diff --git a/alembic_db/versions/0001_assets.py b/alembic_db/versions/0001_assets.py
index 8499306ba..c80874aa2 100644
--- a/alembic_db/versions/0001_assets.py
+++ b/alembic_db/versions/0001_assets.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def upgrade() -> None:
     # ASSETS_INFO: user-visible references (mutable metadata)
     op.create_table(
         "assets_info",
-        sa.Column("id", sa.Integer(), primary_key=True, autoincrement=True),
+        sa.Column("id", sa.String(length=36), primary_key=True),
         sa.Column("owner_id", sa.String(length=128), nullable=False, server_default=""),
         sa.Column("name", sa.String(length=512), nullable=False),
         sa.Column("asset_hash", sa.String(length=256), sa.ForeignKey("assets.hash", ondelete="RESTRICT"), nullable=False),
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ def upgrade() -> None:
         sa.Column("updated_at", sa.DateTime(timezone=False), nullable=False),
         sa.Column("last_access_time", sa.DateTime(timezone=False), nullable=False),
         sa.UniqueConstraint("asset_hash", "owner_id", "name", name="uq_assets_info_hash_owner_name"),
-        sqlite_autoincrement=True,
     )
     op.create_index("ix_assets_info_owner_id", "assets_info", ["owner_id"])
     op.create_index("ix_assets_info_asset_hash", "assets_info", ["asset_hash"])
@@ -61,7 +60,7 @@ def upgrade() -> None:
     # ASSET_INFO_TAGS: many-to-many for tags on AssetInfo
     op.create_table(
         "asset_info_tags",
-        sa.Column("asset_info_id", sa.Integer(), sa.ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), nullable=False),
+        sa.Column("asset_info_id", sa.String(length=36), sa.ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), nullable=False),
         sa.Column("tag_name", sa.String(length=512), sa.ForeignKey("tags.name", ondelete="RESTRICT"), nullable=False),
         sa.Column("origin", sa.String(length=32), nullable=False, server_default="manual"),
         sa.Column("added_at", sa.DateTime(timezone=False), nullable=False),
@@ -83,7 +82,7 @@ def upgrade() -> None:
     # ASSET_INFO_META: typed KV projection of user_metadata for filtering/sorting
     op.create_table(
         "asset_info_meta",
-        sa.Column("asset_info_id", sa.Integer(), sa.ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), nullable=False),
+        sa.Column("asset_info_id", sa.String(length=36), sa.ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), nullable=False),
         sa.Column("key", sa.String(length=256), nullable=False),
         sa.Column("ordinal", sa.Integer(), nullable=False, server_default="0"),
         sa.Column("val_str", sa.String(length=2048), nullable=True),
diff --git a/app/api/assets_routes.py b/app/api/assets_routes.py
index 61188c090..71e99f231 100644
--- a/app/api/assets_routes.py
+++ b/app/api/assets_routes.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ from . import schemas_in, schemas_out
 ROUTES = web.RouteTableDef()
 UserManager: Optional[user_manager.UserManager] = None
 
+# UUID regex (canonical hyphenated form, case-insensitive)
+UUID_RE = r"[0-9a-fA-F]{8}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[0-9a-fA-F]{12}"
+
 
 @ROUTES.head("/api/assets/hash/{hash}")
 async def head_asset_by_hash(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
@@ -52,13 +55,13 @@ async def list_assets(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
     return web.json_response(payload.model_dump(mode="json"))
 
 
-@ROUTES.get("/api/assets/{id:\\d+}/content")
+@ROUTES.get(f"/api/assets/{{id:{UUID_RE}}}/content")
 async def download_asset_content(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
-    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id")
+    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id", "")
     try:
-        asset_info_id = int(asset_info_id_raw)
+        asset_info_id = str(uuid.UUID(asset_info_id_raw))
     except Exception:
-        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid integer.")
+        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid UUID.")
 
     disposition = request.query.get("disposition", "attachment").lower().strip()
     if disposition not in {"inline", "attachment"}:
@@ -282,13 +285,13 @@ async def upload_asset(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
         return _error_response(500, "INTERNAL", "Unexpected server error.")
 
