diff --git a/site/build/prepare/body-additions.test.mts b/site/build/prepare/body-additions.test.mts
index bbc2c5a791e..8cc801f8e03 100644
--- a/site/build/prepare/body-additions.test.mts
+++ b/site/build/prepare/body-additions.test.mts
@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ test('the build reads three named prepared files and the source manifest per con
   assert.doesNotMatch(source, /prepared\/\*\.json/u);
 });
 
+test('each generated glob names a base the dev server accepts', () => {
+  const source = contextObjectModule([{ id: 'nebula' }], {}) + contextObjectJsonModule([{ id: 'm33' }]);
+  const bases = [...source.matchAll(/import\.meta\.glob\(.*?\{ base: '([^']*)'/gu)].map(match => match[1]!);
+  assert.equal(bases.length, 3);
+  // Vite's dev transform refuses a base that does not start with '/', './' or '../'; the build's own glob plugin takes '..'.
+  for (const base of bases) assert.match(base, /^(?:\/|\.\/|\.\.\/)/u, `import.meta.glob base '${base}' fails in astro dev.`);
+});
+
 test('asset-origin context resources come from inventories without local prepared bytes', async t => {
   const root = await mkdtemp(resolve(tmpdir(), 'cssearth-context-assets-'));
   t.after(() => rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true }));
diff --git a/site/build/prepare/prepare-catalog.mts b/site/build/prepare/prepare-catalog.mts
index 72256a67027..d5fa67a8c9f 100644
--- a/site/build/prepare/prepare-catalog.mts
+++ b/site/build/prepare/prepare-catalog.mts
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ export function dotCatalogueIds(contexts: readonly { id: string; type?: string }
 /** Every object shares one folder, so the application globs only the context objects it loads, each by name. Their
  * prepared resources are a literal map from each inventory (contextObjectAssetUrls), never a module per file: an eager
  * `?url` glob made every page import all 2,071 files of 29 context objects in dev, 4 s of Safari's module loading.
- * The module sits in site/prepared; each glob takes `base: '..'` so its keys stay `../src/objects/<id>/...`. */
+ * The module sits in site/prepared; each glob takes `base: '../'` so its keys stay `../src/objects/<id>/...`. The dev
+ * server refuses `'..'` (a base starts with `/`, `./` or `../`), though the build takes it. */
 export function contextObjectModule(contexts: readonly { id: string; type?: string }[], assets: Readonly<Record<string, string>>) {
   const list = (patterns: readonly string[]) => `[${patterns.map(pattern => `'${pattern}'`).join(', ')}]`;
   const galaxies = dotCatalogueIds(contexts).galaxies;
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ export function contextObjectModule(contexts: readonly { id: string; type?: stri
     // The galaxy catalogue's display sample (which of its rows are drawn as dots) comes with the application.
     (galaxies === undefined ? '' : `import galaxySample from '../../src/objects/${galaxies}/prepared/display-sample.json' with { type: 'json' };\n`) +
     `export const CONTEXT_GALAXY_SAMPLE: unknown = ${galaxies === undefined ? 'undefined' : 'galaxySample'};\n` +
-    `export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_DESCRIPTORS: Record<string, unknown> = import.meta.glob(${list(contexts.map(({ id }) => `../src/objects/${id}/object.json`))}, { base: '..', eager: true, import: 'default' });\n` +
+    `export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_DESCRIPTORS: Record<string, unknown> = import.meta.glob(${list(contexts.map(({ id }) => `../src/objects/${id}/object.json`))}, { base: '../', eager: true, import: 'default' });\n` +
     // Every prepared resource stays an independently cached, demand-loaded file; the loaders decide which bank is fetched.
     `export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_ASSET_URLS: Record<string, unknown> = ${JSON.stringify(assets)};\n`;
 }
@@ -55,8 +56,8 @@ export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_PREPARED_FILES = ['datasets', 'datasets', 'presentat
 export function contextObjectJsonModule(contexts: readonly { id: string }[]) {
   const files = `{${CONTEXT_OBJECT_PREPARED_FILES.join(',')}}.json`;
   return '// Generated by site/build/prepare/prepare-catalog.mts for the build only: the prepared files pages read while rendering.\n' +
-    `export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_PREPARED_JSON: Record<string, unknown> = import.meta.glob([${contexts.map(({ id }) => `'../src/objects/${id}/prepared/${files}'`).join(', ')}], { base: '..', eager: true, import: 'default' });\n` +
-    `export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_SOURCE_MANIFESTS: Record<string, unknown> = import.meta.glob([${contexts.map(({ id }) => `'../src/objects/${id}/source/manifest.json'`).join(', ')}], { base: '..', eager: true, import: 'default' });\n`;
+    `export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_PREPARED_JSON: Record<string, unknown> = import.meta.glob([${contexts.map(({ id }) => `'../src/objects/${id}/prepared/${files}'`).join(', ')}], { base: '../', eager: true, import: 'default' });\n` +
+    `export const CONTEXT_OBJECT_SOURCE_MANIFESTS: Record<string, unknown> = import.meta.glob([${contexts.map(({ id }) => `'../src/objects/${id}/source/manifest.json'`).join(', ')}], { base: '../', eager: true, import: 'default' });\n`;
 }
 
 /** A bank a body's dataset shows (a galaxy's image layers, a nebula's volume). Its files are named when it is loaded, not