fix(embed): thread write column into sumStaleChunkChars — sync cost gate followed the legacy predicate (#1262 )

Review follow-up: the PR threaded the write-side column through countStaleChunks/listStaleChunks but not sumStaleChunkChars, so the sync cost gate counted an alt-column brain's fully-embedded corpus as phantom backlog on every gate (inflating the --full estimate and the deferred-mode backlog note). Both engines already share buildStaleChunkWhere, so this is a type widening + one call-site thread + a contrast assertion. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
fix(embed): dynamic embedding column write target for upsertChunks + stale scans (#1262 )
2026-08-16 09:52:22 +00:00 · 2026-07-22 10:59:36 -07:00 · 2026-07-21 15:04:38 -07:00
29 changed files with 607 additions and 456 deletions
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type { BrainEngine } from '../core/engine.ts';
 import { embedBatch, currentEmbeddingSignature } from '../core/embedding.ts';
-import type { ChunkInput } from '../core/types.ts';
+import type { ChunkInput, ResolvedColumn } from '../core/types.ts';
+import { resolveWriteColumnForEngine } from '../core/search/embedding-column.ts';
 import { chunkText } from '../core/chunkers/recursive.ts';
 import { createProgress, type ProgressReporter } from '../core/progress.ts';
 import { getCliOptions, cliOptsToProgressOptions } from '../core/cli-options.ts';
@@ -183,8 +184,13 @@ export class EmbeddingDimMismatchError extends Error {
 * fresh-install bug class at the very first invocation instead of letting
 * the worker pool hammer N pages with raw 22000 errors.
 */
-async function preflightDimMismatch(engine: BrainEngine, dryRun: boolean): Promise<void> {
+async function preflightDimMismatch(engine: BrainEngine, dryRun: boolean, embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn): Promise<void> {
  if (dryRun) return; // dry-run never embeds, no risk
+  // #1262: an alt-column brain writes to `embeddingColumn`, not the legacy
+  // `embedding` column — the legacy column's dims are irrelevant, and the
+  // registry entry (validated at resolve time) pins the target's dims. Only
+  // the legacy default path needs the schema-vs-gateway dim comparison.
+  if (embeddingColumn && embeddingColumn.name !== 'embedding') return;
  const { readContentChunksEmbeddingDim, embeddingMismatchMessage } = await import('../core/embedding-dim-check.ts');
  const { getEmbeddingDimensions, getEmbeddingModel } = await import('../core/ai/gateway.ts');
  let existing;
@@ -238,7 +244,12 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
  // v0.37.11.0 (Lane D.2): pre-flight dim-mismatch check. Catches the headline
  // fresh-install bug class before the worker pool spends 20 parallel calls
  // hitting raw Postgres dimension errors.
-  await preflightDimMismatch(engine, !!opts.dryRun);
+  // #1262: resolve the write-side embedding column ONCE at the boundary
+  // (merged config + gateway model) and thread the descriptor through every
+  // upsertChunks / stale-scan below. undefined => legacy `embedding` column.
+  const embeddingColumn = await resolveWriteColumnForEngine(engine);
+
+  await preflightDimMismatch(engine, !!opts.dryRun, embeddingColumn);

  const result: EmbedResult = {
    embedded: 0,
@@ -253,7 +264,7 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
    for (const s of opts.slugs) {
      if (isAborted(opts.signal)) break; // #1737: stop the per-slug loop on abort
      try {
-        await embedPage(engine, s, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal);
+        await embedPage(engine, s, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal, embeddingColumn);
      } catch (e: unknown) {
        serr(`  Error embedding ${s}: ${e instanceof Error ? e.message : e}`);
      }
@@ -347,7 +358,7 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
        catchUp: opts.catchUp,
        pacer,
        paceMaxConcurrency,
-      }, opts.signal);
+      }, opts.signal, embeddingColumn);
    } finally {
      // E1: surface pacing telemetry (human + structured) when pacing was on.
      const snap = pacer.snapshot();
@@ -376,7 +387,7 @@ export async function runEmbedCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: EmbedOpts): Promis
    return result;
  }
  if (opts.slug) {
-    await embedPage(engine, opts.slug, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal);
+    await embedPage(engine, opts.slug, !!opts.dryRun, result, opts.sourceId, opts.signal, embeddingColumn);
    return result;
  }
  throw new Error('No embed target specified. Pass { slug }, { slugs }, { all }, or { stale }.');
@@ -521,8 +532,13 @@ async function embedPage(
  result: EmbedResult,
  sourceId?: string,
  signal?: AbortSignal,
+  embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn,
 ) {
  const opts = sourceId ? { sourceId } : undefined;
+  // #1262: write-side descriptor rides only on WRITE calls (upsertChunks).
+  const chunkOpts = (sourceId || embeddingColumn)
+    ? { ...(sourceId && { sourceId }), ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }) }
+    : undefined;
  const page = await engine.getPage(slug, opts);
  if (!page) {
    throw new Error(`Page not found: ${slug}`);
@@ -554,7 +570,7 @@ async function embedPage(
    }

    if (inputs.length > 0) {
-      await engine.upsertChunks(slug, inputs, opts);
+      await engine.upsertChunks(slug, inputs, chunkOpts);
      chunks = await engine.getChunks(slug, opts);
    }
  }
@@ -589,7 +605,7 @@ async function embedPage(
    token_count: c.token_count || Math.ceil(c.chunk_text.length / 4),
  }));

-  await engine.upsertChunks(slug, updated, opts);
+  await engine.upsertChunks(slug, updated, chunkOpts);
  // v0.41.31: stamp provenance so a later model/dims swap is detectable as
  // stale. embedPage is the per-slug path used by `gbrain embed <slug>` AND
  // by `gbrain sync`'s post-import embed step (runEmbedCore({slugs})).
@@ -622,6 +638,7 @@ async function embedAll(
    paceMaxConcurrency?: number;
  },
  signal?: AbortSignal,
+  embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn,
 ) {
  // v0.41.31: current embedding provenance signature. Stamped onto pages
  // when their chunks are (re)embedded so a later model/dimension swap is
@@ -644,7 +661,7 @@ async function embedAll(
    // D7: thread sourceId so `gbrain embed --stale --source X` actually scopes.
    // v0.41.18.0 (A13): thread batchSize/priority/catchUp into the stale path.
    // #1737: thread the external abort signal so the cycle embed phase bails.
-    return await embedAllStale(engine, sourceId, dryRun, result, onProgress, staleOpts, signature, signal);
+    return await embedAllStale(engine, sourceId, dryRun, result, onProgress, staleOpts, signature, signal, embeddingColumn);
  }

  // --all path: pacer (no-op when off). E-1: lower the worker count to the
@@ -725,7 +742,10 @@ async function embedAll(
        embedding: embeddingMap.get(c.chunk_index) ?? undefined,
        token_count: c.token_count || Math.ceil(c.chunk_text.length / 4),
      }));
-      await observed(pacer, () => engine.upsertChunks(page.slug, updated, pageOpts));
+      await observed(pacer, () => engine.upsertChunks(page.slug, updated, {
+        ...(pageSourceId && { sourceId: pageSourceId }),
+        ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }),
+      }));
      // v0.41.31: stamp embedding provenance so a later model swap is
      // detectable as stale.
      await observed(pacer, () =>
@@ -805,10 +825,16 @@ async function embedAllStale(
  },
  signature?: string,
  externalSignal?: AbortSignal,
+  embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn,
 ) {
  // D7: thread sourceId so source-scoped runs only count + visit
  // that source's NULL embeddings.
-  const sourceOpt = sourceId ? { sourceId } : undefined;
+  // #1262: the stale predicate follows the write-side column — without it an
+  // alt-column brain would perpetually re-select (and re-pay for) chunks whose
+  // target column is already populated.
+  const sourceOpt = (sourceId || embeddingColumn)
+    ? { ...(sourceId && { sourceId }), ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }) }
+    : undefined;

  // v0.41.31: re-embed pages whose embedding_signature drifted (model/dims
  // swap). dry-run must NOT mutate, so it counts signature-stale via the
@@ -967,6 +993,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
            afterUpdatedAt,
          }),
          ...(sourceId && { sourceId }),
+          ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }),
        }),
      );
      if (batch.length === 0) {
@@ -1019,7 +1046,10 @@ async function embedAllStale(
            embedding: staleIdxToEmbedding.get(c.chunk_index) ?? undefined,
            token_count: c.token_count || Math.ceil(c.chunk_text.length / 4),
          }));
-          await observed(pacer, () => engine.upsertChunks(slug, merged, { sourceId: keySourceId }));
+          await observed(pacer, () => engine.upsertChunks(slug, merged, {
+            sourceId: keySourceId,
+            ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }),
+          }));
          // v0.41.31: stamp provenance after the page's chunks are embedded —
          // but only when EVERY chunk was stale (fully re-embedded this pass).
          // A partially-stale page keeps preserved chunks of unknown/old
@@ -1090,7 +1120,7 @@ async function embedAllStale(
  // as a clean run — re-running won't help until the underlying failure is fixed.
  if (staleOpts?.catchUp && !effectiveSignal.aborted && embedFailures > 0) {
    const remaining = await engine.countStaleChunks(
-      signature ? { signature, ...(sourceId ? { sourceId } : {}) } : (sourceId ? { sourceId } : undefined),
+      signature ? { signature, ...sourceOpt } : sourceOpt,
    );
    if (remaining > 0) {
      serr(`\n  [embed] catch-up finished but ${remaining} chunk(s) remain stale after ${embedFailures} embed failure(s). These are not embeddable as-is; re-running won't clear them until the underlying error is resolved.`);
@@ -50,10 +50,6 @@ const PER_TASK_KEYS: Array<{ key: string; tier: ModelTier; description: string }
  { key: 'models.eval.contradictions_judge', tier: 'utility',  description: 'Contradiction probe judge (v0.34 temporal-aware)' },
  { key: 'models.expansion',                tier: 'utility',   description: 'Query expansion for hybrid search' },
  { key: 'models.chat',                     tier: 'reasoning', description: 'Default `gateway.chat()` model' },
-  { key: 'models.propose_takes',            tier: 'reasoning', description: 'propose_takes claim extractor' },
-  { key: 'models.grade_takes',              tier: 'reasoning', description: 'grade_takes verdict judge' },
-  { key: 'models.calibration_profile',      tier: 'reasoning', description: 'Calibration profile generator' },
-  { key: 'models.brainstorm',               tier: 'reasoning', description: '`gbrain brainstorm` orchestrator' },
 ];

 interface ModelEntry {
@@ -576,9 +576,16 @@ async function runInlineCostGate(

  // Stale backlog: cheap single SQL; fail-open to 0 so a transient DB hiccup
  // never blocks the sync. Signature-aware (model/dims swap surfaces here).
+  // #1262: follow the write-side embedding column — otherwise an alt-column
+  // brain's fully-embedded corpus counts as phantom backlog on every gate.
  let staleChars = 0;
  try {
-    staleChars = await engine.sumStaleChunkChars({ signature: currentEmbeddingSignature() });
+    const { resolveWriteColumnForEngine } = await import('../core/search/embedding-column.ts');
+    const embeddingColumn = await resolveWriteColumnForEngine(engine);
+    staleChars = await engine.sumStaleChunkChars({
+      signature: currentEmbeddingSignature(),
+      ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }),
+    });
  } catch {
    staleChars = 0;
  }
@@ -61,10 +61,7 @@ export const MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS_CEIL = 32_000;
 * (with a readable error) instead of the provider's opaque HTTP 400.
 */
 export const ANTHROPIC_OUTPUT_CAPS: Record<string, number> = {
-  'claude-fable-5': 64_000,
-  'claude-opus-4-8': 32_000,
  'claude-opus-4-7': 32_000,
-  'claude-sonnet-5': 64_000,
  'claude-sonnet-4-6': 64_000,
  'claude-haiku-4-5': 64_000,
  'claude-haiku-4-5-20251001': 64_000,
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 */

 import type { BrainEngine } from '../engine.ts';
-import { resolveModel } from '../model-config.ts';
 import { chat as defaultChat, embedQuery, type ChatResult, type ChatOpts } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
 import { hybridSearch, hybridSearchCached } from '../search/hybrid.ts';
 import { fetchFar, type CloseRef, type FarPage } from './domain-bank.ts';
@@ -539,14 +538,7 @@ async function _runBrainstormInner(
  const embedFn = opts.embedQueryFn ?? embedQuery;

