diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.test.ts
index 1c90689e9e..8914782f9e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.test.ts
@@ -158,6 +158,30 @@ describe("offloadHeavyMedia", () => {
     expect(second.get("index.html")!.toString()).toContain("https://assets.example/1/clip.mp4");
   });
 
+  it("leaves heavy files nothing references out of the archive, but keeps one a variable names", async () => {
+    const dir = project({
+      "index.html": html(`<video src="clip.mp4"></video>`),
+      "clip.mp4": HEAVY,
+      "assets/guide.mov": HEAVY,
+      "assets/plate.png": HEAVY,
+      "assets/small.txt": "notes",
+    });
+    const fileMap = stagePublishFiles(dir, OFFLOAD_MIN_BYTES);
+
+    await offloadHeavyMedia(dir, fileMap, {
+      apiBaseUrl: "https://api.example",
+      upload: fakeUpload(),
+      cachePath: cachePath(),
+      variablesText: JSON.stringify({ photo: "assets/plate.png" }),
+    });
+
+    expect([...fileMap.keys()].sort()).toEqual([
+      "assets/plate.png",
+      "assets/small.txt",
+      "index.html",
+    ]);
+  });
+
   describe("a dry run (no upload)", () => {
     const opts = { apiBaseUrl: "https://api.example" };
     const files = { "index.html": html(`<video src="clip.mp4"></video>`), "clip.mp4": HEAVY };
@@ -456,7 +480,7 @@ describe("offloadHeavyMedia", () => {
 
     expect(prepared?.equals(nested)).toBe(true);
     expect(fileMap.has("compositions/logo.gif")).toBe(false);
-    expect(fileMap.has("logo.gif")).toBe(true);
+    expect(fileMap.has("logo.gif")).toBe(false);
   });
 
   it("hashes and encodes media over 4 GiB from disk, never reading it whole", async () => {
@@ -704,11 +728,12 @@ describe("offloadHeavyMedia", () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it("keeps a heavy file no reference names in the zip, since --variables can pick it at render time", async () => {
+  it("keeps a heavy file only a --variables value names, and drops the one nothing names", async () => {
     const dir = project({
       "index.html": html(`<video data-var-src="clip" src="media/a.mp4"></video>`),
       "media/a.mp4": HEAVY,
       "media/b.mp4": HEAVY,
+      "media/c.mp4": HEAVY,
     });
     const fileMap = buildPublishFileMap(dir);
     const upload = fakeUpload();
@@ -717,11 +742,13 @@ describe("offloadHeavyMedia", () => {
       apiBaseUrl: "https://api.example",
       upload,
       cachePath: cachePath(),
+      variablesText: JSON.stringify({ clip: "media/b.mp4" }),
     });
 
     expect(report.map((item) => item.path)).toEqual(["media/a.mp4"]);
     expect(upload).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(fileMap.has("media/b.mp4")).toBe(true);
+    expect(fileMap.has("media/c.mp4")).toBe(false);
   });
 
   it("keeps a heavy file a script builds from split strings in the zip", async () => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.ts b/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.ts
index b96128f6dc..4a560f2dbb 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cloud/offload.ts
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ export interface OffloadOptions {
   /** Overrides the renderer's GIF preparation for tests. */
   gifPrep?: GifPrep;
   onFile?: (item: OffloadedMedia) => void;
+  variablesText?: string;
 }
 
 type MediaKind = "video" | "audio" | "image";
@@ -714,10 +715,11 @@ export async function offloadHeavyMedia(
   };
   const urls = new Map<string, string>();
   const report: OffloadedMedia[] = [];
+  let referenced = new Set<string>();
   try {
     await prepareEntryGifs(ctx, fileMap);
     // Only files a reference points at: one used through render-time --variables must stay in the zip.
-    const referenced = referencedFiles(ctx.absDir, fileMap);
+    referenced = referencedFiles(ctx.absDir, fileMap);
     for (const [path, file] of [...fileMap].sort(([a], [b]) => a.localeCompare(b))) {
       if (!referenced.has(path)) continue;
       const item = await offloadFile(ctx, path, file);
@@ -733,9 +735,27 @@ export async function offloadHeavyMedia(
 
   if (urls.size > 0) rewriteReferences(ctx.absDir, fileMap, (key) => urls.get(key) ?? null);
   dropReplacedFiles(fileMap, report, ctx.preparedGifSources, [...urls.values()]);
+  dropUnusedHeavyFiles(ctx, referenced, [...urls.values()]);
   return report;
 }
 
