diff --git a/cluster/applications/couchdb/README.md b/cluster/applications/couchdb/README.md
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+# CouchDB Deployment
+
+**Application Name:** couchdb  
+**Thematic Name:** communicore (DNS only)  
+**Purpose:** Obsidian sync backend for mk-labs  
+**Deployment Method:** Helm chart via ArgoCD  
+
+## Overview
+
+This deployment provides a CouchDB instance for Obsidian sync across multiple devices in the mk-labs homelab. It replaces the previous NFS-based shared vault with a proper sync solution.
+
+## Architecture
+
+- **Helm Chart:** Apache CouchDB official chart (v4.6.3, CouchDB 3.5.1)
+- **Cluster:** Single-node deployment (suitable for homelab)
+- **Storage:** 20Gi persistent volume using nfs-emporium StorageClass
+- **Secrets:** ExternalSecrets Operator pulling from 1Password
+- **TLS:** cert-manager with letsencrypt-staging (switch to prod after validation)
+- **Ingress:** nginx-ingress with external-dns
+
+## DNS Configuration
+
+- **Primary:** communicore.mk-labs.cloud (thematic name)
+- Managed automatically by external-dns via ingress annotations
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+### 1Password Vault Setup
+
+Create a new item in 1Password (mk-labs vault):
+
+```
+Item Name: couchdb
+Type: Login
+
+Fields:
+  admin-password: (generate strong password, 32 characters)
+  cookie-auth-secret: (generate random string, 32 characters)
+```
+
+Generate the secrets:
+```bash
+# Admin password
+openssl rand -base64 32
+
+# Cookie auth secret
+openssl rand -base64 32
+```
+
+Store both values in the 1Password item before deploying.
+
+## Deployment
+
+### Initial Deployment
+
+The deployment is managed entirely through GitOps:
+
+1. Commit and push the manifests to the homelab repository
+2. ArgoCD will automatically detect and sync the application
+3. Monitor the deployment:
+
+```bash
+# Watch ArgoCD sync status
+kubectl get application -n argocd couchdb -w
+
+# Watch pod creation
+kubectl get pods -n couchdb -w
+
+# Check deployment status
+kubectl get all -n couchdb
+```
+
+### Verification Steps
+
+1. **Check ExternalSecret sync:**
+```bash
+kubectl get externalsecret -n couchdb
+kubectl get secret -n couchdb couchdb-admin
+```
+
+2. **Verify pod health:**
+```bash
+kubectl get pods -n couchdb
+kubectl logs -n couchdb -l app=couchdb
+```
+
+3. **Test internal access:**
+```bash
+kubectl port-forward -n couchdb svc/couchdb-svc-couchdb 5984:5984
+curl -u admin:PASSWORD http://localhost:5984/
+# Should return: {"couchdb":"Welcome","version":"3.5.1"}
+```
+
+4. **Check certificate:**
+```bash
+kubectl get certificate -n couchdb
+kubectl describe certificate -n couchdb couchdb-tls
+```
+
+5. **Test external access:**
+```bash
+# Once DNS propagates (may take 2-5 minutes)
+curl -k https://communicore.mk-labs.cloud/
+# Should show CouchDB welcome message
+```
+
+### Switch to Production Certificates
+
+After successful validation (24-48 hours stable), switch to production certificates:
+
+```bash
+cd ~/git/homelab/cluster/applications/couchdb
+
+# Update values.yaml
+sed -i 's/letsencrypt-staging/letsencrypt-prod/g' values.yaml
+
+# Commit and push
+git add values.yaml
+git commit -m "feat(couchdb): switch to production TLS certificates"
+git push
+
+# Delete old staging certificate and secret to trigger reissuance
+kubectl delete certificate -n couchdb couchdb-tls
+kubectl delete secret -n couchdb couchdb-tls
+
+# Verify new certificate
+kubectl get certificate -n couchdb
+```
+
+## Obsidian Configuration
+
+### Plugin Installation
+
+On each device (workstation, desktop, carousel-of-progress):
+
+1. Install "Self-hosted LiveSync" plugin in Obsidian
+2. Enable the plugin
+3. Configure as follows:
+
+### Connection Settings
+
+```
+Remote Database URL: https://communicore.mk-labs.cloud
+Remote Database: obsidian-sync
+Username: admin
+Password: (from 1Password couchdb item)
+End-to-end Encryption: ✓ Enabled
+Passphrase: (create a strong passphrase, store in 1Password)
+```
+
+### Initial Sync (IMPORTANT)
+
+**ONLY ONE DEVICE** should perform the initial upload:
+
+1. **On Workstation (primary device):**
+   - Open Obsidian settings → Self-hosted LiveSync
+   - Click "Rebuild Everything"
+   - Wait for upload to complete (may take several minutes)
