diff --git a/backend/app_controller.py b/backend/app_controller.py
index 5213de3..c856e7a 100644
--- a/backend/app_controller.py
+++ b/backend/app_controller.py
@@ -577,12 +577,18 @@ class AppController:
             if self.config.get('server_sync.enabled', False):
                 self._start_server_sync()
 
-        # Check if model/device changed
+        # Check if model/device/remote mode changed -- any of these require
+        # a full engine reload since they change which engine class is used
         new_model = self.config.get('transcription.model', 'base.en')
         new_device = self.config.get('transcription.device', 'auto')
+        new_remote_mode = self.config.get('remote.mode', 'local')
+        current_remote_mode = 'local'
+        if self.transcription_engine:
+            current_remote_mode = getattr(self.transcription_engine, 'mode', 'local')
         engine_reload_needed = (
             self.current_model_size != new_model
             or self.current_device_config != new_device
+            or current_remote_mode != new_remote_mode
         )
 
         if engine_reload_needed:
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/sidecar/mod.rs b/src-tauri/src/sidecar/mod.rs
index 0630498..9f8291c 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/sidecar/mod.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/sidecar/mod.rs
@@ -554,18 +554,27 @@ impl SidecarManager {
     // -- private helpers -------------------------------------------------------
 
     fn build_dev_command(&self) -> Result<std::process::Command, String> {
-        let mut cmd = std::process::Command::new("python");
-        cmd.args(["-u", "-m", "backend.main_headless"]); // -u = unbuffered
+        // Use `uv run` to ensure we use the project's venv, not system Python
+        let mut cmd = std::process::Command::new("uv");
+        cmd.args(["run", "python", "-u", "-m", "backend.main_headless"]);
 
-        // Try to find the project root (parent of src-tauri)
-        if let Some(dirs) = DIRS.get() {
-            let project_root = dirs
-                .resource_dir
-                .parent() // src-tauri
-                .and_then(|p| p.parent()); // project root
-            if let Some(root) = project_root {
-                cmd.current_dir(root);
-            }
+        // Find the project root: try CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR first (set at compile time),
+        // then fall back to resource_dir parent chain
+        let manifest_dir = option_env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR").map(std::path::PathBuf::from);
+        let project_root = manifest_dir
+            .as_ref()
+            .and_then(|d| d.parent()) // src-tauri -> project root
+            .or_else(|| {
+                DIRS.get()
+                    .and_then(|d| d.resource_dir.parent())
+                    .and_then(|p| p.parent())
+            });
+
+        if let Some(root) = project_root {
+            eprintln!("[sidecar] Dev mode: working dir = {}", root.display());
+            cmd.current_dir(root);
+        } else {
+            eprintln!("[sidecar] Dev mode: WARNING - could not determine project root");
         }
 
         cmd.env("PYTHONUNBUFFERED", "1");