diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page b/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page
index d3da024..0bb5fbc 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page
@@ -74,10 +74,17 @@ unset($_master, $_h1m, $_host1_blank, $_my_hostid, $_conf_missing);
 $tab = $_GET['tab'] ?? 'monitor';
 $validTabs = ['monitor', 'scheduler', 'docker', 'watchdog', 'partnership', 'fallback', 'arrs', 'rsync', 'auth', 'settings'];
 
-// The AI tab exists only while AI_ENABLED is true. Appended to $validTabs rather than filtered
-// out of it, so the check below rejects ?tab=ai server-side as well — omitting the link is
-// presentation, not access control, and api/ai.php refuses `ask` on the same flag independently.
-$_vv_ai = strtolower(trim(vv_conf_vars()['AI_ENABLED'] ?? 'false')) === 'true';
+// The AI tab exists only on HOST1, and only while AI_ENABLED is true. Appended to $validTabs
+// rather than filtered out of it, so the check below rejects ?tab=ai server-side as well —
+// omitting the link is presentation, not access control, and api/ai.php refuses every action
+// on the same two conditions independently.
+//
+// The host half is not a preference: HOST1 owns the GPU, the Ollama process and the index, and
+// include/ai.php only ever reads the *local* {HOST}_OLLAMA_URL — there is no Tailscale resolver
+// in the PHP layer the way there is in the shell. On any other host the tab could only render
+// and then fail its own health check.
+$_vv_ai = vv_is_ai_host()
+       && strtolower(trim(vv_conf_vars()['AI_ENABLED'] ?? 'false')) === 'true';
 if ($_vv_ai) $validTabs[] = 'ai';
 
 if (!in_array($tab, $validTabs)) $tab = 'monitor';
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php
index a6b3cdf..a14e53c 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/ai.php
@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@
 //       its token, so the token is not guessable.
 //
 // OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARDS
-//   ask is refused when AI is disabled.
-//       AI_ENABLED gates the whole subsystem; the tab is hidden when it is false, but hiding
-//       a link is not access control and the endpoint is reachable directly.
+//   Every action is refused off HOST1, and ask is refused when AI is disabled.
+//       AI_ENABLED gates the whole subsystem and vv_is_ai_host() gates the node; the tab is
+//       hidden when either fails, but hiding a link is not access control and the endpoint is
+//       reachable directly. The host check sits ahead of the dispatch and answers 404.
 //
 //   Every token is validated as hex before it composes a path.
 //       vv_ai_job_path() returns null for anything else, and each caller checks. That pattern
@@ -117,6 +118,16 @@ if ($action !== 'poll') {
         $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] ?? '?'));
 }
 
+// Host gate, ahead of the dispatch rather than inside each action. Varaverk.page omits the tab
+// on any host but HOST1, but a hidden link is not access control and this endpoint is reachable
+// directly. Every action is refused rather than just the expensive ones — there is no such thing
+// as a read this host is entitled to, since the index and the model are not here.
+if (!vv_is_ai_host()) {
+    http_response_code(404);
+    echo json_encode(['ok' => false, 'error' => 'AI is not available on this host']);
+    exit;
+}
+
 // ── stats ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 if ($action === 'stats') {
     echo json_encode(['ok' => true, 'stats' => vv_ai_stats()]);
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
index 9e03da7..1db397c 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@
 //       Shared config still resolves; host-specific values are simply absent.
 //
 // EXPORTS
-//   Identity      vv_detect_host(), vv_get_hostname(), vv_is_owner(), vv_known_hosts()
+//   Identity      vv_detect_host(), vv_get_hostname(), vv_is_owner(), vv_is_ai_host(),
+//                 vv_known_hosts()
 //   Config        vv_conf_vars(), vv_read_conf_raw(), vv_write_conf_raw(), vv_get_conf_files()
 //   Parsing       vv_parse_conf_scalar(), vv_parse_kv_db(), vv_format_uptime()
 //   Remote        vv_resolve_tailscale_ip(), vv_remote_state_cmd(), vv_local_ip()
@@ -257,6 +258,16 @@ function vv_is_owner(): bool {
     return vv_detect_host() === 'host1';
 }
 
+// The AI subsystem is HOST1-only: it is the node with the GPU, the Ollama process and the
+// index. Deliberately a separate predicate from vv_is_owner() even though both resolve to
+// host1 today — one says "auth source of truth", this one says "AI runs here", and the day
+// either moves, conflating them would move the other by accident.
+//
+// Returns false for 'unknown', so a host that cannot identify itself never shows the tab.
+function vv_is_ai_host(): bool {
+    return vv_detect_host() === 'host1';
+}
+
 function vv_read_conf_raw(string $filename): string {
     $path = CONF_DIR . '/' . $filename;
     return file_exists($path) ? file_get_contents($path) : '';
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php b/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php
index a26f9a6..190cc3d 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/pages/ai.php
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@
 //   api/ai.php, receives a token, and polls until the job reaches done or error. That keeps
 //   the api layer on one response convention; see api/ai.php for why SSE was declined.
 //
-//   The tab is only reachable when AI_ENABLED is true. Varaverk.page omits it from the tab
-//   list and rejects it server-side, and api/ai.php refuses ask independently — hiding a link
-//   is not access control.
+//   The tab is only reachable on HOST1, and only when AI_ENABLED is true. Varaverk.page omits
+//   it from the tab list and rejects it server-side, and api/ai.php refuses every action on
+//   the same two conditions independently — hiding a link is not access control. HOST1 is the
+//   node with the GPU, the Ollama process and the index; include/ai.php reads only the local
+//   {HOST}_OLLAMA_URL, so the tab could not function anywhere else regardless.
 //
 // DESIGN PRINCIPLES
 //   The banner leads with offload, not with size.