diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ec925642..0b154af5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,23 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [standard-version](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version) for commit guidelines.
 
+### [10.4.2-rc.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/compare/v10.4.1...v10.4.2-rc.1) (2026-08-27)
+
+- Merge branch 'next/zero-norm-unvector-door' (9b84ef5b)
+- fix(vectors): a zero-norm vector is not a vector, canonical side included, plus the sanctioned unvector door (0de76659)
+- fix(hnsw): skip unvectored rows on rebuild; refuse empty vectors in the index (8fc553b1)
+- fix(storage): derive the canonical count ledger from identity records, stamp the derivation rule, and mark legacy-derived ledgers suspect at load (fd6b4ce4)
+- Merge branch 'next/enumeration-identity-rekey' (204d74c1)
+- fix(storage): enumeration re-keys on the identity record, not the vector leg (f8d8ce16)
+- fix(init): rethrow plugin activation failures with the original error as cause so the originating frame survives to the caller (2496e09a)
+- Merge branch 'next/vfs-root-zero-norm' (4c7b0fab)
+- fix(vfs): the VFS root never persists a zero-norm vector (c6cc0de9)
+- build: derive generated-file stamps from git commit time, not wall clock (8a5c1245)
+- Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/release/10.4.1' (aad9e2ee)
+- docs(concepts): the serving law — a failure is graded by whether an answer could be wrong, never by the cost of the fix; reads refuse per family (2914e0eb)
+- chore(release): 10.4.1-rc.1 (7870dc40)
+
+
 ### [10.4.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/compare/v10.4.0...v10.4.1) (2026-08-26)
 
 - fix(reads): the read gate is per-family; a write carrying unchanged data never re-embeds (c039411e)
diff --git a/docs/concepts/index-health.md b/docs/concepts/index-health.md
index 18bf7010..96199f11 100644
--- a/docs/concepts/index-health.md
+++ b/docs/concepts/index-health.md
@@ -68,6 +68,19 @@ a maintenance window, a divergence `repairIndex()` will clean up on its own
 schedule. `serving: false` is not benign. It means this provider is refusing to
 answer, on its own word, right now.
 
+**How a failure gets its grade — the serving law.** A provider grades `heal` by
+one question only: *could an answer be wrong?* — never *how expensive is the
+fix?* A missing-postings shortfall, however large, is `heal: 'repair'` (re-post
+exactly what the ledger names, reads serving throughout); it can never withhold
+serving just because healing it takes work. `serving` is withheld only by a
+small, named set of rebuild-graded conditions — the index not initialized, its
+durable state absent, a manifest naming files that are not resident, a replay
+that did not complete cleanly — the states in which an answer could genuinely be
+wrong. And a read is only ever refused by the family it actually consults: a
+metadata filter is answered by the metadata index alone, vector search by the
+vector index, traversal by the graph index — one family's refusal never blocks
+another family's reads.
+
 ## Reads refuse — they never rebuild
 
 A query that reaches a not-serving provider does not trigger a rebuild from inside
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 70635835..889c67c8 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-  "version": "10.4.1",
+  "version": "10.4.2-rc.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-      "version": "10.4.1",
+      "version": "10.4.2-rc.1",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@msgpack/msgpack": "^3.1.2",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4125b073..214feeac 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-  "version": "10.4.1",
+  "version": "10.4.2-rc.1",
   "description": "Universal Knowledge Protocol™ - World's first Triple Intelligence database unifying vector, graph, and document search in one API. Stage 3 CANONICAL: 42 nouns × 127 verbs covering 96-97% of all human knowledge.",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "module": "dist/index.js",
diff --git a/scripts/buildEmbeddedPatterns.ts b/scripts/buildEmbeddedPatterns.ts
index 73e51224..c046df45 100644
--- a/scripts/buildEmbeddedPatterns.ts
+++ b/scripts/buildEmbeddedPatterns.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { TransformerEmbedding } from '../src/utils/embedding.js'
 import * as fs from 'fs/promises'
 import * as path from 'path'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
+import { resolveDeterministicStamp } from './lib/deterministicStamp.js'
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 
@@ -97,13 +98,22 @@ async function buildEmbeddedPatterns() {
   // Convert to base64 for embedding in TypeScript
   const uint8 = new Uint8Array(buffer)
   const base64 = Buffer.from(uint8).toString('base64')
-  
+
+  // Deterministic stamp: derived from the git commit time of this
+  // generator's inputs, never from wall-clock time — two builds of the
+  // same source tree must produce byte-identical output.
+  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedPatterns.ts')
+  const generatedStamp = resolveDeterministicStamp(
+    [path.join(__dirname, 'buildEmbeddedPatterns.ts'), libraryPath],
+    outputPath
+  )
+
   // Generate TypeScript file with everything embedded
   const tsContent = `/**
  * 🧠 BRAINY EMBEDDED PATTERNS
  * 
  * AUTO-GENERATED - DO NOT EDIT
- * Generated: ${new Date().toISOString()}
+ * Generated: ${generatedStamp}
  * Patterns: ${libraryData.patterns.length}
  * Coverage: 94-98% of all queries
  * 
@@ -197,7 +207,6 @@ prodLog.info(\`🧠 Brainy Pattern Library loaded: \${EMBEDDED_PATTERNS.length}
 `
 
   // Write the TypeScript file
-  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedPatterns.ts')
   await fs.writeFile(outputPath, tsContent)
   
   // Report statistics
diff --git a/scripts/buildTypeEmbeddings.ts b/scripts/buildTypeEmbeddings.ts
index 61bcf238..688d6ac1 100644
--- a/scripts/buildTypeEmbeddings.ts
+++ b/scripts/buildTypeEmbeddings.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import * as fs from 'fs/promises'
 import * as path from 'path'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 import { NounType, VerbType } from '../src/types/graphTypes.js'
+import { resolveDeterministicStamp } from './lib/deterministicStamp.js'
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 
@@ -373,12 +374,24 @@ async function buildTypeEmbeddings() {
   const uint8 = new Uint8Array(buffer)
   const base64 = Buffer.from(uint8).toString('base64')
 
+  // Deterministic stamp: derived from the git commit time of this
+  // generator's inputs, never from wall-clock time — two builds of the
+  // same source tree must produce byte-identical output.
+  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts')
+  const generatedStamp = resolveDeterministicStamp(
+    [
+      path.join(__dirname, 'buildTypeEmbeddings.ts'),
+      path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'types', 'graphTypes.ts')
+    ],
+    outputPath
+  )
+
   // Generate TypeScript file
   const tsContent = `/**
  * 🧠 BRAINY EMBEDDED TYPE EMBEDDINGS
  *
  * AUTO-GENERATED - DO NOT EDIT
- * Generated: ${new Date().toISOString()}
+ * Generated: ${generatedStamp}
  * Noun Types: ${nounTypes.length}
  * Verb Types: ${verbTypes.length}
  *
@@ -395,7 +408,7 @@ export const TYPE_METADATA = {
   verbTypes: ${verbTypes.length},
   totalTypes: ${totalTypes},
   embeddingDimensions: ${embeddingDim},
-  generatedAt: "${new Date().toISOString()}",
+  generatedAt: "${generatedStamp}",
   sizeBytes: {
     embeddings: ${buffer.byteLength},
     base64: ${base64.length}
@@ -494,7 +507,6 @@ prodLog.info(\`🧠 Brainy Type Embeddings loaded: \${TYPE_METADATA.nounTypes} n
 `
 
   // Write the TypeScript file
-  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts')
   await fs.writeFile(outputPath, tsContent)
 
   // Report statistics
diff --git a/scripts/lib/deterministicStamp.ts b/scripts/lib/deterministicStamp.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c2a66604
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/lib/deterministicStamp.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+/**
+ * Deterministic generation-stamp resolution for Brainy's build-time code
+ * generators.
+ *
+ * Two builds of the same source tree must produce byte-identical output.
+ * A wall-clock stamp (`new Date()`) breaks that guarantee, so every
+ * generator that writes a "Generated:" header or a `generatedAt` field
+ * into its output must resolve the stamp through this module instead.
+ *
+ * Resolution order:
+ *   1. The newest git commit timestamp among the generator's input files
+ *      (the generator script itself always counts as an input).
+ *   2. If git metadata is unavailable (for example, building from a
+ *      published npm tarball with no `.git` directory), the stamp already
+ *      recorded in the previously generated output file.
+ *   3. If neither is available, the fixed epoch string
+ *      `1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z`.
+ *
+ * Every fallback logs a line to stderr — deterministic degradation is
+ * loud, never a silent divergence.
+ */
+
+import { execFileSync } from 'child_process'
+import * as fs from 'fs'
+
+const EPOCH_STAMP = '1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z'
+const STAMP_PATTERN = /\*\s*Generated:\s*(\S+)/
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the deterministic stamp for a generator run.
+ *
+ * @param inputPaths Absolute paths to every file whose content determines
+ *   the generator's output, including the generator script itself.
+ * @param previousOutputPath Absolute path to the previously generated
+ *   file, used for the existing-stamp fallback when git is unavailable.
+ * @returns An ISO-8601 timestamp string that is deterministic for a given
+ *   source tree.
+ */
+export function resolveDeterministicStamp(
+  inputPaths: string[],
+  previousOutputPath: string
+): string {
+  const gitStamp = newestGitCommitTimestamp(inputPaths)
+  if (gitStamp) {
+    return gitStamp
+  }
+
+  const existingStamp = readExistingStamp(previousOutputPath)
+  if (existingStamp) {
+    process.stderr.write(
+      `[deterministic-stamp] no git commit history found for generator inputs; ` +
+        `reusing existing stamp from ${previousOutputPath}: ${existingStamp}\n`
+    )
+    return existingStamp
+  }
+
+  process.stderr.write(
+    `[deterministic-stamp] no git commit history and no previous output at ` +
+      `${previousOutputPath}; falling back to fixed epoch stamp ${EPOCH_STAMP}\n`
+  )
+  return EPOCH_STAMP
+}
+
+/**
+ * Find the newest git commit timestamp among the given input paths.
+ * Returns null if git is unavailable, the tree is not a git repository,
+ * or none of the inputs have any commit history yet.
+ */
+function newestGitCommitTimestamp(inputPaths: string[]): string | null {
+  let newest: string | null = null
+
+  for (const inputPath of inputPaths) {
+    if (!fs.existsSync(inputPath)) {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    let out: string
+    try {
+      out = execFileSync(
+        'git',
+        ['log', '-1', '--format=%cI', '--', inputPath],
+        { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'] }
+      )
+        .toString()
+        .trim()
+    } catch {
+      // git missing, not a repository, or no permissions — handled by the
+      // caller's fallback chain.
+      continue
+    }
+
+    if (!out) {
+      // Path exists but has no commit history yet (e.g. newly created,
+      // uncommitted file).
+      continue
+    }
+
+    if (!newest || new Date(out).getTime() > new Date(newest).getTime()) {
+      newest = out
+    }
+  }
+
+  return newest
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parse the `* Generated: <ISO timestamp>` header out of a previously
+ * generated file, if one exists.
+ */
+function readExistingStamp(outputPath: string): string | null {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(outputPath)) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  const content = fs.readFileSync(outputPath, 'utf-8')
+  const match = content.match(STAMP_PATTERN)
+  return match ? match[1] : null
+}
diff --git a/src/brainy.ts b/src/brainy.ts
index 6289e8f2..ed958a67 100644
--- a/src/brainy.ts
+++ b/src/brainy.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
 } from './storage/brainFormat.js'
 import type { BrainFormat } from './storage/brainFormat.js'
 import { StorageAdapter, Vector, DistanceFunction, EmbeddingFunction, GraphVerb, STANDARD_ENTITY_FIELDS } from './coreTypes.js'
+import { isZeroNormVector } from './utils/distance.js'
 import type { HNSWNoun, HNSWNounWithMetadata, HNSWVerbWithMetadata, EntityVisibility } from './coreTypes.js'
 import {
   defaultEmbeddingFunction,
@@ -395,6 +396,15 @@ interface PlannedTransact {
    * marker outlives its write.
    */
   markerRecords: FactMarkerRecord[]
+  /**
+   * Ids the batch's `{ op: 'update' }` unvector door (`vector: []`) needs to
+   * decrement on the vectored-noun ledger — consumed by `transact()` with a
+   * proper `await this.storage.noteVectorUnlanded?.(id)` per id, AFTER
+   * `commitTransaction` resolves (never for a rejected batch). Kept separate
+   * from `postCommit` (`Array<() => void>`, called synchronously, fire-and-
+   * forget) because the ledger hook is async and must be awaited.
+   */
+  vectorUnlands: string[]
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1503,6 +1513,15 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
         }).backfillBlobHistoryRefCountsIfNeeded()
       }
 
+      // LEG C (zero-norm/unvector-door law): migrate a legacy zero-norm VFS
+      // root BEFORE the vector-leg open gate below ever compares the
+      // canonical vectored-noun count against the vector index's size — see
+      // migrateLegacyZeroNormVfsRootIfNeeded's JSDoc for why this is a safe
+      // O(1) exception to "nothing at open may scale with brain size", and
+      // why it must run here rather than waiting on VirtualFileSystem's own
+      // (VFS-instance-gated) lazy migration.
+      await this.migrateLegacyZeroNormVfsRootIfNeeded()
+
       // Rebuild indexes if needed for existing data. Runs to completion before
       // init() returns — there is no more first-query lazy path, so the flag
       // below (kept for getIndexStatus() API compatibility) simply flips true
@@ -1517,8 +1536,9 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       // cache, roaring, msgpack, sort:topK, distance), HNSW/metadata/graph
       // index construction, the eager cold-load, id-resolver + connections-
       // codec wiring, crash-recovery index rebuild, the replay-gap check,
-      // legacy VFS blob adoption, blob-history backfill, and the
-      // rebuildIndexesIfNeeded() gate + migration check.
+      // legacy VFS blob adoption, blob-history backfill, the legacy
+      // zero-norm VFS root migration, and the rebuildIndexesIfNeeded() gate
+      // + migration check.
       markPhase('index-init-gate')
 
       // Register shutdown hooks for graceful count flushing (once globally)
@@ -1814,7 +1834,11 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       if (error instanceof Error && (error as Error & { code?: string }).code === 'BRAINY_WRITER_LOCKED') {
         throw error
       }
-      throw new Error(`Failed to initialize Brainy: ${error}`)
+      // Wrap with the original as `cause` so the originating frame (a plugin's
+      // own file:line, e.g. a provider boot failure) survives to the caller's
+      // log — a plain string interpolation discards both stack and cause.
+      const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+      throw new Error(`Failed to initialize Brainy: ${message}`, { cause: error })
     }
   }
 
@@ -2907,13 +2931,43 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     // vector shape, is structurally impossible). The background worker
     // embeds + inserts.
     const deferringEmbed = params.deferEmbedding === true && !params.vector
-    const vector = deferringEmbed
+    let vector = deferringEmbed
       ? []
       : params.vector || (await this.embed(params.data))
 
