diff --git a/packages/base/card-api.gts b/packages/base/card-api.gts
index ee6a8b6027..9cd174c926 100644
--- a/packages/base/card-api.gts
+++ b/packages/base/card-api.gts
@@ -4859,11 +4859,13 @@ export function virtualNetworkFor(
 // Resolve a (possibly prefix-form or relative) reference to an absolute URL
 // string through the supplied VirtualNetwork. When the caller can't supply
 // one (test stubs, detached instances), fall back to plain URL math: it
-// covers URL-form refs and relative refs against URL-form bases. Prefix-form
-// refs and refs against prefix-form bases can't be resolved without a VN —
-// `new URL()` throws on those, so we return the raw reference unchanged
-// instead of bubbling the error to callers (e.g. relationship deserialize
-// uses the returned string as a "did this resolve?" signal).
+// covers URL-form refs and relative refs against URL-form bases. A scoped
+// prefix-form RRI (`@scope/realm/...`) has no meaning without realm mappings,
+// and `new URL('@scope/realm/x', urlBase)` would NOT throw — it silently
+// path-joins the reference into a bogus URL (it only throws when there is no
+// base at all). So return such references unchanged rather than fabricating a
+// URL; relationship deserialize treats an unresolved reference as a "not
+// loaded" signal.
 export function resolveRef(
   virtualNetwork: VirtualNetwork | undefined,
   reference: string,
@@ -4872,6 +4874,9 @@ export function resolveRef(
   if (virtualNetwork) {
     return virtualNetwork.resolveURL(reference, relativeTo).href;
   }
+  if (reference.startsWith('@')) {
+    return reference;
+  }
   let base: URL | string | undefined;
   if (relativeTo instanceof URL) {
     base = relativeTo;
diff --git a/packages/realm-server/tests/realm-identifiers-test.ts b/packages/realm-server/tests/realm-identifiers-test.ts
index d064a93f9f..401b09132f 100644
--- a/packages/realm-server/tests/realm-identifiers-test.ts
+++ b/packages/realm-server/tests/realm-identifiers-test.ts
@@ -670,6 +670,51 @@ module(basename(import.meta.filename), function () {
         );
       });
     });
+
+    module('scoped relationship-link resolution', function () {
+      // A relationship link (links.self) to an instance in another realm is
+      // written in scoped RRI prefix form — e.g. a homepage card linking to a
+      // base-realm Theme instance. It must resolve to that realm (not be
+      // path-joined onto the referring card's URL) when the prefix is
+      // registered, and must fail loudly — not silently mangle — when it isn't.
+      test('resolves a scoped instance link to its realm when the prefix is registered', function (assert) {
+        let vn = makeVN();
+        assert.strictEqual(
+          vn.resolveURL(
+            '@cardstack/base/Theme/boxel-brand-guide',
+            new URL('http://localhost:4201/homepage/Site/boxel-site.json'),
+          ).href,
+          'http://localhost:4201/base/Theme/boxel-brand-guide',
+        );
+      });
+
+      test('keeps a registered scoped link in canonical prefix form', function (assert) {
+        let vn = makeVN();
+        assert.strictEqual(
+          vn.resolveRRI(
+            '@cardstack/base/Theme/boxel-brand-guide',
+            rri('http://localhost:4201/homepage/Site/boxel-site.json'),
+          ),
+          '@cardstack/base/Theme/boxel-brand-guide',
+        );
+      });
+
+      test('throws for a scoped link whose prefix has no registered mapping, instead of silently mangling', function (assert) {
+        // Without the guard, resolving against the referring card's URL
+        // produced a bogus path-join like
+        // `http://localhost:4201/homepage/Site/@cardstack/base/Theme/...`,
+        // which 404s and surfaces only as a confusing downstream error.
+        let vn = new VirtualNetwork();
+        assert.throws(
+          () =>
+            vn.resolveURL(
+              '@cardstack/base/Theme/boxel-brand-guide',
+              new URL('http://localhost:4201/homepage/Site/boxel-site.json'),
+            ),
+          /no mapping registered for that prefix/,
+        );
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   module('VirtualNetwork.fetch with RRI', function (hooks) {
diff --git a/packages/runtime-common/helpers/card-type-display-name.ts b/packages/runtime-common/helpers/card-type-display-name.ts
index 02df0bde08..c67d81d4e6 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-common/helpers/card-type-display-name.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-common/helpers/card-type-display-name.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ import type {
 import { getField } from '../code-ref.ts';
 
 export function cardTypeDisplayName(cardOrField: BaseDef): string {
+  // A not-yet-loaded or broken relationship link can surface an undefined
+  // model to a card's own template (the linksTo component only renders the
+  // broken-link template for specific membership states). Guard like the
+  // sibling helpers below so an unguarded `{{cardTypeDisplayName @model}}`
+  // renders empty instead of throwing and failing the whole card render.
