diff --git a/src/brainy.ts b/src/brainy.ts
index 59fbe20c..069a77c0 100644
--- a/src/brainy.ts
+++ b/src/brainy.ts
@@ -3831,13 +3831,45 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
    * @returns The operation to add to the caller's batch, or `null` when
    *   nothing could be done (already narrated + tracked as degraded).
    */
+  /**
+   * @description A JSON-safe view of a record bound for the metadata-index
+   * crossing. The seam's metadata is JSON-safe BY CONTRACT (a native provider
+   * serializes it; u64 ints as Number corrupt above 2^53) — but
+   * {@link resolveVerbEndpointInts} MIRRORS the resolved endpoint ints onto
+   * the verb object itself as BigInt (`verb.sourceInt`/`targetInt`), so a
+   * verb object reused as index metadata carried BigInts into
+   * JSON.stringify, which throws, aborting the whole transaction (found by
+   * the first joint pair gate). Endpoint ints ride their OWN op params on the
+   * graph legs — the metadata crossing drops every BigInt-valued top-level
+   * key instead of guessing at a lossy numeric encoding.
+   * @param metadata - The candidate index-metadata record.
+   * @returns The same object when already JSON-safe, else a shallow copy
+   *   without the BigInt-valued keys.
+   */
+  private static jsonSafeIndexMetadata(metadata: unknown): unknown {
+    if (metadata === null || typeof metadata !== 'object') return metadata
+    const rec = metadata as Record<string, unknown>
+    let hasBigint = false
+    for (const k in rec) {
+      if (typeof rec[k] === 'bigint') { hasBigint = true; break }
+    }
+    if (!hasBigint) return metadata
+    const out: Record<string, unknown> = {}
+    for (const k in rec) {
+      if (typeof rec[k] !== 'bigint') out[k] = rec[k]
+    }
+    return out
+  }
+
   private metadataIndexRetractionOp(
     id: string,
     metadata: unknown,
     context: string
   ): Operation | null {
     if (metadata) {
-      return new RemoveFromMetadataIndexOperation(this.metadataIndex, id, metadata, this.indexWriteGeneration)
+      return new RemoveFromMetadataIndexOperation(
+        this.metadataIndex, id, Brainy.jsonSafeIndexMetadata(metadata), this.indexWriteGeneration
+      )
     }
     const prov = this.metadataIndex as unknown as {
       removeEntityById?: (id: string) => Promise<void>
@@ -5114,7 +5146,7 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       // read above); `updatedMetadata` is the raw stored record just
       // persisted — the same shape relate()/rebuild() use to add.
       tx.addOperation(
-        new RemoveFromMetadataIndexOperation(this.metadataIndex, params.id, existing, this.indexWriteGeneration)
+        new RemoveFromMetadataIndexOperation(this.metadataIndex, params.id, Brainy.jsonSafeIndexMetadata(existing), this.indexWriteGeneration)
       )
       tx.addOperation(
         new AddToMetadataIndexOperation(this.metadataIndex, params.id, updatedMetadata, this.indexWriteGeneration)
diff --git a/tests/integration/verb-metadata-rows.test.ts b/tests/integration/verb-metadata-rows.test.ts
index 79ce00d0..ff08132a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/verb-metadata-rows.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/verb-metadata-rows.test.ts
@@ -187,4 +187,40 @@ describe('verb metadata rows — the live path matches the rebuild walk', () =>
 
     expect(await index.getIds('tag', 'parity-f')).toEqual([])
   })
+
+
+  it('the metadata crossing never carries BigInt endpoint ints — a cascade delete after graph resolution survives JSON', async () => {
+    // resolveVerbEndpointInts MIRRORS the resolved u64 ints onto the verb
+    // object as BigInt (verb.sourceInt/targetInt). A provider that JSON-
+    // serializes the metadata crossing dies on BigInt — found by the first
+    // joint pair gate. This pin drives the exact shape: relate (graph legs
+    // resolve ints), then remove the source entity (the cascade passes the
+    // SAME verb object to the retraction), through a provider shim that
+    // enforces the JSON-safety contract the way a native provider does.
+    const employee = await brain.add({ data: 'cascade employee', type: 'person' })
+    const invoice = await brain.add({ data: 'cascade invoice', type: 'document' })
+    await brain.relate({ from: employee, to: invoice, type: 'relatedTo' })
+    const mgr: any = (brain as any).metadataIndex
+    const origRemove = mgr.removeFromIndex.bind(mgr)
+    const seen: unknown[] = []
+    mgr.removeFromIndex = async (id: string, metadata?: unknown, generation?: bigint) => {
+      seen.push(metadata)
+      JSON.stringify(metadata) // the contract: throws on BigInt, exactly like a native crossing
+      return origRemove(id, metadata, generation)
+    }
+    try {
+      await brain.remove(employee) // cascades the relation's retraction
+    } finally {
+      mgr.removeFromIndex = origRemove
+    }
+    expect(seen.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    for (const m of seen) {
+      if (m && typeof m === 'object') {
+        for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(m as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+          expect(typeof v, `metadata key ${k} must be JSON-safe`).not.toBe('bigint')
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  })
+
 })