diff --git a/docs/sessions/2026-07-27-kb-f4-fallback.md b/docs/sessions/2026-07-27-kb-f4-fallback.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c27f0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/sessions/2026-07-27-kb-f4-fallback.md
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+# Sesja 2026-07-27 — KB faza 4: fallback embed SOLARIA→PIHA (krok 3, ostatni element rdzenia)
+
+**Zakres**: `docs/kb/modules/05-faza4-plan.md` §2 decyzja 2 / §5 — aktywny fallback
+embedu, ostatni brakujący element rdzenia fazy 4 (frontend i ingress LIVE od
+2026-07-22/23, `docs/sessions/2026-07-23-kb-f4-ingress.md`). Zero zmian w schemacie
+DB, zero zmian w `kb_retrieval`'s retrieval logice — wyłącznie warstwa embed + health.
+
+Praca wykonana w task worktree (`task/kb-f4-fallback`, `.claude/skills/worktree-aware`).
+Zgodnie z ustaleniem na starcie sesji (patrz "Ustalenia proceduralne" niżej): kod
+napisany i przetestowany lokalnie w worktree, produkcyjne kroki (kalibracja, deploy,
+live-test) wykonane po jawnej zgodzie operatora, z osobnym potwierdzeniem przed
+każdym kolejnym krokiem dotykającym PIHA/SOLARIĘ.
+
+## Ustalenia proceduralne
+
+Zadanie wprost wymagało kroków produkcyjnych (kalibracja RAM/latencji na żywym PIHA,
+symulacja sol-down dotykająca SOLARII, deploy, push) — sprzeczne z ogólną dyscypliną
+`worktree-aware` ("nigdy nie uruchamiaj deployów/healthchecków przeciw produkcji z
+worktree"). Zamiast rozstrzygać to samodzielnie, zapytano operatora:
+1. Recon read-only (bez zmian stanu) — zgoda bez pytania.
+2. Właściwe kroki produkcyjne (kalibracja, deploy, live-test, push) — operator
+   potwierdził jawnie ("Yes, proceed with all of it") po zobaczeniu pełnego zakresu.
+
+## 1. Kod (warstwa embed + health, zero zmian retrievalu/DB)
+
+- **`packages/kb_retrieval/embed.py`**: `embed_chunk` dostał opcjonalny `timeout_s`
+  (domyślnie `None`, zero zmiany zachowania istniejących wołań) — potrzebny do
+  twardego 3 s timeoutu na nodze SOLARIA bez zmiany zachowania nogi PIHA.
+- **`services/kb-query/app/fallback.py`** (nowy): `SolCircuitBreaker` (cache 30 s,
+  zegar wstrzykiwalny do testów) + `resolve_sol_status` (probe `/api/tags`, 500 ms) +
+  `embed_with_fallback` (SOLARIA z twardym 3 s timeoutem → jednorazowe przełączenie na
+  PIHA **w tym samym requeście** przy timeout/błędzie → PIHA bez dodatkowego
+  timeoutu). Dokładnie maszyna stanów z planu §2 decyzja 2.
+- **`app/search.py`**: `run_search` liczy embedding raz przez `embed_with_fallback`,
+  potem woła `flat_retrieve`/`cascade_retrieve`/`hybrid_retrieve` (niskopoziomowe
+  funkcje `kb_retrieval`, biorą gotowy wektor) zamiast `flat_query`/`cascade_query`/
+  `hybrid_query` (które embedują same) — dzięki temu decyzja fallbacku żyje wyłącznie
+  w warstwie HTTP kb-query, zero zmiany w `kb_retrieval`. `sol_status` w odpowiedzi to
+  teraz realny wynik, nie zahardkodowane `"up"`.
+- **`app/main.py`**: `/healthz` i `/search` dzielą jeden `SolCircuitBreaker`
+  (`app.state.sol_breaker`) — oba endpointy zawsze zgadzają się co do aktualnego
+  stanu. Nowy env `OLLAMA_PIHA_URL` (domyślnie `http://localhost:11434` — celowo
+  "inertny" placeholder, fail-closed, dopóki operator nie ustawi realnego adresu).
+- **Inwariant modelu**: **nie dodano** drugiego, per-request sprawdzenia w DB —
+  `EMBED_MODEL` to jedna stała wątkowana przez obie nogi `embed_with_fallback`,
+  więc startowy check (`app/startup.py`, niezmieniony) pokrywa obie ścieżki z
+  konstrukcji. Dodanie drugiego DB-checka chroniłoby przed scenariuszem, który nie
+  może wystąpić (CLAUDE.md: nie dodawaj walidacji dla scenariuszy, które nie mogą się
+  zdarzyć) — zamiast tego nowy test (`test_both_legs_use_identical_embed_model`)
+  strukturalnie dowodzi, że obie nogi w tym samym requeście dostają identyczny
+  `embed_model`.
+- **`jobs/documents-ingest/eval/retrieval_eval.py`**: dodano `--transport
+  {direct,http}` + `--base-url` (plan §2 decyzja 6 / §9) — dotąd nieistniejące (tylko
+  ręczny smoke-test, `docs/sessions/2026-07-23-kb-f4-ingress.md` follow-up). Tryb
+  `http` woła trzy `GET /search` (flat/cascade/hybrid) na żywym kb-query zamiast
+  embedować+odpytywać lokalnie; `envelope.source` do kryterium 4 bierze się z pola
+  `source` w odpowiedzi JSON, nie z osobnego zapytania do DB. Nie da się swipe'ować
+  N przez HTTP (kb-query serwuje jeden N per request) — tryb http raportuje tylko
+  przy `--gate-n`.
+
+## 2. Nowy serwis `services/ollama-piha`
+
+Klon wzorca `services/ollama` (`owner_node: piha` zamiast `solaria`, bez rezerwacji
+GPU — PIHA to arm64 bez akceleracji), `OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE=0` (model ładowany tylko na
+czas requestu). `mem_limit: 2560m` (tentatywny wg planu, potwierdzony pomiarem —
+patrz §3). Wpisany do `hosts/piha/services.yaml` (`depends_on.local` kb-query →
+`[kb-postgres, ollama-piha]`, fallback nie jest twardą zależnością na starcie).
+
+## 3. Znalezisko: osierocony natywny `ollama.service` na PIHA
+
+Podczas pierwszej próby deployu `ollama-piha` (bind `127.0.0.1:11434`) — konflikt
+portu. Okazało się, że PIHA ma **natywny (nie-Docker) systemd `ollama.service`**
+(v0.6.1, `enabled`, działający od 2026-06-22, PATH env wskazujący na użytkownika
+`/home/pi/...`), o którym nic nie wiadomo w repo — plan §1.2 wprost zakładał "PIHA:
+brak Ollamy", co okazało się nieaktualne/błędne. To realna sprzeczność planu z
+rzeczywistością → STOP, pytanie do operatora zamiast cichej decyzji.
+
+Weryfikacja przed jakąkolwiek akcją: `journalctl -u ollama --since "7 days ago"` —
+**tylko własne, właśnie wykonane** zapytania probe (`/api/version`, `/api/tags`),
+`total blobs: 0` od startu (nigdy nic nie pobrano). Operator potwierdził: martwy
+balast, `sudo systemctl disable --now ollama.service` (**disable, nie uninstall** —
+odwracalne). Port 11434 zwolniony, `ollama-piha` wystartował normalnie.
+
+**Backlog**: PIHA host-level shadow — natywny `ollama.service` wyłączony
+2026-07-27; odinstalować binarkę/unit po ~2 tygodniach jeśli nic się nie posypie.
+
+## 4. Kalibracja (plan §5, gate) — **werdykt: GO**
+
+Zmierzone na żywym PIHA pod normalnym obciążeniem (kb-postgres, paperless, Immich,
+HA, Forgejo działające, nie okno nocnej ciszy), 3 kolejne wywołania `/api/embeddings`
+po `ollama pull bge-m3`:
+
+| Wywołanie | Latencja |
+|---|---|
+| 1 (pierwsze, zimny start) | 5.25 s |
+| 2 | 4.41 s |
+| 3 | 4.16 s |
+
+Brak przyspieszenia między wywołaniami — zgodnie z projektem (`OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE=0`
+zwalnia model po każdym requeście, `ollama ps` pokazuje zero rezydentnych modeli
+między wywołaniami).
+
+RAM: baseline idle ~66 MiB, szczyt podczas burst ~983 MiB (`docker stats`, próbkowane
+co 0.3 s w trakcie 3 wywołań) — komfortowo w granicach ceilingu `2560m`. `free -h`
+systemowe: `available` nie spadło poniżej ~1.3 GiB w trakcie, osiadło na ~4.2 GiB po
+(dla porównania: przed startem eksperymentu `available` = 3.7 GiB).
