diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 9a041bc..6942532 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ No external dependencies — Python 3 standard library only. Compatible with Tru
 
 ```
 es24n_conf.py               ← Entry point and main menu (run this)
+firmware/                   ← Firmware files (.bin, .img, .fw, etc.) — scanned at update time
 modules/
     ui.py                   ← ANSI colours, display helpers, input prompts
     serial_port.py          ← SerialPort class (termios/fcntl/select, no pyserial)
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ Updates IOM firmware and/or Fabric Card firmware over the network:
 - Polls `/redfish/v1/TaskService/Tasks/` until completion
 - Restarts the IOM (and fabric card if applicable) after each update
 - The firmware file must be re-uploaded between the IOM and Fabric Card steps — it does not persist after the first update (firmware quirk, documented in `_update_fabric_fw()`)
-- Scans the current working directory for firmware files (`.bin`, `.img`, `.fw`, `.hex`, `.zip`, `.tar`, `.tgz`, `.gz`) and presents them as a numbered list before falling back to manual path entry
+- Scans the `firmware/` directory (next to `es24n_conf.py`) for firmware files (`.bin`, `.img`, `.fw`, `.fwc`, `.hex`, `.zip`, `.tar`, `.tgz`, `.gz`) and presents them as a numbered list before falling back to manual path entry
 
 ### 3 — System Check (`workflow_check.py`)
 Read-only diagnostic workflow — queries current network settings and firmware versions, makes no changes:
diff --git a/firmware/ves-vds2249r-rflex-MGR-04.12.33-A2000Tfw_2.4.1.fwc b/firmware/ves-vds2249r-rflex-MGR-04.12.33-A2000Tfw_2.4.1.fwc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..abbeb5a
Binary files /dev/null and b/firmware/ves-vds2249r-rflex-MGR-04.12.33-A2000Tfw_2.4.1.fwc differ
diff --git a/modules/workflow_firmware.py b/modules/workflow_firmware.py
index 0f23b25..3c6bc8c 100644
--- a/modules/workflow_firmware.py
+++ b/modules/workflow_firmware.py
@@ -25,20 +25,22 @@ from ui import (
 # ── Firmware file selection helper ────────────────────────────────────────────
 def _prompt_fw_file(label: str) -> str:
     """
-    Scan the current working directory for firmware files and let the user
-    pick one by number, or enter a custom path as the last option.
-    Files are sorted most-recently-modified first.
+    Scan the firmware/ directory (next to es24n_conf.py) for firmware files
+    and let the user pick one by number, or enter a custom path as the last
+    option.  Files are sorted most-recently-modified first.
     """
-    cwd = os.getcwd()
-    FW_EXTS = {".bin", ".img", ".fw", ".hex", ".zip", ".tar", ".tgz", ".gz"}
+    fw_dir = os.path.normpath(
+        os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)), "..", "firmware")
+    )
+    FW_EXTS = {".bin", ".img", ".fw", ".fwc", ".hex", ".zip", ".tar", ".tgz", ".gz"}
 
     try:
         candidates = sorted(
-            [f for f in os.listdir(cwd)
+            [f for f in os.listdir(fw_dir)
              if not f.startswith(".")
-             and os.path.isfile(os.path.join(cwd, f))
+             and os.path.isfile(os.path.join(fw_dir, f))
              and os.path.splitext(f)[1].lower() in FW_EXTS],
-            key=lambda f: os.path.getmtime(os.path.join(cwd, f)),
+            key=lambda f: os.path.getmtime(os.path.join(fw_dir, f)),
             reverse=True,
         )
     except OSError:
@@ -46,9 +48,9 @@ def _prompt_fw_file(label: str) -> str:
 
     print()
     if candidates:
-        info(f"Firmware files found in {cwd}:")
+        info(f"Firmware files found in {fw_dir}:")
         for i, fname in enumerate(candidates, 1):
-            sz = os.path.getsize(os.path.join(cwd, fname))
+            sz = os.path.getsize(os.path.join(fw_dir, fname))
             print(f"    {_c(C.BOLD, str(i))}  {fname}  {_c(C.DIM, f'({sz // 1024} KB)')}")
         custom_idx = len(candidates) + 1
         print(f"    {_c(C.BOLD, str(custom_idx))}  Enter a custom file path")
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ def _prompt_fw_file(label: str) -> str:
             if choice.isdigit():
                 idx = int(choice)
                 if 1 <= idx <= len(candidates):
-                    path = os.path.join(cwd, candidates[idx - 1])
+                    path = os.path.join(fw_dir, candidates[idx - 1])
                     sz   = os.path.getsize(path)
                     ok(f"Selected: {candidates[idx - 1]} ({sz // 1024} KB)")
                     return path
@@ -67,7 +69,7 @@ def _prompt_fw_file(label: str) -> str:
                     break
             warn(f"Please enter a number between 1 and {custom_idx}.")
     else:
-        info(f"No firmware files found in {cwd}.")
+        info(f"No firmware files found in {fw_dir}.")
 
     # Manual path entry
     while True: