diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f5ebc411..1e5f011a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -38,3 +38,4 @@ playwright/temp
 openapi-ts-error-*.log
 .output
 tmp/
+qa-output
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index a1ce055b..4b4cc050 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 - Never create migration files manually. Always use the provided command to generate migrations
 - If you realize an automated migration is incorrect, make sure to remove all the associated entries from the `_journal.json` and the newly created files located in `app/drizzle/` before re-generating the migration
 - The dev server is running at http://localhost:3000. Username is `admin` and password is `password`
+- The repo is https://github.com/nicotsx/zerobyte
 
 ## Project Overview
 
diff --git a/app/client/modules/repositories/components/repository-forms/local-repository-form.tsx b/app/client/modules/repositories/components/repository-forms/local-repository-form.tsx
index 3a788cc5..21ae1c05 100644
--- a/app/client/modules/repositories/components/repository-forms/local-repository-form.tsx
+++ b/app/client/modules/repositories/components/repository-forms/local-repository-form.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { useState } from "react";
 import type { UseFormReturn } from "react-hook-form";
+import { useWatch } from "react-hook-form";
 import { Check, Pencil, X, AlertTriangle } from "lucide-react";
 import { Button } from "../../../../components/ui/button";
 import { FormItem, FormLabel, FormDescription, FormField, FormControl } from "../../../../components/ui/form";
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ export const LocalRepositoryForm = ({ form }: Props) => {
 		queryFn: getConstants,
 	});
 
+	const isExistingRepository = useWatch({ control: form.control, name: "isExistingRepository" });
+
 	return (
 		<FormField
 			control={form.control}
@@ -45,6 +48,7 @@ export const LocalRepositoryForm = ({ form }: Props) => {
 							<div className="flex items-center gap-2">
 								<div className="flex-1 text-sm font-mono bg-muted px-3 py-2 rounded-md border">
 									{field.value || constants.REPOSITORY_BASE}
+									{!isExistingRepository && <span className="text-muted-foreground">/{"{unique-id}"}</span>}
 								</div>
 								<Button type="button" variant="outline" onClick={() => setShowPathWarning(true)} size="sm">
 									<Pencil className="h-4 w-4 mr-2" />
@@ -52,7 +56,11 @@ export const LocalRepositoryForm = ({ form }: Props) => {
 								</Button>
 							</div>
 						</FormControl>
-						<FormDescription>The directory where the repository will be stored.</FormDescription>
+						<FormDescription>
+							{isExistingRepository
+								? "The exact path to your existing repository."
+								: "A unique subdirectory will be created inside this directory to store the repository."}
+						</FormDescription>
 					</FormItem>
 
 					<AlertDialog open={showPathWarning} onOpenChange={setShowPathWarning}>
diff --git a/app/server/modules/repositories/__tests__/repositories.service.test.ts b/app/server/modules/repositories/__tests__/repositories.service.test.ts
index c7cdbbe3..9f88e72e 100644
--- a/app/server/modules/repositories/__tests__/repositories.service.test.ts
+++ b/app/server/modules/repositories/__tests__/repositories.service.test.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ describe("repositoriesService.createRepository", () => {
 		expect(created.status).toBe("healthy");
 	});
 
-	test("keeps an explicit local repository path unchanged", async () => {
+	test("creates a shortId-scoped repository path when using a custom directory", async () => {
 		// arrange
 		const { organizationId, user } = await createTestSession();
 		const explicitPath = `${REPOSITORY_BASE}/custom-${randomUUID()}`;
@@ -98,6 +98,37 @@ describe("repositoriesService.createRepository", () => {
 			throw new Error("Repository should be created");
 		}
 
+		const savedConfig = created.config as Extract<RepositoryConfig, { backend: "local" }>;
+		expect(savedConfig.path).toBe(`${explicitPath}/${created.shortId}`);
+		expect(savedConfig.path).not.toBe(explicitPath);
+		expect(created.status).toBe("healthy");
+	});
+
+	test("keeps an explicit local repository path unchanged when importing existing repository", async () => {
+		// arrange
+		const { organizationId, user } = await createTestSession();
+		const explicitPath = `${REPOSITORY_BASE}/custom-${randomUUID()}`;
+		const config: RepositoryConfig = { backend: "local", path: explicitPath, isExistingRepository: true };
+
+		spyOn(restic, "snapshots").mockImplementation(() => Promise.resolve([]));
+
+		// act
+		const result = await withContext({ organizationId, userId: user.id }, () =>
+			repositoriesService.createRepository("existing repo", config),
+		);
+
+		const created = await db.query.repositoriesTable.findFirst({
+			where: {
+				id: result.repository.id,
+			},
+		});
+
+		// assert
+		expect(created).toBeTruthy();
+		if (!created) {
+			throw new Error("Repository should be created");
+		}
+
 		const savedConfig = created.config as Extract<RepositoryConfig, { backend: "local" }>;
 		expect(savedConfig.path).toBe(explicitPath);
 		expect(created.status).toBe("healthy");
diff --git a/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts b/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts
index 9d0e7642..c63caf40 100644
--- a/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts
+++ b/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import { addCommonArgs, buildEnv, buildRepoUrl, cleanupTemporaryKeys, restic } f
 import { safeSpawn } from "../../utils/spawn";
 import { backupsService } from "../backups/backups.service";
 import type { DumpPathKind, UpdateRepositoryBody } from "./repositories.dto";
-import { REPOSITORY_BASE } from "~/server/core/constants";
 import { findCommonAncestor } from "~/utils/common-ancestor";
 import { prepareSnapshotDump } from "./helpers/dump";
 import { executeDoctor } from "./helpers/doctor";
@@ -131,8 +130,8 @@ const createRepository = async (name: string, config: RepositoryConfig, compress
 	const id = crypto.randomUUID();
 	const shortId = generateShortId();
 
-	if (config.backend === "local" && config.path === REPOSITORY_BASE) {
-		config.path = `${REPOSITORY_BASE}/${shortId}`;
+	if (config.backend === "local" && !config.isExistingRepository) {
+		config.path = `${config.path}/${shortId}`;
 	}
 
 	const encryptedConfig = await encryptConfig(config);