diff --git a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/AlbumHeaderFields.razor b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/AlbumHeaderFields.razor
index 9ca6ca1..113c85d 100644
--- a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/AlbumHeaderFields.razor
+++ b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/AlbumHeaderFields.razor
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
                   @bind-ReleaseType="ReleaseTypeBinding"
                   HeroImageFile="HeroImageFile"
                   HeroImageFileChanged="HeroImageFileChanged"
+                  AllowHeroUpload="AllowHeroUpload"
                   Disabled="Disabled" />
 </MudPaper>
 
@@ -92,6 +93,10 @@
     [Parameter] public IBrowserFile? HeroImageFile { get; set; }
     [Parameter] public EventCallback<IBrowserFile?> HeroImageFileChanged { get; set; }
 
+    // Gates the hero file picker in SessionFields (threaded to MediumFields → SessionFields).
+    // Set true only on the BatchUpload create path; leave false/absent on all edit paths.
+    [Parameter] public bool AllowHeroUpload { get; set; }
+
     // BatchEdit only: when set (and no new file picked), preview the release's current cover.
     // The parent nulls this to drop the preview when the admin clears the existing cover.
     [Parameter] public string? ExistingImagePath { get; set; }
diff --git a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/BatchUpload.razor b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/BatchUpload.razor
index a091edf..66ee1ea 100644
--- a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/BatchUpload.razor
+++ b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/BatchUpload.razor
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
                        MediumChanged="OnMediumChanged"
                        @bind-SelectedImageFile="_selectedImageFile"
                        @bind-HeroImageFile="_heroImageFile"
+                       AllowHeroUpload="true"
                        Disabled="_uploading" />
 
     @if (_medium == ReleaseMedium.Cut)
@@ -72,6 +73,11 @@
         <MudAlert Severity="Severity.Error" Class="mt-4">@_errorMessage</MudAlert>
     }
 
+    @if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(_warningMessage))
+    {
+        <MudAlert Severity="Severity.Warning" Class="mt-4">@_warningMessage</MudAlert>
+    }
+
     <MudStack Row="true" Justify="Justify.FlexEnd" Spacing="2" Class="mt-4">
         <MudButton Variant="Variant.Text"
                    OnClick="@(() => Navigation.NavigateTo("/tracks"))"
@@ -105,6 +111,8 @@
     private bool _uploading;
     private int _uploadedCount;
     private string? _errorMessage;
+    // Separate from _errorMessage: a soft non-blocking nudge (Severity.Warning), not a hard failure.
+    private string? _warningMessage;
 
     private IBrowserFile? _selectedImageFile;
     private string? _imagePath;
@@ -205,6 +213,7 @@
     private async Task SubmitAsync()
     {
         _errorMessage = null;
+        _warningMessage = null;
 
         if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_albumName))
         {
@@ -258,7 +267,7 @@
         if (_medium == ReleaseMedium.Session && _heroImageFile is null && !_heroWarningAcknowledged)
         {
             _heroWarningAcknowledged = true;
-            _errorMessage = "No hero image selected. A Session usually needs one — you can add it now, "
+            _warningMessage = "No hero image selected. A Session usually needs one — you can add it now, "
                 + "or submit again to create the Session without it (set the hero later from the Sessions browser).";
             return;
         }
@@ -382,6 +391,15 @@
                                 Snackbar.Add("Session uploaded, but the hero image failed. Set it from the Sessions browser.", Severity.Warning);
                             }
                         }
+                        else if (_medium == ReleaseMedium.Session && _heroImageFile is not null)
+                        {
+                            // ReleaseId was null on a Session track result — internal inconsistency.
+                            // Hero file is held but cannot be uploaded without a release id; log and
+                            // surface so the admin can set it from the Sessions browser.
+                            Logger.LogWarning("Batch upload: Session track '{TrackName}' (id={Id}) has no ReleaseId — hero image dropped",
+                                row.TrackName, result.Value.Id);
+                            Snackbar.Add("Session uploaded, but the hero image could not be linked (no release id). Set it from the Sessions browser.", Severity.Warning);
+                        }
 
                         // Mix uploads fire the server-side high-res waveform trigger (§3.4). The CMS
                         // computes nothing — the API derives the datum from the audio it just stored.
diff --git a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/MediumFields.razor b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/MediumFields.razor
index 0c66397..6e24668 100644
--- a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/MediumFields.razor
+++ b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/MediumFields.razor
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
         case ReleaseMedium.Session:
             <SessionFields HeroImageFile="HeroImageFile"
                            HeroImageFileChanged="HeroImageFileChanged"
+                           AllowHeroUpload="AllowHeroUpload"
                            Disabled="Disabled" />
             break;
         case ReleaseMedium.Mix:
@@ -49,5 +50,9 @@
     [Parameter] public IBrowserFile? HeroImageFile { get; set; }
     [Parameter] public EventCallback<IBrowserFile?> HeroImageFileChanged { get; set; }
 