+  if (!cardOrField?.constructor) {
+    return '';
+  }
   return cardOrField.constructor.getDisplayName(cardOrField);
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/runtime-common/index-writer.ts b/packages/runtime-common/index-writer.ts
index d98864311e..8f7bf362de 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-common/index-writer.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-common/index-writer.ts
@@ -359,8 +359,13 @@ export class Batch {
       ]),
     ] as Expression)) as unknown as BoxelIndexTable[];
     let now = String(Date.now());
+    // A scoped RRI (@scope/realm/...) is an absolute cross-realm identifier —
+    // preserve it verbatim whether or not this writer's VirtualNetwork has the
+    // prefix registered. Only source-realm URLs get rewritten to the
+    // destination realm; `new URL()` throws on a bare scoped prefix, so the
+    // guard must cover unregistered prefixes too.
     let copyURL = (value: string) =>
-      this.isRegisteredPrefix(value)
+      value.startsWith('@') || this.isRegisteredPrefix(value)
         ? value
         : this.copiedRealmURL(sourceRealmURL, new URL(value)).href;
     let values = sources.map((entry) => {
@@ -1433,7 +1438,12 @@ export class Batch {
   ): Record<string, any> {
     let result: Record<string, any> = {};
     for (let [key, value] of Object.entries(obj)) {
-      result[this.copiedRealmURL(fromRealm, new URL(key)).href] = value;
+      // Scoped RRI keys are cross-realm — preserve verbatim (see copyFrom).
+      let newKey =
+        key.startsWith('@') || this.isRegisteredPrefix(key)
+          ? key
+          : this.copiedRealmURL(fromRealm, new URL(key)).href;
+      result[newKey] = value;
     }
     return result;
   }
@@ -1489,9 +1499,10 @@ export class Batch {
           obj.id &&
           typeof obj.id === 'string'
         ) {
-          obj.id = this.isRegisteredPrefix(obj.id)
-            ? obj.id
-            : this.copiedRealmURL(fromRealm, new URL(obj.id));
+          obj.id =
+            obj.id.startsWith('@') || this.isRegisteredPrefix(obj.id)
+              ? obj.id
+              : this.copiedRealmURL(fromRealm, new URL(obj.id));
         } else {
           this.updateIds(obj[key], fromRealm);
         }
diff --git a/packages/runtime-common/index.ts b/packages/runtime-common/index.ts
index 778b2ede08..e5eb30a40a 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-common/index.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-common/index.ts
@@ -1232,6 +1232,16 @@ export function internalKeyFor(
   virtualNetwork: VirtualNetwork,
 ): string {
   if (!('type' in ref)) {
+    // A scoped RRI (@scope/realm/...) for a realm with no registered mapping
+    // is already the canonical module key — use it as-is. Routing it through
+    // resolveURL would require a mapping (which a caller's VN may lack, e.g.
+    // an index writer keying a base ref) and now throws for unknown prefixes.
+    if (
+      ref.module.startsWith('@') &&
+      !virtualNetwork.isRegisteredPrefix(ref.module)
+    ) {
+      return `${trimExecutableExtension(rri(ref.module))}/${ref.name}`;
+    }
     let resolved = virtualNetwork.resolveURL(ref.module, relativeTo).href;
     let module: string = trimExecutableExtension(rri(resolved));
     // Use the prefix form (e.g. @cardstack/catalog/foo) as the canonical
@@ -1259,6 +1269,14 @@ export function internalKeysFor(
   virtualNetwork: VirtualNetwork,
 ): string[] {
   if (!('type' in ref)) {
+    // See internalKeyFor: an unregistered scoped RRI is already canonical and
+    // has no other equivalent spelling, so key it directly without resolving.
+    if (
+      ref.module.startsWith('@') &&
+      !virtualNetwork.isRegisteredPrefix(ref.module)
+    ) {
+      return [`${trimExecutableExtension(rri(ref.module))}/${ref.name}`];
+    }
     let resolved = virtualNetwork.resolveURL(ref.module, relativeTo).href;
     let module: string = trimExecutableExtension(rri(resolved));
     return virtualNetwork
diff --git a/packages/runtime-common/virtual-network.ts b/packages/runtime-common/virtual-network.ts
index c8a24423a2..e4dc382264 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-common/virtual-network.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-common/virtual-network.ts
@@ -297,6 +297,22 @@ export class VirtualNetwork {
       return reference as RealmResourceIdentifier;
     }
 
+    // An `@`-scoped reference is RRI prefix form for a realm this network has
+    // no mapping registered for. It is absolute and cross-realm by
+    // construction, so it cannot be resolved here — and the URL-relative
+    // fallback below would silently path-join it into a bogus URL
+    // (e.g. `https://realm/card/@cardstack/base/x`), producing broken links
+    // and dependency entries. Fail loudly so a missing realm mapping surfaces
+    // at resolution time. (Serialization/relativization preserves scoped refs
+    // verbatim and never reaches this method — see `isScopedReference` in
+    // realm-index-query-engine; `canonicalURL` catches this and keeps the
+    // reference in clean prefix form.)
+    if (reference.startsWith('@')) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Cannot resolve "${reference}": it is a scoped realm-prefix (RRI) reference, but this VirtualNetwork has no mapping registered for that prefix`,
+      );
+    }
+
     // "/" and "~/" are not valid RRI reference forms
     if (reference.startsWith('/') || reference.startsWith('~/')) {
       throw new Error(