diff --git a/server/routes/schedules.js b/server/routes/schedules.js
index 3954223..9337060 100644
--- a/server/routes/schedules.js
+++ b/server/routes/schedules.js
@@ -261,13 +261,36 @@ router.post('/', (req, res) => {
     if (zErr) return res.status(zErr.status).json({ error: zErr.error });
   }
 
+  // A content-only schedule is turned into a playlist holding that one item.
+  //
+  // The dialog offers "Content (single item, optional)" and the value was stored faithfully — but
+  // the engine only ever acts on layout_id and playlist_id, so content_id was read by nothing at
+  // all. The schedule fired, changed nothing, and the calendar drew a block labelled with the
+  // filename as confirmation that it would. Rather than add a third override path through the
+  // engine and every player, give the item the same shape everything already understands: its own
+  // playlist. That reuses the whole published/assign/push pipeline as-is.
+  let effectivePlaylistId = playlist_id || null;
+  if (!effectivePlaylistId && content_id) {
+    const c = db.prepare('SELECT filename FROM content WHERE id = ?').get(content_id);
+    const genId = uuidv4();
+    db.prepare('INSERT INTO playlists (id, name, workspace_id, user_id, status) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)')
+      .run(genId, `Scheduled: ${(c && c.filename) || 'item'}`, targetWorkspaceId, req.user.id, 'published');
+    db.prepare('INSERT INTO playlist_items (playlist_id, content_id, sort_order, duration_sec) VALUES (?, ?, 0, 10)')
+      .run(genId, content_id);
+    // Publish through the shared path rather than hand-rolling the snapshot: players read
+    // denormalized fields (filename, mime_type, filepath, remote_url, schedules...) out of
+    // published_snapshot, and duplicating that shape here would rot the moment it changes.
+    require('./playlists').publishPlaylist(genId);
+    effectivePlaylistId = genId;
+  }
+
   const id = uuidv4();
   db.prepare(`
     INSERT INTO schedules (id, user_id, workspace_id, device_id, group_id, zone_id, content_id, widget_id, layout_id, playlist_id, title,
       start_time, end_time, timezone, recurrence, recurrence_end, priority, color)
     VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)
   `).run(id, req.user.id, targetWorkspaceId, device_id || null, group_id || null, zone_id || null, content_id || null, widget_id || null,
-    layout_id || null, playlist_id || null, title || '', start_time, end_time, timezone || targetTz || 'UTC',
+    layout_id || null, effectivePlaylistId, title || '', start_time, end_time, timezone || targetTz || 'UTC',
     recurrence || null, recurrence_end || null, priority || 0, color || '#3B82F6');
 
   const schedule = db.prepare('SELECT * FROM schedules WHERE id = ?').get(id);
diff --git a/server/test/schedule-content-item.test.js b/server/test/schedule-content-item.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f5d982d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/test/schedule-content-item.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// The schedule dialog offers "Content (single item, optional)". The value was validated for
+// cross-tenancy and stored faithfully — and then read by nothing at all. services/scheduler.js acts
+// on exactly two columns:
+//
+//     if (active.layout_id   && ...) { ...apply... }
+//     if (active.playlist_id && ...) { ...apply... }
+//
+// content_id, widget_id and zone_id are consulted nowhere. So a content-only schedule was a
+// complete no-op, while the calendar drew a block labelled with the filename as confirmation that
+// it would fire.
+//
+// Rather than thread a third override through the engine and every player, the schedule now gets a
+// playlist holding that one item — the shape the whole pipeline already understands.
