diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index ab1af3c8..c853adea 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -15,6 +15,18 @@ and green (674 tests, three consecutive clean runs).
       heavier to run) and **Cap** (newer, smaller). hCaptcha is neither Google
       nor open source, so it trades one third party for another.
 - [ ] **Kubernetes / CI-CD hardening.** Details under *Deployment readiness*.
+- [ ] **Finish pointing audio backups at MinIO — one blocked step.** The
+      `audio-backups` bucket now exists on the same MinIO the app already uses
+      (`assets:9000`). The app's key is scoped by a MinIO *user* policy, so a
+      bucket policy alone grants it nothing — verified, it returns AccessDenied.
+      The remaining step attaches a second policy covering only that bucket,
+      leaving the generated-images grant untouched. It needs the MinIO root
+      credentials, and my permission layer blocked me from running it. Run:
+      `RU=$(cat ../ped-ai-storage/secrets/minio-root-user) RP=$(cat ../ped-ai-storage/secrets/minio-root-password)`
+      then `docker compose exec -T -e MINIO_ROOT_USER="$RU" -e MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD="$RP" pediatric-scribe node scripts/enable-audio-backup-bucket.js`,
+      set `AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_*` (the script prints them), and restart. Until then
+      recordings go to the encrypted Postgres column, which works; rows already
+      there keep working afterwards.
 - [ ] **Basic index has no reader.** `MilvusVectorStore.search()` exists, but no
       tool calls it. Decide where the query path lives: pymilvus inside the
       deliberately-lean `nextcloud-basic-mcp` image, or a query API from the
@@ -31,10 +43,16 @@ and green (674 tests, three consecutive clean runs).
       per request. Needs an admin setting for which collections to search, then
       fan-out and merge — `dedupeSources` in `src/utils/clinicalRetrieval.js`
       already merges and renumbers. See `clinical-assist/COLLECTIONS.md`.
-- [ ] **Confirm mail indexing end to end.** Six separate breaks are fixed and the
-      scan reaches mail, but no full file pass has completed since the Milvus
-      rebuild, so no mail is indexed yet. Watch for
-      `[SCAN-*] Mail messages: N seen, M queued`.
+- [ ] **Confirm mail indexing end to end.** Six separate breaks are fixed, and
+      mail is enabled (`BASIC_INDEXING_MAIL_ENABLED=true`), but no mail has been
+      indexed yet: the file pass was still working through 472 large PDFs (68
+      done in six hours, some over 1,500 chunks each) and mail runs after it.
+      On 2026-09-11 the indexed folder was changed from `Documents` to
+      `Personal assistant`, which currently lists 0 files, so the file pass is
+      now trivial and mail should be reached on a scan cycle (every 300s).
+      Watch for `[SCAN-*] Mail messages: N seen, M queued`.
+      Note: the 68 files already indexed from `Documents` are still in the
+      collection. Say the word if they should be cleared.
 - [ ] **`image-size` DoS advisory (high), no upstream fix.** Every published
       version up to 2.0.2 is affected; `npm audit fix` only offers a breaking
       downgrade of pptxgenjs. Not reachable here: the only `addImage` call
diff --git a/scripts/enable-audio-backup-bucket.js b/scripts/enable-audio-backup-bucket.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..55269d27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/enable-audio-backup-bucket.js
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// ============================================================
+// Point audio backups at MinIO — same server, its own bucket.
+//
+// Recordings are all kept for 24 hours now, not only the failures, so object
+// storage is a better home for them than a Postgres column. The bucket lives on
+// the MinIO the app already talks to; only the permission is missing.
+//
+// The app's key is scoped by a MinIO *user* policy, so a bucket policy alone
+// does not grant it anything (MinIO evaluates the user policy first, and it
+// denies by default). This attaches a second, separate policy covering only
+// `audio-backups`, leaving the existing generated-images policy exactly as it
+// is — additive, and undone by re-attaching that one policy on its own.
+//
+// Run it from the app container, which can reach MinIO and holds the app key:
+//
+//   RU=$(cat ../ped-ai-storage/secrets/minio-root-user)
+//   RP=$(cat ../ped-ai-storage/secrets/minio-root-password)
+//   docker compose exec -T -e MINIO_ROOT_USER="$RU" -e MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD="$RP" \
+//     pediatric-scribe node scripts/enable-audio-backup-bucket.js
+//
+// Then set AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_* (see docs/speech.md) and restart the app.
+// Nothing already stored is touched: rows without a storage_key are still read
+// from the database column.
+// ============================================================
+
+var fs = require('fs');
+var { SignatureV4 } = require('@smithy/signature-v4');
+var { HttpRequest } = require('@smithy/protocol-http');
+var { Hash } = require('@smithy/hash-node');
+var { S3Client, CreateBucketCommand } = require('@aws-sdk/client-s3');
+
+var BUCKET = process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_BUCKET || 'audio-backups';
+var POLICY_NAME = 'audio-backups-app';
+
+var rootUser = process.env.MINIO_ROOT_USER;
+var rootPassword = process.env.MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD;
+var endpoint = process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ENDPOINT || process.env.GENERATED_IMAGES_S3_ENDPOINT;
+
+if (!rootUser || !rootPassword) {
+  console.error('MINIO_ROOT_USER and MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD are required (they are only used by this script, never by the app).');
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+if (!endpoint) {
+  console.error('No MinIO endpoint: set AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ENDPOINT or GENERATED_IMAGES_S3_ENDPOINT.');
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+// The key the app already uses. It gains the new bucket; it keeps everything
+// it had.
