diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/Tools/ai_chat_worker.php b/Plugin/unraid/Tools/ai_chat_worker.php
index 1c49236..de0c44c 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/Tools/ai_chat_worker.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/Tools/ai_chat_worker.php
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ if (PHP_SAPI !== 'cli') {
 
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/ai.php';
 
-[$jobFile, $question, $historyJson, $kind, $think, $profile] =
-    array_slice($argv, 1, 6) + array_fill(0, 6, '');
+[$jobFile, $question, $historyJson, $kind, $think, $profile, $scope] =
+    array_slice($argv, 1, 7) + array_fill(0, 7, '');
 
 if ($jobFile === '' || $question === '') exit(1);
 if (!preg_match('#/[0-9a-f]{32}\.json$#', $jobFile)) exit(1);
@@ -240,6 +240,22 @@ if ($profile === 'chat') {
 // has already been decided — so it should frame everything that follows rather than read as one
 // more retrieved document. Marked as operator-authored so the model treats it as fact about the
 // installation rather than as a source to cite.
+// Where the operator is standing in the WebGUI. Sent by the scheduler page, absent from the AI
+// tab, which has no location to speak of. It is what lets "what does this do" resolve — without
+// it the model has to guess which of 120 settings "this" means, and it will guess confidently.
+//
+// Stated as context, never as an instruction to trust: the file named here is where to look
+// first, not proof that the answer is in it. That distinction is the whole point of the
+// fallback — a setting the operator expects in master.conf may actually live in the host conf,
+// and saying so is more useful than failing to find it.
+if ($scope !== '') {
+    $system .= "WHERE THE OPERATOR IS RIGHT NOW\n"
+             . "They have " . $scope . " open in the WebGUI. Read bare references — \"this "
+             . "setting\", \"this script\", \"here\" — as meaning that unless they clearly mean "
+             . "something else. Look there first. If what they are asking about is genuinely "
+             . "somewhere else, answer anyway and tell them plainly where it actually is.\n\n";
+}
+
 $mem = vv_ai_memory_read();
 if ($mem['exists'] && trim($mem['text']) !== '') {
     $system .= "WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THIS OPERATOR AND INSTALLATION\n"
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php
index 47cab86..62e8fdc 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php
@@ -210,6 +210,16 @@ if ($action === 'ask') {
     }
     $maxTurns = VV_AI_PROFILES[$profile] ?? VV_AI_MAX_TURNS;
 
