diff --git a/tests/discourse/custom/_discourse.py b/tests/discourse/custom/_discourse.py
index d548bd0..81494e2 100644
--- a/tests/discourse/custom/_discourse.py
+++ b/tests/discourse/custom/_discourse.py
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
 """Shared discourse test helpers — admin user + API key + JSON HTTP.
 
-The bitnamilegacy/discourse recipe (compose app env) sets ONLY the DB + SMTP vars — it does NOT seed
-an admin user, and Discourse's Admin API requires `Api-Key` + `Api-Username` headers (there is no
-auto-created API key). So the functional tests bootstrap their own admin by running Rails inside the
-`app` container (Discourse ships its Rails env at /opt/bitnami/discourse): find-or-create an admin
-user, then create an ApiKey and print its plaintext `.key` (Discourse returns the plaintext only at
-create time; it's stored hashed). Both the admin user and the key are class-B run-scoped — they live
-only in the per-run app and are destroyed at teardown.
+The discourse recipe (compose app env) sets ONLY the DB + SMTP vars — it does NOT seed an admin user,
+and Discourse's Admin API requires `Api-Key` + `Api-Username` headers (there is no auto-created API
+key). So the functional tests bootstrap their own admin by running Rails inside the `app` container:
+find-or-create an admin user, then create an ApiKey and print its plaintext `.key` (Discourse returns
+the plaintext only at create time; it's stored hashed). Both the admin user and the key are class-B
+run-scoped — they live only in the per-run app and are destroyed at teardown.
+
+The custom tier runs on the PR HEAD. Phase prevb made the head genuinely the OFFICIAL
+`discourse/discourse` image (no longer reverted to bitnamilegacy by a leaky overlay), so the Rails env
+location is image-dependent — `mint_admin` detects it: OFFICIAL ships discourse at `/var/www/discourse`
+(ruby/bundle on PATH) and reads the DB password from `$DISCOURSE_DB_PASSWORD`, which the recipe's
+entrypoint exports from `/run/secrets/db_password` only for the BOOT process — a fresh `docker exec`
+must re-export it. The legacy `bitnamilegacy/discourse` ships at `/opt/bitnami/discourse` (ruby at
+`/opt/bitnami/ruby/bin`, DB password injected via env). The probe tries official first, bitnami second.
 
 `mint_admin(domain)` returns (api_key, api_username). Each call creates a fresh ApiKey (cheap;
 idempotent enough — the shared deployment's functional tests each mint their own), reusing the same
@@ -45,15 +52,26 @@ _BOOTSTRAP_RB = (
 
 
 def mint_admin(domain: str) -> tuple[str, str]:
-    """Bootstrap an admin + fresh API key via Rails in the app container. Returns (api_key, username)."""
-    # `bin/rails` is `#!/usr/bin/env ruby`; the bitnami discourse image keeps ruby at
-    # /opt/bitnami/ruby/bin, which is NOT on a login shell's PATH (`bash -lc` resets PATH from
-    # /etc/profile → `env: 'ruby': No such file or directory`, rc=127). Use a non-login shell, discover
-    # ruby (image-ENV PATH first, bitnami fallback), and invoke it explicitly so the shebang is moot.
+    """Bootstrap an admin + fresh API key via Rails in the app container. Returns (api_key, username).
+
+    Image-agnostic (phase prevb): detects the OFFICIAL `discourse/discourse` layout
+    (`/var/www/discourse`, ruby on PATH) vs the legacy `bitnamilegacy/discourse`
+    (`/opt/bitnami/discourse`, ruby at `/opt/bitnami/ruby/bin`). On the OFFICIAL image a fresh
+    `docker exec` lacks `DISCOURSE_DB_PASSWORD` (the entrypoint exports it only for the boot process),
+    so re-export it from `/run/secrets/db_password` before Rails connects."""
     cmd = (
-        "cd /opt/bitnami/discourse && "
-        "RUBY=$(command -v ruby || echo /opt/bitnami/ruby/bin/ruby) && "
-        f'RAILS_ENV=production "$RUBY" bin/rails runner "{_BOOTSTRAP_RB}"'
+        "set -e; "
+        "if [ -d /var/www/discourse ]; then "  # official discourse/discourse
+        "  cd /var/www/discourse; "
+        '  export DISCOURSE_DB_PASSWORD="$(cat /run/secrets/db_password 2>/dev/null)"; '
+        f'  RAILS_ENV=production bin/rails runner "{_BOOTSTRAP_RB}"; '
+        "elif [ -d /opt/bitnami/discourse ]; then "  # legacy bitnamilegacy/discourse
+        "  cd /opt/bitnami/discourse; "
+        "  RUBY=$(command -v ruby || echo /opt/bitnami/ruby/bin/ruby); "
+        f'  RAILS_ENV=production "$RUBY" bin/rails runner "{_BOOTSTRAP_RB}"; '
+        "else "
+        '  echo "no discourse app dir (/var/www/discourse|/opt/bitnami/discourse)" >&2; exit 3; '
+        "fi"
     )
     out = lifecycle.exec_in_app(domain, ["bash", "-c", cmd], service="app", timeout=240)
     key = user = None