diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/pages/watchdog.php b/Plugin/unraid/pages/watchdog.php
index ab04717..8aef555 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/pages/watchdog.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/pages/watchdog.php
@@ -16,16 +16,25 @@
 //   Strictly read-only. There is no control on this page that clears a strike, restarts a
 //   container, or resets a counter — those belong to the watchdog that owns the state.
 //
+//   That holds for the assistant too, and is why the Why? buttons open troubleshoot rather than
+//   repair. troubleshoot may read the machine and the orchestrator's log; it holds no conf_write
+//   and no way to act. A page whose stated contract is "changes nothing" must not carry the one
+//   profile that can — see include/ai_profiles.php for why that grant is deliberately narrow.
+//
 //   A node that fails to report renders as unavailable rather than healthy. Absence of data
 //   is never drawn as an all-clear.
 //
 // RENDERS
 //   Per-node cards: resource / docker / system / storage / network watchdog state,
 //   strike pills, restart history, reboot and OOM counts
+//   Assistant card, scoped to the Watchdog tab
+//   Watchdog conf sections, via the shared settings renderer
 //
 // DEPENDS ON
 //   api/watchdog.php   polled every 30s   → include/watchdog.php
+//   include/ai_chat.php                   → the shared chat component
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/confui.php';
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/ai_chat.php';
 ?>
 <style>
 .vv-wd-card    { background:#161616;border:1px solid #2a2a2a;border-radius:6px;padding:10px;min-width:0; }
@@ -80,6 +89,43 @@ require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/confui.php';
 </div>
 
 
+<?php if (vv_ai_ui_on()): ?>
+<div class="vv-card" id="vv-wd-ai-card" style="margin-top:12px;">
+  <?php
+  // All three, in this order, before the markup. vv_ai_chat_markup() emits only the boxes — the
+  // factory that brings them to life, the profile registry the picker draws from, and the store
+  // that keeps a thread across a reload are separate and none of them is implied by the others.
+  // Omitting them renders a chat that looks complete and dies on the first click with VvAiChat
+  // undefined, which is how the Scheduler's panel behaved before it was given the same three.
+  // Each is guarded internally, so calling them here costs nothing on a page that already has.
+  vv_ai_profiles_script();
+  vv_ai_chat_store_script();
+  vv_ai_chat_assets();
+  // Reads the page rather than sitting beside it. The scope is sent with every question, and the
+  // worker turns it into "they have Watchdog open — read bare references against it", so "why did
+  // it restart that" resolves here instead of asking which of forty containers is meant.
+  //
+  // Starts on the Varaverk assistant, not General Chat as the Monitor card does. The two pages ask
+  // different things: the dashboard is where an idle question gets typed, this is a page you only
+  // open because something struck. Answers about strikes and thresholds should come from this
+  // installation's own docs and state, with sources, rather than from the model's general
+  // impression of what a watchdog usually does.
+  //
+  // No 'height' triple — this card is in normal page flow, not a fixed panel, so the component's
+  // own defaults apply and the expand control still works against them. The Scheduler is the only
+  // placement whose size is a share of something and therefore has to be told.
+  vv_ai_chat_markup('vv-wd-ai', [
+      'profile'     => 'varaverk',
+      'compact'     => true,
+      'title'       => 'Assistant',
+      'scopeLabel'  => 'Watchdog',
+      'empty'       => 'Ask about a strike, a restart, or a threshold on this page. '
+                     . 'Why? on any strike asks against the orchestrator\'s log.',
+      'placeholder' => 'Ask about what is on this page…',
+  ]); ?>
+</div>
+<?php endif; ?>
+
 <?php
 // The conf sections this page is about, drawn by the shared renderer. They were reachable
 // only from the Settings tab's catch-all, which is a long way to go for a setting named
@@ -91,6 +137,40 @@ vv_conf_ui_card('vv-cf-watchdog', 'watchdog', 'Watchdog settings');
 
 const GB = 1073741824;
 