  // ---- Phase 0: cost preview + TTY grace ----
-  // Tier-resolved (mirrors the cycle phases): honors models.brainstorm >
-  // models.default > models.tier.reasoning; the fallback keeps stock
-  // behavior identical (reasoning tier default IS claude-sonnet-4-6).
-  const modelStr = opts.modelOverride ?? await resolveModel(engine, {
-    configKey: 'models.brainstorm',
-    tier: 'reasoning',
-    fallback: 'anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6',
-  });
+  const modelStr = opts.modelOverride ?? 'anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6';
  const { aborted, estimate } = await previewCostAndWait({
    profile,
    model: modelStr,
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ import {
  type SynopsisFailureKind,
 } from './audit-synopsis.ts';
 import type { BrainEngine } from './engine.ts';
+import { resolveWriteColumnForEngine } from './search/embedding-column.ts';
 import type { ChunkInput, CRMode, Page } from './types.ts';
 import type { SourceRow } from './sources-ops.ts';

@@ -286,9 +287,13 @@ export async function reembedPageWithContextualRetrieval(

      // ── PHASE 2: single DB transaction ───────────────────────────
      try {
+        // #1262: contextual re-embeds write TEXT embeddings — thread the
+        // caller-resolved write column like every other embed path.
+        const embeddingColumn = await resolveWriteColumnForEngine(args.engine);
        await args.engine.transaction(async (tx) => {
          await tx.upsertChunks(args.pageSlug, phase1.embeddedChunks, {
            sourceId: args.sourceId,
+            ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }),
          });
          await tx.updatePageContextualRetrievalState(
            args.pageSlug,
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
 */

 import { BaseCyclePhase, type ScopedReadOpts, type BasePhaseOpts } from './base-phase.ts';
-import { chat as gatewayChat, getChatModel } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
-import { resolveModel } from '../model-config.ts';
+import { chat as gatewayChat } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
+import { TIER_DEFAULTS } from '../model-config.ts';
 import { gateVoice, type VoiceGateGenerator, type VoiceGateJudge } from '../calibration/voice-gate.ts';
 import { patternStatementTemplate, type PatternStatementSlots } from '../calibration/templates.ts';
 // v0.41 T10 — domain widening. The aggregator module resolves the active
@@ -229,16 +229,7 @@ class CalibrationProfilePhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
  ): Promise<{ summary: string; details: Record<string, unknown>; status?: PhaseStatus }> {
    const holder = opts.holder ?? 'garry';
    const promptVersion = opts.promptVersion ?? CALIBRATION_PROFILE_PROMPT_VERSION;
-    // Resolved once (see propose-takes.ts for the chain): models.calibration_profile
-    // > models.default > env > the gateway's chat model (itself resolved
-    // through models.chat + the reasoning tier). Provider-prefixed per #2451
-    // — a bare id would make gateway.chat() throw "missing a provider
-    // prefix". Drives the generator's chat call, the budget label, and the
-    // persisted model_id, so the three can never disagree.
-    const modelId = opts.model ?? await resolveModel(engine, {
-      configKey: 'models.calibration_profile',
-      fallback: getChatModel(),
-    });
+    const modelId = opts.model ?? TIER_DEFAULTS.reasoning;
    const gradeCompletion = opts.gradeCompletion ?? 1.0;
    const patternsGenerator = opts.patternsGenerator ?? defaultPatternsGenerator;
    const biasTagsGenerator = opts.biasTagsGenerator ?? defaultBiasTagsGenerator;
@@ -274,7 +265,6 @@ class CalibrationProfilePhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
        scorecard,
        holder,
        attempt,
-        modelHint: modelId,
        ...(feedback !== undefined ? { feedback } : {}),
      });
      return lines.join('\n');
@@ -36,9 +36,7 @@

 import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
 import { BaseCyclePhase, type ScopedReadOpts, type BasePhaseOpts } from './base-phase.ts';
-import { chat as gatewayChat, getChatModel } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
-import { resolveModel } from '../model-config.ts';
-import { splitProviderModelId } from '../model-id.ts';
+import { chat as gatewayChat } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
 import { GBrainError } from '../types.ts';
 import type { OperationContext } from '../operations.ts';
 import type { BrainEngine, Take, TakeResolution } from '../engine.ts';
@@ -397,24 +395,7 @@ class GradeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
    const autoResolve = opts.autoResolve ?? false; // D17 default OFF
    const autoResolveThreshold = opts.autoResolveThreshold ?? 0.95; // D12 conservative
    const resolvedByLabel = opts.resolvedByLabel ?? 'gbrain:grade_takes';
-    // Resolve the judge model ONCE (see propose-takes.ts for the chain —
-    // same label-vs-actual split fixed here: the judge call rode the
-    // gateway's chat_model while the grade cache key, evidence signature,
-    // and budget label recorded a hardcoded 4.6).
-    // NOTE: changing the resolved judge model invalidates the grade cache
-    // (judge_model_id is part of its key) — a one-time, budget-capped
-    // re-grade wave that is CORRECT, since the actual judge did change.
-    const judgeModelFull = opts.model ?? await resolveModel(engine, {
-      configKey: 'models.grade_takes',
-      fallback: getChatModel(),
-    });
-    // Bare tail for cache keys / evidence signatures / stored ids — the
-    // grade cache has always been keyed on bare ids; the gateway default
-    // resolves provider-prefixed, and normalizing preserves cache continuity
-    // on stock installs (no spurious re-judge wave from a prefix change). A
-    // genuinely different configured judge still invalidates, which is
-    // correct. The FULL string drives the actual judge call.
-    const judgeModelId = splitProviderModelId(judgeModelFull).model || judgeModelFull;
+    const judgeModelId = opts.model ?? 'claude-sonnet-4-6';

    const useEnsemble = opts.useEnsemble ?? false;
    const ensembleThreshold = opts.ensembleThreshold ?? 0.85;
@@ -487,7 +468,7 @@ class GradeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
      // Call the single-model judge. Errors on a single take log warning + continue.
      let verdict: JudgeVerdict;
      try {
-        verdict = await judge({ take, evidence, modelHint: judgeModelFull });
+        verdict = await judge({ take, evidence, modelHint: opts.model });
      } catch (err) {
        const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
        result.warnings.push(`judge failed on take ${take.id}: ${msg}`);
@@ -5,16 +5,11 @@
 * a tuned LLM extractor, writes the extracted gradeable claims to the
 * `take_proposals` queue. User accepts/rejects via `gbrain takes propose`.
 *
- * Idempotency contract (D17 schema spec; per-claim rows since migration v125):
- *   Every scan of a (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version)
- *   tuple leaves at least one row — one per extracted claim, or a single
- *   status='empty' sentinel when extraction yields nothing — so an unchanged
- *   page never re-spends LLM tokens. Pre-v125 only proposal rows were
- *   written: a zero-claim page never entered the cache and was re-extracted
- *   on EVERY cycle (observed live: ~60 such pages × every cycle ≈ 1,400
- *   wasted extractor calls / ~$15 per day — ~90% of total autopilot spend).
- *   Bumping PROPOSE_TAKES_PROMPT_VERSION cleanly invalidates the cache so a
- *   tuned prompt re-runs proposals on every page.
+ * Idempotency contract (D17 schema spec):
+ *   The unique index on (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version)
+ *   means an unchanged page never re-spends LLM tokens. Bumping
+ *   PROPOSE_TAKES_PROMPT_VERSION cleanly invalidates the cache so a tuned
+ *   prompt re-runs proposals on every page.
 *
 * F2 fence dedup:
 *   The phase reads the page's existing `<!-- gbrain:takes:begin -->` fence
@@ -45,7 +40,6 @@
 import { randomUUID, createHash } from 'node:crypto';
 import { BaseCyclePhase, type ScopedReadOpts, type BasePhaseOpts } from './base-phase.ts';
 import { chat as gatewayChat, getChatModel } from '../ai/gateway.ts';
-import { resolveModel } from '../model-config.ts';
 import { writeReceipt } from '../extract/receipt-writer.ts';
 import { upsertExtractRollup } from '../extract/rollup-writer.ts';
 import { GBrainError } from '../types.ts';
@@ -313,18 +307,6 @@ class ProposeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
    const promptVersion = opts.promptVersion ?? PROPOSE_TAKES_PROMPT_VERSION;
    const pageLimit = opts.pageLimit ?? 100;
    const skipPagesWithFence = opts.skipPagesWithFence ?? false;
-    // Resolve the extractor model ONCE: models.propose_takes >
-    // models.default > GBRAIN_MODEL env > the gateway's chat model (which
-    // reconfigureGatewayWithEngine already resolved through models.chat +
-    // the reasoning tier). One resolved provider-prefixed string drives the
-    // actual chat call, the budget estimate, AND the stored model_id — so
-    // the recorded model can never disagree with the model that ran (#2451
-    // convention: stored ids are provider-prefixed, nested prefixes like
-    // openrouter:anthropic/... stay intact).
-    const extractorModelId = opts.model ?? await resolveModel(engine, {
-      configKey: 'models.propose_takes',
-      fallback: getChatModel(),
-    });
    const proposalRunId = `propose-${new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 19).replace(/[-:T]/g, '')}-${randomUUID().slice(0, 8)}`;

    const result: ProposeTakesResult = {
@@ -348,6 +330,8 @@ class ProposeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
      opts.reporter.start('propose_takes.pages' as never, pages.length);
    }

+    const modelId = opts.model ?? getChatModel();
+
    for (const page of pages) {
      result.pages_scanned += 1;
      this.tick(opts);
@@ -377,7 +361,7 @@ class ProposeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {

      // Budget pre-check before the LLM call. Estimate: ~1500 input tokens + 500 output.
      const budget = this.checkBudget({
-        modelId: extractorModelId,
+        modelId,
        estimatedInputTokens: 1500,
        maxOutputTokens: 500,
      });
@@ -396,7 +380,7 @@ class ProposeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
          pagePath: page.slug,
          pageBody: body,
          existingTakes,
-          modelHint: extractorModelId,
+          modelHint: opts.model,
        });
      } catch (err) {
        const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
@@ -404,42 +388,16 @@ class ProposeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
        continue;
      }

-      // Zero-claim scans MUST still enter the idempotency cache. Pre-v125
-      // only proposal rows were written, so a page whose extraction yielded
-      // no gradeable claims never got a row for its (page, content_hash) —
-      // the cache check above missed on every subsequent cycle and the LLM
-      // call was re-spent on the same unchanged page, forever. The sentinel
-      // row (status='empty', empty claim_text) is invisible to the review
-      // queue (pending_idx is partial on status='pending'); it exists only
-      // so the cache check hits.
-      if (proposals.length === 0) {
-        await engine.executeRaw(
-          `INSERT INTO take_proposals
-             (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, proposal_run_id,
-              status, claim_text, kind, holder, weight, domain, dedup_against_fence_rows, model_id)
-           VALUES ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, 'empty', '', 'none', 'brain', 0, NULL, NULL, $6)
-           ON CONFLICT (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, md5(claim_text)) DO NOTHING`,
-          [sourceId, page.slug, ch, promptVersion, proposalRunId, extractorModelId],
-        );
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      // Write proposals to take_proposals, one row per claim. The v125
-      // idempotency index includes md5(claim_text), so a same-page
-      // multi-claim run keeps EVERY claim — the pre-v125 four-column unique
-      // index made claims 2..N conflict with claim 1 and ON CONFLICT DO
-      // NOTHING silently dropped them (the review queue only ever saw the
-      // first claim of each page version). RETURNING id keeps
-      // proposals_inserted honest: it counts rows that actually landed,
-      // not insert attempts.
+      // Write proposals to take_proposals. Each row is a separate INSERT
+      // because the composite idempotency key is on the per-page tuple — a
+      // bulk UPSERT would collapse a same-page-multi-claim run into one row.
      for (const p of proposals) {
-        const landed = await engine.executeRaw<{ id: number }>(
+        await engine.executeRaw(
          `INSERT INTO take_proposals
             (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, proposal_run_id,
              claim_text, kind, holder, weight, domain, dedup_against_fence_rows, model_id)
           VALUES ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10, $11, $12)
-           ON CONFLICT (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, md5(claim_text)) DO NOTHING
-           RETURNING id`,
+           ON CONFLICT (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version) DO NOTHING`,
          [
            sourceId,
            page.slug,
@@ -452,10 +410,10 @@ class ProposeTakesPhase extends BaseCyclePhase {
            p.weight,
            p.domain ?? null,
            JSON.stringify(existingTakes),
-            extractorModelId,
+            modelId,
          ],
        );
-        if (landed.length > 0) result.proposals_inserted += 1;
+        result.proposals_inserted += 1;
      }
    }

@@ -58,11 +58,8 @@ const SUMMARY_SLUG_RE = /^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9\-]*(\/[a-z0-9][a-z0-9\-]*)*$/;
 * resolver returns for known Anthropic aliases.
 */
 const MODEL_CONTEXT_TOKENS: Record<string, number> = {
-  'claude-fable-5': 1_000_000,
-  'claude-opus-4-8': 1_000_000,
  'claude-opus-4-7': 1_000_000,
  'claude-opus-4-6': 1_000_000,
-  'claude-sonnet-5': 1_000_000,
  'claude-sonnet-4-6': 200_000,
  'claude-sonnet-4-5': 200_000,
  'claude-haiku-4-5-20251001': 200_000,
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 */

 import type { BrainEngine } from './engine.ts';
-import type { ChunkInput } from './types.ts';
+import type { ChunkInput, ResolvedColumn } from './types.ts';
 import { embedBatchWithBackoff } from '../commands/embed.ts';
 import { type DbPacer, createNoopPacer, observed } from './db-pacer.ts';
 import { AbortError } from './abort-check.ts';
@@ -61,6 +61,13 @@ export interface EmbedStaleOpts {
   * Omit to keep the legacy `embedding IS NULL`-only behavior.
   */
  embeddingSignature?: string;
+  /**
+   * #1262: caller-resolved write-side embedding column. Threaded into BOTH
+   * listStaleChunks (staleness predicate) and upsertChunks (write target) so
+   * an alt-column brain converges instead of re-selecting embedded rows.
+   * Resolve at the boundary via `resolveWriteColumnForEngine()`.
+   */
+  embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn;
  /**
   * DB-contention pacer (paced-backfill). When enabled it (a) supplies the
   * worker count via the caller passing `concurrency = bundle.maxConcurrency`
@@ -156,6 +163,7 @@ export async function embedStaleForSource(
        afterPageId,
        afterChunkIndex,
        sourceId,
+        ...(opts.embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn: opts.embeddingColumn }),
      }),
    );
    if (batch.length === 0) {
@@ -223,7 +231,10 @@ export async function embedStaleForSource(
          doc_comment: c.doc_comment ?? undefined,
          symbol_name_qualified: c.symbol_name_qualified ?? undefined,
        }));
-        await observed(pacer, () => engine.upsertChunks(slug, merged, { sourceId: keySourceId }));
+        await observed(pacer, () => engine.upsertChunks(slug, merged, {
+          sourceId: keySourceId,
+          ...(opts.embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn: opts.embeddingColumn }),
+        }));
        // v0.41.31: stamp provenance only when EVERY chunk was stale (fully
        // re-embedded this pass) — a partially-stale page keeps preserved
        // chunks of unknown provenance, so don't claim current. After the
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import type {
  BrainStats, BrainHealth,
  IngestLogEntry, IngestLogInput,
  EngineConfig,
+  ResolvedColumn,
  CodeEdgeInput, CodeEdgeResult,
  EvalCandidate, EvalCandidateInput,
  EvalCaptureFailure, EvalCaptureFailureReason,
@@ -987,8 +988,13 @@ export interface BrainEngine {
   * — Postgres rolls back automatically on conn drop, so commit-ambiguous
   * failure replays to the same end state. Callers MUST NOT wrap externally;
   * see {@link BatchOpts} retry-contract block.
+   *
+   * `opts.embeddingColumn` (optional) selects the content_chunks column that
+   * receives TEXT embeddings (#1262). The caller resolves the descriptor at
+   * the import/embed boundary via `resolveWriteColumn()`; engines never read
+   * config or choose columns themselves. Omitted => legacy `embedding`.
   */
-  upsertChunks(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string } & BatchOpts): Promise<void>;
+  upsertChunks(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn } & BatchOpts): Promise<void>;
  /**
   * Read every chunk for a page. `opts.sourceId` source-scopes the page
   * lookup; without it, multi-source brains return chunks from every
@@ -1005,8 +1011,13 @@ export interface BrainEngine {
   * counts across every source in the brain. Operators running
   * `gbrain embed --stale --source media-corpus` expect only that
   * source's NULLs touched; the caller threads `sourceId` here.
+   *
+   * `opts.embeddingColumn` switches the staleness predicate from the legacy
+   * `embedding` column to the resolved write-side column, so alt-column
+   * brains do not perpetually re-select rows whose target column is already
+   * populated (#1262). Must match the eventual upsertChunks target.
   */
-  countStaleChunks(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): Promise<number>;
+  countStaleChunks(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<number>;
  /**
   * Sum of LENGTH(chunk_text) over stale chunks — the character-count
   * backlog the embed phase / embed-backfill will process. Sibling of
@@ -1020,8 +1031,13 @@ export interface BrainEngine {
   * model signature (a model/dims swap). NULL signature is GRANDFATHERED
   * (never counted) so the post-migration corpus isn't flagged en masse.
   * Omit `signature` for the legacy `embedding IS NULL`-only count.
+   *
+   * `opts.embeddingColumn` switches the staleness predicate to the resolved
+   * write-side column (#1262) — same contract as countStaleChunks — so the
+   * sync cost gate doesn't count an alt-column brain's fully-embedded corpus
+   * as phantom backlog.
   */
-  sumStaleChunkChars(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): Promise<number>;
+  sumStaleChunkChars(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<number>;
  /**
   * Stamp `pages.embedding_signature = signature` for one page. Called after
   * a page's chunks are (re)embedded so a later model swap can detect it as
@@ -1069,6 +1085,9 @@ export interface BrainEngine {
    // both round-trip TIMESTAMPTZ as Date | string; ISO string is the
    // common denominator on the wire).
    afterUpdatedAt?: string | null;
+    // #1262: staleness predicate targets this column when set (must match
+    // countStaleChunks and the eventual upsertChunks write target).
+    embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn;
  }): Promise<StaleChunkRow[]>;
  /**
   * Delete every chunk for a page. Internal page-id lookup is sourceId-scoped
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ import { findChunkForOffset } from './chunkers/edge-extractor.ts';
 import { extractCodeRefs, imageOfCandidates } from './link-extraction.ts';
 import { embedBatch, embedMultimodal, currentEmbeddingSignature } from './embedding.ts';
 import { slugifyPath, slugifyCodePath, isCodeFilePath } from './sync.ts';
-import type { ChunkInput, PageInput, PageType } from './types.ts';
+import type { ChunkInput, PageInput, PageType, ResolvedColumn } from './types.ts';
+import { resolveWriteColumnForEngine } from './search/embedding-column.ts';
 import { computeEffectiveDate } from './effective-date.ts';
 import { MARKDOWN_CHUNKER_VERSION } from './chunkers/recursive.ts';
 import { logSlugFallback } from './audit-slug-fallback.ts';
@@ -740,6 +741,14 @@ export async function importFromContent(
  // schema DEFAULT — required for multi-source brains; harmless ('default')
  // for single-source callers.
  const txOpts = sourceId ? { sourceId } : undefined;
+  // #1262: resolve the write-side embedding column once (merged config +
+  // gateway model) BEFORE the transaction; the descriptor rides only on
+  // upsertChunks so text embeddings land in the registered column.
+  const chunkWriteColumn = await resolveWriteColumnForEngine(engine);
+  const chunkOpts: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn } | undefined =
+    (sourceId || chunkWriteColumn)
+      ? { ...(sourceId && { sourceId }), ...(chunkWriteColumn && { embeddingColumn: chunkWriteColumn }) }
+      : undefined;
  await engine.transaction(async (tx) => {
    if (existing) await tx.createVersion(slug, txOpts);

@@ -824,7 +833,7 @@ export async function importFromContent(
    }

    if (chunks.length > 0) {
-      await tx.upsertChunks(slug, chunks, txOpts);
+      await tx.upsertChunks(slug, chunks, chunkOpts);
      // v0.41.31: stamp embedding provenance when this import actually
      // embedded (not --no-embed), so a later model/dims swap is detectable
      // as stale via embed --stale. The deferred/backfill + per-slug embed
@@ -1064,6 +1073,12 @@ export async function importCodeFile(
  const title = `${relativePath} (${lang})`;
  const sourceId = opts.sourceId;
  const txOpts = sourceId ? { sourceId } : undefined;
+  // #1262: write-side embedding column descriptor (rides only on upsertChunks).
+  const chunkWriteColumn = await resolveWriteColumnForEngine(engine);
+  const chunkOpts: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn } | undefined =
+    (sourceId || chunkWriteColumn)
+      ? { ...(sourceId && { sourceId }), ...(chunkWriteColumn && { embeddingColumn: chunkWriteColumn }) }
+      : undefined;

  const byteLength = Buffer.byteLength(content, 'utf-8');
  if (byteLength > MAX_FILE_SIZE) {
@@ -1183,7 +1198,7 @@ export async function importCodeFile(
    await tx.addTag(slug, lang, txOpts);