+    // Where the caller is standing — "master.conf", "daily_sync_maintenance.sh", a log name.
+    // The scheduler page sends it so a question can say "this setting" and mean something; the
+    // AI tab sends nothing and the worker simply omits the location line.
+    //
+    // Whitelisted hard, not escaped and hoped for. It reaches the model as text, so anything
+    // richer than a file name is an instruction-injection surface for no benefit — a scope is
+    // only ever a name from this page's own view state.
+    $scope = trim($_POST['scope'] ?? '');
+    if ($scope !== '' && !preg_match('#^[A-Za-z0-9 ._/-]{1,80}$#', $scope)) $scope = '';
+
     // The retrieval filter only means anything to the profile that retrieves.
     $kind = $profile === 'varaverk' ? trim($_POST['kind'] ?? '') : '';
     if ($kind !== '' && !in_array($kind, VV_AI_KINDS, true)) {
@@ -259,7 +269,8 @@ if ($action === 'ask') {
          . escapeshellarg(json_encode($clean)) . ' '
          . escapeshellarg($kind) . ' '
          . escapeshellarg(($_POST['think'] ?? '1') === '1' ? '1' : '0') . ' '
-         . escapeshellarg($profile)
+         . escapeshellarg($profile) . ' '
+         . escapeshellarg($scope)
          . ' >/dev/null 2>&1 </dev/null &';
     $out = []; $rc = 0;
     exec($cmd, $out, $rc);
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/css/varaverk.css b/Plugin/unraid/css/varaverk.css
index 1bdc714..ade2e32 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/css/varaverk.css
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/css/varaverk.css
@@ -520,6 +520,35 @@ body.vv-fullscreen #displaybox { padding-left: 1rem !important; padding-top: .5r
 .vv-sug-path    { color: #888; font-family: monospace; }
 .vv-sug-configured { color: #4caf50; font-size: 11px; }
 /* Info sections inside Scheduler Information panel */
+/* ── Assistant dock (scheduler right panel) ────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+#vv-ai-dock      { border: 1px solid #262626; border-radius: 6px; background: #0e0e0e;
+                   margin-top: 6px; flex-shrink: 0; }
+#vv-ai-dock-bar  { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 7px; padding: 6px 8px; }
+#vv-ai-dock-chip { flex-shrink: 0; font-size: 10px; color: #5a7a8a; background: #12191d;
+                   border: 1px solid #24343d; border-radius: 3px; padding: 2px 7px;
+                   white-space: nowrap; max-width: 40%; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; }
+.vv-ai-chip-flash { animation: vvAiChipFlash .9s ease-out 2; }
+@keyframes vvAiChipFlash { 0%,100% { background:#12191d; color:#5a7a8a; }
+                           50%     { background:#2a2312; color:#d8b25a; } }
+#vv-ai-dock-input { flex: 1; min-width: 0; background: #0a0a0a; border: 1px solid #262626;
+                    border-radius: 4px; color: #c8c8c8; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px;
+                    padding: 5px 9px; }
+#vv-ai-dock-input:focus { outline: none; border-color: #2d4a6a; }
+#vv-ai-dock-body { border-bottom: 1px solid #1c1c1c; padding: 9px 10px; overflow-y: auto;
+                   font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.55; }
+.vv-ai-dock-q   { color: #8fb0c4; margin: 0 0 5px; }
+.vv-ai-dock-q::before { content: '› '; color: #3a5a6a; }
+.vv-ai-dock-a   { color: #b8b8b8; margin: 0 0 11px; white-space: normal; }
+.vv-ai-dock-a code { background: #1a1a1a; border: 1px solid #333; border-radius: 2px;
+                     padding: 0 4px; font-size: 11px; color: #9ab; }
+.vv-ai-dock-a strong { color: #ddd; }
+.vv-ai-dock-wait { color: #5a5a5a; font-style: italic; }
+.vv-ai-dock-err  { color: #e57; }
+.vv-ai-dock-src  { margin-top: 6px; padding-top: 5px; border-top: 1px solid #1c1c1c;
+                   font-size: 10px; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: monospace; }
+.vv-ai-dock-sep  { margin: 4px 0 9px; font-size: 10px; color: #4a4a4a; text-align: center;
+                   border-top: 1px solid #1c1c1c; padding-top: 6px; }
+
 .vv-info-block .vv-sug-title { color: #9ab; }
 /* Depth switch on the help header. Outlined rather than filled — it changes what you are
    reading, it does not do anything to the machine, and every button on this page that does
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/pages/scheduler.php b/Plugin/unraid/pages/scheduler.php
index 6e26a86..a4e483b 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/pages/scheduler.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/pages/scheduler.php
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ $_vv_doc_vars = array_merge(vv_conf_vars(), [
     'SCRIPTS_DIR'        => SCRIPTS_DIR,
 ]);
 
+// The assistant dock renders only where the AI tab itself would: HOST1, with AI_ENABLED true.
+// Same two conditions, checked the same way, so the page cannot offer a chat the endpoint will
+// refuse — api/ai.php 404s every action off HOST1 regardless of what this page draws.
+$_vv_ai_on = vv_is_ai_host()
+          && strtolower(trim(vv_conf_vars()['AI_ENABLED'] ?? 'false')) === 'true';
+
 // Setup mode — auto-open a conf file and force the editing sequence
 $vv_setup_conf = preg_match('/^[\w.]+\.conf$/', $_GET['vv_setup'] ?? '')
     ? $_GET['vv_setup'] : '';
@@ -1040,6 +1046,27 @@ Still the same two servers, two households, the same media stack running itself.
           </div>
         </div>
       </div>
+      <?php if ($_vv_ai_on): ?>
+      <!-- Assistant dock. Sits below every view in the right panel rather than inside any one of
+           them: the Scheduler Info card is only on screen in the suggestions view, so a chat box
+           living there would vanish exactly when the context — a conf, a log, a script — is most
+           worth asking about.
+           At rest it is one input row. Answers expand it upward and the views above shrink to
+           suit, which is why vvFitRight() subtracts its height. It pushes rather than overlays
+           so the thing you are asking about stays on screen. Collapsing keeps the conversation. -->
+      <div id="vv-ai-dock">
+        <div id="vv-ai-dock-body" style="display:none"></div>
+        <div id="vv-ai-dock-bar">
+          <span id="vv-ai-dock-chip" title="What the assistant will answer about — follows the view you have open">Assistant · Scheduler</span>
+          <input type="text" id="vv-ai-dock-input" autocomplete="off"
+                 placeholder="Ask about what is on screen…"
+                 onkeydown="if(event.key==='Enter'){event.preventDefault();vvAiDockSend();}">
+          <button class="vv-btn-sm" id="vv-ai-dock-send" onclick="vvAiDockSend()">Ask</button>
+          <button class="vv-btn-sm" id="vv-ai-dock-hide" onclick="vvAiDockCollapse()"
+                  style="display:none" title="Collapse — the conversation is kept">▾</button>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+      <?php endif; ?>
       <div class="vv-sched-footer vv-sched-info vv-snap-footer" id="vv-sched-info-footer">
         <span class="vv-snap-item">
           <span class="vv-snap-label">CPU</span>
@@ -1162,7 +1189,16 @@ function vvFitRight() {
   rf.style.height    = lf.offsetHeight + 'px';
   right.style.height = left.offsetHeight + 'px';
 
