diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c679bb0..8af94f2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1642,7 +1642,7 @@ checksum = "09edd9e8b54e49e587e4f6295a7d29c3ea94d469cb40ab8ca70b288248a81db2"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "lesavka_client"
-version = "0.14.27"
+version = "0.14.28"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "async-stream",
@@ -1676,7 +1676,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "lesavka_common"
-version = "0.14.27"
+version = "0.14.28"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "base64",
@@ -1688,7 +1688,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "lesavka_server"
-version = "0.14.27"
+version = "0.14.28"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "base64",
diff --git a/client/Cargo.toml b/client/Cargo.toml
index d02a844..c3af7f3 100644
--- a/client/Cargo.toml
+++ b/client/Cargo.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ path                    = "src/main.rs"
 
 [package]
 name                    = "lesavka_client"
-version                 = "0.14.27"
+version                 = "0.14.28"
 edition                 = "2024"
 
 [dependencies]
diff --git a/common/Cargo.toml b/common/Cargo.toml
index 6357b19..eafbf21 100644
--- a/common/Cargo.toml
+++ b/common/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name                    = "lesavka_common"
-version                 = "0.14.27"
+version                 = "0.14.28"
 edition                 = "2024"
 build                   = "build.rs"
 
diff --git a/scripts/manual/run_upstream_av_sync.sh b/scripts/manual/run_upstream_av_sync.sh
index 9c4acab..766ea23 100755
--- a/scripts/manual/run_upstream_av_sync.sh
+++ b/scripts/manual/run_upstream_av_sync.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd -- "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)"
 REPO_ROOT="$(cd -- "${SCRIPT_DIR}/../.." >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)"
 
 TETHYS_HOST=${TETHYS_HOST:-tethys}
+LESAVKA_SERVER_HOST=${LESAVKA_SERVER_HOST:-theia}
 LESAVKA_SERVER_ADDR=${LESAVKA_SERVER_ADDR:-http://38.28.125.112:50051}
 PROBE_DURATION_SECONDS=${PROBE_DURATION_SECONDS:-10}
 PROBE_WARMUP_SECONDS=${PROBE_WARMUP_SECONDS:-4}
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ REMOTE_ANALYZE=${REMOTE_ANALYZE:-1}
 REMOTE_ANALYZE_BIN=${REMOTE_ANALYZE_BIN:-/tmp/lesavka-sync-analyze}
 REMOTE_ANALYZE_COPY=${REMOTE_ANALYZE_COPY:-1}
 FETCH_CAPTURE=${FETCH_CAPTURE:-0}
+REMOTE_SERVER_PREFLIGHT=${REMOTE_SERVER_PREFLIGHT:-1}
+REMOTE_EXPECT_CAM_OUTPUT=${REMOTE_EXPECT_CAM_OUTPUT:-uvc}
+REMOTE_EXPECT_UVC_CODEC=${REMOTE_EXPECT_UVC_CODEC:-mjpeg}
 
 mkdir -p "${LOCAL_OUTPUT_DIR}"
 STAMP="$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
@@ -44,6 +48,50 @@ LOCAL_CAPTURE="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_DIR}/lesavka-upstream-av-sync-${STAMP}.mkv"
 LOCAL_ANALYSIS_JSON="${LOCAL_CAPTURE%.mkv}.json"
 LOCAL_CAPTURE_LOG="${LOCAL_CAPTURE%.mkv}.capture.log"
 
+preflight_server_path() {
+  [[ "${REMOTE_SERVER_PREFLIGHT}" != "0" ]] || return 0
+
+  echo "==> verifying Lesavka server path on ${LESAVKA_SERVER_HOST}"
+  ssh ${SSH_OPTS} "${LESAVKA_SERVER_HOST}" bash -s -- \
+    "${REMOTE_EXPECT_CAM_OUTPUT}" \
+    "${REMOTE_EXPECT_UVC_CODEC}" <<'REMOTE_PREFLIGHT'
+set -euo pipefail
+expect_cam_output=$1
+expect_uvc_codec=$2
+
+read_env_value() {
+  local key=$1
+  local file=$2
+  local value=""
+  value=$(grep -E "^${key}=" "$file" 2>/dev/null | tail -n1 | cut -d= -f2- || true)
+  printf '%s\n' "$value"
+}
+
+cam_output=$(read_env_value "LESAVKA_CAM_OUTPUT" /etc/lesavka/server.env)
+server_uvc_codec=$(read_env_value "LESAVKA_UVC_CODEC" /etc/lesavka/server.env)
+runtime_uvc_codec=$(read_env_value "LESAVKA_UVC_CODEC" /etc/lesavka/uvc.env)
+
+printf '   ↪ server.env CAM_OUTPUT=%s\n' "${cam_output:-<unset>}"
+printf '   ↪ server.env UVC_CODEC=%s\n' "${server_uvc_codec:-<unset>}"
+printf '   ↪ uvc.env    UVC_CODEC=%s\n' "${runtime_uvc_codec:-<unset>}"
+
+if [[ -n "${expect_cam_output}" && "${cam_output}" != "${expect_cam_output}" ]]; then
+  printf 'expected CAM_OUTPUT=%s but found %s\n' "${expect_cam_output}" "${cam_output:-<unset>}" >&2
+  exit 64
+fi
+if [[ -n "${expect_uvc_codec}" && "${server_uvc_codec}" != "${expect_uvc_codec}" ]]; then
+  printf 'expected server.env UVC_CODEC=%s but found %s\n' "${expect_uvc_codec}" "${server_uvc_codec:-<unset>}" >&2
+  exit 65
+fi
+if [[ -n "${expect_uvc_codec}" && "${runtime_uvc_codec}" != "${expect_uvc_codec}" ]]; then
+  printf 'expected uvc.env UVC_CODEC=%s but found %s\n' "${expect_uvc_codec}" "${runtime_uvc_codec:-<unset>}" >&2
+  exit 66
+fi
+
+systemctl is-active lesavka-server lesavka-uvc lesavka-core >/dev/null
+REMOTE_PREFLIGHT
+}
+
 if [[ "${LOCAL_AUDIO_SANITY}" != "0" ]]; then
   echo "==> verifying local speaker-to-mic sanity before upstream sync run"
   "${SCRIPT_DIR}/run_local_audio_sanity.sh"
@@ -66,6 +114,8 @@ if [[ ! -x "${ANALYZE_BIN}" ]]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+preflight_server_path
+
 echo "==> starting Tethys capture on ${TETHYS_HOST}"
 ssh ${SSH_OPTS} "${TETHYS_HOST}" bash -s -- \
   "${REMOTE_CAPTURE}" \
diff --git a/server/Cargo.toml b/server/Cargo.toml
index 5cafee2..d2f3abe 100644
--- a/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ bench                   = false
 
 [package]
 name                    = "lesavka_server"
-version                 = "0.14.27"
+version                 = "0.14.28"
 edition                 = "2024"
 autobins                = false