+// The assistant instance, once the card is on the page; null whenever AI is off. Every Why?
+// button checks it, and none of them render without it — a control that opens a panel that does
+// not exist is worse than no control.
+let vvWdChat  = null;
+// What the chat says the operator is looking at. Starts as the tab itself and moves to the
+// orchestrator's log when a Why? is pressed, because that is the only place any of this is
+// written down: the watchdogs log through watchdog_orchestrator.sh and have no log files of
+// their own — checked against /var/log/varaverk, where Watchdogs/ does not exist.
+let vvWdScope = 'Watchdog';
+const WD_LOG  = 'Orchestrators/watchdog_orchestrator';
+
+// Rendered as data attributes and read back by one delegated listener rather than written into an
+// onclick. Container names and log paths reach these buttons from conf and from the filesystem, and
+// a name containing a quote closes the attribute early and takes the rest of the handler with it.
+// vvEscAttr is the one that escapes quotes; vvEscHtml deliberately does not.
+function _why(label, q) {
+  if (!vvWdChat) return '';
+  return `<button class="vv-btn-sm vv-why-btn" title="Ask the assistant about this"
+                  data-label="${vvEscAttr(label)}" data-q="${vvEscAttr(q)}">Why?</button>`;
+}
+
+function vvWdWhy(label, q) {
+  if (!vvWdChat || vvWdChat.busy()) return;
+  // Troubleshoot, never repair. This page changes nothing, and repair is the one profile that can
+  // — see the safeguard note in the header.
+  vvWdScope = WD_LOG;
+  vvWdChat.retarget('troubleshoot', label, 'now looking at ' + label);
+  const input = document.getElementById('vv-wd-ai-input');
+  if (input) input.value = q;
+  vvWdChat.send();
+  const card = document.getElementById('vv-wd-ai-card');
+  if (card) card.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'nearest' });
+}
+
 function _fmtBytes(b) {
   if (!b) return '0';
   if (b >= GB)      return (b / GB).toFixed(1) + 'G';
@@ -122,8 +202,11 @@ function _bar(pct, col) {
   return `<div class="vv-wd-bar"><div class="vv-wd-bar-fill" style="width:${Math.min(pct,100)}%;background:${col}"></div></div>`;
 }
 
+// Escapes its own label, so every caller passes plain text and none of them has to remember. The
+// labels here are container names, log paths and DDNS domains — all of them values this page reads
+// rather than writes, which is exactly the category that must not be trusted into markup.
 function _pill(label, cls) {
-  return `<span class="vv-wd-pill ${cls}">${label}</span>`;
+  return `<span class="vv-wd-pill ${cls}">${vvEscHtml(label)}</span>`;
 }
 
 function _levelLabel(level) {
@@ -149,7 +232,10 @@ function _pressureCard(node) {
   return `<div class="vv-wd-card vv-wd-pressure" style="grid-column:1/-1">
     <div style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;margin-bottom:8px;">
       <span class="vv-wd-badge ${cls}">PRESSURE ${label}</span>
-      <span style="font-size:11px;color:#7a5020;">${node.id} (${node.hostname})</span>
+      <span style="font-size:11px;color:#7a5020;">${vvEscHtml(node.id)} (${vvEscHtml(node.hostname)})</span>
+      ${_why(node.id + ' memory pressure',
+             'The resource watchdog is at ' + label + ' pressure on ' + node.id
+             + '. What drove it there, and what did it pause or stop?')}
       ${st.mem_shutdown ? `<span class="vv-wd-badge hard" style="margin-left:auto;">MEM SHUTDOWN ACTIVE</span>` : ''}
     </div>
     ${paused.length  ? `<div style="margin-bottom:4px;"><span class="vv-wd-lbl">Paused:</span> <span class="vv-wd-pill-row" style="display:inline-flex;">${pausedHtml}</span></div>` : ''}
@@ -164,8 +250,8 @@ function _systemCard(node, cfg) {
     return `<div class="vv-wd-card">
       <div class="vv-wd-node-h">
         <span class="vv-wd-dot" style="background:#444"></span>
-        <span class="vv-wd-node-id">${node.id}</span>
-        <span style="font-size:11px;color:#3a3a3a;">${node.hostname}</span>
+        <span class="vv-wd-node-id">${vvEscHtml(node.id)}</span>
+        <span style="font-size:11px;color:#3a3a3a;">${vvEscHtml(node.hostname)}</span>
         <span class="vv-wd-badge" style="margin-left:auto;background:#1a1a1a;color:#444">UNREACHABLE</span>
       </div>
     </div>`;
@@ -197,8 +283,8 @@ function _systemCard(node, cfg) {
   return `<div class="vv-wd-card">
     <div class="vv-wd-node-h">
       <span class="vv-wd-dot" style="background:${dotCol}"></span>
-      <span class="vv-wd-node-id">${node.id}</span>
-      <span style="font-size:11px;color:#3a3a3a;">${node.hostname}</span>
+      <span class="vv-wd-node-id">${vvEscHtml(node.id)}</span>
+      <span style="font-size:11px;color:#3a3a3a;">${vvEscHtml(node.hostname)}</span>
       <span class="vv-wd-badge ${apiOnly ? '' : _levelCls(level)}"
             style="margin-left:auto;${apiOnly ? 'background:#0d1f2a;color:#4a9eff;' : ''}"
             >${apiOnly ? 'API ONLY' : _levelLabel(level)}</span>
@@ -246,7 +332,12 @@ function _dockerCard(node, cfg) {
       strikesHtml += `<div class="vv-wd-strike-row"><span class="vv-wd-strike-name">daemon</span><span class="vv-wd-strike-cnt">${st.daemon_strikes}</span></div>`;
     }
     for (const [name, cnt] of strikes) {
-      strikesHtml += `<div class="vv-wd-strike-row"><span class="vv-wd-strike-name">${name}</span><span class="vv-wd-strike-cnt">${cnt} / ${cfg.cpu_fail_lim}</span></div>`;
+      strikesHtml += `<div class="vv-wd-strike-row">
+        <span class="vv-wd-strike-name">${vvEscHtml(name)}</span>
+        <span class="vv-wd-strike-cnt">${cnt} / ${cfg.cpu_fail_lim}</span>
+        ${_why(name + ' strikes', 'The docker watchdog has ' + cnt + ' strike(s) against '
+               + name + '. What is failing its check?')}
+      </div>`;
     }
   }
 
@@ -263,7 +354,12 @@ function _dockerCard(node, cfg) {
     restartHtml = '<div style="color:#333;font-size:11px;">none (24h)</div>';
   } else {
     restartHtml = rcEntries.map(([n, c]) =>
-      `<div class="vv-wd-row"><span class="vv-wd-lbl">${n}</span><span class="vv-wd-val" style="color:${c >= cfg.restart_limit ? '#ef5350' : '#ffb74d'}">${c}×</span></div>`
+      `<div class="vv-wd-row">
+        <span class="vv-wd-lbl">${vvEscHtml(n)}</span>
+        <span class="vv-wd-val" style="color:${c >= cfg.restart_limit ? '#ef5350' : '#ffb74d'}">${c}×</span>
+        ${_why(n + ' restarts', n + ' has been restarted ' + c
+               + ' time(s) in the last 24 hours. Why does it keep needing a restart?')}
+      </div>`
     ).join('');
   }
 
@@ -298,13 +394,23 @@ function _stabilityCard(node, cfg) {
     sysHtml = '<div style="color:#333;font-size:11px;">0 active strikes</div>';
   } else {
     sysHtml = sysStr.map(([k, v]) =>
-      `<div class="vv-wd-strike-row"><span class="vv-wd-strike-name" style="font-size:10px;">${k.replace(/_/g,' ')}</span><span class="vv-wd-strike-cnt">${v}</span></div>`
+      `<div class="vv-wd-strike-row">
+        <span class="vv-wd-strike-name" style="font-size:10px;">${vvEscHtml(k.replace(/_/g,' '))}</span>
+        <span class="vv-wd-strike-cnt">${v}</span>
+        ${_why(k.replace(/_/g,' ') + ' strikes', 'The stability watchdog has ' + v
+               + ' strike(s) for ' + k.replace(/_/g,' ') + '. What is it detecting?')}
+      </div>`
     ).join('');
   }
 
