diff --git a/.changeset/docker-updates-tab.md b/.changeset/docker-updates-tab.md
index 811478a..dd83d19 100644
--- a/.changeset/docker-updates-tab.md
+++ b/.changeset/docker-updates-tab.md
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 "@jmfederico/pi-web": patch
 ---
 
-Expose Docker-aware PI WEB status, update, and restart commands in the Updates panel through the canonical `pi-web-docker` command, including explicit `pi-web-docker --dev ...` commands for Docker development runtimes, and harden production and development Docker workflows around generated Compose assets, Compose project-name isolation, clearer checkout/runtime guidance, root-safety checks, UID/GID preservation, and detached helper execution.
+Expose Docker-aware PI WEB status, update, and restart commands in the Updates panel through the canonical `pi-web-docker` command, keep the Updates tab visible across federated Docker runtimes, including Docker development runtimes with explicit `pi-web-docker --dev ...` commands, and harden production and development Docker workflows around generated Compose assets, Compose project-name isolation, clearer checkout/runtime guidance, root-safety checks, UID/GID preservation, and detached helper execution.
diff --git a/docs/plugins.html b/docs/plugins.html
index 6b1f07a..1f3403e 100644
--- a/docs/plugins.html
+++ b/docs/plugins.html
@@ -212,7 +212,9 @@ After editing, check the manifest endpoint and browser-console failure cases.</c
               <p>
                 <strong>Updates</strong> adds a conditional <strong>Updates</strong> workspace tab with PI WEB update,
                 restart, and installed-service guidance. It is built into PI WEB, enabled by default, and uses the
-                selected machine's plugin copy when machine federation is active.
+                selected machine's plugin copy when machine federation is active. Docker runtimes also publish a small
+                manifest hint so federated gateways can keep the remote Updates tab visible and expose Docker commands
+                while gateway status parsing catches up.
               </p>
               <ul>
                 <li>Plugin id: <code>updates</code></li>
diff --git a/docs/plugins.md b/docs/plugins.md
index fd7f347..8b0956a 100644
--- a/docs/plugins.md
+++ b/docs/plugins.md
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ Built-in plugins can be managed from **Settings → Plugins** or with the top-le
 **Plugin id:** `updates`
 **What it does:** adds a conditional **Updates** workspace tab with PI WEB update, restart, and installed-service guidance.
 
-Updates is enabled by default. It declares `machineSpecific: true` so the gateway Updates tab only appears for the local machine; while a remote machine is selected, that remote machine's Updates plugin is used if available. To hide it, disable `updates` in **Settings → Plugins** or set:
+Updates is enabled by default. It declares `machineSpecific: true` so the gateway Updates tab only appears for the local machine; while a remote machine is selected, that remote machine's Updates plugin is used if available. Docker runtimes add a small manifest hint so federated gateways can keep the remote Updates tab visible and expose Docker commands while gateway status parsing catches up. To hide it, disable `updates` in **Settings → Plugins** or set:
 
 ```json
 {
diff --git a/pi-web-plugins/updates/pi-web-plugin.ts b/pi-web-plugins/updates/pi-web-plugin.ts
index 3266f08..4734749 100644
--- a/pi-web-plugins/updates/pi-web-plugin.ts
+++ b/pi-web-plugins/updates/pi-web-plugin.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import type { TemplateResult } from "lit";
 import type { HtmlTemplateTag, PiWebComponentStatus, PiWebPlugin, PiWebStatusResponse, PluginRuntimeState, WorkspacePanelTerminal } from "@jmfederico/pi-web/plugin-api";
-import { additionalCommands, formatVersion, installationLabel, messageCount, recommendedCommand, shouldShowUpdatesPanel, statusFor } from "./updatesLogic.js";
+import { additionalCommands, fallbackDockerStatus, formatVersion, installationLabel, messageCount, recommendedCommand, shouldShowUpdatesPanel, statusFor, type UpdatesRuntimeHint } from "./updatesLogic.js";
 
 function runCommandInTerminal(terminal: WorkspacePanelTerminal, label: string, command: string): void {
   void terminal.runCommand({
@@ -48,6 +48,17 @@ function renderCommand(html: HtmlTemplateTag, terminal: WorkspacePanelTerminal |
   `;
 }
 
+function updatesRuntimeHintFromModuleUrl(moduleUrl: string): UpdatesRuntimeHint {
+  try {
+    const dockerMode = new URL(moduleUrl).searchParams.get("piWebDockerMode");
+    return dockerMode === "runtime" || dockerMode === "dev" ? { dockerMode } : {};
+  } catch {
+    return {};
+  }
+}
+
