diff --git a/COMMIT_MSG.txt b/COMMIT_MSG.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..04716dfe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/COMMIT_MSG.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+feat(manifests): production overlay for OpenShift (LVM, SCC, credentials, DB init)
+
+Add and wire production overlay resources and patches for deploying the
+Ambient Code Platform on OpenShift (e.g. chadsno2026) with LVM Storage,
+restricted SCC, and shared PostgreSQL.
+
+Storage (LVM)
+- Add PVC patches for backend, postgresql, minio, and ambient-api-server-db
+  to use storageClassName: lvms-vg1 (LVM Storage) instead of default.
+- See README-storage.md for LVMCluster and volume setup.
+
+Credentials
+- postgresql-credentials: db.host/postgresql, postgres/postgres123, db.name postgres.
+- minio-credentials: MinIO credentials for state sync.
+- unleash-credentials: DATABASE_URL to shared postgresql/unleash, API tokens,
+  default admin password, database-ssl.
+
+ServiceAccounts and SCC (nonroot)
+- postgresql-sa, minio-sa, ambient-api-server-db-sa: dedicated SAs for stateful
+  workloads so they can use nonroot SCC (no seccomp in patch; nonroot forbids it).
+- postgresql-fsgroup-patch, minio-fsgroup-patch: fsGroup and runAsUser for RHEL
+  compatibility and volume permissions.
+- ambient-api-server-db-scc-patch: runAsUser and securityContext for
+  ambient-api-server-db to run under nonroot.
+- README-SCC.md: oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot and rollout restart steps.
+
+ambient-api-server
+- ambient-api-server-wait-db-patch: add wait-for-db init container (pg_isready
+  loop) and keep migration init so API server starts only after DB is ready.
+
+Unleash
+- unleash-init-db-patch: init container (RHEL postgresql-16 image) that waits
+  for shared PostgreSQL, creates database "unleash" if missing, then verifies
+  connectivity to the unleash database (retries) before main container starts.
+- kustomization: register credentials resources and all patches (PVC, SA, SCC,
+  wait-db, fsgroup, unleash-init-db); postgresql-json-patch removed (use
+  postgres:16 with fsGroup/runAsUser instead of RHEL image for shared Postgres).
+
+Docs
+- README-vertex.md: Vertex/Google Cloud notes (unchanged from existing content).
+
+Files: 18 changed (README-SCC, README-vertex, *-sa, *-scc-patch, *-wait-db-patch,
+kustomization, *-credentials, *-fsgroup-patch, pvc-patch-*, unleash-init-db-patch).
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/README-SCC.md b/components/manifests/overlays/production/README-SCC.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..79cc3d0a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/README-SCC.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# OpenShift Security Context Constraints (SCC)
+
+The **postgresql**, **minio**, and **ambient-api-server-db** deployments run as fixed UIDs (999 or 1000) for their data volumes. OpenShift's default **restricted-v2** SCC only allows UIDs in the namespace range, so these pods must use the **nonroot** SCC.
+
+## One-time grant (cluster-admin)
+
+After deploying, grant the nonroot SCC to all three service accounts:
+
+```bash
+oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z postgresql -n ambient-code
+oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z minio -n ambient-code
+oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z ambient-api-server-db -n ambient-code
+```
+
+Then restart the deployments so pods are recreated with the new SCC:
+
+```bash
+oc rollout restart deployment/postgresql deployment/minio deployment/ambient-api-server-db -n ambient-code
+```
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/README-vertex.md b/components/manifests/overlays/production/README-vertex.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..444d0a554
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/README-vertex.md
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# Vertex AI (ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID) on OpenShift
+
+The production overlay uses Vertex AI by default (`USE_VERTEX=1`). You must set your GCP project ID and provide credentials.
+
+## 1. Set your project ID and region
+
+Patch the operator ConfigMap (replace with your values):
+
+```bash
+export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/kubeconfig-noingress
+oc patch configmap operator-config -n ambient-code --type merge -p '{
+  "data": {
+    "ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID": "YOUR_GCP_PROJECT_ID",
+    "CLOUD_ML_REGION": "us-central1"
+  }
+}'
+```
+
+- **ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID**: Your Google Cloud project ID where Claude is enabled on Vertex AI.
