diff --git a/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh b/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
index 1604c72f..7d3b7a49 100755
--- a/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
+++ b/image-recipe/_archived/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
@@ -1424,35 +1424,48 @@ fi
 
 # Include AIUI web app (Claude chat interface)
 AIUI_INCLUDED=0
-# Search multiple locations for a pre-built AIUI app.
-# demo/aiui is the canonical AIUI bundle checked into the repo and is
-# tried first so ISO builds on a fresh clone work without needing any
-# external AIUI checkout.
+# Pick the NEWEST valid AIUI build across the candidate locations, not the
+# first: demo/aiui is the checked-in fallback so fresh clones can build an
+# ISO, but on a dev box it is older than the tree's dist and silently won —
+# 2026-08-07's RC1 shipped an index.html pointing at the stale demo bundle
+# while the fresh one sat unused beside it. The merge also needs --delete,
+# or yesterday's hashed assets linger next to today's forever.
+AIUI_SRC=""
+AIUI_NEWEST=0
 for AIUI_DIR in \
-    "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../demo/aiui" \
+    "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../aiui/packages/app/dist" \
     "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../AIUI/packages/app/dist" \
     "$HOME/AIUI/packages/app/dist" \
     "/home/archipelago/AIUI/packages/app/dist" \
     "/opt/archipelago/web-ui/aiui" \
-    "/home/archipelago/archy/AIUI/packages/app/dist"; do
+    "/home/archipelago/archy/AIUI/packages/app/dist" \
+    "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../demo/aiui"; do
     if [ -d "$AIUI_DIR" ] && [ -f "$AIUI_DIR/index.html" ]; then
-        echo "   Including AIUI from $AIUI_DIR..."
-        mkdir -p "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui"
-        # Use rsync to handle same-file (CI workspace == /opt/archipelago) gracefully
-        if command -v rsync >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            rsync -a "$AIUI_DIR/" "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui/"
-        else
-            cp -r "$AIUI_DIR/"* "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui/" 2>/dev/null || true
+        m="$(stat -c %Y "$AIUI_DIR/index.html" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)"
+        if [ "$m" -gt "$AIUI_NEWEST" ]; then
+            AIUI_NEWEST="$m"
+            AIUI_SRC="$AIUI_DIR"
         fi
-        echo "   ✅ AIUI included ($(du -sh "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui" | cut -f1))"
-        AIUI_INCLUDED=1
-        break
     fi
 done
+if [ -n "$AIUI_SRC" ]; then
+    echo "   Including AIUI from $AIUI_SRC (newest of the candidates)..."
+    mkdir -p "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui"
+    # Use rsync to handle same-file (CI workspace == /opt/archipelago) gracefully
+    if command -v rsync >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        rsync -a --delete "$AIUI_SRC/" "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui/"
+    else
+        rm -rf "${ARCH_DIR:?}/web-ui/aiui"
+        mkdir -p "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui"
+        cp -r "$AIUI_SRC/"* "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui/" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+    echo "   ✅ AIUI included ($(du -sh "$ARCH_DIR/web-ui/aiui" | cut -f1))"
+    AIUI_INCLUDED=1
+fi
 if [ "$AIUI_INCLUDED" = "0" ]; then
     echo "   ⚠️  AIUI not found — build it first:"
-    echo "      cd ~/AIUI/packages/app && VITE_BASE_PATH=/aiui/ npx vite build"
-    echo "   Searched: demo/aiui, ~/AIUI, /home/archipelago/AIUI, /opt/archipelago/web-ui/aiui"
+    echo "      cd aiui/packages/app && VITE_BASE_PATH=/aiui/ npx vite build"
+    echo "   Searched: aiui/packages/app/dist, AIUI/packages/app/dist, ~/AIUI, /opt/archipelago/web-ui/aiui, demo/aiui"
 fi
 
 # Copy app manifests