+const runtimeHint = updatesRuntimeHintFromModuleUrl(import.meta.url);
+
 function renderCommands(html: HtmlTemplateTag, terminal: WorkspacePanelTerminal | undefined, status: PiWebStatusResponse): TemplateResult | undefined {
   const recommended = recommendedCommand(status);
   const additional = additionalCommands(status, recommended);
@@ -71,7 +82,7 @@ function renderCommands(html: HtmlTemplateTag, terminal: WorkspacePanelTerminal
 }
 
 function renderUpdatesPanel(html: HtmlTemplateTag, terminal: WorkspacePanelTerminal | undefined, state: PluginRuntimeState | undefined): TemplateResult {
-  const status = statusFor(state);
+  const status = statusFor(state) ?? fallbackDockerStatus(runtimeHint);
   if (status === undefined) {
     return html`
       <section class="toolbar"><strong>Updates</strong></section>
@@ -157,7 +168,7 @@ const plugin: PiWebPlugin = {
             </svg>
           `,
           order: 100,
-          visible: (context) => shouldShowUpdatesPanel(context.state),
+          visible: (context) => shouldShowUpdatesPanel(context.state, runtimeHint),
           badge: (context) => {
             const count = messageCount(context.state);
             return html`beta${count > 0 ? html` · ${String(count)}` : null}`;
diff --git a/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.test.ts b/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.test.ts
index d711a18..1a3066d 100644
--- a/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.test.ts
+++ b/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import type { PiWebComponentStatus, PiWebStatusMessage, PiWebStatusResponse, PluginRuntimeState } from "@jmfederico/pi-web/plugin-api";
-import { additionalCommands, formatVersion, installationLabel, messageCount, recommendedCommand, shouldShowUpdatesPanel } from "./updatesLogic";
+import { additionalCommands, fallbackDockerStatus, formatVersion, installationLabel, messageCount, recommendedCommand, shouldShowUpdatesPanel } from "./updatesLogic";
 
 function component(overrides: Partial<PiWebComponentStatus> = {}): PiWebComponentStatus {
   return {
@@ -181,6 +181,11 @@ describe("shouldShowUpdatesPanel", () => {
     expect(shouldShowUpdatesPanel(stateWith(value))).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("shows the panel when a federated Docker runtime hint is available before status is parsed", () => {
+    expect(shouldShowUpdatesPanel(undefined, { dockerMode: "dev" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(shouldShowUpdatesPanel(undefined, { dockerMode: "runtime" })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("hides the panel when status is unavailable", () => {
     expect(shouldShowUpdatesPanel(stateWith(undefined))).toBe(false);
     expect(shouldShowUpdatesPanel(undefined)).toBe(false);
@@ -223,6 +228,24 @@ describe("shouldShowUpdatesPanel", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("fallbackDockerStatus", () => {
+  it("creates Docker development commands from a federated runtime hint", () => {
+    const fallback = fallbackDockerStatus({ dockerMode: "dev" }, "generated");
+    expect(fallback?.generatedAt).toBe("generated");
+    expect(fallback?.components.web.installation).toEqual({ kind: "docker", dockerMode: "dev" });
+    expect(fallback?.commands).toMatchObject({
+      update: "pi-web-docker --dev update",
+      restart: "pi-web-docker --dev restart",
+      status: "pi-web-docker --dev status",
+    });
+    expect(fallback?.messages[0]?.id).toBe("docker-status-compatibility");
+  });
+
+  it("does not create a fallback without a Docker runtime hint", () => {
+    expect(fallbackDockerStatus({})).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("messageCount", () => {
   it("counts messages and tolerates missing status", () => {
     expect(messageCount(undefined)).toBe(0);
diff --git a/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.ts b/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.ts
index 459ff32..8914914 100644
--- a/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.ts
+++ b/pi-web-plugins/updates/updatesLogic.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
-import type { PiWebInstallationInfo, PiWebStatusMessage, PiWebStatusResponse, PluginRuntimeState } from "@jmfederico/pi-web/plugin-api";
+import type { PiWebDockerMode, PiWebInstallationInfo, PiWebStatusMessage, PiWebStatusResponse, PluginRuntimeState } from "@jmfederico/pi-web/plugin-api";
 
 export interface CommandEntry {
   label: string;
   command: string;
 }
 
+export interface UpdatesRuntimeHint {
+  dockerMode?: PiWebDockerMode;
+}
+
 // The single command users should run when they do not want to think: if an
 // update is available, `commands.update` already chains the update and a full
 // restart; otherwise, when anything is stale, a full restart is enough.