+function dropUnusedHeavyFiles(
+  ctx: OffloadContext,
+  referenced: Set<string>,
+  assetUrls: string[],
+): void {
+  const { fileMap } = ctx;
+  const withoutUrls = (text: string) =>
+    assetUrls.reduce((acc, url) => acc.replaceAll(url, ""), text);
+  const code = withoutUrls(scriptCode(fileMap));
+  const variables = ctx.opts.variablesText ?? "";
+  for (const [path, file] of [...fileMap]) {
+    if (referenced.has(path) || stagedSize(file) < OFFLOAD_MIN_BYTES) continue;
+    if (variables.includes(basename(path))) continue;
+    if (!isStillMentioned(fileMap, path, code, withoutUrls)) fileMap.delete(path);
+  }
+}
+
 function dropReplacedFiles(
   fileMap: Map<string, StagedFile>,
   report: OffloadedMedia[],
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.test.ts
index 959af83f03..5c42b65266 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.test.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, onTestFinished, vi } from "vitest";
 import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
-import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, truncateSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, truncateSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
 import {
   assertArchiveFits,
+  resolveCloudFpsArg,
   resolveAspectRatioForSubmit,
   validateDryRunSource,
   type ProjectInputSource,
@@ -35,6 +36,30 @@ function writeComposition(width: number, height: number): string {
   return dir;
 }
 
+describe("resolveCloudFpsArg", () => {
+  const withFps = (fps: string) => {
+    const dir = writeComposition(1920, 1080);
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(dir, "index.html"),
+      `<!doctype html><html><body><div data-composition-id="main" data-fps="${fps}" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"></div></body></html>`,
+    );
+    return { kind: "dir", dir } as const;
+  };
+
+  it("reads the root data-fps when --fps is absent", () => {
+    expect(resolveCloudFpsArg(withFps("24"), undefined, undefined)).toBe("24");
+  });
+  it("lets an explicit --fps win", () => {
+    expect(resolveCloudFpsArg(withFps("24"), "60", undefined)).toBe("60");
+  });
+  it("leaves the server default when data-fps is absent or fractional", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveCloudFpsArg({ kind: "dir", dir: writeComposition(1, 1) }, undefined, undefined),
+    ).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(resolveCloudFpsArg(withFps("29.97"), undefined, undefined)).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("validateDryRunSource", () => {
   it("accepts a local directory and rejects already-uploaded sources", () => {
     expect(() => validateDryRunSource({ kind: "dir", dir: "." }, true)).not.toThrow();
@@ -147,6 +172,11 @@ describe("cloud render --dry-run with heavy media", () => {
 describe("cloud render --dry-run with a file over 4 GiB left in the zip", () => {
   it("reports it as over the limit without reading it", () => {
     const dir = writeComposition(1920, 1080);
+    // A mention nothing can rewrite keeps the file in the zip.
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(dir, "index.html"),
+      `<!-- raw/take.mov -->${readFileSync(join(dir, "index.html"), "utf-8")}`,
+    );
     mkdirSync(join(dir, "raw"));
     writeFileSync(join(dir, "raw", "take.mov"), "");
     truncateSync(join(dir, "raw", "take.mov"), 2 ** 32 + 1);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.ts
index 576f499860..2d6fbbcb83 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/cloud/render.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import {
 } from "../../cloud/detectAspectRatio.js";
 import { c } from "../../ui/colors.js";
 import { errorBox, formatBytes, formatDuration } from "../../ui/format.js";
+import { resolveDefaultFpsArg } from "../../utils/renderArgs.js";
 import { resolveProject, type ProjectDir } from "../../utils/project.js";
 import { normalizeErrorMessage } from "../../utils/errorMessage.js";
 import {
@@ -119,7 +120,10 @@ export default defineCommand({
   meta: { name: "render", description: "Render a HyperFrames composition in the cloud" },
   args: {
     dir: { type: "positional", required: false, description: "Project directory (default: .)" },
-    fps: { type: "string", description: "Frames per second (1-240). Default: 30." },
+    fps: {
+      type: "string",
+      description: "Frames per second (1-240). Default: the composition's root data-fps, else 30.",
+    },
     quality: { type: "string", description: "draft | standard | high (default: standard)" },
     format: { type: "string", description: "mp4 | webm | mov (default: mp4)" },
     "page-motion-blur": {
@@ -220,7 +224,6 @@ export default defineCommand({
   // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
   async run({ args }) {
     const asJson = Boolean(args.json);
-    const fps = parseIntFlag(args.fps, { flag: "--fps", min: 1, max: 240 });
     const quality = parseEnumFlag(args.quality, VALID_QUALITY, { flag: "--quality" });
     const format = parseEnumFlag(args.format, VALID_FORMAT, { flag: "--format" });
     const pageMotionBlur = parseEnumFlag(args["page-motion-blur"], ["off"] as const, {
@@ -246,6 +249,12 @@ export default defineCommand({
     });
     validateDryRunSource(project, args["dry-run"] ?? false);
 