+- **CLOUD_ML_REGION**: Vertex AI region (e.g. `us-central1`, `europe-west1`, or `global` for some setups).
+
+## 2. Create the GCP credentials secret
+
+The operator and runner need a GCP service account key (or Application Default Credentials file) to call Vertex AI.
+
+**Option A – Application Default Credentials (e.g. from your laptop):**
+
+```bash
+gcloud auth application-default login
+oc create secret generic ambient-vertex -n ambient-code \
+  --from-file=ambient-code-key.json="$HOME/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json" \
+  --dry-run=client -o yaml | oc apply -f -
+```
+
+**Option B – Service account key file:**
+
+```bash
+oc create secret generic ambient-vertex -n ambient-code \
+  --from-file=ambient-code-key.json=/path/to/your-service-account-key.json
+```
+
+The key file must be the JSON for a service account that has Vertex AI (and optionally Model Garden) permissions.
+
+## 3. Restart the operator
+
+So it picks up the updated ConfigMap and uses the new project ID for new sessions:
+
+```bash
+oc rollout restart deployment/agentic-operator -n ambient-code
+oc rollout status deployment/agentic-operator -n ambient-code --timeout=120s
+```
+
+## 4. Verify
+
+- In the UI, create or open a session; it should use Vertex AI for that project.
+- Check operator logs:  
+  `oc logs -l app=agentic-operator -n ambient-code --tail=50 | grep -i vertex`
+
+## Optional: change the default in the overlay
+
+To bake your project ID into the overlay (e.g. for Git-managed deploys), edit:
+
+- `overlays/production/operator-config-openshift.yaml`
+
+Set `ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID` and `CLOUD_ML_REGION` to your values, then re-apply the overlay.
+
+## Disable Vertex AI (use direct Anthropic API)
+
+To use an Anthropic API key instead of Vertex:
+
+```bash
+oc patch configmap operator-config -n ambient-code --type merge -p '{"data":{"USE_VERTEX":"0"}}'
+oc rollout restart deployment/agentic-operator -n ambient-code
+```
+
+Then configure `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` in the UI (Settings → Runner Secrets) per project.
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-db-sa.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-db-sa.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2dd48f836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-db-sa.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# ServiceAccount for ambient-api-server-db (PostgreSQL sidecar).
+# Grant nonroot SCC so it can run as UID 999 (postgres):
+#   oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z ambient-api-server-db -n ambient-code
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ServiceAccount
+metadata:
+  name: ambient-api-server-db
+  labels:
+    app: ambient-api-server
+    component: database
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-db-scc-patch.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-db-scc-patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a44bc45a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-db-scc-patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Use dedicated SA (granted nonroot SCC) and add seccomp for PodSecurity.
+# After deploy: oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z ambient-api-server-db -n ambient-code
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: ambient-api-server-db
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      serviceAccountName: ambient-api-server-db
+      securityContext:
+        runAsNonRoot: true
+        fsGroup: 999
+      containers:
+        - name: postgresql
+          securityContext:
+            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+            capabilities:
+              drop:
+                - ALL
+            runAsNonRoot: true
+            runAsUser: 999
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-wait-db-patch.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-wait-db-patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2cf9cec79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/ambient-api-server-wait-db-patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Add init container to wait for ambient-api-server-db before running migration.
+# Uses postgres image for pg_isready; DB user from secret (default: ambient).
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: ambient-api-server
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      initContainers:
+        - name: wait-for-db
+          image: postgres:16
+          command:
+            - sh
+            - -c
+            - |
+              until pg_isready -h ambient-api-server-db -p 5432 -U ambient 2>/dev/null; do
+                echo "waiting for ambient-api-server-db..."
