diff --git a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.spec.ts b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.spec.ts
index d892699957..19772fd3a8 100644
--- a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.spec.ts
@@ -55,9 +55,6 @@ describe('GitDirectoryResource', () => {
 
 		it('defaults to the repo root when path is omitted', async () => {
 			const url = 'https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-playground';
-			const fallbackName = url
-				.replaceAll(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-.]/g, '-')
-				.replaceAll(/-+/g, '-');
 			const resource = new GitDirectoryResource({
 				resource: 'git:directory',
 				url,
@@ -67,11 +64,53 @@ describe('GitDirectoryResource', () => {
 			});
 			const { files, name } = await resource.resolve();
 
-			expect(name).toBe(fallbackName);
-			expect(resource.name).toBe('.github');
+			// Human-readable name
+			expect(resource.name).toBe(
+				'https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-playground (trunk) at .github'
+			);
+
+			// Filename
+			expect(name).toBe(
+				'https-github.com-WordPress-wordpress-playground-trunk-at-.github'
+			);
 			expect(files['dependabot.yml']).toBeInstanceOf(Uint8Array);
 		});
 	});
+
+	describe('name', () => {
+		it('should return a non-empty name when path is omitted', async () => {
+			const resource = new GitDirectoryResource({
+				resource: 'git:directory',
+				url: 'https://github.com/WordPress/link-manager',
+				ref: 'trunk',
+			});
+			const { name } = await resource.resolve();
+			expect(name).toBe('https-github.com-WordPress-link-manager-trunk');
+		});
+
+		it('should return a non-empty name when path is empty', async () => {
+			const resource = new GitDirectoryResource({
+				resource: 'git:directory',
+				url: 'https://github.com/WordPress/link-manager',
+				ref: 'trunk',
+				path: '',
+			});
+			const { name } = await resource.resolve();
+			expect(name).toBe('https-github.com-WordPress-link-manager-trunk');
+		});
+
+		it('should return a non-empty name when path has no letters', async () => {
+			const resource = new GitDirectoryResource({
+				resource: 'git:directory',
+				url: 'https://github.com/WordPress/link-manager',
+				ref: 'trunk',
+				// A path with only a few files to avoid timing out.
+				path: '/',
+			});
+			const { name } = await resource.resolve();
+			expect(name).toBe('https-github.com-WordPress-link-manager-trunk');
+		});
+	});
 });
 
 describe('BlueprintResource', () => {
diff --git a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.ts b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.ts
index 17e9df4c63..c9ce9a1d66 100644
--- a/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/blueprints/src/lib/v1/resources.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import {
 } from '@php-wasm/progress';
 import type { FileTree, UniversalPHP } from '@php-wasm/universal';
 import type { Semaphore } from '@php-wasm/util';
-import { dirname } from '@php-wasm/util';
+import { randomFilename } from '@php-wasm/util';
 import {
 	listDescendantFiles,
 	listGitFiles,
@@ -586,24 +586,35 @@ export class GitDirectoryResource extends Resource<Directory> {
 			name.substring(requestedPath.length).replace(/^\/+/, '')
 		);
 		return {
-			name:
-				dirname(this.reference.path || '') ||
-				this.reference.url
-					.replaceAll(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-.]/g, '-')
-					.replaceAll(/-+/g, '-'),
+			name: this.filename,
 			files,
 		};
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Generate a nice, non-empty filename – the installPlugin step depends on it.
+	 */
+	get filename() {
+		return (
+			this.name
+				.replaceAll(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-.]/g, '-')
+				.replaceAll(/-+/g, '-')
+				.replace(/^[^a-zA-Z0-9]+|[^a-zA-Z0-9]+$/g, '') ||
+			randomFilename()
+		);
+	}
+
 	/** @inheritDoc */
 	get name() {
-		const path = this.reference.path ?? '';
-		if (!path) {
-			return this.reference.url
-				.replaceAll(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-.]/g, '-')
-				.replaceAll(/-+/g, '-');
-		}
-		return path.split('/').pop() || '';
+		return [
+			this.reference.url,
+			this.reference.ref ? `(${this.reference.ref})` : '',
+			this.reference.path?.replace(/^\/+/, '')
+				? `at ${this.reference.path}`
+				: '',
+		]
+			.filter((segment) => segment.length > 0)
+			.join(' ');
 	}
 }