diff --git a/docker-entrypoint.sh b/docker-entrypoint.sh
index fd2f367..913e546 100755
--- a/docker-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -75,6 +75,14 @@ if [ "$RUN_INIT" = "true" ]; then
                 }
                 print_success "GAIS data import completed"
                 ;;
+            "exam-corpus")
+                print_status "Seeding exam-paper corpus (manifest-gated; skips if none configured)..."
+                python3 main.py --mode exam-corpus || {
+                    print_error "Exam corpus seed failed!"
+                    exit 1
+                }
+                print_success "Exam corpus seed completed"
+                ;;
             "full")
                 print_status "Running full initialization..."
                 python3 main.py --mode infra || exit 1
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 58ef975..bc113bc 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -323,6 +323,52 @@ def run_gais_data_mode():
 
 # Old clear_dev_redis_queue function removed - now handled by Redis Manager
 
+def run_exam_corpus_mode():
+    """Seed the public exam-paper corpus from a manifest (optional, gated).
+
+    Env controls:
+      EXAM_CORPUS_MANIFEST    - path to the corpus manifest (required to do anything)
+      EXAM_CORPUS_DRY_RUN     - 'true' to validate + report only
+      EXAM_CORPUS_FORCE       - 'true' to re-upload/overwrite existing objects
+      EXAM_CORPUS_BOARD/_SPEC - filter to one exam_board_code / spec_code
+      EXAM_CORPUS_USER_SUBSET - 'true' to also seed a user-side test subset
+      EXAM_CORPUS_FIRST_SWEEP - 'true' to run the docling/auto-map first pass
+
+    Skips gracefully (success) when no manifest is configured/present, so it is safe
+    in a comma-mode list (e.g. INIT_MODE=infra,seed,exam-corpus) before papers exist.
+    Buckets are NOT created here — infra mode (buckets.py) owns provisioning.
+    """
+    logger.info("Running in exam-corpus seed mode")
+    manifest = os.getenv("EXAM_CORPUS_MANIFEST")
+    if not manifest or not os.path.exists(manifest):
+        logger.warning(
+            f"exam-corpus: no manifest at EXAM_CORPUS_MANIFEST={manifest!r}; skipping (nothing to seed yet)"
+        )
+        return True
+    try:
+        from run.initialization.seed_exam_corpus import load
+        rep = load(
+            manifest,
+            dry_run=_truthy_env("EXAM_CORPUS_DRY_RUN"),
+            force=_truthy_env("EXAM_CORPUS_FORCE"),
+            board_filter=os.getenv("EXAM_CORPUS_BOARD") or None,
+            spec_filter=os.getenv("EXAM_CORPUS_SPEC") or None,
+            user_subset=_truthy_env("EXAM_CORPUS_USER_SUBSET"),
+            do_first_sweep=_truthy_env("EXAM_CORPUS_FIRST_SWEEP"),
+        )
+        if rep.errors:
+            logger.error(f"exam-corpus seed completed with {len(rep.errors)} error(s)")
+            return False
+        logger.info(
+            f"exam-corpus seed ok: specs={rep.specs_upserted} papers={rep.papers_upserted} "
+            f"uploaded={rep.files_uploaded}"
+        )
+        return True
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(f"exam-corpus seed failed: {e}")
+        return False
+
+
 def run_development_mode():
     """Run the server in development mode with auto-reload"""
     logger.info("Running in development mode")
@@ -411,7 +457,7 @@ Startup modes:
     
     parser.add_argument(
         '--mode', '-m',
-        choices=['infra', 'seed', 'seed-test', 'gais-data', 'dev', 'prod'],
+        choices=['infra', 'seed', 'seed-test', 'gais-data', 'exam-corpus', 'dev', 'prod'],
         default='dev',
         help='Startup mode (default: dev)'
     )
@@ -446,7 +492,12 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
         # Run GAIS data import
         success = run_gais_data_mode()
         sys.exit(0 if success else 1)
-    
+
+    elif args.mode == 'exam-corpus':
+        # Seed the public exam-paper corpus from a manifest (gated; skips if none configured)
+        success = run_exam_corpus_mode()
+        sys.exit(0 if success else 1)
+
     elif args.mode == 'dev':
         # Run development server
         run_development_mode()