+
+**Werdykt**: oba kryteria planu spełnione (latencja pojedyncze sekundy, nie
+dziesiątki; RAM ze sporym zapasem) → **włączony jako domyślny fallback**, bez flagi
+`KB_QUERY_LOCAL_FALLBACK_ENABLED`.
+
+## 5. Bramka jakościowa (plan §9)
+
+Wszystko uruchomione z `~/kb/venv` na PIHA (istniejący venv z poprzednich sesji,
+`aiohttp`/`asyncpg`/`yaml` już obecne) przeciw żywej bazie + żywemu kb-query.
+
+**HTTP-equivalence** (`--transport http` vs `--transport direct`, SOLARIA up, ten sam
+`--gate-n 10`): oba PASS, **0 rozbieżności** w `dist` na wszystkich zapytaniach
+(`flat_top1_dist`, `hybrid_top1_dist`, `cascade[10].top1_dist`) — identyczne bit w
+bit, jak wymagał plan (nie ±epsilon, bo to ten sam kod, HTTP to tylko opakowanie).
+
+**Live sol-down fallback test**: symulacja przez `OLLAMA_URL=http://solaria:1`
+(zły port, zgodnie z rekomendacją planu — zero dotknięcia SOLARII/innych
+konsumentów Ollamy) w `.env` kb-query, restart kontenera. `/healthz` →
+`sol_status: "down"`. `/search` → 200, wyniki z PIHA, ~4.3 s (zgodnie z kalibracją).
+Pełna bramka `retrieval_eval.py --transport http` z SOLARIA-down: **PASS** —
+identyczny wzorzec hit@3 co na SOLARII, `dist` w granicach epsilon:
+
+| Zapytanie | dist (SOLARIA) | dist (PIHA fallback) | Δ |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| 1 | 0.341780 | 0.341509 | 0.000271 |
+| 2 | 0.324808 | 0.324858 | 0.00005 |
+| 3 | 0.428898 | 0.429184 | 0.000286 |
+| 4 | 0.448199 | 0.447903 | 0.000296 |
+| 5 | 0.386901 | 0.386816 | 0.000085 |
+| N (negative control) | 0.598301 | 0.598017 | 0.000283 |
+| N2 (negative control borderline) | 0.529772 | 0.529530 | 0.000242 |
+
+Maksymalna rozbieżność: **~3e-4** — rząd wielkości mniejszy niż oczekiwany przez plan
+(1e-3–1e-2), kolejność top-k identyczna, wynik bramki (`gate.passed`) identyczny.
+Kb-query przywrócony do normalnej konfiguracji po teście (`.env` z prawdziwym
+`OLLAMA_URL`, restart), `/healthz` z powrotem `sol_status: "up"`.
+
+## 6. Deploy
+
+Kod nie był jeszcze zmergowany do `master` (dyscyplina worktree: agent nigdy nie
+mergeuje/pushuje `master`) — deploy przez standardowy `deploy-node.sh`
+niedostępny bez mastera. Zamiast tego: `rsync` zmienionych plików
+(`packages/kb-retrieval`, `services/kb-query`, `services/ollama-piha`,
+`hosts/piha/runtime/ollama-piha`, `hosts/piha/services.yaml`,
+`jobs/documents-ingest/eval/retrieval_eval.py` + README) do żywego checkoutu
+`~/homelab-codex-ws` na PIHA (bez zmiany brancha — working tree pozostaje na
+`master` z niescommitowanym diffem 1:1 identycznym z tą gałęzią), potem
+standardowy `docker compose ... up -d --build` z tego miejsca. Efekt: realny,
+działający deploy, ale **repo na PIHA ma dziś dirty working tree** — wymaga domknięcia
+(patrz "Do zrobienia przez operatora" niżej).
+
+Zweryfikowane: `kb-query` (healthy), `ollama-piha` (healthy, `bge-m3` w wolumenie),
+`curl https://kb.kapala.org/healthz` → `200 {"sol_status":"up"}`,
+`curl https://kb.kapala.org/search?q=test` → `200`.
+
+## Stan na koniec sesji
+
+| Element | Status |
+|---|---|
+| `packages/kb-retrieval` — `embed_chunk(timeout_s=...)` | ✅ kod + testy |
+| `services/kb-query/app/fallback.py` — maszyna stanów | ✅ kod + testy (38/38 kb-query, 25/25 kb-retrieval) |
+| `services/ollama-piha` — nowy serwis GitOps | ✅ zdefiniowany, ✅ LIVE na PIHA |
+| Natywny `ollama.service` na PIHA (osierocony) | ✅ wyłączony (nie odinstalowany) |
+| Kalibracja RAM/latencja | ✅ zmierzone — werdykt GO |
+| `retrieval_eval.py --transport http` | ✅ zaimplementowane, ✅ PASS na żywo |
+| Live sol-down fallback test | ✅ PASS, Δ~3e-4 |
+| Deploy kb-query + ollama-piha na PIHA | ✅ LIVE, working tree PIHA dirty (patrz niżej) |
+| Merge do `master` | ⛔ nie wykonany (dyscyplina worktree — operator) |
+
+## Do zrobienia przez operatora
+
+1. **Merge** `task/kb-f4-fallback` → `master` (`scripts/dev/agent.sh merge` albo
+   ręcznie) — branch popchnięty do `origin/task/kb-f4-fallback` (patrz commit poniżej).
+2. Na PIHA: `cd ~/homelab-codex-ws && git status` będzie dirty (diff identyczny z tym
+   commitem, bo już wdrożony ad-hoc przez `rsync` w tej sesji) — po mergu do mastera,
+   `git checkout -- .` (working tree już ma dokładnie tę treść) albo zwyczajnie
+   `git pull` po mergu powinien wylądować "already up to date"/no-op, bo pliki na
+   dysku już są zgodne z tym co przyjdzie z mastera. **Zweryfikować** `git diff` jest
+   puste po pull, nie zakładać.
+3. Backlog: natywny `ollama.service` na PIHA wyłączony `systemctl disable --now`
+   2026-07-27 (§3 wyżej) — jeśli nic się nie posypie przez ~2 tygodnie, odinstalować
+   binarkę/unit całkiem.
+4. OIDC dla kb-query nadal odłożone (decyzja z 2026-07-23) — nie w zakresie tej sesji.
diff --git a/hosts/piha/runtime/ollama-piha/docker-compose.override.yml b/hosts/piha/runtime/ollama-piha/docker-compose.override.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dce83ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/piha/runtime/ollama-piha/docker-compose.override.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# PIHA-specific overrides for ollama-piha (KB module 5, phase 4, plan §2 decision 2 / §5).
+#
+# mem_limit is a cgroup ceiling per the plan's own estimate (§5: "np. 2.5g, do potwierdzenia
+# pomiarem") -- confirmed live 2026-07-27 (services/ollama-piha/README.md "Calibration status"):
+# measured peak ~983 MiB during a burst, comfortably inside this 2560m ceiling with margin to
+# spare.
+#
+# Not oom_score_adj: -900 -- that's reserved for control-plane/agent processes that must never
+# be an OOM victim (CLAUDE.md). ollama-piha is a fallback-only leg: cgroup-restart-on-breach is
+# an acceptable failure mode here, same reasoning as kb-query's own override.
+services:
+  ollama-piha:
+    mem_limit: 2560m
diff --git a/hosts/piha/services.yaml b/hosts/piha/services.yaml
index 825a589..2e34684 100644
--- a/hosts/piha/services.yaml
+++ b/hosts/piha/services.yaml
@@ -111,13 +111,33 @@ services:
     exposure: private            # LAN bind (LAN_BIND_IP); npm@PIHA vhost + OIDC is a later step
     offline_required: false
     depends_on:
-      local: [kb-postgres]
-      external: [ollama]         # SOLARIA may be offline -> /search 502/503, /healthz stays ok
+      local: [kb-postgres, ollama-piha]   # ollama-piha is the fallback leg, not hard-required at boot
+      external: [ollama]         # SOLARIA may be offline -> active fallback to ollama-piha, plan §2/§5
     ports:
       - name: http
         container_port: 8080
         host_port: 8230
         protocol: tcp
     runtime:
-      # .env (KB_DSN, LAN_BIND_IP) lives alongside the compose file; stateless, no data path
+      # .env (KB_DSN, LAN_BIND_IP, OLLAMA_PIHA_URL) lives alongside the compose file; stateless, no data path
       config_path: services/kb-query
+
+  ollama-piha:
+    role: kb-embed-fallback      # module 5 phase 4 plan §2 decision 2 / §5: local CPU embed
+                                   # fallback for kb-query when Ollama@SOLARIA is down/times out
+    deployment_model: docker-compose
+    exposure: private            # LAN bind (LAN_BIND_IP); consumed only by kb-query@PIHA
+    offline_required: true       # PIHA-local, never depends on SOLARIA/VPS/Forgejo at runtime
+    depends_on:
+      local: []
+      external: []
+    ports:
+      - name: http
+        container_port: 11434
+        host_port: 11434
+        protocol: tcp
+    runtime:
+      # .env (LAN_BIND_IP) lives alongside the compose file
+      config_path: services/ollama-piha
+      # bge-m3 model files persist in the Docker named volume-equivalent bind
+      # /opt/homelab/data/ollama-piha — see hosts/piha/runtime/ollama-piha override.
diff --git a/jobs/documents-ingest/README.md b/jobs/documents-ingest/README.md
index bf3fce1..624a05f 100644
--- a/jobs/documents-ingest/README.md
+++ b/jobs/documents-ingest/README.md
@@ -517,6 +517,12 @@ python eval/retrieval_eval.py --dsn postgresql://kb:<pw>@piha:5433/kb \
     --ollama-url http://solaria:11434 --n-sweep 5,10,20
 ```
 
+`--transport http --base-url http://<kb-query-host>:8230` (module 5 phase 4 plan §2 decision 6 /
+§9) calls a live `kb-query`'s `/search` instead of embedding+querying locally — no `--dsn`
+needed, `--n-sweep` is ignored (kb-query serves one server-side default N per request). Gate
+criterion: `dist` must be **identical** to the same run with `--transport direct` against the
+same live SOLARIA (same DB, same retrieval code — HTTP is only a wrapper).