 
-@ROUTES.get("/api/assets/{id:\\d+}")
+@ROUTES.get(f"/api/assets/{{id:{UUID_RE}}}")
 async def get_asset(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
-    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id")
+    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id", "")
     try:
-        asset_info_id = int(asset_info_id_raw)
+        asset_info_id = str(uuid.UUID(asset_info_id_raw))
     except Exception:
-        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid integer.")
+        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid UUID.")
 
     try:
         result = await assets_manager.get_asset(
@@ -302,13 +305,13 @@ async def get_asset(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
     return web.json_response(result.model_dump(mode="json"), status=200)
 
 
-@ROUTES.put("/api/assets/{id:\\d+}")
+@ROUTES.put(f"/api/assets/{{id:{UUID_RE}}}")
 async def update_asset(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
-    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id")
+    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id", "")
     try:
-        asset_info_id = int(asset_info_id_raw)
+        asset_info_id = str(uuid.UUID(asset_info_id_raw))
     except Exception:
-        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid integer.")
+        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid UUID.")
 
     try:
         body = schemas_in.UpdateAssetBody.model_validate(await request.json())
@@ -332,13 +335,13 @@ async def update_asset(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
     return web.json_response(result.model_dump(mode="json"), status=200)
 
 
-@ROUTES.delete("/api/assets/{id:\\d+}")
+@ROUTES.delete(f"/api/assets/{{id:{UUID_RE}}}")
 async def delete_asset(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
-    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id")
+    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id", "")
     try:
-        asset_info_id = int(asset_info_id_raw)
+        asset_info_id = str(uuid.UUID(asset_info_id_raw))
     except Exception:
-        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid integer.")
+        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid UUID.")
 
     try:
         deleted = await assets_manager.delete_asset_reference(
@@ -376,13 +379,13 @@ async def get_tags(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
     return web.json_response(result.model_dump(mode="json"))
 
 
-@ROUTES.post("/api/assets/{id:\\d+}/tags")
+@ROUTES.post(f"/api/assets/{{id:{UUID_RE}}}/tags")
 async def add_asset_tags(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
-    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id")
+    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id", "")
     try:
-        asset_info_id = int(asset_info_id_raw)
+        asset_info_id = str(uuid.UUID(asset_info_id_raw))
     except Exception:
-        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid integer.")
+        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid UUID.")
 
     try:
         payload = await request.json()
@@ -407,13 +410,13 @@ async def add_asset_tags(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
     return web.json_response(result.model_dump(mode="json"), status=200)
 
 
-@ROUTES.delete("/api/assets/{id:\\d+}/tags")
+@ROUTES.delete(f"/api/assets/{{id:{UUID_RE}}}/tags")
 async def delete_asset_tags(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
-    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id")
+    asset_info_id_raw = request.match_info.get("id", "")
     try:
-        asset_info_id = int(asset_info_id_raw)
+        asset_info_id = str(uuid.UUID(asset_info_id_raw))
     except Exception:
-        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid integer.")
+        return _error_response(400, "INVALID_ID", f"AssetInfo id '{asset_info_id_raw}' is not a valid UUID.")
 
     try:
         payload = await request.json()
diff --git a/app/api/schemas_out.py b/app/api/schemas_out.py
index 1b41d8021..581d71796 100644
--- a/app/api/schemas_out.py
+++ b/app/api/schemas_out.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field, field_serializer
 
 
 class AssetSummary(BaseModel):
-    id: int
+    id: str
     name: str
     asset_hash: str
     size: Optional[int] = None
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class AssetsList(BaseModel):
 
 
 class AssetUpdated(BaseModel):
-    id: int
+    id: str
     name: str
     asset_hash: str
     tags: list[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class AssetUpdated(BaseModel):
 
 
 class AssetDetail(BaseModel):
-    id: int
+    id: str
     name: str
     asset_hash: str
     size: Optional[int] = None
diff --git a/app/assets_manager.py b/app/assets_manager.py
index f9046c5ed..3d7c040c4 100644
--- a/app/assets_manager.py
+++ b/app/assets_manager.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ async def add_local_asset(tags: list[str], file_name: str, file_path: str) -> No
 
     async with await create_session() as session:
         if await check_fs_asset_exists_quick(session, file_path=abs_path, size_bytes=size_bytes, mtime_ns=mtime_ns):
-            await touch_asset_infos_by_fs_path(session, abs_path=abs_path)
+            await touch_asset_infos_by_fs_path(session, file_path=abs_path)
             await session.commit()
             return
 
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ async def list_assets(
     )
 