    if (chunks.length > 0) {
-      await tx.upsertChunks(slug, chunks, txOpts);
+      await tx.upsertChunks(slug, chunks, chunkOpts);
      // v0.41.31: stamp embedding provenance ONLY when every chunk was
      // freshly embedded with the current model this call (no reuse-by-hash
      // carrying old-model vectors). Mixed pages stay unstamped rather than
@@ -1332,6 +1347,12 @@ export async function withImportTransaction(
 ): Promise<void> {
  const sourceId = spec.sourceId ?? 'default';
  const txOpts = spec.sourceId ? { sourceId: spec.sourceId } : undefined;
+  // #1262: write-side embedding column descriptor (rides only on upsertChunks).
+  const chunkWriteColumn = await resolveWriteColumnForEngine(engine);
+  const chunkOpts: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn } | undefined =
+    (spec.sourceId || chunkWriteColumn)
+      ? { ...(spec.sourceId && { sourceId: spec.sourceId }), ...(chunkWriteColumn && { embeddingColumn: chunkWriteColumn }) }
+      : undefined;
  await engine.transaction(async (tx) => {
    if (spec.hadExisting) await tx.createVersion(spec.slug, txOpts);
    await tx.putPage(spec.slug, spec.page, txOpts);
@@ -1347,7 +1368,7 @@ export async function withImportTransaction(
    }
    if (spec.chunks !== undefined) {
      if (spec.chunks.length > 0) {
-        await tx.upsertChunks(spec.slug, spec.chunks, txOpts);
+        await tx.upsertChunks(spec.slug, spec.chunks, chunkOpts);
      } else {
        await tx.deleteChunks(spec.slug, txOpts);
      }
@@ -5671,41 +5671,6 @@ export const MIGRATIONS: Migration[] = [
 `);
    },
  },
-  {
-    version: 125,
-    name: 'take_proposals_empty_scan_sentinels_and_per_claim_rows',
-    // v0.42.x — kill the propose_takes rescan loop + stop dropping claims.
-    //
-    // Two defects, one schema touch:
-    //   1. Zero-claim scans never entered the idempotency cache (only
-    //      proposal rows were written), so pages whose extraction yielded
-    //      nothing were re-extracted on EVERY cycle. Observed live: ~60
-    //      such pages per run ≈ 1,400 wasted extractor calls / ~$15 per
-    //      day — ~90% of total autopilot LLM spend. Fix: the phase now
-    //      writes a status='empty' sentinel row per zero-claim scan; the
-    //      status CHECK gains the 'empty' value. Sentinels are excluded
-    //      from the partial pending index, so the review queue never sees
-    //      them.
-    //   2. The 4-column unique index collapsed a same-page multi-claim run
-    //      to its FIRST claim: rows 2..N conflicted and ON CONFLICT DO
-    //      NOTHING silently dropped them (verified live: exactly one row
-    //      per (page, hash) across 3 days of runs). Fix: the idempotency
-    //      index gains md5(claim_text) — per-claim rows, while the
-    //      4-column prefix still serves the per-scan cache lookup.
-    //
-    // Existing data is index-safe by construction: the old index guaranteed
-    // at most one row per 4-tuple, so the widened index has no duplicates
-    // to trip on. The DROP+ADD CONSTRAINT pair is idempotent as a unit.
-    idempotent: true,
-    sql: `
-      ALTER TABLE take_proposals DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS take_proposals_status_check;
-      ALTER TABLE take_proposals ADD CONSTRAINT take_proposals_status_check
-        CHECK (status IN ('pending','accepted','rejected','superseded','empty'));
-      DROP INDEX IF EXISTS take_proposals_idempotency_idx;
-      CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals_idempotency_idx
-        ON take_proposals (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, md5(claim_text));
-    `,
-  },
 ];

 export const LATEST_VERSION = MIGRATIONS.length > 0
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import { tryAcquireDbLock } from '../../db-lock.ts';
 import { BudgetTracker, BudgetExhausted } from '../../budget/budget-tracker.ts';
 import { withBudgetTracker } from '../../ai/gateway.ts';
 import { embedStaleForSource } from '../../embed-stale.ts';
+import { resolveWriteColumnForEngine } from '../../search/embedding-column.ts';
 import { currentEmbeddingSignature } from '../../embedding.ts';
 import { type DbPacer, createDbPacer, createNoopPacer } from '../../db-pacer.ts';
 import { resolvePaceMode, loadPaceModeConfig, readPaceEnv } from '../../pace-mode.ts';
@@ -164,12 +165,16 @@ export function makeEmbedBackfillHandler(engine: BrainEngine) {
    // the supervisor, so pacing it is the headline win.
    const { pacer, concurrency } = await resolveBackfillPacer(engine, job.data);

+    // #1262: resolve the write-side embedding column once at the job boundary.
+    const embeddingColumn = await resolveWriteColumnForEngine(engine);
+
    try {
      const result = await withBudgetTracker(tracker, async () =>
        embedStaleForSource(engine, sourceId, {
          batchSize,
          signal: job.signal,
          pacer,
+          ...(embeddingColumn && { embeddingColumn }),
          ...(concurrency !== undefined && { concurrency }),
          // v0.41.31: re-embed pages whose model signature drifted + stamp
          // provenance as chunks land.
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import type {
  BrainStats, BrainHealth,
  IngestLogEntry, IngestLogInput,
  EngineConfig,
+  ResolvedColumn,
  EvalCandidate, EvalCandidateInput,
  EvalCaptureFailure, EvalCaptureFailureReason,
  SalienceOpts, SalienceResult, AnomaliesOpts, AnomalyResult,
@@ -2230,12 +2231,20 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
  }

  // Chunks
-  async upsertChunks(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string } & BatchOpts): Promise<void> {
+  async upsertChunks(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn } & BatchOpts): Promise<void> {
    return this.batchRetry(opts?.auditSite ?? 'upsertChunks', opts?.signal, () => this._upsertChunksOnce(slug, chunks, opts), chunks.length);
  }

-  private async _upsertChunksOnce(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string }): Promise<void> {
+  private async _upsertChunksOnce(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<void> {
    const sourceId = opts?.sourceId ?? 'default';
+    // #1262: caller-resolved write target for TEXT embeddings. Descriptor
+    // names are identifier-validated + quoted by buildVectorCastFragment;
+    // omitted => legacy `embedding vector`. Mirrors postgres-engine.ts.
+    const targetFragment = opts?.embeddingColumn
+      ? buildVectorCastFragment(opts.embeddingColumn)
+      : undefined;
+    const targetCol = targetFragment?.col ?? 'embedding';
+    const embeddingCast = targetFragment?.castSql.replace('$1::', '') ?? 'vector';

    // Source-scope the page-id lookup so duplicate slugs in different sources
    // do not return multiple rows or target the wrong page.
@@ -2270,7 +2279,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
    // list. Image chunks pass embedding=null + embedding_image=Float32Array
    // (1024-dim Voyage). Text/code chunks pass embedding=Float32Array +
    // embedding_image=null. Default modality='text' when omitted.
-    const cols = '(page_id, chunk_index, chunk_text, chunk_source, embedding, model, token_count, embedded_at, language, symbol_name, symbol_type, start_line, end_line, parent_symbol_path, doc_comment, symbol_name_qualified, modality, embedding_image)';
+    const cols = `(page_id, chunk_index, chunk_text, chunk_source, ${targetCol}, model, token_count, embedded_at, language, symbol_name, symbol_type, start_line, end_line, parent_symbol_path, doc_comment, symbol_name_qualified, modality, embedding_image)`;
    const rowParts: string[] = [];
    const params: unknown[] = [];
    let paramIdx = 1;
@@ -2288,7 +2297,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
      const modality = chunk.modality ?? 'text';

      // Inline ::vector NULL literals to avoid a per-branch placeholder.
-      const embeddingPh = embeddingStr ? `$${paramIdx++}::vector` : 'NULL';
+      const embeddingPh = embeddingStr ? `$${paramIdx++}::${embeddingCast}` : 'NULL';
      const embeddedAtPh = embeddingStr ? 'now()' : 'NULL';
      const embeddingImagePh = embeddingImageStr ? `$${paramIdx++}::vector` : 'NULL';

@@ -2327,19 +2336,19 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
       ON CONFLICT (page_id, chunk_index) DO UPDATE SET
         chunk_text = EXCLUDED.chunk_text,
         chunk_source = EXCLUDED.chunk_source,
-         embedding = CASE
-           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text THEN EXCLUDED.embedding
-           WHEN content_chunks.embedding IS NULL THEN EXCLUDED.embedding
+         ${targetCol} = CASE
+           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text THEN EXCLUDED.${targetCol}
+           WHEN content_chunks.${targetCol} IS NULL THEN EXCLUDED.${targetCol}
           WHEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at IS NOT NULL
                AND (content_chunks.embedded_at IS NULL OR EXCLUDED.embedded_at > content_chunks.embedded_at)
-                THEN EXCLUDED.embedding
-           ELSE content_chunks.embedding
+                THEN EXCLUDED.${targetCol}
+           ELSE content_chunks.${targetCol}
         END,
         model = COALESCE(EXCLUDED.model, content_chunks.model),
         token_count = EXCLUDED.token_count,
         embedded_at = CASE
-           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text AND EXCLUDED.embedding IS NULL THEN NULL
-           WHEN content_chunks.embedding IS NULL AND EXCLUDED.embedding IS NOT NULL THEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at
+           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text AND EXCLUDED.${targetCol} IS NULL THEN NULL
+           WHEN content_chunks.${targetCol} IS NULL AND EXCLUDED.${targetCol} IS NOT NULL THEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at
           WHEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at IS NOT NULL
                AND (content_chunks.embedded_at IS NULL OR EXCLUDED.embedded_at > content_chunks.embedded_at)
                THEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at
@@ -2377,14 +2386,19 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
   * drift (NULL grandfathered → never stale). Shared by countStaleChunks +
   * sumStaleChunkChars so they can't drift.
   */
-  private buildStaleChunkWhere(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): { where: string; params: unknown[] } {
+  private buildStaleChunkWhere(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): { where: string; params: unknown[] } {
+    // #1262: staleness targets the caller-resolved write column when set
+    // (identifier-validated + quoted); legacy `embedding` otherwise.
+    const staleCol = opts?.embeddingColumn
+      ? buildVectorCastFragment(opts.embeddingColumn).col
+      : 'embedding';
    const params: unknown[] = [];
    const conds: string[] = [];
    if (opts?.signature !== undefined) {
      params.push(opts.signature);
-      conds.push(`(cc.embedding IS NULL OR (p.embedding_signature IS NOT NULL AND p.embedding_signature <> $${params.length}))`);
+      conds.push(`(cc.${staleCol} IS NULL OR (p.embedding_signature IS NOT NULL AND p.embedding_signature <> $${params.length}))`);
    } else {
-      conds.push(`cc.embedding IS NULL`);
+      conds.push(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`);
    }
    conds.push(`NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')`);
    if (opts?.sourceId !== undefined) {
@@ -2394,7 +2408,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
    return { where: conds.join(' AND '), params };
  }

-  async countStaleChunks(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): Promise<number> {
+  async countStaleChunks(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<number> {
    // D7: source-scoped count for `gbrain embed --stale --source X`. Always
    // JOIN pages so embed-skip + signature predicates apply. PGLite is
    // PostgreSQL 17.5 in WASM and supports the full JSONB operator set.
@@ -2410,7 +2424,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
    return Number(count);
  }