+
+const { test } = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const path = require('path');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const os = require('os');
+
+const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'st-schedcontent-'));
+process.env.DATA_DIR = tmp;
+process.env.JWT_SECRET = 'test-secret-sched-content';
+
+const express = require('express');
+const { db } = require('../db/database');
+const { requireAuth, generateToken } = require('../middleware/auth');
+const { resolveTenancy } = require('../lib/tenancy');
+
+const O = 'o-sc', WS = 'ws-sc', U = 'u-sc', DEV = 'dev-sc', C = 'c-sc';
+db.prepare("INSERT OR IGNORE INTO users (id,email,password_hash,role) VALUES (?,?, 'x','user')").run(U, 'sc@t.local');
+db.prepare('INSERT OR IGNORE INTO organizations (id,name,owner_user_id) VALUES (?,?,?)').run(O, 'Org', U);
+db.prepare('INSERT OR IGNORE INTO workspaces (id,organization_id,name) VALUES (?,?,?)').run(WS, O, 'WS');
+db.prepare("INSERT OR IGNORE INTO organization_members (organization_id,user_id,role) VALUES (?,?, 'org_owner')").run(O, U);
+db.prepare(`INSERT OR IGNORE INTO devices (id,name,workspace_id,created_at,updated_at)
+            VALUES (?,?,?,strftime('%s','now'),strftime('%s','now'))`).run(DEV, 'Screen', WS);
+db.prepare("INSERT OR IGNORE INTO content (id,workspace_id,user_id,filename,filepath,mime_type,file_size) VALUES (?,?,?,'promo.jpg','promo.jpg','image/jpeg',1234)").run(C, WS, U);
+
+const app = express();
+app.use(express.json());
+app.set('io', null);
+app.use('/api/schedules', requireAuth, resolveTenancy, require('../routes/schedules'));
+const server = app.listen(0);
+const token = generateToken(db.prepare('SELECT id,email,role FROM users WHERE id = ?').get(U), WS);
+
+async function createSchedule(body) {
+  await new Promise(r => (server.listening ? r() : server.once('listening', r)));
+  const res = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${server.address().port}/api/schedules`, {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
+    body: JSON.stringify(body),
+  });
+  return { status: res.status, body: await res.json().catch(() => null) };
+}
+
+const BASE = { device_id: DEV, title: 'Promo hour', start_time: '2026-08-05T09:00:00', end_time: '2026-08-05T17:00:00' };
+
+test('THE BUG: a content-only schedule now has something the engine can act on', async () => {
+  const { status } = await createSchedule({ ...BASE, content_id: C });
+  assert.equal(status, 201);   // created
+  const s = db.prepare('SELECT * FROM schedules WHERE device_id = ? ORDER BY rowid DESC').get(DEV);
+  assert.ok(s.playlist_id, 'the engine reads playlist_id; without one the schedule did nothing');
+});
+
+test('the generated playlist contains exactly that item, published', () => {
+  const s = db.prepare('SELECT playlist_id FROM schedules WHERE device_id = ? ORDER BY rowid DESC').get(DEV);
+  const pl = db.prepare('SELECT * FROM playlists WHERE id = ?').get(s.playlist_id);
+  assert.equal(pl.workspace_id, WS, 'and it belongs to the right workspace');
+  assert.equal(pl.status, 'published');
+  const items = db.prepare('SELECT content_id FROM playlist_items WHERE playlist_id = ?').all(s.playlist_id);
+  assert.deepEqual(items.map(i => i.content_id), [C]);
+});
+
+test('the snapshot the players read is populated', () => {
+  const s = db.prepare('SELECT playlist_id FROM schedules WHERE device_id = ? ORDER BY rowid DESC').get(DEV);
+  const pl = db.prepare('SELECT published_snapshot FROM playlists WHERE id = ?').get(s.playlist_id);
+  const snap = JSON.parse(pl.published_snapshot || '[]');
+  assert.equal(snap.length, 1);
+  assert.equal(snap[0].content_id, C);
+  assert.ok(snap[0].filename, 'players need the denormalized fields, not just the id');
+});
+
+test('an explicit playlist override still wins and no playlist is invented', async () => {
+  db.prepare("INSERT OR IGNORE INTO playlists (id,name,workspace_id,user_id) VALUES ('pl-explicit','Mine',?,?)").run(WS, U);
+  const before = db.prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) n FROM playlists').get().n;
+  await createSchedule({ ...BASE, content_id: C, playlist_id: 'pl-explicit' });
+  const s = db.prepare('SELECT playlist_id FROM schedules WHERE device_id = ? ORDER BY rowid DESC').get(DEV);
+  assert.equal(s.playlist_id, 'pl-explicit');
+  assert.equal(db.prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) n FROM playlists').get().n, before, 'no throwaway playlist created');
+});
+
+test('a schedule with neither content nor playlist is unchanged', async () => {
+  const before = db.prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) n FROM playlists').get().n;
+  await createSchedule({ ...BASE, title: 'Layout only' });
+  const s = db.prepare('SELECT playlist_id FROM schedules WHERE device_id = ? ORDER BY rowid DESC').get(DEV);
+  assert.equal(s.playlist_id, null);
+  assert.equal(db.prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) n FROM playlists').get().n, before);
+});
+
+test.after(() => { server.close(); try { fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true }); } catch (_) {} });