diff --git a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactService.cs b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactService.cs
index 2aa6eab2..6b634233 100644
--- a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactService.cs
+++ b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactService.cs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 using ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Commons.Protos.DeploymentArtifact.V1;
 using ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Configuration;
-using ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Configuration.Enums;
 // The generated service container is itself named DeploymentArtifactService; alias its nested server
 // base so this impl can keep the natural name without colliding with the generated type.
 using GeneratedServiceBase =
@@ -13,17 +12,27 @@ using GeneratedServiceBase =
 namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI.Grpc;
 
 /// <summary>
-///     Central-side artifact serve (per-cluster mesh Phase 3). Streams a sealed deployment's
+///     Central-side artifact serve (per-cluster mesh Phase 3). Streams a deployment's
 ///     <c>ArtifactBlob</c> to a driver node fetching in <c>FetchAndCache</c> mode. Registered only on
 ///     admin-role nodes (which hold the central SQL connection) and only when
 ///     <c>ConfigServe:GrpcListenPort &gt; 0</c>.
 /// </summary>
 /// <remarks>
 ///     <para>
-///         <b>NotFound is deliberately indistinguishable across three cases</b> — unknown id, a
-///         deployment that is not sealed, and an empty blob. The first is existence-hiding; the last
-///         is the #485 rule (a zero-length artifact is "no answer," never "a configuration with no
-///         drivers"). Streaming empty bytes as if valid is exactly what that defect class forbids.
+///         <b>Serves any deployment that has a non-empty blob — status is NOT gated.</b> A node
+///         fetches the artifact <em>during apply</em>, before the deployment is sealed: central seals
+///         only once every node has acked Applied, and a <c>FetchAndCache</c> node cannot ack until it
+///         has fetched. Gating on <c>Sealed</c> would deadlock every such deploy (seal-needs-ack →
+///         ack-needs-fetch → fetch-needs-sealed), and it matches Direct mode, which reads the same
+///         <c>ArtifactBlob</c> from SQL while the row is still <c>AwaitingApplyAcks</c>. (Caught on the
+///         Phase 3 live gate.) Access is already gated by the shared-key interceptor, so there is no
+///         reason to hide a non-sealed deployment.
+///     </para>
+///     <para>
+///         <b>NotFound is indistinguishable across two cases</b> — unknown id and an empty blob. The
+///         first is existence-hiding; the second is the #485 rule (a zero-length artifact is "no
+///         answer," never "a configuration with no drivers"). Streaming empty bytes as if valid is
+///         exactly what that defect class forbids.
 ///     </para>
 /// </remarks>
 public sealed class DeploymentArtifactGrpcService : GeneratedServiceBase
@@ -62,17 +71,16 @@ public sealed class DeploymentArtifactGrpcService : GeneratedServiceBase
         var row = await db.Deployments
             .AsNoTracking()
             .Where(d => d.DeploymentId == id)
-            .Select(d => new { d.Status, d.ArtifactBlob })
+            .Select(d => new { d.ArtifactBlob })
             .FirstOrDefaultAsync(context.CancellationToken);
 
-        // Existence-hiding + #485: unknown / not-sealed / empty collapse to one NotFound.
-        if (row is null || row.Status != DeploymentStatus.Sealed || row.ArtifactBlob.Length == 0)
+        // Existence-hiding + #485: unknown id / empty blob collapse to one NotFound. Status is NOT
+        // gated — a node fetches during apply, before the deployment is sealed (see the class remarks).
+        if (row is null || row.ArtifactBlob.Length == 0)
         {
             _log.LogDebug(
-                "Artifact fetch for {DeploymentId} -> NotFound (found={Found}, sealed={Sealed}, bytes={Bytes})",
-                request.DeploymentId, row is not null,
-                row is not null && row.Status == DeploymentStatus.Sealed,
-                row?.ArtifactBlob.Length ?? 0);
+                "Artifact fetch for {DeploymentId} -> NotFound (found={Found}, bytes={Bytes})",
+                request.DeploymentId, row is not null, row?.ArtifactBlob.Length ?? 0);
             throw new RpcException(new Status(StatusCode.NotFound, "unknown deployment"));
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI.Tests/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactServiceTests.cs b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI.Tests/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactServiceTests.cs
index f31d9843..5b561462 100644
--- a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI.Tests/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactServiceTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.AdminUI.Tests/Grpc/DeploymentArtifactServiceTests.cs
@@ -73,16 +73,21 @@ public class DeploymentArtifactServiceTests
     }
 
     [Fact]
-    public async Task A_non_sealed_deployment_throws_NotFound()
+    public async Task A_non_sealed_deployment_with_a_blob_is_served()
     {
+        // A node fetches DURING apply, before the deployment is sealed (seal-needs-ack →
+        // ack-needs-fetch). Gating on Sealed would deadlock every FetchAndCache deploy. So a
+        // non-sealed deployment that has a blob must stream — matching Direct mode reading the same
+        // AwaitingApplyAcks row from SQL. (Regression for the Phase 3 live-gate deadlock.)
         var dbName = $"artsvc-{Guid.NewGuid():N}";
-        var id = Seed(dbName, DeploymentStatus.AwaitingApplyAcks, [1, 2, 3]);
+        var blob = new byte[] { 1, 2, 3 };
+        var id = Seed(dbName, DeploymentStatus.AwaitingApplyAcks, blob);
 
-        var ex = await Should.ThrowAsync<RpcException>(() => Service(dbName).Fetch(
-            new FetchRequest { DeploymentId = id.ToString() },
-            new CollectingStreamWriter(), new FakeServerCallContext()));
+        var writer = new CollectingStreamWriter();
+        await Service(dbName).Fetch(
+            new FetchRequest { DeploymentId = id.ToString() }, writer, new FakeServerCallContext());
 
-        ex.StatusCode.ShouldBe(StatusCode.NotFound);
+        writer.Reassembled().ShouldBe(blob);
     }
 
     [Fact]