+
+2. **On Other Devices (desktop, carousel):**
+   - Open Obsidian settings → Self-hosted LiveSync
+   - Click "Fetch from Remote"
+   - Wait for download to complete
+
+### Vault Locations
+
+As documented in communicore-decisions.md:
+
+- **Workstation:** ~/friday
+- **Desktop:** ~/friday
+- **Carousel-of-progress:** (to be determined by JARVIS)
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### Pod Not Starting
+
+```bash
+# Check events
+kubectl describe pod -n couchdb <pod-name>
+
+# Check logs
+kubectl logs -n couchdb <pod-name>
+
+# Common issues:
+# - Secret not synced: check ExternalSecret status
+# - PVC pending: verify storage class and NFS CSI driver
+```
+
+### Certificate Issues
+
+```bash
+# Check certificate status
+kubectl get certificate -n couchdb
+kubectl describe certificate -n couchdb couchdb-tls
+
+# Check cert-manager logs
+kubectl logs -n cert-manager -l app=cert-manager
+```
+
+### DNS Not Resolving
+
+```bash
+# Check external-dns logs
+kubectl logs -n external-dns -l app.kubernetes.io/name=external-dns
+
+# Verify ingress annotation
+kubectl get ingress -n couchdb -o yaml | grep external-dns
+```
+
+### Connection Refused in Obsidian
+
+1. Verify external access works from command line first
+2. Check that the database exists:
+```bash
+curl -u admin:PASSWORD https://communicore.mk-labs.cloud/_all_dbs
+```
+3. If obsidian-sync database doesn't exist, create it:
+```bash
+curl -u admin:PASSWORD -X PUT https://communicore.mk-labs.cloud/obsidian-sync
+```
+
+## Backup Strategy
+
+CouchDB data is stored on nfs-emporium persistent volume. The NFS backend (Synology at 10.1.71.9) should handle snapshots.
+
+Additional backup options:
+- CouchDB replication to backup instance
+- Scheduled exports to S3/Minio
+- Git backup of vault using Obsidian Git plugin
+
+## Rollback
+
+If deployment fails or causes issues:
+
+```bash
+# Delete the ArgoCD application
+kubectl delete application -n argocd couchdb
+
+# Delete the namespace (will cascade delete all resources)
+kubectl delete namespace couchdb
+
+# Remove from git
+cd ~/git/homelab
+git rm -rf cluster/applications/couchdb
+git commit -m "rollback: remove couchdb deployment"
+git push
+```
+
+## Maintenance
+
+### Upgrade CouchDB Version
+
+1. Update chart version in application.yaml
+2. Update image tag in values.yaml
+3. Test in staging first
+4. Commit and push to trigger ArgoCD sync
+
+### Rotate Admin Password
+
+1. Update password in 1Password
+2. ExternalSecret will automatically sync within 1h (or trigger manually)
+3. Update Obsidian plugin configuration on all devices
+
+## References
+
+- [CouchDB Documentation](https://docs.couchdb.org/)
+- [Helm Chart Repository](https://github.com/apache/couchdb-helm)
+- [Self-hosted LiveSync Plugin](https://github.com/vrtmrz/obsidian-livesync)
+- [communicore-decisions.md](file:///mnt/mk-labs-pka/inbox/team/communicore-decisions.md)
+
+## Status
+
+- **Created:** 2026-06-05
+- **Status:** Ready for deployment
+- **Next Steps:** 
+  1. Create 1Password item with credentials
+  2. Commit and push to homelab repo
+  3. Monitor ArgoCD sync
+  4. Validate external access
+  5. Configure Obsidian on all devices
diff --git a/cluster/applications/couchdb/application.yaml b/cluster/applications/couchdb/application.yaml
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+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Application
+metadata:
+  name: couchdb
+  namespace: argocd
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: couchdb
+    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: mk-labs
+  annotations:
+    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "20"  # Wave 20 — applications tier
+spec:
+  project: default
+  sources:
+    # Helm chart from official Apache CouchDB repository
+    - repoURL: https://apache.github.io/couchdb-helm
+      chart: couchdb
+      targetRevision: 4.6.3
+      helm:
+        valueFiles:
+          - $values/cluster/applications/couchdb/values.yaml
+    # Values and manifests from homelab repo
+    - repoURL: https://gitea.mk-labs.cloud/rblundon/homelab.git
+      targetRevision: HEAD
+      ref: values
+    # Additional manifests (namespace, externalsecret)
+    - repoURL: https://gitea.mk-labs.cloud/rblundon/homelab.git
