diff --git a/deploy/dev-instance/scripts/seed.sh b/deploy/dev-instance/scripts/seed.sh
index 2524a33bd7..56c59b5d28 100755
--- a/deploy/dev-instance/scripts/seed.sh
+++ b/deploy/dev-instance/scripts/seed.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Puts the sample document on the instance: "07/10 meeting agenda (sample)",
 # owned by alice, with 15 named versions by alice, bob, carol and dave.
-# deploy.sh runs it on every deploy. It does nothing when the document is
-# already there, and it takes about a minute at most: the history is built
-# offline with its past timestamps, then stored in yhub.
+# deploy.sh runs it on every deploy. It only adds what is missing, so it
+# changes nothing when the document is complete, and it takes well under a
+# minute: the history is built offline with its past timestamps, then stored
+# in yhub.
 #
 #   ./scripts/seed.sh [path to versions JSON]   (default: seed-data/meetingVersions.json)
 set -euo pipefail
@@ -34,9 +35,6 @@ docker run --rm \
     mkdir -p /work && cp /seed/package.json /seed/package-lock.json /seed/*.mjs /work/ &&
     cd /work && npm ci --prefer-offline --no-audit --no-fund --loglevel=error && node seed.mjs'
 
-if [ ! -f "${out}/history.bin" ]; then
-  exit 0 # already there
-fi
 docid="$(sed -E 's/.*"docid":"([^"]+)".*/\1/' "${out}/history.bin.json")"
 from_ms="$(sed -E 's/.*"accessesFrom":([0-9]+).*/\1/' "${out}/history.bin.json")"
 
diff --git a/deploy/dev-instance/seed/import.mjs b/deploy/dev-instance/seed/import.mjs
index 1ab3f528ef..9c1e72a9c6 100644
--- a/deploy/dev-instance/seed/import.mjs
+++ b/deploy/dev-instance/seed/import.mjs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 //
 // It runs in the yhub image, with the @y/hub of the deployed server, and writes
 // the document the way Docs' fullMigrate does: one persisted row at clock 0,
-// and the named versions. It refuses a document that yhub already holds.
+// and the named versions. It only adds what yhub does not hold yet.
 //
 // Usage: node import.mjs <history file>
 import fs from 'node:fs';
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ const history = decodeAny(new Uint8Array(fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2])));
 const docRef = { org: history.org, docid: history.docid, branch: 'main' };
 const persistence = await createPersistence(process.env.POSTGRES, []);
 
+// Only an empty document gets the content: a second clock-0 row would
+// attribute the same content twice.
 const current = await persistence.retrieveDoc(docRef, {});
-if (current.lastClock !== '0') {
-  console.log(`import: yhub already holds ${docRef.docid}, nothing to do`);
-} else {
+if (current.lastClock === '0') {
   await persistence.store(docRef, {
     lastClock: '0',
     gcDoc: history.gcDoc,
@@ -25,17 +25,25 @@ if (current.lastClock !== '0') {
     contentmap: history.contentmap,
     contentids: history.contentids,
   });
-  for (const version of history.versions) {
-    await persistence.storeVersion(docRef, {
-      t: version.t,
-      name: version.name,
-      // what the version API stores for a version with no custom data
-      custom: encodeAny(null),
-      published: false,
-      at: version.t,
-      by: version.by,
-    });
+  console.log(`import: stored the history of ${docRef.docid}`);
+} else {
+  console.log(`import: yhub already holds the content of ${docRef.docid}`);
+}
+// The names are keyed on their time, and an existing one is kept.
+let named = 0;
+for (const version of history.versions) {
+  const stored = await persistence.storeVersion(docRef, {
+    t: version.t,
+    name: version.name,
+    // what the version API stores for a version with no custom data
+    custom: encodeAny(null),
+    published: false,
+    at: version.t,
+    by: version.by,
+  });
+  if (stored != null) {
+    named++;
   }
-  console.log(`import: stored ${history.versions.length} versions of ${docRef.docid}`);
 }
+console.log(`import: named ${named} new versions of ${history.versions.length}`);
 process.exit(0);
diff --git a/deploy/dev-instance/seed/seed.mjs b/deploy/dev-instance/seed/seed.mjs
index 48bc0ace58..5060e3d8e4 100644
--- a/deploy/dev-instance/seed/seed.mjs
+++ b/deploy/dev-instance/seed/seed.mjs
@@ -246,12 +246,11 @@ const found = await json(
   'Listing documents',
 );
 let doc = found.results.find((d) => d.title === TITLE);
-if (doc && (await hasContent(owner, doc.id))) {
-  await ensureAccesses(owner, others, doc.id);
-  log(`already there: ${DOCS_URL}/docs/${doc.id}/`);
-  process.exit(0);
-}
-if (!doc) {
+// An existing document still goes through the import, which only adds what is
+// missing: a deploy that stopped after the content still gets its versions.
+if (doc) {
+  log(`found ${DOCS_URL}/docs/${doc.id}/ (content: ${await hasContent(owner, doc.id)})`);
+} else {
   doc = await json(
     await owner.api('/api/v1.0/documents/', {
       method: 'POST',