+  // The one entry on this page that is always worth explaining, so the button is on the heading
+  // rather than each row — an unattended reboot is a single question, not one per occurrence.
   const rebootHtml = reboots.length === 0
     ? '<div style="color:#333;font-size:11px;">none (12h)</div>'
-    : reboots.map(ts => `<div class="vv-wd-reboot-ts">${_relTime(ts)}</div>`).join('');
+    : reboots.map(ts => `<div class="vv-wd-reboot-ts">${_relTime(ts)}</div>`).join('')
+      + `<div style="margin-top:5px;">${_why(node.id + ' reboots',
+             'The stability watchdog rebooted ' + node.id + ' ' + reboots.length
+             + ' time(s) in the last ' + cfg.reboot_window + ' hours. What forced it?')}</div>`;
 
   return `<div class="vv-wd-card">
     <div class="vv-wd-sec">Stability</div>
@@ -334,7 +440,7 @@ function _configCard(node) {
     ? '<div style="color:#333;font-size:11px;">none</div>'
     : mon.map(([name, mb]) => {
         const gb = (mb / 1024).toFixed(0);
-        return `<div class="vv-wd-ctr-row"><span class="vv-wd-ctr-name">${name}</span><span class="vv-wd-ctr-lim">${gb} GB</span></div>`;
+        return `<div class="vv-wd-ctr-row"><span class="vv-wd-ctr-name">${vvEscHtml(name)}</span><span class="vv-wd-ctr-lim">${gb} GB</span></div>`;
       }).join('');
 
   const reqHtml = req.length === 0
@@ -355,8 +461,8 @@ function _configCard(node) {
 
   return `<div class="vv-wd-card" style="grid-column:span 4;">
     <div style="display:flex;gap:6px;align-items:center;margin-bottom:8px;">
-      <span class="vv-wd-node-id">${node.id}</span>
-      <span style="font-size:11px;color:#3a3a3a;">${node.hostname}</span>
+      <span class="vv-wd-node-id">${vvEscHtml(node.id)}</span>
+      <span style="font-size:11px;color:#3a3a3a;">${vvEscHtml(node.hostname)}</span>
     </div>
     <div style="display:grid;grid-template-columns:1fr 1fr;gap:10px;">
       <div>
@@ -406,7 +512,7 @@ function _storageCard(node, cfg) {
   // Suppress ceilings configured for this host
   const sizes    = Object.entries(nodeCfg.appdata_sizes || {});
   const sizesHtml = sizes.length
-    ? sizes.map(([c, mb]) => _pill(`${c} <${Math.round(mb/1024)}GB`, '')).join('')
+    ? sizes.map(([c, mb]) => _pill(c + ' <' + Math.round(mb/1024) + 'GB', '')).join('')
     : '';
 
   let growthHtml = '';
@@ -415,8 +521,11 @@ function _storageCard(node, cfg) {
   } else {
     growthHtml = growthStr.map(([name, cnt]) =>
       `<div class="vv-wd-strike-row">
-        <span class="vv-wd-strike-name">${name}</span>
+        <span class="vv-wd-strike-name">${vvEscHtml(name)}</span>
         <span class="vv-wd-strike-cnt">${cnt} / ${cfg.stor_strike_lim}</span>
+        ${_why(name + ' appdata growth', name + ' has ' + cnt
+               + ' growth strike(s) — its appdata is growing more than '
+               + cfg.growth_gb + 'GB per cycle. What is filling up?')}
       </div>`
     ).join('');
   }
@@ -428,8 +537,11 @@ function _storageCard(node, cfg) {
     logHtml = logStr.map(([key, cnt]) => {
       const display = key.length > 36 ? '…' + key.slice(-36) : key;
       return `<div class="vv-wd-strike-row">
-        <span class="vv-wd-strike-name" style="font-size:10px;" title="${key}">${display}</span>
+        <span class="vv-wd-strike-name" style="font-size:10px;" title="${vvEscAttr(key)}">${vvEscHtml(display)}</span>
         <span class="vv-wd-strike-cnt">${cnt} / ${cfg.stor_strike_lim}</span>
+        ${_why('oversized log ' + key, key + ' has ' + cnt
+               + ' log-size strike(s) against a ' + cfg.log_max_gb
+               + 'GB ceiling. What is writing to it?')}
       </div>`;
     }).join('');
   }
@@ -471,13 +583,16 @@ function _networkCard(node, cfg) {
   const npmUrl     = nodeCfg.npm_url        || '';
 
