diff --git a/src/apps/cli/README.md b/src/apps/cli/README.md
index 18f70b7..7adc18c 100644
--- a/src/apps/cli/README.md
+++ b/src/apps/cli/README.md
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ livesync-cli [database-path] [command] [args...]
 
 - `database-path`: Path to the directory where `.livesync` folder and `settings.json` are (or will be) located.
     - Note: In previous versions, this was referred to as the "vault" path. Now it is clearly distinguished from the actual vault (the directory containing your `.md` files).
+- `--vault <path>` / `-V <path>`: (daemon/mirror only) Path to the vault directory containing `.md` files.
+    - Allows the PouchDB database directory and the actual vault directory to be different locations.
+    - For `mirror` command, the positional `[vault-path]` argument takes precedence over `--vault`.
 
 ### Commands
 
@@ -312,6 +315,7 @@ Options:
   --verbose, -v           Enable verbose logging
   --debug, -d             Enable debug logging (includes verbose)
   --interval <N>, -i <N>  (daemon only) Poll CouchDB every N seconds instead of using the _changes feed
+  --vault <path>, -V <path>  (daemon/mirror) Path to vault directory, decoupled from database-path
   --help, -h              Show this help message
 
 Commands:
@@ -332,7 +336,8 @@ Commands:
   info <path>             Show file metadata including current and past revisions, conflicts, and chunk list
   rm <path>               Mark file as deleted in local database
   resolve <path> <rev>    Resolve conflict by keeping the specified revision
-  mirror [vaultPath]      Mirror database contents to the local file system (vaultPath defaults to database-path)
+  mirror [vaultPath]      Mirror database contents to the local file system
+                           (vaultPath positional arg > --vault flag > database-path)
 ```
 
 Run via npm script:
diff --git a/src/apps/cli/commands/types.ts b/src/apps/cli/commands/types.ts
index 2f5337f..7963996 100644
--- a/src/apps/cli/commands/types.ts
+++ b/src/apps/cli/commands/types.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export type CLICommand =
 
 export interface CLIOptions {
     databasePath?: string;
+    vaultPath?: string;
     settingsPath?: string;
     verbose?: boolean;
     debug?: boolean;
diff --git a/src/apps/cli/main.ts b/src/apps/cli/main.ts
index 1bd1ea5..093b8f5 100644
--- a/src/apps/cli/main.ts
+++ b/src/apps/cli/main.ts
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ Commands:
     info <path>             Show detailed metadata for a file (ID, revision, conflicts, chunks)
     rm <path>               Mark a file as deleted in local database
     resolve <path> <rev>    Resolve conflicts by keeping <rev> and deleting others
-    mirror [vault-path]     Mirror database contents to the local file system (vault-path defaults to database-path)
+    mirror [vault-path]     Mirror database contents to the local file system (vault-path takes precedence over --vault; defaults to vault from --vault / database-path)
     remote-add <name> <connstr>
                             Add a remote configuration from a connection string
     remote-rm <remote-id>    Remove a remote configuration by ID
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ Commands:
                             Activate a stored remote configuration by ID
 
 Options:
+  --vault <path>, -V <path>  (daemon/mirror) Path to the vault directory containing .md files
+                              (defaults to database-path; allows separate PouchDB and vault dirs)
   --interval <N>, -i <N>  (daemon only) Poll CouchDB every N seconds instead of using the _changes feed
 
 Examples:
@@ -114,6 +116,7 @@ export function parseArgs(): CLIOptions {
     }
 
     let databasePath: string | undefined;
+    let vaultPath: string | undefined;
     let settingsPath: string | undefined;
     let verbose = false;
     let debug = false;
@@ -125,6 +128,16 @@ export function parseArgs(): CLIOptions {
     for (let i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
         const token = args[i];
         switch (token) {
+            case "--vault":
+            case "-V": {
+                i++;
+                if (!args[i]) {
+                    console.error(`Error: Missing value for ${token}`);
+                    process.exit(1);
+                }
+                vaultPath = args[i];
+                break;
+            }
             case "--settings":
             case "-s": {
                 i++;
@@ -198,6 +211,7 @@ export function parseArgs(): CLIOptions {
 
     return {
         databasePath,
+        vaultPath,
         settingsPath,
         verbose,
         debug,
@@ -290,16 +304,23 @@ export async function main() {
         : path.join(databasePath, SETTINGS_FILE);
     configureNodeLocalStorage(path.join(databasePath, ".livesync", "runtime", "local-storage.json"));
 
-    infoLog(`Self-hosted LiveSync CLI`);
-    infoLog(`Database Path: ${databasePath}`);
-    infoLog(`Settings: ${settingsPath}`);
-    infoLog("");
-
-    // For daemon and mirror mode, load ignore rules before the core is constructed so that
-    // chokidar's ignored option is populated when beginWatch() fires during onLoad().
+    // Resolve vault path: mirror positional argument takes priority,
+    // then --vault flag, otherwise fall back to databasePath.
+    // For daemon mode, enable chokidar file watching so the _changes feed picks up events.
+    // mirror runs a single full scan and doesn't need continuous watching.
     const watchEnabled = options.command === "daemon";
     const vaultPath =
-        options.command === "mirror" && options.commandArgs[0] ? path.resolve(options.commandArgs[0]) : databasePath;
+        options.command === "mirror" && options.commandArgs[0]
+            ? path.resolve(options.commandArgs[0])
+            : options.vaultPath
+                ? path.resolve(options.vaultPath)
+                : databasePath!;
+
+    infoLog(`Self-hosted LiveSync CLI`);
+    infoLog(`Database Path: ${databasePath}`);
+    infoLog(`Vault Path:    ${vaultPath}`);
+    infoLog(`Settings: ${settingsPath}`);
+    infoLog("");
     let ignoreRules: IgnoreRules | undefined;
     if (options.command === "daemon" || options.command === "mirror") {
         ignoreRules = new IgnoreRules(vaultPath);