diff --git a/.env b/.env
index 00cd4c639..04de90a2d 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ PROJECT_NAME="airstack"
 # If you've run ./airstack.sh setup, then this will auto-generate from the git commit hash every time a change is made 
 # to a Dockerfile or docker-compose.yaml file. Otherwise this can also be set explicitly to make a release version.
 # auto-generated from git commit hash
-VERSION="0.19.0-alpha.8"
+VERSION="0.19.0-alpha.12"
 # Choose "dev" or "prebuilt". "dev" is for mounted code that must be built live. "prebuilt" is for built ros_ws baked into the image
 DOCKER_IMAGE_BUILD_MODE="dev"  
 # Where to push and pull images from. Can replace with your docker hub username if using docker hub.
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a5ea32f38..9fe8acf06 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Robot name resolution now honors a pre-set `ROBOT_NAME` (e.g. injected via docker compose) instead of always overriding it from the container/hostname mapping (`robot/docker/.bashrc`)
 - Robot name-map catch-all fallback now maps to `unknown_robot` (valid ROS namespace token) instead of `unknown-robot` (`default_robot_name_map.yaml`)
 - l4t robot image: replace dustynv's `/ros_entrypoint.sh` with a passthrough so its prebuilt source-ROS libs (older `fastcdr`) no longer shadow the apt Jazzy runtime and crash apt-built nodes like MAVROS
+- `RECORD_BAGS=true` never enabled bag recording on a robot: `logging.launch.xml` hardcoded `record_bag=false` and `onboard_autonomy_all.launch.xml` includes it with no arguments, so the variable was forwarded into the container and read by nobody (only `gcs.launch.xml` consumed it). It now reads `RECORD_BAGS`, selects its topic set via `LOG_CONFIG`, and starts recording at bringup (`auto_start`, `BAG_AUTO_START=false` to opt out)
+- `ROBOT_NAME` / `ROS_DOMAIN_ID` can now be set from an override env file: `.bashrc` already honored a pre-set `ROBOT_NAME`, but no compose service forwarded it, so the override had no effect. Required for hosts whose hostname doesn't match `default_robot_name_map.yaml` (a Jetson named `airlab-desktop` otherwise comes up as `unknown_robot` on domain 0). Single-robot only — replicas must leave these unset
 
 ## [1.0.0] - 2024-12-19
 
diff --git a/common/ros_packages/logging/bag_recorder_pid/bag_record_pid/bag_record_node.py b/common/ros_packages/logging/bag_recorder_pid/bag_record_pid/bag_record_node.py
index d3d746d99..363a5d781 100644
--- a/common/ros_packages/logging/bag_recorder_pid/bag_record_pid/bag_record_node.py
+++ b/common/ros_packages/logging/bag_recorder_pid/bag_record_pid/bag_record_node.py
@@ -29,10 +29,16 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.declare_parameter(
             "mcap_qos_dir", ""
         )
-        
+
+        # Begin recording immediately on bringup instead of waiting for a
+        # set_recording_status=true message. Defaults false so the existing
+        # toggle-driven behavior is unchanged for anyone not setting it.
+        self.declare_parameter("auto_start", False)
+
         self.cfg_path     = self.get_parameter("cfg_path").get_parameter_value().string_value
         self.output_dir   = self.get_parameter("output_dir").get_parameter_value().string_value
         self.mcap_qos_dir = self.get_parameter("mcap_qos_dir").get_parameter_value().string_value
+        self.auto_start   = self.get_parameter("auto_start").get_parameter_value().bool_value
 
         self.active = False
         self.cfg = yaml.safe_load(open(self.cfg_path))
@@ -71,6 +77,10 @@ def __init__(self):
 
         self.timer = self.create_timer(0.5, self.pub_status_callback)
 
