diff --git a/AI/.gitignore b/AI/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..936a447
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AI/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# The index is generated, host-specific, and regenerable in minutes. Never commit it.
+*.db
+*.db-wal
+*.db-shm
diff --git a/AI/lib/chunk.js b/AI/lib/chunk.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0de7aa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AI/lib/chunk.js
@@ -0,0 +1,255 @@
+'use strict';
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// Chunker — turns repo files into retrieval units.
+//
+// The whole point of the header audit is that chunk boundaries are deterministic here. Bash
+// scripts split on their six section names, markdown on its headings, conf templates on their
+// ━━━ section rules. Nothing is split on a fixed token window, so no chunk ever contains half
+// of one idea and half of another.
+//
+// Every chunk carries its section name as its own field, because that is the metadata that
+// lets retrieval filter by question shape before it ever computes similarity.
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+const fs   = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const BASH_SECTIONS = [
+    'PURPOSE', 'OPERATIONAL MODEL', 'DESIGN PRINCIPLES',
+    'OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARDS', 'CONFIGURATION', 'RUNTIME MODES',
+];
+
+// PHP headers reuse the first three names deliberately, then diverge per layer.
+const PHP_SECTIONS = [
+    'PURPOSE', 'OPERATIONAL MODEL', 'DESIGN PRINCIPLES', 'OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARDS',
+    'STATUS', 'EXPORTS', 'REQUEST CONTRACT', 'SIDE EFFECTS', 'RENDERS', 'DEPENDS ON',
+    'CONFIGURATION',
+];
+
+const MIN_CHARS = 40;      // below this a chunk carries no retrievable meaning
+const MAX_CHARS = 6000;    // above this, split on blank lines — protects the embed window
+
+// Banner rules and box-drawing art are everywhere in this repo's headers. They carry no
+// meaning to embed, and a chunk that is mostly rule characters is pure noise in the index.
+// Measure a chunk by what is left after the decoration is removed, not by raw length.
+function meaningful(s) {
+    return s.replace(/[═─━=_#\/*\s|+.-]/g, '').length;
+}
+const MIN_MEANINGFUL = 30;
+
+function isRealHeading(h) {
+    return !!h && /[A-Za-z0-9]/.test(h.replace(/[═─━=_]/g, ''));
+}
+
+function stripPrefix(line, prefix) {
+    // '#   text' -> 'text'   '//   text' -> 'text'
+    const re = new RegExp('^\\s*' + prefix + '\\s?');
+    return line.replace(re, '');
+}
+
+// ── Comment-header sectioning, shared by bash (#) and PHP (//) ────────────────────────────────
+function sectionsFromCommentHeader(text, prefix, names) {
+    const lines = text.split('\n');
+    const nameSet = new Set(names);
+    const found = [];
+
+    // headerEnd matters as much as the section starts. The last section (RUNTIME MODES in bash,
+    // DEPENDS ON in a page) would otherwise run to EOF and sweep up every unrelated comment in
+    // the file — scheduler.php alone contributed an 11k-char chunk of unrelated inline comments.
+    let headerEnd = lines.length;
+    for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+        const raw = lines[i];
+        if (!new RegExp('^\\s*' + prefix).test(raw)) {
+            // Header block ends at the first non-comment, non-blank line past the shebang.
+            // '<?php' and '?>' bracket a PHP header block and are not the end of it.
+            const t = raw.trim();
+            if (t !== '' && !/^#!/.test(t) && t !== '<?php' && t !== '?>' && found.length) {
+                headerEnd = i;
+                break;
+            }
+            continue;
+        }
+        const inner = stripPrefix(raw, prefix).trim();
+        if (nameSet.has(inner)) found.push({ name: inner, start: i });
+    }
+
+    const out = [];
+    for (let k = 0; k < found.length; k++) {
+        const start = found[k].start + 1;
+        const end   = k + 1 < found.length ? found[k + 1].start : headerEnd;
+        const body  = lines.slice(start, end)
+            .filter(l => new RegExp('^\\s*' + prefix).test(l))
+            .map(l => stripPrefix(l, prefix))
+            // drop pure separator rules (════, ────, ━━━) — they carry no meaning
+            .filter(l => !/^[\s═─━=_-]*$/.test(l) || l.trim() === '')
+            .join('\n')
+            .replace(/\n{3,}/g, '\n\n')
+            .trim();
+        if (meaningful(body) >= MIN_MEANINGFUL) {
+            for (const p of splitNamedParagraphs(body))
+                out.push({ section: found[k].name, title: p.title, content: p.content });
+        }
+    }
+    return out;
+}
+
+// ── Named-paragraph sub-chunking ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// The header convention writes safeguards and principles as named paragraphs: an unindented
+// title line followed by an indented body. Embedding a whole section as one unit dilutes them —
+// rsync.sh's OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARDS holds eight distinct guarantees in 2.8k chars, and a query
+// about one of them scored below unrelated chunks because the other seven dominated the vector.
