge-15.10.5.jar
rename to custom/Jade-1.21.1-NeoForge-15.10.5.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/JadeAddons-1.21.1-NeoForge-6.1.0.jar b/custom/JadeAddons-1.21.1-NeoForge-6.1.0.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/JadeAddons-1.21.1-NeoForge-6.1.0.jar
rename to custom/JadeAddons-1.21.1-NeoForge-6.1.0.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/JustEnoughProfessions-neoforge-1.21.1-4.0.5.jar b/custom/JustEnoughProfessions-neoforge-1.21.1-4.0.5.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/JustEnoughProfessions-neoforge-1.21.1-4.0.5.jar
rename to custom/JustEnoughProfessions-neoforge-1.21.1-4.0.5.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/JustEnoughResources-NeoForge-1.21.1-1.6.0.17.jar b/custom/JustEnoughResources-NeoForge-1.21.1-1.6.0.17.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/JustEnoughResources-NeoForge-1.21.1-1.6.0.17.jar
rename to custom/JustEnoughResources-NeoForge-1.21.1-1.6.0.17.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/MouseTweaks-neoforge-mc1.21-2.26.1.jar b/custom/MouseTweaks-neoforge-mc1.21-2.26.1.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/MouseTweaks-neoforge-mc1.21-2.26.1.jar
rename to custom/MouseTweaks-neoforge-mc1.21-2.26.1.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/balm-neoforge-1.21.1-21.0.58.jar b/custom/balm-neoforge-1.21.1-21.0.58.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/balm-neoforge-1.21.1-21.0.58.jar
rename to custom/balm-neoforge-1.21.1-21.0.58.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/inventoryessentials-neoforge-1.21.1-21.1.15.jar b/custom/inventoryessentials-neoforge-1.21.1-21.1.15.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/inventoryessentials-neoforge-1.21.1-21.1.15.jar
rename to custom/inventoryessentials-neoforge-1.21.1-21.1.15.jar
diff --git a/pack/custom/jei-1.21.1-neoforge-19.27.0.340.jar b/custom/jei-1.21.1-neoforge-19.27.0.340.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from pack/custom/jei-1.21.1-neoforge-19.27.0.340.jar
rename to custom/jei-1.21.1-neoforge-19.27.0.340.jar
diff --git a/docker-compose.blessingskin.yml b/docker-compose.blessingskin.yml
index 4b52c4b..72cf07e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.blessingskin.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.blessingskin.yml
@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@
 
 services:
   caddy:
-    # Swap the core ingress conf for the Blessing Skin one (same mount target,
-    # so it shadows the base 00-core.caddy). volumes is a full replacement here.
+    # Swap the core ingress conf for the Blessing Skin one. Compose MERGES
+    # volumes by container path, so mounting the BSS conf at the SAME target
+    # (/etc/caddy/conf.d/00-core.caddy) shadows the base 00-core.caddy; all
+    # other base mounts (pack, custom, static, ca) are kept automatically.
     volumes:
-      - ./caddy/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
       - ./caddy/conf.d/00-core-blessingskin.caddy:/etc/caddy/conf.d/00-core.caddy:ro
-      - ./pack:/srv/pack:ro
     depends_on:
       - blessing-skin
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 5b924b1..4e98e4d 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ services:
       - ./mirror/launcher:/srv/launcher:ro
       - ./caddy/caddy-root-ca.crt:/srv/ca-pub/ca.crt:ro
       - ./pack:/srv/pack:ro
+      # Custom (locally-hosted) mod jars live OUTSIDE ./pack so packwiz refresh
+      # doesn't index them as direct files — they're external download targets
+      # referenced by pack/mods/*.pw.toml. Served at pack.${BASE_DOMAIN}/custom/.
+      - ./custom:/srv/pack/custom:ro
     networks:
       mcnet:
         # Only the stack's own subdomains in the base. The upstream spoof-host
diff --git a/pack/index.toml b/pack/index.toml
index 89a0692..fb76567 100644
--- a/pack/index.toml
+++ b/pack/index.toml
@@ -2,48 +2,12 @@ hash-format = "sha256"
 
 [[files]]
 file = "CustomSkinLoader/CustomSkinLoader.json"
-hash = "e90635e0074cc7b1ddee50ddd2af8a4b35842ab721878665b00a3612ad01105b"
+hash = "20f015b837d4178cc1ba6ca074e746dea91b2b97810587bae0fc4e55cf98b1aa"
 
 [[files]]
 file = "README.md"
 hash = "3915be75668def5a70667584c7aebdc1ee9a7f7dd9479cb10fb174aad40a6b4e"
 
