diff --git a/services/node-agent/index.js b/services/node-agent/index.js
index 18fc9de..6bf4dbd 100644
--- a/services/node-agent/index.js
+++ b/services/node-agent/index.js
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ const DC_BOARD       = process.env.DELTACAST_BOARD       || '0';
 const FC_URL         = process.env.FC_URL || 'http://framecache:7435';
 // Node identity for framecache slot IDs (e.g. "decklink-zampp3-0").
 // Set NODE_NAME in .env.worker so slot IDs are stable across restarts.
-const FC_NODE_ID     = process.env.NODE_NAME || os.hostname();
+const FC_NODE_ID     = process.env.NODE_NAME || process.env.HOSTNAME || 'local';
 
 let _dcBridge        = null;   // ChildProcess | null
 let _dcSidecarCount  = 0;      // active deltacast sidecars on this node
@@ -205,6 +205,9 @@ async function startDecklinkBridge(deviceIndices) {
   if (await _dlBridgeRunning()) return;
 
   const devCsv = Array.isArray(deviceIndices) ? deviceIndices.join(',') : String(deviceIndices || '0');
+  const DL_IMAGE = 'wild-dragon-capture:latest';
+  const DL_BIN   = '/usr/local/bin/decklink-bridge';
+  
   // Pass correct IP to containerized bridge. Default falls back to framecache:7435.
   const _fcUrl = process.env.FRAMECACHE_IP ? `http://${process.env.FRAMECACHE_IP}:7435` : FC_URL;
 
@@ -213,12 +216,102 @@ async function startDecklinkBridge(deviceIndices) {
     '--fc-url',          _fcUrl,
     '--audio-pipe-dir',  DL_AUDIO_DIR,
   ];
-  
+
+  console.log(`[dl-bridge] spawning containerized bridge for devices: ${devCsv}`);
+
   const spec = {
     Image: DL_IMAGE,
     Entrypoint: [DL_BIN],
     Cmd: bridgeArgs,
     Env: [`NODE_ID=${FC_NODE_ID}`, `FC_URL=${_fcUrl}`],
+    HostConfig: {
+      NetworkMode: 'host',
+      Privileged: true,
+      Binds: ['/dev:/dev', '/dev/shm:/dev/shm'],
+      RestartPolicy: { Name: 'unless-stopped' },
+    },
+  };
+
+  try {
+    const createRes = await dockerApi('POST', '/containers/create?name=decklink-bridge', spec);
+    if (createRes.status !== 201 && createRes.status !== 409) {
+      console.error('[dl-bridge] create failed:', createRes.data);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const containerId = createRes.status === 409 ? 'decklink-bridge' : createRes.data.Id;
+    const startRes = await dockerApi('POST', `/containers/${containerId}/start`);
+    if (startRes.status !== 204 && startRes.status !== 304) {
+      console.error('[dl-bridge] start failed:', startRes.data);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    _dlBridgeId = containerId;
+    _attachDlBridgeLogs(containerId);
+    console.log(`[dl-bridge] running in container ${containerId}`);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(`[dl-bridge] spawn error: ${err.message}`);
+  }
+}
+
+async function stopDecklinkBridge() {
+  if (!_dlBridgeId) return;
+  console.log('[dl-bridge] stopping container');
+  try {
+    await dockerApi('POST', `/containers/${_dlBridgeId}/stop?t=5`);
+    await dockerApi('DELETE', `/containers/${_dlBridgeId}?force=true`);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(`[dl-bridge] stop error: ${err.message}`);
+  }
+  _dlBridgeId = null;
+}
+
+function _dcBridgeRunning() {
+  return _dcBridge !== null && _dcBridge.exitCode === null && _dcBridge.signalCode === null;
+}
+
+// Check /proc on Linux to see if a deltacast-bridge process is alive.
+// Used by startDeltacastBridge() to detect a bridge started outside node-agent
+// (e.g. manually with sudo, or from a prior node-agent process).
+function _dcBridgeProcessAlive() {
+  try {
+    for (const pid of fs.readdirSync('/proc')) {
+      if (!/^\d+$/.test(pid)) continue;
+      try {
+        // cmdline is NUL-delimited; read as binary-friendly string.
+        const cmdline = fs.readFileSync(`/proc/${pid}/cmdline`, 'latin1');
+        if (cmdline.includes('deltacast-bridge')) return true;
+      } catch (_) { /* process may have exited mid-scan */ }
+    }
+  } catch (_) {}
+  return false;
+}
+
+function startDeltacastBridge() {
+  if (_dcBridgeRunning()) return; // already up (we spawned it)
+
+  try { fs.mkdirSync(DC_PIPE_DIR, { recursive: true }); } catch (_) {}
+
+  // FIFOs may exist from a previous run.  Only skip the spawn if a
+  // deltacast-bridge process is actually alive on the host — stale FIFOs with
+  // no live writer cause ffmpeg to block on open() indefinitely (no audio/video).
+  const _v0 = DC_PIPE_DIR + '/video-0.fifo';
+  if (fs.existsSync(_v0)) {
+    if (_dcBridgeProcessAlive()) {
+      console.log('[dc-bridge] FIFOs exist and bridge process alive — skipping spawn');
+      return;
+    }
+    console.log('[dc-bridge] FIFOs exist but bridge is NOT running — spawning fresh bridge');
+    // Stale FIFOs are harmless: the bridge recreates them (mkfifo ignores EEXIST).
+  }
+
+  const args = [
+    '--device',         DC_BOARD,
+    '--ports',          DC_PORTS_CSV,
+    '--video-pipe-dir', DC_PIPE_DIR,
+    '--audio-pipe-dir', DC_PIPE_DIR,
+    '--fc-url',         FC_URL,
+  ];
   console.log(`[dc-bridge] launching: ${DC_BRIDGE_BIN} ${args.join(' ')}`);
 
   const proc = spawn(DC_BRIDGE_BIN, args, {
@@ -529,7 +622,7 @@ async function handleSidecarStart(body, res) {
         if (_dcSidecarCount <= 0) { _dcSidecarCount = 0; stopDeltacastBridge(); }
       } else if (sourceType === 'sdi' || sourceType === 'blackmagic') {
         _dlSidecarCount--;
-        if (_dlSidecarCount <= 0) { _dlSidecarCount = 0; stopDecklinkBridge(); }
+        if (_dlSidecarCount <= 0) { _dlSidecarCount = 0; await stopDecklinkBridge(); }
       } else if (sourceType === 'srt' || sourceType === 'rtmp') {
         // net_ingest may be keyed by the temp id (create not yet succeeded) or
         // the real containerId (remapped). Stop whichever exists.
@@ -687,7 +780,7 @@ async function handleSidecarStandby(body, res) {
         if (_dcSidecarCount <= 0) { _dcSidecarCount = 0; stopDeltacastBridge(); }
       } else if (sourceType === 'sdi' || sourceType === 'blackmagic') {
         _dlSidecarCount--;
-        if (_dlSidecarCount <= 0) { _dlSidecarCount = 0; stopDecklinkBridge(); }
+        if (_dlSidecarCount <= 0) { _dlSidecarCount = 0; await stopDecklinkBridge(); }
       }
     };
 
@@ -746,7 +839,7 @@ async function handleSidecarStop(containerId, res) {
           _dlSidecarCount--;
           if (_dlSidecarCount <= 0) {
             _dlSidecarCount = 0;
-            stopDecklinkBridge();
+            await stopDecklinkBridge();
           }
         } else if (_srcType === 'srt' || _srcType === 'rtmp') {
           stopNetIngest(containerId);