+// Splitting on the title lines is what makes a specific question find a specific answer.
+//
+// The section name is carried onto every sub-chunk, so section routing still works; the
+// paragraph title becomes the chunk's heading.
+function splitNamedParagraphs(body) {
+    const lines = body.split('\n');
+    const marks = [];
+    for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+        const l = lines[i];
+        if (!l.trim()) continue;
+        if (/^\s/.test(l)) continue;                 // indented => body, not a title
+        if (/^[-*•]/.test(l.trim())) continue;       // list item, not a title
+        if (l.trim().length > 80) continue;          // a long line is prose, not a heading
+        if (/[.:;,]$/.test(l.trim())) continue;      // ends like a sentence
+
+        // The decisive signal: a real title is followed by an indented body. Wrapped prose is
+        // followed by more unindented prose. Without this check, any short line in a paragraph
+        // that happened to wrap became a spurious chunk boundary mid-sentence.
+        let j = i + 1;
+        while (j < lines.length && !lines[j].trim()) j++;
+        if (j >= lines.length || !/^\s+\S/.test(lines[j])) continue;
+
+        marks.push(i);
+    }
+    // Fewer than two titles means this section is not written as named paragraphs — keep it whole.
+    if (marks.length < 2) return [{ title: null, content: body }];
+
+    const out = [];
+    if (marks[0] > 0) {
+        const pre = lines.slice(0, marks[0]).join('\n').trim();
+        if (meaningful(pre) >= MIN_MEANINGFUL) out.push({ title: null, content: pre });
+    }
+    for (let k = 0; k < marks.length; k++) {
+        const start = marks[k];
+        const end   = k + 1 < marks.length ? marks[k + 1] : lines.length;
+        const title = lines[start].trim();
+        const content = lines.slice(start, end).join('\n').trim();
+        if (meaningful(content) >= MIN_MEANINGFUL) out.push({ title, content });
+    }
+    return out;
+}
+
+// ── Markdown: split on ## headings, keep the heading with its body ─────────────────────────────
+function sectionsFromMarkdown(text) {
+    const lines = text.split('\n');
+    const marks = [];
+    let fence = false;
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+        if (/^\s*```/.test(lines[i])) { fence = !fence; continue; }
+        if (fence) continue;
+        if (/^#{1,3}\s+\S/.test(lines[i])) marks.push(i);
+    }
+    if (!marks.length) return [{ heading: null, content: text.trim() }];
+
+    const out = [];
+    // preamble before the first heading
+    if (marks[0] > 0) {
+        const pre = lines.slice(0, marks[0]).join('\n').trim();
+        if (meaningful(pre) >= MIN_MEANINGFUL) out.push({ heading: null, content: pre });
+    }
+    for (let k = 0; k < marks.length; k++) {
+        const start = marks[k];
+        const end   = k + 1 < marks.length ? marks[k + 1] : lines.length;
+        const heading = lines[start].replace(/^#+\s*/, '').replace(/[━─═]+/g, '').trim();
+        const content = lines.slice(start, end).join('\n').trim();
+        if (meaningful(content) >= MIN_MEANINGFUL) out.push({ heading: isRealHeading(heading) ? heading : null, content });
+    }
+    return out;
+}
+
+// ── Conf templates: split on the ━━━ / ── section rules ───────────────────────────────────────
+function sectionsFromConfTemplate(text) {
+    const lines = text.split('\n');
+    const marks = [];
+    for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+        const m = lines[i].match(/^#\s*[━─]{2,}\s*(.+?)\s*[━─]{2,}\s*$/);
+        if (m && isRealHeading(m[1])) marks.push({ i, name: m[1].trim() });
+    }
+    if (!marks.length) return [];
+
+    const out = [];
+    for (let k = 0; k < marks.length; k++) {
+        const start = marks[k].i;
+        const end   = k + 1 < marks.length ? marks[k + 1].i : lines.length;
+        const content = lines.slice(start, end).join('\n').replace(/\n{3,}/g, '\n\n').trim();
+        if (meaningful(content) >= MIN_MEANINGFUL) out.push({ heading: marks[k].name, content });
+    }
+    return out;
+}
+
+// Oversized chunks split on blank lines rather than mid-sentence.
