diff --git a/docs/adr/002-remote-access-and-fleet-management.md b/docs/adr/002-remote-access-and-fleet-management.md
index 4931daa..a518930 100644
--- a/docs/adr/002-remote-access-and-fleet-management.md
+++ b/docs/adr/002-remote-access-and-fleet-management.md
@@ -104,6 +104,36 @@ The only honest way for a machine operator to exclude the SaaS operator is to **
 - The machine operator's Nostr key can become the single root of trust across all three planes — SSH `authorized_keys` + VPN enrollment at install, `AddOperator`/`RevokeOperator` (#42) for delegation — so granting/revoking any party (including the SaaS operator) is one scoped, revocable capability model.
 - `sshd` posture should be tightened to key-only for deployed boxes (password auth is currently forced on for installed configs for first-boot provisioning; scope it to the LAN/first-boot window). Tracks with [#51](https://git.atitlan.io/aiolabs/bitspire/issues/51).
 
+## Amendment (2026-08-04): the access/recovery plane is not the *only* recovery
+
+**Status:** Accepted · **Context:** the ATM app had no way to recover its own
+connectivity — a machine that booted with no internet (or whose init otherwise
+failed) sat on "ATM Unavailable" until a manual `systemctl restart bitspire`,
+even after the network came back.
+
+This ADR's SSH/NetBird recovery plane stands — it is the operator's
+**app-and-OS-independent** path for the unanticipated and the broken, and may
+carry recovery *procedures* (restart the service, inspect logs, re-provision).
+But it is explicitly **not the first-line and not the only recovery method.**
+Recovery is layered, cheapest-first:
+
+1. **App auto-recovery (first-line, no human).** The ATM app recovers its own
+   relay/Lightning connectivity when possible: the nostr client already
+   reconnects with backoff, and the app now re-initializes when connectivity
+   returns (a fresh renderer reload — HAL is preserved in the main process),
+   so "internet came back" self-heals without anyone touching the machine.
+2. **On-screen manual retry (operator at the machine).** The maintenance
+   ("ATM Unavailable") screen carries a **Retry** button so a person standing
+   at the kiosk can force an immediate recovery attempt without shell access.
+3. **SSH/NetBird (operator remote, last resort).** This plane — for when the
+   app *can't* self-heal or the box is genuinely broken. Unchanged by this
+   amendment beyond the reframing: it is the floor, not the front line.
+
+Rationale: the common failure (transient network / boot-before-network) must
+not require remote shell access to a public kiosk. Reserve the heavyweight
+recovery plane for genuine app/OS failure. Implemented on branch
+`feat/connection-recovery`.
+
 ## References
 
 - [#41](https://git.atitlan.io/aiolabs/bitspire/issues/41) — Multi-location deployment: runtime site config (the access plane's per-machine identity is provisioned here, not baked into the closure).