diff --git a/cmd/server/main.go b/cmd/server/main.go
index f05db7d..3b94ec6 100644
--- a/cmd/server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/server/main.go
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func main() {
 		// without ever invoking shell-out.
 		tmuxSession := os.Getenv("PALIADIN_TMUX_SESSION")
 		responseDir := os.Getenv("PALIADIN_RESPONSE_DIR")
-		svcBundle.Paliadin = services.NewPaliadinService(pool, users, tmuxSession, responseDir)
+		svcBundle.Paliadin = services.NewLocalPaliadinService(pool, users, tmuxSession, responseDir)
 		log.Printf("paliadin: wired (owner=%s; gate is per-request, not per-deploy)",
 			services.PaliadinOwnerEmail)
 		// Wire ApprovalService into the entity services so Create / Update /
diff --git a/internal/handlers/handlers.go b/internal/handlers/handlers.go
index 213b4c1..0f0e673 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/handlers.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/handlers.go
@@ -69,10 +69,12 @@ type Services struct {
 	Pin            *services.PinService
 	CardLayout     *services.CardLayoutService
 
-	// Paliadin is wired only when PALIADIN_ENABLED=true at boot
-	// (PoC; m's laptop only). On prod it stays nil and all /paliadin*
-	// routes 404 because Register() skips registering them.
-	Paliadin       *services.PaliadinService
+	// Paliadin is wired when DATABASE_URL is set. The concrete backend
+	// is picked in cmd/server/main.go based on PALIADIN_REMOTE_HOST
+	// (remote → mRiver via SSH) or local tmux availability. Stays nil
+	// without DATABASE_URL; in that case the per-request handler gate
+	// 404s anyway.
+	Paliadin       services.Paliadin
 }
 
 func Register(mux *http.ServeMux, client *auth.Client, giteaAPIToken string, svc *Services) {
diff --git a/internal/handlers/paliadin.go b/internal/handlers/paliadin.go
index 68c0bd5..c521bca 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/paliadin.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/paliadin.go
@@ -39,10 +39,11 @@ func newDetachedContext(timeout time.Duration) (context.Context, context.CancelF
 	return context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), timeout)
 }
 
-// paliadinSvc is the live PaliadinService instance. nil when
-// DATABASE_URL was unset (the service depends on the audit table).
-// Set by Register() at boot.
-var paliadinSvc *services.PaliadinService
+// paliadinSvc is the live Paliadin backend. nil when DATABASE_URL was
+// unset (the service depends on the audit table). Set by Register() at
+// boot. The concrete type is decided in cmd/server/main.go: local-tmux
+// PoC, remote-via-SSH (mRiver), or a disabled stub.
+var paliadinSvc services.Paliadin
 
 // requirePaliadinOwner gates every paliadin handler to the single
 // owner email (services.PaliadinOwnerEmail = m). Anyone else gets a
diff --git a/internal/services/paliadin.go b/internal/services/paliadin.go
index 1641197..afc9019 100644
--- a/internal/services/paliadin.go
+++ b/internal/services/paliadin.go
@@ -1,23 +1,23 @@
 package services
 
-// PaliadinService — Phase 0 PoC of the in-app AI buddy (t-paliad-146).
+// Paliadin — the in-app AI buddy. Two implementations of the same
+// interface, picked at boot time (see cmd/server/main.go):
 //
-// Design: docs/design-paliadin-2026-05-07.md §0.5 (PoC track).
+//   - LocalPaliadinService — talks to a `claude` CLI in a local tmux
+//     session. The PoC path (t-paliad-146); used on m's laptop.
+//   - RemotePaliadinService — shells out to ssh on mRiver where the
+//     long-lived tmux+claude pane lives. The prod path (t-paliad-151);
+//     used by the paliad.de Dokploy container, which has no `claude`
+//     CLI of its own.
 //
-// Architecture: a long-lived `claude` process inside a tmux session.
-// Prompts go in via `tmux send-keys -l`; responses come back via a
-// per-turn file the system prompt instructs Claude to write
-// (Write(/tmp/paliadin/{turn_id}.txt)). The service polls that file,
-// strips the [paliadin-meta] trailer block, parses the metadata, writes
-// an audit row, and emits the response back to the SSE handler.
+// Designs:
+//   - docs/design-paliadin-2026-05-07.md (PoC architecture)
+//   - docs/design-paliadin-tailscale-ssh-2026-05-07.md (remote routing)
 //
-// The architecture is lifted (with adaptation to Go) from
-// ~/dev/mVoice/server.py:250-380, which has been driving the goldi voice
-// surface in production since 2026-Q1.
-//
-// PoC ONLY runs on m's laptop (PALIADIN_ENABLED=false on prod default).
-// Hardcoded single-user, single-tmux-window scope. Do not attempt to
-// deploy this to the Dokploy container — there is no `claude` CLI there.
+// Both implementations share the audit-table I/O (paliadinDB) and the
+// trailer parser. The conversation state (turn ordering, response file
+// polling) is split: Local owns the tmux pane directly; Remote delegates
+// to the paliadin-shim on mRiver and reads the file there.
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
@@ -50,12 +50,36 @@ import (
 // path to enabling Paliadin.
 const PaliadinOwnerEmail = "matthias.siebels@hoganlovells.com"
 
