diff --git a/src/controller/ha.c b/src/controller/ha.c
index 35deaefb..9bd74d4d 100644
--- a/src/controller/ha.c
+++ b/src/controller/ha.c
@@ -550,6 +550,19 @@ static int raft_cb_persist(void *ctx, uint64_t term, int voted_for)
     return 0;
 }
 
+/* raft_cb_trace: emit raft state-machine events at DEBUG3 level.
+ * Active when controller is started with -vvv; suppressed otherwise. */
+static void raft_cb_trace(void *ctx, const char *event, const char *detail)
+{
+    ha_state_t *ha = (ha_state_t *)ctx;
+    tlog(TLOG_DEBUG3, "RAFT[%s] term=%" PRIu64 " event=%s%s%s",
+         ha->my_priority == 0 ? "p0" :
+         ha->my_priority == 1 ? "p1" : "p2",
+         atomic_load_explicit(&ha->term, memory_order_relaxed),
+         event,
+         detail ? " " : "", detail ? detail : "");
+}
+
 static const raft_callbacks_t s_real_cbs = {
     .on_send_vote_request          = raft_cb_send_vote_request,
     .on_vote_eligible              = raft_cb_vote_eligible,
@@ -559,7 +572,7 @@ static const raft_callbacks_t s_real_cbs = {
     .on_schedule_timeout           = raft_cb_schedule_timeout,
     .on_cancel_timeout             = raft_cb_cancel_timeout,
     .on_start_election_after_delay = raft_cb_start_election_after_delay,
-    .on_trace                      = NULL,
+    .on_trace                      = raft_cb_trace,
 };
 
 /* ── PRNG seeding ───────────────────────────────────────────── */
@@ -2058,6 +2071,8 @@ static int repl_ack_decode_and_dispatch(endpoint_t *ep, vote_ep_ctx_t *vctx)
 
     if (opcode == OPCode_replCatchUpDone) {
         ha_repl_ack_received(ha, c);
+    } else if (opcode == OPCode_nop || opcode == OPCode_reply) {
+        /* Heartbeat NOP reply or generic reply — silently drop */
     } else {
         WARN("repl_ack_decode_and_dispatch: unexpected opcode %d on promoted ep",
              opcode);
diff --git a/src/tools/deploy-ha.sh b/src/tools/deploy-ha.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..8e5b68d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tools/deploy-ha.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+BINARY=$1
+DATADIR=$2
+TOP=$3
+PEERS=$4
+
+if [ -z "$BINARY" ] || [ -z "$DATADIR" ] || [ -z "$TOP" ] || [ -z "$PEERS" ]; then
+    echo "Usage: $0 <binary> <data-dir> <top-dir> <peers>"
+    echo "  peers: comma-separated host:port list (e.g. host1:port1,host2:port2)"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+BINARY=$(realpath "$BINARY")
+
+IFS=',' read -ra PEER_ARRAY <<< "$PEERS"
+N=${#PEER_ARRAY[@]}
+
+# Create directory structure
+mkdir -p "$TOP/certs"
+mkdir -p "$TOP/logs"
+mkdir -p "$TOP/scripts"
+for i in $(seq 1 $N); do
+    mkdir -p "$TOP/ctrl-$i/conf"
+    mkdir -p "$TOP/ctrl-$i/data"
+done
+
+# Copy certificates
+cp "$DATADIR/xce.crt" "$TOP/certs/"
+cp "$DATADIR/xce.key" "$TOP/certs/"
+
+# Tag and copy cluster.bin
+TAG=$(sha256sum "$DATADIR/cluster.bin" | cut -c1-12)
+cp "$DATADIR/cluster.bin" "$TOP/ctrl-1/conf/cluster.bin.$TAG"
+echo "cluster.bin.$TAG" > "$TOP/ctrl-1/conf/current"
+
+# Build peers string: ctrl-1=host1:port1,ctrl-2=host2:port2,...
+PEERS_STR=""
+for i in "${!PEER_ARRAY[@]}"; do
+    n=$((i+1))
+    [ -n "$PEERS_STR" ] && PEERS_STR+=","
+    PEERS_STR+="ctrl-$n=${PEER_ARRAY[$i]}"
+done
+
+# Generate start script
+cat > "$TOP/scripts/start.sh" << EOF
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+NAME=\$1
+if [ -z "\$NAME" ]; then
+    echo "Usage: \$0 <ctrl-name>"
+    exit 1
+fi
+CTRL_DIR=$TOP/\$NAME
+if [ ! -d "\$CTRL_DIR/conf" ] || [ ! -d "\$CTRL_DIR/data" ]; then
+    echo "Error: \$CTRL_DIR/conf or \$CTRL_DIR/data does not exist"
+    exit 1
+fi
+$BINARY --myname \$NAME --peers "$PEERS_STR" --workdir $TOP --logfile $TOP/logs/\$NAME.log --vcpus 4 \$VERBOSE
+EOF
+chmod +x "$TOP/scripts/start.sh"
+
+# Generate cleanup script
+cat > "$TOP/scripts/cleanup.sh" << EOF
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+rm -f $TOP/logs/*.log
+for i in \$(seq 1 $N); do
+    rm -rf $TOP/ctrl-\$i/data/*
+done
+for i in \$(seq 2 $N); do
+    rm -rf $TOP/ctrl-\$i/conf/*
+done
+EOF
+chmod +x "$TOP/scripts/cleanup.sh"
+
+echo "Deployed $N-node cluster to $TOP (tag: $TAG)"