diff --git a/ovos_core/skill_installer.py b/ovos_core/skill_installer.py
index de847d258329..3f4f5304fbd3 100644
--- a/ovos_core/skill_installer.py
+++ b/ovos_core/skill_installer.py
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
 import enum
+import shutil
 import sys
 from importlib import reload
 from os.path import exists
 from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
 from typing import Optional
 
+import requests
 from combo_lock import NamedLock
-from ovos_config.config import Configuration
 
 import ovos_plugin_manager
 from ovos_bus_client import Message
+from ovos_config.config import Configuration
 from ovos_utils.log import LOG
 
 
@@ -22,8 +24,9 @@ class InstallError(str, enum.Enum):
 
 class SkillsStore:
     # default constraints to use if none are given
-    DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS = '/etc/mycroft/constraints.txt'  # TODO XDG paths, keep backwards compat for now with msm/osm
+    DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenVoiceOS/ovos-releases/refs/heads/main/constraints-stable.txt'
     PIP_LOCK = NamedLock("ovos_pip.lock")
+    UV = shutil.which("uv")  # use 'uv pip' if available, speeds things up a lot and is the default in raspOVOS
 
     def __init__(self, bus, config=None):
         self.config = config or Configuration().get("skills", {}).get("installer", {})
@@ -44,6 +47,27 @@ def play_success_sound(self):
         snd = self.config.get("sounds", {}).get("pip_success", "snd/acknowledge.mp3")
         self.bus.emit(Message("mycroft.audio.play_sound", {"uri": snd}))
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def validate_constrainsts(constraints: str):
+        if constraints.startswith('http'):
+            LOG.debug(f"Constraints url: {constraints}")
+            try:
+                response = requests.head(constraints)
+                if response.status_code != 200:
+                    LOG.error(f'Remote constraints file not accessible: {response.status_code}')
+                    return False
+                return True
+            except Exception as e:
+                LOG.error(f'Error accessing remote constraints: {str(e)}')
+                return False
+
+        # Use constraints to limit the installed versions
+        if not exists(constraints):
+            LOG.error('Couldn\'t find the constraints file')
+            return False
+
+        return True
+
     def pip_install(self, packages: list,
                     constraints: Optional[str] = None,
                     print_logs: bool = True):
@@ -51,15 +75,18 @@ def pip_install(self, packages: list,
             LOG.error("no package list provided to install")
             self.play_error_sound()
             return False
-        # Use constraints to limit the installed versions
-        if constraints and not exists(constraints):
-            LOG.error('Couldn\'t find the constraints file')
+
+        # can be set in mycroft.conf to change to testing/alpha channels
+        constraints = constraints or self.config.get("constraints", SkillsStore.DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS)
+
+        if not self.validate_constrainsts(constraints):
             self.play_error_sound()
             return False
-        elif exists(SkillsStore.DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS):
-            constraints = SkillsStore.DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS
 
-        pip_args = [sys.executable, '-m', 'pip', 'install']
+        if self.UV is not None:
+            pip_args = [self.UV, 'pip', 'install']
+        else:
+            pip_args = [sys.executable, '-m', 'pip', 'install']
         if constraints:
             pip_args += ['-c', constraints]
         if self.config.get("break_system_packages", False):
@@ -101,30 +128,37 @@ def pip_uninstall(self, packages: list,
             self.play_error_sound()
             return False
 
-        # Use constraints to limit package removal
-        if constraints and not exists(constraints):
-            LOG.error('Couldn\'t find the constraints file')
+        # can be set in mycroft.conf to change to testing/alpha channels
+        constraints = constraints or self.config.get("constraints", SkillsStore.DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS)
+
+        if not self.validate_constrainsts(constraints):
             self.play_error_sound()
             return False
-        elif exists(SkillsStore.DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS):
-            constraints = SkillsStore.DEFAULT_CONSTRAINTS
 
-        if constraints:
+        # get protected packages that can't be uninstalled
+        # by default cant uninstall any official ovos package via this bus api
+        if constraints.startswith("http"):
+            cpkgs = requests.get(constraints).text.split("\n")
+        elif exists(constraints):
             with open(constraints) as f:
-                # remove version pinning and normalize _ to - (pip accepts both)
-                cpkgs = [p.split("~")[0].split("<")[0].split(">")[0].split("=")[0].replace("_", "-")
-                         for p in f.read().split("\n") if p.strip()]
+                cpkgs = f.read().split("\n")
         else:
             cpkgs = ["ovos-core", "ovos-utils", "ovos-plugin-manager",
                      "ovos-config", "ovos-bus-client", "ovos-workshop"]
 
-        # normalize _ to - (pip accepts both)
-        if any(p.replace("_", "-") in cpkgs for p in packages):
+        # remove version pinning and normalize _ to - (pip accepts both)
+        cpkgs = [p.split("~")[0].split("<")[0].split(">")[0].split("=")[0].replace("_", "-")
+                 for p in cpkgs]
+
+        if any(p in cpkgs for p in packages):
             LOG.error(f'tried to uninstall a protected package: {cpkgs}')
             self.play_error_sound()
             return False
 
-        pip_args = [sys.executable, '-m', 'pip', 'uninstall', '-y']
+        if self.UV is not None:
+            pip_args = [self.UV, 'pip', 'uninstall']
+        else:
+            pip_args = [sys.executable, '-m', 'pip', 'uninstall', '-y']
         if self.config.get("break_system_packages", False):
             pip_args += ["--break-system-packages"]
 
@@ -152,7 +186,8 @@ def pip_uninstall(self, packages: list,
         self.play_success_sound()
         return True
 
-    def validate_skill(self, url):
+    @staticmethod
+    def validate_skill(url):
         if not url.startswith("https://github.com/"):
             return False
         # TODO - check if setup.py