diff --git a/shopdb/core/api/docs.py b/shopdb/core/api/docs.py
index 4d929b10..cc266f4e 100644
--- a/shopdb/core/api/docs.py
+++ b/shopdb/core/api/docs.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import os
 
 from markupsafe import escape
 
-from flask import Blueprint, Response, current_app, send_file, url_for
+from flask import Blueprint, Response, current_app, request, send_file, url_for
 
 docs_bp = Blueprint('docs', __name__)
 
@@ -98,13 +98,50 @@ def docs_index():
     return Response(page, mimetype='text/html')
 
 
+_SPEC_CACHE = {}
+
+
+def _spec_with_server():
+    """The generated spec, with `servers` set to where this instance is mounted.
+
+    THE MOUNT IS A DEPLOYMENT FACT, NOT A BUILD FACT. gen_openapi.py writes
+    servers: [{"url": "/"}] because it cannot know where the app will be hung,
+    and wsgi.py moves MOUNT_PATH from PATH_INFO into SCRIPT_NAME at runtime. So
+    an instance under /shopdb served a spec whose paths start at /api, and both
+    renderers dutifully built https://host/api/apitokens - a URL that 404s.
+    Anyone who copied it out of the docs page got a broken call, and Swagger's
+    try-it fired at the wrong place.
+
+    request.script_root is the runtime answer: '' for a root install, '/shopdb'
+    under the subpath method, and correct behind a proxy that sets the prefix.
+
+    The file is ~1 MB, so it is parsed once and cached by mtime; each request
+    gets a shallow copy with only `servers` replaced, which keeps two requests
+    on different mounts from racing on one dict.
+    """
+    stamp = os.path.getmtime(_SPEC)
+    if _SPEC_CACHE.get('stamp') != stamp:
+        with open(_SPEC, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as handle:
+            _SPEC_CACHE['spec'] = json.load(handle)
+        _SPEC_CACHE['stamp'] = stamp
+
+    root = request.script_root or ''
+    spec = dict(_SPEC_CACHE['spec'])
+    spec['servers'] = [{
+        'url': root or '/',
+        'description': 'this instance',
+    }]
+    return spec
+
+
 @docs_bp.route('/openapi.json')
 def openapi_spec():
     """The generated OpenAPI 3.1 spec (machine + LLM readable)."""
     if not os.path.isfile(_SPEC):
         return Response('{"error":"openapi.json not generated"}',
                         status=404, mimetype='application/json')
-    return send_file(_SPEC, mimetype='application/json')
+    return Response(json.dumps(_spec_with_server()),
+                    mimetype='application/json')
 
 
 @docs_bp.route('/redoc.standalone.js')
diff --git a/tests/test_core/test_api_docs_tryit.py b/tests/test_core/test_api_docs_tryit.py
index c114ee6f..40145aef 100644
--- a/tests/test_core/test_api_docs_tryit.py
+++ b/tests/test_core/test_api_docs_tryit.py
@@ -214,3 +214,36 @@ def test_a_vendored_asset_fetches_nothing_from_the_internet(filename):
             assert match.startswith('data:'), (
                 '%s loads %s rather than an inline data: URI'
                 % (filename, match))
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The spec has to say where this instance actually lives
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_the_spec_declares_the_mount_it_is_served_from(enabled_client):
+    """Production runs under /shopdb, and the generated file cannot know that.
+
+    gen_openapi.py writes servers: [{"url": "/"}] - correct for a root install
+    and wrong for every subpath one - and wsgi.py only moves MOUNT_PATH into
+    SCRIPT_NAME at runtime. Served as written, both renderers built
+    https://host/api/... for an app mounted at /shopdb: a URL an operator copied
+    out of the docs page and got a 404 from, and the address Swagger's try-it
+    fired at.
+    """
+    import json as _json
+
+    at_root = _json.loads(
+        enabled_client.get('/api/docs/openapi.json').get_data(as_text=True))
+    assert at_root['servers'] == [{'url': '/', 'description': 'this instance'}]
+
+    mounted = _json.loads(enabled_client.get(
+        '/api/docs/openapi.json',
+        environ_overrides={'SCRIPT_NAME': '/shopdb'}).get_data(as_text=True))
+    assert mounted['servers'] == [
+        {'url': '/shopdb', 'description': 'this instance'}]
+
+    # The paths themselves stay mount-free: the server prefix is what varies,
+    # and duplicating it into every path would double it under a subpath.
+    assert '/api/apitokens' in mounted['paths']
+    assert '/shopdb/api/apitokens' not in mounted['paths']