diff --git a/electron/README.md b/electron/README.md
index 1b224c7d19..b03e3a919d 100644
--- a/electron/README.md
+++ b/electron/README.md
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ Place your icons in `assets/`:
 
 1. Check if port 20128 is available: `lsof -i :20128`
 2. Check console logs for `[Electron]` prefix
-3. Verify the build output exists in `.next/standalone`
+3. Verify the build output exists in `.build/next/standalone`
 
 ### White Screen
 
diff --git a/scripts/build/paths.mjs b/scripts/build/paths.mjs
deleted file mode 100644
index 02f87a936f..0000000000
--- a/scripts/build/paths.mjs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env node
-
-/**
- * Shared build-path constants for OmniRoute build scripts.
- *
- * All build scripts that need to locate the Next.js distDir or the assembled
- * standalone output dir should import from here so that the single source of
- * truth (NEXT_DIST_DIR env + the ".build/next" default) is never scattered
- * across multiple files.
- *
- * Layer 1 change: default distDir moved from ".next" to ".build/next".
- * Consumers may still override via NEXT_DIST_DIR env var.
- */
-
-import path from "node:path";
-import { dirname } from "node:path";
-import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
-
-const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
-
-/**
- * Absolute path to the repository root.
- * Derived from this file's location: scripts/build/paths.mjs → ../../
- */
-export const ROOT = path.resolve(__dirname, "..", "..");
-
-/**
- * Next.js distDir (where `next build` writes its output).
- * Defaults to ".build/next"; overridable via NEXT_DIST_DIR env var.
- *
- * @type {string} - absolute path
- */
-export const DIST_DIR = path.resolve(ROOT, process.env.NEXT_DIST_DIR || ".build/next");
-
-/**
- * Absolute path to the Next.js standalone output directory inside distDir.
- * This is the raw output of `next build --output=standalone` before assembly.
- *
- * @type {string} - absolute path
- */
-export const STANDALONE_DIR = path.join(DIST_DIR, "standalone");
diff --git a/scripts/build/prepublish.ts b/scripts/build/prepublish.ts
index 7b81c0417a..b999c5c6f5 100644
--- a/scripts/build/prepublish.ts
+++ b/scripts/build/prepublish.ts
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ if (existsSync(docsMarkdownSrc)) {
     cpSync(join(docsMarkdownSrc, mdFile), join(docsDest, mdFile));
   }
   if (mdFiles.length > 0) {
-    console.log(`[prepublish] Copied ${mdFiles.length} docs markdown files to app/docs/`);
+    console.log(`[prepublish] Copied ${mdFiles.length} docs markdown files to dist/docs/`);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/dev/run-next-playwright.mjs b/scripts/dev/run-next-playwright.mjs
index ddaf5a04f4..e4e800f26f 100644
--- a/scripts/dev/run-next-playwright.mjs
+++ b/scripts/dev/run-next-playwright.mjs
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ const standalonePublicDir = join(cwd, testDistDir(), "standalone", "public");
 let appDirMoved = false;
 
 function testDistDir() {
-  return process.env.NEXT_DIST_DIR || ".next";
+  // Layer 1 moved the Next distDir default to .build/next; the Playwright
+  // `start` runner must resolve the standalone server under the same dir.
+  return process.env.NEXT_DIST_DIR || ".build/next";
 }
 
 function resolvePlaywrightDataDir({ cwd, env, pid = process.pid }) {
diff --git a/tests/unit/build-next-isolated.test.ts b/tests/unit/build-next-isolated.test.ts
index 89e67156e7..a235f42996 100644
--- a/tests/unit/build-next-isolated.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/build-next-isolated.test.ts
@@ -110,9 +110,11 @@ test("resolveNextBuildEnv forces stable build worker mode unless already provide
 test("getTransientBuildPaths leaves _tasks in place by default", () => {
   const paths = getTransientBuildPaths("/repo", {});
 
+  // Layer 1 deleted the root-level `app/` move-out hack, so the only default
+  // transient path left is the Wine prefix. ("legacy app snapshot" is gone.)
   assert.deepEqual(
     paths.map((entry) => entry.label),
-    ["legacy app snapshot", "local Wine prefix"]
+    ["local Wine prefix"]
   );
   assert.equal(
     paths.some((entry) => path.basename(entry.sourcePath) === "_tasks"),
@@ -131,13 +133,17 @@ test("getTransientBuildPaths only moves _tasks when explicitly enabled", () => {
 
 test("pruneStandaloneArtifacts removes traced _tasks from standalone output", async () => {
   await withTempDir(async (tempDir) => {
-    const tracedTaskFile = path.join(tempDir, ".next", "standalone", "_tasks", "plan.md");
+    // Layer 1 moved the Next distDir default to .build/next.
+    const tracedTaskFile = path.join(tempDir, ".build", "next", "standalone", "_tasks", "plan.md");
     await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(tracedTaskFile), { recursive: true });
     await fs.writeFile(tracedTaskFile, "transient planning artifact");
 
     await pruneStandaloneArtifacts(tempDir);
 
-    assert.equal(fsSync.existsSync(path.join(tempDir, ".next", "standalone", "_tasks")), false);
+    assert.equal(
+      fsSync.existsSync(path.join(tempDir, ".build", "next", "standalone", "_tasks")),
+      false
+    );
   });
 });
 
@@ -152,7 +158,8 @@ test("syncStandaloneNativeAssets copies wreq-js native runtime into standalone o
     );
     const destinationNativeFile = path.join(
       tempDir,
-      ".next",
+      ".build",
+      "next",
       "standalone",
       "node_modules",
       "wreq-js",