diff --git a/src/content/__tests__/loadJsonFile.test.ts b/src/content/__tests__/loadJsonFile.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a279c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/content/__tests__/loadJsonFile.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
+import { loadJsonFile } from "../loadJsonFile";
+
+vi.mock("../../sandboxes/logStep", () => ({
+  logStep: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("node:fs/promises", () => ({
+  default: { readFile: vi.fn() },
+}));
+
+const fs = (await import("node:fs/promises")).default;
+const { logStep } = await import("../../sandboxes/logStep");
+
+describe("loadJsonFile", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("returns parsed JSON on success", async () => {
+    vi.mocked(fs.readFile).mockResolvedValue('{"key": "value"}');
+
+    const result = await loadJsonFile<Record<string, string>>("/path/to/file.json", "file.json");
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ key: "value" });
+    expect(logStep).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "loadTemplate: loaded file.json",
+      false,
+      expect.objectContaining({ sizeBytes: 16 }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("returns null when file does not exist", async () => {
+    const err = new Error("ENOENT") as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+    err.code = "ENOENT";
+    vi.mocked(fs.readFile).mockRejectedValue(err);
+
+    const result = await loadJsonFile("/path/to/missing.json", "missing.json");
+
+    expect(result).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("rethrows non-ENOENT errors", async () => {
+    vi.mocked(fs.readFile).mockRejectedValue(new Error("EPERM"));
+
+    await expect(loadJsonFile("/path/to/bad.json", "bad.json")).rejects.toThrow("EPERM");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/content/__tests__/resolveTemplatesDir.test.ts b/src/content/__tests__/resolveTemplatesDir.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa2daa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/content/__tests__/resolveTemplatesDir.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { resolveTemplatesDir } from "../resolveTemplatesDir";
+
+vi.mock("../../sandboxes/logStep", () => ({
+  logStep: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("node:fs/promises", () => ({
+  default: { access: vi.fn() },
+}));
+
+const fs = (await import("node:fs/promises")).default;
+
+describe("resolveTemplatesDir", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("returns __dirname-relative path when it exists", async () => {
+    vi.mocked(fs.access).mockResolvedValueOnce(undefined);
+
+    const result = await resolveTemplatesDir("/app/src/content");
+
+    expect(result).toBe(path.resolve("/app/src/content", "../content/templates"));
+    expect(fs.access).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to cwd-relative path when __dirname path missing", async () => {
+    const err = new Error("ENOENT") as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+    err.code = "ENOENT";
+    vi.mocked(fs.access).mockRejectedValueOnce(err);
+    vi.mocked(fs.access).mockResolvedValueOnce(undefined);
+
+    const result = await resolveTemplatesDir("/wrong/path");
+
+    expect(result).toBe(path.resolve(process.cwd(), "src/content/templates"));
+    expect(fs.access).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+  });
+
+  it("rethrows permission errors instead of falling through", async () => {
+    const err = new Error("EACCES") as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+    err.code = "EACCES";
+    vi.mocked(fs.access).mockRejectedValueOnce(err);
+
+    await expect(resolveTemplatesDir("/app/src/content")).rejects.toThrow("EACCES");
+    expect(fs.access).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it("throws when no candidate directory exists", async () => {
+    const err = new Error("ENOENT") as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+    err.code = "ENOENT";
+    vi.mocked(fs.access).mockRejectedValue(err);
+
+    await expect(resolveTemplatesDir("/wrong/path")).rejects.toThrow(
+      "Templates directory not found",
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/content/loadJsonFile.ts b/src/content/loadJsonFile.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c01ff2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/content/loadJsonFile.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import { logStep } from "../sandboxes/logStep";
+
+/**
+ * Load a JSON file. Returns null if the file doesn't exist.
+ * Rethrows parse errors and unexpected I/O failures so callers surface real bugs.
+ *
+ * @param filePath
+ * @param label
+ */
+export async function loadJsonFile<T>(filePath: string, label: string): Promise<T | null> {
+  try {
+    const raw = await fs.readFile(filePath, "utf-8");
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(raw) as T;
+    logStep(`loadTemplate: loaded ${label}`, false, {
+      path: filePath,
+      sizeBytes: raw.length,
+    });
+    return parsed;
+  } catch (err: unknown) {
+    if (
+      err instanceof Error &&
+      "code" in err &&
+      (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === "ENOENT"
+    ) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    logStep(`loadTemplate: FAILED to load ${label}`, true, {
+      path: filePath,
+      error: String(err),
+    });
+    throw err;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/content/loadTemplate.ts b/src/content/loadTemplate.ts
index c01bc3b..c9bd437 100644
--- a/src/content/loadTemplate.ts
+++ b/src/content/loadTemplate.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import path from "node:path";
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import { logStep } from "../sandboxes/logStep";
+import { resolveTemplatesDir } from "./resolveTemplatesDir";
+import { loadJsonFile } from "./loadJsonFile";
 