   const ddnsHtml = ddnsDomain
-    ? `${_row('DDNS domain',   `<span style="color:#888;">${ddnsDomain}</span>`)}
-       ${ddnsCtr ? _row('DDNS container', `<span style="color:#888;">${ddnsCtr}</span>`) : ''}`
+    ? `${_row('DDNS domain',   `<span style="color:#888;">${vvEscHtml(ddnsDomain)}</span>`)}
+       ${ddnsCtr ? _row('DDNS container', `<span style="color:#888;">${vvEscHtml(ddnsCtr)}</span>`) : ''}`
     : _row('DDNS', '<span style="color:#444;">not configured for this host</span>');
 
   const npmHtml = npmUrl
-    ? `${_row('NPM URL', `<span style="color:#888;font-size:10px;">${npmUrl}</span>`)}
-       ${_row('NPM strikes', `<span class="vv-wd-pill ${npmCls}" style="font-size:10px;">${npmStr} / ${cfg.npm_strike_lim}</span>`)}`
+    ? `${_row('NPM URL', `<span style="color:#888;font-size:10px;">${vvEscHtml(npmUrl)}</span>`)}
+       ${_row('NPM strikes', `<span class="vv-wd-pill ${npmCls}" style="font-size:10px;">${npmStr} / ${cfg.npm_strike_lim}</span>`
+              + (npmStr > 0 ? ' ' + _why('NPM strikes on ' + node.id,
+                   'The network watchdog has ' + npmStr + ' strike(s) against NPM on '
+                   + node.id + '. What check is failing?') : ''))}`
     : _row('NPM check', '<span style="color:#444;">not configured for this host</span>');
 
   return `<div class="vv-wd-card">
@@ -536,6 +651,39 @@ function vvWdLoad() {
     });
 }
 
+// One listener on the grid rather than a handler per button. The grid is replaced wholesale every
+// 30 seconds, so anything bound to a button inside it would be thrown away on the next poll — and
+// re-binding after each render is the version of this that quietly stops working the day a card
+// gains a button and nobody updates the binder.
+document.getElementById('vv-wd-grid').addEventListener('click', ev => {
+  const b = ev.target.closest('.vv-why-btn');
+  if (!b) return;
+  vvWdWhy(b.dataset.label || 'this watchdog', b.dataset.q || 'What does this mean?');
+});
+
+// Before the first load, not after. _why() renders nothing while vvWdChat is null, so a render
+// that beat the instance into existence would draw the whole page without a single Why? button
+// and not correct itself until the next poll thirty seconds later.
+if (document.getElementById('vv-wd-ai-chat')) {
+  vvWdChat = VvAiChat({
+    prefix:     'vv-wd-ai',
+    profile:    'varaverk',
+    scopeLabel: 'Watchdog',
+    // Read at send time, not captured: a Why? moves the scope to the orchestrator's log, and the
+    // question is sent from that same click.
+    scope:      () => vvWdScope,
+    // Same reason the Monitor card pins its own: without it the card resumes whatever thread was
+    // last touched anywhere, so opening this tab could land it mid-conversation from the Scheduler
+    // under a profile this page never offers.
+    resumeProfile: 'varaverk',
+    // Reasoning is worth watching for a diagnosis and noise for a definition — same rule the
+    // Scheduler applies.
+    think:      p => p === 'troubleshoot',
+    empty:      'Ask about a strike, a restart, or a threshold on this page. '
+              + 'Why? on any strike asks against the orchestrator\'s log.',
+  });
+}
+
 vvWdLoad();
 setInterval(vvWdLoad, 30000);