diff --git a/backend/app.py b/backend/app.py
index a751001..18df0ff 100644
--- a/backend/app.py
+++ b/backend/app.py
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ logger.info("Backend starting — log file: %s", LOG_DIR / "vm-bench-backend.log
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Constants
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-STAGING_IN = "/mnt/converter/in"
 API_PREFIX = "/api/v1"
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/backend/converter.py b/backend/converter.py
index 070ba1d..48e9e5f 100644
--- a/backend/converter.py
+++ b/backend/converter.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ from typing import Optional
 
 STAGING_ROOT = Path("/mnt/converter/tmp")
 STAGING_IN = STAGING_ROOT / "in"
-STAGING_OUT = STAGING_ROOT / "out"
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("backend.converter")
 
@@ -108,7 +107,7 @@ def extract_if_needed(filename: str) -> Path:
         raise RuntimeError(f"{tool} failed: {result.stderr.strip()[:500]}")
 
     # Determine what was created
-    after = set(STAGING_IN.iterdir())
+    after = set(extract_base.iterdir())
     new_items = after - before
 
     # If the archive had a single top-level directory matching the stem, use it
diff --git a/backend/install.sh b/backend/install.sh
index c2f4d63..18a0492 100755
--- a/backend/install.sh
+++ b/backend/install.sh
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@ echo "[1/6] Creating directory structure..."
 
 for d in \
     "$CONVERTER_ROOT" \
-    "$CONVERTER_ROOT/in" \
-    "$CONVERTER_ROOT/out" \
     "$CONVERTER_ROOT/logs" \
     "$CONVERTER_ROOT/tmp" \
     "$CONVERTER_ROOT/backend" \
diff --git a/frontend/vm-bench.service b/frontend/vm-bench.service
index f03ccfa..37facb6 100644
--- a/frontend/vm-bench.service
+++ b/frontend/vm-bench.service
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ User=root
 WorkingDirectory=/mnt/converter/frontend
 Environment=PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
 Environment=BACKEND_URL=http://10.2.0.2:9000
-Environment=TMPDIR=/mnt/converter/in
+Environment=TMPDIR=/mnt/converter/tmp
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 -m uvicorn app:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 5000 --timeout-keep-alive 300
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=3