 /**
  * Template data loaded from the bundled templates directory.
@@ -18,29 +21,46 @@ export interface TemplateData {
   referenceImagePaths: string[];
 }
 
-/** Base path to the bundled templates directory. */
-const TEMPLATES_DIR = path.resolve(__dirname, "../content/templates");
-
 /**
  * Load all template data (style guide, caption guide, moods, movements, reference images).
  */
 export async function loadTemplate(templateName: string): Promise<TemplateData> {
-  const templateDir = path.join(TEMPLATES_DIR, templateName);
+  const templatesDir = await resolveTemplatesDir(__dirname);
+  const templateDir = path.join(templatesDir, templateName);
+
+  logStep("loadTemplate: resolving paths", false, {
+    __dirname,
+    cwd: process.cwd(),
+    templatesDir,
+    templateDir,
+  });
+
+  // Check the template directory exists
+  try {
+    await fs.access(templateDir);
+  } catch {
+    throw new Error(`Template directory not found: ${templateDir}`);
+  }
 
   const styleGuide = await loadJsonFile<Record<string, unknown>>(
     path.join(templateDir, "style-guide.json"),
+    "style-guide.json",
   );
   const captionGuide = await loadJsonFile<Record<string, unknown>>(
     path.join(templateDir, "caption-guide.json"),
+    "caption-guide.json",
   );
   const captionExamples = await loadJsonFile<string[]>(
     path.join(templateDir, "references", "captions", "examples.json"),
+    "references/captions/examples.json",
   ) ?? [];
   const videoMoods = await loadJsonFile<string[]>(
     path.join(templateDir, "video-moods.json"),
+    "video-moods.json",
   ) ?? [];
   const videoMovements = await loadJsonFile<string[]>(
     path.join(templateDir, "video-movements.json"),
+    "video-movements.json",
   ) ?? [];
 
   // Discover reference images
@@ -52,16 +72,30 @@ export async function loadTemplate(templateName: string): Promise<TemplateData>
       .filter(f => /\.(png|jpg|jpeg|webp)$/i.test(f))
       .sort()
       .map(f => path.join(imagesDir, f));
+    logStep("loadTemplate: reference images found", false, {
+      count: referenceImagePaths.length,
+    });
   } catch {
-    // No images directory
+    logStep("loadTemplate: no reference images directory", false, { imagesDir });
   }
 
   // Read template-level fields from the style guide
   const sg = styleGuide as Record<string, unknown> | null;
   const imagePrompt = (sg?.imagePrompt as string) ?? "";
-  // Default to true — most templates use the artist's face
   const usesFaceGuide = (sg?.usesFaceGuide as boolean) ?? true;
 
+  logStep("loadTemplate: result summary", false, {
+    template: templateName,
+    hasStyleGuide: styleGuide !== null,
+    hasCaptionGuide: captionGuide !== null,
+    captionExamplesCount: captionExamples.length,
+    videoMoodsCount: videoMoods.length,
+    videoMovementsCount: videoMovements.length,
+    referenceImagesCount: referenceImagePaths.length,
+    imagePromptLength: imagePrompt.length,
+    usesFaceGuide,
+  });
+
   return {
     name: templateName,
     imagePrompt,
@@ -131,13 +165,3 @@ export function buildMotionPrompt(template: TemplateData): string {
 
   return `Completely static camera. The person stares at the camera. Movement: ${movement}.${mood ? ` Energy: ${mood}.` : ""} Shot on phone, low light, grainy.`;
 }
-
-/** Load a JSON file, returning null if it doesn't exist. */
-async function loadJsonFile<T>(filePath: string): Promise<T | null> {
-  try {
-    const raw = await fs.readFile(filePath, "utf-8");
-    return JSON.parse(raw) as T;
-  } catch {
-    return null;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/content/resolveTemplatesDir.ts b/src/content/resolveTemplatesDir.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a856e17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/content/resolveTemplatesDir.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import path from "node:path";
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import { logStep } from "../sandboxes/logStep";
+
+/**
+ * Resolves the templates directory. Tries multiple strategies because
+ * esbuild changes __dirname at bundle time:
+ *   1. __dirname-relative (works locally with tsx)
+ *   2. process.cwd()-relative (works in Trigger.dev deployments where
+ *      additionalFiles preserves source-root-relative paths)
+ *
+ * @param dirname - The __dirname of the calling module
+ */
+export async function resolveTemplatesDir(dirname: string): Promise<string> {
+  const candidates = [
+    path.resolve(dirname, "../content/templates"),
+    path.resolve(process.cwd(), "src/content/templates"),
+  ];
+
+  for (const dir of candidates) {
+    try {
+      await fs.access(dir);
+      return dir;
+    } catch (err: unknown) {
+      if (err instanceof Error && "code" in err && (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === "ENOENT") {
+        continue;
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
+  }
+
+  logStep("Template directory not found", true, {
+    dirname,
+    cwd: process.cwd(),
+    candidates,
+  });
+  throw new Error(
+    `Templates directory not found. Tried: ${candidates.join(", ")}`,
+  );
+}