diff --git a/ct/archivebox.sh b/ct/archivebox.sh
index d8fedeb35..a81dbcbd8 100644
--- a/ct/archivebox.sh
+++ b/ct/archivebox.sh
@@ -31,34 +31,29 @@ function update_script() {
     exit
   fi
 
-  NODE_VERSION="22" setup_nodejs
   setup_uv
 
-  ensure_dependencies chromium ripgrep tesseract-ocr tesseract-ocr-eng imagemagick ffmpeg unzip wget
-
   msg_info "Stopping Service"
   systemctl stop archivebox
   msg_ok "Stopped Service"
 
-  # Earlier installs used python3.11, which caps ArchiveBox at 0.7.4.
+  local migrate=0 py port base runtime
   if [[ ! -x /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox ]]; then
+    migrate=1
     msg_info "Moving ArchiveBox to its own Python 3.13 environment"
-    # The distro interpreter first: a uv-managed one lands where the service user cannot exec it.
-    local py="/usr/bin/python3.13"
-    if [[ ! -x "$py" ]]; then
-      ensure_dependencies python3.13 || true
-    fi
+    py="/usr/bin/python3.13"
+    [[ -x "$py" ]] || ensure_dependencies python3.13 || true
     if [[ ! -x "$py" ]]; then
       $STD uv python install --install-dir /opt/archivebox/python 3.13
       py="$(UV_PYTHON_INSTALL_DIR=/opt/archivebox/python uv python find 3.13)"
     fi
     $STD uv venv --python "$py" /opt/archivebox/venv
-    # Keep whatever port this container already answers on, or a reverse proxy in front
-    # of it would silently stop resolving.
-    local port
-    port="$(awk -F: '/^ExecStart=/ {print $NF}' /etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service 2>/dev/null)"
-    [[ "$port" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || port=5797
-    cat <<EOF >/etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service
+    msg_ok "Moved ArchiveBox to its own Python 3.13 environment"
+  fi
+
+  port="$(awk -F: '/^ExecStart=/ {print $NF}' /etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service 2>/dev/null)"
+  [[ "$port" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || port=5797
+  cat <<EOF >/etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service
 [Unit]
 Description=ArchiveBox Server
 After=network.target
@@ -66,28 +61,45 @@ After=network.target
 [Service]
 User=archivebox
 WorkingDirectory=/opt/archivebox/data
+ExecStartPre=/opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox init
 ExecStart=/opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox server 0.0.0.0:${port}
 Restart=always
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
 EOF
-    systemctl daemon-reload
-    msg_ok "Moved ArchiveBox to its own Python 3.13 environment (port ${port})"
-  fi
+  systemctl daemon-reload
 
   msg_info "Updating ArchiveBox"
   $STD uv pip install --python /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/python --upgrade archivebox
-  chown -R archivebox:archivebox /opt/archivebox
-  # Without this a shell still reaches the old 0.7.4 entry point against a 0.9 collection.
   ln -sf /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox /usr/local/bin/archivebox
+  mkdir -p /home/archivebox/.config
+  chown -R archivebox:archivebox /opt/archivebox /home/archivebox
   cd /opt/archivebox/data
   $STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox init
-  # npm refuses the git dependency behind @postlight/parser, so treat extractors as optional.
-  $STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox install ||
-    msg_warn "Some extractors stayed unavailable - ArchiveBox runs without them"
+  base="$(grep -oP '^BASE_URL\s*=\s*\K\S+' ArchiveBox.conf 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  if [[ -z "$base" || "$base" =~ ^https?://[0-9.]+(:[0-9]+)?/?$ ]]; then
+    base="http://$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}'):${port}"
+  fi
+  $STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox config --set "BASE_URL=${base}" MERCURY_ENABLED=False
   msg_ok "Updated ArchiveBox"
 
