diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/api/client.ts b/apps/desktop/src/api/client.ts
index 8a925be2dd..fc98817b35 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/api/client.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/api/client.ts
@@ -90,12 +90,11 @@ export function connectionScoped(): { connectionId?: string } {
  *  routing may override the active source for an explicitly-owned resource.
  *
  *  Helpers under `api/` go through here rather than calling the preload bridge
- *  directly, so the connection tag cannot be forgotten on a new one — with one
- *  exception. A capabilityScoped() helper must NOT: that scope says "the local
- *  pool" by omitting `connectionId` entirely, and an absent key cannot override
- *  the ambient tag spread underneath it, so a 'local' pin would silently route
- *  to whatever remote gateway happened to be active. Those helpers call the
- *  bridge directly and own their routing end to end. */
+ *  directly, so the connection tag cannot be forgotten on a new one.
+ *  capabilityScoped() now emits an explicit `connectionId` for EVERY object
+ *  pin — `'local'` included — so a pin always overrides the ambient tag spread
+ *  underneath it. (It used to omit the key for 'local', which made the pin
+ *  unable to beat the ambient tag; helpers then had to bypass this wrapper.) */
 export function hermesApi<T>(request: HermesApiRequest): Promise<T> {
   return window.hermesDesktop.api<T>({ ...connectionScoped(), ...request })
 }
@@ -113,10 +112,14 @@ export function hermesApi<T>(request: HermesApiRequest): Promise<T> {
 //     connection tag (connectionScoped, same contract the cron helpers adopted
 //     in #87882). Without the tag, a window activated onto a registered remote
 //     gateway read the LOCAL pool's skills/tools/MCP — the wrong machine.
-//   - `{ connectionId, profile }` → explicit pin. `''`/`'local'` connection
-//     ids mean the local pool and deliberately DROP the ambient connection
-//     tag, so a local-profile pick made while a remote gateway is active still
-//     routes to the local machine.
+//   - `{ connectionId, profile }` → explicit pin. A non-empty connection id —
+//     `'local'` INCLUDED — is sent through so Electron's registry resolver
+//     owns the routing. Dropping the `'local'` pin (the pre-#91564 behavior,
+//     when an absent id always meant the local pool) silently re-routes a
+//     "This device" pick to the registry PRIMARY once that primary is a
+//     remote/cloud/ssh gateway: the v1 fallback route treats a remote registry
+//     primary as global-remote, so the explicit pin is the ONLY way back to
+//     this machine (see apiRequestRegistryConnectionId in Electron main).
 export type ProfileScope = undefined | null | string | { connectionId?: null | string; profile?: null | string }
 
 export function capabilityScoped(scope?: ProfileScope): { connectionId?: string; profile?: string } {
@@ -126,22 +129,25 @@ export function capabilityScoped(scope?: ProfileScope): { connectionId?: string;
 
     return {
       ...(profile ? { profile } : {}),
-      ...(connectionId && connectionId !== 'local' ? { connectionId } : {})
+      ...(connectionId ? { connectionId } : {})
     }
   }
 
   return { ...profileScoped(scope), ...connectionScoped() }
 }
 
-/** Stable cache-key for a capability scope: `profile` for the local/legacy
- *  path, `connectionId::profile` for an explicit remote pin. Mirrors
- *  normalizeProfileKey for plain strings so existing keys stay byte-identical. */
+/** Stable cache-key for a capability scope: `profile` for the ambient/legacy
+ *  path, `connectionId::profile` for ANY explicit pin — `local` included. An
+ *  explicit "This device" pick and the ambient path are no longer guaranteed
+ *  to hit the same backend (a remote registry PRIMARY makes the ambient path
+ *  remote), so sharing the bare-profile cache row between them painted one
+ *  machine's config under the other's scope (AGENTS.md scope-in-key rule). */
 export function profileScopeKey(scope?: ProfileScope): string {
   if (scope && typeof scope === 'object') {
     const profile = (scope.profile ?? '').trim() || 'default'
     const connectionId = (scope.connectionId ?? '').trim()
 
-    return connectionId && connectionId !== 'local' ? `${connectionId}::${profile}` : profile
+    return connectionId ? `${connectionId}::${profile}` : profile
   }
 
   return (scope ?? '').trim() || 'default'
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/api/profiles.ts b/apps/desktop/src/api/profiles.ts
index 12b2f6cd20..cdade9099c 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/api/profiles.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/api/profiles.ts
@@ -25,12 +25,11 @@ export function createProfile(body: ProfileCreatePayload): Promise<{ name: strin
 
 // Explicit (connection, profile) pin for a profile that lives on a gateway
 // other than the foreground one — the fleet profile rail edits a remote
-// square's SOUL/name in place. Same contract as deleteProfile's scope.
+// square's SOUL/name in place. capabilityScoped now forwards a `'local'` pin
+// itself (it must, or a remote registry PRIMARY absorbs "This device" reads),
+// so this is a plain alias kept for the call sites' self-documenting name.
 function profileOwnerScoped(scope?: ProfileScope): { connectionId?: string; profile?: string } {
-  return {
-    ...capabilityScoped(scope),
-    ...(scope && typeof scope === 'object' && scope.connectionId?.trim() === 'local' ? { connectionId: 'local' } : {})
-  }
+  return capabilityScoped(scope)
 }
 
 export function renameProfile(
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/hermes-capability-scope.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/hermes-capability-scope.test.ts
index fadd349f2d..b50e8236a8 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/hermes-capability-scope.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/hermes-capability-scope.test.ts
@@ -89,21 +89,27 @@ describe('capability helpers are connection-scoped', () => {
     }
   })
 
-  it("a 'local' pin routes to the local pool even while a remote gateway is active", () => {
+  it("a 'local' pin carries an explicit connectionId even while a remote gateway is active", () => {
     setApiRequestProfile('research')
     setApiRequestConnection('gw-tailscale')
 
     void getSkills({ connectionId: 'local', profile: 'coder' })
 
+    // The explicit pin must survive to Electron main: its registry resolver
+    // owns 'local' (forced-local pooled child). Omitting the key here let the
+    // ambient tag — or, worse, a remote registry PRIMARY on the v1 fallback
+    // route — absorb a "This device" pick (v0.20.6 regression, #91564 rung).
     expect(last().profile).toBe('coder')
-    expect(last()).not.toHaveProperty('connectionId')
+    expect(last().connectionId).toBe('local')
   })
 
-  it('profileScopeKey keeps legacy keys byte-identical and namespaces remote pins', () => {
+  it('profileScopeKey keeps legacy keys byte-identical and namespaces every explicit pin', () => {
     expect(profileScopeKey()).toBe('default')
     expect(profileScopeKey(null)).toBe('default')
     expect(profileScopeKey('coder')).toBe('coder')
-    expect(profileScopeKey({ connectionId: 'local', profile: 'coder' })).toBe('coder')
+    // A 'local' pin and the ambient path can resolve to DIFFERENT backends
+    // when the registry primary is remote — they must not share a cache row.
+    expect(profileScopeKey({ connectionId: 'local', profile: 'coder' })).toBe('local::coder')
     expect(profileScopeKey({ connectionId: 'homelab', profile: 'coder' })).toBe('homelab::coder')
     expect(profileScopeKey({ connectionId: 'homelab' })).toBe('homelab::default')
   })