diff --git a/backend/windmill-api/src/hub_publish.rs b/backend/windmill-api/src/hub_publish.rs
index ccb530ce20..5185b437c8 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-api/src/hub_publish.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-api/src/hub_publish.rs
@@ -462,6 +462,17 @@ async fn publish_resource_type(
 struct PublishResourceBody {
     path: String,
     resource_type: String,
+    /// Whether an importer has to fill this in for the project to run. False for a
+    /// stub minted from an item's `resource-<type>` input, which is created so a
+    /// standalone run has something to pick but which nothing in the project reads.
+    /// The body is re-serialized into the Hub call, so a field missing here is
+    /// dropped on the way through; defaulted so an older client still posts.
+    #[serde(default = "default_true")]
+    required: bool,
+}
+
+fn default_true() -> bool {
+    true
 }
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Serialize)]
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/ImportSetupStep.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/ImportSetupStep.svelte
index 86670b0817..d5ad9db953 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/ImportSetupStep.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/ImportSetupStep.svelte
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 	import { applyOneMigration } from '$lib/components/workspaceSettings/projectInstall'
 	import { probeMigrationsApplied } from '$lib/importWizard/probe'
 	import {
+		isRequiredResource,
 		retargetProjectExport,
 		type ProjectExport,
 		type ProjectMigration
@@ -253,7 +254,12 @@
 			// Contained for the same reason the import contains: a crafted export can name a
 			// path outside the folder, and offering that for editing would reach a resource
 			// this import was never allowed to create.
+			// Unrequired stubs are imported but never asked for: nothing in the project
+			// reads them, they exist so a standalone run of the item that declared the
+			// type has something to pick. Listing them would ask for a second credential
+			// to satisfy one dependency, and would block Finish on it.
 			projectResources = (retargeted.resources ?? [])
+				.filter(isRequiredResource)
 				.map((r) => ({ path: String(r.path), resource_type: String((r as any).resource_type) }))
 				.filter((r) => r.path.startsWith(`f/${target}/`))
 			await refreshBlanks()
@@ -757,15 +763,17 @@
 				size="xs"
 			>
 				{#if missingTables.length > 0}
-					The tables {missingTables.length === 1 ? 'this data table holds' : 'these data tables hold'}
+					The tables {missingTables.length === 1
+						? 'this data table holds'
+						: 'these data tables hold'}
 					do not exist, and the project's apps and flows read them. Every one of those fails as soon
 					as it opens.
 				{/if}
 				{#if uncheckedTables.length > 0}
 					{#if missingTables.length > 0}<br /><br />{/if}
 					{uncheckedTables.length === 1 ? 'One data table is' : 'Some data tables are'} set up, but
-					{uncheckedTables.length === 1 ? 'its' : 'their'} schema could not be read, so whether the
-					project's tables are there is unknown. Check again once the database is reachable.
+					{uncheckedTables.length === 1 ? 'its' : 'their'} schema could not be read, so whether the project's
+					tables are there is unknown. Check again once the database is reachable.
 				{/if}
 			</Alert>
 		{:else}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.test.ts
index 5ec8eed841..933fa60fa5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import {
 	canRecordSession,
 	inputResourceTypes,
 	mergeAppTableOrigin,
+	projectResourceExports,
 	type DeployItem
 } from './deployToHubItems'
 
@@ -62,3 +63,43 @@ describe('inputResourceTypes', () => {
 		expect(inputResourceTypes(schema, new Set())).toEqual(all)
 	})
 })
+
+describe('projectResourceExports', () => {
+	// An app that pins `$res:f/mine/prod_db` for a script arg declared as
+	// `resource-postgresql` used to publish both `prod_db` and `postgresql`, so the
+	// importer filled two credentials to satisfy one dependency.
+	it('ships an input-derived stub unrequired when a $res: one covers the type', () => {
+		expect(
+			projectResourceExports(
+				[{ newPath: 'f/proj/prod_db', resource_type: 'postgresql' }],
+				['postgresql'],
+				'proj'
+			)
+		).toEqual([
+			{ path: 'f/proj/prod_db', resource_type: 'postgresql', required: true },
+			{ path: 'f/proj/postgresql', resource_type: 'postgresql', required: false }
+		])
+	})
+
+	// Unrequired even when it is the project's only resource: an input format names
+	// no path, so there is nothing to say the item will ever be run. A project whose
+	// resources are all input-derived asks the importer for nothing, and the stubs
+	// are what a standalone run picks from.
+	it('ships an input-derived stub unrequired even when nothing else covers the type', () => {
+		expect(projectResourceExports([], ['postgresql'], 'proj')).toEqual([
+			{ path: 'f/proj/postgresql', resource_type: 'postgresql', required: false }
+		])
+	})
+
+	// A referenced resource named after its own type relocates onto the conventional
+	// stub path. Something reads it, so the reference has to win the collision.
+	it('lets a referenced resource win a path claimed by both', () => {
+		expect(
+			projectResourceExports(
+				[{ newPath: 'f/proj/postgresql', resource_type: 'postgresql' }],
+				['postgresql'],
+				'proj'
+			)
+		).toEqual([{ path: 'f/proj/postgresql', resource_type: 'postgresql', required: true }])
+	})
+})
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.ts
index 5c018bcc96..7bcde8f0c5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubItems.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,44 @@ export function inputResourceTypes(schema: unknown, known: Set<string> | undefin
 	return [...out]
 }
 
+export interface ProjectResourceExport {
+	path: string
+	resource_type: string
+	/** Whether the importer has to fill this in for the project to run. */
+	required: boolean
+}
+
+/**
+ * The resources a project publishes, from the two things that produce one.
+ *
+ * A `$res:` token (or a trigger's resource field) names a path something in the
+ * project reads, so the credential is required or that item cannot run. An input
+ * schema's `resource-<type>` format names no path at all — it says the project
+ * needs a type, and a stub gets minted at the conventional `f/<slug>/<type>` so a
+ * standalone run of that item has something to pick. Flattening the two makes an
+ * app that pins `$res:.../prod_db` for a script arg publish `prod_db` *and*
+ * `postgresql`, and the importer fills two credentials to satisfy one dependency.
+ *
+ * So the second kind ships unrequired: still created, never asked for. A path
+ * claimed by both is required — a referenced resource is read whatever else
+ * happens to mint the same path.
+ */
+export function projectResourceExports(
+	resourceStubs: { newPath: string; resource_type: string }[],
+	inputTypes: string[],
+	slug: string
+): ProjectResourceExport[] {
+	const byPath = new Map<string, ProjectResourceExport>()
+	for (const s of resourceStubs) {
+		byPath.set(s.newPath, { path: s.newPath, resource_type: s.resource_type, required: true })
+	}
+	for (const t of inputTypes) {
+		const path = `f/${slug}/${t}`
+		if (!byPath.has(path)) byPath.set(path, { path, resource_type: t, required: false })
+	}
+	return [...byPath.values()]
+}
+
 // A raw app has no run to capture: its demo is a recorded session of someone
 // using it, driven in the record drawer and replayed on the Hub page. Legacy raw
 // apps live only in the `raw_app` table, and the record surface loads the app
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubSession.svelte.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubSession.svelte.ts
index c421553a7c..1a60069c19 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubSession.svelte.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/deployToHubSession.svelte.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import {
 	canRecordSession,
 	inputResourceTypes,
 	mergeAppTableOrigin,
+	projectResourceExports,
 	HIDDEN_RESOURCE_TYPES,
 	type DeployItem
 } from './deployToHubItems'
@@ -1198,15 +1199,7 @@ export class DeployToHubSession {
 				types.filter((t) => exportedTypes.has(t))
 			)
 
-			// Input-type deps with no path get a conventional f/<slug>/<type> stub.