-// PaliadinService manages the tmux-claude PoC.
-type PaliadinService struct {
-	db          *sqlx.DB
+// Paliadin is the interface every Paliadin backend implements. Two
+// production implementations: LocalPaliadinService (local tmux+claude)
+// and RemotePaliadinService (ssh+paliadin-shim on mRiver). A
+// DisabledPaliadinService stub is constructed when neither is available
+// so callers don't have to nil-check on every entry point.
+type Paliadin interface {
+	RunTurn(ctx context.Context, req TurnRequest) (*TurnResult, error)
+	ResetSession(ctx context.Context) error
+	ListRecentTurns(ctx context.Context, callerID uuid.UUID, limit int) ([]PaliadinTurn, error)
+	Stats(ctx context.Context, callerID uuid.UUID) (*PaliadinStats, error)
+	IsOwner(ctx context.Context, userID uuid.UUID) (bool, error)
+}
+
+// paliadinDB is the audit-table read/write surface shared by every
+// Paliadin implementation. Embedded in LocalPaliadinService and
+// RemotePaliadinService so they inherit IsOwner / ListRecentTurns /
+// Stats and the per-turn row writers without duplication.
+type paliadinDB struct {
+	db    *sqlx.DB
+	users *UserService
+}
+
+// LocalPaliadinService runs the local tmux+claude PoC (t-paliad-146).
+// Hardcoded single-user, single-tmux-window scope. Used on m's laptop;
+// not deployed to prod (the Dokploy container has no `claude` CLI —
+// see RemotePaliadinService for that path).
+type LocalPaliadinService struct {
+	paliadinDB
 	tmuxSession string
 	responseDir string
-	users       *UserService
 
 	// Cached pane target ("session:window-idx") once the voice window is
 	// either discovered or created. Reset to "" if the pane dies.
@@ -74,7 +98,7 @@ type PaliadinService struct {
 //
 // Returns (false, nil) for any other user — including unknown UUIDs and
 // users without an email row. Errors only on DB failure.
-func (s *PaliadinService) IsOwner(ctx context.Context, userID uuid.UUID) (bool, error) {
+func (s *paliadinDB) IsOwner(ctx context.Context, userID uuid.UUID) (bool, error) {
 	var email string
 	err := s.db.QueryRowxContext(ctx,
 		`SELECT email FROM paliad.users WHERE id = $1`, userID).Scan(&email)
@@ -87,19 +111,19 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) IsOwner(ctx context.Context, userID uuid.UUID) (bool,
 	return strings.EqualFold(email, PaliadinOwnerEmail), nil
 }
 
-// NewPaliadinService wires the service. Call only when PALIADIN_ENABLED=true.
-func NewPaliadinService(db *sqlx.DB, users *UserService, tmuxSession, responseDir string) *PaliadinService {
+// NewLocalPaliadinService wires the local-tmux PoC backend. Falls back
+// to default tmux session + response dir when env vars are empty.
+func NewLocalPaliadinService(db *sqlx.DB, users *UserService, tmuxSession, responseDir string) *LocalPaliadinService {
 	if tmuxSession == "" {
 		tmuxSession = "paliad-paliadin"
 	}
 	if responseDir == "" {
 		responseDir = "/tmp/paliadin"
 	}
-	return &PaliadinService{
-		db:          db,
+	return &LocalPaliadinService{
+		paliadinDB:  paliadinDB{db: db, users: users},
 		tmuxSession: tmuxSession,
 		responseDir: responseDir,
-		users:       users,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -156,7 +180,7 @@ var ErrTmuxUnavailable = errors.New("paliadin: tmux unavailable")
 //
 // PoC: serialised. The package-level turnMu enforces "one at a time".
 // m is the only user, so this is fine.
-func (s *PaliadinService) RunTurn(ctx context.Context, req TurnRequest) (*TurnResult, error) {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) RunTurn(ctx context.Context, req TurnRequest) (*TurnResult, error) {
 	s.turnMu.Lock()
 	defer s.turnMu.Unlock()
 
@@ -238,7 +262,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) RunTurn(ctx context.Context, req TurnRequest) (*TurnRe
 
