diff --git a/tools/vmshot.py b/tools/vmshot.py
index 6a12e05..5587df1 100755
--- a/tools/vmshot.py
+++ b/tools/vmshot.py
@@ -45,6 +45,22 @@ Usage
     tools/vmshot.py --one 140           # full-size single guest, no sheet
     tools/vmshot.py --cols 3 --width 900
 
+**Run it as ``tools/vmshot.py``, not ``python3 tools/vmshot.py``.** The shebang is
+``uv run --with pillow``, so invoking the file directly supplies Pillow even on a host
+that has none; putting an interpreter in front of it throws that away. Lane BR hit
+exactly this and concluded the tool was unusable from the WSL host. ``--one`` now works
+either way -- it writes the guest's framebuffer bytes verbatim and needs no Pillow --
+and only the contact sheet requires it, with the install line in the error.
+
+For a single frame during a measurement run, going straight to the host is better still
+and is what lane BR ended up doing::
+
+    ssh spicy "echo 'screendump /tmp/x.png -f png' | qm monitor 146"
+
+That is the *live* framebuffer. The wall at http://192.168.3.201:8140/ serves a cached
+frame up to a poll cycle (~5 s) old, which reads exactly like a swallowed click and has
+cost two lanes wasted clicks.
+
 Output lands in ``~/sots-re/dumps/vmshot/`` (``dumps/`` is gitignored).
 
 A guest that is stopped, paused, or whose screendump fails gets a labelled
@@ -68,7 +84,27 @@ import time
 from datetime import datetime
 from pathlib import Path
 
-from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+# Pillow is needed only to composite the contact sheet. `--one` writes the guest's
+# framebuffer bytes straight through, and that is the mode a measurement lane actually
+# wants -- lane BR could not use this tool at all from the WSL host because the import
+# was unconditional and Pillow is not installed there. Fail at the point of use, with
+# the fix in the message, rather than at import.
+try:
+    from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
+
+    _PIL_ERROR = None
+except ImportError as e:  # pragma: no cover - depends on the host
+    Image = ImageDraw = ImageFont = None  # type: ignore[assignment]
+    _PIL_ERROR = e
+
+
+def _require_pil() -> None:
+    if _PIL_ERROR is not None:
+        sys.exit(
+            f"vmshot: the contact sheet needs Pillow, which is not installed here ({_PIL_ERROR}).\n"
+            "        `--one <id>` works without it and writes the guest's framebuffer verbatim.\n"
+            "        To build sheets on this host: uv pip install pillow"
+        )
 
 HOST = "spicy"
 SERVICE = os.environ.get("VMWATCH_URL", "http://192.168.3.201:8140")
@@ -204,7 +240,7 @@ def grab(ids: list[int], per_vm_timeout: int = 20) -> dict[int, dict]:
     return out
 
 
-def _font(size: int, bold: bool = False) -> ImageFont.FreeTypeFont:
+def _font(size: int, bold: bool = False):
     try:
         return ImageFont.truetype(FONT_BOLD if bold else FONT_PATH, size)
     except OSError:
@@ -223,7 +259,7 @@ def _clean_monitor_log(log: str) -> str:
     return "; ".join(keep)[:180]
 
 
-def make_tile(vmid: int, name: str, info: dict, width: int, stamp: str) -> Image.Image:
+def make_tile(vmid: int, name: str, info: dict, width: int, stamp: str):
     png = info.get("png")
     status = info.get("status", "?")
     err = _clean_monitor_log(info.get("log", ""))
@@ -301,7 +337,8 @@ def make_tile(vmid: int, name: str, info: dict, width: int, stamp: str) -> Image
     return tile
 
 
-def contact_sheet(fleet, shots, tile_w: int, cols: int, stamp: str) -> Image.Image:
+def contact_sheet(fleet, shots, tile_w: int, cols: int, stamp: str):
+    _require_pil()
     tiles = [make_tile(vid, name, shots.get(vid, {}), tile_w, stamp) for vid, name, _ in fleet]
     rows = (len(tiles) + cols - 1) // cols
     row_h = [