 
-async def get_asset(*, asset_info_id: int, owner_id: str = "") -> schemas_out.AssetDetail:
+async def get_asset(*, asset_info_id: str, owner_id: str = "") -> schemas_out.AssetDetail:
     async with await create_session() as session:
         res = await fetch_asset_info_asset_and_tags(session, asset_info_id=asset_info_id, owner_id=owner_id)
         if not res:
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ async def get_asset(*, asset_info_id: int, owner_id: str = "") -> schemas_out.As
 
 async def resolve_asset_content_for_download(
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     owner_id: str = "",
 ) -> tuple[str, str, str]:
     """
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ async def upload_asset_from_temp_path(
         if not info_id:
             raise RuntimeError("failed to create asset metadata")
 
-        pair = await fetch_asset_info_and_asset(session, asset_info_id=int(info_id), owner_id=owner_id)
+        pair = await fetch_asset_info_and_asset(session, asset_info_id=info_id, owner_id=owner_id)
         if not pair:
             raise RuntimeError("inconsistent DB state after ingest")
         info, asset = pair
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ async def upload_asset_from_temp_path(
 
 async def update_asset(
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     name: Optional[str] = None,
     tags: Optional[list[str]] = None,
     user_metadata: Optional[dict] = None,
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ async def update_asset(
     )
 
 
-async def delete_asset_reference(*, asset_info_id: int, owner_id: str) -> bool:
+async def delete_asset_reference(*, asset_info_id: str, owner_id: str) -> bool:
     async with await create_session() as session:
         r = await delete_asset_info_by_id(session, asset_info_id=asset_info_id, owner_id=owner_id)
         await session.commit()
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ async def list_tags(
 
 async def add_tags_to_asset(
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     tags: list[str],
     origin: str = "manual",
     owner_id: str = "",
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ async def add_tags_to_asset(
 
 async def remove_tags_from_asset(
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     tags: list[str],
     owner_id: str = "",
 ) -> schemas_out.TagsRemove:
diff --git a/app/database/models.py b/app/database/models.py
index ea3f4970d..47f8bbaf3 100644
--- a/app/database/models.py
+++ b/app/database/models.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 from typing import Any, Optional
+import uuid
 
 from sqlalchemy import (
     Integer,
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ class AssetLocation(Base):
 class AssetInfo(Base):
     __tablename__ = "assets_info"
 
-    id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(Integer, primary_key=True, autoincrement=True)
+    id: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(36), primary_key=True, default=lambda: str(uuid.uuid4()))
     owner_id: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(128), nullable=False, default="")
     name: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(512), nullable=False)
     asset_hash: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(
@@ -194,7 +195,6 @@ class AssetInfo(Base):
         Index("ix_assets_info_name", "name"),
         Index("ix_assets_info_created_at", "created_at"),
         Index("ix_assets_info_last_access_time", "last_access_time"),
-        {"sqlite_autoincrement": True},
     )
 
     def to_dict(self, include_none: bool = False) -> dict[str, Any]:
@@ -209,8 +209,8 @@ class AssetInfo(Base):
 class AssetInfoMeta(Base):
     __tablename__ = "asset_info_meta"
 
-    asset_info_id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(
-        Integer, ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), primary_key=True
+    asset_info_id: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(
+        String(36), ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), primary_key=True
     )
     key: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(256), primary_key=True)
     ordinal: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(Integer, primary_key=True, default=0)
@@ -233,8 +233,8 @@ class AssetInfoMeta(Base):
 class AssetInfoTag(Base):
     __tablename__ = "asset_info_tags"
 
-    asset_info_id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(
-        Integer, ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), primary_key=True
+    asset_info_id: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(
+        String(36), ForeignKey("assets_info.id", ondelete="CASCADE"), primary_key=True
     )
     tag_name: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(
         String(512), ForeignKey("tags.name", ondelete="RESTRICT"), primary_key=True
diff --git a/app/database/services.py b/app/database/services.py
index d1b85e160..da8c02f67 100644
--- a/app/database/services.py
+++ b/app/database/services.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ async def get_asset_by_hash(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_hash: str) -> Option
     return await session.get(Asset, asset_hash)
 
 
-async def get_asset_info_by_id(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_info_id: int) -> Optional[AssetInfo]:
+async def get_asset_info_by_id(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_info_id: str) -> Optional[AssetInfo]:
     return await session.get(AssetInfo, asset_info_id)
 
 
@@ -100,13 +100,13 @@ async def ingest_fs_asset(
         "asset_updated": bool,
         "state_created": bool,
         "state_updated": bool,
-        "asset_info_id": int | None,
+        "asset_info_id": str | None,
       }
     """
     locator = os.path.abspath(abs_path)
     datetime_now = utcnow()
 