+                sleep 2
+              done
+              echo "db ready"
+        - name: migration
+          image: quay.io/ambient_code/vteam_api_server:latest
+          imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+          command:
+            - /usr/local/bin/ambient-api-server
+            - migrate
+            - --db-host-file=/secrets/db/db.host
+            - --db-port-file=/secrets/db/db.port
+            - --db-user-file=/secrets/db/db.user
+            - --db-password-file=/secrets/db/db.password
+            - --db-name-file=/secrets/db/db.name
+            - --alsologtostderr
+            - -v=10
+          volumeMounts:
+            - name: db-secrets
+              mountPath: /secrets/db
+          securityContext:
+            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+            readOnlyRootFilesystem: false
+            capabilities:
+              drop:
+                - ALL
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/kustomization.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/kustomization.yaml
index 07b5829ef..7d64b3960 100644
--- a/components/manifests/overlays/production/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/kustomization.yaml
@@ -12,14 +12,21 @@ namespace: ambient-code
 # Manage this secret separately: oc apply -f github-app-secret.yaml -n ambient-code
 resources:
 - ../../base
+- postgresql-credentials.yaml
+- minio-credentials.yaml
+- unleash-credentials.yaml
 - ambient-api-server-route.yaml
 - route.yaml
 - backend-route.yaml
 - public-api-route.yaml
 - unleash-route.yaml
 - operator-config-openshift.yaml
+- ambient-api-server-db-sa.yaml
+- postgresql-sa.yaml
+- minio-sa.yaml
 
 # Patches for production environment
+# Storage: PVC patches use OpenShift local storage (lvms-vg1). See README-storage.md.
 # Unleash: init container to create database (RHEL doesn't support init scripts)
 # PostgreSQL: use RHEL image with proper env vars and mount paths (JSON patch)
 patches:
@@ -27,6 +34,34 @@ patches:
   target:
     kind: Namespace
     name: ambient-code
+- path: pvc-patch-backend.yaml
+  target:
+    kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+    name: backend-state-pvc
+- path: pvc-patch-postgresql.yaml
+  target:
+    kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+    name: postgresql-data
+- path: pvc-patch-minio.yaml
+  target:
+    kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+    name: minio-data
+- path: pvc-patch-ambient-api-server-db.yaml
+  target:
+    kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+    name: ambient-api-server-db-data
+- path: ambient-api-server-db-scc-patch.yaml
+  target:
+    group: apps
+    kind: Deployment
+    name: ambient-api-server-db
+    version: v1
+- path: ambient-api-server-wait-db-patch.yaml
+  target:
+    group: apps
+    kind: Deployment
+    name: ambient-api-server
+    version: v1
 - path: frontend-oauth-deployment-patch.yaml
   target:
     kind: Deployment
@@ -35,12 +70,19 @@ patches:
   target:
     kind: Service
     name: frontend-service
-- path: postgresql-json-patch.yaml
+# RHEL postgresql-json-patch removed: RHEL image needs /var/lib/pgsql created as root; use standard postgres:16 (runAsUser 999 + fsGroup 999) instead.
+- path: postgresql-fsgroup-patch.yaml
   target:
     group: apps
     kind: Deployment
     name: postgresql
     version: v1
+- path: minio-fsgroup-patch.yaml
+  target:
+    group: apps
+    kind: Deployment
+    name: minio
+    version: v1
 - path: unleash-init-db-patch.yaml
   target:
     group: apps
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-credentials.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-credentials.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f50d8e727
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-credentials.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# MinIO credentials for production
+# Change root-password and secret-key in production
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  name: minio-credentials
+type: Opaque
+stringData:
+  root-user: "admin"
+  root-password: "changeme123"
+  access-key: "admin"
+  secret-key: "changeme123"
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-fsgroup-patch.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-fsgroup-patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..933889091
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-fsgroup-patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# OpenShift: SA (nonroot SCC) + fsGroup + PodSecurity (seccomp, allowPrivilegeEscalation, capabilities, runAsNonRoot)
+# Grant nonroot SCC: oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z minio -n ambient-code
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: minio
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      serviceAccountName: minio
+      securityContext:
+        fsGroup: 1000
+      containers:
+        - name: minio
+          securityContext:
+            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+            capabilities:
+              drop:
+                - ALL
+            runAsNonRoot: true
+            runAsUser: 1000
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-sa.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-sa.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b955ccb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/minio-sa.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# ServiceAccount for MinIO (runs as UID 1000).
