diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/constants.py b/stack_orchestrator/constants.py
index 2e885431..e5c83698 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/constants.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/constants.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ compose_deploy_type = "compose"
 k8s_kind_deploy_type = "k8s-kind"
 k8s_deploy_type = "k8s"
 cluster_id_key = "cluster-id"
+deployment_id_key = "deployment-id"
 kube_config_key = "kube-config"
 deploy_to_key = "deploy-to"
 network_key = "network"
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_context.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_context.py
index 79fc4bb9..1776699e 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_context.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_context.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ from stack_orchestrator.deploy.spec import Spec
 class DeploymentContext:
     deployment_dir: Path
     id: str
+    deployment_id: str
     spec: Spec
     stack: Stack
 
@@ -48,8 +49,27 @@ class DeploymentContext:
         return self.get_compose_dir() / f"docker-compose-{name}.yml"
 
     def get_cluster_id(self):
+        """Identifier of the kind cluster this deployment attaches to.
+
+        Shared across deployments that join the same kind cluster. Used
+        for the kube-config context name (`kind-{cluster-id}`) and for
+        kind cluster lifecycle ops.
+        """
         return self.id
 
+    def get_deployment_id(self):
+        """Identifier of this particular deployment's k8s resources.
+
+        Distinct per deployment even when multiple deployments share a
+        cluster. Used as compose_project_name → app_name → prefix for
+        all k8s resource names (PVs, ConfigMaps, Deployments, …).
+
+        Backward compat: for deployment.yml files written before this
+        field existed, falls back to cluster-id so existing on-disk
+        resource names remain stable (no PV renames, no re-bind).
+        """
+        return self.deployment_id
+
     def init(self, dir: Path):
         self.deployment_dir = dir.absolute()
         self.spec = Spec()
@@ -60,6 +80,12 @@ class DeploymentContext:
         if deployment_file_path.exists():
             obj = get_yaml().load(open(deployment_file_path, "r"))
             self.id = obj[constants.cluster_id_key]
+            # Fallback to cluster-id for deployments created before the
+            # deployment-id field was introduced. Keeps existing resource
+            # names stable across this upgrade.
+            self.deployment_id = obj.get(
+                constants.deployment_id_key, self.id
+            )
         # Handle the case of a legacy deployment with no file
         # Code below is intended to match the output from _make_default_cluster_name()
         # TODO: remove when we no longer need to support legacy deployments
@@ -68,6 +94,7 @@ class DeploymentContext:
             unique_cluster_descriptor = f"{path},{self.get_stack_file()},None,None"
             hash = hashlib.md5(unique_cluster_descriptor.encode()).hexdigest()[:16]
             self.id = f"{constants.cluster_name_prefix}{hash}"
+            self.deployment_id = self.id
 
     def modify_yaml(self, file_path: Path, modifier_func):
         """Load a YAML, apply a modification function, and write it back."""
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
index bb9c084a..fd7ec4f1 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
@@ -887,7 +887,15 @@ def _create_deployment_file(deployment_dir: Path, stack_source: Optional[Path] =
     # Reuse existing Kind cluster if one exists, otherwise generate a timestamp-based ID
     existing = _get_existing_kind_cluster()
     cluster = existing if existing else generate_id("laconic")
-    deployment_content = {constants.cluster_id_key: cluster}
+    # deployment-id is always fresh per `deploy create`, even when
+    # cluster-id is inherited from a running cluster. Keeps each
+    # deployment's k8s resource names (PVs, ConfigMaps, Deployment)
+    # distinct even when multiple deployments share a cluster.
+    deployment_id = generate_id("laconic")
+    deployment_content = {
+        constants.cluster_id_key: cluster,
+        constants.deployment_id_key: deployment_id,
+    }
     if stack_source:
         deployment_content["stack-source"] = str(stack_source)
     with open(deployment_file_path, "w") as output_file:
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
index 87f79257..84318cde 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
@@ -129,27 +129,34 @@ class K8sDeployer(Deployer):
             return
         self.deployment_dir = deployment_context.deployment_dir
         self.deployment_context = deployment_context
+        # kind cluster name comes from cluster-id — which kind cluster this
+        # deployment attaches to. Shared across deployments that join the
+        # same cluster. compose_project_name is kept as a parameter for
+        # interface compatibility with the compose deployer path.
+        cluster_id = deployment_context.get_cluster_id()
+        deployment_id = deployment_context.get_deployment_id()
         self.kind_cluster_name = (
-            deployment_context.spec.get_kind_cluster_name() or compose_project_name
-        )
-        # Use spec namespace if provided, otherwise derive from cluster-id
-        self.k8s_namespace = (
-            deployment_context.spec.get_namespace() or f"laconic-{compose_project_name}"
+            deployment_context.spec.get_kind_cluster_name() or cluster_id
         )
         self.cluster_info = ClusterInfo()
         # stack.name may be an absolute path (from spec "stack:" key after
         # path resolution). Extract just the directory basename for labels.
         raw_name = deployment_context.stack.name if deployment_context else ""
         stack_name = Path(raw_name).name if raw_name else ""
-        # Use spec namespace if provided, otherwise derive from stack name
+        # Namespace: spec override wins; else derive from stack name; else
+        # fall back to deployment-id. (On older deployment.yml files without
+        # deployment-id, get_deployment_id() returns cluster-id — same as
+        # the pre-decouple behavior.)
         self.k8s_namespace = deployment_context.spec.get_namespace() or (
-            f"laconic-{stack_name}" if stack_name else f"laconic-{compose_project_name}"
+            f"laconic-{stack_name}" if stack_name else f"laconic-{deployment_id}"
         )
         self.cluster_info = ClusterInfo()
+        # app_name comes from deployment-id so each deployment owns its own
+        # k8s resource names, even when multiple deployments share a cluster.
         self.cluster_info.int(
             compose_files,
             compose_env_file,
-            compose_project_name,
+            deployment_id,
             deployment_context.spec,
             stack_name=stack_name,
         )
diff --git a/tests/k8s-deploy/run-deploy-test.sh b/tests/k8s-deploy/run-deploy-test.sh
index 28da655c..08a89c6a 100755
--- a/tests/k8s-deploy/run-deploy-test.sh
+++ b/tests/k8s-deploy/run-deploy-test.sh
@@ -147,7 +147,13 @@ deployment_spec_file=${test_deployment_dir}/spec.yml
 sed -i 's/^secrets: {}$/secrets:\n  test-secret:\n    - TEST_SECRET_KEY/' ${deployment_spec_file}
 
 # Get the deployment ID and namespace for kubectl queries
-deployment_id=$(cat ${test_deployment_dir}/deployment.yml | cut -d ' ' -f 2)
+# deployment-id is what flows into app_name → resource name prefix.
+# Fall back to cluster-id for deployment.yml files written before the
+# deployment-id field existed (pre-decouple compatibility).
+deployment_id=$(awk '/^deployment-id:/ {print $2; exit}' ${test_deployment_dir}/deployment.yml)
+if [ -z "$deployment_id" ]; then
+    deployment_id=$(awk '/^cluster-id:/ {print $2; exit}' ${test_deployment_dir}/deployment.yml)
+fi
 # Namespace is derived from stack name: laconic-{stack_name}
 deployment_ns="laconic-test"