+function capSize(chunks) {
+    const out = [];
+    for (const c of chunks) {
+        if (c.content.length <= MAX_CHARS) { out.push(c); continue; }
+        const paras = c.content.split(/\n\s*\n/);
+        let buf = [], len = 0, part = 1;
+        const flush = () => {
+            if (!buf.length) return;
+            out.push({ ...c, content: buf.join('\n\n'), part: part++ });
+            buf = []; len = 0;
+        };
+        for (const p of paras) {
+            if (len + p.length > MAX_CHARS && buf.length) flush();
+            buf.push(p); len += p.length + 2;
+        }
+        flush();
+    }
+    return out;
+}
+
+function classify(rel) {
+    const base = path.basename(rel);
+    if (rel.startsWith('Deployment/') && rel.endsWith('.template')) return 'template';
+    if (base.endsWith('.md')) {
+        if (base.startsWith('Manual')) return 'manual';
+        if (base.startsWith('README') || base === 'README.md') return 'readme';
+        return 'doc';
+    }
+    if (base.endsWith('.sh'))  return 'header';
+    if (base.endsWith('.php')) return 'header';
+    return 'other';
+}
+
+function chunkFile(absPath, rel) {
+    const text = fs.readFileSync(absPath, 'utf8');
+    const kind = classify(rel);
+    let raw = [];
+
+    if (kind === 'header' && rel.endsWith('.sh')) {
+        raw = sectionsFromCommentHeader(text, '#', BASH_SECTIONS)
+            .map(s => ({ section: s.section, heading: s.title || null, content: s.content }));
+    } else if (kind === 'header' && rel.endsWith('.php')) {
+        raw = sectionsFromCommentHeader(text, '//', PHP_SECTIONS)
+            .map(s => ({ section: s.section, heading: s.title || null, content: s.content }));
+    } else if (kind === 'template') {
+        raw = sectionsFromConfTemplate(text)
+            .map(s => ({ section: null, heading: s.heading, content: s.content }));
+    } else if (kind === 'readme' || kind === 'manual' || kind === 'doc') {
+        raw = sectionsFromMarkdown(text)
+            .map(s => ({ section: null, heading: s.heading, content: s.content }));
+    }
+
+    return capSize(raw).map(c => ({
+        path: rel,
+        kind,
+        section: c.section || null,
+        heading: c.heading || null,
+        part: c.part || null,
+        content: c.content,
+    }));
+}
+
+module.exports = { chunkFile, classify, BASH_SECTIONS, PHP_SECTIONS };
diff --git a/AI/lib/cli.js b/AI/lib/cli.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..425a4b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AI/lib/cli.js
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+'use strict';
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// CLI bridge — the thin layer the bash entry points call.
+//
+// The bash scripts own configuration, gating, locking and logging, exactly as they do for every
+// other Varaverk job. This file owns only the work that is genuinely awkward in bash: float
+// vector math and SQLite BLOBs. That split follows the existing api_cache_writer.sh precedent —
+// a bash shim in front of the language that fits the task.
+//
+// Every value arrives as an argument or an environment variable read by the caller. This file
+// never reads a conf file itself, so there is exactly one place that decides what the settings
+// are.
