diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b757d55..8d0b5f2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 __pycache__/
 *.pyc
 .env
+.venv/
+bin/
 *.egg-info/
 dist/
 node_modules/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b733e2a..91ade96 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ chmod +x install.sh && ./install.sh
 
 | Tool | Required? | Install |
 |------|-----------|---------|
-| Python 3.10+ | ✅ Required | `sudo apt install python3 python3-pip` |
+| Python 3.10+ | ✅ Required | Auto-installed via `uv` by `install.sh` |
 | Node.js 18+ | ⚠ For opencode | `curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x \| sudo bash - && sudo apt install -y nodejs` |
 | opencode | ⚠ For code tasks | `npm install -g @opencode/cli` |
 | Hermes Agent | ⚠ For memory/scheduling | `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh \| bash` |
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index de32e91..47bec66 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -17,19 +17,41 @@ echo "Detected OS: $OS"
 if command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
     echo "Python: $(python3 --version)"
 else
-    echo "ERROR: Python 3.10+ required. Install via: sudo apt install python3 python3-pip"
+    echo "ERROR: Python 3.10+ required. Install via: sudo apt install python3"
     exit 1
 fi
 
-# Check pip
-if ! command -v pip3 &>/dev/null; then
-    echo "Installing pip..."
-    python3 -m ensurepip --upgrade
+# Install uv into bin/ if not present
+BIN_DIR="bin"
+UV="$BIN_DIR/uv"
+if [ -x "$UV" ]; then
+    echo "uv: $($UV --version)"
+else
+    echo "Installing uv to $BIN_DIR/..."
+    mkdir -p "$BIN_DIR"
+    curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | env UV_INSTALL_DIR="$PWD/$BIN_DIR" sh
+    if [ ! -x "$UV" ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: uv installation failed. Install manually: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    echo "uv: $($UV --version)"
+    # Remove shell helper scripts — we reference bin/uv directly
+    rm -f "$BIN_DIR/env" "$BIN_DIR/env.fish"
 fi
 
-# Install Python deps
+# Create virtual environment
+VENV_DIR=".venv"
+if [ -d "$VENV_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "Virtual environment already exists at $VENV_DIR/"
+else
+    echo "Creating virtual environment..."
+    "$UV" venv "$VENV_DIR" --python 3.12
+    echo "Created $VENV_DIR/"
+fi
+
+# Install Python deps into venv
 echo "Installing Python dependencies..."
-pip3 install -r requirements.txt --quiet
+"$UV" pip install --python "$VENV_DIR/bin/python3" -r requirements.txt --quiet
 
 # Check Node.js (for opencode)
 if command -v node &>/dev/null; then
diff --git a/scheduler/scheduler.py b/scheduler/scheduler.py
index 0d9d217..963935d 100644
--- a/scheduler/scheduler.py
+++ b/scheduler/scheduler.py
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ class CronScheduler:
             from apscheduler.schedulers.background import BackgroundScheduler as BS
             from apscheduler.triggers.cron import CronTrigger as CT
         except ImportError:
-            print("Install APScheduler: pip install apscheduler")
+            print("APScheduler not found. Run ./install.sh to install dependencies.")
             return
         self._scheduler = BS()
         self._reload_jobs()
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 8dea07b..80d5be1 100755
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -10,18 +10,31 @@ if [ ! -f server.py ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-# Check dependencies
-pip3 install -r requirements.txt --quiet 2>/dev/null
+# Check virtual environment
+VENV_DIR=".venv"
+if [ ! -d "$VENV_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "Virtual environment not found. Run ./install.sh first."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Use venv Python directly (no shell activation needed)
+PYTHON="$VENV_DIR/bin/python3"
+
+# Ensure deps are up to date
+UV="bin/uv"
+if [ -x "$UV" ]; then
+    "$UV" pip install --python "$PYTHON" -r requirements.txt --quiet
+else
+    "$PYTHON" -m pip install -r requirements.txt --quiet
+fi
 
 # Get port from settings or default
 PORT=8080
-if command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
-    PORT=$(python3 -c "import json; f=open('data/settings.json'); d=json.load(f); print(d.get('dashboard',{}).get('port',8080)); f.close()" 2>/dev/null || echo "8080")
-fi
+PORT=$("$PYTHON" -c "import json; f=open('data/settings.json'); d=json.load(f); print(d.get('dashboard',{}).get('port',8080)); f.close()" 2>/dev/null || echo "8080")
 
 echo "Dashboard: http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}"
 echo "Press Ctrl+C to stop"
 echo ""
 
-# Start server
-python3 server.py --port "${PORT}"
+# Start server using venv Python
+"$PYTHON" server.py --port "${PORT}"