+function appAccessKey() {
+  if (process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ACCESS_KEY) return process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ACCESS_KEY;
+  if (process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_FILE) return fs.readFileSync(process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_FILE, 'utf8').trim();
+  if (process.env.GENERATED_IMAGES_S3_ACCESS_KEY_FILE) return fs.readFileSync(process.env.GENERATED_IMAGES_S3_ACCESS_KEY_FILE, 'utf8').trim();
+  throw new Error('Cannot find the application access key');
+}
+
+var url = new URL(endpoint);
+var signer = new SignatureV4({
+  service: 's3', region: process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_REGION || 'us-east-1',
+  credentials: { accessKeyId: rootUser, secretAccessKey: rootPassword },
+  sha256: Hash.bind(null, 'sha256')
+});
+
+async function admin(method, path, query, body) {
+  var qs = new URLSearchParams(query || {}).toString();
+  var request = new HttpRequest({
+    method: method, protocol: url.protocol, hostname: url.hostname, port: Number(url.port),
+    path: path, query: query || {}, headers: { host: url.host, 'content-type': 'application/json' }, body: body
+  });
+  var signed = await signer.sign(request);
+  var response = await fetch(url.origin + path + (qs ? '?' + qs : ''), { method: method, headers: signed.headers, body: body });
+  var text = await response.text();
+  if (response.status >= 300) throw new Error(method + ' ' + path + ' -> ' + response.status + ' ' + text.slice(0, 200));
+  return text;
+}
+
+(async function main() {
+  var key = appAccessKey();
+  console.log('MinIO   : ' + url.origin);
+  console.log('Bucket  : ' + BUCKET);
+  console.log('App key : ' + key);
+
+  var s3 = new S3Client({
+    endpoint: endpoint, region: process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_REGION || 'us-east-1', forcePathStyle: true,
+    credentials: { accessKeyId: rootUser, secretAccessKey: rootPassword }
+  });
+  try {
+    await s3.send(new CreateBucketCommand({ Bucket: BUCKET }));
+    console.log('  created the bucket');
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e.name === 'BucketAlreadyOwnedByYou' || e.name === 'BucketAlreadyExists') console.log('  bucket already exists');
+    else throw e;
+  }
+
+  // Only this bucket. A compromise of the key reaches no further than before.
+  var policy = JSON.stringify({
+    Version: '2012-10-17',
+    Statement: [
+      { Effect: 'Allow', Action: ['s3:ListBucket', 's3:GetBucketLocation'], Resource: ['arn:aws:s3:::' + BUCKET] },
+      { Effect: 'Allow', Action: ['s3:GetObject', 's3:PutObject', 's3:DeleteObject'], Resource: ['arn:aws:s3:::' + BUCKET + '/*'] }
+    ]
+  });
+  await admin('PUT', '/minio/admin/v3/add-canned-policy', { name: POLICY_NAME }, policy);
+  console.log('  wrote the ' + POLICY_NAME + ' policy');
+
+  // Read what the user has now, so the existing grant is carried over rather
+  // than replaced. Attaching only the new policy would break image storage.
+  var current = '';
+  try { current = JSON.parse(await admin('GET', '/minio/admin/v3/user-info', { accessKey: key })).policyName || ''; } catch (e) {}
+  var names = current.split(',').map(function (n) { return n.trim(); }).filter(Boolean);
+  if (names.indexOf(POLICY_NAME) === -1) names.push(POLICY_NAME);
+  console.log('  policies before: ' + (current || '(none)'));
+
+  await admin('PUT', '/minio/admin/v3/set-user-or-group-policy', {
+    userOrGroup: key, isGroup: 'false', policyName: names.join(',')
+  });
+  var after = JSON.parse(await admin('GET', '/minio/admin/v3/user-info', { accessKey: key })).policyName || '';
+  console.log('  policies after : ' + after);
+
+  console.log('\nDone. Now set these on the app and restart it:');
+  console.log('  AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ENDPOINT=' + url.origin);
+  console.log('  AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_BUCKET=' + BUCKET);
+  console.log('  AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_REGION=' + (process.env.AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_REGION || 'us-east-1'));
+  console.log('  AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_ACCESS_KEY_FILE=' + (process.env.GENERATED_IMAGES_S3_ACCESS_KEY_FILE || '/run/secrets/generated-images-access-key'));
+  console.log('  AUDIO_BACKUPS_S3_SECRET_KEY_FILE=' + (process.env.GENERATED_IMAGES_S3_SECRET_KEY_FILE || '/run/secrets/generated-images-secret-key'));
+  console.log('\nAlso give the bucket a 24-hour expiry lifecycle rule, as a backstop for');
+  console.log('objects the expiry sweep could not delete.');
+  console.log('To undo: re-attach only "' + (current || 'generated-images-app') + '" to ' + key + '.');
+})().catch(function (err) {
+  console.error('Failed: ' + err.message);
+  process.exit(1);
+});