+    const fps = parseIntFlag(resolveCloudFpsArg(project, args.fps, args.composition), {
+      flag: "--fps",
+      min: 1,
+      max: 240,
+    });
+
     // Aspect ratio is derived from the composition's authored dimensions: for
     // a local dir we parse the entry HTML and auto-detect, so the user rarely
     // needs --aspect-ratio at all. When they DO pass it, we validate it
@@ -277,8 +286,12 @@ export default defineCommand({
     const client = await createCloudClient();
     const preparedArchive =
       project.kind === "dir"
-        ? await prepareLocalArchive(project, args.composition, asJson, (file) =>
-            uploadAssetViaDirectUpload({ client, ...file }),
+        ? await prepareLocalArchive(
+            project,
+            args.composition,
+            asJson,
+            (file) => uploadAssetViaDirectUpload({ client, ...file }),
+            variables && JSON.stringify(variables),
           )
         : undefined;
 
@@ -590,6 +603,7 @@ async function prepareLocalArchive(
   composition: string | undefined,
   asJson: boolean,
   upload?: OffloadOptions["upload"],
+  variablesText?: string,
 ): Promise<PreparedLocalArchive> {
   const project = resolveProject(source.dir);
   if (!asJson) {
@@ -597,7 +611,7 @@ async function prepareLocalArchive(
     console.log(`${c.accent("◆")}  Zipping ${c.accent(project.name)}`);
   }
   const { fileMap, entryPath } = stageProjectFiles(project, composition);
-  const offloaded = await offloadMedia(project, fileMap, entryPath, asJson, upload);
+  const offloaded = await offloadMedia(project, fileMap, entryPath, asJson, upload, variablesText);
 
   // Media left on disk barely compresses: past the limit, its size is the report and nothing is read.
   const onDiskBytes = [...fileMap.values()]
@@ -656,6 +670,7 @@ async function offloadMedia(
   entryPath: string,
   asJson: boolean,
   upload: OffloadOptions["upload"],
+  variablesText?: string,
 ): Promise<OffloadedMedia[]> {
   let offloaded: OffloadedMedia[];
   try {
@@ -663,6 +678,7 @@ async function offloadMedia(
       apiBaseUrl: resolveCloudBaseUrl(),
       upload,
       entryPath,
+      variablesText,
       onFile: (item) =>
         (asJson ? console.error : console.log)(c.dim(`   ${describeOffload(item, !upload)}`)),
     });
@@ -681,6 +697,19 @@ async function offloadMedia(
   return offloaded;
 }
 
+/** --fps, else the entry's root data-fps (the owner local render uses), else the server default. */
+export function resolveCloudFpsArg(
+  source: ProjectInputSource,
+  fps: string | undefined,
+  composition: string | undefined,
+): string | undefined {
+  if (source.kind !== "dir") return fps;
+  const { dir } = resolveProject(source.dir);
+  const resolved = resolveDefaultFpsArg(fps, dir, resolvePath(dir, "index.html"), composition);
+  // The cloud API takes whole frame rates; a fractional data-fps (29.97) leaves it to the server.
+  return resolved !== undefined && /^\d+$/.test(resolved) ? resolved : fps;
+}
+
 export function assertArchiveFits(sizeBytes: number, largestFiles: ArchiveFileSummary[]): void {
   if (sizeBytes <= DIRECT_UPLOAD_LIMIT_BYTES) return;
   errorBox(