diff --git a/deploy.sh b/deploy.sh
index f1a9674..953b248 100755
--- a/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 APP_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+SCRIPT_PATH="$APP_DIR/$(basename "$0")"
 cd "$APP_DIR"
 
 SERVICE="${HERMES_UI_SERVICE:-hermes-ui.service}"
@@ -33,6 +34,10 @@ BACKUP_DIR="$STATE_DIR/backups"
 LOCK_HASH_FILE="$STATE_DIR/lockfile.sha256"
 KEEP_BACKUPS=3
 
+# gitea is not directly reachable from every host; when a plain fetch fails
+# the script retries through the local mihomo proxy.
+GIT_PROXY="${HERMES_UI_GIT_PROXY:-http://127.0.0.1:7890}"
+
 HEALTH_URL="http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/health"
 AUTH_URL="http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/api/auth/status"
 
@@ -104,6 +109,31 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
   shift
 done
 
+# --- Escape the service cgroup --------------------------------------------
+#
+# This script restarts $SERVICE. When it is launched from inside that
+# service's cgroup — e.g. from the agent bridge that the web UI itself
+# runs — the restart SIGTERMs the whole cgroup, including this script.
+# The build succeeds, the service comes back, but the script dies before it
+# can run the post-restart health checks.
+#
+# Re-executing under a transient systemd scope moves the script into its
+# own cgroup, so the restart no longer takes it down with it. A script
+# started from a normal shell is not affected.
+
+if [ "${HERMES_UI_DEPLOY_SCOPED:-0}" != "1" ] \
+   && [ -r /proc/self/cgroup ] \
+   && grep -q "$SERVICE" /proc/self/cgroup 2>/dev/null; then
+  if command -v systemd-run >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    scope_unit="hermes-ui-deploy-$(date +%s)-$$"
+    export HERMES_UI_DEPLOY_SCOPED=1
+    echo "Running inside the $SERVICE cgroup — re-executing in scope $scope_unit"
+    exec systemd-run --scope --quiet --unit="$scope_unit" "$SCRIPT_PATH" "$@"
+  else
+    warn "systemd-run not found — the restart may kill this script early."
+  fi
+fi
+
 # --- Preflight ------------------------------------------------------------
 
 step "Preflight"
@@ -137,6 +167,30 @@ if [ "$DRY_RUN" -eq 1 ]; then
 fi
 
 # --- Pull -----------------------------------------------------------------
+#
+# The deploy must always end up building the newest code on origin/main.
+# Two things get in the way of that:
+#
+#   * The branch diverged — the operator pushed from a dev machine while
+#     this host also had local commits. A merge commit would be recorded
+#     for every deploy; a rebase replays the local commits on top of
+#     origin/main and keeps the history linear.
+#   * origin is unreachable directly — gitea sits behind the network, so
+#     the fetch has to go through the local proxy.
+#
+# If the rebase hits a conflict the script stops instead of deploying a
+# half-merged tree.
+
+fetch_origin() {
+  if git fetch --quiet origin main 2>/dev/null; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+  if [ -n "$GIT_PROXY" ] && git -c "http.proxy=$GIT_PROXY" -c "https.proxy=$GIT_PROXY" \
+       fetch --quiet origin main 2>/dev/null; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+  return 1
+}
 
 if [ "$SKIP_PULL" -eq 1 ]; then
   step "Skipping git pull (--skip-pull)"
@@ -149,10 +203,19 @@ else
   else
     # A failed fetch must not block a deploy: the point of the script is to
     # build and restart what is already checked out.
-    if ! git fetch --quiet origin main; then
+    if ! fetch_origin; then
       warn "Could not reach origin — continuing with the local checkout."
     elif git merge --ff-only --quiet origin/main; then
       ok "Updated to $(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
+    elif [ -n "$(git rev-list --count origin/main..HEAD)" ]; then
+      # Diverged with local commits on top — rebase them onto origin/main.
+      step "Local commits found, rebasing onto origin/main"
+      if git rebase origin/main; then
+        ok "Rebased onto $(git rev-parse --short origin/main), now at $(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
+      else
+        git rebase --abort || true
+        die "Rebase onto origin/main hit a conflict. Resolve it by hand and re-run."
+      fi
     else
       die "Fast-forward to origin/main failed. Resolve the branch by hand and re-run."
     fi