+
 **Result (2026-07-17, live run)**: PASS at N=10, k=5 — see plan §6.3 for the full table,
 the N-sweep calibration (N=5 is the measured safety floor; the plan's N=10 default carries a
 2× margin), and the cost/improvement analysis. `cascade_query` (N=10, k=5,
diff --git a/jobs/documents-ingest/eval/retrieval_eval.py b/jobs/documents-ingest/eval/retrieval_eval.py
index 416eab3..f0aa063 100644
--- a/jobs/documents-ingest/eval/retrieval_eval.py
+++ b/jobs/documents-ingest/eval/retrieval_eval.py
@@ -23,9 +23,23 @@ mocked test). Runs every query in `queries.yaml`'s `queries:` list through flat
 writes nothing. Query embeddings go through Ollama on localhost/SOLARIA (bge-m3), same as
 `chunk_embed.py`/`summarize.py`.
 
+`--transport {direct,http}` (module 5 phase 4 plan §2 decision 6 / §9, added alongside the
+fallback task): `direct` (default) is everything above, unchanged. `http` instead calls
+`GET {base_url}/search?q=...&mode=flat|cascade|hybrid` on a live `kb-query` and reshapes its
+JSON `results` into the same `{"chunks": [...]}` shape the direct-mode functions return, so
+`summarize_query_result`/`evaluate_gate` run identically either way. The gate criterion (plan
+§9): `dist` for `http` must be **identical** to `direct` against the same live SOLARIA -- same
+DB, same retrieval code, HTTP is only a wrapper, so any difference is a serialization/handler
+bug, never expected numerical drift. `http` mode cannot sweep `N` (kb-query serves one
+server-side default per request, plan §4) -- it reports only at `--gate-n`, and needs no `--dsn`
+(kb-query already owns the DB connection; `envelope.source` for criterion 4 comes straight from
+each result's `source` field instead of a separate DB lookup).
+
 Usage:
     python retrieval_eval.py --dsn postgresql://kb:<pw>@piha:5433/kb \\
         --ollama-url http://solaria:11434 --n-sweep 5,10,20
+    python retrieval_eval.py --transport http --base-url http://192.168.31.5:8230 \\
+        --gate-n 10
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 
@@ -156,6 +170,44 @@ async def run_query_all_tracks(
     return {"query": query, "flat": flat, "cascades": cascades, "hybrid": hybrid}
 
 
+async def call_search_http(
+    session: aiohttp.ClientSession, base_url: str, query_text: str, mode: str
+) -> list[dict]:
+    """One `GET {base_url}/search?q=...&mode=...` call -> its `results` list. Each result
+    already carries `envelope_id`/`dist`/`source` -- exactly the fields `top1_dist`/`hit_at_3`/
+    `mail_hit_at_3` need, no DB lookup required on this side."""
+    async with session.get(
+        f"{base_url}/search", params={"q": query_text, "mode": mode}
+    ) as resp:
+        resp.raise_for_status()
+        data = await resp.json()
+    return data["results"]
+
+
+async def run_query_all_tracks_http(
+    session: aiohttp.ClientSession, base_url: str, query: dict, gate_n: int
+) -> dict:
+    """HTTP-transport equivalent of `run_query_all_tracks` -- three `/search` calls (one per
+    mode) instead of embedding+querying locally. `stage1_summaries` isn't part of the HTTP
+    response shape (plan §4) so it's reported empty; nothing in `evaluate_gate` reads it."""
+    flat_chunks = await call_search_http(session, base_url, query["text"], "flat")
+    cascade_chunks = await call_search_http(session, base_url, query["text"], "cascade")
+    hybrid_chunks = await call_search_http(session, base_url, query["text"], "hybrid")
+    return {
+        "query": query,
+        "flat": {"chunks": flat_chunks},
+        "cascades": {gate_n: {"chunks": cascade_chunks, "stage1_summaries": []}},
+        "hybrid": {"chunks": hybrid_chunks},
+    }
+
+
+def envelope_sources_from_results(*chunk_lists: list[dict]) -> dict[str, str]:
+    """http transport has no DB to `fetch_envelope_sources` from -- each `/search` result
+    already carries its envelope's `source`, so build the same envelope_id -> source mapping
+    straight from the response bodies already fetched for this query."""
+    return {c["envelope_id"]: c["source"] for chunks in chunk_lists for c in chunks}
+
+
 def summarize_query_result(result: dict, envelope_sources: Optional[dict[str, str]] = None) -> dict:
     query = result["query"]
     expected = query["expected_envelope"]
@@ -342,7 +394,34 @@ def print_report(
           "hybrid = 1 embed (shared) + cascade's queries + 1 extra SQL query (mail branch).")
 
 
-async def main_async(args: argparse.Namespace) -> dict:
+async def main_async_http(args: argparse.Namespace) -> tuple[list[dict], list[dict], list[int]]:
+    """`--transport http` path -- no DB connection, three `/search` calls per query. Returns
+    only at `--gate-n` (see module docstring: kb-query serves one server-side N per request)."""
+    queries = load_queries(Path(args.queries))
+    mail_queries = load_mail_queries(Path(args.queries))
+    n_values = [args.gate_n]
+
+    async with aiohttp.ClientSession(timeout=aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=60)) as session:
+        results = []
+        envelope_sources: dict[str, str] = {}
+        for query in queries:
+            result = await run_query_all_tracks_http(session, args.base_url, query, args.gate_n)
+            envelope_sources.update(envelope_sources_from_results(
+                result["flat"]["chunks"], result["cascades"][args.gate_n]["chunks"], result["hybrid"]["chunks"],
+            ))
+            results.append(summarize_query_result(result))
+
+        mail_results_raw = []
+        for query in mail_queries:
+            result = await run_query_all_tracks_http(session, args.base_url, query, args.gate_n)
+            envelope_sources.update(envelope_sources_from_results(result["hybrid"]["chunks"]))
+            mail_results_raw.append(result)
+        mail_results = [summarize_query_result(r, envelope_sources) for r in mail_results_raw]
+
+    return results, mail_results, n_values
+
+
+async def main_async_direct(args: argparse.Namespace) -> tuple[list[dict], list[dict], list[int]]:
     queries = load_queries(Path(args.queries))
     mail_queries = load_mail_queries(Path(args.queries))
     n_values = [int(n) for n in args.n_sweep.split(",")]
@@ -380,6 +459,21 @@ async def main_async(args: argparse.Namespace) -> dict:
     finally:
         await conn.close()
 
+    return results, mail_results, n_values
+
+
+async def main_async(args: argparse.Namespace) -> dict:
+    if args.transport == "http":
+        if args.n_sweep != "5,10,20":  # the argparse default -- operator didn't ask for a sweep
+            print(
+                "note: --transport http ignores --n-sweep (kb-query serves a single "
+                f"server-side default N per request); reporting only --gate-n={args.gate_n}",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
+        results, mail_results, n_values = await main_async_http(args)
+    else:
+        results, mail_results, n_values = await main_async_direct(args)
+
     gate_result = evaluate_gate(results, gate_n=args.gate_n, mail_rows=mail_results)
     print_report(results, n_values, gate_result, mail_rows=mail_results)
 
@@ -395,19 +489,26 @@ async def main_async(args: argparse.Namespace) -> dict:
 
 def main() -> None:
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
-    parser.add_argument("--dsn", default=os.environ.get("KB_DSN"), help="asyncpg DSN for kb-postgres (or KB_DSN env var)")
+    parser.add_argument("--transport", choices=["direct", "http"], default="direct",
+                         help="direct = query DB+Ollama locally (default); http = call a live kb-query's /search")
+    parser.add_argument("--base-url", default=None, help="kb-query base URL, required for --transport http (e.g. http://192.168.31.5:8230)")
+    parser.add_argument("--dsn", default=os.environ.get("KB_DSN"), help="asyncpg DSN for kb-postgres (or KB_DSN env var); required for --transport direct")
     parser.add_argument("--ollama-url", default=os.environ.get("OLLAMA_URL", "http://localhost:11434"))
     parser.add_argument("--embed-model", default=DEFAULT_EMBED_MODEL)
     parser.add_argument("--summary-model", default=DEFAULT_SUMMARY_MODEL,
                          help="document_summary.model to pre-filter on (plan §2 D3 resolution)")
     parser.add_argument("--k", type=int, default=DEFAULT_K)
     parser.add_argument("--gate-n", type=int, default=DEFAULT_N, help="N used for the PASS/FAIL verdict")
-    parser.add_argument("--n-sweep", default="5,10,20", help="comma-separated N values to report (diagnostic)")
+    parser.add_argument("--n-sweep", default="5,10,20", help="comma-separated N values to report (diagnostic; ignored by --transport http)")
     parser.add_argument("--queries", default=str(DEFAULT_QUERIES_PATH))
     parser.add_argument("--json-out", default=None, help="optional path to dump full results as JSON")
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
-    if not args.dsn:
+    if args.transport == "http":
+        if not args.base_url:
+            print("error: --transport http requires --base-url", file=sys.stderr)
+            sys.exit(1)
+    elif not args.dsn:
         print("error: pass --dsn or set KB_DSN", file=sys.stderr)
         sys.exit(1)
 
diff --git a/packages/kb-retrieval/src/kb_retrieval/embed.py b/packages/kb-retrieval/src/kb_retrieval/embed.py
index a2aad28..20ca0aa 100644
--- a/packages/kb-retrieval/src/kb_retrieval/embed.py
+++ b/packages/kb-retrieval/src/kb_retrieval/embed.py
@@ -40,14 +40,20 @@ def _vector_literal(embedding: list[float]) -> str:
 
 
 async def embed_chunk(
-    session: aiohttp.ClientSession, base_url: str, model: str, text: str
+    session: aiohttp.ClientSession, base_url: str, model: str, text: str, timeout_s: float | None = None
 ) -> tuple[list[float], float]:
     """POST /api/embeddings on Ollama for one chunk. Returns (embedding, elapsed_seconds).
