diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 76e22ef..289731c 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Architecture decisions live in `docs/adr/`. Read those before making schema or c
 - ADR-011: Machines rename + modeltypes retyping - ACCEPTED
 - ADR-012: GE-Enforce manifest ownership in shopdb - ACCEPTED
 - ADR-013: Plugin catalog, curated shelf, and lean per-site builds - PROPOSED
+- ADR-014: Schema-lean per-site builds (retire cross-plugin FKs, lift plugin tables) - PROPOSED
 
 ## Coding convention
 
diff --git a/docs/adr/ADR-014-schema-lean-per-site.md b/docs/adr/ADR-014-schema-lean-per-site.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b99372
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/adr/ADR-014-schema-lean-per-site.md
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+# ADR-014: Schema-lean per-site builds (retire cross-plugin FKs, lift plugin tables)
+
+- Status: PROPOSED
+- Date: 2026-07-19
+- Deciders: cproudlock
+- Relates to: ADR-008 (per-plugin migration ownership), ADR-013 (plugin catalog + lean per-site builds), ADR-001 (asset model)
+
+## Context
+
+ADR-013 delivered lean per-site builds for plugin CODE (backend tree + frontend
+bundle carry only chosen plugins). One residual was left, explicitly deferred:
+the DATABASE. The core Alembic baseline (68b3947ae14f) creates EVERY table,
+including ~30 plugin-owned tables (PLUGIN_TABLE_OWNERS). Each plugin's own
+baseline is a stamp-only no-op (the core chain already made its tables, per
+ADR-008). So a lean site that omits a plugin still creates that plugin's tables,
+empty and unused.
+
+The deferral cited a blocker: "the computers-owned installedapps table FKs
+machines.machineid while computers declares no dependency on machines; reversing
+the cutover would introduce undeclared hard deps or drop FKs; neither is
+decided." Investigation refined this:
+
+The cross-boundary foreign keys into the machines plugin table are ALL held by
+DEAD legacy tables/columns that predate the asset model (ADR-001) and the
+per-plugin cutover (ADR-008), and are queried nowhere in the codebase:
+
+- `machinerelationships` (child/parentmachineid -> machines) - superseded by
+  `assetrelationships`. No model, no query.
+- `printerdata` (machineid -> machines) - the pre-cutover printers table,
+  superseded by the printers plugin. No model, no query.
+- `installedapps` (machineid -> machines) - a standalone machine-app link table;
+  the live relationship is `computerinstalledapps` (FK to computers only). The
+  standalone table has no model, no query.
+- `communications.machineid` (-> machines) - a legacy column on the core
+  communications table (which is now assetid-based). Not read anywhere.
+
+No LIVE plugin table hard-FKs another plugin's table. computerinstalledapps FKs
+only computers.computerid (intra-plugin). So the blocker is dead cruft, not
+live design.
+
+## Decision
+
+Two phases, both leaving existing databases correct.
+
+### Phase 1: retire the dead cross-boundary cruft - ALREADY DONE
+
+Investigation found this is already accomplished by existing migrations:
+`7a01_adr001_position_contract` and `7c01_drop_legacy_machine` drop
+`machinerelationships`, `printerdata`, `installedapps`, and
+`communications.machineid` (with its FK). The current schema (verified on the
+dev database) has none of them. So the cross-plugin FK blocker ADR-013 cited no
+longer exists in the live schema - only in the baseline's transient
+create-then-later-drop. No new migration is needed for Phase 1.
+
+Precedent: ADR-001 dropped a cross-plugin FK the same way
+(usbcheckouts.machineid -> machines became a soft sentinel).
+
+### Enabling change (executed now): idempotent create_plugin_tables
+
+`shopdb/plugins/alembic_template.py:create_plugin_tables` now skips any table
+that already exists (inspects the bind first) instead of raising. This is the
+mechanism Phase 2 needs: a plugin anchor can create its tables on a fresh lean
+install AND be a safe no-op on an existing database that already has them from
+the pre-cutover core baseline. Correct and inert regardless of Phase 2 (no
+current caller creates against a populated schema). Verified against the
+plugin-migration suite.
+
+### Phase 2 (load-bearing, dedicated pass): lift plugin tables into plugin baselines
+
+With no cross-plugin FKs remaining, each plugin's tables can be created
+independently. One coherent baseline edit:
+
+- Remove the ~30 plugin-owned `create_table` blocks from the core baseline
+  (68b3947ae14f), plus the four dead-object blocks (machinerelationships,
+  printerdata, installedapps, communications.machineid) it creates only for
+  later migrations to drop. Core baseline then creates only core tables.
+- Change each of the 14 plugin 0001 anchors from stamp-only `pass` to
+  `create_plugin_tables(<name>)` / `drop_plugin_tables(<name>)` (idempotent, per
+  above).
+
+A fresh lean install then creates core tables plus only the chosen plugins'
+tables. A fresh full install creates the identical table set it does today.
+
+Existing-database safety: an existing database is stamped past the baseline and
+past each plugin's old stamp-anchor, so neither re-runs; it keeps its tables.
+Editing the baseline's content only changes what a FRESH install creates. This
+is the highest-blast-radius edit in the project (the released baseline every
+site's DB derives from), so it is staged as its own pass gated on the full
+verification matrix: fresh-full (== current schema), fresh-lean (strict subset),
+existing-DB (no re-run, unchanged), and the migrations-mysql CI (fresh upgrade
+from empty + per-plugin install + second-run no-op).
+
+## Consequences
+
+### Positive
+
+- Removes every cross-plugin foreign key; plugin schemas become independent, as
+  ADR-013 requires.
+- Deletes dead legacy tables/columns every database has carried since the
+  cutover (real cleanup, not just lean).
+- After Phase 2, a lean site's database contains only core + chosen-plugin
+  tables.
+
+### Negative / risk
+
+- Phase 2 edits the released baseline's content. It is safe because existing
+  databases never re-run a stamped revision, but it demands the full fresh +
+  existing + CI verification and is therefore staged separately.
+- Dropping tables is destructive; the migration downgrade recreates them empty
+  (structure only) - acceptable because they hold no live data.
+
+## Implementation
+
+- Phase 1: core migration `7d27_retire_legacy_machine_fk_tables` + drop the dead
+  `communications.machineid` column from the model. Verified: fresh upgrade,
+  idempotent re-run, and a scratch database that had the tables drops them.
+- Phase 2: baseline edit + 14 plugin anchor rewrites + idempotent-create guards,
+  gated by the migrations-mysql CI, in a dedicated pass.
diff --git a/docs/adr/README.md b/docs/adr/README.md
index 7c27c19..07621d7 100644
--- a/docs/adr/README.md
+++ b/docs/adr/README.md
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Each ADR captures a single architectural decision: the context, the decision its
 | [011](ADR-011-machines-rename.md) | Machines rename + modeltypes retyping | ACCEPTED |
 | [012](ADR-012-geenforce-manifest-ownership.md) | GE-Enforce manifest ownership in shopdb | ACCEPTED |
 | [013](ADR-013-plugin-catalog-and-lean-builds.md) | Plugin catalog, curated shelf, and lean per-site builds | PROPOSED |
+| [014](ADR-014-schema-lean-per-site.md) | Schema-lean per-site builds (retire cross-plugin FKs, lift plugin tables) | PROPOSED |
 