 // ResetSession sends `/clear` to the Claude pane so the next turn starts
 // from a clean conversation. Used by the "New conversation" button.
-func (s *PaliadinService) ResetSession(ctx context.Context) error {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) ResetSession(ctx context.Context) error {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	target := s.paneTarget
 	s.mu.Unlock()
@@ -254,7 +278,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) ResetSession(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 // ListRecentTurns reads the last N turns visible to the caller.
 // global_admin sees everything; everyone else sees their own.
-func (s *PaliadinService) ListRecentTurns(ctx context.Context, callerID uuid.UUID, limit int) ([]PaliadinTurn, error) {
+func (s *paliadinDB) ListRecentTurns(ctx context.Context, callerID uuid.UUID, limit int) ([]PaliadinTurn, error) {
 	if limit <= 0 || limit > 200 {
 		limit = 50
 	}
@@ -302,7 +326,7 @@ type PaliadinPromptCount struct {
 // Stats computes the dashboard aggregate. global_admin sees everything;
 // everyone else sees their own slice (PoC has only m, but the policy
 // matches RLS on the table).
-func (s *PaliadinService) Stats(ctx context.Context, callerID uuid.UUID) (*PaliadinStats, error) {
+func (s *paliadinDB) Stats(ctx context.Context, callerID uuid.UUID) (*PaliadinStats, error) {
 	stats := &PaliadinStats{
 		ByClassifier: map[string]int{},
 		DailyCounts:  []PaliadinDailyCount{},
@@ -404,7 +428,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) Stats(ctx context.Context, callerID uuid.UUID) (*Palia
 
 // ensurePane returns the tmux target ("session:window-idx") of the live
 // Claude pane, creating both session and window if missing.
-func (s *PaliadinService) ensurePane(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) ensurePane(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
 
@@ -468,7 +492,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) ensurePane(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
 	return target, nil
 }
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) findChatWindow(ctx context.Context) string {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) findChatWindow(ctx context.Context) string {
 	out, err := runTmuxOut(ctx, "list-windows", "-t", s.tmuxSession,
 		"-F", "#{window_index}")
 	if err != nil {
@@ -485,14 +509,14 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) findChatWindow(ctx context.Context) string {
 	return ""
 }
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) paneAlive(ctx context.Context, target string) bool {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) paneAlive(ctx context.Context, target string) bool {
 	if err := runTmux(ctx, "has-session", "-t", target); err != nil {
 		return false
 	}
 	return true
 }
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) waitForPaneReady(ctx context.Context, target string, timeout time.Duration) error {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) waitForPaneReady(ctx context.Context, target string, timeout time.Duration) error {
 	deadline := time.Now().Add(timeout)
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
 		select {
@@ -509,7 +533,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) waitForPaneReady(ctx context.Context, target string, t
 	return fmt.Errorf("pane %s not ready within %s", target, timeout)
 }
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) sendToPane(ctx context.Context, target, msg string) error {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) sendToPane(ctx context.Context, target, msg string) error {
 	// `-l` sends the message literally (no key parsing) — necessary so
 	// our prompt's special characters don't get interpreted.
 	if err := runTmux(ctx, "send-keys", "-t", target, "-l", msg); err != nil {
@@ -527,7 +551,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) sendToPane(ctx context.Context, target, msg string) er
 // over from earlier turns) as a non-event — the file existing without a
 // fresh mtime is a corner case the caller already de-duplicates by
 // having a unique turn_id per request.
-func (s *PaliadinService) pollForResponse(ctx context.Context, path string, timeout time.Duration) (string, error) {
+func (s *LocalPaliadinService) pollForResponse(ctx context.Context, path string, timeout time.Duration) (string, error) {
 	deadline := time.Now().Add(timeout)
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
 		select {
@@ -687,7 +711,7 @@ func countChips(s string) int {
 // audit-row writers.
 // =============================================================================
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) insertTurnRow(ctx context.Context, t *PaliadinTurn) error {
+func (s *paliadinDB) insertTurnRow(ctx context.Context, t *PaliadinTurn) error {
 	q := `
 		INSERT INTO paliad.paliadin_turns (
 			turn_id, user_id, session_id, started_at, user_message, page_origin
@@ -698,7 +722,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) insertTurnRow(ctx context.Context, t *PaliadinTurn) er
 	return err
 }
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) completeTurn(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID,
+func (s *paliadinDB) completeTurn(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID,
 	finishedAt time.Time, durationMS int, response string, tokens int,
 	meta trailerMeta, chipCount int) error {
 	rowsSeen := make(pq.Int64Array, 0, len(meta.RowsSeen))
@@ -724,7 +748,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) completeTurn(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID,
 	return err
 }
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) markTurnError(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID, code string) error {
+func (s *paliadinDB) markTurnError(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID, code string) error {
 	finished := time.Now().UTC()
 	q := `
 		UPDATE paliad.paliadin_turns
@@ -735,7 +759,7 @@ func (s *PaliadinService) markTurnError(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID, c
 	return err
 }
 
-func (s *PaliadinService) markTurnAbandonedOrError(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID, code string, abandoned bool) error {
+func (s *paliadinDB) markTurnAbandonedOrError(ctx context.Context, turnID uuid.UUID, code string, abandoned bool) error {
 	finished := time.Now().UTC()
 	q := `
 		UPDATE paliad.paliadin_turns