diff --git a/.changelog/NEXT.md b/.changelog/NEXT.md
index 25eac05ac..b284e7258 100644
--- a/.changelog/NEXT.md
+++ b/.changelog/NEXT.md
@@ -4,3 +4,7 @@
 
 - **Universe canon now lives inside Universe Builder.** Characters, places, and objects are managed inline on the universe page — no separate canon page to navigate to. The old canon URL still works as a redirect, and the Series Pipeline link lands you on the same combined view. Pending edits to other universe fields are no longer lost when canon changes are saved.
 - **Locking a canon entry now also blocks new reference renders.** Locked characters/places/objects already prevented AI rewrites; they now prevent new reference and clean-plate image renders too, so a locked entry's identity stays frozen across both text and visuals. Disabled buttons explain the lock in their tooltips.
+
+## Fixed
+
+- **Volume cover-concept generation no longer 500s on upgraded installs.** The per-season "generate volume cover concepts" LLM step was shipped with its prompt template but missing from `stage-config.json`, so existing installs hit `Stage pipeline-volume-cover-concepts not found`. Added the config entry and a migration that seeds both the template and the config on next launch — fresh installs were already fine.
diff --git a/data.sample/prompts/stage-config.json b/data.sample/prompts/stage-config.json
index 9f4c0ffa9..23de2e690 100644
--- a/data.sample/prompts/stage-config.json
+++ b/data.sample/prompts/stage-config.json
@@ -249,6 +249,13 @@
       "returnsJson": true,
       "variables": []
     },
+    "pipeline-volume-cover-concepts": {
+      "name": "Pipeline — Volume Cover Concepts",
+      "description": "Generate FRONT and BACK cover-art concepts for one volume (season) of a comic series. Returns a {coverConcept, backCoverConcept} JSON pair — pure scene descriptions for the image-gen renderer (no masthead, logo, or typography). Lightweight per-season call; seeds blank cover scripts only and never clobbers a user edit.",
+      "model": "default",
+      "returnsJson": true,
+      "variables": []
+    },
     "pipeline-comic-panel-image-prompt": {
       "name": "Pipeline — Comic Panel Image Prompt",
       "description": "Refine a single comic panel's description into a richer image-gen-ready prompt. Uses caption / dialogue / sfx context + neighboring-panel continuity to elaborate without re-imagining the scene.",
diff --git a/scripts/migrations/017-volume-cover-concepts-stage.js b/scripts/migrations/017-volume-cover-concepts-stage.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7c4f174d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/migrations/017-volume-cover-concepts-stage.js
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/**
+ * Seed the `pipeline-volume-cover-concepts` stage into existing installs.
+ *
+ * Commit d802eb18 ("feat(pipeline): issue back covers + volume covers +
+ * trade-paperback PDF") shipped the per-season cover-concept LLM step
+ * (`arcPlanner.generateVolumeCoverConcepts` → `runStagedLLM('pipeline-volume-cover-concepts', …)`)
+ * and added `data.sample/prompts/stages/pipeline-volume-cover-concepts.md`
+ * but forgot two things existing installs need:
+ *
+ *   1. A `stage-config.json` entry — `setup-data.js` only merges
+ *      `JSON_MERGE_TARGETS` on fresh setup, so existing installs that
+ *      upgrade-and-restart never get the new entry and `prompts.getStage()`
+ *      throws "Stage pipeline-volume-cover-concepts not found".
+ *   2. The `.md` template — `ensureSampleContent` copies *missing* prompt
+ *      files on next run so a fresh install gets it, but an upgrade that
+ *      skips re-running setup-data leaves it absent.
+ *
+ * This migration fixes both for existing installs. Modeled on the same
+ * idempotent pattern as `015-importer-stage-prompts.js`.
+ */
+
+import { access, copyFile, mkdir, readFile, writeFile, constants } from 'fs/promises';
+import { dirname, join } from 'path';
+
+const FILENAME = 'pipeline-volume-cover-concepts.md';
+const STAGE_KEY = 'pipeline-volume-cover-concepts';
+
+export default {
+  async up({ rootDir }) {
+    const stagesDir = join(rootDir, 'data', 'prompts', 'stages');
+    await mkdir(stagesDir, { recursive: true });
+
+    const dataPath = join(stagesDir, FILENAME);
+    const samplePath = join(rootDir, 'data.sample', 'prompts', 'stages', FILENAME);
+
+    const exists = await access(dataPath, constants.F_OK).then(() => true, () => false);
+    if (exists) {
+      console.log(`📝 volume-cover-concepts prompt: already present`);
+    } else {
+      const sampleExists = await access(samplePath, constants.F_OK).then(() => true, () => false);
+      if (!sampleExists) {
+        console.warn(`⚠️  volume-cover-concepts: sample missing for ${FILENAME} — skipping copy`);
+      } else {
+        try {
+          await copyFile(samplePath, dataPath);
+          console.log(`✅ seeded ${FILENAME}`);
+        } catch (err) {
+          console.warn(`⚠️  volume-cover-concepts: copy failed for ${FILENAME}: ${err.message}`);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    const installedConfigPath = join(rootDir, 'data', 'prompts', 'stage-config.json');
+    const sampleConfigPath = join(rootDir, 'data.sample', 'prompts', 'stage-config.json');
+    const sampleConfigExists = await access(sampleConfigPath, constants.F_OK).then(() => true, () => false);
+    if (!sampleConfigExists) {
+      console.warn('⚠️  volume-cover-concepts: data.sample stage-config.json missing — cannot resolve entry; skipping config write');
+      return;
+    }
+    try {
+      const sample = JSON.parse(await readFile(sampleConfigPath, 'utf8'));
+      const installedExists = await access(installedConfigPath, constants.F_OK).then(() => true, () => false);
+      const installed = installedExists
+        ? JSON.parse(await readFile(installedConfigPath, 'utf8'))
+        : { stages: {} };
+      installed.stages = installed.stages || {};
+      if (installed.stages[STAGE_KEY]) {
+        console.log(`📝 volume-cover-concepts stage-config: already present`);
+        return;
+      }
+      if (!sample?.stages?.[STAGE_KEY]) {
+        console.warn(`⚠️  volume-cover-concepts: sample stage-config missing ${STAGE_KEY} — skipping`);
+        return;
+      }
+      installed.stages[STAGE_KEY] = sample.stages[STAGE_KEY];
+      await mkdir(dirname(installedConfigPath), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(installedConfigPath, JSON.stringify(installed, null, 2) + '\n', 'utf8');
+      const action = installedExists ? 'merged' : 'created';
+      console.log(`📝 volume-cover-concepts stage-config (${action}): 1 added`);
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.warn(`⚠️  volume-cover-concepts: stage-config merge failed: ${err.message}`);
+    }
+  },
+};