diff --git a/services/search/pkg/bleve/index.go b/services/search/pkg/bleve/index.go
index 1e4e908c0f..f541b1941a 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/bleve/index.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/bleve/index.go
@@ -67,16 +67,19 @@ func NewIndex(root string) (bleve.Index, searchmapping.Classification, error) {
 		// Safe: everything else is identical and the new fields hold no data.
 		// Reopen so the live mapping picks the change up; otherwise the fields
 		// get indexed dynamically and flip to breaking on the next start.
+		// return the classification even on errors: the mapping may already be
+		// persisted, so the next start classifies equal and the caller's
+		// warning is the only chance to surface the new fields
 		if err := index.SetInternal([]byte("_mapping"), codeB); err != nil {
 			_ = index.Close()
-			return nil, searchmapping.Classification{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to store the updated index mapping: %w", err)
+			return nil, classification, fmt.Errorf("failed to store the updated index mapping: %w", err)
 		}
 		if err := index.Close(); err != nil {
-			return nil, searchmapping.Classification{}, err
+			return nil, classification, err
 		}
 		index, err = bleve.OpenUsing(destination, openRuntimeConfig)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, searchmapping.Classification{}, err
+			return nil, classification, err
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/bleve/index_test.go b/services/search/pkg/bleve/index_test.go
index 32d285d9f0..ae7ddf0ded 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/bleve/index_test.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/bleve/index_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package bleve_test
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 
 	bleveSearch "github.com/blevesearch/bleve/v2"
@@ -179,4 +181,21 @@ var _ = Describe("NewMapping", func() {
 		Expect(ok).To(BeTrue())
 		Expect(impl.Validate()).To(Succeed())
 	})
+
+	// A diff here means existing indexes will classify as breaking (schema or
+	// bleve marshaling changed); update the golden file only deliberately.
+	It("matches the committed golden mapping", func() {
+		m, err := bleve.NewMapping()
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		b, err := json.Marshal(m)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		var got, golden map[string]any
+		Expect(json.Unmarshal(b, &got)).To(Succeed())
+
+		goldenB, err := os.ReadFile("testdata/mapping.golden.json")
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(json.Unmarshal(goldenB, &golden)).To(Succeed())
+
+		Expect(got).To(Equal(golden))
+	})
 })
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/bleve/testdata/mapping.golden.json b/services/search/pkg/bleve/testdata/mapping.golden.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f9c598a05b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/search/pkg/bleve/testdata/mapping.golden.json
@@ -0,0 +1,677 @@
+{
+  "default_mapping": {
+    "enabled": true,
+    "dynamic": true,
+    "properties": {
+      "Content": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "analyzer": "fulltext",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Deleted": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "boolean",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Favorites": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "analyzer": "lowercaseKeyword",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Hidden": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "boolean",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "ID": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "MimeType": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Mtime": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "datetime",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Name": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "analyzer": "lowercaseKeyword",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "ParentID": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Path": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "RootID": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Size": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "number",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Tags": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "analyzer": "lowercaseKeyword",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Title": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "text",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_term_vectors": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "Type": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "number",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "audio": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "properties": {
+          "album": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "albumArtist": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "artist": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "bitrate": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "composers": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "copyright": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "disc": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "discCount": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "duration": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "genre": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "hasDrm": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "boolean",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "isVariableBitrate": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "boolean",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "title": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "track": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "trackCount": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "year": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "image": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "properties": {
+          "height": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "width": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "location": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "properties": {
+          "altitude": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "latitude": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "longitude": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "location_geopoint": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "fields": [
+          {
+            "type": "geopoint",
+            "store": true,
+            "index": true,
+            "include_in_all": true,
+            "docvalues": true
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "photo": {
+        "enabled": true,
+        "dynamic": true,
+        "properties": {
+          "cameraMake": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "cameraModel": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "text",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_term_vectors": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "exposureDenominator": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "exposureNumerator": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "fNumber": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "focalLength": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "iso": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "orientation": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "number",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "takenDateTime": {
+            "enabled": true,
+            "dynamic": true,
+            "fields": [
+              {
+                "type": "datetime",
+                "store": true,
+                "index": true,
+                "include_in_all": true,
+                "docvalues": true
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "type_field": "_type",
+  "default_type": "_default",
+  "default_analyzer": "keyword",
+  "default_datetime_parser": "dateTimeOptional",
+  "default_field": "_all",
+  "store_dynamic": true,
+  "index_dynamic": true,
+  "docvalues_dynamic": true,
+  "analysis": {
+    "analyzers": {
+      "fulltext": {
+        "token_filters": [
+          "to_lower",
+          "stemmer_porter"
+        ],
+        "tokenizer": "unicode",
+        "type": "custom"
+      },
+      "lowercaseKeyword": {
+        "token_filters": [
+          "to_lower"
+        ],
+        "tokenizer": "single",
+        "type": "custom"
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/command/server.go b/services/search/pkg/command/server.go
index 4086e64cd8..59fb16befa 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/command/server.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/command/server.go
@@ -74,14 +74,15 @@ func Server(cfg *config.Config) *cobra.Command {
 			switch cfg.Engine.Type {
 			case "bleve":
 				idx, classification, err := bleve.NewIndex(cfg.Engine.Bleve.Datapath)
-				if err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-
+				// warn before the error check: the new mapping may already be
+				// persisted, then later startups classify equal and stay silent
 				if classification.Verdict == searchmapping.VerdictAdditive {
 					logger.Warn().
 						Strs("fields", classification.NewFields).
-						Msgf("the bleve index at %s was built with an older schema; the new fields were added to the index schema, but documents indexed before the upgrade do not contain them and queries on these fields will miss those documents until they are re-indexed; to re-index everything run: opencloud search index --all-spaces", cfg.Engine.Bleve.Datapath)
+						Msgf("the bleve index at %s was built with an older schema; the new fields were added to the index schema, but documents indexed before the upgrade do not contain them and queries on these fields will miss those documents until they are re-indexed; to re-index everything run: opencloud search index --all-spaces --force-rescan", cfg.Engine.Bleve.Datapath)
+				}
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
 				}
 