+    // Gates the hero file picker in SessionFields. True on the BatchUpload create path;
+    // false/absent on all edit paths so SessionFields falls back to the guidance alert.
+    [Parameter] public bool AllowHeroUpload { get; set; }
+
     [Parameter] public bool Disabled { get; set; }
 }
diff --git a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/SessionFields.razor b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/SessionFields.razor
index e62e24a..cee4777 100644
--- a/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/SessionFields.razor
+++ b/DeepDrftManager/Components/Pages/Tracks/SessionFields.razor
@@ -1,48 +1,65 @@
 @using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Forms
 
-@* Session-medium fields. The hero image is resource-addressed (POST api/release/{id}/session/hero-image)
-   and therefore cannot be uploaded until the release exists. The file is selected here, held by the
-   parent form, and uploaded after the create call returns a release id — the same deferred-upload
-   pattern AlbumHeaderFields uses for cover art ("Will upload on submit"). The hero is optional; the
-   parent warns (does not block) when a Session is submitted without one. *@
-<MudItem xs="12">
-    <MudField Label="Hero Image" Variant="Variant.Outlined" InnerPadding="false">
-        <MudStack Spacing="3">
-            <MudText Typo="Typo.body2" Color="Color.Default">
-                Sessions are single-track live releases. The hero image is the session's primary visual identity.
-            </MudText>
+@* Session-medium fields. When AllowHeroUpload is true (BatchUpload create path), the hero image
+   file picker is shown — the file is held by the parent and POSTed after the release is created.
+   When false (edit paths: BatchEdit, TrackEdit, TrackNew), the original guidance alert is rendered
+   instead, directing the admin to the Sessions browser per-row replace action. This gate prevents
+   a dead/inert control on edit forms that do not wire the hero callbacks. *@
+@if (AllowHeroUpload)
+{
+    <MudItem xs="12">
+        <MudField Label="Hero Image" Variant="Variant.Outlined" InnerPadding="false">
+            <MudStack Spacing="3">
+                <MudText Typo="Typo.body2" Color="Color.Default">
+                    Sessions are single-track live releases. The hero image is the session's primary visual identity.
+                </MudText>
 
-            @if (HeroImageFile is { } selectedHero)
-            {
-                <MudStack Row="true" AlignItems="AlignItems.Center" Spacing="2">
-                    <MudText Typo="Typo.body2" Color="Color.Default">Selected: @selectedHero.Name</MudText>
-                    <MudIconButton Icon="@Icons.Material.Filled.Clear"
-                                   Color="Color.Error"
-                                   Size="Size.Small"
-                                   Disabled="Disabled"
-                                   OnClick="ClearHeroFile"
-                                   aria-label="Cancel hero image selection" />
-                </MudStack>
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                <MudText Typo="Typo.body2" Color="Color.Default">No hero image — optional, but recommended.</MudText>
-            }
+                @if (HeroImageFile is { } selectedHero)
+                {
+                    <MudStack Row="true" AlignItems="AlignItems.Center" Spacing="2">
+                        <MudText Typo="Typo.body2" Color="Color.Default">Selected: @selectedHero.Name</MudText>
+                        <MudIconButton Icon="@Icons.Material.Filled.Clear"
+                                       Color="Color.Error"
+                                       Size="Size.Small"
+                                       Disabled="Disabled"
+                                       OnClick="ClearHeroFile"
+                                       aria-label="Cancel hero image selection" />
+                    </MudStack>
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    <MudText Typo="Typo.body2" Color="Color.Default">No hero image — optional, but recommended.</MudText>
+                }
 
-            <InputFile OnChange="HandleHeroFileSelected" accept="image/*" disabled="@Disabled" />
-            @if (HeroImageFile is not null)
-            {
-                <MudText Typo="Typo.caption">Will upload on submit.</MudText>
-            }
-        </MudStack>
-    </MudField>
-</MudItem>
+                <InputFile OnChange="HandleHeroFileSelected" accept="image/*" disabled="@Disabled" />
+                @if (HeroImageFile is not null)
+                {
+                    <MudText Typo="Typo.caption">Will upload on submit.</MudText>
+                }
+            </MudStack>
+        </MudField>
+    </MudItem>
+}
+else
+{
+    <MudItem xs="12">
+        <MudAlert Severity="Severity.Info" Dense="true" Variant="Variant.Outlined">
+            Sessions are single-track live releases. After upload, set the hero image from the
+            <strong>Release Archive → Sessions</strong> browser.
+        </MudAlert>
+    </MudItem>
+}
 
 @code {
     [Parameter] public IBrowserFile? HeroImageFile { get; set; }
     [Parameter] public EventCallback<IBrowserFile?> HeroImageFileChanged { get; set; }
     [Parameter] public bool Disabled { get; set; }
 
+    // When true (BatchUpload create path), render the hero file picker.
+    // When false/absent (edit paths), render the guidance alert directing the admin to the
+    // Sessions browser — no dead control where callbacks are unwired.
+    [Parameter] public bool AllowHeroUpload { get; set; }
+
     private Task HandleHeroFileSelected(InputFileChangeEventArgs e) =>
         HeroImageFileChanged.InvokeAsync(e.File);