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/CustomSkinLoader_Universal-14.28.jar"
-hash = "0008fb0a91dd1e84d52162cfe96addb5f6aed3b76d426ea7305d7624e31f1894"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/Jade-1.21.1-NeoForge-15.10.5.jar"
-hash = "067bb4b007e1d6f6b79f0afe99c91252aa825472b99a76d33a60d24442f9e92d"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/JadeAddons-1.21.1-NeoForge-6.1.0.jar"
-hash = "5f242668ad710092964d4d9afda8a94fa2401665ea13eea67d55d07e4dff8a64"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/JustEnoughProfessions-neoforge-1.21.1-4.0.5.jar"
-hash = "b320b47f1791f56df9e1a05138f0e312e6e54541945ff15f2f1fd398cd1d4d9d"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/JustEnoughResources-NeoForge-1.21.1-1.6.0.17.jar"
-hash = "7a47d69b5530704690d5a5f0726cd74a2d6c57df17dd4a8589c4ab5212f91460"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/MouseTweaks-neoforge-mc1.21-2.26.1.jar"
-hash = "68e6f4201c5de97b77929a7215c9552495696ca6a3bf3ae4eacc34e135f6cc8b"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/balm-neoforge-1.21.1-21.0.58.jar"
-hash = "aa2463747bad4c2351869226ea7bce7839510dfd2ac387f8d1588b1ce9309c67"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/inventoryessentials-neoforge-1.21.1-21.1.15.jar"
-hash = "b7a5c5526a45256551543419ba2b5d54e56c585d76a645a8cea8cb8ea843ae2c"
-
-[[files]]
-file = "custom/jei-1.21.1-neoforge-19.27.0.340.jar"
-hash = "8aaf547432f1b4958239b036356b910692fe40f858c3073d996f56bbf7c99826"
-
 [[files]]
 file = "mods/balm-neoforge-1-21-1-21-0-58.pw.toml"
 hash = "4d04516cc66ac6f29d6d1ae16bfd89217f21d842858ace5bcae1e402da5da0e2"
diff --git a/pack/pack.toml b/pack/pack.toml
index b2f9563..b2ad8ee 100644
--- a/pack/pack.toml
+++ b/pack/pack.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ pack-format = "packwiz:1.1.0"
 [index]
 file = "index.toml"
 hash-format = "sha256"
-hash = "64c69b2e38fcf389a3de38d240aa95e8309ac60e717c1fe994aef2c4a2684921"
+hash = "2707ae674c7c75371b97cc378ca72abc36bbb513b7db238db111f88a13aa6039"
 
 [versions]
 minecraft = "1.21.1"
diff --git a/tooling/add-custom-mod.sh b/tooling/add-custom-mod.sh
index 42d0504..041d8d3 100755
--- a/tooling/add-custom-mod.sh
+++ b/tooling/add-custom-mod.sh
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
 # <slug>.pw.toml that points at a stable download URL + sha256, then refresh.
 #
 # Since the jars are local (no public URL), we HOST them on the caddy pack
-# server: each jar is copied under pack/custom/ — caddy serves pack/ at
-# http://pack.${BASE_DOMAIN}/ — so the metadata's download url is
+# server: each jar is copied to the top-level ./custom/ dir (OUTSIDE ./pack, so
+# packwiz refresh won't index it as a direct file). Caddy bind-mounts ./custom
+# at /srv/pack/custom, so it is served at
 #   http://pack.${BASE_DOMAIN}/custom/<filename>
 # which is exactly what minecraft fetches via PACKWIZ_URL on install.
 #
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ else
   JARS=("$TARGET")
 fi
 
-mkdir -p pack/custom pack/mods
+mkdir -p custom pack/mods
 
 # ---- per-jar processing (no refresh; refresh once at the end) --------------
 add_one() {  # $1 = jar path. Uses NAME (single-jar only), SIDE, FORCE, BASE_DOMAIN.
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ add_one() {  # $1 = jar path. Uses NAME (single-jar only), SIDE, FORCE, BASE_DOM
   [ -n "$slug" ] || die "could not derive a slug from name '$name'"
 
   meta="pack/mods/${slug}.pw.toml"
-  dest="pack/custom/${filename}"
+  dest="custom/${filename}"
   url="http://pack.${BASE_DOMAIN}/custom/${filename}"
 
   if [ "$FORCE" -ne 1 ]; then
@@ -119,4 +120,4 @@ for j in "${JARS[@]}"; do add_one "$j"; done
 # .pw.toml files are picked up. Must run inside the pack dir.
 ( cd pack && packwiz refresh )
 log "packwiz refresh done — ${#JARS[@]} mod(s) added to the pack"
-echo "  commit pack/custom/*.jar, pack/mods/*.pw.toml, pack/index.toml, pack/pack.toml"
+echo "  commit custom/*.jar, pack/mods/*.pw.toml, pack/index.toml, pack/pack.toml"