@@ -49,14 +53,43 @@ export function isSelfManagedInstallation(installation: PiWebInstallationInfo |
   return installation === undefined || installation.kind === "local" || installation.kind === "docker" || installation.kind === "unknown";
 }
 
-export function shouldShowUpdatesPanel(state: PluginRuntimeState | undefined): boolean {
+export function shouldShowUpdatesPanel(state: PluginRuntimeState | undefined, hint: UpdatesRuntimeHint = {}): boolean {
   const status = statusFor(state);
+  if (hint.dockerMode !== undefined) return true;
   if (messageCount(state) > 0) return true;
   if (status === undefined) return false;
   return isSelfManagedInstallation(status.components.web.installation)
     || isSelfManagedInstallation(status.components.sessiond.installation);
 }
 
+export function fallbackDockerStatus(hint: UpdatesRuntimeHint, generatedAt = "federated status unavailable"): PiWebStatusResponse | undefined {
+  if (hint.dockerMode === undefined) return undefined;
+  const commandPrefix = hint.dockerMode === "dev" ? "pi-web-docker --dev" : "pi-web-docker";
+  const installation: PiWebInstallationInfo = { kind: "docker", dockerMode: hint.dockerMode };
+  return {
+    packageName: "@jmfederico/pi-web",
+    generatedAt,
+    components: {
+      web: { component: "web", label: "Web/UI", stale: false, available: true, installation },
+      sessiond: { component: "sessiond", label: "Session daemon", stale: false, available: true, installation },
+    },
+    release: { packageName: "@jmfederico/pi-web", updateAvailable: false, skipped: true },
+    commands: {
+      update: `${commandPrefix} update`,
+      restart: `${commandPrefix} restart`,
+      restartWeb: `${commandPrefix} restart-web`,
+      restartSessiond: `${commandPrefix} restart-sessiond`,
+      status: `${commandPrefix} status`,
+    },
+    messages: [{
+      id: "docker-status-compatibility",
+      severity: "info",
+      title: "Docker update commands available",
+      body: "This Updates plugin was loaded from a Docker PI WEB runtime, but the gateway has not provided Docker-aware status details yet. The Docker maintenance commands below are still available.",
+    }],
+  };
+}
+
 export function formatVersion(version: string | undefined): string {
   return version === undefined || version === "" ? "unknown" : version;
 }
diff --git a/src/server/piWebPluginService.test.ts b/src/server/piWebPluginService.test.ts
index 7b4ec66..754f560 100644
--- a/src/server/piWebPluginService.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/piWebPluginService.test.ts
@@ -6,11 +6,20 @@ import { PiWebPluginService, type PiPackageProvider } from "./piWebPluginService
 
 let tempDir: string;
 
+const originalDockerRuntime = process.env["PI_WEB_DOCKER_RUNTIME"];
+const originalDockerMode = process.env["PI_WEB_DOCKER_MODE"];
+const originalDockerDevRepoRoot = process.env["PI_WEB_DOCKER_DEV_REPO_ROOT"];
+const originalDockerInstallDir = process.env["PI_WEB_DOCKER_INSTALL_DIR"];
+
 beforeEach(async () => {
   tempDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "pi-web-plugin-service-test-"));
 });
 
 afterEach(async () => {
+  restoreEnv("PI_WEB_DOCKER_RUNTIME", originalDockerRuntime);
+  restoreEnv("PI_WEB_DOCKER_MODE", originalDockerMode);
+  restoreEnv("PI_WEB_DOCKER_DEV_REPO_ROOT", originalDockerDevRepoRoot);
+  restoreEnv("PI_WEB_DOCKER_INSTALL_DIR", originalDockerInstallDir);
   await rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
 });
 
@@ -47,6 +56,20 @@ describe("PiWebPluginService", () => {
     await expect(service.plugins()).resolves.toMatchObject({ plugins: [{ id: "updates", machineSpecific: true, enabled: true }] });
