diff --git a/lib/ampp-folder-placer.js b/lib/ampp-folder-placer.js
index 38c22f5..e09ceda 100644
--- a/lib/ampp-folder-placer.js
+++ b/lib/ampp-folder-placer.js
@@ -2,36 +2,16 @@
 
 // ================================================================
 //  AMPP Folder Placer — lib/ampp-folder-placer.js
-//  Node.js port of folder-organizer-v3.5.py
 //
-//  Given an AMPP base URL, Bearer token, asset ID, and asset name
-//  (with "--" as the path delimiter), finds or creates the nested
-//  AMPP virtual-folder hierarchy, then links the asset to the
-//  deepest folder.
-//
-//  All v3.5 defensive guards are ported:
-//    1. Validate resp is a plain object before .get()
-//    2. Validate hlist is an array before indexing
-//    3. Only trust a FULL depth match from the hierarchy lookup
-//    4. Specific catch on hierarchy lookup — fall through to create,
-//       don't silently swallow ALL errors
-//    5. Asset link failure throws — caller sees it in the AMPP job log
-//    6. Defensive .toString().trim() on every folder:id returned
+//  placeAsset()             — original v3.5 port (filename -- parsing)
+//  placeAssetInFolderById() — direct placement by known folder ID
+//  listAmppFolders()        — fetch AMPP virtual folder tree (probes endpoints)
+//  amppRequest()            — shared low-level REST helper
 // ================================================================
 
 const PREFIX_DELIM = "--";
 
-/**
- * Low-level AMPP REST call.
- * Throws on non-2xx responses with a descriptive message.
- *
- * @param {"GET"|"POST"} method
- * @param {string} baseUrl   e.g. "https://us-east-1.gvampp.com"
- * @param {string} token     Bearer access token
- * @param {string} apiPath   relative path, e.g. "api/v1/store/folder/folders"
- * @param {object|string|null} body
- * @returns {Promise<object>}
- */
+// ── Low-level REST helper ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 async function amppRequest(method, baseUrl, token, apiPath, body = null) {
   const url = `${baseUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")}/${apiPath}`;
   const opts = {
@@ -55,48 +35,82 @@ async function amppRequest(method, baseUrl, token, apiPath, body = null) {
   return r.json();
 }
 
