diff --git a/deploy/home-indexer/install.sh b/deploy/home-indexer/install.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e5478a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/home-indexer/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# host prereqs for running the typeahead snapshot builder (MODE=indexer) on the
+# home box (heavypad) as a Prefect home-pool batch job. Installs the same Zig +
+# rclone versions the Fly Dockerfile pins, to ~/.local/bin (on the worker PATH).
+# Idempotent: re-running upgrades/repins in place.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ZIG_VERSION=0.16.0
+RCLONE_VERSION=1.69.1
+ARCH=x86_64
+BIN="$HOME/.local/bin"
+OPT="$HOME/.local/opt"
+mkdir -p "$BIN" "$OPT"
+
+# --- zig 0.16.0 (matches services/Dockerfile) ---
+if [ "$("$BIN/zig" version 2>/dev/null || true)" != "$ZIG_VERSION" ]; then
+  echo "installing zig $ZIG_VERSION ..."
+  tmp=$(mktemp -d)
+  curl -fL "https://ziglang.org/download/${ZIG_VERSION}/zig-${ARCH}-linux-${ZIG_VERSION}.tar.xz" \
+    | tar -xJ -C "$tmp"
+  rm -rf "$OPT/zig-${ARCH}-linux-${ZIG_VERSION}"
+  mv "$tmp/zig-${ARCH}-linux-${ZIG_VERSION}" "$OPT/"
+  ln -sf "$OPT/zig-${ARCH}-linux-${ZIG_VERSION}/zig" "$BIN/zig"
+  rm -rf "$tmp"
+else
+  echo "zig $ZIG_VERSION already present"
+fi
+
+# --- rclone 1.69.1 (matches services/Dockerfile; R2 multipart transport) ---
+if [ "$("$BIN/rclone" version 2>/dev/null | head -1 | awk '{print $2}' || true)" != "v${RCLONE_VERSION}" ]; then
+  echo "installing rclone $RCLONE_VERSION ..."
+  tmp=$(mktemp -d)
+  curl -fsSL "https://downloads.rclone.org/v${RCLONE_VERSION}/rclone-v${RCLONE_VERSION}-linux-amd64.zip" -o "$tmp/rclone.zip"
+  unzip -oj "$tmp/rclone.zip" 'rclone-*/rclone' -d "$BIN"
+  chmod +x "$BIN/rclone"
+  rm -rf "$tmp"
+else
+  echo "rclone $RCLONE_VERSION already present"
+fi
+
+echo "--- versions ---"
+"$BIN/zig" version
+"$BIN/rclone" version | head -1
+echo "done. ensure $BIN is on the worker PATH (it already is for the home-pool unit)."
diff --git a/services/src/index/r2.zig b/services/src/index/r2.zig
index fbc342b..46fdc81 100644
--- a/services/src/index/r2.zig
+++ b/services/src/index/r2.zig
@@ -22,9 +22,18 @@ const log = std.log.scoped(.r2);
 extern "c" fn setenv(name: [*:0]const u8, value: [*:0]const u8, overwrite: c_int) c_int;
 extern "c" fn unsetenv(name: [*:0]const u8) c_int;
 
-const RCLONE = "/usr/local/bin/rclone";
 const CONFIG_PATH = "/tmp/rclone-r2.conf";
 
+/// rclone binary path, resolved at runtime so the host decides where rclone
+/// lives — `INDEX_RCLONE_BIN` if set, else a bare "rclone" (PATH-searched).
+/// The Fly image has it at /usr/local/bin; a home box may have it under
+/// ~/.local/bin. Baking an absolute path here broke the home-box build, so
+/// don't: let the env (or PATH) say where it is.
+fn rcloneBin() []const u8 {
+    if (std.c.getenv("INDEX_RCLONE_BIN")) |p| return std.mem.span(p);
+    return "rclone";
+}
+
 pub const Error = error{ MissingR2Config, RcloneFailed };
 
 /// rclone remote handle: the bucket name + the path to the written config.
@@ -104,7 +113,7 @@ pub fn upload(gpa: Allocator, cfg: Config, local_path: []const u8, object_key: [
     const remote = try std.fmt.allocPrint(gpa, "r2:{s}/{s}", .{ cfg.bucket, object_key });
     defer gpa.free(remote);
     log.info("rclone upload {s} -> {s}", .{ local_path, remote });
-    try run(&.{ RCLONE, "--config", cfg.config_path, "copyto", local_path, remote });
+    try run(&.{ rcloneBin(), "--config", cfg.config_path, "copyto", local_path, remote });
 }
 
 /// Download r2:<bucket>/<object_key> → local_path.
@@ -112,7 +121,7 @@ pub fn download(gpa: Allocator, cfg: Config, object_key: []const u8, local_path:
     const remote = try std.fmt.allocPrint(gpa, "r2:{s}/{s}", .{ cfg.bucket, object_key });
     defer gpa.free(remote);
     log.info("rclone download {s} -> {s}", .{ remote, local_path });
-    try run(&.{ RCLONE, "--config", cfg.config_path, "copyto", remote, local_path });
+    try run(&.{ rcloneBin(), "--config", cfg.config_path, "copyto", remote, local_path });
 }
 
 const testing = std.testing;