   });
 
+  it("adds Docker runtime hints to the Updates plugin module URL", async () => {
+    process.env["PI_WEB_DOCKER_RUNTIME"] = "1";
+    process.env["PI_WEB_DOCKER_MODE"] = "dev";
+    await writePlugin(join(tempDir, "plugins", "updates"), {
+      packageJson: { piWeb: { plugins: [{ id: "updates", module: "pi-web-plugin.js", machineSpecific: true }] } },
+      files: { "pi-web-plugin.js": "export default {};" },
+    });
+
+    const service = new PiWebPluginService({ roots: [{ path: join(tempDir, "plugins"), source: "test", scope: "local" }], packageProvider: false });
+
+    const manifest = await service.manifest();
+    expect(manifest.plugins[0]?.module).toMatch(/^\/pi-web-plugins\/updates\/pi-web-plugin\.js\?v=\d+&piWebDockerMode=dev$/u);
+  });
+
   it("discovers Pi package plugins through an injected package provider", async () => {
     const packageDir = join(tempDir, "pkg");
     await writePlugin(packageDir, {
@@ -198,3 +221,8 @@ async function writePlugin(root: string, options: { packageJson: unknown; files:
     await writeFile(filePath, content);
   }
 }
+
+function restoreEnv(key: string, value: string | undefined): void {
+  if (value === undefined) Reflect.deleteProperty(process.env, key);
+  else process.env[key] = value;
+}
diff --git a/src/server/piWebPluginService.ts b/src/server/piWebPluginService.ts
index b952d53..97061d9 100644
--- a/src/server/piWebPluginService.ts
+++ b/src/server/piWebPluginService.ts
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ export class PiWebPluginService {
   private pluginInfo(plugin: PluginRecord, config: PiWebConfig): PiWebPluginInfo {
     return {
       id: plugin.id,
-      module: `/pi-web-plugins/${encodeURIComponent(plugin.id)}/${plugin.entryFile}?v=${encodeURIComponent(plugin.version)}`,
+      module: `/pi-web-plugins/${encodeURIComponent(plugin.id)}/${plugin.entryFile}?${pluginModuleQuery(plugin)}`,
       source: plugin.source,
       scope: plugin.scope,
       machineSpecific: plugin.machineSpecific,
@@ -187,6 +187,35 @@ function bundledPluginRoot(packageRoot: string): string {
   return join(packageRoot, "dist", "pi-web-plugins");
 }
 
+function pluginModuleQuery(plugin: PluginRecord): string {
+  const params = new URLSearchParams({ v: plugin.version });
+  const dockerMode = plugin.id === "updates" ? dockerModeFromEnv() : undefined;
+  if (dockerMode !== undefined) params.set("piWebDockerMode", dockerMode);
+  return params.toString();
+}
+
+function dockerModeFromEnv(): "runtime" | "dev" | undefined {
+  if (!isTruthyEnv("PI_WEB_DOCKER_RUNTIME")) return undefined;
+  const mode = process.env["PI_WEB_DOCKER_MODE"];
+  if (mode === "runtime" || mode === "dev") return mode;
+  if (firstNonEmptyEnv("PI_WEB_DOCKER_DEV_REPO_ROOT") !== undefined) return "dev";
+  if (firstNonEmptyEnv("PI_WEB_DOCKER_INSTALL_DIR") !== undefined) return "runtime";
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+function firstNonEmptyEnv(...keys: string[]): string | undefined {
+  for (const key of keys) {
+    const value = process.env[key];
+    if (value !== undefined && value !== "") return value;
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+function isTruthyEnv(key: string): boolean {
+  const value = process.env[key];
+  return value !== undefined && value !== "" && value !== "0" && value.toLowerCase() !== "false";
+}
+
 function sourceCheckoutPluginRoots(cwd: string): LocalPluginRoot[] {
   const pluginsRoot = join(cwd, "plugins");
   if (!existsSync(join(cwd, "src", "server", "index.ts")) || !existsSync(pluginsRoot)) return [];