diff --git a/backend/src/app/binfile/common.clj b/backend/src/app/binfile/common.clj
index beaae575b8..7f8df26fda 100644
--- a/backend/src/app/binfile/common.clj
+++ b/backend/src/app/binfile/common.clj
@@ -332,11 +332,18 @@
 
         ;; same decode `fsnap/get-snapshot` applies: storage-backed
         ;; snapshots carry the storage ref inside :metadata, so it must
-        ;; be decoded before `resolve-file-data` can fetch the object
+        ;; be decoded before `resolve-file-data` can fetch the object.
+        ;; NOTE the (cfg file) argument order of both fdata fns: the
+        ;; snapshot row is the FILE argument, never the cfg.
         base (-> base
-                 (d/update-when :metadata fdata/decode-metadata)
-                 (fdata/resolve-file-data cfg)
-                 (fdata/decode-file-data cfg))
+                 (d/update-when :metadata fdata/decode-metadata))
+
+        base (if (nil? (:migrations base))
+               (dissoc base :migrations)
+               (update base :migrations db/pgarray->set))
+
+        base (fdata/resolve-file-data cfg base)
+        base (fdata/decode-file-data cfg base)
 
         rows (db/exec! conn [sql:get-branch-changes id])
 
@@ -346,9 +353,16 @@
                      rows)
 
         data (if decode? data (blob/encode data))]
-    (assoc file :data data)))
-
-
+    (-> file
+        ;; the derived data is the BASE's data plus the op log, so the
+        ;; file carries the base's version and migration set; this keeps
+        ;; `need-migration?` quiet while base and main share a version
+        ;; and migrates in memory (read-only) only when the base is
+        ;; actually stale
+        (assoc :data data)
+        (assoc :version (or (:version base) (:version file)))
+        (cond-> (some? (:migrations base))
+          (assoc :migrations (:migrations base))))))
 (defn- get-file*
   [{:keys [::db/conn] :as cfg} id
    {:keys [migrate?
diff --git a/backend/src/app/rpc/commands/files_branch.clj b/backend/src/app/rpc/commands/files_branch.clj
index 7de3ff2c8a..bb41ea708e 100644
--- a/backend/src/app/rpc/commands/files_branch.clj
+++ b/backend/src/app/rpc/commands/files_branch.clj
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@
                        ;; into replayable ops; nothing has been
                        ;; persisted yet, so the transaction rollback
                        ;; undoes the snapshot and media copies above.
-                       (let [{:keys [squashed]
+                       (let [{net-changes :changes
                               unsupported :unsupported}
                              (bm/compute-changes main-data main-data (:data updated) {})]
                          (when (seq unsupported)
@@ -948,7 +948,7 @@
                                      :code :unsupported-update-squash
                                      :hint "the update produces branch-only changes that cannot be replayed"
                                      :kinds (vec unsupported)))
-                         (persist-branch-update! cfg updated ts branch-id squashed))
+                         (persist-branch-update! cfg updated ts branch-id net-changes))
                        (reposition-base! ts (:revn updated))
 
                        (mbus/pub! msgbus
diff --git a/backend/test/backend_tests/rpc_file_branch_oplog_test.clj b/backend/test/backend_tests/rpc_file_branch_oplog_test.clj
index 1182b08f3b..39c4f0b226 100644
--- a/backend/test/backend_tests/rpc_file_branch_oplog_test.clj
+++ b/backend/test/backend_tests/rpc_file_branch_oplog_test.clj
@@ -46,8 +46,11 @@
 (defn- oplog-rows [branch-file-id]
   (th/db-query :file-branch-change {:file-id branch-file-id}))
 
+;; only "main" rows: the auto-file-snapshot machinery appends "snapshot"
+;; rows on every save, which are checkpoints, not a stored data payload
 (defn- stored-data-rows [file-id]
-  (th/db-query :file-data {:file-id file-id}))
+  (->> (th/db-query :file-data {:file-id file-id})
+       (filterv #(= "main" (:type %)))))
 
 (t/deftest branch-stores-no-data-and-derives-state
   (with-redefs [cf/flags (conj cf/flags :branching)]
@@ -144,7 +147,7 @@
 
       (t/testing "the op log is replaced by the branch-only net"
         (let [rows (oplog-rows branch-file-id)
-              ops  (mapv (comp blob/decode :changes) rows)]
+              ops  (-> rows first :changes blob/decode)]
           (t/is (= 1 (count rows)))
           (t/is (some #(and (= :add-color (:type %))
                             (= branch-color (get-in % [:color :id])))