diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index fd06eb3..55c523e 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -203,7 +203,8 @@ inconsistency here without checking the client first.
   those four NULL and is rendered from `CurrentSaves` — one built Unity assetbundle per
   `BodyType`, which the client picks by the wearer's body. The row is the record as JSON, so an
   import is the export verbatim except that `CreatorAccountId` is forced to 1, the Coach — which
-  is what files it as stock content and whom a sale pays (`just cai-load` loads it;
+  is what files it as stock content and whom a sale pays — and each save's `ThumbnailFileName`
+  is put under `avatar/`, where this server serves it from (`just cai-load` loads it;
   `apps/api/scripts/import-custom-avatar-items.ts` writes a migration; re-importing an id
   replaces it). Serve both through one shape: the shirt carries
   empty `CurrentSaves`/`Tags` and null `CustomBadgeMetadata`, never a missing key. The saves
diff --git a/CLI.md b/CLI.md
index a8f9bc7..b4822b2 100644
--- a/CLI.md
+++ b/CLI.md
@@ -89,14 +89,15 @@ Loads an export of `CustomAvatarItem` records (a JSON array, a `{ Results }` pag
 record) into the `custom_avatar_item` table, each stored as the row's JSON with its
 `CreatorAccountId` forced to 1, the Coach account, whatever the export said: that is what
 files it as stock content (the storefront tab searches by creator) and what a purchase
-pays. It MERGES: an id already in the table has its row replaced, and nothing is deleted, so the
+pays. Each save's `ThumbnailFileName` is put under `avatar/`, where this server serves
+those images from (a name already prefixed is left alone). It MERGES: an id already in the table has its row replaced, and nothing is deleted, so the
 players' own shirts, which share the table, are untouched. Re-running is safe. The load is
 verified by counting rows and probing ids from across the export; it fails loudly rather
 than report a partial load. `--dry-run` reads and validates the export and prints the
 statement count without writing.
 
-The saves in an export name assetbundles and thumbnails by bare filename; the load stores
-the names only.
+The saves in an export name their assetbundles by bare filename; the load stores the
+names only.
 
 ### `lookup` — print an account
 
diff --git a/apps/api/scripts/import-custom-avatar-items.ts b/apps/api/scripts/import-custom-avatar-items.ts
index ede6f1a..abf939f 100644
--- a/apps/api/scripts/import-custom-avatar-items.ts
+++ b/apps/api/scripts/import-custom-avatar-items.ts
@@ -12,11 +12,12 @@
  * For a load that needs no migration and no deploy — the usual case — use
  * `just admin cai-load` instead, which runs the same statements straight against a database.
  * The statements come from src/custom-avatar-items-load.ts either way: each record stored as
- * the row's JSON minus `PurchaseInfo` and with `CreatorAccountId` forced to the Coach account
- * (1), an existing id REPLACED, nothing deleted.
+ * the row's JSON minus `PurchaseInfo`, with `CreatorAccountId` forced to the Coach account (1)
+ * and each save's `ThumbnailFileName` put under `avatar/`, an existing id REPLACED, nothing
+ * deleted.
  *
- * The saves name assetbundles and thumbnails by bare filename; the migration does nothing
- * about those files, which have to be served from wherever the client fetches them.
+ * The saves name assetbundles by bare filename; the migration does nothing about those files,
+ * which have to be served from wherever the client fetches them.
  */
 
 import { readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
diff --git a/apps/api/src/custom-avatar-items-load.ts b/apps/api/src/custom-avatar-items-load.ts
index e50d966..d2a3995 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/custom-avatar-items-load.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/custom-avatar-items-load.ts
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@
  * mapping with no imports, so both sides can use it.
  *
  * A row is the record as JSON (see 0022_custom_avatar_item_json.sql), so a load is the export
- * verbatim: no per-field mapping, and a field the source adds later rides along. Two things
+ * verbatim: no per-field mapping, and a field the source adds later rides along. Three things
  * change on the way in: `PurchaseInfo`, a store-side projection the worker fills at read time,
- * is stripped, and `CreatorAccountId` is FORCED to the Coach account — see
- * {@link customAvatarItemRowLiteral}.
+ * is stripped; `CreatorAccountId` is FORCED to the Coach account; and each save's
+ * `ThumbnailFileName` is put under the `avatar/` prefix — see {@link customAvatarItemRowLiteral}.
  */
 
 /**
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@
  */
 export const COACH_ACCOUNT_ID = 1
 