+    // THE ZERO-NORM LAW (canonical write side): a zero-norm vector is not a
+    // vector — it never crosses an engine boundary (the engine pair's seam
+    // law). This engine's own cosine distance treats an all-zero vector
+    // safely (a zero-norm operand always scores MAXIMUM distance — see
+    // isZeroNormVector's JSDoc), but a downstream engine serving squared-
+    // euclidean distance cannot tell it apart from a legitimate origin
+    // point — a false attractor that silently darkened 150+ rows in a
+    // production deployment. The index belt (AddToVectorIndexOperation)
+    // already refuses to INDEX a zero-norm vector, but until now the
+    // CANONICAL write still persisted it and the vectored-noun ledger
+    // counted it — so a near-empty store whose only vectored row was
+    // zero-norm read "canonical vectored > 0, index size 0" and threw a
+    // not-ready error at open. Normalize HERE, before the dimension pin,
+    // the vectored-ledger flag (`SaveNounMetadataOperation`'s `hasVector`),
+    // and the index ops below ever see it, so it persists as the sanctioned
+    // "unvectored" `[]` shape instead — the canonical write still succeeds.
+    if (!deferringEmbed && vector.length > 0 && isZeroNormVector(vector)) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[Brainy] add(): entity ${id} was given an explicit all-zero vector — ` +
+          `a zero-norm vector is not a vector; persisted unvectored ([]) instead.`
+      )
+      vector = []
+    }
+
     // Ensure dimensions are set (a deferred-embed stub carries no dimension
     // information — the worker's real vector goes through the same guard).
-    if (!deferringEmbed) {
+    // Gated on `vector.length > 0`, not `!deferringEmbed`: ANY insert whose
+    // vector is the "unvectored" empty-array shape carries no dimension
+    // information, deferred or not — an explicit `vector: []` (e.g. the VFS
+    // root's zero-norm fix, see VirtualFileSystem.doInitializeRoot()) must
+    // never pin `this.dimensions` to 0, which would poison every subsequent
+    // real embed's dimension check for the life of the store.
+    if (!deferringEmbed && vector.length > 0) {
       if (!this.dimensions) {
         this.dimensions = vector.length
       } else if (vector.length !== this.dimensions) {
@@ -3029,10 +3083,15 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
           }, true)
         )
 
-        // Operation 3: Add to HNSW index (after entity saved). A deferred
-        // embed has nothing to index yet — the worker's atomic update
-        // inserts the real vector.
-        if (!deferringEmbed) {
+        // Operation 3: Add to HNSW index (after entity saved). Gated on
+        // `vector.length > 0`, not `!deferringEmbed`: a deferred embed has
+        // nothing to index yet (the worker's atomic update inserts the real
+        // vector later), and an explicit `vector: []` insert (the VFS root's
+        // zero-norm fix — permanently unvectored plumbing, never embedded)
+        // is exactly the same "nothing to index yet" shape. The zero-norm
+        // BELT (a real all-zero vector, non-empty) is enforced inside
+        // AddToVectorIndexOperation itself — see its JSDoc.
+        if (vector.length > 0) {
           tx.addOperation(
             new AddToVectorIndexOperation(this.index, id, vector, this.indexWriteGeneration)
           )
@@ -3607,25 +3666,53 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       // often the host writes.
       const dataUnchanged = rawHasNewData && Brainy.sameEntityData(params.data, existing.data)
       const hasNewData = rawHasNewData && !dataUnchanged
+
+      // THE ZERO-NORM LAW (canonical write side) — see add()'s matching
+      // comment: an explicit REAL all-zero vector is not a vector. Normalize
+      // to the sanctioned "unvectored" `[]` shape BEFORE the dimension
+      // check, the unvector-door decision below, and the index ops ever see
+      // it — a local copy; `params.vector` itself is never mutated.
+      let explicitVector = params.vector
+      if (explicitVector && explicitVector.length > 0 && isZeroNormVector(explicitVector)) {
+        prodLog.warn(
+          `[Brainy] update(): entity ${params.id} was given an explicit all-zero vector — ` +
+            `a zero-norm vector is not a vector; persisted unvectored ([]) instead.`
+        )
+        explicitVector = []
+      }
+
+      // THE SANCTIONED UNVECTOR DOOR: `explicitVector` at length 0 (an
+      // explicit `vector: []`, or a real all-zero vector just normalized
+      // above) is an instruction to remove the vector NOW — never "please
+      // embed". `validateUpdateParams` already refuses combining it with
+      // `deferEmbedding: true` (an empty array is truthy, so that guard
+      // fires unconditionally on any explicit `vector`). Idempotent on an
+      // already-unvectored row: the ledger decrement near the end of this
+      // method is gated on the PRIOR vector actually having been real.
+      const isExplicitUnvector = explicitVector !== undefined && explicitVector.length === 0
+
       // MT5 deferred re-embedding: the OLD vector keeps serving semantic
       // search — stale-but-present, never absent (the flicker law) — until
       // the background worker embeds the new data and swaps it atomically.
       const deferringEmbed =
-        params.deferEmbedding === true && hasNewData && !params.vector
-      if (params.vector) {
-        if (this.dimensions && params.vector.length !== this.dimensions) {
+        params.deferEmbedding === true && hasNewData && !explicitVector
+      if (explicitVector) {
+        // A length-0 explicit vector (the unvector door) carries no
+        // dimension information — exempt from the check, mirroring add()'s
+        // own `vector.length > 0` gate on the dimension pin.
+        if (explicitVector.length > 0 && this.dimensions && explicitVector.length !== this.dimensions) {
           throw new Error(
-            `Vector dimension mismatch: expected ${this.dimensions}, got ${params.vector.length}`
+            `Vector dimension mismatch: expected ${this.dimensions}, got ${explicitVector.length}`
           )
         }
-        vector = params.vector
+        vector = explicitVector
       } else if (hasNewData && !deferringEmbed) {
         vector = await this.embed(params.data)
       }
       // A deferred data change does NOT reindex now (the vector is unchanged;
       // the worker's atomic swap carries the real reindex later).
       const needsReindexing = Boolean(
-        (hasNewData && !deferringEmbed) || params.type || params.vector
+        (hasNewData && !deferringEmbed) || params.type || explicitVector
       )
 
       // Always update the noun with new metadata
@@ -3719,6 +3806,22 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
         ? [this.enqueuePendingEmbed(params.id)]
         : undefined
 
+      // Leg D — the unvector door clears a PENDING deferred-embed marker:
+      // without this, the worker would later embed this row's current data
+      // and silently re-vector it, defeating the caller's explicit "remove
+      // the vector now" instruction. The clear rides THIS SAME commit fact
+      // (an `embed.landed` record with an empty vector — the recovery fold
+      // disarms a pending marker on ANY `embed.landed` for the id,
+      // regardless of the vector it carries), so a crash between the write
+      // and the in-memory clear below still recovers disarmed. Mutually
+      // exclusive with `embedMarkers` above: `deferringEmbed` requires an
+      // ABSENT `explicitVector`, so the two branches never both apply.
+      const clearsPendingEmbed = isExplicitUnvector && this._pendingEmbedIds.has(params.id)
+      const commitRecords: FactMarkerRecord[] | undefined =
+        embedMarkers ?? (clearsPendingEmbed
+          ? [{ type: 'embed.landed', id: params.id, vector: [] }]
+          : undefined)
+
       // Execute atomically with transaction system, generation-stamped as one
       // immutable Model-B generation (before-image = the entity's prior state).
       await this.persistSingleOp({ nouns: [params.id] }, async (tx) => {
@@ -3807,7 +3910,33 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
               }
             }
           ]
-        : undefined, embedMarkers)
+        : undefined, commitRecords)
+
+      // Leg D continued — the in-memory pending-embed clear runs only AFTER
+      // the commit above actually succeeded (an aborted update must not
+      // disarm a marker whose durable `embed.landed` twin was never
+      // written).
+      if (clearsPendingEmbed) {
+        this.clearPendingEmbed(params.id)
+        prodLog.warn(
+          `[Brainy] update(): entity ${params.id} had a pending deferred embed — ` +
+            `the unvector door cleared it ('vector: []' is an explicit instruction, ` +
+            `never "please embed").`
+        )
+      }
+
+      // Leg D — vectored-ledger decrement for the sanctioned unvector door.
+      // update()'s own metadata write goes through UpdateNounMetadataOperation
+      // (isNew=false), so the saveNounMetadata(..., hasVector) seam never
+      // fires here — noteVectorUnlanded is the ONLY seam, the same
+      // sanctioned hook unvectorNounForRootMigration() uses. Gated on the
+      // PRIOR vector having actually been real (non-empty, non-zero-norm):
+      // an already-unvectored row's second call is a true no-op — no
+      // decrement, matching the ledger-exactness law (never double-count,
+      // never drift negative).
+      if (isExplicitUnvector && existing.vector.length > 0 && !isZeroNormVector(existing.vector)) {
+        await this.storage.noteVectorUnlanded?.(params.id)
+      }
 
       // Aggregation hook (outside transaction — derived data). `existing` is
       // the full get() view — every reserved field top-level — and must be
@@ -9163,6 +9292,15 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       hook()
     }
 
+    // Leg D — vectored-ledger decrements for this batch's unvector-door
+    // updates (see planTxUpdate's matching comment), applied after the
+    // commit point and properly awaited (unlike `postCommit`'s synchronous
+    // fire-and-forget hooks) — each is the same sanctioned hook
+    // unvectorNounForRootMigration() uses.
+    for (const id of plan.vectorUnlands) {
+      await this.storage.noteVectorUnlanded?.(id)
+    }
+
     // Change feed: the batch's events share its single committed generation.
     // A rejected batch throws at commitTransaction and never reaches here.
     this.emitCommitted(plan.changeEvents, undefined, generation, timestamp)
@@ -10245,6 +10383,18 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     for (const id of nounIds) {
       const noun = await snapshotStorage.getNoun(id)
       if (noun && Array.isArray(noun.vector) && noun.vector.length > 0) {
+        // THE ZERO-NORM LAW: a direct provider-write seam (this materializer
+        // inserts one-by-one, bypassing AddToVectorIndexOperation's own
+        // belt) — apply the same refusal here rather than handing a false
+        // attractor to the ephemeral reader's index.
+        if (isZeroNormVector(noun.vector)) {
+          prodLog.warn(
+            `[Brainy] materializeAtGeneration: refusing to index a zero-norm vector for ` +
+              `entity ${noun.id} — a zero-norm vector is not a vector and never crosses an ` +
+              `engine boundary (the materialized record is unaffected)`
+          )
+          continue
+        }
         await reader.index.addItem({ id: noun.id, vector: noun.vector })
       }
     }
@@ -10394,7 +10544,8 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       casUpdates: [],
       createdNouns: new Set(),
       changeEvents: [],
-      markerRecords: []
+      markerRecords: [],
+      vectorUnlands: []
     }
 
     for (const op of ops) {
@@ -10516,10 +10667,26 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     // marker-less committed row would be a silently missing vector, which is
     // the disallowed direction). The background worker embeds + inserts.
     const deferringEmbed = params.deferEmbedding === true && !params.vector
-    const vector = deferringEmbed
+    let vector = deferringEmbed
       ? []
       : params.vector || (await this.embed(params.data))
-    if (!deferringEmbed) {
+
+    // THE ZERO-NORM LAW — see the single-add() insert path's matching
+    // comment (a zero-norm vector is not a vector; never crosses an engine
+    // boundary). Normalized here BEFORE the dimension pin and the
+    // vectored-ledger `hasVector` flag below ever see it.
+    if (!deferringEmbed && vector.length > 0 && isZeroNormVector(vector)) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[Brainy] transact add: entity ${id} was given an explicit all-zero vector — ` +
+          `a zero-norm vector is not a vector; persisted unvectored ([]) instead.`
+      )
+      vector = []
+    }
+
+    // Gated on `vector.length > 0` — see the single-add() insert path's
+    // matching comment: an explicit `vector: []` carries no dimension
+    // information either, deferred or not.
+    if (!deferringEmbed && vector.length > 0) {
       if (!this.dimensions) {
         this.dimensions = vector.length
       } else if (vector.length !== this.dimensions) {
@@ -10601,9 +10768,12 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       // for a deferred embed (stub vector `[]`; counted later at landing).
       new SaveNounMetadataOperation(this.storage, id, storageMetadata, isNew, vector.length > 0),
       new SaveNounOperation(this.storage, { id, vector, connections: new Map(), level: 0 }, isNew),
-      ...(deferringEmbed
-        ? []
-        : [new AddToVectorIndexOperation(this.index, id, vector, this.indexWriteGeneration)]),
+      // Gated on `vector.length > 0` — see the single-add() insert path's
+      // matching comment: an explicit `vector: []` has nothing to index
+      // either, deferred or not.
+      ...(vector.length > 0
+        ? [new AddToVectorIndexOperation(this.index, id, vector, this.indexWriteGeneration)]
+        : []),
       new AddToMetadataIndexOperation(this.metadataIndex, id, entityForIndexing, this.indexWriteGeneration)
     )
     plan.touchedNouns.push(id)
@@ -10683,17 +10853,62 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     const dataUnchanged = rawHasNewData && Brainy.sameEntityData(params.data, existing.data)
     const hasNewData = rawHasNewData && !dataUnchanged
     let vector = existing.vector
-    if (params.vector) {
-      if (this.dimensions && params.vector.length !== this.dimensions) {
+
+    // THE ZERO-NORM LAW + THE SANCTIONED UNVECTOR DOOR — transact() mirror
+    // of update()'s matching block: an explicit REAL all-zero vector
+    // normalizes to `[]` (never crosses an engine boundary), and an
+    // explicit `vector: []` (post-normalization) is the sanctioned unvector
+    // instruction, exempt from the dimension check. `validateUpdateParams`
+    // already refuses combining it with `deferEmbedding: true`.
+    let explicitVector = params.vector
+    if (explicitVector && explicitVector.length > 0 && isZeroNormVector(explicitVector)) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[Brainy] transact update: entity ${params.id} was given an explicit all-zero ` +
+          `vector — a zero-norm vector is not a vector; persisted unvectored ([]) instead.`
+      )
+      explicitVector = []
+    }
+    const isExplicitUnvector = explicitVector !== undefined && explicitVector.length === 0
+
+    if (explicitVector) {
+      if (explicitVector.length > 0 && this.dimensions && explicitVector.length !== this.dimensions) {
         throw new Error(
-          `Vector dimension mismatch: expected ${this.dimensions}, got ${params.vector.length}`
+          `Vector dimension mismatch: expected ${this.dimensions}, got ${explicitVector.length}`
         )
       }
-      vector = params.vector
+      vector = explicitVector
     } else if (hasNewData) {
       vector = await this.embed(params.data)
     }
-    const needsReindexing = Boolean(hasNewData || params.type || params.vector)
+    const needsReindexing = Boolean(hasNewData || params.type || explicitVector)
+
+    // Leg D — the unvector door clears a PENDING deferred-embed marker (see
+    // update()'s matching comment for the full rationale): the durable
+    // clear (an `embed.landed` record, empty vector) rides the batch's ONE
+    // commit fact via `plan.markerRecords`; the in-memory clear is deferred
+    // to `plan.postCommit` so an aborted batch never disarms a marker whose
+    // durable twin was never written.
+    const clearsPendingEmbed = isExplicitUnvector && this._pendingEmbedIds.has(params.id)
+    if (clearsPendingEmbed) {
+      plan.markerRecords.push({ type: 'embed.landed', id: params.id, vector: [] })
+      plan.postCommit.push(() => {
+        this.clearPendingEmbed(params.id)
+        prodLog.warn(
+          `[Brainy] transact update: entity ${params.id} had a pending deferred embed — ` +
+            `the unvector door cleared it ('vector: []' is an explicit instruction, ` +
+            `never "please embed").`
+        )
+      })
+    }
+
+    // Leg D — vectored-ledger decrement for the sanctioned unvector door,
+    // deferred to `plan.vectorUnlands` (consumed with a proper `await` in
+    // `transact()`, AFTER the commit succeeds — see its matching comment).
+    // Gated on the PRIOR vector having actually been real (non-empty,
+    // non-zero-norm): idempotent on an already-unvectored row.
+    if (isExplicitUnvector && existing.vector.length > 0 && !isZeroNormVector(existing.vector)) {
+      plan.vectorUnlands.push(params.id)
+    }
 
     const newMetadata =
       params.merge !== false
@@ -12397,21 +12612,49 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     const metadataStats = await this.metadataIndex.getStats()
     const graphSize = await this.graphIndex.size()
 
