diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/media_seed.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/media_seed.php
index 158f5e9..b385f4e 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/media_seed.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/media_seed.php
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@
 // ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
 // PURPOSE
 //   Start and stop the background media seed — Rsync/media_seed.sh, the multi-week first push
-//   of every DAILY_SYNC_SHARES entry to the partner. Onboard Step 13 dispatches it once; this
-//   endpoint is how the Partnership tab restarts it after a failure and stops it on demand.
+//   of every DAILY_SYNC_SHARES entry to the partner. Phase 3 (partnership_onboard.sh
+//   --phase3-only) is how it is normally started; this endpoint is the direct control the
+//   Partnership tab uses to stop a running seed, and to start one without re-running the phase.
 //
 // OPERATIONAL MODEL
 //   The seed used to run inline inside partnership_onboard.sh, which meant the only control a
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/partnership.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/partnership.php
index a8172fc..11dc26a 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/partnership.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/partnership.php
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ function vv_pt_remote_system(string $ip, string $sshKey): array {
 
 // ── Media seed progress ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 //
-// Onboard Step 13 dispatches Rsync/media_seed.sh detached, because a first seed of a full
+// Phase 3 dispatches Rsync/media_seed.sh detached, because a first seed of a full
 // media library is a multi-week transfer and used to hold the onboard — and therefore the
 // phase-2 flag, and therefore this whole page — open for the duration.
 //
diff --git a/Rsync/README-Rsync.md b/Rsync/README-Rsync.md
index 2b4a94f..ac66711 100644
--- a/Rsync/README-Rsync.md
+++ b/Rsync/README-Rsync.md
@@ -104,18 +104,23 @@ For full profile definitions see `Manual-Rsync.md`.
 | Script | Role | When It Runs |
 |--------|------|-------------|
 | `rsync.sh` | Core transfer engine — profile resolution, pre-flights, container management, transfer, bandwidth logging | Called by orchestrators; directly for manual syncs |
-| `media_seed.sh` | First-fill of a new partner — loops every `DAILY_SYNC_SHARES` entry through `rsync.sh --seed` | Dispatched detached by partnership onboard Step 13; restartable from the Partnership tab |
+| `media_seed.sh` | First-fill of a new partner — loops every `DAILY_SYNC_SHARES` entry through `rsync.sh --seed` | Phase 3 — dispatched by `partnership_onboard.sh --phase3-only`, triggered from the Partnership tab |
 
 `media_seed.sh` is the one script here that is expected to run for weeks. A first seed of
-HOST1's library is ~28 TB against a 12.5 MB/s `--bwlimit`, which is why onboard dispatches it
-rather than waiting on it, and why the Partnership tab gives it a Stop button — `rsync.sh` runs
-`--inplace --partial`, so stopping costs the file in flight, not the share.
+HOST1's library is ~28 TB against a 12.5 MB/s `--bwlimit`, which is why it is a phase of its own
+rather than a step inside the onboard, and why the Partnership tab gives it a Stop button —
+`rsync.sh` runs `--inplace --partial`, so stopping costs the file in flight, not the share.
 
 It answers to `MEDIA_SEED_ENABLED` in `master.conf` — a Tier 2 toggle beside the per-orchestrator
-ones, still under Tier 1 `RSYNC_ENABLED`. Off means onboard finishes without ever dispatching it,
-for a partner being filled from a moved disk or one that already holds the library. An unset
+ones, still under Tier 1 `RSYNC_ENABLED`. **Off means there is no Phase 3 at all** and onboarding
+is two phases: the toggle removes the phase rather than disabling a button. Use it for a partner
+being filled from a moved disk or one that already holds the library. An unset
 `MEDIA_SEED_ENABLED` reads as on, so a conf that predates the toggle keeps its behaviour.
 
+Phase 3 also sets the gate posture it needs and leaves it there: Tier 1 open so `rsync.sh` will
+move anything at all, every Tier 2 gate closed so the scheduled orchestrators are not competing
+for the same link and the same disks for the weeks the seed takes.
+
 ---
 
 ## ━━━ HOW THE SCRIPTS RELATE ━━━
diff --git a/Rsync/media_seed.sh b/Rsync/media_seed.sh
index c0cce07..26cdd5c 100755
--- a/Rsync/media_seed.sh
+++ b/Rsync/media_seed.sh
@@ -6,14 +6,16 @@
 # PURPOSE
 # ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # Pushes every share in this host's DAILY_SYNC_SHARES to the partner with
-# Rsync/rsync.sh --seed. Run once after a partnership onboard, when the mirror's
-# arr databases know about all the content but the disks behind them are empty.
+# Rsync/rsync.sh --seed. This is Phase 3 — run after a partnership onboard has
+# completed, when the mirror's arr databases know about all the content but the
+# disks behind them are empty. The partnership does not wait on it.
 #
 # ==============================================================================================
 # WHY THIS IS ITS OWN SCRIPT
 # ==============================================================================================
 #
-# This was Step 9d inside partnership_onboard.sh, running inline. On HOST1 that
+# This was Step 9d inside partnership_onboard.sh, running inline, and is now Phase 3 —
+# reached only by partnership_onboard.sh --phase3-only. On HOST1 that
 # is thirteen shares and roughly 28 TB, and DEFAULT_RSYNC_OPTS caps the transfer
 # at --bwlimit=12500 (12.5 MB/s), so a first seed is a multi-week transfer.
 #
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@
 #
 # Gate Read From Disk
 #   Both are read out of master.conf here rather than trusted from the sourced
-#   environment. Onboard's Step 9c rewrites that file moments before dispatching
+#   environment. Phase 3 rewrites that file moments before dispatching
 #   this script, and each rsync.sh below sources it fresh anyway. With Tier 1
 #   closed rsync.sh moves nothing and still exits 0, so every share would be
 #   counted as seeded — refuse once instead of reporting fourteen no-ops.
@@ -79,7 +81,10 @@
 # RUNTIME MODES
 # ==============================================================================================
 #
-#   Rsync/media_seed.sh              — seed every DAILY_SYNC_SHARES entry
+#   Partnership/partnership_onboard.sh --phase3-only   — the normal entry point: checks
+#                                      Phase 2 is done, sets the gate posture, dispatches this
+#
+#   Rsync/media_seed.sh              — seed every DAILY_SYNC_SHARES entry directly
 #   Rsync/media_seed.sh --dry-run    — pass --dry-run down to rsync.sh
 #   Rsync/media_seed.sh --log        — verbose output
 #