diff --git a/Partnership/partnership_onboard.sh b/Partnership/partnership_onboard.sh
index 2440021..c44cc8b 100755
--- a/Partnership/partnership_onboard.sh
+++ b/Partnership/partnership_onboard.sh
@@ -535,7 +535,18 @@ if [[ "$PHASE1_ONLY" == true ]]; then
     echo "  Duration:     $(format_duration $(( END - START )))"
     echo ""
     echo "  HOST1 is fully set up. HOST2 ($MIRROR) can now install the Varaverk plugin."
-    echo "  The wizard will detect the pushed conf and take the correct path."
+    # The push needs a Varaverk install to land in — varaverk.cfg and Configurations/ have to
+    # exist on the far side. Before the plugin is installed there is nowhere to put the file, so
+    # a skip here is the expected result of running Phase 1 first, not a fault to chase.
+    if [[ "$CONF_PUSH_OK" == true ]]; then
+        echo "  master.conf is on $MIRROR — the wizard will find it and take the partner path."
+    else
+        echo "  master.conf was NOT delivered — $MIRROR has no Varaverk install to receive it yet."
+        echo "  That is expected at this stage. Once the plugin is installed there, either:"
+        echo "    • re-run:  bash Partnership/partnership_onboard.sh --phase1-only --skip-ssh"
+        echo "    • or push from Scheduler → master.conf → Save Conf"
+        echo "    • or, from HOST2's Setup tab, use 'Pull from HOST1' on the master.conf row"
+    fi
     echo "  When HOST2 completes its onboard, it will automatically trigger Phase 2 here."
     echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
     exit 0
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
index ace4e06..799e80b 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
@@ -296,9 +296,22 @@ function vv_push_master_conf(): array {
             continue;
         }
 
-        // Single SSH call: get remote SCRIPTS_DIR and verify plugin is installed,
-        // Configurations/ exists, and master.conf is already present.
-        // Any missing piece means the remote isn't ready — skip rather than push blind.
+        // Single SSH call: get remote SCRIPTS_DIR and verify the plugin is installed and
+        // Configurations/ exists. Any missing piece means the remote isn't ready — skip rather
+        // than push blind.
+        //
+        // It deliberately does NOT require master.conf to already be there. Requiring it meant
+        // this could only ever *update* a conf, never deliver one — and delivering is what Step 10
+        // of partnership_onboard.sh exists to do. Every conf is gitignored, so a freshly installed
+        // node has varaverk.cfg and Configurations/ (README.md is tracked, so the clone creates the
+        // dir) but no master.conf, and the push skipped exactly the node it was meant to seed.
+        //
+        // The two surviving checks still refuse a bare or half-installed host, so nothing is
+        // pushed into a directory that is not a Varaverk install.
+        //
+        // NOTE: this sends the owner's master.conf as-is, credentials included — TAILSCALE_API_KEY
+        // and WEBHOOK_SECRET among them. That is the accepted trade for one shared config across
+        // the mesh; a node you would not hand those to should not be a listed host.
         // Remote command built as one PHP string and escapeshellarg()'d whole — shell_exec()
         // adds its own `sh -c` layer locally, so a bare double-quoted string here would let
         // the $(...)/${...} substitutions expand on HOST1 before ssh ever sees them, instead
@@ -308,13 +321,12 @@ function vv_push_master_conf(): array {
         $remoteCmd = 'cfg=$(grep SCRIPTS_DIR /boot/config/plugins/varaverk/varaverk.cfg 2>/dev/null)'
                    . ' && sd=$(echo "$cfg" | grep -oP \'(?<=SCRIPTS_DIR=")[^"]+\')'
                    . ' && test -d "${sd}/Configurations"'
-                   . ' && test -f "${sd}/Configurations/master.conf"'
                    . ' && echo "$sd"';
         $probe    = trim(shell_exec($sshBase . ' ' . escapeshellarg($remoteCmd)) ?: '');
 
         if ($probe === '') {
             $results[] = ['host' => $hostKey, 'ok' => false, 'ready' => false,
-                          'error' => 'plugin not installed, dir missing, or master.conf absent — skipped'];
+                          'error' => 'plugin not installed or Configurations/ missing — skipped'];
             continue;
         }