Give the wizard an assistant scoped to the step you are actually stuck on, so a first-run question can say "this" and mean something

Plugin/unraid/pages/setup.php

@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@
 // Step 2: auto-populate + guide + checklist.
 // master.conf pull (for partner servers) lives in the checklist, not here.
 
+// The assistant is a bonus on this page, never a dependency: vv_ai_ui_on() is false on a node
+// with AI off or no model reachable, which is the normal state of the fresh install this wizard
+// exists to serve. The card simply is not rendered and setup proceeds exactly as before.
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/ai_chat.php';
+if (vv_ai_ui_on()) vv_ai_chat_assets();
+
 $detectedHostname = vv_get_hostname();
 
 // ── Identity already on disk? ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -313,6 +319,21 @@ hr.vv-hr      { border: none; border-top: 1px solid #1e1e1e; margin: 22px 0; }
     <div id="vv-onboard-panel"></div>
     <div id="vv-done-banner"></div>
 
+    <?php if (vv_ai_ui_on()): ?>
+    <hr class="vv-hr">
+    <div id="vv-su-ai-card">
+      <?php vv_ai_chat_markup('vv-su-ai', [
+          'profile' => 'varaverk',
+          'compact' => true,
+          'title'   => 'Setup assistant',
+          'height'  => '260px',
+          'tall'    => '460px',
+          'empty'   => 'Stuck on a step? Ask what it wants and why — "what is the API key for", '
+                     . '"why does SSH need the other host", "what does populate actually do".',
+      ]); ?>
+    </div>
+    <?php endif; ?>
+
     <div style="margin-top:18px;text-align:right;">
       <a href="#" id="vv-exit-link" onclick="vvGoNext(event)"
          style="font-size:11px;color:#3a3a3a;text-decoration:none;">Skip →</a>
@@ -443,6 +464,7 @@ function vvShowStep2(redirect, apiKey) {
   _vvRedirect = redirect || '?tab=scheduler';
   document.getElementById('vv-step1').style.display = 'none';
   document.getElementById('vv-step2').style.display = 'block';
+  vvSetupAiInit();   // card is visible now, so it can measure itself correctly
   if (apiKey && apiKey.ok) {
     const btn    = document.getElementById('vv-key-btn');
     const status = document.getElementById('vv-key-status');
@@ -676,6 +698,47 @@ function vvStartPhase2Watch(sinceMs) {
   _vvPartnerPoll = setInterval(check, 6000);
 }
 
+// ── Setup assistant ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Scoped to the step the operator is actually stuck on, so "what does this want" resolves without
+// them naming it. The worker turns a non-empty scope into a line saying what is open in the
+// WebGUI; the varaverk profile holds no scoped_log capability, so a checklist id never triggers a
+// log lookup and cannot produce a "log missing" note for something that was never a script.
+//
+// Re-read at send time, not captured: the checklist re-polls while the page is open and the step
+// they are on can change between opening the composer and pressing Ask.
+//
+// First not-ok, not-deferred item — deferred means "I have decided to skip this", which is not
+// where they are stuck. Falls back to the bare page when the list is clean or has not loaded.
+function vvSetupScope() {
+  const d = _vvLastChecklist;
+  if (!d || !Array.isArray(d.items)) return 'Setup';
+  const stuck = d.items.find(i => !i.ok && !i.deferred);
+  return stuck && stuck.id ? 'Setup/' + stuck.id : 'Setup';
+}
+
+// Mounted when Step 2 is revealed, not at parse time. This is the only page where the card starts
+// inside a display:none block, and a chat that measured itself while hidden would come up wrong
+// with nothing to correct it — the component carries no resize observer. Idempotent because
+// vvShowStep2 is reachable more than once.
+let _vvSetupAiUp = false;
+function vvSetupAiInit() {
+  if (_vvSetupAiUp) return;
+  if (typeof VvAiChat !== 'function') return;
+  if (!document.getElementById('vv-su-ai-chat')) return;   // AI off — card was never rendered
+  _vvSetupAiUp = true;
+  VvAiChat({
+    prefix:        'vv-su-ai',
+    profile:       'varaverk',
+    // Pinned, for the same reason the Partnership card pins it: resuming whatever thread was last
+    // touched anywhere in the UI could land a first-run operator mid-way through someone else's
+    // Scheduler conversation, on a card with no picker to get back from.
+    resumeProfile: 'varaverk',
+    scope:         vvSetupScope,
+    scopeLabel:    'Setup',
+    empty: 'Stuck on a step? Ask what it wants and why.',
+  });
+}
+
 function vvLoadChecklist() {
   fetch('/plugins/varaverk/api/checklist.php?_=' + Date.now())
     .then(r => r.json()).then(d => {