-    // 1. Index size parity. HNSW must hold at least one node per indexed entity.
-    if (hnswSize === metadataStats.totalEntries) {
+    // 1. Index size parity. HNSW must hold one node per VECTORED noun — the
+    // vectored-noun ledger (`getCanonicalCounts().vectors.all`), NOT the raw
+    // metadata-entry count: every store's VFS root is PERMANENTLY unvectored
+    // (`vector: []` by design — a zero-norm/empty vector never crosses into
+    // the index, see AddToVectorIndexOperation/JsHnswVectorIndex.rebuild()'s
+    // matching belts), and a not-yet-landed deferred embed is unvectored
+    // too. Comparing against total entries counted the always-unvectored
+    // root as a permanent 1-node "drift" on every VFS-having store — a false
+    // warn on an otherwise perfectly healthy handoff. `vectors.all` is
+    // already the documented coverage denominator for exactly this
+    // comparison (see `CanonicalCounts.vectors`'s JSDoc). Falls back to the
+    // metadata-entry count when the ledger is unavailable or suspect (a
+    // storage adapter without the optional hook, or an unrecounted store) —
+    // never worse than the prior behavior in that case.
+    const vectorLedgerForParity = await this.storage.getCanonicalCounts?.()
+    const vectorParityTarget =
+      vectorLedgerForParity && !vectorLedgerForParity.suspect
+        ? vectorLedgerForParity.vectors.all
+        : metadataStats.totalEntries
+    if (hnswSize === vectorParityTarget) {
       checks.push({
         name: 'index-parity',
         status: 'pass',
-        message: `HNSW (${hnswSize}) and metadata index (${metadataStats.totalEntries}) agree.`,
-        details: { hnswSize, metadataEntries: metadataStats.totalEntries, graphRelationships: graphSize }
+        message: `HNSW (${hnswSize}) and the vectored-noun ledger (${vectorParityTarget}) agree.`,
+        details: {
+          hnswSize,
+          vectoredNouns: vectorParityTarget,
+          metadataEntries: metadataStats.totalEntries,
+          graphRelationships: graphSize
+        }
       })
     } else {
-      const drift = Math.abs(hnswSize - metadataStats.totalEntries)
+      const drift = Math.abs(hnswSize - vectorParityTarget)
       checks.push({
         name: 'index-parity',
-        status: drift > Math.max(10, metadataStats.totalEntries * 0.01) ? 'fail' : 'warn',
-        message: `HNSW (${hnswSize}) and metadata (${metadataStats.totalEntries}) differ by ${drift}. Run a rebuild if the gap is unexpected.`,
-        details: { hnswSize, metadataEntries: metadataStats.totalEntries, drift }
+        status: drift > Math.max(10, vectorParityTarget * 0.01) ? 'fail' : 'warn',
+        message: `HNSW (${hnswSize}) and the vectored-noun ledger (${vectorParityTarget}) differ by ${drift}. Run a rebuild if the gap is unexpected.`,
+        details: {
+          hnswSize,
+          vectoredNouns: vectorParityTarget,
+          metadataEntries: metadataStats.totalEntries,
+          drift
+        }
       })
     }
 
@@ -16032,6 +16275,141 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     return !this.pluginRegistry.hasProvider('embeddings')
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @description LEG C of the zero-norm/unvector-door law — migrate a
+   * legacy zero-norm VFS root BEFORE the vector-leg open gate
+   * ({@link rebuildIndexesIfNeeded}'s `vectorCoverageGap` check) ever
+   * compares the canonical vectored-noun count against the vector index's
+   * size. A pre-fix store may have persisted the VFS root (the fixed
+   * all-zeros UUID) with a REAL all-zero placeholder vector — lawful inside
+   * brainy (`cosineDistance` treats a zero-norm operand as MAXIMUM distance,
+   * see {@link isZeroNormVector}'s JSDoc) but never indexed (the index belt
+   * refuses to insert a zero-norm vector) and never meant to cross an
+   * engine boundary. Left unmigrated, the canonical ledger still counts it
+   * as vectored while the vector index correctly holds nothing for it — a
+   * near-empty store whose ONLY vectored row is this zero-norm root reads
+   * "canonical vectored 1, index size 0" and throws
+   * `VectorIndexNotReadyError` at open, going DARK instead of serving.
+   *
+   * THE LIFECYCLE LAW: nothing at open may scale with brain size. This step
+   * is safe under that law BECAUSE the VFS root lives at a FIXED,
+   * well-known id (`00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000` — mirrors
+   * `VirtualFileSystem.VFS_ROOT_ID`; kept as a literal here, the same
+   * convention as the other reserved-root literals in this file and in
+   * `db/factLog.ts`/`db/portableGraph.ts` — `brainy.ts` cannot import
+   * `VirtualFileSystem.ts`, which itself imports `Brainy`) — this is ONE
+   * direct canonical read by id (`storage.getNoun`, the same O(1)
+   * fixed-path lookup {@link unvectorNounForRootMigration} itself uses
+   * internally), NEVER a listing or a walk over `entities/nouns/**`. An
+   * absent root (a store that has never used the VFS) is a no-op, no error.
+   *
+   * Runs UNCONDITIONALLY at every open, independent of whether a
+   * `VirtualFileSystem` is ever constructed this session — the vector-leg
+   * gate this fixes runs during Brainy's OWN init, before any
+   * `VirtualFileSystem` instance exists to run its own lazy migration at
+   * `doInitializeRoot()` (kept in place as the second line of defense for a
+   * VFS actually opened this session — belt AND suspenders, never either
+   * alone).
+   */
+  private async migrateLegacyZeroNormVfsRootIfNeeded(): Promise<void> {
+    const VFS_ROOT_ID = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
+    // TORN-TOLERANT: a torn root record is a recovery-walk healer's job
+    // (see tests/integration/recovery-walk-tolerance.test.ts — an init-time
+    // walk that meets a torn record narrates+counts, via the adapter's own
+    // loud floor at the read site, and heals PAST it; the open itself must
+    // still succeed), not this O(1) migration check's. Skip this open's
+    // migration attempt rather than aborting init(): this leg is a
+    // defensive EXTRA (the index belt + VirtualFileSystem's own
+    // doInitializeRoot() migration still stand as the other lines of
+    // defense), and it retries harmlessly at a later open once the root
+    // heals.
+    let root: HNSWNounWithMetadata | null
+    try {
+      root = await this.storage.getNoun(VFS_ROOT_ID)
+    } catch (err) {
+      if ((err as { code?: string }).code !== 'TORN_RECORD') throw err
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[Brainy] open(): the VFS root's record is TORN — skipping the zero-norm root ` +
+          `migration check this open (the recovery walk is the healer; this migration ` +
+          `retries harmlessly once the root heals).`
+      )
+      return
+    }
+    if (!root || !Array.isArray(root.vector) || root.vector.length === 0) return
+    if (!isZeroNormVector(root.vector)) return
+    const migrated = await this.unvectorNounForRootMigration(VFS_ROOT_ID)
+    if (migrated) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[Brainy] open(): migrated the VFS root's legacy all-zero placeholder vector to ` +
+          `the unvectored shape (zero-norm vectors never cross an engine boundary) — run ` +
+          `before the vector-leg open gate compares canonical-vectored-count against the ` +
+          `vector index, so a near-empty store never reads a false coverage gap.`
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * SANCTIONED, ONE-TIME MIGRATION HOOK — rewrite a canonical noun's
+   * persisted vector from a real (non-empty) vector to the "unvectored"
+   * empty-array shape: the vector record is rewritten to `[]`, the row is
+   * removed from the vector index (if present), and the vectored-noun
+   * ledger (`getCanonicalCounts().vectors.all`) is decremented through the
+   * sanctioned {@link StorageAdapter.noteVectorUnlanded} hook — so the
+   * coverage ledger never silently drifts.
+   *
+   * Exists SOLELY for the VFS root zero-norm migration, called from two
+   * sites that detect the same legacy shape (a persisted root whose vector
+   * is the legacy all-zero placeholder): {@link migrateLegacyZeroNormVfsRootIfNeeded}
+   * (this brain's own init sequence, BEFORE the vector-leg open gate — Leg
+   * C of the zero-norm/unvector-door law) and
+   * `VirtualFileSystem.doInitializeRoot()` (the second line of defense, for
+   * a VFS actually constructed this session). This is NOT the general-
+   * purpose unvector API — ordinary application data uses the sanctioned
+   * unvector DOOR instead (`update({ id, vector: [] })` / the same op inside
+   * `transact()`), which decrements the ledger and clears any pending
+   * deferred-embed marker inline; it does not call this method. Never call
+   * this outside a VFS root migration.
+   *
+   * Idempotent: a noun already unvectored (`vector.length === 0`) or absent
+   * is a no-op — safe to call on every `init()`.
+   *
+   * @param id - The canonical noun id to migrate.
+   * @returns `true` if a migration write happened, `false` if the noun was
+   *   already unvectored (or absent) — a no-op.
+   */
+  async unvectorNounForRootMigration(id: string): Promise<boolean> {
+    const noun = await this.storage.getNoun(id)
+    if (!noun || !Array.isArray(noun.vector) || noun.vector.length === 0) return false
+
+    await this.persistSingleOp({ nouns: [id] }, async (tx) => {
+      // Rewrite the vector leg to the unvectored shape. Placeholder adjacency
+      // (mirrors update()'s own SaveNounOperation staging) — the op preserves
+      // stored graph state when `connections.size === 0`.
+      tx.addOperation(
+        new SaveNounOperation(this.storage, {
+          id,
+          vector: [],
+          connections: new Map(),
+          level: 0
+        })
+      )
+      // Remove from the vector index — safe even if the row was never
+      // actually indexed (RemoveFromVectorIndexOperation's removeItem is a
+      // no-op when the id is absent).
+      tx.addOperation(
+        new RemoveFromVectorIndexOperation(this.index, id, noun.vector, this.indexWriteGeneration)
+      )
+    })
+
+    // Vectored-noun ledger: this migration carries a vector write with no
+    // accompanying metadata operation (metadata is untouched), so the
+    // saveNounMetadata(..., hasVector) seam never fires for it — mirrors the
+    // deferred-embed LANDING path's use of the narrow storage hook, in
+    // reverse.
+    await this.storage.noteVectorUnlanded?.(id)
+    return true
+  }
+
   /**
    * Setup embedder
    */
diff --git a/src/coreTypes.ts b/src/coreTypes.ts
index 8112afd2..4b018e94 100644
--- a/src/coreTypes.ts
+++ b/src/coreTypes.ts
@@ -872,6 +872,27 @@ export interface StorageAdapter {
    */
   noteVectorLanded?(id: string): Promise<void>
 
+  /**
+   * OPTIONAL narrow ledger hook, the mirror of {@link noteVectorLanded}:
+   * record that a canonical noun's vector was just REMOVED — rewritten from
+   * a real (non-empty) vector to the "unvectored" empty-array shape. Exists
+   * for the ONE sanctioned reverse migration this engine supports: the VFS
+   * root's zero-norm fix (see `VirtualFileSystem.doInitializeRoot()` and
+   * `Brainy.unvectorNounForRootMigration()`), which rewrites a pre-fix
+   * store's all-zero placeholder root vector to `[]` and must decrement
+   * `vectors.all` through this hook so the coverage ledger never drifts.
+   * NOT a general-purpose "I removed a vector" callback — ordinary
+   * application data has no sanctioned path from vectored back to
+   * unvectored (`update()` refuses an empty vector as a dimension
+   * mismatch by design). Callers MUST call this only when the noun held a
+   * REAL vector immediately before this write (the caller already holds
+   * that fact for free, from its own pre-write read — never an added read).
+   * A backend without vectored-noun tracking is a no-op via this method's
+   * absence (feature-detected).
+   * @param id - The noun whose vector was just removed.
+   */
+  noteVectorUnlanded?(id: string): Promise<void>
+
   /**
    * Get noun with metadata combined
    * @returns Combined HNSWNounWithMetadata or null
diff --git a/src/db/generationStore.ts b/src/db/generationStore.ts
index bfb68959..81bed338 100644
--- a/src/db/generationStore.ts
+++ b/src/db/generationStore.ts
@@ -654,10 +654,43 @@ export class GenerationStore {
         let replayed = 0
         const replayFact = async (fact: CommitFact): Promise<void> => {
           for (const op of fact.ops) {
-            const image =
-              op.record === null
-                ? { metadata: null, vector: null }
-                : { metadata: op.record.metadata, vector: op.record.vector }
+            let image: { metadata: unknown | null; vector: unknown | null }
+            if (op.record === null) {
+              // A genuine tombstone (both legs absent) — the fold removes
+              // both legs, exactly like `writeNounRaw`/`writeVerbRaw`'s raw
+              // exact-restore contract.
+              image = { metadata: null, vector: null }
+            } else if (
+              op.record.metadata !== null &&
+              (op.record.vector === null || op.record.vector === undefined)
+            ) {
+              // PRESERVE-IF-ABSENT (population law, ADR-008 G1 — the fold's
+              // half): a metadata-only after-image must never DELETE an
+              // existing vector leg through the fold. `writeNounRaw`/
+              // `writeVerbRaw` are exact-restore primitives — a `vector:
+              // null` there means "delete", which is exactly right for
+              // `rollBackUncommittedGeneration`'s before-image restore (a
+              // transaction abort legitimately un-writes a vector the failed
+              // transaction added). It is NOT right here: this fold replays
+              // AFTER-IMAGES, and re-applying an already-intact record must
+              // be byte-safe (this module's own invariant, see the log-authority
+              // comment above) — silently erasing a landed vector because one
+              // replayed fact's vector leg came back null is the exact defect
+              // that left metadata-counted, never-enumerated rows in a
+              // production store (confirmed root cause: the enumeration walk
+              // used to key on the vector leg, so a preserved-but-then-deleted
+              // vector made the row invisible while the ledger still counted
+              // it by metadata). A genuine "unvector" has its own sanctioned,
+              // ledger-correct path (`Brainy.unvectorNounForRootMigration`) —
+              // never this raw primitive, and never the fold.
+              const current =
+                op.kind === 'verb'
+                  ? await this.storage.readVerbRaw(op.id)
+                  : await this.storage.readNounRaw(op.id)
+              image = { metadata: op.record.metadata, vector: current.vector ?? null }
+            } else {
+              image = { metadata: op.record.metadata, vector: op.record.vector }
+            }
             if (op.kind === 'verb') await this.storage.writeVerbRaw(op.id, image)
             else await this.storage.writeNounRaw(op.id, image)
             this.noteCheckpointDirty(op.kind, op.id)
diff --git a/src/hnsw/hnswIndex.ts b/src/hnsw/hnswIndex.ts
index 77e4f84d..8b9badc1 100644
--- a/src/hnsw/hnswIndex.ts
+++ b/src/hnsw/hnswIndex.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
   Vector,
   VectorDocument
 } from '../coreTypes.js'
-import { euclideanDistance, calculateDistancesBatch } from '../utils/index.js'
+import { euclideanDistance, calculateDistancesBatch, isZeroNormVector } from '../utils/index.js'
 import type { BaseStorage } from '../storage/baseStorage.js'
 import { getGlobalCache, UnifiedCache } from '../utils/unifiedCache.js'
 import { prodLog } from '../utils/logger.js'
@@ -64,6 +64,34 @@ export class HnswFlushError extends Error {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * @description Thrown by {@link JsHnswVectorIndex.addItem} / {@link
+ * JsHnswVectorIndex.updateItem} when handed a length-0 vector. A length-0
+ * vector is the sanctioned "unvectored" shape for a canonical noun record
+ * (class-J: a VFS-system row, a deferred embed not yet landed, or any other
+ * legitimately-vector-less row) — but it is NEVER a legal INDEX insert. The
+ * index itself has no concept of "unvectored"; deciding that a row is
+ * unvectored and therefore skippable is the FILL/REBUILD/LOAD consumer's job
+ * (see {@link JsHnswVectorIndex.rebuild}), done BEFORE ever calling addItem.
+ * A length-0 vector reaching this point is a caller bug: silently accepting
+ * it would pin `this.dimension = 0` on an empty index (poisoning every real
+ * insert thereafter with a dimension mismatch) or store a vector-less node
+ * that a distance calculation can never safely compare against. Loud errors,
+ * never quiet losses — this throws instead of either.
+ */
+export class EmptyVectorIndexError extends Error {
+  constructor(public readonly id: string, operation: 'addItem' | 'updateItem') {
+    super(
+      `${operation}(${id}): refusing to index a length-0 vector — a length-0 vector is the ` +
+        `sanctioned "unvectored" shape for a canonical row, but it is never a legal index ` +
+        `insert. Callers that fill/rebuild/load the index must skip vector.length === 0 rows ` +
+        `themselves (unvectored = nothing to index, not an error at that layer); reaching ` +
+        `here with one is a caller bug.`
+    )
+    this.name = 'EmptyVectorIndexError'
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Implements {@link VectorIndexProvider}: the vector-index surface Brainy calls
  * on whatever the `'vector'` factory returns (its own `JsHnswVectorIndex`, or a native
@@ -580,6 +608,15 @@ export class JsHnswVectorIndex implements VectorIndexProvider {
       throw new Error('Vector is undefined or null')
     }
 
