diff --git a/scripts/deploy-remote.sh b/scripts/deploy-remote.sh
index d3d3e6d..717605d 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-remote.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-remote.sh
@@ -1348,6 +1348,7 @@ LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_MODELS="${LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_MODELS:-qwen3-embedding-0.6b}"
 LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_DIR="${LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_DIR:-/home/dank/models/halogen-npu}"
 LLM_DRAGOON_DEV_ACCEL="${LLM_DRAGOON_DEV_ACCEL:-/dev/accel/accel0}"
 LLM_DRAGOON_XRT_DIR="${LLM_DRAGOON_XRT_DIR:-/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu}"
+LLM_DRAGOON_NETWORK="${LLM_DRAGOON_NETWORK:-dankclaw_default}"
 
 retire_halogen_dragoon_quadlet() {
     local trash="$HOME/.AGENTTRASH/20260919-orca-cutover/quadlet"
@@ -1426,6 +1427,14 @@ deploy_llm_dragoon() {
         fi
     done
 
+    # The container network has to exist before the run line names it (a typo
+    # there is a restart-looping unit, not a config error anyone reads).
+    if [[ -n "$LLM_DRAGOON_NETWORK" ]] && ! podman network exists "$LLM_DRAGOON_NETWORK"; then
+        echo "ERROR: podman network $LLM_DRAGOON_NETWORK does not exist" >&2
+        echo "frank-dragoon: create it or blank FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK (pasta default)" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
     # --- NPU lane: the same three predicates the serve script checks ---------
     if [[ -n "$LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_MODELS" ]]; then
         if [[ ! -e "$LLM_DRAGOON_DEV_ACCEL" ]]; then
diff --git a/scripts/frank-dragoon.env b/scripts/frank-dragoon.env
index 61dd3bb..ee67a94 100644
--- a/scripts/frank-dragoon.env
+++ b/scripts/frank-dragoon.env
@@ -110,3 +110,12 @@ FRANK_DRAGOON_XRT_DIR=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
 # sysfs root the fabric-clock preflight reads (same knob the vendor's
 # halogen-fabric-clock status reads; the seam points it at a fixture).
 FRANK_DRAGOON_SYSFS=/sys
+# Container network. Empty = podman's rootless default (`pasta`): a private
+# netns that nothing else can join — podman refuses a second network while the
+# primary is pasta, the published port is refused from dankclaw_default
+# containers, and host.containers.internal resolves link-local, which
+# open-notebook's URL guard refuses to store. Named = the app bridge, so
+# open-notebook can dial http://frank-dragoon-halogen:8731 for the NPU
+# endpoints. The engine's unauthenticated 8730 stays private either way (it
+# binds the container's own loopback); only the API port becomes name-resolvable.
+FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK=dankclaw_default
diff --git a/scripts/serve-frank-dragoon.sh b/scripts/serve-frank-dragoon.sh
index 4c121db..9f90f27 100755
--- a/scripts/serve-frank-dragoon.sh
+++ b/scripts/serve-frank-dragoon.sh
@@ -187,6 +187,24 @@ if [ -n "$NPU_MODELS" ]; then
                -e HALOGEN_NPU_MODELS="$NPU_MODELS")
     echo "frank-dragoon: NPU lane armed: $NPU_MODELS on $DEV_ACCEL (fabric clock held)" >&2
 fi
+
+# Container network. Empty = podman's rootless default (`pasta`), which is a
+# private netns and CANNOT be joined by anything else: podman refuses a second
+# network while the primary is pasta ("cannot set multiple networks without
+# bridge network mode"), the endpoint's published port answers 200 on the host
+# and on the LAN but is REFUSED from a dankclaw_default container (measured
+# 2026-10-19), and `host.containers.internal:7770` answers 200 yet resolves to
+# 169.254.1.2 — link-local, which open-notebook's URL guard refuses to store.
+# So an endpoint on pasta has no address an app container can use; naming the
+# app bridge here is the only shape that lets open-notebook dial
+# http://frank-dragoon-halogen:8731 for the NPU endpoints. It does not widen
+# the surface: the engine's unauthenticated 8730 is bound to the container's
+# OWN loopback (/proc/net/tcp: 127.0.0.1:8730 vs 0.0.0.0:8731, checked the same
+# day), so only the API port is reachable by name.
+NET_ARGS=()
+if [ -n "${FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK:-}" ]; then
+    NET_ARGS=(--network "$FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK")
+fi
 # Host-RAM preflight — the engine's pin gate, checked BEFORE podman run.
 # The engine refuses to pin when MemAvailable is below the checkpoint plus
 # a 16 GiB floor: pinned pages cannot be swapped, and under the floor the
@@ -261,6 +279,7 @@ podman run --name "$FRANK_DRAGOON_CONTAINER" \
   ${HALOGEN_WEIGHTS_LOCK:+-e HALOGEN_WEIGHTS_LOCK="$HALOGEN_WEIGHTS_LOCK"} \
   -v "$FRANK_DRAGOON_MODEL_DIR:/models:ro" \
   -v "$FRANK_DRAGOON_MODEL_DIR/tokenizer:/tokenizer:ro" \
+  "${NET_ARGS[@]}" \
   "${NPU_ARGS[@]}" \
   "$FRANK_DRAGOON_IMAGE" \
   > "$LOG" 2>&1
diff --git a/tests/frank_dragoon_unit.bats b/tests/frank_dragoon_unit.bats
index 76f1115..f0e35e3 100755
--- a/tests/frank_dragoon_unit.bats
+++ b/tests/frank_dragoon_unit.bats
@@ -357,6 +357,8 @@ $(cat "$TEST_TMP/serve.log")"
     npu_models="$(sed -nE 's/^HALOGEN_NPU_MODELS=(.*)$/\1/p' "$ENV_FILE")"
     grep -qF "LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_DIR=\"\${LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_DIR:-$npu_dir}\"" "$DEPLOYER"
     grep -qF "LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_MODELS=\"\${LLM_DRAGOON_NPU_MODELS:-$npu_models}\"" "$DEPLOYER"
+    net="$(sed -nE 's/^FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK=(.*)$/\1/p' "$ENV_FILE")"
+    grep -qF "LLM_DRAGOON_NETWORK=\"\${LLM_DRAGOON_NETWORK:-$net}\"" "$DEPLOYER"
 }
 
 @test "the deployer points a missing artifact at the v2abl fetch script" {
@@ -583,3 +585,24 @@ $(cat "$TEST_TMP/serve.log")"
     # and curl drops Range across it (the sibling 62 GiB fetch, 2026-10-18).
     grep -qE 'url_effective' "$NPU_FETCH"
 }
+
+@test "the container network is podman's default when unnamed and the app bridge when named" {
+    # The app-to-endpoint leg hangs on this: pasta is a private netns nothing
+    # else can join (podman refuses a second network, the published port is
+    # refused from app containers, and host.containers.internal is link-local,
+    # which open-notebook refuses to store), so reaching the NPU endpoints by
+    # name means the container lives on dankclaw_default. Both arms are
+    # observable in the command podman would run.
+    podman_stub
+    good_env
+    run_with_log FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK=
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    ! grep -q -- '--network' "$TEST_TMP/serve.log"
+    run_with_log FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK=dankclaw_default
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"--network dankclaw_default"* ]]
+    # The deployer refuses a network that does not exist rather than starting a
+    # unit that restart-loops on it.
+    grep -qE 'podman network exists' "$DEPLOYER"
+    grep -qE '^FRANK_DRAGOON_NETWORK=dankclaw_default$' "$ENV_FILE"
+}