+  msg_info "Installing Extractors (Patience)"
+  runtime="/tmp/archivebox-runtime-$(id -u archivebox)"
+  install -d -m 700 -o archivebox -g archivebox "$runtime"
+  if $STD env HOME=/home/archivebox USER=archivebox LOGNAME=archivebox XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/archivebox/.config XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$runtime" \
+    /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox install; then
+    msg_ok "Installed Extractors"
+  else
+    msg_warn "Some extractors failed to install - crawls stop until the next update succeeds"
+  fi
+
+  if [[ "$migrate" == 1 ]]; then
+    msg_info "Migrating Existing Snapshots (Patience)"
+    $STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox update --rescan --migrate-only --index-only
+    msg_ok "Migrated Existing Snapshots"
+  fi
+
   msg_info "Starting Service"
   systemctl start archivebox
   msg_ok "Started Service"
diff --git a/install/archivebox-install.sh b/install/archivebox-install.sh
index dba6eb9cb..56d5a9c22 100644
--- a/install/archivebox-install.sh
+++ b/install/archivebox-install.sh
@@ -14,34 +14,23 @@ network_check
 update_os
 
 msg_info "Installing Dependencies"
-# ArchiveBox resolves these through its env provider, so it never has to reach for apt itself.
 $STD apt-get install -y \
   git \
   procps \
   dnsutils \
-  chromium \
-  ripgrep \
-  tesseract-ocr \
-  tesseract-ocr-eng \
-  imagemagick \
-  ffmpeg \
-  unzip \
-  wget \
   python3.13
 msg_ok "Installed Dependencies"
 
-# No NODE_MODULE: 0.9 pulls single-file and readability itself, and postlight-parser is gone.
-NODE_VERSION="22" setup_nodejs
 setup_uv
 
 msg_info "Installing ArchiveBox"
 mkdir -p /opt/archivebox/data
 $STD adduser --system --shell /bin/bash --gecos 'Archive Box User' --group --disabled-password --home /home/archivebox archivebox
-# The distro interpreter: a uv-managed one lands where the service user cannot execute it.
 $STD uv venv --python /usr/bin/python3.13 /opt/archivebox/venv
 $STD uv pip install --python /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/python archivebox
 ln -sf /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox /usr/local/bin/archivebox
-chown -R archivebox:archivebox /opt/archivebox
+mkdir -p /home/archivebox/.config
+chown -R archivebox:archivebox /opt/archivebox /home/archivebox
 msg_ok "Installed ArchiveBox"
 
 msg_info "Initializing ArchiveBox"
@@ -52,18 +41,15 @@ $STD sudo -u archivebox env \
   DJANGO_SUPERUSER_EMAIL=archivebox@archivebox.local \
   DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD=community-scripts.org \
   /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox manage createsuperuser --noinput
-# Without a pinned canonical URL the admin greets every visitor with a red banner.
-$STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox config --set "BASE_URL=http://$(get_ip):5797"
+$STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox config --set "BASE_URL=http://$(get_ip):5797" MERCURY_ENABLED=False
 msg_ok "Initialized ArchiveBox"
 
-msg_info "Installing Extractors"
-# One unreachable extractor must not sink the install: @postlight/parser pulls a git
-# dependency that npm refuses, and readability covers the same job.
-if $STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox install; then
-  msg_ok "Installed Extractors"
-else
-  msg_warn "Some extractors stayed unavailable - ArchiveBox runs without them"
-fi
+msg_info "Installing Extractors (Patience)"
+AB_RUNTIME="/tmp/archivebox-runtime-$(id -u archivebox)"
+install -d -m 700 -o archivebox -g archivebox "$AB_RUNTIME"
+$STD env HOME=/home/archivebox USER=archivebox LOGNAME=archivebox XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/archivebox/.config XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$AB_RUNTIME" \
+  /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox install
+msg_ok "Installed Extractors"
 
 msg_info "Creating Service"
 cat <<EOF >/etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service
@@ -74,6 +60,7 @@ After=network.target
 [Service]
 User=archivebox
 WorkingDirectory=/opt/archivebox/data
+ExecStartPre=/opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox init
 ExecStart=/opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox server 0.0.0.0:5797
 Restart=always