-  const contentH = Math.max(80, lf.getBoundingClientRect().top - 32 - toolbar.getBoundingClientRect().bottom);
+  // The assistant dock sits below every view, so its height comes off the space the views get.
+  // Measured, not assumed — it is one row at rest and taller once an answer is open.
+  const dock  = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock');
+  const dockH = dock ? dock.offsetHeight : 0;
+  const contentH = Math.max(80, lf.getBoundingClientRect().top - 32
+                              - toolbar.getBoundingClientRect().bottom - dockH);
+  // Cap the conversation at roughly 40% of the panel and let it scroll internally, so a long
+  // answer shrinks the view above by a bounded amount instead of swallowing it.
+  const dockBody = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-body');
+  if (dockBody) dockBody.style.maxHeight = Math.max(90, Math.round(contentH * 0.4)) + 'px';
   if (pre.style.display !== 'none') {
     pre.style.maxHeight = 'none';
     pre.style.height    = contentH + 'px';
@@ -1207,6 +1243,7 @@ window.addEventListener('resize', vvFitRight);
 new ResizeObserver(vvFitRight).observe(document.getElementById('vv-sched-left'));
 
 function vvShowLogMode(id) {
+  vvAiDockScope('varaverk', String(id).replace(/\.sh$/, '') + ' log');
   document.getElementById('vv-suggestions').style.display       = 'none';
   document.getElementById('vv-editor').style.display            = 'none';
   document.getElementById('vv-si-view').style.display           = 'none';
@@ -1257,6 +1294,7 @@ function vvRestoreInvert() {
 }
 
 function vvBackToSuggestions() {
+  vvAiDockScope('varaverk', 'Scheduler');
   vvEditorReset();
   document.getElementById('vv-editor-status').classList.remove('vv-ed-active');
   document.getElementById('vv-undo-btn').style.display = 'none';
@@ -1730,6 +1768,7 @@ function vvEditScript(id) {
 }
 
 function vvShowEditorMode(title) {
+  vvAiDockScope('code', title || 'a custom script');
   vvEditorReset();
   document.getElementById('vv-editor').classList.add('vv-editor-hl');
   document.getElementById('vv-editor-status').classList.add('vv-ed-active');
@@ -1985,6 +2024,7 @@ function _vvImpDoImport() {
 }
 
 function vvShowConfMode(title) {
+  vvAiDockScope('varaverk', (title || 'a script') + ' settings');
   document.getElementById('vv-suggestions').style.display       = 'none';
   document.getElementById('vv-log-pre').style.display           = 'none';
   document.getElementById('vv-si-view').style.display           = 'none';
@@ -2242,6 +2282,137 @@ function vvClickCog(el) {
   vvShowScriptInfoMode(id.replace(/\.sh$/, '').split('/').pop(), '', id);
 }
 