+/**
+ * Where a save's thumbnail is served from. The export names it bare
+ * (`f2y1ndzuvm5ke2hjmn4cwfwfl.png`); this server keeps those images under `avatar/` in the
+ * image bucket, so the name is prefixed on the way in and the client asks for the right key.
+ */
+export const SAVE_THUMBNAIL_PREFIX = 'avatar/'
+
 /** The least an export record must carry to be a row. Everything else is kept as-is. */
 export interface CustomAvatarItemExportRecord {
 	CustomAvatarItemId: string
@@ -60,18 +67,47 @@ export function readCustomAvatarItemExport(parsed: unknown): CustomAvatarItemExp
 }
 
 /**
- * One record as the SQL string literal its row holds: the JSON, minus `PurchaseInfo`, with
- * `CreatorAccountId` overridden to {@link COACH_ACCOUNT_ID} whatever the export said. An
+ * A save's `ThumbnailFileName` under {@link SAVE_THUMBNAIL_PREFIX}. Idempotent — a name that
+ * already carries the prefix is left alone — so loading a file that was itself dumped from
+ * this table does not stack a second `avatar/`. Anything that is not a non-empty string
+ * (null, absent) is returned as it came.
+ */
+export function prefixSaveThumbnail(name: unknown): unknown {
+	if (typeof name !== 'string' || name === '') return name
+	return name.startsWith(SAVE_THUMBNAIL_PREFIX) ? name : SAVE_THUMBNAIL_PREFIX + name
+}
+
+/**
+ * One record as the SQL string literal its row holds: the JSON, minus `PurchaseInfo`, with two
+ * fields rewritten.
+ *
+ * `CreatorAccountId` is overridden to {@link COACH_ACCOUNT_ID} whatever the export said. An
  * imported item is first-party content by definition, and the creator id is what makes it so
  * here: the storefront tab finds stock items by `creator_account_id = 1`
  * (`includeCoachItems=True`), and a sale pays the creator. An export from another server
  * carries THAT server's creator ids — an item filed under one of those would vanish from the
  * storefront into the user-generated tab, and its price would be paid to whichever local
  * account happened to share the number.
+ *
+ * Each save's `ThumbnailFileName` is prefixed with {@link SAVE_THUMBNAIL_PREFIX}, which is where
+ * this server serves those images from. The rest of the save — the assetbundle names above
+ * all — is untouched.
  */
 export function customAvatarItemRowLiteral(record: CustomAvatarItemExportRecord): string {
 	const { PurchaseInfo: _purchaseInfo, ...stored } = record
-	const row = { ...stored, CreatorAccountId: COACH_ACCOUNT_ID }
+	const saves = Array.isArray(stored.CurrentSaves)
+		? stored.CurrentSaves.map((save: unknown) =>
+				save && typeof save === 'object' && !Array.isArray(save)
+					? {
+							...(save as Record<string, unknown>),
+							ThumbnailFileName: prefixSaveThumbnail(
+								(save as { ThumbnailFileName?: unknown }).ThumbnailFileName
+							),
+						}
+					: save
+			)
+		: stored.CurrentSaves
+	const row = { ...stored, CreatorAccountId: COACH_ACCOUNT_ID, CurrentSaves: saves }
 	return `'${JSON.stringify(row).replaceAll("'", "''")}'`
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/tools/src/cmd/admin.cmd.ts b/packages/tools/src/cmd/admin.cmd.ts
index 2c6dd39..d1a870c 100644
--- a/packages/tools/src/cmd/admin.cmd.ts
+++ b/packages/tools/src/cmd/admin.cmd.ts
@@ -269,10 +269,11 @@ const CUSTOM_AVATAR_ITEM_EXPORT = 'apps/econ/static/db/2025-1-cai.json'
  * Load the first-party custom avatar items into `custom_avatar_item` (owned by the `api`
  * worker). Like `runx catalog load`: the table's STRUCTURE is a migration, its first-party
  * CONTENTS are not, and this is the reload. Each record lands as the row's JSON with its
- * `CreatorAccountId` forced to the Coach account (1) — what makes it stock content here — (the
- * statements come from api's `custom-avatar-items-load.ts`, the same ones the migration
- * generator writes), an id already present is REPLACED, and nothing is deleted — the players'
- * own shirts share the table and an export never mentions them. Re-running is always safe.
+ * `CreatorAccountId` forced to the Coach account (1) — what makes it stock content here — and
+ * each save's `ThumbnailFileName` put under `avatar/` (the statements come from api's
+ * `custom-avatar-items-load.ts`, the same ones the migration generator writes), an id already
+ * present is REPLACED, and nothing is deleted — the players' own shirts share the table and an
+ * export never mentions them. Re-running is always safe.
  */
 const caiLoad = new Command('cai-load')
 	.description('Load first-party custom avatar items from an export JSON (merges; never deletes)')