+    // THE INDEX REFUSES A LENGTH-0 VECTOR (see EmptyVectorIndexError's JSDoc):
+    // an empty vector is the sanctioned "unvectored" shape at the canonical
+    // layer, never a legal index member. Refusing here — loudly, before the
+    // dimension pin below — means no future fill/rebuild/load path can ever
+    // poison `this.dimension` to 0 or park a vector-less node in the graph.
+    if (vector.length === 0) {
+      throw new EmptyVectorIndexError(id, 'addItem')
+    }
+
     // Set dimension on first insert
     if (this.dimension === null) {
       this.dimension = vector.length
@@ -954,6 +991,13 @@ export class JsHnswVectorIndex implements VectorIndexProvider {
       return
     }
 
+    // Same refusal as addItem (see EmptyVectorIndexError's JSDoc) — an
+    // in-place relink must never rewrite an already-indexed node down to the
+    // unvectored shape or poison the pinned dimension.
+    if (vector.length === 0) {
+      throw new EmptyVectorIndexError(id, 'updateItem')
+    }
+
     if (this.dimension === null) {
       this.dimension = vector.length
     } else if (vector.length !== this.dimension) {
@@ -1555,7 +1599,15 @@ export class JsHnswVectorIndex implements VectorIndexProvider {
       }
 
       const loaded = await this.storage.getNounVector(noun.id)
-      if (!loaded) {
+      // `loaded` is a length-0 array (not null/undefined) for a canonical row
+      // that is legitimately unvectored — `![]` is FALSE (an empty array is
+      // truthy), so the bare `!loaded` check below would silently accept it
+      // as "found" and hand a dimension-0 vector to a distance calculation.
+      // A node only reaches this lazy-load path because it is a MEMBER of
+      // the live index (rebuild() now refuses to admit unvectored rows — see
+      // its JSDoc), so an empty vector here is never legitimate: treat it
+      // exactly like "not found", loudly.
+      if (!loaded || loaded.length === 0) {
         throw new Error(`Vector not found for noun ${noun.id}`)
       }
 
@@ -1765,9 +1817,56 @@ export class JsHnswVectorIndex implements VectorIndexProvider {
 
         totalCount = result.totalCount || result.items.length
 
+        // UNVECTORED ROWS ARE NOT AN INDEX MEMBER (the class-J law): a canonical
+        // noun whose vector leg is `[]` (a VFS-root-style system row, a
+        // deferred embed not yet landed, or a best-effort fallback for an
+        // unreadable vector leg) is a normal, enumerable, countable row — it
+        // is simply not indexed. `storage.getVectorIndexData()` derives its
+        // {level, connections} answer straight from the noun's OWN record, so
+        // it returns non-null for every existing noun regardless of whether
+        // that noun ever actually reached `addItem()` — it cannot be used to
+        // decide indexability. `nounData.vector.length === 0` is the one
+        // truthful signal (mirrors the `noun.vector.length > 0` guards in
+        // {@link getVectorSafe} / {@link getVectorSync}): skip here, counted
+        // once in a summary line, never per-row spam.
+        let skippedUnvectored = 0
+
         // Process all nouns at once
         for (const nounData of result.items) {
           try {
+            if (!Array.isArray(nounData.vector) || nounData.vector.length === 0) {
+              skippedUnvectored++
+              continue
+            }
+            // THE ZERO-NORM LAW — bulk-rebuild leg: a persisted zero-norm
+            // vector (a pre-10.4.2 row the canonical write has not yet
+            // normalized) must never enter the index either, mirroring the
+            // belt AddToVectorIndexOperation enforces on the live write path.
+            // Only the canonical vector is authoritative here — persisted
+            // HNSW graph metadata (level/connections) can outlive an unvector.
+            if (isZeroNormVector(nounData.vector)) {
+              prodLog.warn(
+                `[HNSW] rebuild(): skipping entity ${nounData.id} — persisted vector is ` +
+                  `zero-norm (a zero-norm vector is not a vector and never crosses an ` +
+                  `engine boundary)`
+              )
+              continue
+            }
+
+            // Restore the pinned dimension from the first real vector this
+            // rebuild loads. `addItem`/`updateItem` only pin `this.dimension`
+            // on a LIVE insert — a fresh rebuild from storage never goes
+            // through either, so without this the pin stays `null` across a
+            // restart. A `null` pin means the very next insert (correct OR
+            // wrong length) silently BECOMES the new pin instead of being
+            // checked against the store's real dimension — the wrong-length
+            // case then fails much later and less clearly, inside a distance
+            // calculation against an already-loaded node, instead of here,
+            // immediately, with a named expected-vs-got mismatch.
+            if (this.dimension === null) {
+              this.dimension = nounData.vector.length
+            }
+
             // Load HNSW graph data for this entity
             const hnswData = await this.storage.getVectorIndexData(nounData.id)
 
@@ -1815,7 +1914,10 @@ export class JsHnswVectorIndex implements VectorIndexProvider {
           options.onProgress(loadedCount, totalCount)
         }
 
-        prodLog.info(`HNSW: Loaded ${loadedCount.toLocaleString()} nodes (${storageType})`)
+        prodLog.info(
+          `HNSW: Loaded ${loadedCount.toLocaleString()} nodes (${storageType})` +
+          (skippedUnvectored > 0 ? ` — ${skippedUnvectored.toLocaleString()} unvectored row(s) skipped` : '')
+        )
       }
 
       // Step 5: CRITICAL - Recover entry point if missing)
diff --git a/src/neural/embeddedPatterns.ts b/src/neural/embeddedPatterns.ts
index c15447e7..4f4339f4 100644
--- a/src/neural/embeddedPatterns.ts
+++ b/src/neural/embeddedPatterns.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * 🧠 BRAINY EMBEDDED PATTERNS
  * 
  * AUTO-GENERATED - DO NOT EDIT
- * Generated: 2026-07-02T21:43:26.976Z
+ * Generated: 2025-09-29T10:10:00-07:00
  * Patterns: 220
  * Coverage: 94-98% of all queries
  * 
diff --git a/src/neural/embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts b/src/neural/embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts
index b5f3546b..5b10116c 100644
--- a/src/neural/embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts
+++ b/src/neural/embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * 🧠 BRAINY EMBEDDED TYPE EMBEDDINGS
  *
  * AUTO-GENERATED - DO NOT EDIT
- * Generated: 2026-02-09T16:59:48.867Z
+ * Generated: 2026-06-29T10:04:19-07:00
  * Noun Types: 42
  * Verb Types: 127
  *
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export const TYPE_METADATA = {
   verbTypes: 127,
   totalTypes: 169,
   embeddingDimensions: 384,
-  generatedAt: "2026-02-09T16:59:48.867Z",
+  generatedAt: "2026-06-29T10:04:19-07:00",
   sizeBytes: {
     embeddings: 259584,
     base64: 346112
diff --git a/src/storage/adapters/baseStorageAdapter.ts b/src/storage/adapters/baseStorageAdapter.ts
index 22bf1366..cabe2e30 100644
--- a/src/storage/adapters/baseStorageAdapter.ts
+++ b/src/storage/adapters/baseStorageAdapter.ts
@@ -1066,6 +1066,18 @@ export abstract class BaseStorageAdapter implements StorageAdapter {
   protected allCountsSuspect = false
   /** One narration per session for the suspect transition (never per delete). */
   private allCountsSuspectNarrated = false
+  /**
+   * Which rule produced the ALL scalars currently in memory. `'identity-record'`
+   * means one counted entity per metadata content leg — the honest rule: a
+   * bare id-directory (a ghost or scar left by a partial-delete defect, no
+   * content leg) counts zero. Set by the one-time derivation and by the
+   * sanctioned recount, alongside `allCountsSuspect = false`; left `undefined`
+   * when a loaded counts.json carries the ALL scalars but no stamp — the
+   * legacy container-rule derivation, which forces `allCountsSuspect = true`
+   * at load instead. A filesystem concern: `MemoryStorage` has no counts.json
+   * and never sets this.
+   */
+  protected allCountsDerivedBy?: 'identity-record'
   protected entityCounts: Map<string, number> = new Map() // type -> count
   protected verbCounts: Map<string, number> = new Map() // verb type -> count
   protected countCache: Map<string, { count: number; timestamp: number }> = new Map()
@@ -1152,6 +1164,24 @@ export abstract class BaseStorageAdapter implements StorageAdapter {
     })
   }
 
+  /**
+   * OPTIONAL narrow ledger hook (see {@link StorageAdapter.noteVectorUnlanded}):
+   * the mirror of {@link noteVectorLanded} — record a noun's vector was just
+   * REMOVED (rewritten to the unvectored `[]` shape). Never below zero: a
+   * caller that (incorrectly) fires this for a noun already unvectored would
+   * otherwise drive the ledger negative — clamped defensively, matching the
+   * delete path's `if (this.totalVectoredNounCount > 0)` guard.
+   * @param id - The noun whose vector was just removed (retained for a
+   *   future narration seam; the count itself needs no id-keyed state).
+   */
+  async noteVectorUnlanded(id: string): Promise<void> {
+    void id
+    if (this.totalVectoredNounCount > 0) this.totalVectoredNounCount--
+    this.scheduleCountPersist().catch(() => {
+      // Ignore persist errors — the in-memory count is authoritative; a later op retries.
+    })
+  }
+
   /**
    * Increment count for entity type - O(1) operation.
    * Concurrency is handled by the process-global mutex
diff --git a/src/storage/adapters/fileSystemStorage.ts b/src/storage/adapters/fileSystemStorage.ts
index fd9dbb4c..4f2a43b0 100644
--- a/src/storage/adapters/fileSystemStorage.ts
+++ b/src/storage/adapters/fileSystemStorage.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import {
 } from '../baseStorage.js'
 import { getBrainyVersion } from '../../utils/index.js'
 import { isAbsentError } from '../../utils/errorClassification.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../../utils/logger.js'
+import { isZeroNormVector } from '../../utils/distance.js'
 import {
   TornRecordError,
   isUnparseablePayloadError,
@@ -602,6 +604,20 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
    * automatically. Returns the pruned container ids so the caller can recompute
    * counts.
    */
+  /**
+   * @description Whether an id directory's file legs include the metadata
+   * CONTENT leg (`metadata.json` or its `.json.gz` variant) — the single
+   * test that decides whether an `entities/<kind>/<shard>/<id>/` container is
+   * a live entity or a ghost/scar orphan left by the pre-8.3.1 partial-delete
+   * defect (see {@link pruneOrphanedEntities}). Shared by the orphan prune
+   * and {@link scanCanonicalEntities} so the two agree by construction — one
+   * counted entity per identity record, never per bare container.
+   * @param legs - File names in one `entities/<kind>/<shard>/<id>/` directory.
+   */
+  private hasMetadataContentLeg(legs: string[]): boolean {
+    return legs.some((f) => f.startsWith('metadata.json'))
+  }
+
   public async pruneOrphanedEntities(): Promise<{ nouns: string[]; verbs: string[] }> {
     await this.ensureInitialized()
     const pruned: { nouns: string[]; verbs: string[] } = { nouns: [], verbs: [] }
@@ -641,7 +657,7 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
           }
           // A live entity has its metadata content leg. No content leg → a
           // vector-only ghost or an empty scar → prune the whole container.
-          if (legs.some((f) => f.startsWith('metadata.json'))) continue
+          if (this.hasMetadataContentLeg(legs)) continue
           await fs.promises.rm(idAbs, { recursive: true, force: true })
           pruned[kind].push(entry.name)
           console.warn(
@@ -2590,13 +2606,36 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
         ) {
           this.totalNounCountAll = counts.totalNounCountAll
           this.totalVerbCountAll = counts.totalVerbCountAll
-          this.allCountsSuspect = counts.allCountsSuspect === true
+          if (counts.allCountsDerivedBy === 'identity-record') {
+            // Derived (or recounted) under the honest rule — one counted
+            // entity per metadata content leg. Trust the persisted suspect
+            // flag as-is; an unprovable delete since may still have set it.
+            this.allCountsDerivedBy = 'identity-record'
+            this.allCountsSuspect = counts.allCountsSuspect === true
+          } else {
+            // The ALL scalars exist but predate the identity-record stamp —
+            // they were derived under the legacy rule that counted one
+            // entity per id DIRECTORY, so orphaned ghost/scar containers (a
+            // pre-8.3.1 partial-delete defect — see pruneOrphanedEntities())
+            // were counted as entities too. O(1) field read, NEVER a walk
+            // here: force suspect and name it loudly. A sanctioned recount
+            // (repairIndex) restores exact denominators and clears this.
+            this.allCountsDerivedBy = undefined
+            this.allCountsSuspect = true
+            needsPersist = true
+            prodLog.warn(
+              '[FileSystemStorage] canonical count ledger was derived under the legacy ' +
+                'container rule — marked suspect; a sanctioned recount (repairIndex) restores ' +
+                'exact denominators'
+            )
+          }
         } else {
           const nouns = await this.scanCanonicalEntities('nouns')
           const verbs = await this.scanCanonicalEntities('verbs')
           this.totalNounCountAll = nouns.count
           this.totalVerbCountAll = verbs.count
           this.allCountsSuspect = false
+          this.allCountsDerivedBy = 'identity-record'
           console.warn(
             `[FileSystemStorage] counts.json predates the ALL-visibility count ledger — ` +
               `derived once from the canonical id tree (${nouns.count} nouns, ${verbs.count} verbs, ` +
@@ -2667,6 +2706,7 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
       this.totalNounCountAll = nouns.count
       this.totalVerbCountAll = verbs.count
       this.allCountsSuspect = false
+      this.allCountsDerivedBy = 'identity-record'
       // Vectored-noun scalar: presence needs each noun's vectors.json CONTENT
       // (a deferred-embed noun's file exists but holds an empty vector until
       // its embed lands), so this is a full O(nouns) content scan — see
@@ -2704,10 +2744,19 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
 