 				defer func() {
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index.go b/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index.go
index bc7fe53f0a..a457bc446a 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index.go
@@ -113,22 +113,34 @@ func (m IndexManager) Apply(ctx context.Context, name string, client *opensearch
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal index %s: %w", name, err)
 	}
 
-	createResp, err := client.Indices.Create(ctx, opensearchgoAPI.IndicesCreateReq{
-		Index: name,
-		Body:  bytes.NewReader(localIndexB),
+	// Exists first: a pre-provisioned index must not require create privileges
+	indicesExistsResp, err := client.Indices.Exists(ctx, opensearchgoAPI.IndicesExistsReq{
+		Indices: []string{name},
 	})
-	var createErr *opensearchgo.StructError
 	switch {
-	case err == nil && createResp.Acknowledged:
-		return nil
-	case err == nil:
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create index %s: not acknowledged", name)
-	case !errors.As(err, &createErr) || createErr.Err.Type != "resource_already_exists_exception":
-		// transport errors, disk-full etc. stay plain fatal, the restart policy retries
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create index %s: %w", name, err)
+	case indicesExistsResp != nil && indicesExistsResp.StatusCode == 404:
+		createResp, createErr := client.Indices.Create(ctx, opensearchgoAPI.IndicesCreateReq{
+			Index: name,
+			Body:  bytes.NewReader(localIndexB),
+		})
+		var structErr *opensearchgo.StructError
+		switch {
+		case createErr == nil && createResp.Acknowledged:
+			return nil
+		case createErr == nil:
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create index %s: not acknowledged", name)
+		case !errors.As(createErr, &structErr) || structErr.Err.Type != "resource_already_exists_exception":
+			// transport errors, disk-full etc. stay plain fatal, the restart policy retries
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create index %s: %w", name, createErr)
+		}
+		// lost the creation race to another instance, compare against its index
+	case err != nil:
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to check if index %s exists: %w", name, err)
+	case indicesExistsResp == nil:
+		return fmt.Errorf("indicesExistsResp is nil for index %s", name)
 	}
 
-	// the index already exists: compare settings and classify the mapping diff
+	// the index exists: compare settings and classify the mapping diff
 	resp, err := client.Indices.Get(ctx, opensearchgoAPI.IndicesGetReq{
 		Indices: []string{name},
 	})
@@ -150,6 +162,9 @@ func (m IndexManager) Apply(ctx context.Context, name string, client *opensearch
 
 	var reasons []string
 	for k := range localIndexJson.Get("settings").Map() {
+		if k == "number_of_replicas" {
+			continue // runtime-tunable via PUT _settings, drift needs no rebuild
+		}
 		lv := localIndexJson.Get("settings." + k).Raw
 		rv := remoteIndexJson.Get("settings.index." + k).Raw
 		if !jsonEqual(lv, rv) {
@@ -188,7 +203,7 @@ func (m IndexManager) Apply(ctx context.Context, name string, client *opensearch
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to update mapping of index %s: not acknowledged", name)
 	}
 
-	logger.Warn().Strs("fields", classification.NewFields).Str("index", name).Msg("extended the search index mapping with new fields; documents indexed before the upgrade do not contain them and queries on these fields will miss those documents until they are re-indexed; to re-index everything run: opencloud search index --all-spaces")
+	logger.Warn().Strs("fields", classification.NewFields).Str("index", name).Msg("extended the search index mapping with new fields; documents indexed before the upgrade do not contain them and queries on these fields will miss those documents until they are re-indexed; to re-index everything run: opencloud search index --all-spaces --force-rescan")
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index_test.go b/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index_test.go
index 34d267e288..f9ae3e3199 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index_test.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/opensearch/index_test.go
@@ -80,6 +80,20 @@ func TestIndexManager(t *testing.T) {
 		require.ErrorIs(t, indexManager.Apply(t.Context(), indexName, tc.Client(), log.NopLogger()), opensearch.ErrManualActionRequired)
 	})
 
+	t.Run("tolerates replica drift", func(t *testing.T) {
+		indexManager := opensearch.IndexManagerLatest
+		indexName := "opencloud-test-resource"
+
+		tc := opensearchtest.NewDefaultTestClient(t, defaultConfig.Engine.OpenSearch.Client)
+		tc.Require.IndicesReset([]string{indexName})
+
+		body, err := sjson.Set(indexManager.String(), "settings.number_of_replicas", "2")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		tc.Require.IndicesCreate(indexName, strings.NewReader(body))
+
+		require.NoError(t, indexManager.Apply(t.Context(), indexName, tc.Client(), log.NopLogger()))
+	})
+
 	t.Run("is idempotent", func(t *testing.T) {
 		indexManager := opensearch.IndexManagerLatest
 		indexName := "opencloud-test-resource"