diff --git a/deploy/crawler-remote/install.sh b/deploy/crawler-remote/install.sh
index 487ebab..6735bc8 100755
--- a/deploy/crawler-remote/install.sh
+++ b/deploy/crawler-remote/install.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # pitbot on a second box, natively (no Docker): N fetch-only page workers and, with
 # --index, the publish role (local search index + page archive + the API pit.world reads).
-# Idempotent: re-run to change the worker count. Needs sudo for the systemd units.
+# Idempotent: re-run to change the worker count. System units need sudo; --user writes
+# systemd user units instead (no sudo; needs `loginctl enable-linger`, e.g. dev3).
 #
 #   bash install.sh --workers 8 --index
 #
@@ -14,11 +15,12 @@
 # 127.0.0.1:5601) and anything else secret; this script never writes secrets.
 set -euo pipefail
 
-WORKERS=4; INDEX=0
+WORKERS=4; INDEX=0; MODE=system
 while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
   case "$1" in
     --workers) WORKERS=$2; shift 2 ;;
     --index) INDEX=1; shift ;;
+    --user) MODE=user; shift ;;
     *) echo "unknown option $1" >&2; exit 1 ;;
   esac
 done
@@ -35,7 +37,13 @@ chmod 600 "$ROOT/crawler.env"
 (cd "$APP" && git fetch -q origin main && git reset -q --hard origin/main && "$BUN" install --frozen-lockfile >/dev/null)
 
 USER_NAME=$(id -un)
-COMMON="User=$USER_NAME
+if [ $MODE = user ]; then
+  SCTL="systemctl --user"; UNIT_DIR=$HOME/.config/systemd/user; WRITE="tee"; USER_LINE=""; TARGET=default.target
+  mkdir -p "$UNIT_DIR"
+else
+  SCTL="sudo systemctl"; UNIT_DIR=/etc/systemd/system; WRITE="sudo tee"; USER_LINE="User=$USER_NAME"; TARGET=multi-user.target
+fi
+COMMON="$USER_LINE
 WorkingDirectory=$APP
 EnvironmentFile=$ROOT/crawler.env
 Environment=CRAWL_REDIS_URL=redis://127.0.0.1:6396
@@ -49,7 +57,7 @@ MemoryMax=1500M
 Nice=5"
 
 # Fetch-only workers: no index, no health port, 64 pages at once each.
-sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/pitbot-pages@.service >/dev/null <<EOF
+$WRITE "$UNIT_DIR/pitbot-pages@.service" >/dev/null <<EOF
 [Unit]
 Description=pitbot page worker %i (fetch only; dev2 Redis via tunnel)
 After=network-online.target
@@ -62,12 +70,12 @@ Environment=CRAWL_INDEX_PATH=:memory:
 Environment=CRAWL_HEALTH_PORT=0
 
 [Install]
-WantedBy=multi-user.target
+WantedBy=$TARGET
 EOF
 
 if [ $INDEX = 1 ]; then
   # The publish role: drains the outbox into the index and the archive, serves the API.
-  sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/pitbot-index.service >/dev/null <<EOF
+  $WRITE "$UNIT_DIR/pitbot-index.service" >/dev/null <<EOF
 [Unit]
 Description=pitbot index (publish role: search index, page archive, API on 127.0.0.1:8807)
 After=network-online.target
@@ -82,21 +90,21 @@ Environment=CRAWL_HEALTH_PORT=8807
 MemoryMax=8G
 
 [Install]
-WantedBy=multi-user.target
+WantedBy=$TARGET
 EOF
 fi
 
-sudo systemctl daemon-reload
+$SCTL daemon-reload
 # Exactly WORKERS page workers: start 1..N, stop any above N.
-for i in $(seq 1 "$WORKERS"); do sudo systemctl enable --now "pitbot-pages@$i" >/dev/null 2>&1; done
-for unit in $(systemctl list-units --plain --no-legend 'pitbot-pages@*' | awk '{print $1}'); do
+for i in $(seq 1 "$WORKERS"); do $SCTL enable --now "pitbot-pages@$i" >/dev/null 2>&1; done
+for unit in $($SCTL list-units --plain --no-legend 'pitbot-pages@*' | awk '{print $1}'); do
   n=${unit#pitbot-pages@}; n=${n%.service}
-  if [ "$n" -gt "$WORKERS" ]; then sudo systemctl disable --now "$unit" >/dev/null 2>&1; fi
+  if [ "$n" -gt "$WORKERS" ]; then $SCTL disable --now "$unit" >/dev/null 2>&1; fi
 done
-if [ $INDEX = 1 ]; then sudo systemctl enable --now pitbot-index >/dev/null 2>&1; fi
+if [ $INDEX = 1 ]; then $SCTL enable --now pitbot-index >/dev/null 2>&1; fi
 
 # Deploy on merge and ship sealed archive hours, from the user's crontab.
 POLL="*/5 * * * * bash $APP/deploy/crawler-remote/poll.sh >> $ROOT/poll.log 2>&1  # pitbot remote deploy-on-merge"
 SHIP="7 * * * * flock -n /tmp/pitbot-ship.lock bash $APP/deploy/crawler-remote/ship-archive.sh >> $ROOT/ship.log 2>&1  # pitbot archive -> seed1"
 { crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -v -e 'pitbot remote deploy-on-merge' -e 'pitbot archive -> seed1'; echo "$POLL"; if [ $INDEX = 1 ]; then echo "$SHIP"; fi; } | crontab -
-systemctl list-units --plain --no-legend 'pitbot-*' | awk '{print $1, $3, $4}'
+$SCTL list-units --plain --no-legend 'pitbot-*' | awk '{print $1, $3, $4}'
diff --git a/deploy/crawler-remote/poll.sh b/deploy/crawler-remote/poll.sh
index f1f29c2..ce40e54 100755
--- a/deploy/crawler-remote/poll.sh
+++ b/deploy/crawler-remote/poll.sh
@@ -12,8 +12,10 @@ if [ "$want" = "$have" ] && [ "${1:-}" != "--force" ]; then exit 0; fi
 echo "$(date -u +%FT%TZ) deploying ${want:0:12} (was ${have:0:12})"
 git reset -q --hard "$want"
 bun install --frozen-lockfile >/dev/null
-for unit in $(systemctl list-units --plain --no-legend 'pitbot-*' | awk '{print $1}'); do sudo systemctl restart "$unit"; done
+# install.sh --user boxes (no sudo) run user units; the rest run system units.
+if systemctl --user list-units --plain --no-legend 'pitbot-*' 2>/dev/null | grep -q pitbot; then SCTL="systemctl --user"; else SCTL="sudo systemctl"; fi
+for unit in $($SCTL list-units --plain --no-legend 'pitbot-*' | awk '{print $1}'); do $SCTL restart "$unit"; done
 sleep 10
-failed=$(systemctl list-units --plain --no-legend --state=failed 'pitbot-*' | awk '{print $1}')
+failed=$($SCTL list-units --plain --no-legend --state=failed 'pitbot-*' | awk '{print $1}')
 if [ -n "$failed" ]; then echo "$(date -u +%FT%TZ) ${want:0:12} FAILED: $failed" >&2; exit 1; fi
 echo "$(date -u +%FT%TZ) ${want:0:12} running"