   /**
    * Walk the canonical `entities/<kind>/<2-hex-shard>/<id>/` tree, counting
-   * one entity per id directory (the layout `getNounVectorPath`/`getNouns`
-   * use). Returns up to 100 sampled entity directories (absolute paths) —
-   * nouns feed the type-distribution estimate above. An absent tree (fresh
-   * store) counts zero.
+   * one entity per id directory that holds the metadata CONTENT leg
+   * (`metadata.json` or its `.json.gz` variant — see
+   * {@link hasMetadataContentLeg}). A bare container — a ghost (a stale
+   * `vectors.json` left with no metadata leg) or a scar (an empty directory),
+   * both artifacts of the pre-8.3.1 partial-delete defect — counts ZERO: the
+   * identity record IS the population (ADR-008 G1), never the directory.
+   * This is the ONE-TIME legacy derivation walk (see callers); a prior
+   * version of this scan counted every id directory regardless of content,
+   * over-counting any store carrying orphaned containers — see
+   * `allCountsDerivedBy` for how a counts.json derived under that old rule is
+   * marked suspect on load. Returns up to 100 sampled *counted* entity
+   * directories (absolute paths) — nouns feed the type-distribution estimate
+   * above. An absent tree (fresh store) counts zero.
    */
   private async scanCanonicalEntities(
     kind: 'nouns' | 'verbs'
@@ -2724,9 +2773,21 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
         const ids = await fs.promises.readdir(shardPath, { withFileTypes: true })
         for (const entry of ids) {
           if (!entry.isDirectory()) continue
+          const idAbs = path.join(shardPath, entry.name)
+          let legs: string[]
+          try {
+            legs = await fs.promises.readdir(idAbs)
+          } catch (error: any) {
+            if (error?.code === 'ENOENT') continue
+            throw error
+          }
+          // No metadata content leg → a ghost or scar container → not an
+          // entity. Same test pruneOrphanedEntities() uses, so the two agree
+          // by construction.
+          if (!this.hasMetadataContentLeg(legs)) continue
           count++
           if (sampleDirs.length < SAMPLE_MAX) {
-            sampleDirs.push(path.join(shardPath, entry.name))
+            sampleDirs.push(idAbs)
           }
         }
       }
@@ -2781,14 +2842,20 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Count canonical nouns holding a REAL (non-empty) vector — the vectored-
-   * noun ledger scalar. UNLIKE {@link scanCanonicalEntities}, presence
-   * cannot be decided from the id-directory listing alone: a deferred-embed
-   * noun's `vectors.json` EXISTS (written at `add()` time with `vector: []`)
-   * until its embed LANDS, so this walk reads every noun's `vectors.json`
-   * CONTENT — O(nouns) reads, not O(ids) listing. Used ONLY for a one-time
-   * legacy-counts.json derivation or a lost/corrupted counts.json recovery;
-   * the result is persisted so this scan never repeats.
+   * Count canonical nouns holding a REAL (non-empty, non-zero-norm) vector —
+   * the vectored-noun ledger scalar. UNLIKE {@link scanCanonicalEntities},
+   * presence cannot be decided from the id-directory listing alone: a
+   * deferred-embed noun's `vectors.json` EXISTS (written at `add()` time
+   * with `vector: []`) until its embed LANDS, so this walk reads every
+   * noun's `vectors.json` CONTENT — O(nouns) reads, not O(ids) listing.
+   * ZERO-NORM LAW: a real all-zero vector is not a vector — it never counts
+   * here either (Brainy's write paths normalize an explicit zero-norm
+   * vector to `[]` at write time, but a store created before that fix may
+   * still carry legacy all-zero rows on disk; this derivation must agree
+   * with the live ledger's definition of "vectored" regardless of when the
+   * row was written). Used ONLY for a one-time legacy-counts.json derivation
+   * or a lost/corrupted counts.json recovery; the result is persisted so
+   * this scan never repeats.
    */
   private async scanVectoredNounCount(): Promise<number> {
     const base = path.join(this.rootDir, 'entities', 'nouns')
@@ -2802,7 +2869,12 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
         for (const entry of ids) {
           if (!entry.isDirectory()) continue
           const record = await this.readEntityVectorRaw(path.join(shardPath, entry.name))
-          if (record && Array.isArray(record.vector) && record.vector.length > 0) {
+          if (
+            record &&
+            Array.isArray(record.vector) &&
+            record.vector.length > 0 &&
+            !isZeroNormVector(record.vector)
+          ) {
             vectored++
           }
         }
@@ -2834,6 +2906,13 @@ export class FileSystemStorage extends BaseStorage {
         // scanVectoredNounCount()'s JSDoc).
         totalVectoredNounCount: this.totalVectoredNounCount,
         allCountsSuspect: this.allCountsSuspect,
+        // Derivation-rule stamp for the ALL scalars above — 'identity-record'
+        // when they were counted one-per-metadata-content-leg (the honest
+        // rule); omitted (JSON.stringify drops `undefined`) when the current
+        // in-memory scalars came from a legacy container-rule counts.json
+        // that hasn't been through a sanctioned recount yet, so a future load
+        // keeps naming them suspect rather than trusting an unproven value.
+        allCountsDerivedBy: this.allCountsDerivedBy,
         lastUpdated: new Date().toISOString()
       }
 
diff --git a/src/storage/baseStorage.ts b/src/storage/baseStorage.ts
index d6ccc5fa..5510f93b 100644
--- a/src/storage/baseStorage.ts
+++ b/src/storage/baseStorage.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,40 @@ function idFromVectorPath(path: string): string {
   return lastSlash >= 0 ? withoutSuffix.slice(lastSlash + 1) : withoutSuffix
 }
 
+/**
+ * @description Extract the entity id embedded in a metadata path
+ * (`entities/{nouns|verbs}/{shard}/{id}/metadata.json`) — the IDENTITY-RECORD
+ * mirror of {@link idFromVectorPath}. The cursored noun/verb walks key their
+ * population on this file (ADR-008 G1: the metadata record IS the population;
+ * the vector leg is optional), so walk ordering and cursor resume derive the
+ * id from THIS path, never the vector path — a row with metadata and no
+ * vector file must still be listed, ordered, and resumable.
+ * @param path - A metadata path (full or prefix-relative; must end with `/metadata.json`).
+ * @returns The entity id (the path segment immediately before `/metadata.json`).
+ */
+function idFromMetadataPath(path: string): string {
+  const withoutSuffix = path.replace(/\/metadata\.json$/, '')
+  const lastSlash = withoutSuffix.lastIndexOf('/')
+  return lastSlash >= 0 ? withoutSuffix.slice(lastSlash + 1) : withoutSuffix
+}
+
+/**
+ * @description The sanctioned UNVECTORED shape for a noun hydrated during
+ * enumeration when its identity record (metadata.json) exists but its vector
+ * leg (vectors.json) does not — a fold-born metadata-only after-image, or any
+ * row genuinely without a vector yet. Mirrors the shape
+ * `unvectorNounForRootMigration` (src/brainy.ts) writes for the sanctioned
+ * unvector path (`{ vector: [], connections: new Map(), level: 0 }`), so a
+ * walk-yielded unvectored row is byte-shape-identical to one produced by that
+ * migration. Callers already handle `vector: []` as first-class
+ * (validateAddParams exempts it; index gates key on `length > 0`).
+ * @param id - The noun id.
+ * @returns A structurally-valid, vector-empty `HNSWNoun`.
+ */
+function unvectoredNoun(id: string): HNSWNoun {
+  return { id, vector: [], connections: new Map<number, Set<string>>(), level: 0 }
+}
+
 /**
  * Get ID-first path for verb metadata
  * No type parameter needed - direct O(1) lookup by ID
@@ -1453,6 +1487,18 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
    * rollups are derived state with their own rebuild paths
    * (`rebuildTypeCounts()` / `rebuildSubtypeCounts()`).
    *
+   * EXACT-RESTORE PRIMITIVE — `vector: null` DELETES the vector leg, on
+   * purpose: `GenerationStore.rollBackUncommittedGeneration()` depends on
+   * this to legitimately un-write a vector a failed transaction added. This
+   * is deliberately NOT "preserve if absent" — a caller replaying an
+   * AFTER-IMAGE (the recovery fold, `GenerationStore`'s `replayFact`) must
+   * apply preserve-if-absent itself BEFORE calling this, by reading the
+   * current vector and carrying it forward when the after-image's own
+   * vector leg is null/undefined but its metadata is not (see `replayFact`
+   * for the implementation and full rationale). A caller that genuinely
+   * wants to unvector a row uses the sanctioned, ledger-correct path
+   * (`Brainy.unvectorNounForRootMigration`) — never this primitive.
+   *
    * @param id - The entity id.
    * @param record - Raw stored objects as returned by {@link BaseStorage.readNounRaw}.
    */
@@ -1489,7 +1535,9 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
 
   /**
    * Restore a relationship's raw stored objects byte-for-byte (verb-side
-   * mirror of {@link BaseStorage.writeNounRaw}; same bookkeeping caveats).
+   * mirror of {@link BaseStorage.writeNounRaw}; same bookkeeping caveats,
+   * same EXACT-RESTORE contract — `vector: null` deletes, on purpose; the
+   * fold's preserve-if-absent logic lives at its call site, not here).
    *
    * @param id - The relationship id.
    * @param record - Raw stored objects as returned by {@link BaseStorage.readVerbRaw}.
@@ -2183,9 +2231,18 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
 
         // Stable within-shard order (by noun id) so offset windows and cursor resume
         // are deterministic; ids come from the path so skipped nouns are never read.
+        //
+        // IDENTITY-KEYED WALK (population law, ADR-008 G1): the metadata record
+        // (not the vector) IS the population — a noun with metadata and no vector
+        // file (a fold-born after-image, see writeNounRaw's preserve-if-absent
+        // contract) must still enumerate. Keying on metadata.json here means the
+        // ledger recount (rebuildTypeCounts' `allNouns`, also metadata.json-keyed)
+        // and this walk agree on population by construction. Ordering is
+        // unaffected for a healthy store: every vectored noun has both legs, so
+        // the id set and sort order are identical to the old vectors.json keying.
         const entries = nounFiles
-          .filter((p) => p.includes('/vectors.json'))
-          .map((p) => ({ path: p, id: idFromVectorPath(p) }))
+          .filter((p) => p.includes('/metadata.json'))
+          .map((p) => ({ path: p, id: idFromMetadataPath(p) }))
           .sort((a, b) => (a.id < b.id ? -1 : a.id > b.id ? 1 : 0))
 
         // Resume: in the cursor's own shard, skip up to AND INCLUDING the cursor
@@ -2210,13 +2267,24 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
         ) {
           const batch = toHydrate.slice(i, i + BaseStorage.HYDRATE_CONCURRENCY)
           const hydrated = await Promise.all(
-            batch.map(async ({ path: nounPath }) => {
+            batch.map(async ({ path: metadataPath, id }) => {
               try {
-                const noun = await this.readCanonicalObject(nounPath)
-                if (!noun) return null
-                const deserialized = this.deserializeNoun(noun)
-                const metadata = await this.getNounMetadata(deserialized.id)
+                const metadata = await this.readCanonicalObject(metadataPath)
                 if (!metadata) return null
+                // The vector leg is OPTIONAL (population law): a metadata-only
+                // row hydrates with the sanctioned unvectored shape rather than
+                // being dropped from the walk. A fault reading the vector leg
+                // is treated the same as absence — best-effort, matching the
+                // canonical recount's tolerance for an unreadable vectors.json
+                // (rebuildTypeCounts) — a vector-leg problem never hides an
+                // otherwise-good identity record.
+                let deserialized: HNSWNoun
+                try {
+                  const vectorRecord = await this.readCanonicalObject(getNounVectorPath(id))
+                  deserialized = vectorRecord ? this.deserializeNoun(vectorRecord) : unvectoredNoun(id)
+                } catch {
+                  deserialized = unvectoredNoun(id)
+                }
                 return { deserialized, metadata }
               } catch (error) {
                 // A TORN record must surface typed — a paginated read that
@@ -2226,7 +2294,9 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
                 // walk's job is to HEAL PAST it — skip the victim, serve the rest.
                 // Identity point-reads (get-by-id) still throw typed upstream.
                 if (isTornRecordError(error)) { /* skip torn victim; loud floor already fired */ }
-                // Skip nouns that fail to load
+                // Skip nouns whose IDENTITY record fails to load (the metadata
+                // read above) — that is the one leg this walk cannot proceed
+                // without.
                 return null
               }
             })
@@ -2347,9 +2417,14 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
       const shardDir = `entities/nouns/${shardHex}`
       try {
         const nounFiles = await this.listCanonicalObjects(shardDir)
+        // IDENTITY-KEYED WALK (population law, ADR-008 G1) — see the matching
+        // comment in getNounsWithPagination: metadata.json is the population;
+        // the vector leg is optional, so a metadata-only row must still be
+        // listed (and here, for the unfiltered case, needs ZERO reads either
+        // way — the id comes straight from the path).
         const entries = nounFiles
-          .filter((p) => p.includes('/vectors.json'))
-          .map((p) => idFromVectorPath(p))
+          .filter((p) => p.includes('/metadata.json'))
+          .map((p) => idFromMetadataPath(p))
           .sort((a, b) => (a < b ? -1 : a > b ? 1 : 0))
         const toWalk =
           cursor && shard === cursor.shard ? entries.filter((id) => id > cursor.id) : entries
@@ -2560,23 +2635,79 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
         // Stable within-shard order (by verb id) so offset windows and cursor resume
         // are deterministic and consistent across calls. Ids come from the path, so
         // verbs skipped by the cursor are never read.
+        //
+        // IDENTITY-KEYED WALK (population law, ADR-008 G1) — the noun mirror of
+        // this comment in getNounsWithPagination applies here too: metadata.json
+        // is the population; keying on it here means this walk and the ledger
+        // recount (rebuildTypeCounts' `allVerbs`, already metadata.json-keyed)
+        // agree on population by construction. Unchanged for a healthy store —
+        // `relate()` always writes both legs of a verb in the same commit, so
+        // the id set and order match the old vectors.json keying exactly; this
+        // only additionally surfaces a fold-born metadata-only row (see
+        // writeVerbRaw's preserve-if-absent contract).
         const entries = verbFiles
-          .filter((p) => p.includes('/vectors.json'))
-          .map((p) => ({ path: p, id: idFromVectorPath(p) }))
+          .filter((p) => p.includes('/metadata.json'))
+          .map((p) => ({ path: p, id: idFromMetadataPath(p) }))
           .sort((a, b) => (a.id < b.id ? -1 : a.id > b.id ? 1 : 0))
 
-        for (const { path: verbPath, id: verbId } of entries) {
+        for (const { path: metadataPath, id: verbId } of entries) {
           if (collected.length >= peekCount) break
           // Resume: in the cursor's own shard, skip up to AND INCLUDING the cursor id
           // (later shards are processed in full). No read for skipped verbs.
           if (cursor && shard === cursor.shard && verbId <= cursor.id) continue
 
           try {
-            const rawVerb = await this.readCanonicalObject(verbPath)
-            if (!rawVerb) continue
+            // Identity leg first — required. A verb this walk cannot read
+            // metadata for cannot be hydrated at all (same as before).
+            const metadata = await this.readCanonicalObject(metadataPath)
+            if (!metadata) continue
 
-            // Deserialize connections Map from JSON storage format
-            const verb = this.deserializeVerb(rawVerb)
+            // The vector leg is the verb's STRUCTURAL core (verb/sourceId/
+            // targetId live there — see coreTypes.ts HNSWVerb), unlike a
+            // noun's vector, which is pure embedding data. `relate()` always
+            // writes both legs atomically and verbs have no deferred-embed
+            // path, so a healthy store's verbs always have both. A vector-leg
+            // absence here can only be a fold-born after-image (see
+            // writeVerbRaw's preserve-if-absent contract) — and unlike a
+            // noun, this walk cannot safely FABRICATE sourceId/targetId to
+            // synthesize a structurally-valid verb (an empty-string endpoint
+            // would silently create a phantom edge — worse than omission).
+            // If the metadata record happens to carry its own sourceId/
+            // targetId (never true for current production writes, but not
+            // disallowed — e.g. a future schema or a repair tool could
+            // populate them), reconstruct from those; otherwise this row is
+            // loudly skipped — counted by the ledger, but not returned as an
+            // item, until a repair can supply the missing endpoints.
+            const rawVerb = await this.readCanonicalObject(getVerbVectorPath(verbId))
+            let verb: HNSWVerb
+            if (rawVerb) {
+              verb = this.deserializeVerb(rawVerb)
+            } else {
+              const metaSourceId = (metadata as Record<string, unknown>).sourceId
+              const metaTargetId = (metadata as Record<string, unknown>).targetId
+              const metaVerbType = (metadata as Record<string, unknown>).verb
+              if (
+                typeof metaSourceId === 'string' && metaSourceId.length > 0 &&
+                typeof metaTargetId === 'string' && metaTargetId.length > 0 &&
+                typeof metaVerbType === 'string' && metaVerbType.length > 0
+              ) {
+                verb = {
+                  id: verbId,
+                  vector: [],
+                  connections: new Map<number, Set<string>>(),
+                  verb: metaVerbType as VerbType,
+                  sourceId: metaSourceId,
+                  targetId: metaTargetId
+                }
+              } else {
+                prodLog.error(
+                  `[BaseStorage] getVerbsWithPagination: verb ${verbId} has a metadata ` +
+                    `record but no vector leg and no recoverable sourceId/targetId — ` +
+                    `skipping (counted by the ledger, not yielded; needs repair).`
+                )
+                continue
+              }
+            }
 