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+const { buildIndex } = require('./index.js');
+const { search }     = require('./search.js');
+
+function arg(name, dflt) {
+    const p = `--${name}=`;
+    const hit = process.argv.find(a => a.startsWith(p));
+    return hit ? hit.slice(p.length) : dflt;
+}
+function flag(name) {
+    return process.argv.includes(`--${name}`);
+}
+
+function fail(msg, code = 1) {
+    console.error(msg);
+    process.exit(code);
+}
+
+async function cmdIndex() {
+    const root  = arg('root');
+    const db    = arg('db');
+    const url   = arg('url');
+    const model = arg('model', 'nomic-embed-text');
+    if (!root || !db || !url) fail('index: --root, --db and --url are required');
+
+    const quiet = flag('quiet');
+    let stats;
+    try {
+        stats = await buildIndex({
+            root, dbPath: db, url, model,
+            batch:   parseInt(arg('batch', '32'), 10),
+            timeout: parseInt(arg('timeout', '120000'), 10),
+            force:   flag('force'),
+            dryRun:  flag('dry-run'),
+            onProgress: p => {
+                if (p.error) console.error(`embed batch failed: ${p.error}`);
+                else if (!quiet && p.done % 320 === 0) console.log(`  embedded ${p.done}/${p.total}`);
+            },
+        });
+    } catch (e) {
+        fail(`index failed: ${e.message}`, 2);
+    }
+
+    if (flag('json')) { console.log(JSON.stringify(stats)); return; }
+    if (stats.dryRun) {
+        console.log(`DRY RUN — ${stats.files} file(s) would be indexed, ${stats.chunks} chunk(s) embedded`);
+        console.log(`          ${stats.skipped} unchanged, ${stats.removed} stale entr(ies) would be dropped`);
+        return;
+    }
+    console.log(`indexed ${stats.files} file(s), ${stats.chunks} chunk(s) embedded`);
+    console.log(`  ${stats.skipped} unchanged, ${stats.removed} removed, ${stats.failed} failed`);
+    console.log(`  index now holds ${stats.total} chunk(s)`);
+    // A partial index is usable but not complete — say so in the exit code so a caller can act.
+    if (stats.failed) process.exit(3);
+}
+
+async function cmdSearch() {
+    const db    = arg('db');
+    const url   = arg('url');
+    const model = arg('model', 'nomic-embed-text');
+    const q     = arg('query');
+    if (!db || !url || !q) fail('search: --db, --url and --query are required');
+
+    let r;
+    try {
+        r = await search({
+            dbPath: db, url, embedModel: model, query: q,
+            k:       parseInt(arg('k', '8'), 10),
+            perFile: parseInt(arg('per-file', '3'), 10),
+            section: arg('section', null),
+            kind:    arg('kind', null),
+        });
+    } catch (e) {
+        fail(`search failed: ${e.message}`, 2);
+    }
+
+    if (flag('json')) { console.log(JSON.stringify(r)); return; }
+    if (!r.results.length) { console.log('no matches'); return; }
+    if (r.intents.length) console.log(`intent: ${r.intents.join(', ')}\n`);
+    for (const x of r.results) {
+        const label = x.heading || x.section || '-';
+        console.log(`── ${x.score.toFixed(3)}  ${x.path}  [${x.section || x.kind}] ${label}`);
+        console.log(x.content.split('\n').map(l => '   ' + l).join('\n'));
+        console.log('');
+    }
+}
+
+// Retrieval + generation. The prompt is built here so the context block and the instructions
+// stay in one reviewable place.
+async function cmdAsk() {
+    const db      = arg('db');
+    const url     = arg('url');
+    const embed   = arg('embed-model', 'nomic-embed-text');
+    const gen     = arg('model');
+    const q       = arg('query');
+    const timeout = parseInt(arg('timeout', '240000'), 10);
+    if (!db || !url || !gen || !q) fail('ask: --db, --url, --model and --query are required');
+
+    let r;
+    try {
+        r = await search({
+            dbPath: db, url, embedModel: embed, query: q,
+            k: parseInt(arg('k', '6'), 10), perFile: parseInt(arg('per-file', '2'), 10),
+        });
+    } catch (e) {
+        fail(`retrieval failed: ${e.message}`, 2);
+    }
+    if (!r.results.length) fail('no relevant context found in the index', 4);
+
+    const context = r.results.map((x, i) => {
+        const label = [x.path, x.section, x.heading].filter(Boolean).join(' › ');
+        return `[${i + 1}] ${label}\n${x.content}`;
+    }).join('\n\n');
+
+    const prompt =
+`You are answering questions about Varaverk, a two-server self-healing home media ecosystem.
+
+Answer ONLY from the context below. If the context does not contain the answer, say so plainly
+and name what is missing — do not fill the gap from general knowledge about Linux, Docker or
+rsync, because this system's conventions are frequently not the conventional ones.
+
+Cite the source of each claim as [n]. Be concise and concrete.
+
+CONTEXT
+${context}
+
+QUESTION
+${q}
+
+ANSWER`;
+
+    let res;
+    try {
+        res = await fetch(`${url.replace(/\/$/, '')}/api/generate`, {
+            method: 'POST',
+            headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+            body: JSON.stringify({
+                model: gen, prompt, stream: false,
+                options: { temperature: 0.2, num_ctx: 8192 },
+            }),
+            signal: AbortSignal.timeout(timeout),
+        });
+    } catch (e) {
+        fail(`generation failed: ${e.message}`, 2);
+    }
+    if (!res.ok) fail(`generation HTTP ${res.status}`, 2);
+    const j = await res.json();
+
+    if (flag('json')) {
+        console.log(JSON.stringify({ answer: j.response, sources: r.results.map(x => ({ path: x.path, section: x.section, heading: x.heading, score: x.score })) }));
+        return;
+    }
+    console.log((j.response || '').trim());
+    console.log('\nSources:');
+    r.results.forEach((x, i) => {
+        console.log(`  [${i + 1}] ${[x.path, x.section, x.heading].filter(Boolean).join(' › ')}`);
+    });
+}
+
+const cmd = process.argv[2];
+const table = { index: cmdIndex, search: cmdSearch, ask: cmdAsk };
+if (!table[cmd]) fail(`usage: cli.js <index|search|ask> [--flags]`);
+table[cmd]().catch(e => fail(e.message, 2));
diff --git a/AI/lib/index.js b/AI/lib/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..158203c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AI/lib/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+'use strict';
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// Indexer — chunk the repo, embed each chunk, store vectors in SQLite.
+//
+// Incremental by file mtime: a file whose mtime has not moved since its last index is skipped
+// entirely, so a routine re-index costs seconds rather than re-embedding the whole corpus.
+//
+// Vectors are stored as raw little-endian float32 BLOBs. nomic-embed-text returns L2-normalised
+// vectors, so cosine similarity is a plain dot product at query time — no normalising, no
+// magnitude cache. PHP can read the same blobs with unpack('f*', $blob) when the UI needs them.
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+const fs   = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+const { execSync } = require('child_process');
+const { DatabaseSync } = require('node:sqlite');
+const { chunkFile, classify } = require('./chunk.js');
+
+const SCHEMA = `
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS vv_files (
+    path     TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+    mtime    INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    chunks   INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    indexed  INTEGER NOT NULL
+);
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS vv_chunks (
+    id       INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
+    path     TEXT NOT NULL,
+    kind     TEXT NOT NULL,
+    section  TEXT,
+    heading  TEXT,
+    part     INTEGER,
+    content  TEXT NOT NULL,
+    vector   BLOB NOT NULL,
+    indexed  INTEGER NOT NULL
+);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_chunks_path    ON vv_chunks(path);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_chunks_section ON vv_chunks(section);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_chunks_kind    ON vv_chunks(kind);
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS vv_meta (k TEXT PRIMARY KEY, v TEXT);
+`;
+
+function openDb(dbPath) {
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(dbPath), { recursive: true });
+    const db = new DatabaseSync(dbPath);
+    db.exec('PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL;');
+    db.exec('PRAGMA synchronous = NORMAL;');
+    db.exec(SCHEMA);
+    return db;
+}
+
+// Only ever index what git tracks. Configurations/, State_Files/ and data/ are gitignored, which
+// is what makes it structurally impossible for a credential to reach the index — the files that
+// hold them were never in the repo. Do not replace this with a filesystem walk.
+function trackedFiles(root) {
+    return execSync('git ls-files', { cwd: root, maxBuffer: 1 << 26 })
+        .toString().trim().split('\n')
+        .filter(Boolean)
+        .filter(f => classify(f) !== 'other');
+}
+
+async function embedBatch(url, model, inputs, timeoutMs) {
+    const ctl = AbortSignal.timeout(timeoutMs);
+    const res = await fetch(`${url.replace(/\/$/, '')}/api/embed`, {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+        body: JSON.stringify({ model, input: inputs }),
+        signal: ctl,
+    });
+    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`embed HTTP ${res.status}: ${(await res.text()).slice(0, 200)}`);
+    const j = await res.json();
+    if (!j.embeddings || j.embeddings.length !== inputs.length)
+        throw new Error(`embed returned ${j.embeddings ? j.embeddings.length : 0} of ${inputs.length}`);
+    return j.embeddings;
+}
+
+function toBlob(vec) {
+    return Buffer.from(Float32Array.from(vec).buffer);
+}
+
+async function buildIndex(opts) {
+    const {
+        root, dbPath, url, model,
+        batch = 32, timeout = 120000, force = false, dryRun = false,
+        onProgress = () => {},
+    } = opts;
+
+    const db  = dryRun ? null : openDb(dbPath);
+    const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
+
+    const known = new Map();
+    if (db) for (const r of db.prepare('SELECT path, mtime FROM vv_files').all()) known.set(r.path, r.mtime);
+
+    const files   = trackedFiles(root);
+    const present = new Set(files);
+
+    // Files that left the repo must leave the index with them.
