diff --git a/src/databases/officer_db/src/schema/dashboards.ts b/src/databases/officer_db/src/schema/dashboards.ts
index 3f61fb0c..214b874a 100644
--- a/src/databases/officer_db/src/schema/dashboards.ts
+++ b/src/databases/officer_db/src/schema/dashboards.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,20 @@
-import { pgTable, serial, text, integer, timestamp, jsonb, uniqueIndex } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
+import type { AnyPgColumn } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
+import { sql } from 'drizzle-orm';
+import { pgTable, serial, text, integer, timestamp, jsonb, uniqueIndex, check } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
 import { users } from './auth';
 
+/**
+ * A `LayoutNode` is an object, and the whole write path to these columns is `unknown` — the PATCH body is
+ * `Record<string, unknown>`, the query layer casts `as never` to satisfy drizzle, and jsonb accepts
+ * anything. So the only place the rule can actually be enforced is here.
+ *
+ * `'[]'` reached both columns as a *default* and turned `normalizeLayout` into a white screen; the client
+ * now refuses to hand over a non-object and the read omits one, but neither of those stops a bad value
+ * being stored — they stop it being served. This does. NULL stays legal: it means "none stored", which is
+ * the honest state of a dashboard created without a layout.
+ */
+const layoutIsObject = (column: AnyPgColumn) => sql`${column} IS NULL OR jsonb_typeof(${column}) = 'object'`;
+
 export const dashboards = pgTable(
   'dashboards',
   {
@@ -29,7 +43,10 @@ export const dashboards = pgTable(
     createdAt: timestamp('created_at', { withTimezone: true }).notNull().defaultNow(),
     updatedAt: timestamp('updated_at', { withTimezone: true }).notNull().defaultNow(),
   },
-  (table) => [uniqueIndex('uq_dashboards_user_id').on(table.userId, table.id)],
+  (table) => [
+    uniqueIndex('uq_dashboards_user_id').on(table.userId, table.id),
+    check('ck_dashboards_layout_object', layoutIsObject(table.layout)),
+  ],
 );
 
 export const screens = pgTable(
@@ -46,7 +63,10 @@ export const screens = pgTable(
     hostTerminals: jsonb('host_terminals').notNull().default({}),
     updatedAt: timestamp('updated_at', { withTimezone: true }).notNull().defaultNow(),
   },
-  (table) => [uniqueIndex('uq_screens_user_name').on(table.userId, table.name)],
+  (table) => [
+    uniqueIndex('uq_screens_user_name').on(table.userId, table.name),
+    check('ck_screens_layout_object', layoutIsObject(table.layout)),
+  ],
 );
 
 export const dashboardDefaults = pgTable('dashboard_defaults', {
diff --git a/src/servers/api/dashboards/dashboards.ts b/src/servers/api/dashboards/dashboards.ts
index b0ec103b..f9c1c7ad 100644
--- a/src/servers/api/dashboards/dashboards.ts
+++ b/src/servers/api/dashboards/dashboards.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ export const dashboardsRouter = createRouter();
 // `apps/Terminal/index.tsx`; the 400 at the bottom of the PATCH loop is what tells you when it is not.
 const PANEL_STATE_PREFIXES = ['tmux', 'nvim', 'claude-code'];
 
+// A `LayoutNode` is an object. Everything from the PATCH body down to jsonb is `unknown`, so without this
+// the only thing standing between a wrong-shaped body and the layout columns is the CHECK constraint —
+// which does hold the line, but as a 500 that says nothing the caller can act on. Say what was wrong
+// instead. Null is handled separately by both layout branches: there it means "delete", not "store".
+const isLayout = (value: unknown): boolean => typeof value === 'object' && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value);
+
 // GET /dashboards
 dashboardsRouter.get('/', async (ctx) => {
   const userId = ctx.get('user').id;
@@ -51,6 +57,7 @@ dashboardsRouter.patch('/', async (ctx) => {
       if (value === null) {
         await deleteDashboard(userId, id);
       } else {
+        if (!isLayout(value)) return ctx.json({ error: `"${key}" must be a layout object` }, 400);
         await upsertDashboard(userId, id, { layout: value });
       }
       continue;
@@ -110,6 +117,7 @@ dashboardsRouter.patch('/', async (ctx) => {
       if (value === null) {
         await deleteScreen(userId, name);
       } else {
+        if (!isLayout(value)) return ctx.json({ error: `"${key}" must be a layout object` }, 400);
         await upsertScreen(userId, name, { layout: value });
       }
       continue;