             // Apply type filter
             if (filterVerbTypes && !filterVerbTypes.has(verb.verb)) {
@@ -2593,9 +2724,6 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
               continue
             }
 
-            // Load metadata
-            const metadata = await this.getVerbMetadata(verb.id)
-
             // Apply subtype filter (requires metadata — checked AFTER load)
             if (filterSubtypes) {
               const subtype = metadata?.subtype as string | undefined
@@ -4692,6 +4820,10 @@ export abstract class BaseStorage extends BaseStorageAdapter {
     this.totalVerbCountAll = allVerbs
     this.totalVectoredNounCount = allVectoredNouns
     this.allCountsSuspect = false
+    // This walk counts one entity per metadata.json record (never per bare
+    // container) — the identity-record rule. Stamp it so a future load
+    // trusts these scalars instead of naming them suspect at open.
+    this.allCountsDerivedBy = 'identity-record'
     this.countCache.clear()
     await this.persistCounts()
 
diff --git a/src/transaction/operations/IndexOperations.ts b/src/transaction/operations/IndexOperations.ts
index 139c67fe..1bbbca88 100644
--- a/src/transaction/operations/IndexOperations.ts
+++ b/src/transaction/operations/IndexOperations.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import type { VectorIndexProvider, GraphIndexProvider } from '../../plugin.js'
 import type { MetadataIndexManager } from '../../utils/metadataIndex.js'
 import type { GraphVerb } from '../../coreTypes.js'
 import type { Operation, RollbackAction } from '../types.js'
+import { isZeroNormVector } from '../../utils/distance.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../../utils/logger.js'
 
 /**
  * Backend identity stamped into an operation's emitted `name` string (e.g.
@@ -88,6 +90,30 @@ export class AddToVectorIndexOperation implements Operation {
   }
 
   async execute(): Promise<RollbackAction> {
+    // THE ZERO-NORM LAW (the live provider-write seam's belt): a zero-norm
+    // vector is not a vector — it never crosses an engine boundary. This
+    // engine's own cosine distance treats an all-zero vector safely (a
+    // zero-norm operand always scores MAXIMUM distance, see
+    // {@link isZeroNormVector}'s JSDoc), but a downstream engine serving
+    // squared-euclidean distance cannot tell it apart from a legitimate
+    // origin point — a false attractor that silently darkens real results.
+    // The canonical write already landed (SaveNoun/SaveNounMetadata
+    // operations are staged ahead of this one in every caller) — only the
+    // INDEX INSERT is refused here, loudly, never a throw. A length-0
+    // vector is the unrelated "unvectored" shape and is skipped silently
+    // (the same contract callers already rely on for deferred embeds).
+    if (this.vector.length === 0) {
+      return async () => {}
+    }
+    if (isZeroNormVector(this.vector)) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[vector-index] refusing to index a zero-norm vector for entity ${this.id} — ` +
+          `a zero-norm vector is not a vector and never crosses an engine boundary ` +
+          `(the canonical write is unaffected; only the vector-index insert is skipped)`
+      )
+      return async () => {}
+    }
+
     // Check if item already exists (for rollback decision)
     const existed = await this.itemExists(this.id)
 
@@ -263,14 +289,52 @@ export class ReplaceInVectorIndexOperation implements Operation {
     // One commit generation for the whole replace (both branches + rollback).
     const generation = this.generationFn?.()
 
+    // THE ZERO-NORM LAW (see AddToVectorIndexOperation's matching JSDoc): a
+    // real all-zero replacement vector must never land in the index — refuse
+    // loudly, canonical write unaffected. The row must not be left stale
+    // either: if it was genuinely indexed under `oldVector`, remove it
+    // rather than pretend the old vector still describes the row. A
+    // length-0 `newVector` (the unrelated "unvectored" shape) is handled the
+    // same way, silently — no caller today reaches this with an empty
+    // replacement (update() rejects a dimension-mismatched empty vector),
+    // but the seam stays consistent in case one ever legitimately does.
+    if (isZeroNormVector(this.newVector) || this.newVector.length === 0) {
+      const wasIndexed = this.oldVector.length > 0 && !isZeroNormVector(this.oldVector)
+      if (isZeroNormVector(this.newVector)) {
+        prodLog.warn(
+          `[vector-index] refusing to replace with a zero-norm vector for entity ${this.id} — ` +
+            `a zero-norm vector is not a vector and never crosses an engine boundary ` +
+            `(the canonical write is unaffected; the row is removed from the vector index instead)`
+        )
+      }
+      if (wasIndexed) {
+        await this.index.removeItem(this.id, generation)
+      }
+      return async () => {
+        // Restore the declared before-state.
+        if (wasIndexed) {
+          await this.index.addItem({ id: this.id, vector: this.oldVector }, generation)
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     if (typeof index.updateItem === 'function') {
       // Atomic path: one in-place call, the row never leaves the index.
       await index.updateItem({ id: this.id, vector: this.newVector }, generation)
 
       return async () => {
         // Restore the declared before-state in place (see class JSDoc for
-        // the item-did-not-exist posture).
-        await index.updateItem!({ id: this.id, vector: this.oldVector }, generation)
+        // the item-did-not-exist posture). A length-0 oldVector means the row
+        // was never actually indexed before this op ran (a length-0 vector is
+        // never a legal index member — see EmptyVectorIndexError) — there is
+        // no in-place "restore to empty" for the provider to perform, so
+        // rollback removes the row instead, leaving the same "not indexed"
+        // state the row was in before execute().
+        if (this.oldVector.length > 0) {
+          await index.updateItem!({ id: this.id, vector: this.oldVector }, generation)
+        } else {
+          await this.index.removeItem(this.id, generation)
+        }
       }
     }
 
@@ -281,9 +345,14 @@ export class ReplaceInVectorIndexOperation implements Operation {
 
     return async () => {
       // updateItem-style restore via the same adjacent pair, back to the
-      // declared before-state.
+      // declared before-state. Same length-0 carve-out as the updateItem
+      // path above: an empty oldVector was never a legal index member, so
+      // rollback just leaves the row removed rather than attempting an
+      // illegal empty re-add.
       await this.index.removeItem(this.id, generation)
-      await this.index.addItem({ id: this.id, vector: this.oldVector }, generation)
+      if (this.oldVector.length > 0) {
+        await this.index.addItem({ id: this.id, vector: this.oldVector }, generation)
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/utils/distance.ts b/src/utils/distance.ts
index 36e9e8e5..d61bc12e 100644
--- a/src/utils/distance.ts
+++ b/src/utils/distance.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,29 @@ export const cosineDistance: DistanceFunction = (a: Vector, b: Vector): number =
   return 1 - similarity
 }
 
+/**
+ * True when `vector` is a REAL (non-empty) all-zero vector — the "false
+ * attractor" shape this engine's own cosine distance treats safely (a
+ * zero-norm operand always scores the MAXIMUM distance, see
+ * {@link cosineDistance}) but a downstream engine serving squared-euclidean
+ * distance cannot distinguish from a legitimate origin point. THE LAW: a
+ * zero-norm vector is not a vector — it never crosses an engine boundary
+ * (never handed to a vector-index provider as a searchable item).
+ *
+ * A length-0 vector is the UNRELATED "unvectored, not yet embedded" shape
+ * (the deferred-embed stub, a permanently-vectorless system row) and is
+ * deliberately NOT zero-norm here — callers checking for "nothing to index"
+ * should test `vector.length === 0` separately; this only flags the
+ * dangerous non-empty all-zero case.
+ */
+export function isZeroNormVector(vector: readonly number[]): boolean {
+  if (vector.length === 0) return false
+  for (let i = 0; i < vector.length; i++) {
+    if (vector[i] !== 0) return false
+  }
+  return true
+}
+
 /**
  * Calculates the Manhattan (L1) distance between two vectors.
  * Lower values indicate higher similarity.
diff --git a/src/utils/paramValidation.ts b/src/utils/paramValidation.ts
index d43559dc..00790a4a 100644
--- a/src/utils/paramValidation.ts
+++ b/src/utils/paramValidation.ts
@@ -588,8 +588,14 @@ export function validateAddParams(params: AddParams): void {
     )
   }
   
-  // Validate vector dimensions if provided
-  if (params.vector) {
+  // Validate vector dimensions if provided. A length-0 vector is the
+  // "unvectored" shape — an explicit `vector: []` (e.g. the VFS root's
+  // permanently-vectorless creation, see
+  // VirtualFileSystem.doInitializeRoot()'s zero-norm fix) carries no
+  // dimension information, exactly like an absent vector or a deferred
+  // embed's internal stub, so it is exempt from the dimension check rather
+  // than refused as a "0-dimensional vector".
+  if (params.vector && params.vector.length > 0) {
     const config = ValidationConfig.getInstance()
     if (params.vector.length !== config.maxVectorDimensions) {
       throw new Error(`vector must have exactly ${config.maxVectorDimensions} dimensions`)
@@ -607,6 +613,17 @@ export function validateUpdateParams(params: UpdateParams): void {
   // null/undefined means "no new data was given".
   const hasData = params.data !== undefined && params.data !== null
   if ((params as UpdateParams & { deferEmbedding?: boolean }).deferEmbedding === true) {
+    if (params.vector && params.vector.length === 0) {
+      // The nonsensical combination Leg D of the zero-norm/unvector-door law
+      // refuses: `vector: []` is the SANCTIONED UNVECTOR DOOR — an explicit
+      // instruction to remove the vector NOW, never "please embed" — so it
+      // cannot be paired with a request to defer an embed.
+      throw new Error(
+        `update(): 'vector: []' (the unvector door) cannot be combined with ` +
+          `'deferEmbedding: true' — an unvector is an explicit instruction to remove ` +
+          `the vector now, not a request to defer an embed. Drop one of the two.`
+      )
+    }
     if (params.vector) {
       throw new Error(
         `update(): deferEmbedding cannot be combined with an explicit 'vector' — ` +
@@ -643,8 +660,16 @@ export function validateUpdateParams(params: UpdateParams): void {
     throw new Error(`invalid NounType: ${params.type}`)
   }
   
-  // Validate vector dimensions if provided
-  if (params.vector) {
+  // Validate vector dimensions if provided. A length-0 vector is the
+  // SANCTIONED UNVECTOR DOOR (see brainy.ts update()'s matching comment): an
+  // explicit `vector: []` — or a real all-zero vector, normalized to `[]`
+  // upstream by the zero-norm law — carries no dimension information,
+  // exactly like validateAddParams's identical exemption, so it is exempt
+  // from the dimension check rather than refused as a "0-dimensional
+  // vector". (The `deferEmbedding` combination above already refuses
+  // `vector: []` paired with `deferEmbedding: true` — an empty array is
+  // truthy, so that guard fires unconditionally on any explicit `vector`.)
+  if (params.vector && params.vector.length > 0) {
     const config = ValidationConfig.getInstance()
     if (params.vector.length !== config.maxVectorDimensions) {
       throw new Error(`vector must have exactly ${config.maxVectorDimensions} dimensions`)
diff --git a/src/vfs/VirtualFileSystem.ts b/src/vfs/VirtualFileSystem.ts
index 90018863..59a16be4 100644
--- a/src/vfs/VirtualFileSystem.ts
+++ b/src/vfs/VirtualFileSystem.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { v4 as uuidv4 } from '../universal/uuid.js'
 import { Brainy } from '../brainy.js'
 import { Entity, AddParams, RelateParams, FindParams, Relation } from '../types/brainy.types.js'
 import { NounType, VerbType } from '../types/graphTypes.js'
+import { isZeroNormVector } from '../utils/distance.js'
 import { PathResolver } from './PathResolver.js'
 import { mimeDetector } from './MimeTypeDetector.js'
 import {
@@ -89,16 +90,6 @@ export class VirtualFileSystem implements IVirtualFileSystem {
   // Uses deterministic UUID format for storage compatibility
   private static readonly VFS_ROOT_ID = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
 
-  // OPEN-PATH FIX: the dimension of the placeholder vector given to the VFS
-  // root when it is first created (see `doInitializeRoot`). Mirrors the
-  // built-in WASM embedding engine's fixed, hardcoded output size
-  // (all-MiniLM-L6-v2 — see src/embeddings/candle-wasm/src/lib.rs
-  // HIDDEN_SIZE and src/embeddings/EmbeddingManager.ts). Deliberately NOT
-  // derived from `brain.dimensions` — this constant only applies to the
-  // default-embedder branch, where the true output dimension is this fixed
-  // value by construction, never a moving target.
-  private static readonly VFS_ROOT_VECTOR_DIMENSIONS = 384
-
   /**
    * Construct a VFS bound to a Brainy instance.
    *
@@ -241,9 +232,11 @@ export class VirtualFileSystem implements IVirtualFileSystem {
   private async doInitializeRoot(): Promise<string> {
     const rootId = VirtualFileSystem.VFS_ROOT_ID
 
-    // Try to get existing root by fixed ID (O(1) lookup, not query)
+    // Try to get existing root by fixed ID (O(1) lookup, not query).
+    // includeVectors: true — the zero-norm migration below (leg 2) needs to
+    // inspect the persisted vector to detect the legacy placeholder shape.
     try {
-      const existingRoot = await this.brain.get(rootId)
+      const existingRoot = await this.brain.get(rootId, { includeVectors: true })
 
       if (existingRoot) {
         // Root exists - verify metadata is correct
@@ -260,6 +253,34 @@ export class VirtualFileSystem implements IVirtualFileSystem {
           })
         }
 
