diff --git a/app/api/account/route.ts b/app/api/account/route.ts
index d39f730..8b861a6 100644
--- a/app/api/account/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/account/route.ts
@@ -76,9 +76,30 @@ function sanitizeConfig(body: any): Record<string, any> {
   // (escape-first) at display time, so no HTML sanitization is needed here.
   const blocks = cleanBlocks(body?.blocks);
   if (blocks.length) c.blocks = blocks;
+
+  // Uploaded videos ({name, url, poster?}) — pass through so a config save
+  // doesn't wipe uploads (they're written to the tenant config by /api/upload).
+  const videos = cleanVideos(body?.videos);
+  if (videos.length) c.videos = videos;
   return c;
 }
 
+/** Keeps uploaded-video entries: same-origin /api/media/ url + optional poster. */
+function cleanVideos(arr: unknown): { name: string; url: string; poster?: string }[] {
+  if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return [];
+  const okUrl = (u: string) => /^\/api\/media\/[A-Za-z0-9._\-/]+$/.test(u) || normalizeUrl(u) === u;
+  const out: { name: string; url: string; poster?: string }[] = [];
+  for (const v of arr.slice(0, 24)) {
+    const url = String((v as any)?.url || "").trim();
+    if (!okUrl(url)) continue;
+    const entry: { name: string; url: string; poster?: string } = { name: String((v as any)?.name || "video").slice(0, 120), url };
+    const poster = String((v as any)?.poster || "").trim();
+    if (poster && okUrl(poster)) entry.poster = poster;
+    out.push(entry);
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
 /** Sanitizes the content-blocks array: bounded count + size, known types only. */
 function cleanBlocks(arr: unknown): { id: string; type: string; content: string; enabled: boolean }[] {
   if (!Array.isArray(arr)) return [];
diff --git a/app/api/media/[...path]/route.ts b/app/api/media/[...path]/route.ts
index 4720a91..47798d4 100644
--- a/app/api/media/[...path]/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/media/[...path]/route.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,14 @@ export async function GET(req: NextRequest, ctx: { params: Promise<{ path: strin
   try { stat = await fsp.stat(full); if (!stat.isFile()) throw 0; } catch { return new Response("not found", { status: 404 }); }
 
   const size = stat.size;
-  const type = "video/mp4";
+  const ext = path.extname(full).toLowerCase();
+  const type =
+    ext === ".png" ? "image/png"
+    : ext === ".jpg" || ext === ".jpeg" ? "image/jpeg"
+    : ext === ".webp" ? "image/webp"
+    : ext === ".webm" ? "video/webm"
+    : ext === ".mov" ? "video/quicktime"
+    : "video/mp4";
   const range = req.headers.get("range");
 
   if (range) {
diff --git a/app/api/upload/route.ts b/app/api/upload/route.ts
index 43541a4..3494dee 100644
--- a/app/api/upload/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/upload/route.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import { readSession, authConfigured, SESSION_COOKIE } from "@/lib/session";
 import { findOrCreateAccountByEmail, ownsParkedDomain, getTenantConfig, upsertTenant } from "@/lib/db";
 import { safeDomain } from "@/lib/config";
+import { ffmpegPoster } from "@/lib/media";
 
 export const runtime = "nodejs";
 export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
@@ -43,16 +44,28 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
   await fs.mkdir(dir, { recursive: true });
   const safeBase = (file.name || "video.mp4").replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9._-]/g, "_").replace(/_{2,}/g, "_").slice(0, 80);
   const fname = `${Date.now().toString(36)}-${safeBase.endsWith(".mp4") ? safeBase : safeBase + ".mp4"}`;
-  await fs.writeFile(path.join(dir, fname), Buffer.from(await file.arrayBuffer()));
+  const mp4Path = path.join(dir, fname);
+  await fs.writeFile(mp4Path, Buffer.from(await file.arrayBuffer()));
+
+  // Generate a poster thumbnail (best-effort — never fail the upload on it).
+  const thumbName = fname.replace(/\.mp4$/i, "_thumb.png");
+  let poster: string | undefined;
+  try {
+    if (await ffmpegPoster(mp4Path, path.join(dir, thumbName))) {
+      poster = `/api/media/${domSlug(dn)}/${thumbName}`;
+    }
+  } catch { /* no poster, no problem */ }
 