+    let removed = 0;
+    if (db && !force) {
+        for (const p of known.keys()) {
+            if (!present.has(p)) {
+                db.prepare('DELETE FROM vv_chunks WHERE path = ?').run(p);
+                db.prepare('DELETE FROM vv_files  WHERE path = ?').run(p);
+                removed++;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    if (db && force) { db.exec('DELETE FROM vv_chunks; DELETE FROM vv_files;'); }
+
+    // ── Collect the chunks that actually need embedding ───────────────────────────────────────
+    const pending = [];
+    let skipped = 0, scanned = 0;
+
+    for (const rel of files) {
+        const abs = path.join(root, rel);
+        let st;
+        try { st = fs.statSync(abs); } catch { continue; }
+        const mtime = Math.floor(st.mtimeMs / 1000);
+        scanned++;
+
+        if (!force && known.has(rel) && known.get(rel) === mtime) { skipped++; continue; }
+
+        let chunks = [];
+        try { chunks = chunkFile(abs, rel); } catch (e) { continue; }
+        if (!chunks.length) {
+            if (db) {
+                db.prepare('DELETE FROM vv_chunks WHERE path = ?').run(rel);
+                db.prepare('INSERT OR REPLACE INTO vv_files VALUES (?,?,?,?)').run(rel, mtime, 0, now);
+            }
+            continue;
+        }
+        pending.push({ rel, mtime, chunks });
+    }
+
+    const totalChunks = pending.reduce((n, f) => n + f.chunks.length, 0);
+    if (dryRun) {
+        return { dryRun: true, scanned, skipped, removed, files: pending.length, chunks: totalChunks };
+    }
+
+    // ── Embed in batches, write per file so an interrupted run leaves a consistent index ───────
+    const flat = [];
+    for (const f of pending) for (const c of f.chunks) flat.push({ f, c });
+
+    let done = 0, failed = 0;
+    for (let i = 0; i < flat.length; i += batch) {
+        const slice  = flat.slice(i, i + batch);
+        const inputs = slice.map(x => x.c.content);
+        let vecs;
+        try {
+            vecs = await embedBatch(url, model, inputs, timeout);
+        } catch (e) {
+            failed += slice.length;
+            onProgress({ done, total: flat.length, error: e.message });
+            continue;
+        }
+        slice.forEach((x, k) => { x.c.__vec = vecs[k]; });
+        done += slice.length;
+        onProgress({ done, total: flat.length });
+    }
+
+    const ins = db.prepare(
+        'INSERT INTO vv_chunks (path,kind,section,heading,part,content,vector,indexed) VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?)'
+    );
+    const insF = db.prepare('INSERT OR REPLACE INTO vv_files VALUES (?,?,?,?)');
+
+    db.exec('BEGIN');
+    try {
+        for (const f of pending) {
+            const embedded = f.chunks.filter(c => c.__vec);
+            // A file whose chunks all failed to embed keeps its previous rows and its old mtime,
+            // so the next run retries it rather than recording a half-indexed file as current.
+            if (!embedded.length) continue;
+            db.prepare('DELETE FROM vv_chunks WHERE path = ?').run(f.rel);
+            for (const c of embedded) {
+                ins.run(c.path, c.kind, c.section, c.heading, c.part, c.content, toBlob(c.__vec), now);
+            }
+            insF.run(f.rel, f.mtime, embedded.length, now);
+        }
+        db.prepare('INSERT OR REPLACE INTO vv_meta VALUES (?,?)').run('embed_model', model);
+        db.prepare('INSERT OR REPLACE INTO vv_meta VALUES (?,?)').run('last_index', String(now));
+        db.prepare('INSERT OR REPLACE INTO vv_meta VALUES (?,?)').run('dims', '768');
+        db.exec('COMMIT');
+    } catch (e) {
+        db.exec('ROLLBACK');
+        throw e;
+    }
+
+    const stats = {
+        scanned, skipped, removed,
+        files:  pending.length,
+        chunks: done,
+        failed,
+        total:  db.prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) n FROM vv_chunks').get().n,
+    };
+    db.close();
+    return stats;
+}
+
+module.exports = { buildIndex, openDb, toBlob, trackedFiles };
diff --git a/AI/lib/search.js b/AI/lib/search.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8875dc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AI/lib/search.js
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+'use strict';
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// Search — embed a question, score it against the index, return the best chunks.
