diff --git a/apps/hq/scripts/apply-onboarding-pipeline.ts b/apps/hq/scripts/apply-onboarding-pipeline.ts
index fd49cc9..ce0393f 100644
--- a/apps/hq/scripts/apply-onboarding-pipeline.ts
+++ b/apps/hq/scripts/apply-onboarding-pipeline.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
-// One-off deploy step for the Client Detail redesign: overwrite the live onboarding-template
-// settings with the composed quotation-led pipeline (shared front + per-module tail), then run
+// One-off deploy step for the Client Detail redesign: writes the live onboarding-template
+// settings with the composed quotation-led pipeline (shared front + per-module tail), then runs
 // the tick-preserving migration so existing SMS/RTGS/MobileApp projects adopt the new steps.
-// Idempotent. Run from repo root:  npx tsx apps/hq/scripts/apply-onboarding-pipeline.ts
+// Idempotent ONLY as long as the templates below haven't been owner-edited since: each setting
+// is written only if it is still ABSENT, so a plain re-run never clobbers an owner's edit made
+// in the Modules onboarding-template editor. Pass --force to unconditionally overwrite every
+// template with the settings below — this DOES clobber owner edits, use with care.
+// Run from repo root:
+//   npx tsx apps/hq/scripts/apply-onboarding-pipeline.ts [--force]
 import { openDb } from '../src/db'
 import { openPgDb } from '../src/db-pg'
 import { migrateOnboardingTemplates } from '../src/migrate-onboarding-templates'
+import { getSetting, setSetting } from '../src/repos-reminders'
 
 const FRONT = [
   { key: 'enquiry', label: 'Enquiry received' },
@@ -48,21 +54,27 @@ const TAILS: Record<string, { key: string; label: string }[]> = {
 async function main(): Promise<void> {
   const pgUrl = process.env['DATABASE_URL'] ?? ''
   const db = pgUrl !== '' ? await openPgDb(pgUrl) : openDb(process.env['HQ_DATA_DIR'])
+  const force = process.argv.includes('--force')
 
+  // Audited via setSetting (append-only-audit rule) and, unless --force, skips any key
+  // that's already set — so an owner's edit in the Modules onboarding-template editor is
+  // left alone on a re-run instead of being silently clobbered.
   const upsert = async (key: string, list: unknown): Promise<void> => {
-    await db.run(
-      `INSERT INTO setting (key, value) VALUES (?, ?) ON CONFLICT (key) DO UPDATE SET value = excluded.value`,
-      key, JSON.stringify(list),
-    )
+    if (!force && (await getSetting(db, key)) !== null) {
+      // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+      console.log(`Skipped ${key} — already set (pass --force to overwrite an owner edit).`)
+      return
+    }
+    await setSetting(db, 'system', key, JSON.stringify(list))
   }
   await upsert('project.milestone_template.front', FRONT)
   for (const [code, list] of Object.entries(TAILS)) await upsert(`project.milestone_template:${code}`, list)
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
-  console.log('Template settings updated: front + SMS/RTGS/MOBILEAPP tails.')
+  console.log('Template settings step done: front + SMS/RTGS/MOBILEAPP tails.')
 
   const res = await migrateOnboardingTemplates(db)
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
-  console.log(`Onboarding migration: ${res.projects} project(s) rebuilt, ${res.carried} tick(s) carried, ${res.dropped} dropped.`)
+  console.log(`Onboarding migration: ${res.projects} project(s) rebuilt, ${res.carried} tick(s) carried, ${res.dropped} dropped, ${res.preserved} custom step(s) preserved.`)
 }
 
 main().catch((e) => { console.error(e); process.exit(1) })