diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d1165ba..597c0b7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 ### Fixed
 
 - Fixed playlist schedule summaries showing weekday text and omitting boundary times when dates are returned as `Date` objects.
+- Preserved saved API region items-path overrides when reopening the slide editor instead of replacing them with the source default.
 
 ## 2.20.4 - 2026-10-25
 
diff --git a/src/web/public/js/regions/type/api.js b/src/web/public/js/regions/type/api.js
index d253987..dae5168 100644
--- a/src/web/public/js/regions/type/api.js
+++ b/src/web/public/js/regions/type/api.js
@@ -227,7 +227,9 @@
     var sourceOptions = String(context.sourceOptions || '');
     var itemsPathValue = context.itemsPath !== undefined
       ? String(context.itemsPath === null ? '' : context.itemsPath)
-      : String(config.default_items_path || '');
+      : config.items_path !== undefined
+        ? String(config.items_path === null ? '' : config.items_path)
+        : String(config.default_items_path || '');
     var sampleDataPreview = String(context.sampleDataPreview || '');
     return '' +
       '<div class="card card-outline card-secondary admin-form-card template-field-card mb-3" data-region-id="' + region.id + '" style="position:relative;overflow:visible !important;">' +
diff --git a/test/api-region-sort.test.js b/test/api-region-sort.test.js
index 65478d1..c50ab98 100644
--- a/test/api-region-sort.test.js
+++ b/test/api-region-sort.test.js
@@ -242,6 +242,32 @@ test('API region results panel exposes its open control without resize buttons',
   assert.match(expandedMarkup, /name="region_api_sort_by_24"[^>]*value="stats\.kills"/);
 });
 
+test('API editor preserves saved item paths instead of replacing them with the source default', () => {
+  const editor = loadApiEditor();
+  const context = {
+    region: { id: 23 },
+    current: { value: '{{0.name}}' },
+    config: { source_id: 11, default_items_path: 'data' },
+    sourceOptions: '',
+    placeholderFields: [],
+    placeholderChips: '',
+    sampleDataPreview: '[]',
+    fontSize: 32
+  };
+
+  for (const [savedPath, expectedPath] of [['data.players', 'data.players'], ['', ''], [null, ''], [undefined, 'data']]) {
+    const markup = editor.renderEditorCard({ ...context, config: { ...context.config, items_path: savedPath } });
+    assert.match(markup, new RegExp('name="region_api_items_path_23"[^>]*value="' + expectedPath.replace('.', '\\.') + '"'));
+  }
+
+  const explicitContext = editor.renderEditorCard({
+    ...context,
+    itemsPath: 'other.players',
+    config: { ...context.config, items_path: 'data.players' }
+  });
+  assert.match(explicitContext, /name="region_api_items_path_23"[^>]*value="other\.players"/);
+});
+
 test('API results preview always includes the first result completely', () => {
   let source = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '../src/web/public/js/slides/slide-form-regions.js'), 'utf8');
   source = source.replace("import { createSlideFormPreviewHelpers } from '/assets/js/slides/slide-form-preview.js';", '').replace('export function createSlideFormRegionHelpers', 'function createSlideFormRegionHelpers');