diff --git a/docs/cli-reference.mdx b/docs/cli-reference.mdx
index d492a2cb..96da742c 100644
--- a/docs/cli-reference.mdx
+++ b/docs/cli-reference.mdx
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ Ordinary `curl` is neither required nor automatically authenticated.
 | `setup` | Choose local or hosted mode interactively. |
 | `doctor` | Diagnose browser bridge and daemon connectivity. |
 | `daemon` | Manage the local Webcmd daemon: status, stop, and restart. |
-| `artifact` | Download a hosted execution artifact to `--output`. |
+| `artifact` | Hosted mode only. Download a hosted execution artifact to `--output`. |
 | `browser` | Agent-facing browser runtime for exploration and verification. |
 | `web` | Local URL fetch helpers. |
 | `profile` | List, rename, and select browser runtime profiles. |
diff --git a/src/command-suggest.test.ts b/src/command-suggest.test.ts
index c2a2eb85..ca10105d 100644
--- a/src/command-suggest.test.ts
+++ b/src/command-suggest.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { handleProgramParseError } from './cli-error-report.js';
 import { createProgram } from './cli.js';
-import { editDistance, isReservedRootCommand, unknownRootCommandMessage, unknownSubcommandMessage } from './command-suggest.js';
+import { editDistance, isHostedOnlyRootCommand, isReservedRootCommand, unknownRootCommandMessage, unknownSubcommandMessage } from './command-suggest.js';
 import { HOSTED_ROOT_HELP } from './completion-shared.js';
 import { WEBCMD_ROOT_COMMANDS } from './hooks.js';
 
@@ -41,6 +41,23 @@ describe('unknown root command', () => {
     expect(message).toContain('Did you mean: webcmd plugin search <query>');
   });
 
+  it('names hosted-only mode instead of sending artifact to a plugin hunt', () => {
+    const message = unknownRootCommandMessage(createProgram('', ''), 'artifact');
+
+    expect(message).toContain('"artifact" is a hosted-mode command');
+    expect(message).toContain('choose hosted mode');
+    // the plugin does not exist, so the old advice could only waste a turn
+    expect(message).not.toContain('plugin search');
+    expect(message).not.toContain('is not installed');
+  });
+
+  it('answers the same way regardless of the case typed', () => {
+    const message = unknownRootCommandMessage(createProgram('', ''), 'Artifact');
+
+    expect(message).toContain('"Artifact" is a hosted-mode command');
+    expect(message).not.toContain('plugin search');
+  });
+
   it('still guides a genuinely unknown token to plugin search', () => {
     const message = unknownRootCommandMessage(createProgram('', ''), 'zzzqqqwww');
 
@@ -77,6 +94,24 @@ describe('reserved roots', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('hosted-only roots', () => {
+  it('is exactly the hosted surface local mode does not register', () => {
+    // derived, not listed: a hosted command added later is covered for free
+    for (const name of WEBCMD_ROOT_COMMANDS) expect(isHostedOnlyRootCommand(name)).toBe(false);
+    expect(isHostedOnlyRootCommand('artifact')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isHostedOnlyRootCommand('github')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('never claims a locally served command is hosted-only', () => {
+    // `web` ships in both surfaces; calling it hosted-only would be a new lie
+    expect(isHostedOnlyRootCommand('web')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isHostedOnlyRootCommand('browser')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isHostedOnlyRootCommand('doctor')).toBe(false);
+    // `setup` is served locally by main.ts before Commander parses argv
+    expect(isHostedOnlyRootCommand('setup')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('unknown namespace subcommand', () => {
   it('suggests adapter status and lists the valid subcommands', () => {
     const message = unknownSubcommandMessage(namespaceOf(createProgram('', ''), 'adapter'), 'list');
diff --git a/src/command-suggest.ts b/src/command-suggest.ts
index bc7c46c0..9389d832 100644
--- a/src/command-suggest.ts
+++ b/src/command-suggest.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import * as fs from 'node:fs';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 import { CLI_COMMAND } from './brand.js';
-import { HOSTED_ROOT_HELP } from './completion-shared.js';
+import { HOSTED_ONLY_COMMAND_HELP, HOSTED_ROOT_HELP } from './completion-shared.js';
 import { getAdapterLoadFailures, missingPluginGuidance, PLUGINS_DIR, USER_CLIS_DIR } from './discovery.js';
 import { WEBCMD_ROOT_COMMANDS } from './hooks.js';
 
@@ -136,6 +136,15 @@ export function unknownRootCommandMessage(
   const canonical = CANONICAL_ROOT[name.toLowerCase()];
   if (canonical) return `Unknown command "${name}".\nDid you mean: ${canonical}`;
 
+  // An exact hosted-command name is stronger evidence than any edit-distance
+  // guess below it, so this is settled before suggestions run.
+  if (isHostedOnlyRootCommand(name.toLowerCase())) {
+    return [
+      `"${name}" is a hosted-mode command and this installation is in local mode.`,
+      HOSTED_ONLY_COMMAND_HELP,
+    ].join('\n');
+  }
+
   const suggestions = suggestCommands(name, commandCandidates(program));
   if (suggestions.length > 0) return `Unknown command "${name}".\n${formatSuggestions(suggestions)}`;
 
@@ -164,6 +173,24 @@ export function isReservedRootCommand(name: string): boolean {
     || HOSTED_ROOT_HELP.commands.some(command => command.name.split(/\s/, 1)[0] === name);
 }
 
+/**
+ * A command hosted mode serves that local mode never registers.
+ *
+ * Derived rather than listed, so a hosted command added later is covered
+ * without touching this file. Today that is `artifact`, which the CLI reference
+ * lists among the top-level commands: locally it resolved to "Site is not
+ * installed. Search: webcmd plugin search artifact" — a hunt for a plugin that
+ * cannot exist.
+ */
+export function isHostedOnlyRootCommand(name: string): boolean {
+  if (WEBCMD_ROOT_COMMANDS.has(name)) return false;
+  // `setup` chooses the mode, so both modes serve it. It is absent from
+  // WEBCMD_ROOT_COMMANDS only because main.ts answers it before Commander sees
+  // the argv at all, which would otherwise read here as hosted-only.
+  if (name === 'setup') return false;
+  return HOSTED_ROOT_HELP.commands.some(command => command.name.split(/\s/, 1)[0] === name);
+}
+
 /** Message for an unknown subcommand inside a namespace. Caller writes it to stderr. */
 export function unknownSubcommandMessage(namespace: Command, name: string): string {
   const nsPath = namespace.name();
diff --git a/src/completion-shared.ts b/src/completion-shared.ts
index 3990dd96..cb412dde 100644
--- a/src/completion-shared.ts
+++ b/src/completion-shared.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ export const BUILTIN_COMMANDS = [
 ];
 
 export const LOCAL_ONLY_COMMAND_HELP = 'Run `webcmd setup` and choose local mode to use local-only commands.';
+/** Mirror of {@link LOCAL_ONLY_COMMAND_HELP} for a hosted command reached from local mode. */
+export const HOSTED_ONLY_COMMAND_HELP = 'Run `webcmd setup` and choose hosted mode to use hosted-only commands.';
 
 const HOSTED_CLIENT_ROOT_COMMANDS: readonly RootHelpCommand[] = [
   { name: 'adapter', description: 'Manage hosted adapter sources and overrides' },