+        if self.auto_start:
+            self.get_logger().info("auto_start=true — beginning recording on bringup.")
+            self.run()
+
     def add_topics(self):
         '''The configuration file looks like
         
diff --git a/common/ros_packages/logging/logging_bringup/launch/logging.launch.xml b/common/ros_packages/logging/logging_bringup/launch/logging.launch.xml
index 6c6df0502..72d89c98e 100644
--- a/common/ros_packages/logging/logging_bringup/launch/logging.launch.xml
+++ b/common/ros_packages/logging/logging_bringup/launch/logging.launch.xml
@@ -1,13 +1,26 @@
 <!-- LOGGING -->
 <launch>
-  <arg name="record_bag" default="false" />
-  
+  <!-- RECORD_BAGS is forwarded into the robot container by
+       robot/docker/robot-base-docker-compose.yaml, but this file used to hardcode
+       record_bag=false and onboard_autonomy_all.launch.xml includes it with no
+       arguments — so RECORD_BAGS=true never reached the recorder on a robot (only
+       gcs.launch.xml read it). Reading the env here is what makes the flag work.
+       An explicit default keeps this launchable when the variable is unset. -->
+  <arg name="record_bag" default="$(env RECORD_BAGS false)" />
+  <!-- Which topic set to record: a filename in logging_bringup/config. -->
+  <arg name="log_config" default="$(env LOG_CONFIG log.yaml)" />
+
   <group if="$(var record_bag)">
     <node name="bag_record" pkg="bag_record_pid" exec="bag_record_node">
-      <param name="cfg_path" value="$(find-pkg-share logging_bringup)/config/log.yaml" />
+      <param name="cfg_path" value="$(find-pkg-share logging_bringup)/config/$(var log_config)" />
       <param name="output_dir" value="/bags" />
       <param name="mcap_qos_dir" value="$(find-pkg-share bag_record_pid)/config" />
+      <!-- Start recording at bring-up. RECORD_BAGS already gates whether this node
+           runs at all, so waiting for a further set_recording_status toggle just
+           yields a running recorder that records nothing on an unattended robot.
+           Set BAG_AUTO_START=false to restore the toggle-driven behavior. -->
+      <param name="auto_start" value="$(env BAG_AUTO_START true)" />
     </node>
   </group>
-  
+
 </launch>
diff --git a/robot/docker/robot-base-docker-compose.yaml b/robot/docker/robot-base-docker-compose.yaml
index a4ed7e1bb..db986660b 100644
--- a/robot/docker/robot-base-docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/robot/docker/robot-base-docker-compose.yaml
@@ -10,8 +10,24 @@ services:
       - DISPLAY=${DISPLAY}
       - QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1
       - QT_QPA_PLATFORM
-      # Record bags
+      # Record bags. LOG_CONFIG picks which topic set in logging_bringup/config to
+      # record; BAG_AUTO_START=false reverts to waiting for a set_recording_status
+      # toggle instead of recording from bringup. Both read by logging.launch.xml.
       - RECORD_BAGS=${RECORD_BAGS}
+      - LOG_CONFIG=${LOG_CONFIG:-log.yaml}
+      - BAG_AUTO_START=${BAG_AUTO_START:-true}
+      # Pre-set robot identity. .bashrc keeps a non-empty ROBOT_NAME instead of
+      # resolving one from the container/hostname map, so this is the only way to name
+      # a robot whose hostname doesn't match default_robot_name_map.yaml (e.g. a Jetson
+      # named "airlab-desktop", which otherwise falls through to unknown_robot on
+      # domain 0). Unset yields an empty string, which .bashrc treats as absent — so
+      # the existing mapping path is unchanged when an override doesn't set these.
+      #
+      # SINGLE ROBOT ONLY: replica deployments (deploy.replicas / NUM_ROBOTS>1) share
+      # one env, so setting these would collapse every replica onto the same name and
+      # domain. Leave them unset there and let the container-name mapping do its job.
+      - ROBOT_NAME=${ROBOT_NAME}
+      - ROS_DOMAIN_ID=${ROS_DOMAIN_ID}
       # docker compose interpolation to env variables
       - AUTONOMY_ROLE=${AUTONOMY_ROLE:-full}
       - URDF_FILE=${URDF_FILE}