diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 1fccb212..635dfdaa 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ RUN --mount=type=bind,from=wheels,source=/wheels,target=/wheels,ro \
 COPY --from=wheels /usr/local/bin/kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
 COPY blueprints/ /app/blueprints/
 COPY specializations/ /app/specializations/
+COPY crews/ /app/crews/
 
 WORKDIR /app
 USER 10001:10001
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_image_ships_runtime_catalogs.py b/tests/unit/test_image_ships_runtime_catalogs.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..57c5bc18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_image_ships_runtime_catalogs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+"""The ALM image must ship every catalog directory the runtime loads by name.
+
+`Settings` addresses blueprints, specializations and crews as bare relative
+paths resolved against the container's WORKDIR. A directory that is not COPYd
+into the image therefore loads as *empty* rather than failing — crews shipped
+this way for a while, and every dynamic crew pick silently resolved to nothing.
+"""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from devai.config import Settings
+
+DOCKERFILE = Path("Dockerfile")
+WORKDIR = "/app"
+
+# config field → the repo directory it names
+_CATALOGS = {
+    "pipeline_blueprint_dir": "blueprints",
+    "specializations_dir": "specializations",
+    "crews_dir": "crews",
+}
+
+
+def test_every_catalog_default_is_a_relative_directory_that_exists() -> None:
+    settings = Settings()
+
+    for field, directory in _CATALOGS.items():
+        value = getattr(settings, field)
+        assert value == directory, f"{field} default drifted from {directory!r}"
+        assert Path(directory).is_dir(), f"{directory}/ is missing from the repo"
+
+
+def test_the_image_copies_every_catalog_into_the_workdir() -> None:
+    source = DOCKERFILE.read_text()
+
+    assert f"WORKDIR {WORKDIR}" in source
+    for directory in _CATALOGS.values():
+        assert f"COPY {directory}/ {WORKDIR}/{directory}/" in source, (
+            f"{directory}/ is never copied into the image, so it loads empty at runtime"
+        )