-    out = {
+    out: dict[str, Any] = {
         "asset_created": False,
         "asset_updated": False,
         "state_created": False,
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ async def ingest_fs_asset(
                     last_access_time=datetime_now,
                 )
                 session.add(info)
-                await session.flush()  # get info.id
+                await session.flush()  # get info.id (UUID)
                 out["asset_info_id"] = info.id
 
         existing_info = (
@@ -263,11 +263,11 @@ async def ingest_fs_asset(
 async def touch_asset_infos_by_fs_path(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    abs_path: str,
+    file_path: str,
     ts: Optional[datetime] = None,
     only_if_newer: bool = True,
 ) -> int:
-    locator = os.path.abspath(abs_path)
+    locator = os.path.abspath(file_path)
     ts = ts or utcnow()
 
     stmt = sa.update(AssetInfo).where(
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ async def touch_asset_infos_by_fs_path(
 async def touch_asset_info_by_id(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     ts: Optional[datetime] = None,
     only_if_newer: bool = True,
 ) -> int:
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ async def list_asset_infos_page(
     offset: int = 0,
     sort: str = "created_at",
     order: str = "desc",
-) -> tuple[list[AssetInfo], dict[int, list[str]], int]:
+) -> tuple[list[AssetInfo], dict[str, list[str]], int]:
     """Return page of AssetInfo rows in the viewers visibility."""
     base = (
         select(AssetInfo)
@@ -373,8 +373,8 @@ async def list_asset_infos_page(
     infos = (await session.execute(base)).scalars().unique().all()
 
     # Collect tags in bulk (single query)
-    id_list = [i.id for i in infos]
-    tag_map: dict[int, list[str]] = defaultdict(list)
+    id_list: list[str] = [i.id for i in infos]
+    tag_map: dict[str, list[str]] = defaultdict(list)
     if id_list:
         rows = await session.execute(
             select(AssetInfoTag.asset_info_id, Tag.name)
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ async def list_asset_infos_page(
 async def fetch_asset_info_and_asset(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     owner_id: str = "",
 ) -> Optional[tuple[AssetInfo, Asset]]:
     stmt = (
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ async def fetch_asset_info_and_asset(
 async def fetch_asset_info_asset_and_tags(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     owner_id: str = "",
 ) -> Optional[tuple[AssetInfo, Asset, list[str]]]:
     stmt = (
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ async def get_cache_state_by_asset_hash(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_hash: st
 
 async def list_asset_locations(
         session: AsyncSession, *, asset_hash: str, provider: Optional[str] = None
-) -> list[AssetLocation]:
+) -> list[AssetLocation] | Sequence[AssetLocation]:
     stmt = select(AssetLocation).where(AssetLocation.asset_hash == asset_hash)
     if provider:
         stmt = stmt.where(AssetLocation.provider == provider)
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ async def create_asset_info_for_existing_asset(
 async def set_asset_info_tags(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     tags: Sequence[str],
     origin: str = "manual",
 ) -> dict:
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@ async def set_asset_info_tags(
 async def update_asset_info_full(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     name: Optional[str] = None,
     tags: Optional[Sequence[str]] = None,
     user_metadata: Optional[dict] = None,
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@ async def update_asset_info_full(
     return info
 
 
-async def delete_asset_info_by_id(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_info_id: int, owner_id: str) -> bool:
+async def delete_asset_info_by_id(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_info_id: str, owner_id: str) -> bool:
     """Delete the user-visible AssetInfo row. Cascades clear tags and metadata."""
     res = await session.execute(delete(AssetInfo).where(
         AssetInfo.id == asset_info_id,
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ async def delete_asset_info_by_id(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_info_id: int,
 async def replace_asset_info_metadata_projection(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     user_metadata: Optional[dict],
 ) -> None:
     """Replaces the `assets_info.user_metadata` AND rebuild the projection rows in `asset_info_meta`."""
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ async def replace_asset_info_metadata_projection(
         await session.flush()
 
 
-async def get_asset_tags(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_info_id: int) -> list[str]:
+async def get_asset_tags(session: AsyncSession, *, asset_info_id: str) -> list[str]:
     return [
             tag_name
             for (tag_name,) in (
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ async def list_tags_with_usage(
 async def add_tags_to_asset_info(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     tags: Sequence[str],
     origin: str = "manual",
     create_if_missing: bool = True,
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ async def add_tags_to_asset_info(
 async def remove_tags_from_asset_info(
     session: AsyncSession,
     *,
-    asset_info_id: int,
+    asset_info_id: str,
     tags: Sequence[str],
 ) -> dict:
     """Removes tags from an AssetInfo.