-/**
- * placeAsset — find/create nested AMPP virtual folders and link an asset.
- *
- * Mirrors folder-organizer-v3.5.py exactly:
- *   - Splits assetName on "--", uses all but the last segment as folder names.
- *   - Walks the hierarchy left-to-right, doing a GET lookup at each level.
- *   - Only trusts a lookup result when returned depth == expected depth (v3.5 fix #3).
- *   - Creates the folder (with correct parentFolders:tags) if not found.
- *   - Links the asset to the deepest folder after all levels are resolved.
- *
- * @param {string} baseUrl   AMPP base URL
- * @param {string} assetName Filename with "--" delimiters (e.g. "NEWS--PKG--clip.mxf")
- * @param {string} assetId   AMPP asset:id (string)
- * @param {string} token     Bearer access token
- * @returns {Promise<{ placed: boolean, folderId: string|null, path: string, reason?: string }>}
- */
+// ── List AMPP virtual folders ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Probes multiple candidate endpoints in order; uses the first that responds.
+// Returns: { folders: [{id, name, parentId, path}], endpoint }
+const FOLDER_LIST_CANDIDATES = [
+  "api/v1/store/folder/folders?limit=500",
+  "api/v1/store/folder/folders",
+  "api/v1/store/folder/folder/list",
+  "api/v1/store/folder/folders/list",
+];
+
+async function listAmppFolders(baseUrl, token) {
+  let lastError = null;
+
+  for (const candidate of FOLDER_LIST_CANDIDATES) {
+    try {
+      const resp = await amppRequest("GET", baseUrl, token, candidate);
+
+      // Normalise whatever shape AMPP returns into an array
+      const raw = Array.isArray(resp)
+        ? resp
+        : resp?.["folder:list"] ?? resp?.folders ?? resp?.items ?? resp?.results ?? [];
+
+      if (!Array.isArray(raw)) {
+        console.warn(`[AMPP folders] ${candidate} returned non-array: ${typeof raw}`);
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      const folders = raw.map((f) => ({
+        id:       (f["folder:id"]       ?? f.id         ?? "").toString().trim(),
+        name:     (f["name:text"]       ?? f.name       ?? f["folder:name"] ?? "").toString().trim(),
+        parentId: (f["parentFolder:id"] ?? f.parentId   ?? f["parent:id"]   ?? "").toString().trim(),
+        path:     (f["folder:path"]     ?? f.path       ?? "").toString().trim(),
+      })).filter(f => f.id && f.name);
+
+      console.log(`[AMPP folders] ${folders.length} folders via ${candidate}`);
+      return { folders, endpoint: candidate };
+    } catch (err) {
+      lastError = err;
+      console.warn(`[AMPP folders] ${candidate} failed: ${err.message}`);
+    }
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(`Could not list AMPP folders — all endpoints failed. Last error: ${lastError?.message}`);
+}
+
+// ── Direct placement by known folder ID ──────────────────────────────────────
+// Used by the background placement worker.  No filename parsing — we already
+// know the folder ID from what the user selected in the UI.
+async function placeAssetInFolderById(baseUrl, assetId, folderId, token) {
+  if (!assetId)  throw new Error("assetId is required");
+  if (!folderId) throw new Error("folderId is required");
+
+  const linkBody = JSON.stringify(
+    { "folder:id": folderId, "asset:id": assetId },
+    null, 0
+  );
+  await amppRequest("POST", baseUrl, token, "api/v1/store/folder/references", linkBody);
+  return { placed: true, folderId, assetId };
+}
+
+// ── Original v3.5 placement (filename -- parsing) ────────────────────────────
+// Kept for the manual /api/ampp/place endpoint.
 async function placeAsset(baseUrl, assetName, assetId, token) {
-  // No delimiter → skip (same behaviour as the IronPython script's `pass`)
   if (!assetName.includes(PREFIX_DELIM)) {
-    return {
-      placed: false,
-      folderId: null,
-      path: "",
-      reason: `no "${PREFIX_DELIM}" delimiter in filename`,
-    };
+    return { placed: false, folderId: null, path: "", reason: `no "${PREFIX_DELIM}" delimiter in filename` };
   }
 
   const parts = assetName.split(PREFIX_DELIM);
   if (parts.length < 2) {
-    return {
-      placed: false,
-      folderId: null,
-      path: "",
-      reason: "fewer than 2 parts after split",
-    };
+    return { placed: false, folderId: null, path: "", reason: "fewer than 2 parts after split" };
   }
 
-  // All segments except the last are folder names; the last is the filename.
   const folderNames = parts.slice(0, -1);
   let parentId = null;
   let currentPath = "";
-  let expectedDepth = 0; // how many path segments we've built so far
+  let expectedDepth = 0;
 
   for (const rawName of folderNames) {
     const fname = rawName.trim();
@@ -106,105 +120,45 @@ async function placeAsset(baseUrl, assetName, assetId, token) {
     expectedDepth++;
     let folderId = null;
 