+// ── Assistant dock ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// One component, one instance. Every view calls vvAiDockScope() to say where the user now is;
+// nothing else about it is per-view. Building a chat per card would mean N implementations of
+// the same thing, which is how the multipart POST bug became 21 call sites across 7 pages.
+
+let vvAiProfile = 'varaverk';
+let vvAiScope   = 'Scheduler';
+let vvAiHist    = [];          // what the model is told; reset when the scope changes
+let vvAiBusy    = false;
+let vvAiPoll    = null;
+
+function vvAiDockOn() { return !!document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock'); }
+
+// Called by every view switch. Profile and scope are derived from what is open and shown on the
+// chip — never chosen, never hidden. If the user can see what it thinks it is looking at, a
+// wrong inference costs a glance instead of a confidently wrong answer.
+function vvAiDockScope(profile, label) {
+  if (!vvAiDockOn()) return;
+  if (profile === vvAiProfile && label === vvAiScope) return;
+
+  const had = vvAiHist.length > 0;
+  vvAiProfile = profile;
+  vvAiScope   = label;
+  document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-chip').textContent =
+    (profile === 'code' ? 'Code' : 'Assistant') + ' · ' + label;
+
+  // Transcript stays, history sent to the model resets — the same rule the AI tab's profile
+  // buttons already use. A troubleshooting thread carrying log excerpts must not bleed into a
+  // question about a conf key, but hiding that the earlier exchange happened is worse.
+  if (had) {
+    vvAiHist = [];
+    vvAiDockAppend('<div class="vv-ai-dock-sep">now looking at ' + vvEscHtml(label) + '</div>');
+  }
+  // The scope moved under text already typed. Not blocked — just never silent.
+  const input = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-input');
+  if (input.value.trim() !== '') {
+    const chip = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-chip');
+    chip.classList.remove('vv-ai-chip-flash');
+    void chip.offsetWidth;
+    chip.classList.add('vv-ai-chip-flash');
+  }
+}
+
+function vvAiDockAppend(html) {
+  const body = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-body');
+  body.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', html);
+  body.scrollTop = body.scrollHeight;
+}
+
+function vvAiDockExpand() {
+  document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-body').style.display = '';
+  document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-hide').style.display = '';
+  requestAnimationFrame(vvFitRight);
+}
+
+// Collapse is not clear. Re-expanding shows the same conversation, so you can shrink it to read
+// the conf the answer was about and open it again without paying for the turn twice.
+function vvAiDockCollapse() {
+  document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-body').style.display = 'none';
+  document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-hide').style.display = 'none';
+  requestAnimationFrame(vvFitRight);
+}
+
+function vvAiDockSend() {
+  if (vvAiBusy) return;
+  const input = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-input');
+  const q = input.value.trim();
+  if (!q) return;
+  input.value = '';
+  vvAiBusy = true;
+  document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-send').disabled = true;
+
+  vvAiDockExpand();
+  vvAiDockAppend('<div class="vv-ai-dock-q">' + vvEscHtml(q) + '</div>'
+               + '<div class="vv-ai-dock-a vv-ai-dock-wait" id="vv-ai-dock-pending">thinking…</div>');
+
+  fetch('/plugins/varaverk/api/ai.php', {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8' },
+    body: new URLSearchParams({
+      action: 'ask', question: q, profile: vvAiProfile, scope: vvAiScope,
+      think: '0', history: JSON.stringify(vvAiHist),
+    }),
+  }).then(r => r.json()).then(d => {
+    if (!d.ok || !d.token) return vvAiDockDone(d.error || 'Could not start.', true);
+    vvAiHist.push({ role: 'user', content: q });
+    vvAiDockPoll(d.token);
+  }).catch(e => vvAiDockDone('Request failed: ' + e, true));
+}
+
+function vvAiDockPoll(token) {
+  clearTimeout(vvAiPoll);
+  vvAiPoll = setTimeout(() => {
+    fetch('/plugins/varaverk/api/ai.php?action=poll&token=' + encodeURIComponent(token))
+      .then(r => r.json()).then(j => {
+        if (j.status === 'done') {
+          vvAiHist.push({ role: 'assistant', content: j.answer || '' });
+          vvAiDockDone(j.answer || '(empty answer)', false, j.sources || []);
+          fetch('/plugins/varaverk/api/ai.php', { method: 'POST',
+            headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8' },
+            body: new URLSearchParams({ action: 'clear', token }) }).catch(() => {});
+          return;
+        }
+        if (j.status === 'error') return vvAiDockDone(j.error || 'Unknown error', true);
+        vvAiDockPoll(token);
+      }).catch(e => vvAiDockDone('Poll failed: ' + e, true));
+  }, 1000);
+}
+
+function vvAiDockDone(text, isErr, sources) {
+  const pending = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-pending');
+  let html = vvEscHtml(text)
+    .replace(/`([^`]+)`/g, '<code>$1</code>')
+    .replace(/\*\*([^*]+)\*\*/g, '<strong>$1</strong>')
+    .replace(/\n/g, '<br>');
+  if (sources && sources.length) {
+    html += '<div class="vv-ai-dock-src">' + sources.slice(0, 4).map(s =>
+      vvEscHtml([s.path, s.section, s.heading].filter(Boolean).join(' › '))).join('<br>') + '</div>';
+  }
+  if (pending) {
+    pending.classList.remove('vv-ai-dock-wait');
+    if (isErr) pending.classList.add('vv-ai-dock-err');
+    pending.innerHTML = html;
+    pending.removeAttribute('id');
+  }
+  vvAiBusy = false;
+  document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-send').disabled = false;
+  const body = document.getElementById('vv-ai-dock-body');
+  body.scrollTop = body.scrollHeight;
+}
+
 // ── Advanced mode toggle ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 let vvAdvancedMode = false;
@@ -3027,6 +3198,7 @@ function vvEditRawConf(file) {
 }
 
 function vvShowRawConfMode(title) {
+  vvAiDockScope('varaverk', title || 'a conf file');
   vvEditorReset();
   vvRestoreEditorPrefs();
   document.getElementById('vv-editor-status').classList.add('vv-ed-active');
@@ -3851,6 +4023,7 @@ function vvSiRetitle(hdr, suffix) {
 }
 
 function vvShowScriptInfoMode(name, hdr, id) {
+  vvAiDockScope('varaverk', name || 'a script');
   document.getElementById('vv-suggestions').style.display       = 'none';
   document.getElementById('vv-log-pre').style.display           = 'none';
   document.getElementById('vv-editor').style.display            = 'none';