diff --git a/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.test.ts b/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.test.ts
index a596ca55c32a9ea40482ba85a9b41c7b7f1742e1..35844a6be11aa001d8b0bf33cb3ff307f7fc6d32 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import * as NodeServices from "@effect/platform-node/NodeServices";
 import * as NodeHttpPlatform from "@effect/platform-node/NodeHttpPlatform";
 import * as NodeFSP from "node:fs/promises";
+import * as NodeOS from "node:os";
 import { AssetAccessError, AssetPreviewTypeValidationError, ThreadId } from "@t3tools/contracts";
 import { PROJECT_FAVICON_FALLBACK_MARKER } from "@t3tools/shared/projectFavicon";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "@effect/vitest";
@@ -35,6 +36,11 @@ vi.mock("node:fs/promises", async (importOriginal) => {
   return { ...actual, open: vi.fn(actual.open), realpath: vi.fn(actual.realpath) };
 });
 
+vi.mock("node:os", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof NodeOS>();
+  return { ...actual, homedir: vi.fn(actual.homedir) };
+});
+
 const configLayer = ServerConfig.ServerConfig.layerTest(process.cwd(), {
   prefix: "t3-asset-access-test-",
 });
@@ -183,6 +189,55 @@ describe("AssetAccess", () => {
     }).pipe(Effect.provide(testLayer)),
   );
 
+  it.effect("resolves home-relative media paths independently of the workspace", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const fs = yield* FileSystem.FileSystem;
+      const path = yield* Path.Path;
+      const directory = yield* fs.makeTempDirectoryScoped({ prefix: "t3-media-home-" });
+      const home = path.join(directory, "var", "home", "alice");
+      const filePath = path.join(home, "Downloads", "repro.mp4");
+      yield* fs.makeDirectory(path.dirname(filePath), { recursive: true });
+      yield* fs.writeFileString(filePath, "recording bytes");
+      const canonicalFile = yield* fs.realPath(filePath);
+      const homeSpy = vi.mocked(NodeOS.homedir).mockReturnValue(home);
+      try {
+        for (const workspaceRoot of [
+          path.join(home, "project"),
+          path.join(directory, "srv", "project"),
+          undefined,
+        ]) {
+          if (workspaceRoot) yield* fs.makeDirectory(workspaceRoot, { recursive: true });
+          for (const requestedPath of ["~/Downloads/repro.mp4", "~\\Downloads/repro.mp4"]) {
+            const result = yield* issueAssetUrl({
+              resource: {
+                _tag: "media-file",
+                threadId: ThreadId.make("thread-1"),
+                path: requestedPath,
+              },
+              ...(workspaceRoot ? { workspaceRoot } : {}),
+            });
+            const suffix = result.relativeUrl.slice(`${ASSET_ROUTE_PREFIX}/`.length);
+            const separator = suffix.indexOf("/");
+            const asset = yield* resolveAsset(
+              suffix.slice(0, separator),
+              suffix.slice(separator + 1),
+            );
+            expect(asset).toMatchObject({
+              kind: "file",
+              path: canonicalFile,
+              mimeType: "video/mp4",
+            });
+            if (asset?.kind !== "file") throw new Error("Expected a resolved home media file");
+            const response = HttpServerResponse.toWeb(yield* assetFileResponse(asset));
+            expect(yield* Effect.promise(() => response.text())).toBe("recording bytes");
+          }
+        }
+      } finally {
+        homeSpy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    }).pipe(Effect.provide(testLayer)),
+  );
+
   it.effect.skipIf(!symlinksSupported)(
     "rejects non-previewable files, disguised targets, and directories",
     () =>
diff --git a/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.ts b/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.ts
index 25a2748cd9e502c9df070bff5de42356f22b2710..be0d280fef7698650af0e7097df9eba74879709a 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/assets/AssetAccess.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ import {
 import * as ServerSecretStore from "../auth/ServerSecretStore.ts";
 import { parseAttachmentFileExtension, resolveAttachmentPathById } from "../attachmentStore.ts";
 import * as ServerConfig from "../config.ts";
+import { expandHomePathWith } from "../pathExpansion.ts";
 import * as ProjectFaviconResolver from "../project/ProjectFaviconResolver.ts";
 import * as WorkspacePaths from "../workspace/WorkspacePaths.ts";
 import * as NativeAppIconResolver from "./NativeAppIconResolver.ts";
@@ -433,7 +434,7 @@ export const issueAssetUrl = Effect.fn("AssetAccess.issueAssetUrl")(function* (i
 
   switch (input.resource._tag) {
     case "media-file": {
-      let requestedPath = input.resource.path;
+      let requestedPath = expandHomePathWith(input.resource.path, path);
       if (!path.isAbsolute(requestedPath)) {
         if (!input.workspaceRoot) {
           return yield* new AssetWorkspaceContextNotFoundError({ resource: input.resource });