-    // ── Hierarchy lookup (v3.5 fixes #1 #2 #3 #4) ─────────────────────────
     try {
-      // URL-encode the path but keep "/" intact (matches urllib.parse.quote safe="/")
-      const encoded = currentPath
-        .split("/")
-        .map(encodeURIComponent)
-        .join("/");
-
-      const resp = await amppRequest(
-        "GET",
-        baseUrl,
-        token,
-        `api/v1/store/folder/folders/hierarchy?path=${encoded}`
-      );
-
-      // Fix #1 — resp must be a plain object
-      if (!resp || typeof resp !== "object" || Array.isArray(resp)) {
-        throw new Error(`Hierarchy resp is not an object: ${typeof resp}`);
-      }
-
+      const encoded = currentPath.split("/").map(encodeURIComponent).join("/");
+      const resp = await amppRequest("GET", baseUrl, token, `api/v1/store/folder/folders/hierarchy?path=${encoded}`);
+      if (!resp || typeof resp !== "object" || Array.isArray(resp)) throw new Error(`Hierarchy resp is not an object: ${typeof resp}`);
       const hlist = resp["hierarchy:list"];
-
-      // Fix #2 — hlist must be an array
-      if (!Array.isArray(hlist)) {
-        throw new Error(`hierarchy:list is not an array: ${typeof hlist}`);
-      }
-
-      // Fix #3 — only trust a FULL depth match
-      // A partial match (API returns A, A/B when we need A/B/C) means the full
-      // path doesn't exist yet — fall through to creation.
+      if (!Array.isArray(hlist)) throw new Error(`hierarchy:list is not an array: ${typeof hlist}`);
       if (hlist.length === expectedDepth) {
         const last = hlist[hlist.length - 1];
-        // Fix #6 — defensive strip on folder:id
         const candidateId = (last?.["folder:id"] ?? "").toString().trim();
         if (candidateId) folderId = candidateId;
       }
     } catch (lookupEx) {
-      // Fix #4 — specific catch: log and fall through to create.
-      // Don't hard-fail the whole placement for a lookup error.
       folderId = null;
-      console.warn(
-        `[AMPP folder] Hierarchy lookup failed for '${currentPath}': ${lookupEx.message}`
-      );
+      console.warn(`[AMPP folder] Hierarchy lookup failed for '${currentPath}': ${lookupEx.message}`);
     }
 
-    // ── Create folder if not found ─────────────────────────────────────────
     if (!folderId) {
       const createBody = { "name:text": fname };
       if (parentId) createBody["parentFolders:tags"] = [parentId];
-
       try {
-        const fresp = await amppRequest(
-          "POST",
-          baseUrl,
-          token,
-          "api/v1/store/folder/folders",
-          createBody
-        );
-
-        // Fix #1 applied to create response too
-        if (!fresp || typeof fresp !== "object" || Array.isArray(fresp)) {
-          throw new Error(
-            `Folder create resp is not an object: ${typeof fresp}`
-          );
-        }
-        // Fix #6 — defensive strip
+        const fresp = await amppRequest("POST", baseUrl, token, "api/v1/store/folder/folders", createBody);
+        if (!fresp || typeof fresp !== "object" || Array.isArray(fresp)) throw new Error(`Folder create resp is not an object: ${typeof fresp}`);
         const createdId = (fresp["folder:id"] ?? "").toString().trim();
         if (!createdId) throw new Error("Folder create resp missing folder:id");
         folderId = createdId;
       } catch (ex) {
-        // Re-throw with context so the caller (and AMPP job log) can see it
-        throw new Error(
-          `Failed to create folder '${fname}' under path '${currentPath}': ${ex.message}`
-        );
+        throw new Error(`Failed to create folder '${fname}' under path '${currentPath}': ${ex.message}`);
       }
     }
 
     parentId = folderId;
   }
 
-  // ── Link asset to deepest folder (fix #5 — throw on failure) ─────────────
   if (parentId) {
-    // Compact JSON — same as the IronPython separators=(',',':')
-    const linkBody = JSON.stringify(
-      { "folder:id": parentId, "asset:id": assetId },
-      null,
-      0
-    );
-    // If this throws, the caller sees it — no silent swallow.
-    await amppRequest(
-      "POST",
-      baseUrl,
-      token,
-      "api/v1/store/folder/references",
-      linkBody
-    );
+    const linkBody = JSON.stringify({ "folder:id": parentId, "asset:id": assetId }, null, 0);
+    await amppRequest("POST", baseUrl, token, "api/v1/store/folder/references", linkBody);
   }
 
   return { placed: true, folderId: parentId, path: currentPath };
 }
 
-module.exports = { placeAsset, amppRequest };
+module.exports = { placeAsset, placeAssetInFolderById, listAmppFolders, amppRequest };