   const url = `/api/media/${domSlug(dn)}/${fname}`;
+  const entry: { name: string; url: string; poster?: string } = { name: (file.name || fname).slice(0, 120), url };
+  if (poster) entry.poster = poster;
   const config: any = (await getTenantConfig(dn)) || {};
   const videos = Array.isArray(config.videos) ? config.videos : [];
-  videos.unshift({ name: (file.name || fname).slice(0, 120), url });
+  videos.unshift(entry);
   config.videos = videos.slice(0, 24);
   await upsertTenant(dn, id, config);
 
-  return NextResponse.json({ ok: true, video: { name: (file.name || fname).slice(0, 120), url }, videos: config.videos });
+  return NextResponse.json({ ok: true, video: entry, videos: config.videos });
 }
 
 // DELETE /api/upload?dn=<domain>&url=/api/media/... — remove a video.
@@ -67,10 +80,11 @@ export async function DELETE(req: NextRequest) {
   const videos = Array.isArray(config.videos) ? config.videos : [];
   config.videos = videos.filter((v: any) => v?.url !== url);
   await upsertTenant(dn, id, config);
-  // Best-effort delete the file (path is validated to be under this domain's dir).
+  // Best-effort delete the file + its poster (path validated to this domain's dir).
   const m = /^\/api\/media\/([a-z0-9.-]+)\/([A-Za-z0-9._-]+)$/.exec(url);
   if (m && m[1] === domSlug(dn)) {
     fs.unlink(path.join(VIDEO_DIR, m[1], m[2])).catch(() => {});
+    fs.unlink(path.join(VIDEO_DIR, m[1], m[2].replace(/\.mp4$/i, "_thumb.png"))).catch(() => {});
   }
   return NextResponse.json({ ok: true, videos: config.videos });
 }
diff --git a/components/Tenant.tsx b/components/Tenant.tsx
index 15dc300..e1f0900 100644
--- a/components/Tenant.tsx
+++ b/components/Tenant.tsx
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ export default function Tenant({ cfg }: { cfg: TenantConfig }) {
         {cfg.videos.length > 0 && (
           <div id="videos" className="t-videos" aria-label="Videos">
             {cfg.videos.map((v, i) => (
-              <video key={i} className="t-video" controls preload="metadata" playsInline src={v.url} />
+              <video key={i} className="t-video" controls preload="metadata" playsInline src={v.url} poster={v.poster || undefined} />
             ))}
           </div>
         )}
diff --git a/lib/config.ts b/lib/config.ts
index 7cbefe9..72bd849 100644
--- a/lib/config.ts
+++ b/lib/config.ts
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ export type TenantConfig = {
   hashtags: string[];
   /** Image assets pulled from a connected GitHub repo, rendered as a gallery. */
   assets: TenantLink[];
-  /** Uploaded MP4 videos ({name, url}), rendered in the #videos section. */
-  videos: { name: string; url: string }[];
+  /** Uploaded MP4 videos ({name, url, poster?}), rendered in the #videos section. */
+  videos: { name: string; url: string; poster?: string }[];
   /** Genres from ?style=metal,punk — drives the AI hero-image generation. */
   styles: string[];
   /** Optional background accent (rgba) from ?bg_rgba=; null = use the theme default. */
@@ -398,9 +398,13 @@ export function configFor(dn: string, opts: TenantOverrides = {}): TenantConfig
   const assets = Array.isArray(ov.assets)
     ? ov.assets.filter((a: any) => a && a.url).map((a: any) => ({ label: String(a.name || a.label || ""), url: String(a.url), kind: "image" }))
     : [];
-  // Uploaded MP4 videos ({name, url}).
+  // Uploaded MP4 videos ({name, url, poster?}).
   const videos = Array.isArray(ov.videos)
-    ? ov.videos.filter((v: any) => v && v.url).map((v: any) => ({ name: String(v.name || "video"), url: String(v.url) })).slice(0, 24)
+    ? ov.videos.filter((v: any) => v && v.url).map((v: any) => ({
+        name: String(v.name || "video"),
+        url: String(v.url),
+        ...(v.poster ? { poster: String(v.poster) } : {}),
+      })).slice(0, 24)
     : [];
   // Hashtags: ?hashtags= query, else saved config, else the domain slug.
   const parsedTags = parseHashtags(opts.hashtags);
diff --git a/lib/media.ts b/lib/media.ts
index 0985983..2ace81f 100644
--- a/lib/media.ts
+++ b/lib/media.ts
@@ -83,18 +83,21 @@ function runFfmpeg(args: string[]): Promise<boolean> {
 }
 
