diff --git a/changelog.d/backlog-location-labels.md b/changelog.d/backlog-location-labels.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..507aed03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/backlog-location-labels.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Added
+
+- `health backlog` reads a row's `per_lf_locations` (1-based LF index to label) and `location` (Waypost 0.5.x `BacklogRow`) and hands them to the drive as `--per-lf-location <i>=<label>` / `--location <label>`, so a GPS-less recording with no day track (`nctopa-2026-03-05-rec0063`) launches from the backlog with the operator's labels typed once into the row instead of a hand launch. The row is checked against the drive's own label rules before any render (`location_labels_skip_reason`): a label the parser would refuse skips the row at the backlog with the parser's reason, and the row behind it still launches. The drive still waits for a person at the OST audit gate.
diff --git a/ci/siblings.txt b/ci/siblings.txt
index 9f4d9279..e88166d2 100644
--- a/ci/siblings.txt
+++ b/ci/siblings.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # The two sibling packages this repo imports, pinned to one reviewed revision
 # each. Bump both the revision and the tests that depend on it in one change.
-seo-manager @ git+https://github.com/Back-Road-Creative/waypost@2ce9f47098e64f3b1a218a69e665252b031180f9
+seo-manager @ git+https://github.com/Back-Road-Creative/waypost@e63c463504b55bf53a05b7aae3879aa1a73e1e2c
 gps-journey @ git+https://github.com/Back-Road-Creative/gps-journey@10f9f96ae2fdffdd7372fcb117a1c80ae72c1d35
diff --git a/docs/pipeline/156-health-check.md b/docs/pipeline/156-health-check.md
index 470168c5..77451449 100644
--- a/docs/pipeline/156-health-check.md
+++ b/docs/pipeline/156-health-check.md
@@ -161,7 +161,9 @@ written. The text output, which is what the cron logs, prints `retired <project>
 `held <stages dir> (no-auto-resume)`, or `would retire` and `would hold` under `--dry-run`.
 The row is the first `drive_backlog.yaml` row for the region that is not skipped. Each skip is
 reported with its reason: already in the store (with its status), already in the content ledger,
-a missing source file, a missing `day_gpx` track, an operator hold (a `no-auto-resume` file under `<stages root>/<project>`,
+a missing source file, a missing `day_gpx` track, a `placeless_label` that claims something, typed
+labels (`per_lf_locations` / `location`) the drive's own `--per-lf-location` rules would refuse
+(`location labels: <the parser's reason>`), an operator hold (a `no-auto-resume` file under `<stages root>/<project>`,
 or a held earlier stage whose sources overlap the row's), or every source already staged by an
 earlier run's `resume.json`.
 
@@ -193,7 +195,11 @@ python> -m gomoveshift drive <subset> --region R --publish D --lf-day D --ingest
 --force --no-tmux`) with `GMS_INTERMEDIATE_DIR=S/<project>`, and registers the drive `auditing`
 in the store. A row with a `day_gpx` (footage with no GPS of its own) adds `--day-gpx <track>
 --camera-utc-offset-hours <N>` from the row; Waypost refuses a row that sets one without the
-other. The `--expect` makes an exit 0 that wrote no fresh shorts `failed-no-output`. Uploads stay off; publishing still needs the normal approval and re-run.
+other. A row with `per_lf_locations` (footage whose place the camera never recorded, with the
+operator's label typed per LF into the row) adds `--per-lf-location <i>=<label>` per entry and
+`--location <label>` when the row sets one, so nothing is typed at launch time; the labels are
+checked against the drive's own rules before any render (`location_labels_skip_reason`) and the
+drive still waits for a person at the OST audit gate, since no GPS gives it a system review. The `--expect` makes an exit 0 that wrote no fresh shorts `failed-no-output`. Uploads stay off; publishing still needs the normal approval and re-run.
 `--dry-run` takes no lease, writes nothing and prints the exact argv, env and storage table.
 
 **Supersede.** `--supersede <project> --reason <text>` replaces that row's own earlier run, for
diff --git a/docs/unattended-cadence.md b/docs/unattended-cadence.md
index 7484c6df..61059c63 100644
--- a/docs/unattended-cadence.md
+++ b/docs/unattended-cadence.md
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ refuses and names them. An unreadable decision store halts planning with
 raw GoPro chapters on D:. It is tenant data, so it lives in the operator's inputs directory (`GMS_INPUTS_DIR`) at
 `gomoveshift/console/brands/gomoveshift/drive_backlog.yaml` and is read through
 `gomoveshift.paths.drive_backlog_path()`. Its
-header names the re-cuts already public and the footage left out.
+header names the re-cuts already public and the footage left out. A row for footage with no
+GPS and no track carries the operator's labels (`per_lf_locations`, `location`) so the
+launcher hands them to the drive; nothing is typed at launch time.
 `tests/test_drive_backlog_manifest.py` checks that the consumer resolves to it, that it
 parses, and that no chapter is queued twice.
 