-  async sumStaleChunkChars(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): Promise<number> {
+  async sumStaleChunkChars(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<number> {
    // Sibling of countStaleChunks: same stale predicate, summing chunk_text
    // length for the sync cost preview. ::bigint guards int4 overflow.
    const { where, params } = this.buildStaleChunkWhere(opts);
@@ -2463,11 +2477,17 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
    sourceId?: string;
    orderBy?: 'page_id' | 'updated_desc';
    afterUpdatedAt?: string | null;
+    embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn;
  }): Promise<StaleChunkRow[]> {
    const limit = opts?.batchSize ?? 2000;
    const afterPid = opts?.afterPageId ?? 0;
    const afterIdx = opts?.afterChunkIndex ?? -1;
    const orderBy = opts?.orderBy ?? 'page_id';
+    // #1262: staleness follows the caller-resolved write column (validated +
+    // quoted identifier); legacy `embedding` otherwise.
+    const staleCol = opts?.embeddingColumn
+      ? buildVectorCastFragment(opts.embeddingColumn).col
+      : 'embedding';

    // v0.41.18.0 (A13, codex #9): --priority recent path. See postgres-engine
    // sibling for full rationale. Same composite cursor + ORDER BY.
@@ -2481,7 +2501,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
                  p.updated_at
             FROM content_chunks cc
             JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-            WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+            WHERE cc.${staleCol} IS NULL
              AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
            ORDER BY p.updated_at DESC NULLS LAST, p.id ASC, cc.chunk_index ASC
            LIMIT $1`,
@@ -2492,7 +2512,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
                  p.updated_at
             FROM content_chunks cc
             JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-            WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+            WHERE cc.${staleCol} IS NULL
              AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
              AND (
                p.updated_at < $1::timestamptz
@@ -2511,7 +2531,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
                p.updated_at
           FROM content_chunks cc
           JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-          WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+          WHERE cc.${staleCol} IS NULL
            AND p.source_id = $1
            AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
          ORDER BY p.updated_at DESC NULLS LAST, p.id ASC, cc.chunk_index ASC
@@ -2523,7 +2543,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
                p.updated_at
           FROM content_chunks cc
           JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-          WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+          WHERE cc.${staleCol} IS NULL
            AND p.source_id = $1
            AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
            AND (
@@ -2548,7 +2568,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
                cc.model, cc.token_count, p.source_id, cc.page_id
           FROM content_chunks cc
           JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-          WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+          WHERE cc.${staleCol} IS NULL
            AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
            AND (cc.page_id, cc.chunk_index) > ($1, $2)
          ORDER BY cc.page_id, cc.chunk_index
@@ -2562,7 +2582,7 @@ export class PGLiteEngine implements BrainEngine {
              cc.model, cc.token_count, p.source_id, cc.page_id
         FROM content_chunks cc
         JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-        WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+        WHERE cc.${staleCol} IS NULL
          AND p.source_id = $1
          AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
          AND (cc.page_id, cc.chunk_index) > ($2, $3)
@@ -762,7 +762,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  proposed_at                 TIMESTAMPTZ  NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
  proposal_run_id             TEXT         NOT NULL,
  status                      TEXT         NOT NULL DEFAULT 'pending'
-                                           CHECK (status IN ('pending','accepted','rejected','superseded','empty')),
+                                           CHECK (status IN ('pending','accepted','rejected','superseded')),
  claim_text                  TEXT         NOT NULL,
  kind                        TEXT         NOT NULL,
  holder                      TEXT         NOT NULL,
@@ -777,7 +777,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  predicted_brier_bucket_n    INTEGER
 );
 CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals_idempotency_idx
-  ON take_proposals (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, md5(claim_text));
+  ON take_proposals (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version);
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals_pending_idx
  ON take_proposals (source_id, status, proposed_at DESC)
  WHERE status = 'pending';
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import type {
  BrainStats, BrainHealth,
  IngestLogEntry, IngestLogInput,
  EngineConfig,
+  ResolvedColumn,
  EvalCandidate, EvalCandidateInput,
  EvalCaptureFailure, EvalCaptureFailureReason,
  SalienceOpts, SalienceResult, AnomaliesOpts, AnomalyResult,
@@ -2380,13 +2381,21 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
  }

  // Chunks
-  async upsertChunks(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string } & BatchOpts): Promise<void> {
+  async upsertChunks(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn } & BatchOpts): Promise<void> {
    return this.batchRetry(opts?.auditSite ?? 'upsertChunks', opts?.signal, () => this._upsertChunksOnce(slug, chunks, opts), chunks.length);
  }

-  private async _upsertChunksOnce(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string }): Promise<void> {
+  private async _upsertChunksOnce(slug: string, chunks: ChunkInput[], opts?: { sourceId?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<void> {
    const sql = this.sql;
    const sourceId = opts?.sourceId ?? 'default';
+    // #1262: caller-resolved write target for TEXT embeddings. Descriptor
+    // names are identifier-validated + quoted by buildVectorCastFragment;
+    // omitted => legacy `embedding vector`.
+    const targetFragment = opts?.embeddingColumn
+      ? buildVectorCastFragment(opts.embeddingColumn)
+      : undefined;
+    const targetCol = targetFragment?.col ?? 'embedding';
+    const embeddingCast = targetFragment?.castSql.replace('$1::', '') ?? 'vector';

    // Source-scope the page-id lookup. Without this filter, multi-source
    // brains where the slug exists in 2+ sources return >1 row and the
@@ -2413,7 +2422,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
    // scope metadata through upserts.
    // v0.27.1 (Phase 8): added `modality` + `embedding_image` to the column
    // list. Image chunks pass embedding=null + embedding_image=Float32Array.
-    const cols = '(page_id, chunk_index, chunk_text, chunk_source, embedding, model, token_count, embedded_at, language, symbol_name, symbol_type, start_line, end_line, parent_symbol_path, doc_comment, symbol_name_qualified, modality, embedding_image)';
+    const cols = `(page_id, chunk_index, chunk_text, chunk_source, ${targetCol}, model, token_count, embedded_at, language, symbol_name, symbol_type, start_line, end_line, parent_symbol_path, doc_comment, symbol_name_qualified, modality, embedding_image)`;
    const rows: string[] = [];
    const params: unknown[] = [];
    let paramIdx = 1;
@@ -2430,7 +2439,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
        : null;
      const modality = chunk.modality ?? 'text';

-      const embeddingPh = embeddingStr ? `$${paramIdx++}::vector` : 'NULL';
+      const embeddingPh = embeddingStr ? `$${paramIdx++}::${embeddingCast}` : 'NULL';
      const embeddedAtPh = embeddingStr ? 'now()' : 'NULL';
      const embeddingImagePh = embeddingImageStr ? `$${paramIdx++}::vector` : 'NULL';

@@ -2478,19 +2487,19 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
       ON CONFLICT (page_id, chunk_index) DO UPDATE SET
         chunk_text = EXCLUDED.chunk_text,
         chunk_source = EXCLUDED.chunk_source,
-         embedding = CASE
-           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text THEN EXCLUDED.embedding
-           WHEN content_chunks.embedding IS NULL THEN EXCLUDED.embedding
+         ${targetCol} = CASE
+           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text THEN EXCLUDED.${targetCol}
+           WHEN content_chunks.${targetCol} IS NULL THEN EXCLUDED.${targetCol}
           WHEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at IS NOT NULL
                AND (content_chunks.embedded_at IS NULL OR EXCLUDED.embedded_at > content_chunks.embedded_at)
-                THEN EXCLUDED.embedding
-           ELSE content_chunks.embedding
+                THEN EXCLUDED.${targetCol}
+           ELSE content_chunks.${targetCol}
         END,
         model = COALESCE(EXCLUDED.model, content_chunks.model),
         token_count = EXCLUDED.token_count,
         embedded_at = CASE
-           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text AND EXCLUDED.embedding IS NULL THEN NULL
-           WHEN content_chunks.embedding IS NULL AND EXCLUDED.embedding IS NOT NULL THEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at
+           WHEN EXCLUDED.chunk_text != content_chunks.chunk_text AND EXCLUDED.${targetCol} IS NULL THEN NULL
+           WHEN content_chunks.${targetCol} IS NULL AND EXCLUDED.${targetCol} IS NOT NULL THEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at
           WHEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at IS NOT NULL
                AND (content_chunks.embedded_at IS NULL OR EXCLUDED.embedded_at > content_chunks.embedded_at)
                THEN EXCLUDED.embedded_at
@@ -2530,14 +2539,19 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
   * embedding_signature drift (NULL grandfathered). Shared by
   * countStaleChunks + sumStaleChunkChars (parity with the PGLite sibling).
   */
-  private buildStaleChunkWhere(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): { where: string; params: unknown[] } {
+  private buildStaleChunkWhere(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): { where: string; params: unknown[] } {
+    // #1262: staleness targets the caller-resolved write column when set
+    // (identifier-validated + quoted); legacy `embedding` otherwise.
+    const staleCol = opts?.embeddingColumn
+      ? buildVectorCastFragment(opts.embeddingColumn).col
+      : 'embedding';
    const params: unknown[] = [];
    const conds: string[] = [];
    if (opts?.signature !== undefined) {
      params.push(opts.signature);
-      conds.push(`(cc.embedding IS NULL OR (p.embedding_signature IS NOT NULL AND p.embedding_signature <> $${params.length}))`);
+      conds.push(`(cc.${staleCol} IS NULL OR (p.embedding_signature IS NOT NULL AND p.embedding_signature <> $${params.length}))`);
    } else {
-      conds.push(`cc.embedding IS NULL`);
+      conds.push(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`);
    }
    conds.push(`NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')`);
    if (opts?.sourceId !== undefined) {
@@ -2547,7 +2561,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
    return { where: conds.join(' AND '), params };
  }

-  async countStaleChunks(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): Promise<number> {
+  async countStaleChunks(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<number> {
    // Always JOIN pages so the embed_skip + signature predicates apply.
    // D7: source_id scoping. v0.41.31: optional signature widens staleness
    // to embedding_signature drift (NULL grandfathered).
@@ -2565,7 +2579,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
    });
  }

-  async sumStaleChunkChars(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string }): Promise<number> {
+  async sumStaleChunkChars(opts?: { sourceId?: string; signature?: string; embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn }): Promise<number> {
    // Sibling of countStaleChunks: same stale predicate, summing chunk_text
    // length for the sync cost preview. ::bigint guards int4 overflow.
    const { where, params } = this.buildStaleChunkWhere(opts);
@@ -2618,11 +2632,18 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
    sourceId?: string;
    orderBy?: 'page_id' | 'updated_desc';
    afterUpdatedAt?: string | null;
+    embeddingColumn?: ResolvedColumn;
  }): Promise<StaleChunkRow[]> {
    const limit = opts?.batchSize ?? 2000;
    const afterPid = opts?.afterPageId ?? 0;
    const afterIdx = opts?.afterChunkIndex ?? -1;
    const orderBy = opts?.orderBy ?? 'page_id';
+    // #1262: staleness follows the caller-resolved write column (validated +
+    // quoted identifier); legacy `embedding` otherwise. Interpolated below as
+    // an unsafe FRAGMENT (identifiers can't be bound parameters).
+    const staleCol = opts?.embeddingColumn
+      ? buildVectorCastFragment(opts.embeddingColumn).col
+      : 'embedding';