-    No built-in timeout/retry -- inherits whatever `aiohttp.ClientSession(timeout=...)` the
-    caller constructed; `raise_for_status()` propagates `aiohttp.ClientError` when Ollama is
-    unreachable."""
+    No built-in timeout/retry by default -- inherits whatever `aiohttp.ClientSession(timeout=...)`
+    the caller constructed; `raise_for_status()` propagates `aiohttp.ClientError` when Ollama is
+    unreachable. `timeout_s`, when given, overrides the session default for this call only
+    (raises `asyncio.TimeoutError` on expiry) -- used by kb-query's fallback state machine
+    (plan §2 decision 2 / §5) to bound the SOLARIA leg independently of the shared
+    `aiohttp.ClientSession`'s own timeout."""
     t0 = time.monotonic()
-    async with session.post(f"{base_url}/api/embeddings", json={"model": model, "prompt": text}) as resp:
+    kwargs = {"json": {"model": model, "prompt": text}}
+    if timeout_s is not None:
+        kwargs["timeout"] = aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=timeout_s)
+    async with session.post(f"{base_url}/api/embeddings", **kwargs) as resp:
         resp.raise_for_status()
         data = await resp.json()
     elapsed = time.monotonic() - t0
diff --git a/services/kb-query/README.md b/services/kb-query/README.md
index 0982597..5e469f9 100644
--- a/services/kb-query/README.md
+++ b/services/kb-query/README.md
@@ -64,13 +64,32 @@ container, no node build step (plan §2 decision 4): `app/templates/index.html`
 - Stopka pokazuje `sol_status` dyskretnie (odświeżane z `/healthz` przy
   starcie strony i po każdym wyszukiwaniu).
 
-## Embed path (current step)
+## Embed path — active fallback (plan §2 decision 2, §5)
 
-Calls Ollama on SOLARIA directly per request — no cache, no circuit breaker,
-no local-PIHA fallback yet (that state machine, plan §2 decision 2/§5, is a
-separate later step). If SOLARIA is unreachable, `/search` returns **503**;
-`/healthz` still answers (`sol_status: "down"`), same tolerance pattern as
-`llm-gateway`.
+`app/fallback.py` holds one process-global `SolCircuitBreaker`:
+
+1. Cached `sol_status` (30s TTL) is used as-is when fresh — no network call.
+2. On expiry, probe `GET {OLLAMA_URL}/api/tags` (500ms timeout); cache the
+   result (`up`/`down`) for another 30s.
+3. `up` → embed on SOLARIA with a hard 3s timeout.
+   - Success → done, `sol_status: "up"`.
+   - Timeout/error on the **real** embed call (not just the probe) → flip
+     the breaker to `down` immediately and fall through to step 4 **in the
+     same request** — the caller never sees an error for this, only the
+     first unlucky request in a 30s window pays one extra timeout.
+4. `down` → embed locally against `OLLAMA_PIHA_URL` (`ollama-piha`@PIHA,
+   `bge-m3`, same model constant as SOLARIA — see the invariant note below).
+
+If **both** legs fail (SOLARIA down and PIHA unreachable/not deployed),
+`/search` returns **503**; `/healthz` still answers (`sol_status: "down"`),
+same tolerance pattern as `llm-gateway`. `/healthz` shares the same cached
+breaker as `/search`, so both report the same view of the world.
+
+`OLLAMA_PIHA_URL` defaults to `http://localhost:11434`, which is inert
+inside this container (nothing listens there) until you point it at the
+real `ollama-piha`@PIHA address — see `services/ollama-piha/README.md` for
+that container's deploy status and the RAM/latency calibration gate that
+decides whether it's safe to rely on as a default fallback.
 
 ## Startup invariant (hard-fail)
 
@@ -83,10 +102,17 @@ actually indexed — see `app/startup.py` for why the check reads
 `document_summary.embedding_model` and not `.model` (the latter is the LLM
 that *wrote* the summary, e.g. `claude-haiku-4-5`, not the embedder).
 
+**Covers both fallback legs.** `EMBED_MODEL` is a single constant threaded
+through `app/fallback.py`'s `embed_with_fallback` and used identically for
+the SOLARIA and PIHA embed calls — there is no per-request or per-leg model
+choice, so this one startup check already covers both paths. See
+`app/fallback.py`'s module docstring for why a second, redundant per-request
+DB check was deliberately not added.
+
 ## Configuration
 
 `.env` — **gitignored**, copy from `env.example`. Required: `LAN_BIND_IP`,
-`KB_DSN`. Optional: `OLLAMA_URL`, `EMBED_MODEL`, `SUMMARY_MODEL`.
+`KB_DSN`. Optional: `OLLAMA_URL`, `OLLAMA_PIHA_URL`, `EMBED_MODEL`, `SUMMARY_MODEL`.
 
 ## Deploy (PIHA)
 
@@ -150,5 +176,4 @@ existed.
 
 ## Out of scope for this step
 
-- Local-PIHA embed fallback / circuit breaker (plan §2 decision 2, §5).
 - OIDC login (see above) — separate session, needs `authlib` + Forgejo OAuth2 app.
diff --git a/services/kb-query/app/fallback.py b/services/kb-query/app/fallback.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b44e09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/kb-query/app/fallback.py
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+"""Active embed fallback state machine -- module 5 phase 4 plan §2 decision 2 / §5
+(docs/kb/modules/05-faza4-plan.md). One process-global circuit breaker (`SolCircuitBreaker`,
+held in `app.state`, not a module global -- keeps tests isolated) shared by every `/search`
+request.
+
+State machine (plan §2 decision 2 table):
+  1. Cached status still fresh (< CACHE_TTL_S old) -> use it, no network call at all.
+  2. Cache expired -> probe `GET {solaria}/api/tags` with a short timeout (HEALTH_PROBE_TIMEOUT_S);
+     cache the result (up or down) for CACHE_TTL_S. Same TTL for both outcomes -- plan explicitly
+     defers a separate down-backoff until flapping is observed.
+  3. status == "up" -> embed on SOLARIA with a hard per-call timeout (EMBED_TIMEOUT_S), distinct
+     from the probe timeout: a slow-but-technically-reachable SOLARIA must not hang the user's
+     query past this bound.
+  3a. Success -> return, sol_status="up".
+  3b. Timeout/error *on the real embed call* (not just the probe) -> flip the breaker to "down"
+      immediately (one-shot switch) and fall through to step 4 **in the same request** -- the
+      user never sees an error for this, only the first unlucky hit in a 30s window pays one
+      extra EMBED_TIMEOUT_S before falling through.