+        // ZERO-NORM ROOT MIGRATION (one-time): a pre-fix store persisted the
+        // root with a REAL all-zero placeholder vector — lawful inside
+        // brainy (cosineDistance treats a zero-norm operand as MAXIMUM
+        // distance, see src/utils/distance.ts) but a "false attractor" for a
+        // downstream engine serving squared-euclidean distance, which cannot
+        // tell an all-zero vector apart from a legitimate origin point (a
+        // production incident silently darkened 150+ rows in a partner
+        // engine's index this way). THE LAW: a zero-norm vector is not a
+        // vector — it never crosses an engine boundary. Detect the legacy
+        // shape via NORM, not length or dimension (any real all-zero vector
+        // qualifies, not just the historical 384-dim one), and rewrite it to
+        // the "unvectored" `[]` shape through the sanctioned migration path
+        // (Brainy.unvectorNounForRootMigration — see its JSDoc), which keeps
+        // `getCanonicalCounts().vectors.all` honest and removes the row from
+        // the vector index. Idempotent: a store already on the new shape
+        // (vector.length === 0) takes the false branch below on every
+        // subsequent init() — a permanent no-op, not a one-time flag.
+        const existingVector = existingRoot.vector ?? []
+        if (existingVector.length > 0 && isZeroNormVector(existingVector)) {
+          const migrated = await this.brain.unvectorNounForRootMigration(rootId)
+          if (migrated) {
+            console.log(
+              'VFS: migrated root vector from the legacy all-zero placeholder to the ' +
+                'unvectored shape (zero-norm vectors never cross an engine boundary)'
+            )
+          }
+        }
+
         return rootId
       }
     } catch (error) {
@@ -277,31 +298,42 @@ export class VirtualFileSystem implements IVirtualFileSystem {
       // meant every writer's FIRST-EVER open forced the process-global WASM
       // engine to cold-compile its model (measured 90-140s on throttled
       // CPUs) before the brain could even finish init(). This branch only
-      // runs once per store (the root already exists — with a real vector —
-      // in every previously-opened production store; reopening never re-adds
-      // it), so the fix applies only to brand-new stores.
+      // runs once per store (a previously-opened store already has a root —
+      // see the migration above for the pre-fix shape — reopening never
+      // re-adds it), so the fix applies only to brand-new stores.
       //
-      // Chosen fix: an explicit all-zero vector, not `deferEmbedding: true`.
-      // `deferEmbedding` looked attractive (ack now, embed later) but its
-      // landing path (`kickEmbedWorker()`, called synchronously right after
-      // commit — see brainy.ts add()/update()) would still force the WASM
-      // engine to cold-compile within milliseconds of open, just off the
-      // awaited path instead of never paying it at all — worse than the
-      // explicit-vector path, which never touches the engine for this row.
-      // An all-zero vector is safe: `cosineDistance` (src/utils/distance.ts)
-      // explicitly returns the MAXIMUM distance whenever either operand's
-      // norm is zero, so the root can never rank ahead of real content in a
-      // similarity search, and HNSW indexes it like any other vector.
+      // ZERO-NORM LAW (current shape, superseding the historical all-zero
+      // placeholder): the root's vector is `[]` — the SAME "unvectored"
+      // empty-array shape used for a deferred embed's stub and any other
+      // not-yet-embedded row — never a real all-zero vector. A zero-norm
+      // vector is lawful inside brainy (`cosineDistance`, see
+      // src/utils/distance.ts, returns the MAXIMUM distance whenever either
+      // operand's norm is zero) but is a "false attractor" for a downstream
+      // engine serving squared-euclidean distance, which cannot tell a real
+      // all-zero vector apart from a legitimate origin point — it silently
+      // darkened 150+ rows in a partner engine's index in production. THE
+      // LAW: a zero-norm vector is not a vector — it never crosses an engine
+      // boundary. `vector: []` achieves the SAME cold-compile avoidance the
+      // original placeholder did (`add()`'s dimension-pin and HNSW-insert
+      // gates both key off `vector.length > 0`, so an empty vector never
+      // calls embed(), never pins `brain.dimensions`, and never reaches the
+      // vector index — see brainy.ts add()'s matching comments) while never
+      // persisting a searchable zero vector for a downstream engine to trip
+      // over. Deliberately NOT `deferEmbedding: true`: that flag's landing
+      // path (`kickEmbedWorker()`, called synchronously right after commit —
+      // see brainy.ts add()/update()) would still force the WASM engine to
+      // cold-compile within milliseconds of open (just off the awaited path
+      // instead of never paying it at all) AND would eventually embed the
+      // root's data for real, which this fix forbids — the root must NEVER
+      // be embedded, not merely "not yet".
       //
-      // Only the default WASM engine gets this treatment — its output
-      // dimension (384) is fixed and hardcoded, so the placeholder can never
-      // mis-pin `brain.dimensions` for it. A plugin-registered native
-      // 'embeddings' provider has no cold-compile cost AND may use a
-      // different dimension, so it keeps embedding the root for real (same
-      // as before this fix) rather than risk pinning the wrong dimension
-      // ahead of the caller's own first real embed.
+      // Only the default WASM engine gets this treatment — a plugin-
+      // registered native 'embeddings' provider has no cold-compile cost and
+      // may use a different dimension, so it keeps embedding the root for
+      // real (same as before this fix) rather than leave Brainy's own
+      // plumbing permanently unvectored on a store where embedding is cheap.
       const rootVector = this.brain.usesDefaultWasmEmbedder()
-        ? new Array(VirtualFileSystem.VFS_ROOT_VECTOR_DIMENSIONS).fill(0)
+        ? ([] as number[])
         : undefined
 
       await this.brain.add({
diff --git a/tests/integration/canonical-count-ledger.test.ts b/tests/integration/canonical-count-ledger.test.ts
index f3c8ce20..3d292e97 100644
--- a/tests/integration/canonical-count-ledger.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/canonical-count-ledger.test.ts
@@ -225,9 +225,12 @@ describe('canonical count ledger — the vectored-noun scalar (the vector leg\'s
   }
 
   /** Baseline vectored count right after a fresh open() — init() creates a
-   *  hidden system VFS-root noun that itself carries a real vector, so a
-   *  brand-new store's `vectors.all` is 1, not 0. Tests assert DELTAS off
-   *  this baseline rather than hardcoding it away. */
+   *  hidden system VFS-root noun, but (the zero-norm root cure) it is
+   *  deliberately UNVECTORED (`vector: []`, never a real all-zero
+   *  placeholder — a zero-norm vector never crosses an engine boundary), so
+   *  a brand-new store's `vectors.all` is 0. Tests still assert DELTAS off
+   *  this baseline rather than hardcoding it away, in case that ever
+   *  changes again. */
   let baseline: number
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
@@ -235,6 +238,7 @@ describe('canonical count ledger — the vectored-noun scalar (the vector leg\'s
     dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-vectored-ledger-'))
     brain = await open()
     baseline = (await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()).vectors.all
+    expect(baseline).toBe(0) // the unvectored VFS root contributes nothing
   })
   afterEach(async () => {
     vi.restoreAllMocks()
@@ -348,7 +352,7 @@ describe('canonical count ledger — the vectored-noun scalar (the vector leg\'s
 
