diff --git a/app/app.py b/app/app.py
index 8a49a76..64d0393 100644
--- a/app/app.py
+++ b/app/app.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ IS_DEMO = os.environ.get("DEMO_MODE", "").lower() in ("1", "true", "yes")
 import streamlit as st
 from scripts.db import DEFAULT_DB, init_db, get_active_tasks
 from app.feedback import inject_feedback_button
-from app.cloud_session import resolve_session, get_db_path, get_config_dir
+from app.cloud_session import resolve_session, get_db_path, get_config_dir, get_cloud_tier
 import sqlite3
 
 _LOGO_CIRCLE = Path(__file__).parent / "static" / "peregrine_logo_circle.png"
@@ -99,6 +99,15 @@ _show_wizard = not IS_DEMO and (
 if _show_wizard:
     _setup_page = st.Page("pages/0_Setup.py", title="Setup", icon="👋")
     st.navigation({"": [_setup_page]}).run()
+    # Sync UI cookie even during wizard so vue preference redirects correctly.
+    # Tier not yet computed here — use cloud tier (or "free" fallback).
+    try:
+        from app.components.ui_switcher import sync_ui_cookie as _sync_wizard_cookie
+        from app.cloud_session import get_cloud_tier as _gctr
+        _wizard_tier = _gctr() if _gctr() != "local" else "free"
+        _sync_wizard_cookie(_USER_YAML, _wizard_tier)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
     st.stop()
 
 # ── Navigation ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -123,6 +132,21 @@ pg = st.navigation(pages)
 # ── Background task sidebar indicator ─────────────────────────────────────────
 # Fragment polls every 3s so stage labels update live without a full page reload.
 # The sidebar context WRAPS the fragment call — do not write to st.sidebar inside it.
+_TASK_LABELS = {
+    "cover_letter":        "Cover letter",
+    "company_research":    "Research",
+    "email_sync":          "Email sync",
+    "discovery":           "Discovery",
+    "enrich_descriptions": "Enriching descriptions",
+    "score":               "Scoring matches",
+    "scrape_url":          "Scraping listing",
+    "enrich_craigslist":   "Enriching listing",
+    "wizard_generate":     "Wizard generation",
+    "prepare_training":    "Training data",
+}
+_DISCOVERY_PIPELINE = ["discovery", "enrich_descriptions", "score"]
+
+
 @st.fragment(run_every=3)
 def _task_indicator():
     tasks = get_active_tasks(get_db_path())
@@ -130,28 +154,31 @@ def _task_indicator():
         return
     st.divider()
     st.markdown(f"**⏳ {len(tasks)} task(s) running**")
-    for t in tasks:
-        icon = "⏳" if t["status"] == "running" else "🕐"
-        task_type = t["task_type"]
-        if task_type == "cover_letter":
-            label = "Cover letter"
-        elif task_type == "company_research":
-            label = "Research"
-        elif task_type == "email_sync":
-            label = "Email sync"
-        elif task_type == "discovery":
-            label = "Discovery"
-        elif task_type == "enrich_descriptions":
-            label = "Enriching"
-        elif task_type == "scrape_url":
-            label = "Scraping URL"
-        elif task_type == "wizard_generate":
-            label = "Wizard generation"
-        elif task_type == "enrich_craigslist":
-            label = "Enriching listing"
-        else:
-            label = task_type.replace("_", " ").title()
-        stage = t.get("stage") or ""
+
+    pipeline_set   = set(_DISCOVERY_PIPELINE)
+    pipeline_tasks = [t for t in tasks if t["task_type"] in pipeline_set]
+    other_tasks    = [t for t in tasks if t["task_type"] not in pipeline_set]
+
+    # Discovery pipeline: render as ordered sub-queue with indented steps
+    if pipeline_tasks:
+        ordered = [
+            next((t for t in pipeline_tasks if t["task_type"] == typ), None)
+            for typ in _DISCOVERY_PIPELINE
+        ]
+        ordered = [t for t in ordered if t is not None]
+        for i, t in enumerate(ordered):
+            icon   = "⏳" if t["status"] == "running" else "🕐"
+            label  = _TASK_LABELS.get(t["task_type"], t["task_type"].replace("_", " ").title())
+            stage  = t.get("stage") or ""
+            detail = f" · {stage}" if stage else ""
+            prefix = "" if i == 0 else "↳ "
+            st.caption(f"{prefix}{icon} {label}{detail}")
+
+    # All other tasks (cover letter, email sync, etc.) as individual rows
+    for t in other_tasks:
+        icon   = "⏳" if t["status"] == "running" else "🕐"
+        label  = _TASK_LABELS.get(t["task_type"], t["task_type"].replace("_", " ").title())
+        stage  = t.get("stage") or ""
         detail = f" · {stage}" if stage else (f" — {t.get('company')}" if t.get("company") else "")
         st.caption(f"{icon} {label}{detail}")
 
@@ -166,6 +193,13 @@ def _get_version() -> str:
     except Exception:
         return "dev"
 
