diff --git a/backend/api/v1/admin/storage_router.py b/backend/api/v1/admin/storage_router.py
index a47e8e9..4ea9a82 100644
--- a/backend/api/v1/admin/storage_router.py
+++ b/backend/api/v1/admin/storage_router.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from typing import List, Optional
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Query
 from fastapi.responses import FileResponse
 from pydantic import BaseModel
-from sqlalchemy import func, select, and_
+from sqlalchemy import func, select, and_, delete
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 
 from models.sql.client import ClientModel
@@ -379,6 +379,8 @@ async def purge_deleted_storage(
     purged_presentations = 0
     purged_images = 0
 
+    print(f"[PURGE] Found {len(deleted_presentations)} soft-deleted presentations")
+
     for p in deleted_presentations:
         # Delete export files (PDF/PPTX)
         if p.file_paths:
@@ -397,6 +399,7 @@ async def purge_deleted_storage(
         slides_stmt = select(SlideModel).where(SlideModel.presentation == p.id)
         slides_result = await session.execute(slides_stmt)
         slides = slides_result.scalars().all()
+        print(f"[PURGE] Presentation {p.id}: {len(slides)} slides")
 
         for slide in slides:
             if slide.content and isinstance(slide.content, dict):
@@ -404,20 +407,33 @@ async def purge_deleted_storage(
                 image_data = slide.content.get("image")
                 if image_data and isinstance(image_data, dict):
                     image_url = image_data.get("__image_url__")
+                    print(f"[PURGE]   Slide has image URL: {image_url}")
                     if image_url and image_url.startswith("/app_data/images/"):
-                        # Convert URL to filesystem path
-                        image_path = image_url.lstrip("/")
+                        # URL is already an absolute path inside container
+                        image_path = image_url
+                        print(f"[PURGE]   Checking path: {image_path}, exists: {os.path.isfile(image_path)}")
                         if os.path.isfile(image_path):
                             try:
                                 size = os.path.getsize(image_path)
                                 os.remove(image_path)
                                 purged_images += 1
                                 purged_bytes += size
-                            except OSError:
-                                pass
+                                print(f"[PURGE]   ✓ Deleted: {image_path} ({size} bytes)")
+                            except OSError as e:
+                                print(f"[PURGE]   ✗ Error deleting {image_path}: {e}")
 
         purged_presentations += 1
 
+    print(f"[PURGE] TOTAL: {purged_presentations} presentations, {purged_files} files, {purged_images} images, {purged_bytes} bytes")
+
+    # Hard-delete presentation records and their slides from DB
+    print(f"[PURGE] Hard-deleting {len(deleted_presentations)} presentation records from DB...")
+    for p in deleted_presentations:
+        # Slides will be cascade-deleted due to FK ondelete="CASCADE"
+        await session.delete(p)
+
+    print(f"[PURGE] ✓ Deleted {len(deleted_presentations)} presentations from database")
+
     await session.commit()
 
     audit_service.log(
diff --git a/backend/api/v1/ppt/endpoints/outlines.py b/backend/api/v1/ppt/endpoints/outlines.py
index 764f5b2..c7114cb 100644
--- a/backend/api/v1/ppt/endpoints/outlines.py
+++ b/backend/api/v1/ppt/endpoints/outlines.py
@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@ async def stream_outlines(
             presentation_outlines_json = dict(
                 dirtyjson.loads(presentation_outlines_text)
             )
+
+            # Fix: LLM sometimes returns slides as JSON string instead of list
+            if "slides" in presentation_outlines_json and isinstance(presentation_outlines_json["slides"], str):
+                print("[OUTLINE] Warning: slides field is a string, parsing as JSON...")
+                presentation_outlines_json["slides"] = dirtyjson.loads(presentation_outlines_json["slides"])
+
         except Exception as e:
             traceback.print_exc()
             yield SSEErrorResponse(
diff --git a/frontend/app/admin/storage/page.tsx b/frontend/app/admin/storage/page.tsx
index 2acfcdf..ffd3b7a 100644
--- a/frontend/app/admin/storage/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/admin/storage/page.tsx
@@ -177,8 +177,9 @@ export default function StoragePage() {
       });
       if (res.ok) {
         const data = await res.json();
+        const totalFiles = (data.purged_files || 0) + (data.purged_images || 0);
         toast.success(
-          `Purged ${data.purged_files} files (${formatBytes(data.purged_bytes)})`
+          `Purged ${totalFiles} files (${formatBytes(data.purged_bytes || 0)})`
         );
         load();
       } else {