diff --git a/gomoveshift/health/launch.py b/gomoveshift/health/launch.py
index de2fd7b5..97dd4403 100644
--- a/gomoveshift/health/launch.py
+++ b/gomoveshift/health/launch.py
@@ -208,6 +208,36 @@ def placeless_label_skip_reason(label: str) -> Optional[str]:
     )
 
 
+def location_labels_skip_reason(row) -> Optional[str]:
+    """Why a backlog row's typed labels (``per_lf_locations`` / ``location``) may not launch,
+    or ``None``: the drive's own ``--per-lf-location`` / ``--location`` rules
+    (``cli.parser._validate_per_lf_location_args``), applied before any render so a refused row
+    is skipped at the backlog with the parser's reason instead of failing the launch job at
+    argparse hours later. Wording is the operator's; this judges only what the drive would.
+    """
+    per_lf = list(getattr(row, "per_lf_locations", ()) or ())
+    location = getattr(row, "location", "") or ""
+    if not per_lf and not location:
+        return None
+    import argparse
+
+    from ..cli.parser import _per_lf_location_kv, _validate_per_lf_location_args
+
+    try:
+        pairs = [_per_lf_location_kv(f"{idx}={label}") for idx, label in per_lf]
+        _validate_per_lf_location_args(
+            argparse.Namespace(
+                per_lf_locations=pairs,
+                location=location,
+                placeless_label=getattr(row, "placeless_label", ""),
+                day_gpx=getattr(row, "day_gpx", ""),
+            )
+        )
+    except argparse.ArgumentTypeError as exc:
+        return f"location labels: {exc}"
+    return None
+
+
 def _skip_reason(row, store_status, known, staged, stages_root, own_ok=False) -> Optional[str]:
     """Why ``row`` is not launched, or ``None``. ``own_ok``: the row's own stage root is being
     superseded, so a hold or recipe under it does not skip the row (``staged`` excludes it)."""
@@ -223,6 +253,8 @@ def _skip_reason(row, store_status, known, staged, stages_root, own_ok=False) ->
     label = getattr(row, "placeless_label", "")
     if label and (label_why := placeless_label_skip_reason(label)):
         return label_why
+    if labels_why := location_labels_skip_reason(row):
+        return labels_why
     for marker in sorted(Path(stages_root).glob(f"{row.project}/**/_stages/{HOLD_NAME}")):
         if not own_ok:
             return f"operator hold: {marker}"
@@ -703,6 +735,10 @@ def _run(res, region, rows, drives, free_slots, known, stages_root, output_root,
             drive_argv += ["--camera-utc-offset-hours", str(row.camera_utc_offset_hours)]
     if getattr(row, "placeless_label", ""):  # claim-free only: _skip_reason refused the rest
         drive_argv += ["--placeless-label", row.placeless_label]
+    for idx, label in getattr(row, "per_lf_locations", ()) or ():  # _skip_reason validated
+        drive_argv += ["--per-lf-location", f"{idx}={label}"]
+    if getattr(row, "location", ""):
+        drive_argv += ["--location", row.location]
     argv = _job_argv(code_root, jobs_dir, row.project, out_dir, drive_argv)
     env = {
         "GMS_INTERMEDIATE_DIR": str(root),
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 56d5596b..1e244a11 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ dependencies = [
     # happens to be installed or 404s on PyPI. ci/siblings.txt pins the same
     # commits. Like the four libraries below, requirements.lock carries no entry
     # for them (an unnamed `git+` line is rejected by `uv pip install --constraint`).
-    "seo-manager @ git+https://github.com/Back-Road-Creative/waypost@2ce9f47098e64f3b1a218a69e665252b031180f9",
+    "seo-manager @ git+https://github.com/Back-Road-Creative/waypost@e63c463504b55bf53a05b7aae3879aa1a73e1e2c",
     "gps-journey @ git+https://github.com/Back-Road-Creative/gps-journey@10f9f96ae2fdffdd7372fcb117a1c80ae72c1d35",
     # Extracted libraries — code that used to live in this tree and now ships as
     # standalone repos: sun-track (solar elevation + golden hour, GPX position at
diff --git a/tests/test_health_backlog_launch.py b/tests/test_health_backlog_launch.py
index 0ae170f7..c74a5321 100644
--- a/tests/test_health_backlog_launch.py
+++ b/tests/test_health_backlog_launch.py
@@ -570,6 +570,91 @@ def test_a_row_without_a_placeless_label_passes_no_label(tmp_path):
     assert "--placeless-label" not in rig.launches[0][0]
 