+# ── Effective tier (resolved before sidebar so switcher can use it) ──────────
+# get_cloud_tier() returns "local" in dev/self-hosted mode, real tier in cloud.
+_ui_profile = _UserProfile(_USER_YAML) if _UserProfile.exists(_USER_YAML) else None
+_ui_yaml_tier = _ui_profile.effective_tier if _ui_profile else "free"
+_ui_cloud_tier = get_cloud_tier()
+_ui_tier = _ui_cloud_tier if _ui_cloud_tier != "local" else _ui_yaml_tier
+
 with st.sidebar:
     if IS_DEMO:
         st.info(
@@ -195,6 +229,11 @@ with st.sidebar:
         )
 
     st.divider()
+    try:
+        from app.components.ui_switcher import render_sidebar_switcher
+        render_sidebar_switcher(_USER_YAML, _ui_tier)
+    except Exception:
+        pass  # never crash the app over the sidebar switcher
     st.caption(f"Peregrine {_get_version()}")
     inject_feedback_button(page=pg.title)
 
@@ -206,8 +245,6 @@ if IS_DEMO:
 # ── UI switcher banner (paid tier; or all visitors in demo mode) ─────────────
 try:
     from app.components.ui_switcher import render_banner
-    _ui_profile = _UserProfile(_USER_YAML) if _UserProfile.exists(_USER_YAML) else None
-    _ui_tier = _ui_profile.tier if _ui_profile else "free"
     render_banner(_USER_YAML, _ui_tier)
 except Exception:
     pass  # never crash the app over the banner
@@ -217,8 +254,6 @@ pg.run()
 # ── UI preference cookie sync (runs after page render) ──────────────────────
 try:
     from app.components.ui_switcher import sync_ui_cookie
-    _ui_profile = _UserProfile(_USER_YAML) if _UserProfile.exists(_USER_YAML) else None
-    _ui_tier = _ui_profile.tier if _ui_profile else "free"
     sync_ui_cookie(_USER_YAML, _ui_tier)
 except Exception:
     pass  # never crash the app over cookie sync
diff --git a/app/components/ui_switcher.py b/app/components/ui_switcher.py
index 28b71b2..2fb4a02 100644
--- a/app/components/ui_switcher.py
+++ b/app/components/ui_switcher.py
@@ -26,17 +26,42 @@ from app.wizard.tiers import can_use
 
 _DEMO_MODE = os.environ.get("DEMO_MODE", "").lower() in ("1", "true", "yes")
 
+# When set, the app is running without a Caddy reverse proxy in front
+# (local dev, direct port exposure). Switch to Vue by navigating directly
+# to this URL instead of relying on cookie-based Caddy routing.
+# Example: PEREGRINE_VUE_URL=http://localhost:8506
+_VUE_URL = os.environ.get("PEREGRINE_VUE_URL", "").strip().rstrip("/")
+
 _COOKIE_JS = """
 <script>
 (function() {{
   document.cookie = 'prgn_ui={value}; path=/; SameSite=Lax';
+  {navigate_js}
 }})();
 </script>
 """
 
 
-def _set_cookie_js(value: str) -> None:
-    components.html(_COOKIE_JS.format(value=value), height=0)
+def _set_cookie_js(value: str, navigate: bool = False) -> None:
+    """Inject JS to set the prgn_ui cookie.
+
+    When PEREGRINE_VUE_URL is set (local dev, no Caddy): navigating to Vue
+    uses window.parent.location.href to jump directly to the Vue container
+    port. Without this, reload() just sends the request back to the same
+    Streamlit port with no router in between to inspect the cookie.
+
+    When PEREGRINE_VUE_URL is absent (Caddy deployment): navigate=True
+    triggers window.location.reload() so Caddy sees the updated cookie on
+    the next HTTP request and routes accordingly.
+    """
+    # components.html() renders in an iframe — window.parent navigates the host page
+    if navigate and value == "vue" and _VUE_URL:
+        nav_js = f"window.parent.location.href = '{_VUE_URL}';"
+    elif navigate:
+        nav_js = "window.parent.location.reload();"
+    else:
+        nav_js = ""
+    components.html(_COOKIE_JS.format(value=value, navigate_js=nav_js), height=0)
 