+# Grant nonroot SCC: oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z minio -n ambient-code
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ServiceAccount
+metadata:
+  name: minio
+  labels:
+    app: minio
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-credentials.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-credentials.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2a08e31c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-credentials.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# PostgreSQL credentials for production
+# Change db.password and ensure unleash-credentials database-url matches
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  name: postgresql-credentials
+  labels:
+    app: postgresql
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: postgresql
+type: Opaque
+stringData:
+  db.host: "postgresql"
+  db.port: "5432"
+  db.name: "postgres"
+  db.user: "postgres"
+  db.password: "postgres123"
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-fsgroup-patch.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-fsgroup-patch.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ccf8509fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-fsgroup-patch.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# OpenShift: SA (nonroot SCC) + fsGroup + PodSecurity (seccomp, allowPrivilegeEscalation, capabilities, runAsNonRoot)
+# Grant nonroot SCC: oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z postgresql -n ambient-code
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: postgresql
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      serviceAccountName: postgresql
+      securityContext:
+        fsGroup: 999
+      containers:
+        - name: postgresql
+          securityContext:
+            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+            capabilities:
+              drop:
+                - ALL
+            runAsNonRoot: true
+            runAsUser: 999
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-sa.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-sa.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4495ce21c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/postgresql-sa.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# ServiceAccount for shared PostgreSQL (runs as UID 999).
+# Grant nonroot SCC: oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot -z postgresql -n ambient-code
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ServiceAccount
+metadata:
+  name: postgresql
+  labels:
+    app: postgresql
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: postgresql
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-ambient-api-server-db.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-ambient-api-server-db.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19c1f69e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-ambient-api-server-db.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: ambient-api-server-db-data
+spec:
+  storageClassName: lvms-vg1
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-backend.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-backend.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a2502918
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-backend.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: backend-state-pvc
+spec:
+  storageClassName: lvms-vg1
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-minio.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-minio.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e7e1e6c9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-minio.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: minio-data
+spec:
+  storageClassName: lvms-vg1
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-postgresql.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-postgresql.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..634dd7cdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/pvc-patch-postgresql.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: postgresql-data
+spec:
+  storageClassName: lvms-vg1
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/unleash-credentials.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/unleash-credentials.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..986922321
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/unleash-credentials.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Unleash credentials for production overlay
+# Uses shared PostgreSQL; database-url password must match postgresql-credentials
+# Change default-admin-password and API tokens in production
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  name: unleash-credentials
+  labels:
+    app: unleash
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: unleash
+type: Opaque
+stringData:
+  database-url: "postgres://postgres:postgres123@postgresql:5432/unleash"
+  database-ssl: "false"
+  unleash-url: "http://unleash:4242/api"
+  unleash-admin-url: "http://unleash:4242"
+  admin-api-token: "*:*.unleash-admin-token"
+  client-api-token: "default:development.unleash-client-token"
+  frontend-api-token: "default:development.unleash-frontend-token"
+  default-admin-password: "unleash-dev-password"
+  unleash-project: "default"
+  unleash-environment: "development"
diff --git a/components/manifests/overlays/production/unleash-init-db-patch.yaml b/components/manifests/overlays/production/unleash-init-db-patch.yaml
index e716e5949..a3cf3758d 100644
--- a/components/manifests/overlays/production/unleash-init-db-patch.yaml
+++ b/components/manifests/overlays/production/unleash-init-db-patch.yaml
@@ -37,6 +37,21 @@ spec:
             psql -h "$PGHOST" -U "$PGUSER" -c "CREATE DATABASE unleash;"
             echo "Database 'unleash' created successfully"
           fi
+
+          echo "Verifying database 'unleash' is visible..."
+          for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
+            if psql -h "$PGHOST" -U "$PGUSER" -d unleash -c "SELECT 1" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "Database 'unleash' verified (attempt $i)"
+              break
+            fi
+            echo "Database not yet visible, retry $i/5..."
+            sleep 2
+          done
+          if ! psql -h "$PGHOST" -U "$PGUSER" -d unleash -c "SELECT 1" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "ERROR: Could not connect to database 'unleash' after retries"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Init-db complete"
         env:
         - name: PGHOST
           valueFrom: