diff --git a/setup/configure_runners.sh b/setup/configure_runners.sh
index e8b49b9..4517af6 100755
--- a/setup/configure_runners.sh
+++ b/setup/configure_runners.sh
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ validate_runner_host() {
   [[ "$1" == "unraid" || "$1" == "fedora" || "$1" == "local" || "$1" == "custom" ]]
 }
 
+validate_runner_host_type_combo() {
+  local host="$1" runner_type="$2"
+  if [[ "$host" == "local" ]]; then
+    [[ "$runner_type" == "native" ]]
+  else
+    [[ "$runner_type" == "docker" ]]
+  fi
+}
+
 validate_runner_path() {
   # shellcheck disable=SC2088  # tilde intentionally stored as literal string
   [[ "$1" == /* || "$1" == "~/"* || "$1" == "~" ]]
@@ -379,7 +388,7 @@ for ((i = 0; i < runner_count; i++)); do
       save_runner_field "$r_name" "ssh_user" "$PROMPT_RESULT"
       prompt_field "ssh_port" "SSH port" "port" "${ex_ssh_port:-22}"
       save_runner_field "$r_name" "ssh_port" "$PROMPT_RESULT"
-      prompt_field "ssh_key" "path to SSH key (empty = ssh-agent)" "optional_path" "$ex_ssh_key" "true"
+      prompt_field "ssh_key" "path to SSH key (empty = use default keys)" "optional_path" "$ex_ssh_key" "true"
       save_runner_field "$r_name" "ssh_key" "$PROMPT_RESULT"
       # Adjust total prompts (added 4 custom fields, but we already allocated 10)
       ;;
@@ -393,8 +402,23 @@ for ((i = 0; i < runner_count; i++)); do
   if [[ -z "$type_default" ]]; then
     if [[ "$r_host" == "local" ]]; then type_default="native"; else type_default="docker"; fi
   fi
-  prompt_field "type" "docker (Linux) or native (macOS)" "runner_type" "$type_default"
+  if [[ "$r_host" == "local" ]]; then
+    type_hint="native only for host=local"
+  else
+    type_hint="docker only for host=unraid/fedora/custom"
+  fi
+  prompt_field "type" "$type_hint" "runner_type" "$type_default"
   r_type="$PROMPT_RESULT"
+  while ! validate_runner_host_type_combo "$r_host" "$r_type"; do
+    if [[ "$r_host" == "local" ]]; then
+      printf '%b  Invalid combo: host=local requires type=native%b\n' "$C_RED" "$C_RESET"
+      prompt_field "type" "native only for host=local" "runner_type" "native"
+    else
+      printf '%b  Invalid combo: host=%s requires type=docker%b\n' "$C_RED" "$r_host" "$C_RESET"
+      prompt_field "type" "docker only for host=unraid/fedora/custom" "runner_type" "docker"
+    fi
+    r_type="$PROMPT_RESULT"
+  done
   save_runner_field "$r_name" "type" "$r_type"
 
   # --- data_path ---