+  4. status == "down" -> embed locally via `piha_url`, sol_status="down".
+
+Both branches call `embed_chunk(..., model=embed_model)` with the exact same `embed_model`
+argument -- there is no separate "PIHA model" and no per-request model choice (plan §2: "nie ma
+dziś ... per-request wyboru modelu"), so the hard model invariant (app/startup.py, enforced once
+at process startup against document_chunk/document_summary) already covers both paths by
+construction. Adding a second, redundant per-request DB check here would guard against a
+scenario that cannot occur while `embed_model` stays a single constant threaded through one
+function -- instead, `tests/test_fallback.py` proves the invariant holds by asserting both the
+failed SOLARIA attempt and the successful PIHA attempt in the same request carry an identical
+`model` field.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import time
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from typing import Callable, Optional
+
+import aiohttp
+
+from kb_retrieval.embed import check_ollama_health, embed_chunk
+
+CACHE_TTL_S = 30.0
+HEALTH_PROBE_TIMEOUT_S = 0.5
+EMBED_TIMEOUT_S = 3.0
+
+
+@dataclass
+class SolCircuitBreaker:
+    """Process-global cached `sol_status` ("up"/"down"), one instance per running app (held in
+    `app.state.sol_breaker`, created fresh in `lifespan` -- never a module-level singleton, so
+    tests get a clean breaker per instance). `clock` is injectable (default `time.monotonic`,
+    never wall-clock/datetime) purely to test TTL expiry without real sleeps."""
+
+    cache_ttl_s: float = CACHE_TTL_S
+    clock: Callable[[], float] = field(default=time.monotonic)
+    _status: Optional[str] = field(default=None, init=False)
+    _checked_at: Optional[float] = field(default=None, init=False)
+
+    @property
+    def status(self) -> Optional[str]:
+        """Cached status if still within `cache_ttl_s`, else `None` (caller must (re)probe)."""
+        if self._status is None or self._checked_at is None:
+            return None
+        if self.clock() - self._checked_at >= self.cache_ttl_s:
+            return None
+        return self._status
+
+    def set(self, status: str) -> None:
+        self._status = status
+        self._checked_at = self.clock()
+
+
+async def resolve_sol_status(
+    breaker: SolCircuitBreaker, session: aiohttp.ClientSession, solaria_url: str
+) -> str:
+    """Cache-or-probe: returns "up"/"down". Shared by `/search` (embed_with_fallback) and
+    `/healthz` (plan: "sol_status w stopce UI ... podepnij realny stan") so both endpoints
+    agree on the same cached view instead of running independent probes."""
+    cached = breaker.status
+    if cached is not None:
+        return cached
+    up = await check_ollama_health(session, solaria_url, HEALTH_PROBE_TIMEOUT_S)
+    status = "up" if up else "down"
+    breaker.set(status)
+    return status
+
+
+async def embed_with_fallback(
+    breaker: SolCircuitBreaker,
+    session: aiohttp.ClientSession,
+    solaria_url: str,
+    piha_url: str,
+    embed_model: str,
+    query_text: str,
+) -> tuple[list[float], str]:
+    """query_text -> (embedding, sol_status_used). `sol_status_used` is "up" (SOLARIA answered
+    the real embed call) or "down" (PIHA answered -- either the breaker already cached "down",
+    or SOLARIA just failed mid-request and this call transparently fell through, plan §2 step
+    3b's one-shot switch)."""
+    status = await resolve_sol_status(breaker, session, solaria_url)
+
+    if status == "up":
+        try:
+            embedding, _elapsed = await embed_chunk(
+                session, solaria_url, embed_model, query_text, timeout_s=EMBED_TIMEOUT_S
+            )
+            return embedding, "up"
+        except (aiohttp.ClientError, TimeoutError):
+            # One-shot switch (plan §2 step 3b): don't fail this request, fall through to PIHA
+            # below and remember "down" for the rest of the cache window.
+            breaker.set("down")
+
+    embedding, _elapsed = await embed_chunk(session, piha_url, embed_model, query_text)
+    return embedding, "down"
diff --git a/services/kb-query/app/main.py b/services/kb-query/app/main.py
index 1bf7d3d..f854bf0 100644
--- a/services/kb-query/app/main.py
+++ b/services/kb-query/app/main.py
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@ entry point to the KB. Wraps `kb_retrieval.cascade_query`/`flat_query` (module 5
 already gated PASS -- docs/sessions/2026-07-21.md) in FastAPI. This is a search API, not chat:
 no answer synthesis, no LLM call over the results (that is phase 5, out of scope here).
 
-Embed path is deliberately simple for this step: calls Ollama on SOLARIA directly, no
-cache/circuit-breaker/local-PIHA-fallback (plan §2 decision 2, §5) -- that state machine is a
-later, separate step. A failed embed call (SOLARIA unreachable) surfaces as 503 to the caller
-rather than a bare 500.
+Embed path (plan §2 decision 2, §5): `app/fallback.py`'s `SolCircuitBreaker` health-checks
+Ollama@SOLARIA (cached ~30s, ~500ms probe), embeds there with a hard ~3s timeout when up, and
+falls through to Ollama@PIHA (`OLLAMA_PIHA_URL`, local fallback container `ollama-piha`) in the
+same request on timeout/error -- the user only ever pays one extra timeout, once per cache
+window. A failure on *both* legs still surfaces as 503 to the caller rather than a bare 500.
 
 `GET /` (Krok 4, plan §7) serves the search UI from this same FastAPI process -- one image, one
 container (plan §2 decision 4): a Jinja2 shell + a static vanilla-JS file, no node build step.
@@ -28,18 +29,20 @@ from fastapi.responses import HTMLResponse
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 from fastapi.templating import Jinja2Templates
 
-from kb_retrieval.embed import check_ollama_health
-
 from app.db import create_pool
+from app.fallback import SolCircuitBreaker, resolve_sol_status
 from app.search import run_search
 from app.startup import validate_embed_model
 
 BASE_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parent
 KB_DSN = os.environ.get("KB_DSN")
 OLLAMA_URL = os.environ.get("OLLAMA_URL", "http://solaria:11434")
+# Placeholder until ollama-piha is deployed (plan §5 calibration gate) -- nothing listens on
+# localhost:11434 inside this container, so this fails closed (connection refused) exactly like
+# SOLARIA-down does today, never a false success.
+OLLAMA_PIHA_URL = os.environ.get("OLLAMA_PIHA_URL", "http://localhost:11434")
 EMBED_MODEL = os.environ.get("EMBED_MODEL", "bge-m3")
 SUMMARY_MODEL = os.environ.get("SUMMARY_MODEL", "claude-haiku-4-5")
-OLLAMA_HEALTH_TIMEOUT_S = 3.0
 
 
 @asynccontextmanager
@@ -50,11 +53,15 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     pool = await create_pool(KB_DSN)
     async with pool.acquire() as conn:
         # Hard invariant (plan §2 decision 2): refuse to start rather than silently serve
-        # queries against a mismatched embedding space.
+        # queries against a mismatched embedding space. embed_model is a single constant used
+        # identically by both the SOLARIA and PIHA embed legs (app/fallback.py) -- this one
+        # check covers both paths, see app/fallback.py's module docstring for why a second,
+        # per-request DB check would be redundant.
         await validate_embed_model(conn, EMBED_MODEL)
 
     app.state.pool = pool
     app.state.http = aiohttp.ClientSession()
+    app.state.sol_breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
     try:
         yield
     finally:
@@ -74,8 +81,10 @@ async def index(request: Request):
 
 @app.get("/healthz")
 async def healthz() -> dict:
-    sol_up = await check_ollama_health(app.state.http, OLLAMA_URL, OLLAMA_HEALTH_TIMEOUT_S)
-    return {"status": "ok", "sol_status": "up" if sol_up else "down"}
+    # Shares the same cached breaker /search uses (app/fallback.py) -- healthz and search
+    # always agree on the current sol_status instead of running independent probes.
+    sol_status = await resolve_sol_status(app.state.sol_breaker, app.state.http, OLLAMA_URL)
+    return {"status": "ok", "sol_status": sol_status}
 
 
 @app.get("/search")
@@ -86,7 +95,8 @@ async def search(
     try:
         async with app.state.pool.acquire() as conn:
             return await run_search(
-                conn, app.state.http, OLLAMA_URL, q, mode, EMBED_MODEL, SUMMARY_MODEL
+                conn, app.state.http, app.state.sol_breaker, OLLAMA_URL, OLLAMA_PIHA_URL,
+                q, mode, EMBED_MODEL, SUMMARY_MODEL,
             )
     except aiohttp.ClientError as exc:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=503, detail=f"embed backend unavailable: {exc}") from exc
diff --git a/services/kb-query/app/search.py b/services/kb-query/app/search.py
index be1fee6..46c8b81 100644
--- a/services/kb-query/app/search.py
+++ b/services/kb-query/app/search.py
@@ -10,41 +10,51 @@ concern (Krok 4, out of this step's scope), never applied server-side.
 for the frontend's per-envelope result header (plan §7) -- `None`/`[]` when the envelope has no
 summary for `summary_model` yet. Purely additive: does not change any field already covered by
 the phase-4 gate's HTTP-equivalence check (plan §9).
+
+Embed fallback (plan §2 decision 2 / §5, `app/fallback.py`): the query embedding is computed
+once via `embed_with_fallback` (SOLARIA, or PIHA if SOLARIA is down/times out), then handed to
+`kb_retrieval`'s `*_retrieve` functions as a plain vector literal -- `flat_query`/`cascade_query`/
+`hybrid_query` (which embed *and* retrieve in one call) are deliberately bypassed here so the
+fallback decision lives entirely in this HTTP layer, per this task's constraint of zero changes
+to `kb_retrieval`'s retrieval logic. `sol_status` in the response is the real outcome of that
+call, not a hardcoded "up".
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import aiohttp
 import asyncpg
 
-from kb_retrieval.retrieval import cascade_query, flat_query, hybrid_query
+from kb_retrieval.embed import _vector_literal
+from kb_retrieval.retrieval import cascade_retrieve, flat_retrieve, hybrid_retrieve
 
 from app.db import fetch_envelopes, fetch_summaries
+from app.fallback import SolCircuitBreaker, embed_with_fallback
 from app.links import build_result
 
 
 async def run_search(
     conn: asyncpg.Connection,
     session: aiohttp.ClientSession,
-    ollama_url: str,
+    breaker: SolCircuitBreaker,
+    solaria_url: str,
+    piha_url: str,
     query_text: str,
     mode: str,
     embed_model: str,
     summary_model: str,
 ) -> dict:
-    if mode == "flat":
-        retrieval = await flat_query(conn, session, ollama_url, query_text, embed_model=embed_model)
-    elif mode == "hybrid":
-        retrieval = await hybrid_query(
-            conn, session, ollama_url, query_text,
-            summary_model=summary_model, embed_model=embed_model,
-        )
-    else:
-        retrieval = await cascade_query(
-            conn, session, ollama_url, query_text,
-            summary_model=summary_model, embed_model=embed_model,
-        )
+    embedding, sol_status = await embed_with_fallback(
+        breaker, session, solaria_url, piha_url, embed_model, query_text
+    )
+    query_vector = _vector_literal(embedding)
+
+    if mode == "flat":
+        chunks = await flat_retrieve(conn, query_vector)  # flat_retrieve returns a plain list
+    elif mode == "hybrid":
+        chunks = (await hybrid_retrieve(conn, query_vector, summary_model=summary_model))["chunks"]
+    else:
+        chunks = (await cascade_retrieve(conn, query_vector, summary_model=summary_model))["chunks"]
 
-    chunks = retrieval["chunks"]
     envelope_ids = sorted({c["envelope_id"] for c in chunks})
     envelopes = await fetch_envelopes(conn, envelope_ids)
     summaries = await fetch_summaries(conn, envelope_ids, summary_model)
@@ -60,6 +70,6 @@ async def run_search(
     return {
         "query": query_text,
         "mode": mode,
-        "sol_status": "up",  # reaching this point means the embed call above succeeded
+        "sol_status": sol_status,
         "results": results,
     }
diff --git a/services/kb-query/docker-compose.yml b/services/kb-query/docker-compose.yml
index dc524dd..e14083d 100644
--- a/services/kb-query/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/services/kb-query/docker-compose.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       - KB_DSN=${KB_DSN}
       - OLLAMA_URL=${OLLAMA_URL:-http://solaria:11434}
+      - OLLAMA_PIHA_URL=${OLLAMA_PIHA_URL:-http://localhost:11434}
       - EMBED_MODEL=${EMBED_MODEL:-bge-m3}
       - SUMMARY_MODEL=${SUMMARY_MODEL:-claude-haiku-4-5}
     # python:3.12-slim has no curl/wget; same in-container check pattern as llm-gateway.
diff --git a/services/kb-query/env.example b/services/kb-query/env.example
index 4b23f5d..170c75c 100644
--- a/services/kb-query/env.example
+++ b/services/kb-query/env.example
@@ -15,6 +15,13 @@ KB_DSN=postgresql://kb:CHANGE-ME@192.168.31.5:5433/kb
 # llm-gateway's OLLAMA_URL). Optional: defaults to this value if unset.
 # OLLAMA_URL=http://solaria:11434
 
+# Local fallback Ollama (ollama-piha@PIHA, plan §2 decision 2 / §5) — used only when SOLARIA
+# is unreachable/times out. kb-query runs in its own Docker network (separate compose project
+# from ollama-piha), so this must be PIHA's LAN IP + published port, not "localhost" — same
+# reasoning as KB_DSN above. Optional: defaults to http://localhost:11434, which fails closed
+# (nothing listens there in this container) until you set the real value below.
+# OLLAMA_PIHA_URL=http://192.168.31.5:11434
+
 # Embedding model kb-query enforces as a startup invariant (plan §2 decision
 # 2) against document_chunk.model / document_summary.embedding_model.
 # Optional: defaults to bge-m3.
diff --git a/services/kb-query/service.yaml b/services/kb-query/service.yaml
index 37c7bb4..bd1a18f 100644
--- a/services/kb-query/service.yaml
+++ b/services/kb-query/service.yaml
@@ -29,5 +29,6 @@ service:
       - LAN_BIND_IP                # required — compose port-bind interpolation
       - KB_DSN                     # required — asyncpg DSN for kb-postgres@PIHA
       - OLLAMA_URL                 # optional — defaults to http://solaria:11434
-      - EMBED_MODEL                 # optional — defaults to bge-m3; startup invariant vs document_chunk/document_summary
+      - OLLAMA_PIHA_URL             # optional — local fallback (ollama-piha@PIHA), defaults to http://localhost:11434 (fails closed until set)
+      - EMBED_MODEL                 # optional — defaults to bge-m3; startup invariant vs document_chunk/document_summary; same model used on both the SOLARIA and PIHA embed legs
       - SUMMARY_MODEL               # optional — defaults to claude-haiku-4-5; cascade_query's stage-1 model
diff --git a/services/kb-query/tests/test_fallback.py b/services/kb-query/tests/test_fallback.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96f1793
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/kb-query/tests/test_fallback.py
@@ -0,0 +1,221 @@
+"""Unit tests for the embed fallback state machine (app/fallback.py) -- module 5 phase 4 plan
+§2 decision 2 / §5. No real HTTP, no real Ollama -- same mocking style as
+packages/kb-retrieval/tests/test_embed.py."""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pathlib
+import sys
+
+import aiohttp
+import pytest
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]))
+
+from app.fallback import (  # noqa: E402
+    EMBED_TIMEOUT_S,
+    SolCircuitBreaker,
+    embed_with_fallback,
+    resolve_sol_status,
+)
+
+SOLARIA_URL = "http://solaria:11434"
+PIHA_URL = "http://piha:11434"
+
+
+class _FakeClock:
+    def __init__(self, start: float = 0.0):
+        self.t = start
+
+    def __call__(self) -> float:
+        return self.t
+
+    def advance(self, dt: float) -> None:
+        self.t += dt
+
+
+class _FakeGetResp:
+    def __init__(self, status: int):
+        self.status = status
+
+    async def __aenter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    async def __aexit__(self, *exc):
+        return False
+
+
+class _FakePostResp:
+    def __init__(self, embedding=None):
+        self._embedding = embedding if embedding is not None else [0.01] * 1024
+
+    async def __aenter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    async def __aexit__(self, *exc):
+        return False
+
+    def raise_for_status(self):
+        pass
+
+    async def json(self):
+        return {"embedding": self._embedding}
+
+
+class _FakeFallbackSession:
+    """Routes GET -> health probe, POST -> embed. `solaria_get_status=None` simulates the probe
+    itself being unreachable (raises); `*_post_behavior` in {"ok", "timeout", "error"}."""
+
+    def __init__(self, solaria_get_status=200, solaria_post_behavior="ok", piha_post_behavior="ok"):
+        self.solaria_get_status = solaria_get_status
+        self.solaria_post_behavior = solaria_post_behavior
+        self.piha_post_behavior = piha_post_behavior
+        self.get_calls: list[str] = []
+        self.post_calls: list[dict] = []
+
+    def get(self, url, timeout=None):
+        self.get_calls.append(url)
+        if self.solaria_get_status is None:
+            raise aiohttp.ClientConnectionError("refused")
+        return _FakeGetResp(self.solaria_get_status)
+
+    def post(self, url, json, timeout=None):
+        self.post_calls.append({"url": url, "json": json, "timeout": timeout})
+        behavior = self.solaria_post_behavior if url.startswith(SOLARIA_URL) else self.piha_post_behavior
+        if behavior == "timeout":
+            raise TimeoutError()
+        if behavior == "error":
+            raise aiohttp.ClientConnectionError("refused")
+        return _FakePostResp()
+
+
+class TestSolCircuitBreaker:
+    def test_status_none_when_never_set(self):
+        assert SolCircuitBreaker().status is None
+
+    def test_status_returns_cached_value_within_ttl(self):
+        clock = _FakeClock()
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker(cache_ttl_s=30, clock=clock)
+        breaker.set("up")
+        clock.advance(29)
+        assert breaker.status == "up"
+
+    def test_status_expires_exactly_at_ttl(self):
+        clock = _FakeClock()
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker(cache_ttl_s=30, clock=clock)
+        breaker.set("down")
+        clock.advance(30)
+        assert breaker.status is None
+
+
+class TestResolveSolStatus:
+    async def test_uses_fresh_cache_without_probing(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        breaker.set("up")
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession()
+        status = await resolve_sol_status(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL)
+        assert status == "up"
+        assert session.get_calls == []
+
+    async def test_probes_and_caches_up(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_get_status=200)
+        status = await resolve_sol_status(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL)
+        assert status == "up"
+        assert breaker.status == "up"
+        assert session.get_calls == [f"{SOLARIA_URL}/api/tags"]
+
+    async def test_probes_and_caches_down_on_unreachable(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_get_status=None)
+        status = await resolve_sol_status(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL)
+        assert status == "down"
+        assert breaker.status == "down"
+
+    async def test_reprobes_once_ttl_expires(self):
+        clock = _FakeClock()
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker(cache_ttl_s=30, clock=clock)
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_get_status=200)
+        await resolve_sol_status(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL)
+        clock.advance(30)
+        await resolve_sol_status(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL)
+        assert len(session.get_calls) == 2
+
+
+class TestEmbedWithFallback:
+    async def test_solaria_up_embeds_on_solaria(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_get_status=200, solaria_post_behavior="ok")
+        embedding, status = await embed_with_fallback(
+            breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "bge-m3", "q"
+        )
+        assert status == "up"
+        assert len(embedding) == 1024
+        assert session.post_calls == [
+            {"url": f"{SOLARIA_URL}/api/embeddings", "json": {"model": "bge-m3", "prompt": "q"},
+             "timeout": aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=EMBED_TIMEOUT_S)}
+        ]
+
+    async def test_cached_down_skips_probe_and_solaria_entirely(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        breaker.set("down")
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(piha_post_behavior="ok")
+        embedding, status = await embed_with_fallback(
+            breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "bge-m3", "q"
+        )
+        assert status == "down"
+        assert len(embedding) == 1024
+        assert session.get_calls == []
+        assert session.post_calls == [
+            {"url": f"{PIHA_URL}/api/embeddings", "json": {"model": "bge-m3", "prompt": "q"}, "timeout": None}
+        ]
+
+    async def test_solaria_timeout_mid_request_falls_through_to_piha_same_request(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        breaker.set("up")  # cache says up; the real call below discovers it's actually stuck
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_post_behavior="timeout", piha_post_behavior="ok")
+        embedding, status = await embed_with_fallback(
+            breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "bge-m3", "q"
+        )
+        assert status == "down"
+        assert len(embedding) == 1024
+        assert breaker.status == "down"  # one-shot switch persists for the rest of the cache window
+        assert [c["url"] for c in session.post_calls] == [
+            f"{SOLARIA_URL}/api/embeddings", f"{PIHA_URL}/api/embeddings",
+        ]
+
+    async def test_solaria_connection_error_mid_request_falls_through(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        breaker.set("up")
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_post_behavior="error", piha_post_behavior="ok")
+        embedding, status = await embed_with_fallback(
+            breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "bge-m3", "q"
+        )
+        assert status == "down"
+        assert breaker.status == "down"
+
+    async def test_both_legs_failing_raises_to_caller(self):
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        breaker.set("up")
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_post_behavior="timeout", piha_post_behavior="error")
+        with pytest.raises(aiohttp.ClientError):
+            await embed_with_fallback(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "bge-m3", "q")
+
+    async def test_both_legs_use_identical_embed_model(self):
+        # Structural proof of the "no per-request DB check needed" reasoning (module docstring):
+        # a single embed_model argument is threaded through both the failed SOLARIA attempt and
+        # the successful PIHA attempt in the same request.
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        breaker.set("up")
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(solaria_post_behavior="timeout", piha_post_behavior="ok")
+        await embed_with_fallback(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "bge-m3", "q")
+        models = {c["json"]["model"] for c in session.post_calls}
+        assert models == {"bge-m3"}
+
+    async def test_piha_leg_has_no_hard_timeout_override(self):
+        # Only the SOLARIA leg gets the interactive-request hard timeout (plan §2 step 3) -- the
+        # PIHA leg is the fallback of last resort, no shorter budget to enforce beyond it.
+        breaker = SolCircuitBreaker()
+        breaker.set("down")
+        session = _FakeFallbackSession(piha_post_behavior="ok")
+        await embed_with_fallback(breaker, session, SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "bge-m3", "q")
+        assert session.post_calls[0]["timeout"] is None
diff --git a/services/kb-query/tests/test_search.py b/services/kb-query/tests/test_search.py
index cdcb97a..85637b3 100644
--- a/services/kb-query/tests/test_search.py
+++ b/services/kb-query/tests/test_search.py
@@ -8,8 +8,12 @@ import sys
 
 sys.path.insert(0, str(pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]))
 
+from app.fallback import SolCircuitBreaker  # noqa: E402
 from app.search import run_search  # noqa: E402
 
+SOLARIA_URL = "http://fake-solaria"
+PIHA_URL = "http://fake-piha"
+
 
 class _FakeConn:
     """summaries: [(envelope_id, dist), ...] -- cascade stage-1 pre-filter. chunks_by_envelope:
@@ -92,11 +96,27 @@ class _FakeEmbedResponse:
         return self._payload
 
 
+class _FakeHealthResponse:
+    status = 200
+
+    async def __aenter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    async def __aexit__(self, *exc):
+        return False
+
+
 class _FakeSession:
+    """SOLARIA always reachable and healthy -- these tests exercise run_search's DB-joining
+    logic, not the fallback state machine itself (see test_fallback.py for that)."""
+
     def __init__(self):
         self.post_calls: list[dict] = []
 
-    def post(self, url, json):
+    def get(self, url, timeout=None):
+        return _FakeHealthResponse()
+
+    def post(self, url, json, timeout=None):
         self.post_calls.append({"url": url, "json": json})
         return _FakeEmbedResponse({"embedding": [0.01] * 1024})
 
@@ -110,7 +130,7 @@ class TestRunSearchHappyPath:
         )
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "polisa PZU", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "polisa PZU", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         assert result["query"] == "polisa PZU"
         assert result["mode"] == "cascade"
@@ -131,7 +151,7 @@ class TestRunSearchHappyPath:
         )
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "q", "flat", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "q", "flat", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         assert result["mode"] == "flat"
         assert len(result["results"]) == 1
@@ -145,7 +165,7 @@ class TestRunSearchHappyPath:
         )
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "polisa PZU", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "polisa PZU", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         hit = result["results"][0]
         assert hit["summary"] == "Polisa OC 2024"
@@ -159,7 +179,7 @@ class TestRunSearchHappyPath:
         )
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "polisa PZU", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "polisa PZU", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         hit = result["results"][0]
         assert hit["summary"] is None
@@ -180,7 +200,7 @@ class TestRunSearchHappyPath:
         )
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "q", "hybrid", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "q", "hybrid", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         assert result["mode"] == "hybrid"
         envelope_ids = [r["envelope_id"] for r in result["results"]]
@@ -201,7 +221,7 @@ class TestRunSearchHappyPath:
         )
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "q", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "q", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         hit = result["results"][0]
         assert hit["source"] == "gmail"
@@ -222,7 +242,7 @@ class TestRunSearchNoGoodResults:
         )
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "unrelated query", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "unrelated query", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         assert len(result["results"]) == 1
         assert result["results"][0]["dist"] == 0.62
@@ -231,6 +251,6 @@ class TestRunSearchNoGoodResults:
         conn = _FakeConn(summaries=[], chunks_by_envelope={}, envelopes={})
         session = _FakeSession()
         result = await run_search(
-            conn, session, "http://fake-ollama", "nothing matches", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
+            conn, session, SolCircuitBreaker(), SOLARIA_URL, PIHA_URL, "nothing matches", "cascade", "bge-m3", "claude-haiku-4-5"
         )
         assert result["results"] == []
diff --git a/services/ollama-piha/README.md b/services/ollama-piha/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db27689
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/ollama-piha/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# ollama-piha
+
+Local, CPU-only Ollama on **PIHA** (arm64, 4 cores, no acceleration —
+`hosts/piha/capabilities.yaml`), serving exactly one purpose: `kb-query`'s
+embed fallback (`services/kb-query/app/fallback.py`, module 5 phase 4 plan
+§2 decision 2 / §5) when Ollama@SOLARIA is unreachable or times out.
+
+**This is not a general-purpose Ollama instance** — no other service should
+point at it. It runs `bge-m3` only, the same embedding model kb-query's
+startup invariant enforces against `document_chunk`/`document_summary`
+(`services/kb-query/app/startup.py`). Do not pull additional models onto it.
+
+## Why `OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE=0`
+
+The model is loaded into RAM only for the duration of a request and released
+immediately after, rather than staying resident. On a memory-constrained
+RPi5 already running kb-postgres, paperless, Home Assistant, Immich,
+Forgejo, and more (see `docs/infra/piha-slim-audit-2026-07-02.md`), a second
+permanently-resident ~1.5-2 GB model is a worse trade than a short RAM spike
+that only happens when this fallback is actually exercised (SOLARIA down —
+rare, plan §1.2 `availability_target: medium`).
+
+## Deploy
+
+1. `git pull` on PIHA.
+2. `cp services/ollama-piha/env.example services/ollama-piha/.env` (fill in
+   `LAN_BIND_IP` if it differs from the default).
+3. `docker compose -f services/ollama-piha/docker-compose.yml -f hosts/piha/runtime/ollama-piha/docker-compose.override.yml up -d`
+4. `docker exec ollama-piha ollama pull bge-m3` — not baked into the image;
+   the model must be pulled once after first start (persists in the
+   `/opt/homelab/data/ollama-piha` named volume across restarts).
+5. Verify: `services/ollama-piha/healthcheck.sh`, then
+   `curl http://192.168.31.5:11434/api/tags` should list `bge-m3`.
+
+Point `kb-query`'s `OLLAMA_PIHA_URL` at `http://192.168.31.5:11434` once this
+is live (see `services/kb-query/env.example`).
+
+## Calibration status (plan §5) — GO, measured live 2026-07-27
+
+Measured on live PIHA under normal load (kb-postgres, paperless, Immich,
+Home Assistant, Forgejo, etc. all running, not a quiet-night window),
+3 sequential embed calls through `docker exec ollama-piha ollama pull bge-m3`
++ `/api/embeddings`:
+
+- **Latency**: 5.25s (first call), 4.41s, 4.16s — consistently single-digit
+  seconds, never tens of seconds. Latency doesn't drop on later calls because
+  `OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE=0` reloads the model every time by design (`ollama ps`
+  shows zero resident models between calls) — this is the expected trade-off
+  documented above, not a bug.
+- **RAM**: peak ~983 MiB during a burst (`docker stats`, baseline idle ~66
+  MiB), comfortably inside the `mem_limit: 2560m` ceiling
+  (`hosts/piha/runtime/ollama-piha/docker-compose.override.yml`). System-wide
+  `available` memory never dropped below ~1.3 GiB during the burst and
+  settled back to ~4.2 GiB after — well above the "≥500 MB spare" bar from
+  the plan.
+
+**Verdict: GO — enabled as the default fallback**, no
+`KB_QUERY_LOCAL_FALLBACK_ENABLED`-style flag needed. `kb-query`'s
+`OLLAMA_PIHA_URL` points at this container's real LAN address
+(`http://192.168.31.5:11434`) in the live PIHA deployment. Verified live: a
+sol-down simulation (`OLLAMA_URL` on kb-query pointed at an unreachable
+SOLARIA address) produced `sol_status: "down"` and correct `/search` results
+from this container, with `dist` within ~3e-4 of the SOLARIA-GPU baseline
+(same top-k order, same hit@3 gate outcome) — see
+`docs/sessions/2026-07-27-kb-f4-fallback.md` for the full numbers.
+
+**One-time finding from this calibration**: PIHA also had a leftover, fully
+undocumented *native* (non-Docker) `ollama.service` (systemd, v0.6.1, running
+since 2026-06-22, zero models ever pulled) that conflicted with this
+container's port binding. Confirmed dead (only this session's own probe
+requests in its journal) and disabled (`systemctl disable --now`, not
+uninstalled — reversible) before deploying this container. See the session
+doc for the backlog note to fully remove it if nothing breaks.
diff --git a/services/ollama-piha/docker-compose.yml b/services/ollama-piha/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a9803b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/ollama-piha/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+services:
+  ollama-piha:
+    image: ollama/ollama:latest
+    container_name: ollama-piha
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    ports:
+      # Loopback: healthcheck.sh curls localhost directly on the node. LAN IP: kb-query@PIHA
+      # reaches this over the host's LAN interface -- kb-query runs in its own Docker network
+      # (separate compose project), same reasoning as kb-query's KB_DSN reaching kb-postgres.
+      # Requires .env (from env.example) next to this file at deploy.
+      - "127.0.0.1:11434:11434"
+      - "${LAN_BIND_IP}:11434:11434"
+    environment:
+      # Module 5 phase 4 plan §2 decision 2 / §5 requirement: the model is loaded only for the
+      # duration of a request and released immediately after -- RPi5 has no GPU and limited RAM
+      # (hosts/piha/capabilities.yaml: arm64, 4 cores, no acceleration), so this is a short burst
+      # spike (idle Ollama binary ~100 MB) rather than a permanent ~1.5-2 GB resident cost. This
+      # is a fallback-only path (kb-query only reaches this when SOLARIA is down/times out), not
+      # the default hot path, so paying a cold-load per request here is the correct trade-off.
+      - OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE=0
+    volumes:
+      - /opt/homelab/data/ollama-piha:/root/.ollama
+    # No GPU reservation -- PIHA is arm64 with no acceleration (hosts/piha/capabilities.yaml),
+    # unlike services/ollama@SOLARIA. CPU-only inference here is expected to be slower; that is
+    # exactly what the plan §5 live calibration step measures before this is trusted as a
+    # default fallback (see README.md "Calibration status").
diff --git a/services/ollama-piha/env.example b/services/ollama-piha/env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2c3f6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/ollama-piha/env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Copy to .env next to docker-compose.yml (gitignored); docker compose picks
+# it up automatically. Same convention as services/kb-query.
+
+# LAN IP of PIHA. The published port (11434) binds ONLY to this interface —
+# never 0.0.0.0. Verify after host rebuilds: ip -4 addr. Same value as
+# kb-query's LAN_BIND_IP (services/kb-query/env.example) — both containers
+# run on the same node.
+LAN_BIND_IP=192.168.31.5
diff --git a/services/ollama-piha/healthcheck.sh b/services/ollama-piha/healthcheck.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2f81528
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/ollama-piha/healthcheck.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Healthcheck for ollama-piha (module 5 phase 4 local embed fallback).
+
+if ! docker ps --filter "name=ollama-piha" --filter "status=running" | grep -q "ollama-piha"; then
+    echo "[FAIL] ollama-piha container is not running"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! curl -sf http://localhost:11434/api/tags > /dev/null; then
+    echo "[FAIL] ollama-piha API is not responding"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "[OK] ollama-piha is healthy"
+exit 0
diff --git a/services/ollama-piha/service.yaml b/services/ollama-piha/service.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c0ea82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/ollama-piha/service.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+service:
+  name: ollama-piha
+  owner_node: piha
+  role: kb-embed-fallback         # module 5 phase 4 plan §2 decision 2 / §5: local fallback embed
+                                    # when Ollama@SOLARIA is unreachable/times out. NOT the
+                                    # default embed path -- kb-query only reaches this via its
+                                    # circuit breaker (services/kb-query/app/fallback.py).
+  exposure: private                # LAN bind (LAN_BIND_IP), consumed only by kb-query@PIHA today
+  dependencies: []
+  ports:
+    - container: 11434
+      host: 11434
+      protocol: tcp
+  healthcheck:
+    type: http
+    endpoint: http://localhost:11434/api/tags
+    interval: 1m
+    timeout: 10s
+    retries: 3
+  restart_policy: unless-stopped
+  persistence:
+    paths:
+      - /opt/homelab/data/ollama-piha
+  runtime:
+    directories:
+      - /opt/homelab/data/ollama-piha
+    env_vars:
+      - LAN_BIND_IP                # required — compose port-bind interpolation
+    config_files:
+      - .env                       # LAN_BIND_IP (gitignored, from env.example)
+  # Same model as document_chunk.model / document_summary.embedding_model (bge-m3) -- kb-query's
+  # startup invariant (app/startup.py) enforces this once for both the SOLARIA and PIHA legs.
+  # `ollama pull bge-m3` is a manual deploy step (see README.md), not baked into the image.