    // RLS scope binding (opt-in via GBRAIN_RLS_SCOPE_BINDING).
    return await this.withScopedReadTransaction(undefined, opts?.sourceId, async (tx) => {
@@ -2639,7 +2660,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
                   p.updated_at
            FROM content_chunks cc
            JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-            WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+            WHERE ${tx.unsafe(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`)}
              AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
            ORDER BY p.updated_at DESC NULLS LAST, p.id ASC, cc.chunk_index ASC
            LIMIT ${limit}
@@ -2649,7 +2670,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
                   p.updated_at
            FROM content_chunks cc
            JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-            WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+            WHERE ${tx.unsafe(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`)}
              AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
              AND (
                p.updated_at < ${afterUpdated}::timestamptz
@@ -2667,7 +2688,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
                 p.updated_at
          FROM content_chunks cc
          JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-          WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+          WHERE ${tx.unsafe(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`)}
            AND p.source_id = ${opts.sourceId}
            AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
          ORDER BY p.updated_at DESC NULLS LAST, p.id ASC, cc.chunk_index ASC
@@ -2678,7 +2699,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
                 p.updated_at
          FROM content_chunks cc
          JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-          WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+          WHERE ${tx.unsafe(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`)}
            AND p.source_id = ${opts.sourceId}
            AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
            AND (
@@ -2698,7 +2719,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
                 cc.model, cc.token_count, p.source_id, cc.page_id
          FROM content_chunks cc
          JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-          WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+          WHERE ${tx.unsafe(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`)}
            AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
            AND (cc.page_id, cc.chunk_index) > (${afterPid}, ${afterIdx})
          ORDER BY cc.page_id, cc.chunk_index
@@ -2711,7 +2732,7 @@ export class PostgresEngine implements BrainEngine {
               cc.model, cc.token_count, p.source_id, cc.page_id
        FROM content_chunks cc
        JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
-        WHERE cc.embedding IS NULL
+        WHERE ${tx.unsafe(`cc.${staleCol} IS NULL`)}
          AND p.source_id = ${opts.sourceId}
          AND NOT (COALESCE(p.frontmatter, '{}'::jsonb) ? 'embed_skip')
          AND (cc.page_id, cc.chunk_index) > (${afterPid}, ${afterIdx})
@@ -1274,14 +1274,8 @@ CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS calibration_profiles_published_idx
  WHERE published = true;

 -- take_proposals: propose_takes phase queue. Idempotency cache via the
-- composite unique index (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version,
-- md5(claim_text)) — the 4-column prefix is the per-scan cache key (mirrors
-- v0.23 dream_verdicts); md5(claim_text) makes rows per-claim so multi-claim
-- pages keep every claim (v125). status='empty' rows are zero-claim scan
-- sentinels: they hold the cache slot for a page version whose extraction
-- yielded nothing — the phase never re-spends the LLM call on that page
-- version. Excluded from the partial pending index. proposal_run_id supports
-- --rollback by run.
+-- composite unique index (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version)
+-- mirrors v0.23 dream_verdicts. proposal_run_id supports --rollback by run.
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  id                          BIGSERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  source_id                   TEXT         NOT NULL REFERENCES sources(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
@@ -1292,7 +1286,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  proposed_at                 TIMESTAMPTZ  NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
  proposal_run_id             TEXT         NOT NULL,
  status                      TEXT         NOT NULL DEFAULT 'pending'
-                                           CHECK (status IN ('pending','accepted','rejected','superseded','empty')),
+                                           CHECK (status IN ('pending','accepted','rejected','superseded')),
  claim_text                  TEXT         NOT NULL,
  kind                        TEXT         NOT NULL,
  holder                      TEXT         NOT NULL,
@@ -1307,7 +1301,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  predicted_brier_bucket_n    INTEGER
 );
 CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals_idempotency_idx
-  ON take_proposals (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, md5(claim_text));
+  ON take_proposals (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version);
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals_pending_idx
  ON take_proposals (source_id, status, proposed_at DESC)
  WHERE status = 'pending';
@@ -443,6 +443,80 @@ export function resolveEmbeddingColumn(
  };
 }

+/**
+ * Resolves the WRITE-side embedding column for the currently configured
+ * embedding model (#1262). The read-side resolver above answers "which
+ * column does this query search?"; this one answers "which column should
+ * newly produced text embeddings land in?".
+ *
+ * Unlike read-side search, writes take no per-call column override. The
+ * import/embed boundary resolves once from merged config + gateway state
+ * and passes the descriptor into `engine.upsertChunks`; engines stay
+ * config-free (same contract as the read-side descriptor).
+ *
+ * Behavior:
+ *   - no user-declared `embedding_columns` => undefined (legacy brain,
+ *     writes keep targeting the default `embedding` column)
+ *   - a user-declared entry whose `provider` matches the current
+ *     embedding model => that entry's descriptor
+ *   - no provider match => undefined (fall back to legacy `embedding`)
+ *
+ * Only USER-declared entries are consulted — never the cfg-derived
+ * builtins. The `embedding_image` builtin's provider is the multimodal
+ * model; matching it here would misroute text embeddings into the image
+ * column. The no-match fallback is intentional: switching models before
+ * registering a matching column must not silently write vectors into an
+ * arbitrary column.
+ */
+export function resolveWriteColumn(cfg: GBrainConfig): ResolvedColumn | undefined {
+  const userColumns = cfg.embedding_columns;
+  if (
+    !userColumns ||
+    typeof userColumns !== 'object' ||
+    Array.isArray(userColumns) ||
+    Object.keys(userColumns).length === 0
+  ) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  // Same model-resolution chain as the registry builtin: cfg > gateway > default.
+  let gwModel: string | undefined;
+  try {
+    const gw = require('../ai/gateway.ts') as typeof import('../ai/gateway.ts');
+    gwModel = gw.getEmbeddingModel();
+  } catch {
+    // Gateway unconfigured — fall through to the canonical default.
+  }
+  const currentModel = cfg.embedding_model ?? gwModel ?? DEFAULT_EMBEDDING_MODEL;
+
+  for (const [name, entry] of Object.entries(userColumns)) {
+    if (!entry) continue;
+    validateColumnKey(name);
+    validateColumnConfig(name, entry);
+    if (entry.provider !== currentModel) continue;
+    return {
+      name,
+      type: entry.type,
+      dimensions: entry.dimensions,
+      embeddingModel: entry.provider,
+    };
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Engine-boundary convenience: merged config (file/env + DB plane) →
+ * resolveWriteColumn. Dynamic import keeps config.ts out of this module's
+ * static graph (mirrors the gateway require above).
+ */
+export async function resolveWriteColumnForEngine(
+  engine: { getConfig(key: string): Promise<string | null | undefined> },
+): Promise<ResolvedColumn | undefined> {
+  const { loadConfigWithEngine } = await import('../config.ts');
+  const cfg = await loadConfigWithEngine(engine);
+  return cfg ? resolveWriteColumn(cfg) : undefined;
+}
+
 /**
 * True when the resolved column is the default `embedding` name.
 * Name-based check; does not compare embedding space.
@@ -1270,14 +1270,8 @@ CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS calibration_profiles_published_idx
  WHERE published = true;

 -- take_proposals: propose_takes phase queue. Idempotency cache via the
-- composite unique index (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version,
-- md5(claim_text)) — the 4-column prefix is the per-scan cache key (mirrors
-- v0.23 dream_verdicts); md5(claim_text) makes rows per-claim so multi-claim
-- pages keep every claim (v125). status='empty' rows are zero-claim scan
-- sentinels: they hold the cache slot for a page version whose extraction
-- yielded nothing — the phase never re-spends the LLM call on that page
-- version. Excluded from the partial pending index. proposal_run_id supports
-- --rollback by run.
+-- composite unique index (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version)
+-- mirrors v0.23 dream_verdicts. proposal_run_id supports --rollback by run.
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  id                          BIGSERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  source_id                   TEXT         NOT NULL REFERENCES sources(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
@@ -1288,7 +1282,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  proposed_at                 TIMESTAMPTZ  NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
  proposal_run_id             TEXT         NOT NULL,
  status                      TEXT         NOT NULL DEFAULT 'pending'
-                                           CHECK (status IN ('pending','accepted','rejected','superseded','empty')),
+                                           CHECK (status IN ('pending','accepted','rejected','superseded')),
  claim_text                  TEXT         NOT NULL,
  kind                        TEXT         NOT NULL,
  holder                      TEXT         NOT NULL,
@@ -1303,7 +1297,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals (
  predicted_brier_bucket_n    INTEGER
 );
 CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals_idempotency_idx
-  ON take_proposals (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version, md5(claim_text));
+  ON take_proposals (source_id, page_slug, content_hash, prompt_version);
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS take_proposals_pending_idx
  ON take_proposals (source_id, status, proposed_at DESC)
  WHERE status = 'pending';
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ function buildMockEngine(opts: { scorecard: TakesScorecard }): {
 } {
  const captured: CapturedSql[] = [];
  const engine = {
-    async getConfig() { return null; },
    kind: 'pglite',
    async getScorecard() {
      return opts.scorecard;
@@ -241,3 +241,136 @@ describe('buildVectorCastFragment — engine SQL composer (D3)', () => {
    expect(castSql).toBe('$1::halfvec(2560)');
  });
 });
+
+describe('PGLite engine: upsertChunks write-side ResolvedColumn descriptor (#1262)', () => {
+  test('halfvec descriptor writes the text embedding to the alternate column, not legacy embedding', async () => {
+    await engine.putPage('docs/write-alt-pglite', {
+      type: 'concept',
+      title: 'Write alt column PGLite',
+      compiled_truth: 'PGLite write-side alternate embedding column test.',
+    });
+
+    const descriptor: ResolvedColumn = {
+      name: 'embedding_ze',
+      type: 'halfvec',
+      dimensions: 2560,
+      embeddingModel: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+    };
+    await engine.upsertChunks('docs/write-alt-pglite', [
+      {
+        chunk_index: 0,
+        chunk_text: 'PGLite write-side alternate embedding column test.',
+        chunk_source: 'compiled_truth',
+        embedding: new Float32Array(2560).fill(0.25),
+      },
+    ], { embeddingColumn: descriptor });
+
+    const rows = await engine.executeRaw<{
+      has_default: boolean;
+      has_ze: boolean;
+      has_embedded_at: boolean;
+    }>(
+      `SELECT embedding IS NOT NULL AS has_default,
+              embedding_ze IS NOT NULL AS has_ze,
+              embedded_at IS NOT NULL AS has_embedded_at
+         FROM content_chunks cc
+         JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
+        WHERE p.slug = 'docs/write-alt-pglite'`,
+    );
+    expect(rows.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(rows[0].has_default).toBe(false);
+    expect(rows[0].has_ze).toBe(true);
+    expect(rows[0].has_embedded_at).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('text-unchanged re-upsert without a vector preserves the alternate-column embedding', async () => {
+    const descriptor: ResolvedColumn = {
+      name: 'embedding_ze',
+      type: 'halfvec',
+      dimensions: 2560,
+      embeddingModel: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+    };
+    // Same chunk_text, no embedding: the ON CONFLICT CASE must keep the
+    // existing alternate-column vector (D24 semantics follow the column).
+    await engine.upsertChunks('docs/write-alt-pglite', [
+      {
+        chunk_index: 0,
+        chunk_text: 'PGLite write-side alternate embedding column test.',
+        chunk_source: 'compiled_truth',
+      },
+    ], { embeddingColumn: descriptor });
+    const rows = await engine.executeRaw<{ has_ze: boolean }>(
+      `SELECT embedding_ze IS NOT NULL AS has_ze
+         FROM content_chunks cc
+         JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
+        WHERE p.slug = 'docs/write-alt-pglite'`,
+    );
+    expect(rows).toEqual([{ has_ze: true }]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('PGLite: embed --stale converges on an alt-column brain (#1262)', () => {
+  test('boundary resolves the write column; stale scan does not re-select embedded rows', async () => {
+    const { runEmbedCore } = await import('../../src/commands/embed.ts');
+    const local = new PGLiteEngine();
+    const previousHome = process.env.GBRAIN_HOME;
+    process.env.GBRAIN_HOME = `/tmp/gbrain-write-col-stale-${Date.now()}`;
+    try {
+      await local.connect({});
+      await local.initSchema();
+      await (local as any).db.exec(
+        `ALTER TABLE content_chunks ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS embedding_ze halfvec(2560)`,
+      );
+
+      const descriptor: ResolvedColumn = {
+        name: 'embedding_ze',
+        type: 'halfvec',
+        dimensions: 2560,
+        embeddingModel: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+      };
+      await local.setConfig('embedding_columns', JSON.stringify({
+        embedding_ze: { provider: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1', dimensions: 2560, type: 'halfvec' },
+      }));
+      configureGateway({
+        embedding_model: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+        embedding_dimensions: 2560,
+        env: {},
+      });
+
+      await local.putPage('docs/stale-alt-pglite', {
+        type: 'concept',
+        title: 'Dynamic stale column',
+        compiled_truth: 'A chunk that is embedded only in the dynamic column.',
+      });
+      await local.upsertChunks('docs/stale-alt-pglite', [
+        {
+          chunk_index: 0,
+          chunk_text: 'A chunk that is embedded only in the dynamic column.',
+          chunk_source: 'compiled_truth',
+          embedding: new Float32Array(2560).fill(0.25),
+        },
+      ], { embeddingColumn: descriptor });
+
+      // Engine-level contrast: legacy predicate still sees the row as stale;
+      // the alt-column predicate does not.
+      expect(await local.countStaleChunks()).toBe(1);
+      expect(await local.countStaleChunks({ embeddingColumn: descriptor })).toBe(0);
+      // sumStaleChunkChars feeds the sync cost gate — same predicate contract.
+      expect(await local.sumStaleChunkChars()).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      expect(await local.sumStaleChunkChars({ embeddingColumn: descriptor })).toBe(0);
+      expect(await local.listStaleChunks({ embeddingColumn: descriptor, batchSize: 100 })).toHaveLength(0);
+      expect(await local.listStaleChunks({ batchSize: 100 })).toHaveLength(1);
+
+      // Boundary-level: `embed --stale --dry-run` resolves the write column
+      // from merged config + gateway and reports NOTHING to embed. Without
+      // the fix this reports 1 (perpetual re-embed loop).
+      const result = await runEmbedCore(local, { stale: true, dryRun: true });
+      expect(result.would_embed).toBe(0);
+    } finally {
+      await local.disconnect();
+      if (previousHome === undefined) delete process.env.GBRAIN_HOME;
+      else process.env.GBRAIN_HOME = previousHome;
+      resetGateway();
+    }
+  });
+});
@@ -224,4 +224,54 @@ if (!dbUrl) {
      await engine.executeRaw(`UPDATE content_chunks SET embedding_voyage = '${v}'::vector WHERE id = ${dogId}`);
    });
  });
+
+  describe('Postgres: upsertChunks write-side ResolvedColumn descriptor (#1262)', () => {
+    const descriptor: ResolvedColumn = {
+      name: 'embedding_ze',
+      type: 'halfvec',
+      dimensions: 2560,
+      embeddingModel: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+    };
+
+    test('halfvec descriptor writes the text embedding to the alternate column, not legacy embedding', async () => {
+      await engine.putPage('docs/write-alt-postgres', {
+        type: 'concept',
+        title: 'Write alt column Postgres',
+        compiled_truth: 'Postgres write-side alternate embedding column test.',
+      });
+      await engine.upsertChunks('docs/write-alt-postgres', [
+        {
+          chunk_index: 0,
+          chunk_text: 'Postgres write-side alternate embedding column test.',
+          chunk_source: 'compiled_truth',
+          embedding: new Float32Array(2560).fill(0.25),
+        },
+      ], { embeddingColumn: descriptor });
+
+      const rows = await engine.executeRaw<{
+        has_default: boolean;
+        has_ze: boolean;
+      }>(
+        `SELECT embedding IS NOT NULL AS has_default,
+                embedding_ze IS NOT NULL AS has_ze
+           FROM content_chunks cc
+           JOIN pages p ON p.id = cc.page_id
+          WHERE p.slug = 'docs/write-alt-postgres'`,
+      );
+      expect(rows.length).toBe(1);
+      expect(rows[0].has_default).toBe(false);
+      expect(rows[0].has_ze).toBe(true);
+    }, 30_000);
+
+    test('stale scan follows the write-side column (count + list parity with the write target)', async () => {
+      // Legacy predicate: cat/dog/write-alt rows all have embedding NULL.
+      expect(await engine.countStaleChunks()).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      // Alt-column predicate: every chunk has embedding_ze populated.
+      expect(await engine.countStaleChunks({ embeddingColumn: descriptor })).toBe(0);
+      expect(await engine.listStaleChunks({ embeddingColumn: descriptor, batchSize: 100 })).toHaveLength(0);
+      expect((await engine.listStaleChunks({ batchSize: 100 })).length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      // updated_desc arm uses the same predicate.
+      expect(await engine.listStaleChunks({ embeddingColumn: descriptor, orderBy: 'updated_desc', batchSize: 100 })).toHaveLength(0);
+    }, 30_000);
+  });
 }
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ function buildMockEngine(opts: { takes: Take[] }): {
  const captured: CapturedSql[] = [];
  const resolves: CapturedResolve[] = [];
  const engine = {
-    async getConfig() { return null; },
    kind: 'pglite',
    async listTakes() {
      return opts.takes;
@@ -46,14 +46,12 @@ interface CapturedResolve {
 function buildMockEngine(opts: {
  takes: Take[];
  cachedGrades?: Set<string>; // composite-key strings already in take_grade_cache
-  config?: Record<string, string>; // engine.getConfig plane (models.grade_takes etc.)
 }): { engine: BrainEngine; captured: CapturedSql[]; resolves: CapturedResolve[] } {
  const captured: CapturedSql[] = [];
  const resolves: CapturedResolve[] = [];
  const cached = opts.cachedGrades ?? new Set<string>();

  const engine = {
-    async getConfig(key: string) { return opts.config?.[key] ?? null; },
    kind: 'pglite',
    async listTakes() {
      return opts.takes;
@@ -226,28 +224,6 @@ describe('runPhaseGradeTakes — phase integration', () => {
    expect(resolves).toHaveLength(0); // no canonical mutation
  });

-  test('models.grade_takes config drives the judge call; cache key stays bare-tailed', async () => {
-    // Pre-fix the judge call rode the gateway's chat_model while the cache
-    // key / budget label recorded a hardcoded 'claude-sonnet-4-6'. The phase
-    // now resolves models.grade_takes; the judge gets the FULL string and
-    // the cache row keys on the bare tail (continuity with historical rows).
-    const takes = [buildTake({ id: 1, sinceDate: '2023-01-01' })];
-    const { engine, captured } = buildMockEngine({
-      takes,
-      config: { 'models.grade_takes': 'anthropic:claude-sonnet-5' },
-    });
-    const hints: Array<string | undefined> = [];
-    const judge: JudgeFn = async ({ modelHint }) => {
-      hints.push(modelHint);
-      return { verdict: 'correct', confidence: 0.9, reasoning: 'held' };
-    };
-    const result = await runPhaseGradeTakes(buildCtx(engine), { judge });
-    expect(result.status).toBe('ok');
-    expect(hints).toEqual(['anthropic:claude-sonnet-5']); // actual call gets the FULL string
-    const inserts = captured.filter(c => c.sql.includes('INSERT INTO take_grade_cache'));
-    expect(inserts[0]!.params[2]).toBe('claude-sonnet-5'); // judge_model_id is the bare tail
-  });
-
  test('D17: auto-resolve OFF by default — even high-confidence verdict does NOT mutate takes', async () => {
    const takes = [buildTake({ id: 1, sinceDate: '2023-01-01' })];
    const { engine, resolves } = buildMockEngine({ takes });
@@ -1,160 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * propose_takes rescan-loop + dropped-claims regression tests (migration v125).
- *
- * Two live-observed defects, both fixed by the v125 schema + phase change:
- *
- *   1. RESCAN LOOP — a page whose extraction yielded zero claims never
- *      entered the idempotency cache (only proposal rows were written), so
- *      every cycle re-spent the extractor call on the same unchanged page.
- *      Live impact: ~60 such pages × every cycle ≈ 1,400 wasted LLM calls
- *      (~$15) per day — ~90% of total autopilot spend. Fix: status='empty'
- *      sentinel row per zero-claim scan.
- *
- *   2. DROPPED CLAIMS — the 4-column unique index collapsed a same-page
- *      multi-claim run to its first claim (rows 2..N conflicted, ON CONFLICT
- *      DO NOTHING dropped them silently; verified live: exactly 1 row per
- *      (page, hash) over 3 days). Fix: idempotency index gains
- *      md5(claim_text).
- *
- * Hermetic: PGLite engine + injected extractor; no gateway, no LLM.
- */
-import { describe, test, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'bun:test';
-import { PGLiteEngine } from '../src/core/pglite-engine.ts';
-import { runPhaseProposeTakes, type ProposeTakesExtractor, type ProposedTake } from '../src/core/cycle/propose-takes.ts';
-import type { OperationContext } from '../src/core/operations.ts';
-
-let engine: PGLiteEngine;
-
-function ctx(): OperationContext {
-  return {
-    engine,
-    remote: false,
-    config: {} as OperationContext['config'],
-    logger: { info() {}, warn() {}, error() {}, debug() {} } as unknown as OperationContext['logger'],
-  } as unknown as OperationContext;
-}
-
-/** Extractor stub that counts invocations per page slug. */
-function countingExtractor(
-  claimsBySlug: Record<string, ProposedTake[]>,
-): { extractor: ProposeTakesExtractor; calls: string[] } {
-  const calls: string[] = [];
-  const extractor: ProposeTakesExtractor = async ({ pagePath }) => {
-    calls.push(pagePath);
-    return claimsBySlug[pagePath] ?? [];
-  };
-  return { extractor, calls };
-}
-
-beforeAll(async () => {
-  engine = new PGLiteEngine();
-  await engine.connect({});
-  await engine.initSchema();
-  await engine.putPage('notes/zero-claims', {
-    type: 'note',
-    title: 'pure narrative',
-    compiled_truth: 'A quiet walk in the park. Nothing opinionated happened at all today.',
-  });
-  await engine.putPage('notes/three-claims', {
-    type: 'note',
-    title: 'opinionated',
-    compiled_truth: 'I bet acme-example wins the market. widget-co will struggle. fund-a is overexposed.',
-  });
-});
-
-afterAll(async () => {
-  await engine.disconnect();
-});
-
-describe('rescan loop — zero-claim scans enter the cache', () => {
-  test('second run cache-hits: extractor is NOT called again on unchanged pages', async () => {
-    const claims = {
-      'notes/three-claims': [
-        { claim_text: 'acme-example wins the market', kind: 'bet' as const, holder: 'brain', weight: 0.7 },
-        { claim_text: 'widget-co will struggle', kind: 'take' as const, holder: 'brain', weight: 0.6 },
-        { claim_text: 'fund-a is overexposed', kind: 'take' as const, holder: 'brain', weight: 0.55 },
-      ],
-    };
-
-    const first = countingExtractor(claims);
-    const r1 = await runPhaseProposeTakes(ctx(), { extractor: first.extractor });
-    expect(r1.status).toBe('ok');
-    // Both pages extracted on the first pass.
-    expect(first.calls).toContain('notes/zero-claims');
-    expect(first.calls).toContain('notes/three-claims');
-
-    const second = countingExtractor(claims);
-    const r2 = await runPhaseProposeTakes(ctx(), { extractor: second.extractor });
-    expect(r2.status).toBe('ok');
-    // THE regression: pre-fix the zero-claim page missed the cache every
-    // run and was re-extracted here. (Run 1's receipt page legitimately
-    // appears once — it's a new page — and its zero-claim scan now caches
-    // too; pre-fix, receipts re-scanned forever as well.)
-    expect(second.calls).not.toContain('notes/zero-claims');
-    expect(second.calls).not.toContain('notes/three-claims');
-
-    // Run 2 inserted nothing, so no new receipt page exists: run 3 must be
-    // fully quiescent — zero extractor calls, zero cache misses.
-    const third = countingExtractor(claims);
-    const r3 = await runPhaseProposeTakes(ctx(), { extractor: third.extractor });
-    expect(r3.status).toBe('ok');
-    expect(third.calls).toEqual([]);
-    expect((r3.details as Record<string, unknown>).cache_misses).toBe(0);
-  });
-
-  test('zero-claim scan wrote an "empty" sentinel invisible to the pending queue', async () => {
-    const sentinel = await engine.executeRaw<{ status: string; claim_text: string }>(
-      `SELECT status, claim_text FROM take_proposals WHERE page_slug = 'notes/zero-claims'`,
-      [],
-    );
-    expect(sentinel.length).toBe(1);
-    expect(sentinel[0].status).toBe('empty');
-    expect(sentinel[0].claim_text).toBe('');
-    const pending = await engine.executeRaw<{ n: number }>(
-      `SELECT COUNT(*)::int AS n FROM take_proposals WHERE page_slug = 'notes/zero-claims' AND status = 'pending'`,
-      [],
-    );
-    expect(Number(pending[0].n)).toBe(0);
-  });
-});
-
-describe('dropped claims — per-claim rows survive the idempotency index', () => {
-  test('a 3-claim page stores 3 rows and reports an honest inserted count', async () => {
-    const rows = await engine.executeRaw<{ claim_text: string }>(
-      `SELECT claim_text FROM take_proposals WHERE page_slug = 'notes/three-claims' AND status = 'pending' ORDER BY id`,
-      [],
-    );
-    // Pre-fix the 4-column unique index kept only the FIRST claim.
-    expect(rows.length).toBe(3);
-    expect(rows.map(r => r.claim_text)).toEqual([
-      'acme-example wins the market',
-      'widget-co will struggle',
-      'fund-a is overexposed',
-    ]);
-  });
-
-  test('content change re-extracts and stores the new version separately', async () => {
-    await engine.putPage('notes/zero-claims', {
-      type: 'note',
-      title: 'pure narrative',
-      compiled_truth: 'Updated: I now believe acme-example is undervalued and will re-rate within a year.',
-    });
-    const claims = {
-      'notes/zero-claims': [
-        { claim_text: 'acme-example is undervalued', kind: 'take' as const, holder: 'brain', weight: 0.6 },
-      ],
-    };
-    const run = countingExtractor(claims);
-    const r = await runPhaseProposeTakes(ctx(), { extractor: run.extractor });
-    expect(r.status).toBe('ok');
-    // Changed page re-extracts; the unchanged 3-claim page stays cached.
-    expect(run.calls).toEqual(['notes/zero-claims']);
-    expect((r.details as Record<string, unknown>).proposals_inserted).toBe(1);
-    const all = await engine.executeRaw<{ status: string }>(
-      `SELECT status FROM take_proposals WHERE page_slug = 'notes/zero-claims' ORDER BY id`,
-      [],
-    );
-    // Old hash's sentinel + new hash's pending claim coexist.
-    expect(all.map(r2 => r2.status).sort()).toEqual(['empty', 'pending']);
-  });
-});
@@ -41,16 +41,12 @@ interface CapturedSql {
 function buildMockEngine(opts: {
  pages: Page[];
  existingProposals?: Set<string>; // composite-key strings already in take_proposals
-  config?: Record<string, string>; // engine.getConfig plane (models.tier.* etc.)
 }): { engine: BrainEngine; captured: CapturedSql[] } {
  const captured: CapturedSql[] = [];
  const existing = opts.existingProposals ?? new Set<string>();

  const engine = {
    kind: 'pglite',
-    async getConfig(key: string) {
-      return opts.config?.[key] ?? null;
-    },
    async listPages() {
      return opts.pages;
    },
@@ -63,12 +59,7 @@ function buildMockEngine(opts: {
        if (existing.has(key)) return [{ id: 1 } as unknown as T];
        return [];
      }
-      // INSERT ... RETURNING id — emulate a successful insert so the
-      // honest proposals_inserted counter (counts RETURNING rows, not
-      // attempts) sees the row land. Conflicted inserts would return [].
-      if (sql.includes('INSERT INTO take_proposals') && sql.includes('RETURNING id')) {
-        return [{ id: 1 } as unknown as T];
-      }
+      // INSERT — return nothing
      return [];
    },
  } as unknown as BrainEngine;
@@ -276,29 +267,6 @@ describe('runPhaseProposeTakes — phase integration', () => {
    expect(inserts[0]!.params[9]).toBe('market'); // domain
  });

-  test('extractor model resolves through models.propose_takes config', async () => {
-    // Pre-fix the phase's only model knob was the gateway chat model — there
-    // was no per-phase config key. The phase now resolves once via
-    // resolveModel(models.propose_takes > models.default > env > gateway
-    // chat model); the extractor hint and the stored model_id must both
-    // reflect the configured override (full provider-prefixed string, #2451).
-    const pages = [buildPage({ slug: 'wiki/concepts/tier-routing', body: 'Tier-routed models will win.' })];
-    const { engine, captured } = buildMockEngine({
-      pages,
-      config: { 'models.propose_takes': 'anthropic:claude-sonnet-5' },
-    });
-    const seen: Array<string | undefined> = [];
-    const extractor: ProposeTakesExtractor = async ({ modelHint }) => {
-      seen.push(modelHint);
-      return [{ claim_text: 'tier-routed models win', kind: 'bet', holder: 'brain', weight: 0.7 }];
-    };
-    const result = await runPhaseProposeTakes(buildCtx(engine), { extractor });
-    expect(result.status).toBe('ok');
-    expect(seen).toEqual(['anthropic:claude-sonnet-5']); // chat call gets the FULL string
-    const inserts = captured.filter(c => c.sql.includes('INSERT INTO take_proposals'));
-    expect(inserts[0]!.params[11]).toBe('anthropic:claude-sonnet-5'); // stored model_id matches the call
-  });
-
  test('cache hit: page already in take_proposals is skipped', async () => {
    const body = 'A page that was already processed.';
    const pages = [buildPage({ slug: 'wiki/old-page', body })];
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@
 *     throw on unknown string.
 */

-import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
+import { describe, test, expect, afterAll, afterEach } from 'bun:test';
 import {
  resolveEmbeddingColumn,
+  resolveWriteColumn,
  getEmbeddingColumnRegistry,
  buildVectorCastFragment,
  quoteIdentifier,
@@ -34,6 +35,28 @@ import {
 } from '../../src/core/search/embedding-column.ts';
 import type { GBrainConfig } from '../../src/core/config.ts';
 import type { ResolvedColumn } from '../../src/core/types.ts';
+import { configureGateway, resetGateway } from '../../src/core/ai/gateway.ts';
+
+/**
+ * Teardown: reset AND re-apply the legacy preload config
+ * (test/helpers/legacy-embedding-preload.ts). A bare resetGateway() would
+ * leave the slot empty for the NEXT file's beforeAll (the preload's
+ * per-test beforeEach only fires before tests, not before beforeAll), which
+ * would make sibling PGLite fixtures initSchema at the 1280 default instead
+ * of the legacy 1536 their seed vectors assume.
+ */
+function restorePreloadGateway() {
+  resetGateway();
+  configureGateway({
+    embedding_model: 'openai:text-embedding-3-large',
+    embedding_dimensions: 1536,
+    env: { ...process.env },
+  });
+}
+
+afterAll(() => {
+  restorePreloadGateway();
+});

 function cfg(overrides: Partial<GBrainConfig> = {}): GBrainConfig {
  return { engine: 'pglite', ...overrides };
@@ -522,3 +545,89 @@ describe('codex /ship #4 — isCacheSafe (embedding-space-based skip)', () => {
    expect(isCacheSafe(r, cfg())).toBe(true);
  });
 });
+
+describe('resolveWriteColumn — write-side boundary resolution (#1262)', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    restorePreloadGateway();
+  });
+
+  test('no registry / empty registry returns undefined (legacy single-column brain)', () => {
+    expect(resolveWriteColumn(cfg())).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(resolveWriteColumn(cfg({ embedding_columns: {} }))).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  test('provider match via cfg.embedding_model returns the descriptor', () => {
+    const r = resolveWriteColumn(cfg({
+      embedding_model: 'voyage:voyage-3-large',
+      embedding_dimensions: 1024,
+      embedding_columns: {
+        embedding_voyage: { provider: 'voyage:voyage-3-large', dimensions: 1024, type: 'vector' },
+      },
+    }));
+    expect(r).toEqual({
+      name: 'embedding_voyage',
+      type: 'vector',
+      dimensions: 1024,
+      embeddingModel: 'voyage:voyage-3-large',
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('provider match via gateway state (cfg.embedding_model unset) returns descriptor', () => {
+    configureGateway({
+      embedding_model: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+      embedding_dimensions: 2560,
+      env: {},
+    });
+    const r = resolveWriteColumn(cfg({
+      embedding_columns: {
+        embedding_ze: { provider: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1', dimensions: 2560, type: 'halfvec' },
+      },
+    }));
+    expect(r).toEqual({
+      name: 'embedding_ze',
+      type: 'halfvec',
+      dimensions: 2560,
+      embeddingModel: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('no provider match returns undefined instead of guessing a column', () => {
+    configureGateway({
+      embedding_model: 'zeroentropyai:zembed-1',
+      embedding_dimensions: 2560,
+      env: {},
+    });
+    const r = resolveWriteColumn(cfg({
+      embedding_columns: {
+        embedding_voyage: { provider: 'voyage:voyage-3-large', dimensions: 1024, type: 'vector' },
+      },
+    }));
+    expect(r).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  test('only USER-declared columns are consulted — multimodal builtin never captures text writes', () => {
+    // Current model equals the embedding_image BUILTIN's provider; a registry
+    // walk that consulted builtins would misroute text writes into the image
+    // column. resolveWriteColumn must return undefined here.
+    configureGateway({
+      embedding_model: 'voyage:voyage-multimodal-3',
+      embedding_dimensions: 1024,
+      env: {},
+    });
+    const r = resolveWriteColumn(cfg({
+      embedding_columns: {
+        embedding_other: { provider: 'openai:text-embedding-3-large', dimensions: 1536, type: 'vector' },
+      },
+    }));
+    expect(r).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  test('malformed registry entry throws loud (same validation as the read side)', () => {
+    expect(() => resolveWriteColumn(cfg({
+      embedding_model: 'voyage:voyage-3-large',
+      embedding_columns: {
+        'bad"col': { provider: 'voyage:voyage-3-large', dimensions: 1024, type: 'vector' },
+      } as never,
+    }))).toThrow(EmbeddingColumnConfigError);
+  });
+});