+//
+// nomic-embed-text returns L2-normalised vectors, so cosine similarity is a plain dot product.
+// At this corpus size (~1.7k chunks x 768 dims) that is a couple of million multiply-adds —
+// under a millisecond, with no vector database and no index structure to maintain.
+//
+// Section routing is the payoff from the header audit. Every chunk knows whether it is a
+// PURPOSE, a DESIGN PRINCIPLES, an OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARDS and so on, so a question's shape can
+// steer retrieval before similarity is even considered. It is applied as a score boost rather
+// than a hard filter — intent detection is a heuristic, and a heuristic should not be able to
+// exclude the one chunk that actually holds the answer.
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+const { DatabaseSync } = require('node:sqlite');
+
+// Question shape → the section most likely to answer it.
+const INTENTS = [
+    { section: 'OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARDS',
+      re: /\b(safe|safety|guard|protect|prevent|fail|failure|abort|refuse|lock|root|timeout|dry.?run|what stops|what happens if|race|corrupt|data.?loss)\b/i },
+    { section: 'CONFIGURATION',
+      re: /\b(variable|var|setting|conf|config|threshold|toggle|which key|what controls|where is .* set|default value|env)\b/i },
+    { section: 'RUNTIME MODES',
+      re: /\b(flag|argument|option|--\w+|how do i run|invoke|cli|command line|status mode|usage)\b/i },
+    { section: 'DESIGN PRINCIPLES',
+      re: /\b(why|rationale|reason|design|decision|deliberate|intentional|on purpose|trade.?off|chose|approach)\b/i },
+    { section: 'OPERATIONAL MODEL',
+      re: /\b(how does .* work|flow|sequence|order|tier|lifecycle|state machine|when does)\b/i },
+    { section: 'EXPORTS',
+      re: /\b(function|export|api surface|what does .* provide|helper|vv_\w+)\b/i },
+    { section: 'PURPOSE',
+      re: /\b(what is|what does .* do|purpose|responsible for|job of)\b/i },
+];
+
+const SECTION_BOOST = 0.06;   // enough to reorder near-ties, not enough to beat a real match
+const KIND_BOOST    = 0.02;   // docs answer "how do I" better than a script header does
+
+function detectIntent(q) {
+    const hits = [];
+    for (const i of INTENTS) if (i.re.test(q)) hits.push(i.section);
+    return hits;
+}
+
+function blobToVec(buf) {
+    const b = Buffer.from(buf);
+    return new Float32Array(b.buffer, b.byteOffset, b.length / 4);
+}
+
+function dot(a, b) {
+    let s = 0;
+    for (let i = 0; i < a.length; i++) s += a[i] * b[i];
+    return s;
+}
+
+async function embedQuery(url, model, text, timeoutMs = 60000) {
+    const res = await fetch(`${url.replace(/\/$/, '')}/api/embed`, {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+        body: JSON.stringify({ model, input: text }),
+        signal: AbortSignal.timeout(timeoutMs),
+    });
+    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`embed HTTP ${res.status}`);
+    const j = await res.json();
+    if (!j.embeddings || !j.embeddings[0]) throw new Error('embed returned no vector');
+    return Float32Array.from(j.embeddings[0]);
+}
+
+// Keep at most `perFile` chunks from any one file, so a single large document cannot fill the
+// entire context window and crowd out a better answer living somewhere else.