-			const stubsByPath = new Map<string, { path: string; resource_type: string }>()
-			for (const s of bundle.resourceStubs)
-				stubsByPath.set(s.newPath, { path: s.newPath, resource_type: s.resource_type })
-			for (const t of inputTypes) {
-				const path = `f/${slug}/${t}`
-				if (!stubsByPath.has(path)) stubsByPath.set(path, { path, resource_type: t })
-			}
-			const stubs = [...stubsByPath.values()]
+			const stubs = projectResourceExports(bundle.resourceStubs, inputTypes, slug)
 			if (stubs.length > 0) {
 				try {
 					await this.#postHub('/hub/resources', { resources: stubs, project_slug: slug })
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/projectBundle.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/projectBundle.ts
index 1fd62498d5..05b81d409e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/projectBundle.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/workspaceSettings/projectBundle.ts
@@ -376,6 +376,19 @@ export interface ProjectExport {
 	migrations?: ProjectMigration[]
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether a shipped resource is one the importer has to fill in, as opposed to a
+ * stub minted from an item's `resource-<type>` input so a standalone run of it has
+ * something to pick. Both are created; only these are asked for.
+ *
+ * Absent means required. Projects published before the distinction existed carry
+ * no flag, and reading that as "not required" would silently stop asking for
+ * credentials they genuinely need.
+ */
+export function isRequiredResource(r: ExportItem): boolean {
+	return r?.required !== false
+}
+
 // Map bundled paths `f/<fromSlug>/...` -> `f/<folder>/...`. Only enumerated
 // paths go in, so rewriters touch real refs, never incidental text.
 export function buildRetargetMap(
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/importWizard/execution.svelte.ts b/frontend/src/lib/importWizard/execution.svelte.ts
index 06c33f3222..8c29efb30c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/importWizard/execution.svelte.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/importWizard/execution.svelte.ts
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ import {
 	installProject,
 	type InstallResult
 } from '$lib/components/workspaceSettings/projectInstall'
-import type {
-	ProjectExport,
-	ProjectMigration
+import {
+	isRequiredResource,
+	type ProjectExport,
+	type ProjectMigration
 } from '$lib/components/workspaceSettings/projectBundle'
 import { planWorkspaceId, type ImportPlan } from './plan'
 import { probeImportedPaths, probeWorkspace } from './probe'
@@ -110,12 +111,16 @@ export class ImportExecution {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * How many resources the project shipped. Every one arrives as an empty stub —
-	 * the hub never publishes resource values — so a non-zero count means the setup
-	 * step has something to offer.
+	 * How many resources the importer has to fill in. Every shipped resource arrives
+	 * as an empty stub — the hub never publishes resource values — so a non-zero
+	 * count means the setup step has something to offer.
+	 *
+	 * Only the required ones: an unrequired stub exists so a standalone run of the
+	 * item that declared its type has something to pick, and nothing in the project
+	 * reads it. Counting those would open a setup step listing nothing.
 	 */
 	get resourceCount(): number {
-		return this.#export?.resources?.length ?? 0
+		return (this.#export?.resources ?? []).filter(isRequiredResource).length
 	}
 
 	get extraCounts(): { triggers: number; migrations: number } | undefined {
@@ -453,9 +458,7 @@ export class ImportExecution {
 		const problems: string[] = []
 		if (failed > 0) problems.push(`${failed} item${failed === 1 ? '' : 's'} failed to import`)
 		if (badMigrations > 0) {
-			problems.push(
-				`${badMigrations} data table migration${badMigrations === 1 ? '' : 's'} failed`
-			)
+			problems.push(`${badMigrations} data table migration${badMigrations === 1 ? '' : 's'} failed`)
 		}
 		if (problems.length) this.error = `${problems.join(', ')}.`
 	}