diff --git a/ansible/roles/borgmatic/defaults/main.yml b/ansible/roles/borgmatic/defaults/main.yml
index 123cb0f..3e017e3 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/borgmatic/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/borgmatic/defaults/main.yml
@@ -61,7 +61,10 @@ borgmatic_k8s_sqlite_dumps:
     namespace: shower
     label_selector: app=shower
     db_path: /app/data/db.sqlite3
-    context: k3s-ringtail
+    # ssh to ringtail and run k3s kubectl there — avoids needing a
+    # ringtail kubeconfig on indri. k3s.yaml on ringtail is
+    # world-readable (mode 644), so no sudo required.
+    ssh_host: eblume@ringtail
 
 # Exclude patterns
 borgmatic_exclude_patterns: []
diff --git a/ansible/roles/borgmatic/templates/config.yaml.j2 b/ansible/roles/borgmatic/templates/config.yaml.j2
index 85804b7..e176ca5 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/borgmatic/templates/config.yaml.j2
+++ b/ansible/roles/borgmatic/templates/config.yaml.j2
@@ -34,10 +34,24 @@ encryption_passcommand: {{ borgmatic_encryption_passcommand }}
 {% if borgmatic_k8s_sqlite_dumps %}
 # Pre-backup: dump SQLite databases from k8s pods
 # Uses sqlite3 .backup for a safe, consistent copy (no corruption from concurrent writes)
+#
+# Two execution modes per entry:
+#   - local kubectl with `context: <name>`: works when indri's kubeconfig
+#     has that context (e.g. minikube, configured by minikube start).
+#   - ssh remote with `ssh_host: <user@host>`: runs `k3s kubectl` on the
+#     remote host (no indri-side kubeconfig needed). Used for ringtail
+#     since indri's kubeconfig deliberately doesn't carry the ringtail
+#     credentials.
 before_backup:
     - mkdir -p {{ borgmatic_k8s_dump_dir }}
 {% for db in borgmatic_k8s_sqlite_dumps %}
+{% if db.ssh_host is defined %}
+    - ssh {{ db.ssh_host }} 'set -e; export KUBECONFIG=/etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml; POD=$(k3s kubectl -n {{ db.namespace }} get pod -l {{ db.label_selector }} -o jsonpath="{.items[0].metadata.name}"); k3s kubectl -n {{ db.namespace }} exec "$POD" -- python3 -c "import sqlite3; sqlite3.connect(\"{{ db.db_path }}\").backup(sqlite3.connect(\"/tmp/{{ db.name }}-backup.db\"))"; k3s kubectl -n {{ db.namespace }} cp "$POD:/tmp/{{ db.name }}-backup.db" /tmp/{{ db.name }}-host.db; k3s kubectl -n {{ db.namespace }} exec "$POD" -- rm -f /tmp/{{ db.name }}-backup.db'
+    - scp {{ db.ssh_host }}:/tmp/{{ db.name }}-host.db {{ borgmatic_k8s_dump_dir }}/{{ db.name }}.db
+    - ssh {{ db.ssh_host }} 'rm -f /tmp/{{ db.name }}-host.db'
+{% else %}
     - /opt/homebrew/bin/kubectl --context={{ db.context }} exec -n {{ db.namespace }} deploy/{{ db.name }} -- python3 -c "import sqlite3; sqlite3.connect('{{ db.db_path }}').backup(sqlite3.connect('/tmp/{{ db.name }}-backup.db'))" && /opt/homebrew/bin/kubectl --context={{ db.context }} cp {{ db.namespace }}/$(/opt/homebrew/bin/kubectl --context={{ db.context }} get pod -n {{ db.namespace }} -l {{ db.label_selector }} -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}'):/tmp/{{ db.name }}-backup.db {{ borgmatic_k8s_dump_dir }}/{{ db.name }}.db
+{% endif %}
 {% endfor %}
 {% endif %}
 
diff --git a/docs/changelog.d/fix-borgmatic-shower-via-ssh.bugfix.md b/docs/changelog.d/fix-borgmatic-shower-via-ssh.bugfix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6058332
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog.d/fix-borgmatic-shower-via-ssh.bugfix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Fix nightly borgmatic backups failing for 2 days. The shower SQLite
+dump hook referenced `kubectl --context=k3s-ringtail`, but indri's
+kubeconfig deliberately doesn't carry the ringtail credentials. The
+`before_backup` hook's failure aborted the entire run, taking out
+*both* the local sifaka repo and the BorgBase offsite. Rewrite the
+shower dump to ssh into ringtail and run `k3s kubectl` there
+(k3s.yaml on ringtail is mode 644, so no sudo needed); fetch the
+dump file back via scp. The borgmatic role's k8s-dump template now
+branches on a new `ssh_host` field — entries without it keep using
+local kubectl with the existing `context` field (e.g. mealie).