+function diversify(rows, k, perFile) {
+    const seen = new Map();
+    const out  = [];
+    for (const r of rows) {
+        const n = seen.get(r.path) || 0;
+        if (n >= perFile) continue;
+        seen.set(r.path, n + 1);
+        out.push(r);
+        if (out.length >= k) break;
+    }
+    return out;
+}
+
+async function search(opts) {
+    const {
+        dbPath, url, embedModel, query,
+        k = 8, perFile = 3, section = null, kind = null, minScore = 0.0,
+    } = opts;
+
+    const db = new DatabaseSync(dbPath, { readOnly: true });
+
+    let sql = 'SELECT id,path,kind,section,heading,part,content,vector FROM vv_chunks';
+    const where = [], args = [];
+    if (section) { where.push('section = ?'); args.push(section); }
+    if (kind)    { where.push('kind = ?');    args.push(kind); }
+    if (where.length) sql += ' WHERE ' + where.join(' AND ');
+
+    const rows = db.prepare(sql).all(...args);
+    if (!rows.length) { db.close(); return { results: [], intents: [], scanned: 0 }; }
+
+    const qv      = await embedQuery(url, embedModel, query);
+    const intents = section ? [] : detectIntent(query);
+    const wantDoc = /\b(how do i|steps|procedure|setup|install|troubleshoot|guide)\b/i.test(query);
+
+    const scored = rows.map(r => {
+        let s = dot(qv, blobToVec(r.vector));
+        if (intents.includes(r.section)) s += SECTION_BOOST;
+        if (wantDoc && (r.kind === 'manual' || r.kind === 'readme')) s += KIND_BOOST;
+        return {
+            id: r.id, path: r.path, kind: r.kind, section: r.section,
+            heading: r.heading, part: r.part, content: r.content, score: s,
+        };
+    });
+
+    scored.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score);
+    const kept = diversify(scored.filter(r => r.score >= minScore), k, perFile);
+    db.close();
+    return { results: kept, intents, scanned: rows.length };
+}
+
+module.exports = { search, detectIntent, blobToVec, dot, embedQuery, INTENTS };
diff --git a/Fallback/fallback_test.sh b/Fallback/fallback_test.sh
index 17299c2..30c070f 100755
--- a/Fallback/fallback_test.sh
+++ b/Fallback/fallback_test.sh
@@ -91,13 +91,13 @@
 #   FALLBACK_TEST_BLOCK_WAIT
 #       Seconds to wait in Phase 3 for fallback.sh to detect the outage.
 #       Must be > FALLBACK_CHECK_INTERVAL + buffer. At 30s interval: use ≥60s.
-#       (default: 60)
+#       (shipped default: 150)
 #
 #   FALLBACK_TEST_HANDBACK_WAIT
 #       Seconds to wait in Phase 6 for fallback.sh to complete handback.
 #       Must cover: FALLBACK_HANDBACK_STRIKES × FALLBACK_CHECK_INTERVAL + rsync
 #       duration + container start time. At 3 strikes × 30s + ~2min rsync +
-#       ~1min container start: use ≥240s. (default: 300)
+#       ~1min container start: use ≥240s. (shipped default: 360)
 #
 # ==============================================================================================
 # RUNTIME MODES
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/System_Essentials/mover_stop.sh b/Plugin/unraid/System_Essentials/mover_stop.sh
index dcecbd0..ddbb53d 100755
--- a/Plugin/unraid/System_Essentials/mover_stop.sh
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/System_Essentials/mover_stop.sh
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@
 # master.conf
 #
 #   MOVER_STOP_TIMEOUT
-#       Seconds between wall warning and SIGTERM. (default: 30)
+#       Seconds between wall warning and SIGTERM. (shipped default: 300)
 #
 # ==============================================================================================
 # RUNTIME MODES
diff --git a/Rsync/rsync.sh b/Rsync/rsync.sh
index 9412e06..daaa2da 100755
--- a/Rsync/rsync.sh
+++ b/Rsync/rsync.sh
@@ -161,14 +161,14 @@
 #       Default retry attempts on rsync failure. (default: 3)
 #
 #   SLEEP
-#       Default seconds between retry attempts. (default: 60)
+#       Default seconds between retry attempts. (shipped default: 300)
 #
 #   RSYNC_MAX_RUNTIME_HOURS
 #       Max hours a single transfer attempt may run before it's terminated and paused
 #       for the next scheduled run. Protects the per-profile lock from being held
 #       indefinitely by one huge/stuck transfer, starving other profiles of a turn.
 #       Safe because DEFAULT_RSYNC_OPTS includes --partial — a paused transfer resumes
-#       from where it left off, not from scratch. (default: 23)
+#       from where it left off, not from scratch. (code fallback 23; shipped conf sets 19)
 #
 #   ROOTFS_WARN
 #       Abort threshold for remote rootfs percentage full. (default: 75)
diff --git a/System_Essentials/server_reboot.sh b/System_Essentials/server_reboot.sh
index fa4d578..3ca5434 100755
--- a/System_Essentials/server_reboot.sh
+++ b/System_Essentials/server_reboot.sh
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
 # master.conf
 #
 #   REBOOT_SLEEP
-#       Seconds between warning and shutdown sequence start. (default: 30)
+#       Seconds between warning and shutdown sequence start. (shipped default: 300)
 #
 #   REBOOT_VM_WAIT
 #       Seconds to wait for VMs to shut down gracefully. (default: 30)