 
+def _labeled_row(rig, per_lf, location=""):
+    row = rig.rows[0]
+    return BacklogRow(
+        row.project, row.region, row.sources, "generic", row.lf_mode,
+        per_lf_locations=tuple(per_lf), location=location,
+    )  # fmt: skip
+
+
+# nctopa-2026-03-05-rec0063 (GPS-less, no track): its labels are the operator's, typed once into
+# the backlog row, and the launcher hands them to the drive. Nothing is typed at launch time.
+def test_a_row_with_per_lf_locations_launches_with_each_label_and_the_drive_wide_one(tmp_path):
+    rig = Rig(tmp_path)
+    rig.rows[0] = _labeled_row(
+        rig,
+        [(1, "Example Town to Beta Pass, Example County, Exampleland"),
+         (2, "Beta Pass to Gamma Falls, Example County, Exampleland")],
+        location="Example County, Exampleland",
+    )  # fmt: skip
+    res = rig.run()
+    assert res["action"] == "launched", res
+    drive_args = rig.launches[0][0][rig.launches[0][0].index("--") + 1 :]
+    per_lf = [drive_args[i + 1] for i, a in enumerate(drive_args) if a == "--per-lf-location"]
+    assert per_lf == [
+        "1=Example Town to Beta Pass, Example County, Exampleland",
+        "2=Beta Pass to Gamma Falls, Example County, Exampleland",
+    ]
+    assert drive_args[drive_args.index("--location") + 1] == "Example County, Exampleland"
+    assert "--placeless-label" not in drive_args and "--day-gpx" not in drive_args
+
+
+def test_a_row_with_per_lf_locations_and_no_drive_wide_label_passes_only_the_per_lf_flags(tmp_path):
+    rig = Rig(tmp_path)
+    rig.rows[0] = _labeled_row(rig, [(1, "Example Town, Example County")])
+    res = rig.run()
+    assert res["action"] == "launched", res
+    drive_args = rig.launches[0][0]
+    assert "--per-lf-location" in drive_args and "--location" not in drive_args
+
+
+def test_a_row_without_location_fields_passes_neither_flag(tmp_path):
+    rig = Rig(tmp_path)
+    rig.run()
+    drive_args = rig.launches[0][0]
+    assert "--per-lf-location" not in drive_args and "--location" not in drive_args
+
+
+# The drive's own label rules (``cli.parser._validate_per_lf_location_args``) judge the row
+# before any render: a refused row is skipped at the backlog with the parser's reason, never
+# failed hours later at the launch job's argparse, and the row behind it still launches.
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "per_lf, location, expected",
+    [
+        ([(1, "To Beta Pass, Example County")], "", "starts with a bare preposition"),
+        ([(1, "Beta Pass, Example County")], "Exampleland", "must have >= 2 components"),
+        ([(1, "Beta Pass, Example County")], "Beta Pass, Example County", "equals --location"),
+        (
+            [(1, "Beta Pass, Example County, Exampleland")],
+            "Other County, Exampleland",
+            "is not a comma-suffix",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_a_row_the_drive_would_refuse_is_skipped_before_any_render(
+    tmp_path, per_lf, location, expected
+):
+    rig = Rig(tmp_path)
+    rig.rows[0] = _labeled_row(rig, per_lf, location=location)
+    res = rig.run()
+    assert (res["action"], res["project"]) == ("launched", "day-b"), res
+    (skip,) = res["skipped"]
+    assert skip["project"] == "day-a" and skip["reason"].startswith("location labels: ")
+    assert expected in skip["reason"], skip["reason"]
+    assert rig.gates == [(rig.sources / "day-b", "day-b")]  # never reached the render gate
+    assert "--per-lf-location" not in rig.launches[0][0]
+
+
+def test_location_labels_skip_reason_is_none_for_a_row_the_drive_accepts():
+    row = BacklogRow(
+        "p", "usa", ("/v.mp4",), "generic", "full_drive",
+        per_lf_locations=((1, "Beta Pass, Example County, Exampleland"),),
+        location="Example County, Exampleland",
+    )  # fmt: skip
+    assert launch.location_labels_skip_reason(row) is None
+
+
 def test_a_missing_day_gpx_skips_the_row(tmp_path):
     rig = Rig(tmp_path)
     rig.rows[0] = _gpx_row(rig, tmp_path / "gone.gpx")