 
 def sync_ui_cookie(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
@@ -46,12 +71,24 @@ def sync_ui_cookie(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
     - ?prgn_switch=<value> param (Vue SPA switch-back signal): overrides yaml,
       writes yaml to match, clears the param.
     - Tier downgrade: resets vue preference to streamlit for ineligible users.
-    - ?ui_fallback=1 param: shows a toast (Vue SPA was unreachable).
+    - ?ui_fallback=1 param: Vue SPA was down — reinforce streamlit cookie and
+      return early to avoid immediately navigating back to a broken Vue SPA.
+
+    When the resolved preference is "vue", this function navigates (full page
+    reload) rather than silently setting the cookie. Without navigate=True,
+    Streamlit would set prgn_ui=vue mid-page-load; subsequent HTTP requests
+    made by Streamlit's own frontend (lazy JS chunks, WebSocket upgrade) would
+    carry the new cookie and Caddy would misroute them to the Vue nginx
+    container, causing TypeError: error loading dynamically imported module.
     """
     # ── ?ui_fallback=1 — Vue SPA was down, Caddy bounced us back ──────────────
+    # Return early: reinforce the streamlit cookie so we don't immediately
+    # navigate back to a Vue SPA that may still be down.
     if st.query_params.get("ui_fallback"):
         st.toast("⚠️ New UI temporarily unavailable — switched back to Classic", icon="⚠️")
         st.query_params.pop("ui_fallback", None)
+        _set_cookie_js("streamlit")
+        return
 
     # ── ?prgn_switch param — Vue SPA sent us here to switch back ──────────────
     switch_param = st.query_params.get("prgn_switch")
@@ -76,6 +113,12 @@ def sync_ui_cookie(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
         # UI components must not crash the app — silent fallback to default
         pref = "streamlit"
 
+    # Demo mode: Vue SPA has no demo data wiring — always serve Streamlit.
+    # (The tier downgrade check below is skipped in demo mode, but we must
+    # also block the Vue navigation itself so Caddy doesn't route to a blank SPA.)
+    if pref == "vue" and _DEMO_MODE:
+        pref = "streamlit"
+
     # Tier downgrade protection (skip in demo — demo bypasses tier gate)
     if pref == "vue" and not _DEMO_MODE and not can_use(tier, "vue_ui_beta"):
         if profile is not None:
@@ -87,13 +130,23 @@ def sync_ui_cookie(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
                 pass
         pref = "streamlit"
 
-    _set_cookie_js(pref)
+    # Navigate (full reload) when switching to Vue so Caddy re-routes on the
+    # next HTTP request before Streamlit serves any more content. Silent
+    # cookie-only set is safe for streamlit since we're already on that origin.
+    _set_cookie_js(pref, navigate=(pref == "vue"))
 
 
 def switch_ui(yaml_path: Path, to: str, tier: str) -> None:
-    """Write user.yaml, sync cookie, rerun.
+    """Write user.yaml, set cookie, and navigate.
 
     to: "vue" | "streamlit"
+
+    Switching to Vue triggers window.location.reload() so Caddy sees the
+    updated prgn_ui cookie and routes to the Vue SPA. st.rerun() alone is
+    not sufficient — it operates over WebSocket and produces no HTTP request.
+
+    Switching back to streamlit uses st.rerun() (no full reload needed since
+    we're already on the Streamlit origin and no Caddy re-routing is required).
     """
     if to not in ("vue", "streamlit"):
         return
@@ -104,8 +157,12 @@ def switch_ui(yaml_path: Path, to: str, tier: str) -> None:
     except Exception:
         # UI components must not crash the app — silent fallback
         pass
-    sync_ui_cookie(yaml_path, tier=tier)
-    st.rerun()
+    if to == "vue":
+        # navigate=True triggers window.location.reload() after setting cookie
+        _set_cookie_js("vue", navigate=True)
+    else:
+        sync_ui_cookie(yaml_path, tier=tier)
+        st.rerun()
 
 
 def render_banner(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
@@ -143,6 +200,26 @@ def render_banner(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
             st.rerun()
 
 
+def render_sidebar_switcher(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
+    """Persistent sidebar button to switch to the Vue UI.
+
+    Shown when the user is eligible (paid+ or demo) and currently on Streamlit.
+    This is always visible — unlike the banner which can be dismissed.
+    """
+    eligible = _DEMO_MODE or can_use(tier, "vue_ui_beta")
+    if not eligible:
+        return
+    try:
+        profile = UserProfile(yaml_path)
+        if profile.ui_preference == "vue":
+            return
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+    if st.button("✨ Switch to New UI", key="_sidebar_switch_vue", use_container_width=True):
+        switch_ui(yaml_path, to="vue", tier=tier)
+
+
 def render_settings_toggle(yaml_path: Path, tier: str) -> None:
     """Toggle in Settings → System → Deployment expander."""
     eligible = _DEMO_MODE or can_use(tier, "vue_ui_beta")
diff --git a/demo/config/user.yaml b/demo/config/user.yaml
index a4f1ec2..3dd8c02 100644
--- a/demo/config/user.yaml
+++ b/demo/config/user.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ mission_preferences:
   social_impact: Want my work to reach people who need it most.
 name: Demo User
 nda_companies: []
-ollama_models_dir: ~/models/ollama
+ollama_models_dir: /root/models/ollama
 phone: ''
 services:
   ollama_host: localhost
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ services:
   vllm_ssl: false
   vllm_ssl_verify: true
 tier: free
-vllm_models_dir: ~/models/vllm
+ui_preference: streamlit
+vllm_models_dir: /root/models/vllm
 wizard_complete: true
 wizard_step: 0