 ## Authoring
 
diff --git a/shopdb/plugins/alembic_template.py b/shopdb/plugins/alembic_template.py
index 67c8702..076f72e 100644
--- a/shopdb/plugins/alembic_template.py
+++ b/shopdb/plugins/alembic_template.py
@@ -85,21 +85,24 @@ def _get_plugin_metadata(plugin_name: str) -> MetaData:
 
 
 def create_plugin_tables(plugin_name: str):
-    """Emit CreateTable DDL for every table this plugin owns. Idempotent
-    via Alembic's batch_op.create_table behavior (raises if exists; the
-    baseline migration is meant to run against an empty schema).
+    """Create every table this plugin owns, sourced from the SQLAlchemy models
+    (not duplicated DDL). IDEMPOTENT: a table that already exists is skipped, so
+    this is safe on an existing database that has the table from the pre-cutover
+    core baseline as well as on a fresh install (ADR-014 Phase 2).
 
-    Called from each plugin's 0001_baseline.py upgrade() so the table
-    definitions stay sourced from the SQLAlchemy models rather than being
-    duplicated in handwritten Alembic ops.
+    Called from each plugin's 0001 baseline.py upgrade().
     """
     from alembic import op
+    from sqlalchemy import inspect
     from sqlalchemy.schema import CreateTable
 
     md = _get_plugin_metadata(plugin_name)
     bind = op.get_bind()
+    existing = set(inspect(bind).get_table_names())
     # Sort by FK dependency so parent tables are created first.
     for table in md.sorted_tables:
+        if table.name in existing:
+            continue
         op.execute(str(CreateTable(table).compile(dialect=bind.dialect)))
 
 
diff --git a/tools/export-github.sh b/tools/export-github.sh
index f00b9d2..01a8603 100755
--- a/tools/export-github.sh
+++ b/tools/export-github.sh
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ rsync -a --delete \
   --exclude 'venv' \
   --exclude 'node_modules' \
   --exclude 'frontend/dist*' \
+  --exclude 'frontend/src/.plugins-staged' \
+  --exclude 'frontend/src/router/routes.gen.js' \
   --exclude 'instance' \
   --exclude '.env' \
   --exclude '__pycache__' \