+      targetRevision: HEAD
+      path: cluster/applications/couchdb
+      directory:
+        recurse: false
+        include: '{namespace.yaml,externalsecret.yaml}'
+  destination:
+    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
+    namespace: couchdb
+  syncPolicy:
+    automated:
+      prune: true
+      selfHeal: true
+    syncOptions:
+      - CreateNamespace=true
+      - ApplyOutOfSyncOnly=true
+    syncWaves:
+      - order: 0  # Namespace first
+      - order: 1  # ExternalSecret second
+      - order: 2  # Helm chart last
diff --git a/cluster/applications/couchdb/externalsecret.yaml b/cluster/applications/couchdb/externalsecret.yaml
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+apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
+kind: ExternalSecret
+metadata:
+  name: couchdb-credentials
+  namespace: couchdb
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: couchdb
+    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: mk-labs
+spec:
+  refreshInterval: 1h
+  secretStoreRef:
+    kind: ClusterSecretStore
+    name: onepassword-connect
+  target:
+    name: couchdb-admin
+    creationPolicy: Owner
+    template:
+      engineVersion: v2
+      data:
+        adminUsername: "admin"
+        adminPassword: "{{ .adminPassword }}"
+        cookieAuthSecret: "{{ .cookieAuthSecret }}"
+  data:
+    - secretKey: adminPassword
+      remoteRef:
+        key: couchdb
+        property: admin-password
+    - secretKey: cookieAuthSecret
+      remoteRef:
+        key: couchdb
+        property: cookie-auth-secret
diff --git a/cluster/applications/couchdb/namespace.yaml b/cluster/applications/couchdb/namespace.yaml
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+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: couchdb
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: couchdb
+    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: mk-labs
diff --git a/cluster/applications/couchdb/values.yaml b/cluster/applications/couchdb/values.yaml
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+++ b/cluster/applications/couchdb/values.yaml
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+# CouchDB Helm Chart Values
+# Application: couchdb
+# Theme: communicore (DNS only)
+# Purpose: Obsidian sync backend for mk-labs
+
+# Cluster configuration
+clusterSize: 1  # Single node for homelab
+
+# Admin credentials managed via ExternalSecret
+# See externalsecret.yaml for 1Password integration
+createAdminSecret: false
+extraSecretName: "couchdb-admin"
+adminUsernameKey: "adminUsername"
+adminPasswordKey: "adminPassword"
+cookieAuthSecretKey: "cookieAuthSecret"
+
+# Auto-setup cluster after installation
+autoSetup:
+  enabled: true
+  image:
+    repository: curlimages/curl
+    tag: "8.11.1"  # Pinned version
+    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+  defaultDatabases:
+    - _global_changes
+
+# Network policy for pod communication
+networkPolicy:
+  enabled: true
+
+# Service account
+serviceAccount:
+  enabled: true
+  create: true
+
+# Persistent storage
+persistentVolume:
+  enabled: true
+  accessModes:
+    - ReadWriteOnce
+  size: 20Gi
+  storageClass: "nfs-emporium"
+
+# CouchDB image - pinned version
+image:
+  repository: couchdb
+  tag: "3.5.1"
+  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+
+# Service configuration
+service:
+  enabled: true
+  type: ClusterIP
+  port: 5984
+
+# Ingress configuration
+ingress:
+  enabled: true
+  className: nginx
+  annotations:
+    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: "letsencrypt-staging"  # Start with staging
+    external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/hostname: "communicore.mk-labs.cloud"
+  hosts:
+    - communicore.mk-labs.cloud
+  tls:
+    - secretName: couchdb-tls
+      hosts:
+        - communicore.mk-labs.cloud
+
+# Resource limits
+resources:
+  requests:
+    cpu: 100m
+    memory: 512Mi
+  limits:
+    cpu: 1000m
+    memory: 2Gi
+
+# CouchDB configuration
+couchdbConfig:
+  couchdb:
+    uuid: "decafbaddecafbaddecafbaddecafbad"  # Will be regenerated on first run
+  chttpd:
+    bind_address: "0.0.0.0"
+    port: 5984
+    require_valid_user: true
+  httpd:
+    bind_address: "0.0.0.0"
+    port: 5986