Index: cloudsync/utils/watchdog.py
===================================================================
diff -u -rf8e86cb57ba35fd2a6f6ec1b7989443bff221b0d -rff767085ef6d1eb776deb211583a907e872bdb5d
--- cloudsync/utils/watchdog.py	(.../watchdog.py)	(revision f8e86cb57ba35fd2a6f6ec1b7989443bff221b0d)
+++ cloudsync/utils/watchdog.py	(.../watchdog.py)	(revision ff767085ef6d1eb776deb211583a907e872bdb5d)
@@ -30,8 +30,13 @@
 from time import monotonic, sleep
 
 
-# Default sentinel file path — cs.py monitors this to trigger process restart
-SENTINEL_PATH = "/media/sd-card/cloudsync/cloudsync_restart_sentinel"
+# Default sentinel file path — cs.py monitors this to trigger process restart.
+# Placed in a dedicated sentinel/ subfolder under the SD card root so the
+# inotify watch on /media/sd-card/cloudsync (non-recursive, set up by
+# FileInputBus for UI->CS bus files) does not fire on sentinel writes. The
+# subfolder is auto-created at Watchdog __init__ time; isolated from the
+# log/ subfolder so log-retention sweeps cannot reach it.
+SENTINEL_PATH = "/media/sd-card/cloudsync/sentinel/cloudsync_restart_sentinel"
 
 
 class Watchdog:
@@ -55,6 +60,22 @@
         self._stop_event = Event()
         self._thread = Thread(target=self._monitor, daemon=True)
 
+        # Ensure the sentinel directory exists at construction time. The
+        # dedicated subfolder is isolated from FileInputBus's non-recursive
+        # inotify watch on the channels root and from log-retention sweeps
+        # of the log/ subfolder; first-run install / upgrade from a build
+        # whose layout did not include this folder is handled here so the
+        # release artifact does not need to ship the empty directory.
+        sentinel_dir = os.path.dirname(self._sentinel_path)
+        if sentinel_dir:
+            try:
+                os.makedirs(sentinel_dir, exist_ok=True)
+            except OSError as exc:
+                self._logger.warning(
+                    "Watchdog: could not pre-create sentinel directory %s: %s",
+                    sentinel_dir, exc,
+                )
+
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Public API
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------