 /**
- * Extracts a poster frame from an uploaded video into `<name>_thumb.png`
- * (640px wide, aspect preserved) using ffmpeg. Best-effort: returns false if
- * ffmpeg is missing or the clip can't be decoded — the caller must not fail the
- * upload on a false. Grabs a frame ~1s in, falling back to the first frame for
- * very short clips.
+ * Extracts a 640px poster frame from `inputPath` into `outputPath` (PNG) with
+ * ffmpeg. Best-effort: returns false if ffmpeg is missing or the clip can't be
+ * decoded — callers must not fail an upload on a false. Grabs a frame ~1s in,
+ * falling back to the first frame for very short clips. Works on any absolute
+ * paths, so it's shared by both video stores (media/ and videos/).
  */
+export async function ffmpegPoster(inputPath: string, outputPath: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  const frameAt = (t: string) =>
+    ["-y", "-ss", t, "-i", inputPath, "-frames:v", "1", "-vf", "scale=640:-2", outputPath];
+  if ((await runFfmpeg(frameAt("1"))) && fs.existsSync(outputPath)) return true;
+  return (await runFfmpeg(frameAt("0"))) && fs.existsSync(outputPath);
+}
+
+/** Poster for an uploaded media-table reel: `<name>.mp4` → `<name>_thumb.png`. */
 export async function generateThumbnail(videoFilename: string): Promise<boolean> {
   ensureDir();
-  const input = mediaPath(videoFilename);
-  const output = mediaPath(thumbFilename(videoFilename));
-  const frameAt = (t: string) =>
-    ["-y", "-ss", t, "-i", input, "-frames:v", "1", "-vf", "scale=640:-2", output];
-  if ((await runFfmpeg(frameAt("1"))) && fs.existsSync(output)) return true;
-  return (await runFfmpeg(frameAt("0"))) && fs.existsSync(output);
+  return ffmpegPoster(mediaPath(videoFilename), mediaPath(thumbFilename(videoFilename)));
 }
diff --git a/lib/tenant-config.ts b/lib/tenant-config.ts
index 0d16b5e..f046944 100644
--- a/lib/tenant-config.ts
+++ b/lib/tenant-config.ts
@@ -75,12 +75,16 @@ export function sanitizeTenantConfig(body: any): Record<string, any> {
   // Uploaded MP4 videos ({name, url}). url is a same-origin /api/media/ path
   // (or an http(s) URL); passed through so a config save doesn't wipe uploads.
   if (Array.isArray(body?.videos)) {
+    const okUrl = (u: string) => /^\/api\/media\/[A-Za-z0-9._\-\/]+$/.test(u) || normalizeUrl(u) === u;
     const videos = body.videos
       .slice(0, 24)
       .map((v: any) => {
         const url = String(v?.url || "").trim();
-        const ok = /^\/api\/media\/[A-Za-z0-9._\-\/]+$/.test(url) || (normalizeUrl(url) === url);
-        return ok ? { name: String(v?.name || "video").slice(0, 120), url } : null;
+        if (!okUrl(url)) return null;
+        const entry: { name: string; url: string; poster?: string } = { name: String(v?.name || "video").slice(0, 120), url };
+        const poster = String(v?.poster || "").trim();
+        if (poster && okUrl(poster)) entry.poster = poster;
+        return entry;
       })
       .filter(Boolean);
     if (videos.length) c.videos = videos;