diff --git a/.env.template b/.env.template
index 7833356..26af028 100644
--- a/.env.template
+++ b/.env.template
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ AC_WORLDSERVER_IMAGE_PLAYERBOTS=uprightbass360/azerothcore-wotlk-playerbots:worl
 # =====================
 AC_CLIENT_DATA_IMAGE=acore/ac-wotlk-client-data:14.0.0-dev
 AC_CLIENT_DATA_IMAGE_PLAYERBOTS=uprightbass360/azerothcore-wotlk-playerbots:client-data-Playerbot
-CLIENT_DATA_VERSION=v16
+CLIENT_DATA_VERSION=v17
 CLIENT_DATA_CACHE_PATH=./client-data-cache
 CLIENT_DATA_VOLUME=ac-client-data
 
diff --git a/start-containers.sh b/start-containers.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..6d38c79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start-containers.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Thin wrapper to bring the AzerothCore stack online without triggering rebuilds.
+# Reuses deploy.sh so all profile detection and tagging logic stay consistent.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+exec "${SCRIPT_DIR}/deploy.sh" --skip-rebuild --yes --no-watch
diff --git a/stop-containers.sh b/stop-containers.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..50bf6b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stop-containers.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Thin wrapper to stop all AzerothCore project containers while preserving data.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+exec "${SCRIPT_DIR}/cleanup.sh" --soft --force