diff --git a/system/netlify/functions/version.mjs b/system/netlify/functions/version.mjs
index 65d33be85d..2a5b471325 100644
--- a/system/netlify/functions/version.mjs
+++ b/system/netlify/functions/version.mjs
@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
-// Returns deployed commit hash vs latest GitHub commit
+// Returns deployed commit hash vs latest Tangled origin commit.
 // Used by prompt.mjs to show version status on curtain UI
 
 import fs from "fs";
 import path from "path";
+import { execFile } from "child_process";
+import { promisify } from "util";
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
+const GIT_REMOTE_OVERRIDE = process.env.VERSION_GIT_REMOTE || "";
+const GIT_BRANCH = process.env.VERSION_GIT_BRANCH || "main";
+const RECENT_COMMIT_COUNT = 10;
+const HISTORY_SCAN_LIMIT = 50;
 
 // Get deployed commit from file written during build/deploy
 function getDeployedCommit() {
@@ -24,6 +32,124 @@ function getDeployedCommit() {
   return "unknown";
 }
 
+function getRepoRoot() {
+  const candidates = [
+    path.resolve(process.cwd(), ".."),
+    process.cwd(),
+  ];
+
+  return candidates.find((candidate) =>
+    fs.existsSync(path.join(candidate, ".git"))
+  ) || null;
+}
+
+async function git(args, repoRoot) {
+  const { stdout } = await execFileAsync("git", ["-C", repoRoot, ...args], {
+    timeout: 10000,
+    maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024,
+  });
+  return stdout.trim();
+}
+
+function parseRecentCommits(rawLog) {
+  if (!rawLog) return [];
+
+  return rawLog
+    .split("\n")
+    .filter(Boolean)
+    .map((line) => {
+      const [hash = "", message = "no message", author = "unknown", date = null] = line.split("\t");
+      return {
+        hash: hash.slice(0, 7),
+        message: message.slice(0, 60),
+        author,
+        date,
+      };
+    });
+}
+
+async function getPreferredRemote(repoRoot) {
+  if (GIT_REMOTE_OVERRIDE) return GIT_REMOTE_OVERRIDE;
+
+  const remotes = (await git(["remote"], repoRoot))
+    .split("\n")
+    .map((remote) => remote.trim())
+    .filter(Boolean);
+  if (remotes.includes("tangled")) return "tangled";
+  if (remotes.includes("origin")) return "origin";
+  return remotes[0] || "origin";
+}
+
+async function getLatestFromTangled(repoRoot, deployedCommit) {
+  const gitRemote = await getPreferredRemote(repoRoot);
+  await git(["fetch", "--quiet", gitRemote, GIT_BRANCH], repoRoot);
+
+  const remoteRef = `${gitRemote}/${GIT_BRANCH}`;
+  const latestCommit = await git(["rev-parse", remoteRef], repoRoot);
+  let behindBy = 0;
+
+  if (deployedCommit !== "unknown" && latestCommit) {
+    try {
+      behindBy = Number(
+        await git(["rev-list", "--count", `${deployedCommit}..${remoteRef}`], repoRoot)
+      ) || 0;
+    } catch {
+      behindBy = HISTORY_SCAN_LIMIT;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const recentRaw = await git([
+    "log",
+    remoteRef,
+    `--max-count=${RECENT_COMMIT_COUNT}`,
+    "--pretty=format:%H\t%s\t%an\t%cI",
+  ], repoRoot);
+
+  return {
+    latestCommit,
+    behindBy,
+    recentCommits: parseRecentCommits(recentRaw),
+  };
+}
+
+async function getLatestFromGitHub(deployedCommit) {
+  const res = await fetch(
+    "https://api.github.com/repos/whistlegraph/aesthetic-computer/commits?per_page=50",
+    {
+      headers: {
+        "User-Agent": "aesthetic-computer",
+        Accept: "application/vnd.github.v3+json",
+      },
+    }
+  );
+
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    throw new Error(`GitHub API returned ${res.status}`);
+  }
+
+  const commits = await res.json();
+  const latestCommit = commits[0]?.sha;
+
+  let behindBy = 0;
+  if (deployedCommit !== "unknown" && latestCommit) {
+    const idx = commits.findIndex((c) =>
+      c.sha.startsWith(deployedCommit.slice(0, 7))
+    );
+    behindBy = idx === -1 ? HISTORY_SCAN_LIMIT : idx;
+  }
+
+  return {
+    latestCommit,
+    behindBy,
+    recentCommits: commits.slice(0, RECENT_COMMIT_COUNT).map((c) => ({
+      hash: c.sha.slice(0, 7),
+      message: c.commit?.message?.split("\n")[0]?.slice(0, 60) || "no message",
+      author: c.commit?.author?.name || c.author?.login || "unknown",
+      date: c.commit?.author?.date,
+    })),
+  };
+}
+
 export default async (request) => {
   const deployedCommit = getDeployedCommit();
   const url = new URL(request.url);
@@ -47,47 +173,17 @@ export default async (request) => {
   }
 
   try {
-    // Fetch latest commits from GitHub (public, no auth needed)
-    const res = await fetch(
-      "https://api.github.com/repos/whistlegraph/aesthetic-computer/commits?per_page=50",
-      {
-        headers: {
-          "User-Agent": "aesthetic-computer",
-          Accept: "application/vnd.github.v3+json",
-        },
-      }
-    );
-
-    if (!res.ok) {
-      throw new Error(`GitHub API returned ${res.status}`);
-    }
-
-    const commits = await res.json();
-    const latestCommit = commits[0]?.sha;
-
-    // Find how many commits behind
-    let behindBy = 0;
-    if (deployedCommit !== "unknown" && latestCommit) {
-      const idx = commits.findIndex((c) =>
-        c.sha.startsWith(deployedCommit.slice(0, 7))
-      );
-      if (idx === -1) {
-        behindBy = 50; // More than 50 commits behind or commit not found
-      } else {
-        behindBy = idx;
-      }
-    }
+    const repoRoot = getRepoRoot();
+    const {
+      latestCommit,
+      behindBy,
+      recentCommits,
+    } = repoRoot
+      ? await getLatestFromTangled(repoRoot, deployedCommit)
+      : await getLatestFromGitHub(deployedCommit);
 
     const status = behindBy === 0 ? "current" : "behind";
 
-    // Extract recent commits for ticker display (last 10)
-    const recentCommits = commits.slice(0, 10).map((c) => ({
-      hash: c.sha.slice(0, 7),
-      message: c.commit?.message?.split("\n")[0]?.slice(0, 60) || "no message", // First line, truncated
-      author: c.commit?.author?.name || c.author?.login || "unknown",
-      date: c.commit?.author?.date,
-    }));
-
     return new Response(
       JSON.stringify({
         deployed: deployedCommit.slice(0, 7),