     brain = await open()
     const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
-    expect(ledger.vectors.all).toBe(baseline + 1) // the root + the one non-deferred noun
+    expect(ledger.vectors.all).toBe(baseline + 1) // just the one non-deferred noun — the root is unvectored
     expect(ledger.vectors.all).toBe(countVectoredNouns(dir))
     const persisted = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(countsPath, 'utf-8'))
     expect(persisted.totalVectoredNounCount).toBe(baseline + 1)
diff --git a/tests/integration/enumeration-population-law.test.ts b/tests/integration/enumeration-population-law.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eaab7432
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/enumeration-population-law.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,333 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/integration/enumeration-population-law
+ * @description THE POPULATION LAW (ADR-008 G1): the unfiltered noun/verb walk
+ * and the canonical ALL scalar must agree on the population — a row's
+ * IDENTITY RECORD (metadata.json) is what defines membership; the vector leg
+ * is optional data, never a gate on visibility. Before this fix, the walk
+ * (getNounsWithPagination / getNounIdsWithPagination / getVerbsWithPagination)
+ * enumerated by keying on the VECTOR leg (`vectors.json`), so a row with
+ * metadata and no vector file was counted by the ledger (already
+ * metadata.json-keyed — see `rebuildTypeCounts`) but never yielded by the
+ * walk: a permanent "counted but invisible" phantom for any downstream
+ * consumer (a health-coverage row, an index-fill walk) that iterates the walk
+ * to account for the ledger's total.
+ *
+ * Two legs are pinned here:
+ * (a)/(b) LEG 1 — the walk re-keys on metadata.json. A fold-born
+ *     metadata-only row (the exact shape `GenerationStore.replayFact` can
+ *     leave behind, and the exact shape `writeNounRaw`/`writeVerbRaw` accept)
+ *     must be YIELDED, hydrated with the sanctioned unvectored shape
+ *     (`vector: []`) — not merely counted.
+ *
+ *     For VERBS this closes only PARTIALLY: `sourceId`/`targetId` are
+ *     HNSWVerb's structural core and live ONLY in the vector leg (never in
+ *     metadata — see `RESERVED_RELATION_FIELDS` in reservedFields.ts, which
+ *     does not include them). A metadata-only verb row therefore cannot be
+ *     safely reconstructed without FABRICATING an edge's endpoints — which
+ *     would silently create a phantom relationship, strictly worse than the
+ *     original defect. The walk recovers the row when its metadata happens
+ *     to carry `sourceId`/`targetId` (a defensive, forward-compatible
+ *     fallback — never true for a CURRENT production write, but not
+ *     disallowed either); otherwise it counts the row (ledger, unchanged)
+ *     but loudly skips yielding it, logging the gap instead of hiding it.
+ *     Closing this fully requires persisting `sourceId`/`targetId` in verb
+ *     metadata — a schema change out of this task's scope; see the session
+ *     report for the explicit call-out.
+ *
+ * (c)/(d) LEG 2 — the recovery fold's preserve-if-absent contract, exercised
+ *     directly against `GenerationStore`/`FactLog` (below the `Brainy` API):
+ *     a metadata-only after-image replayed over an already-vectored row must
+ *     PRESERVE the existing vector leg (never delete it); a genuine tombstone
+ *     (both legs absent) still removes both legs.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs'
+import * as os from 'node:os'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
+import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto'
+import { Brainy } from '../../src/index.js'
+import { GenerationStore } from '../../src/db/generationStore.js'
+import { MemoryStorage } from '../../src/storage/adapters/memoryStorage.js'
+import { LOG_AUTHORITY_PATH } from '../../src/db/logAuthority.js'
+import type { CommitFact } from '../../src/db/factLog.js'
+
+describe('enumeration population law — LEG 1 (identity-keyed walk)', () => {
+  let dir: string
+  let brain: any
+
+  const open = async () => {
+    const b: any = new Brainy({
+      requireSubtype: false,
+      storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+      silent: true,
+      dimensions: 384
+    })
+    await b.init()
+    return b
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    process.env.BRAINY_DETERMINISTIC_EMBEDDINGS = 'true'
+    dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-population-law-'))
+    brain = await open()
+  })
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    await brain.close?.().catch(() => {})
+    fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  it('(a) nouns.all equals the unfiltered walk-yield count with a fold-born metadata-only row present', async () => {
+    // Ordinary, fully-vectored background population.
+    await brain.add({ data: 'one', type: 'document' })
+    await brain.add({ data: 'two', type: 'document' })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    // THE EXACT PRE-FIX SHAPE: a metadata-only row against a FRESH id — no
+    // vector ever existed for it. Written through the raw primitive directly,
+    // exactly as `GenerationStore.replayFact` (the recovery fold) applies a
+    // replayed after-image whose vector leg came back null.
+    const freshId = randomUUID()
+    await brain.storage.writeNounRaw(freshId, {
+      metadata: { noun: 'document', createdAt: Date.now(), updatedAt: Date.now(), _rev: 1 },
+      vector: null
+    })
+
+    // writeNounRaw bypasses count bookkeeping on purpose (its own JSDoc) — the
+    // sanctioned recount brings the ledger scalar to ground truth. This walk
+    // was ALREADY metadata.json-keyed before this fix (rebuildTypeCounts), so
+    // the recount's answer does not depend on today's change.
+    await brain.repairIndex()
+
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    const walk = await brain.storage.getNouns({ pagination: { limit: 1000, offset: 0 } })
+
+    expect(walk.items.length).toBe(ledger.nouns.all)
+    expect(walk.totalCount).toBe(ledger.nouns.all)
+
+    const yielded = walk.items.find((n: any) => n.id === freshId)
+    expect(yielded, 'the metadata-only row must be YIELDED, not merely counted').toBeDefined()
+    expect(yielded.vector).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('(a-ids) getNounIdsWithPagination (the zero-read unfiltered enumerator) also yields the metadata-only row', async () => {
+    await brain.add({ data: 'one', type: 'document' })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const freshId = randomUUID()
+    await brain.storage.writeNounRaw(freshId, {
+      metadata: { noun: 'document', createdAt: Date.now(), updatedAt: Date.now(), _rev: 1 },
+      vector: null
+    })
+    await brain.repairIndex()
+
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    const page = await brain.storage.getNounIdsWithPagination({ limit: 1000, offset: 0 })
+    expect(page.ids.length).toBe(ledger.nouns.all)
+    expect(page.ids).toContain(freshId)
+  })
+
+  it('(b) verbs.all counts a fold-born metadata-only row; the walk yields it when endpoints are recoverable from metadata, and loudly skips (never fabricates) when they are not', async () => {
+    const a = await brain.add({ data: 'a', type: 'document' })
+    const b = await brain.add({ data: 'b', type: 'document' })
+    await brain.relate({ from: a, to: b, type: 'relatedTo' })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    // Case 1 — the REALISTIC production shape: metadata carries the verb
+    // type (a reserved field, kept for backward compat) but never
+    // sourceId/targetId — those are HNSWVerb's structural core and live
+    // ONLY in the vector leg. The walk cannot safely fabricate them (an
+    // empty-string endpoint would silently create a phantom edge), so this
+    // row is counted by the ledger but not yielded — a documented,
+    // loudly-logged gap, not a silent one.
+    const gapId = randomUUID()
+    await brain.storage.writeVerbRaw(gapId, {
+      metadata: { verb: 'relatedTo', createdAt: Date.now(), updatedAt: Date.now(), weight: 1 },
+      vector: null
+    })
+
+    // Case 2 — endpoints ARE recoverable from metadata (never true for a
+    // current production write; modeled here as what a repair tool or a
+    // future schema could supply): the walk reconstructs and yields it.
+    const recoveredId = randomUUID()
+    await brain.storage.writeVerbRaw(recoveredId, {
+      metadata: {
+        verb: 'relatedTo',
+        sourceId: a,
+        targetId: b,
+        createdAt: Date.now(),
+        updatedAt: Date.now(),
+        weight: 1
+      },
+      vector: null
+    })
+
+    await brain.repairIndex()
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    const walk = await brain.storage.getVerbs({ pagination: { limit: 1000, offset: 0 } })
+
+    // The ledger counts every identity record — the real edge plus both
+    // synthetic metadata-only rows — unaffected by whether the walk can
+    // safely hydrate them.
+    expect(ledger.verbs.all).toBe(3)
+
+    const recovered = walk.items.find((v: any) => v.id === recoveredId)
+    expect(recovered, 'endpoints recoverable from metadata must be yielded').toBeDefined()
+    expect(recovered.sourceId).toBe(a)
+    expect(recovered.targetId).toBe(b)
+    expect(recovered.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    // The documented gap: counted, not yielded — this is the one corner of
+    // the population law this task does NOT close (see the session report).
+    const gapped = walk.items.find((v: any) => v.id === gapId)
+    expect(gapped).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(walk.items.length).toBeLessThan(ledger.verbs.all)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('enumeration population law — LEG 2 (fold preserve-if-absent, below the Brainy API)', () => {
+  /** A GenerationStore whose brain has already flipped to log authority — the
+   *  precondition for `replayFact` (the recovery fold) to run at open(). */
+  async function openLogAuthorityStore(): Promise<{ storage: MemoryStorage; store: GenerationStore }> {
+    const storage = new MemoryStorage()
+    await storage.init()
+    await storage.writeRawObject(LOG_AUTHORITY_PATH, { authority: 'log' })
+    const store = new GenerationStore(storage)
+    await store.open()
+    return { storage, store }
+  }
+
+  it('(c) nouns: a metadata-only after-image replayed over a vectored row PRESERVES the vector; it stays readable and the vectored ledger is untouched either way', async () => {
+    const { storage, store } = await openLogAuthorityStore()
+    const id = randomUUID()
+    const vectorRecord = { id, vector: [0.1, 0.2, 0.3], connections: {}, level: 0 }
+
+    // Generation 1 — a real, honest commit: both legs land together.
+    await store.commitTransaction({
+      touched: { nouns: [id], verbs: [] },
+      execute: async () => {
+        await storage.writeNounRaw(id, {
+          metadata: { noun: 'document', createdAt: 1000, updatedAt: 1000, _rev: 1 },
+          vector: vectorRecord
+        })
+      }
+    })
+    const beforeVectoredCount = (await storage.getCanonicalCounts()).vectors.all
+
+    // THE ANOMALOUS FACT, crafted directly (bypassing commitTransaction,
+    // whose honest read-after-write could never produce this on its own):
+    // metadata changed, vector leg null, while the row is STILL vectored on
+    // disk. This is exactly the shape the recovery fold must tolerate —
+    // modeling the confirmed production defect at the replay boundary.
+    const factLog = store.getFactLog()!
+    const anomalousFact: CommitFact = {
+      generation: 2,
+      timestamp: Date.now(),
+      ops: [
+        {
+          kind: 'noun',
+          id,
+          record: {
+            metadata: { noun: 'document', createdAt: 1000, updatedAt: 2000, _rev: 2 },
+            vector: null
+          }
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+    await factLog.append(anomalousFact)
+    await factLog.sync()
+
+    // Reopen — a fresh GenerationStore over the SAME storage. Generation 2's
+    // fact sits above the (still generation-1) manifest, so it replays
+    // through the recovery fold — `replayFact`'s own call site.
+    const store2 = new GenerationStore(storage)
+    await store2.open()
+
+    const after = await storage.readNounRaw(id)
+    expect(after.vector, 'the vector leg must survive the metadata-only replay').not.toBeNull()
+    expect((after.vector as { vector: number[] }).vector).toEqual([0.1, 0.2, 0.3])
+    expect((after.metadata as { updatedAt: number }).updatedAt).toBe(2000) // the new metadata DID apply
+
+    // writeNounRaw bypasses ledger bookkeeping either way (by design — see
+    // its JSDoc), so this scalar is unaffected by the replay regardless of
+    // outcome; asserted for completeness against the task's exact wording.
+    const afterVectoredCount = (await storage.getCanonicalCounts()).vectors.all
+    expect(afterVectoredCount).toBe(beforeVectoredCount)
+  })
+
+  it('(c-verb) verbs: a metadata-only after-image replayed over a vectored edge PRESERVES the vector leg (sourceId/targetId/verb intact)', async () => {
+    const { storage, store } = await openLogAuthorityStore()
+    const id = randomUUID()
+    const sourceId = randomUUID()
+    const targetId = randomUUID()
+    const vectorRecord = { id, vector: [0.7, 0.8], connections: {}, verb: 'relatedTo', sourceId, targetId }
+
+    await store.commitTransaction({
+      touched: { nouns: [], verbs: [id] },
+      execute: async () => {
+        await storage.writeVerbRaw(id, {
+          metadata: { verb: 'relatedTo', createdAt: 1000, updatedAt: 1000, weight: 1 },
+          vector: vectorRecord
+        })
+      }
+    })
+
+    const factLog = store.getFactLog()!
+    const anomalousFact: CommitFact = {
+      generation: 2,
+      timestamp: Date.now(),
+      ops: [
+        {
+          kind: 'verb',
+          id,
+          record: {
+            metadata: { verb: 'relatedTo', createdAt: 1000, updatedAt: 2000, weight: 2 },
+            vector: null
+          }
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+    await factLog.append(anomalousFact)
+    await factLog.sync()
+
+    const store2 = new GenerationStore(storage)
+    await store2.open()
+
+    const after = await storage.readVerbRaw(id)
+    expect(after.vector, 'the vector leg must survive the metadata-only replay').not.toBeNull()
+    expect((after.vector as { sourceId: string }).sourceId).toBe(sourceId)
+    expect((after.vector as { targetId: string }).targetId).toBe(targetId)
+    expect((after.metadata as { weight: number }).weight).toBe(2)
+  })
+
+  it('(d) a genuine tombstone replay removes BOTH legs (never preserved)', async () => {
+    const { storage, store } = await openLogAuthorityStore()
+    const id = randomUUID()
+    const vectorRecord = { id, vector: [0.4, 0.5, 0.6], connections: {}, level: 0 }
+
+    await store.commitTransaction({
+      touched: { nouns: [id], verbs: [] },
+      execute: async () => {
+        await storage.writeNounRaw(id, {
+          metadata: { noun: 'document', createdAt: 1000, updatedAt: 1000, _rev: 1 },
+          vector: vectorRecord
+        })
+      }
+    })
+    expect((await storage.readNounRaw(id)).vector).not.toBeNull() // sanity: it landed
+
+    const factLog = store.getFactLog()!
+    await factLog.append({
+      generation: 2,
+      timestamp: Date.now(),
+      ops: [{ kind: 'noun', id, record: null }] // a genuine tombstone — both legs absent
+    })
+    await factLog.sync()
+
+    const store2 = new GenerationStore(storage)
+    await store2.open()
+
+    const after = await storage.readNounRaw(id)
+    expect(after.metadata, 'a genuine delete removes the metadata leg').toBeNull()
+    expect(after.vector, 'a genuine delete removes the vector leg too — preserve-if-absent never applies to a tombstone').toBeNull()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tests/integration/index-skips-unvectored.test.ts b/tests/integration/index-skips-unvectored.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c65aaa01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/index-skips-unvectored.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,253 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/integration/index-skips-unvectored
+ * @description THE UNVECTORED-ROW CURE — two integration tests
+ * (`tests/lifecycle/biography.test.ts`'s Ch4/5/6 chapter and
+ * `tests/integration/clear-persistence.test.ts`'s multi-cycle test) started
+ * failing after a canonical-storage change made a vector-less row (the
+ * class-J shape: `vector: []`, e.g. the VFS root, a deferred embed not yet
+ * landed, or any other legitimately-unvectored canonical record) VISIBLE to
+ * the enumeration walk `getNounsWithPagination()` for the first time — before
+ * that change such rows were simply invisible to the walk. `hnswIndex.ts`'s
+ * `rebuild()` never guarded against that shape: it inserted every row the
+ * walk yielded into the live in-memory index, including ones with a length-0
+ * vector, because `storage.getVectorIndexData()` derives its {level,
+ * connections} answer straight from the noun's OWN record — it returns
+ * non-null for ANY existing noun, whether or not that noun was ever actually
+ * indexed via `addItem()`. A vector-less node admitted into the graph could
+ * become the entry point (or occupy any graph position), and the very next
+ * real-vectored `addItem()` then ran a distance calculation against it —
+ * `cosineDistance` throws "Vectors must have the same dimensions" the moment
+ * one operand is a length-0 array.
+ *
+ * THE FIX, at two layers (`src/hnsw/hnswIndex.ts`):
+ * (1) FILL/REBUILD/LOAD consumers treat `vector.length === 0` as "unvectored —
+ *     nothing to index" and skip the row (normal, not an error; one summary
+ *     count line, never per-row spam) — `rebuild()`'s loop now checks this
+ *     BEFORE ever creating a graph node, so an unvectored row can never
+ *     become an index member, entry point, or dimension-setter.
+ * (2) THE INDEX ITSELF refuses a length-0 vector in `addItem()` /
+ *     `updateItem()` with a typed `EmptyVectorIndexError`, loudly, instead of
+ *     ever pinning `dimension = 0` or storing a vector-less node — so no
+ *     future fill/rebuild/load path can silently poison the index even if it
+ *     forgets law (1).
+ *
+ * Four legs pinned here:
+ * (a) `rebuild()` over a store mixing real-vectored rows and `vector: []`
+ *     rows indexes ONLY the vectored ones — size === vectored count,
+ *     dimension pinned to the real (non-zero) length.
+ * (b) `clear()` then real adds afterward never trip a dimension mismatch —
+ *     the exact `clear-persistence.test.ts` regression shape, reproduced
+ *     directly against the index/storage seam this module owns.
+ * (c) `index.addItem({ id, vector: [] })` throws `EmptyVectorIndexError`
+ *     (and `updateItem` does too, for an existing node).
+ * (d) crash -> repair: the crashed generation's entities survive, the ledger
+ *     recounts honestly, and a fresh real-vectored add afterward never trips
+ *     a dimension mismatch against a leftover vector-less phantom.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach } from 'vitest'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs'
+import * as os from 'node:os'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
+import { Brainy } from '../../src/index.js'
+import { NounType } from '../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
+import { EmptyVectorIndexError } from '../../src/hnsw/hnswIndex.js'
+import { abandonAsCrashed, openBrain as openKillMatrixBrain, uid, vec } from '../helpers/durabilityKillMatrix.js'
+
+const tmpDirs: string[] = []
+function mkTmp(): string {
+  const d = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-index-skips-unvectored-'))
+  tmpDirs.push(d)
+  return d
+}
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const d of tmpDirs.splice(0)) {
+    try {
+      fs.rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    } catch {
+      /* best-effort cleanup */
+    }
+  }
+})
+
+/** A filesystem-backed brain with explicit vectors (no embedder needed) and
+ * manual persistence — mirrors `durabilityKillMatrix.ts`'s `openBrain` so
+ * every write in this module is explicit and provably durable. */
+function openBrain(dir: string): any {
+  return new Brainy({
+    requireSubtype: false,
+    storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+    silent: true,
+    persistence: { policy: 'manual' }
+  })
+}
+
+describe('HNSW index skips unvectored rows', () => {
+  it('(a) rebuild() indexes only vectored rows: size === vectored count, dimension pinned to the real length', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    let brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    // 5 real-vectored rows.
+    const vectoredIds: string[] = []
+    for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+      const id = uid(`vectored-${i}`)
+      await brain.add({ id, data: `real entity ${i}`, type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(i) })
+      vectoredIds.push(id)
+    }
+    // 3 explicit unvectored rows — the class-J "vector: []" shape, a normal,
+    // enumerable, countable canonical row that must never reach the index.
+    const unvectoredIds: string[] = []
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      const id = uid(`unvectored-${i}`)
+      await brain.add({ id, data: `unvectored entity ${i}`, type: NounType.Document, vector: [] })
+      unvectoredIds.push(id)
+    }
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    // The canonical ledger already agrees before any rebuild: nouns.all
+    // counts every row (8 + the VFS root); vectors.all counts only the real
+    // ones (5) — the VFS root and the 3 explicit unvectored rows are excluded.
+    const ledgerBeforeReopen = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerBeforeReopen.vectors.all).toBe(5)
+    expect(ledgerBeforeReopen.nouns.all).toBe(9) // 5 vectored + 3 unvectored + 1 VFS root
+
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // Reopen: open()'s index build IS hnswIndex.rebuild() run fresh from
+    // storage — this is the exact path that used to admit unvectored rows.
+    brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    const status = await brain.getIndexStatus()
+    expect(status.hnswIndex.size, 'the rebuilt index must contain ONLY the 5 real-vectored rows').toBe(5)
+
+    // Dimension is pinned to the REAL embedded length (384 via `vec()`), not
+    // 0 — adding a wrong-length vector must be refused naming that real
+    // dimension, proving no vector-less row ever set it.
+    const realDimension = vec(0).length
+    let mismatchMessage: string | undefined
+    try {
+      await brain.index.addItem({ id: uid('dimension-probe'), vector: vec(0).slice(0, realDimension - 1) })
+      expect.fail('expected a dimension mismatch error')
+    } catch (err) {
+      mismatchMessage = (err as Error).message
+    }
+    expect(mismatchMessage).toContain(`expected ${realDimension}`)
+
+    // Every unvectored row is still a normal, enumerable, readable canonical
+    // record — class-J semantics survive the rebuild fix untouched.
+    for (const id of unvectoredIds) {
+      const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+      expect(entity, `unvectored entity ${id} must remain readable`).not.toBeNull()
+      expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+    }
+    // A correct-dimension add succeeds cleanly against the pinned dimension.
+    const freshId = uid('post-reopen-fresh')
+    await expect(brain.add({ id: freshId, data: 'fresh', type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(50) })).resolves.toBe(
+      freshId
+    )
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(b) clear() then real adds afterward never trip a dimension mismatch (the clear-persistence regression shape)', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    let brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init() // the VFS root (vector: []) is the store's only row
+
+    await brain.clear()
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // Reopen over a store whose only surviving row is the recreated,
+    // unvectored VFS root — this is exactly the shape that used to poison
+    // the entry point / dimension in `clear-persistence.test.ts`.
+    brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+    expect((await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size).toBe(0)
+
+    const id1 = uid('after-clear-1')
+    await expect(brain.add({ id: id1, data: 'after clear 1', type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(1) })).resolves.toBe(
+      id1
+    )
+    const id2 = uid('after-clear-2')
+    await expect(brain.add({ id: id2, data: 'after clear 2', type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(2) })).resolves.toBe(
+      id2
+    )
+    expect((await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size).toBe(2)
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(c) index.addItem/updateItem refuse a length-0 vector with EmptyVectorIndexError', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    const brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    await expect(brain.index.addItem({ id: uid('empty-add'), vector: [] })).rejects.toThrow(EmptyVectorIndexError)
+
+    // updateItem on an EXISTING (real-vectored) node must refuse the same way.
+    const existingId = uid('existing-for-update')
+    await brain.add({ id: existingId, data: 'existing', type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(9) })
+    await expect(brain.index.updateItem({ id: existingId, vector: [] })).rejects.toThrow(EmptyVectorIndexError)
+
+    // The index was never disturbed by either refused call.
+    expect((await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size).toBe(1)
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(d) crash -> repair: the crashed generation survives, the ledger recounts honestly, and a fresh add afterward never trips a dimension mismatch', async () => {
+    const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-index-skips-unvectored-crash-'))
+    try {
+      let brain = await openKillMatrixBrain(dir, { logAuthority: 'adopt' })
+
+      // Baseline: real-vectored entities, durably flushed.
+      const baselineIds: string[] = []
+      for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+        const id = uid(`baseline-${i}`)
+        await brain.add({ id, data: `baseline entity ${i}`, type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(i) })
+        baselineIds.push(id)
+      }
+      await brain.flush()
+
+      // Crash window: at-ack writes that are never flushed before the crash.
+      const crashedIds: string[] = []
+      for (let i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
+        const id = uid(`crashed-${i}`)
+        await brain.add({ id, data: `crash-window entity ${i}`, type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(100 + i) })
+        crashedIds.push(id)
+      }
+      await abandonAsCrashed(brain)
+
+      // Reopen — logAuthority: 'adopt' replays the at-ack log for the crash window.
+      brain = await openKillMatrixBrain(dir, { logAuthority: 'adopt' })
+      for (const id of [...baselineIds, ...crashedIds]) {
+        expect(await brain.get(id), `entity ${id} must survive the crash`).not.toBeNull()
+      }
+
+      // Repair — must not disturb any entity, and must recount the ledger honestly.
+      const report = await brain.repairIndex()
+      expect(report.families.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+      for (const id of [...baselineIds, ...crashedIds]) {
+        expect(await brain.get(id), `entity ${id} must survive repair`).not.toBeNull()
+      }
+
+      const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+      expect(ledger.suspect).toBe(false)
+      expect(ledger.vectors.all).toBe(baselineIds.length + crashedIds.length)
+
+      // Second life: a fresh real-vectored add must never trip a dimension
+      // mismatch against a vector-less phantom left in the index — the exact
+      // mechanism `clear-persistence.test.ts` and the biography lane hit.
+      const secondLifeId = uid('second-life')
+      await expect(
+        brain.add({ id: secondLifeId, data: 'second life entity', type: NounType.Document, vector: vec(200) })
+      ).resolves.toBe(secondLifeId)
+      expect(await brain.get(secondLifeId)).not.toBeNull()
+
+      await brain.close()
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tests/integration/ledger-derivation-identity.test.ts b/tests/integration/ledger-derivation-identity.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb19af4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/ledger-derivation-identity.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/integration/ledger-derivation-identity
+ * @description The ALL-visibility ledger scalars are an IDENTITY-RECORD
+ * count, never a container count. A pre-8.3.1 partial-delete defect can
+ * leave a "ghost" container (a stale `vectors.json` with no metadata content
+ * leg) or a "scar" container (an empty `entities/<kind>/<shard>/<id>/`
+ * directory) on disk. Neither is a live entity — `getNoun`/`getVerb` need
+ * the metadata content leg — yet the legacy derivation counted one entity
+ * per id DIRECTORY, so orphaned containers inflated the ALL scalars forever
+ * (they were never clamped and never re-derived). Laws under test:
+ * (1) IDENTITY, NOT CONTAINER — the derivation counts one entity per
+ *     metadata content leg (`metadata.json` or `.json.gz`), the same test
+ *     `pruneOrphanedEntities()` uses, so the two agree by construction.
+ * (2) THE STAMP NAMES SUSPECT COUNTS LOUDLY, AT O(1) — a counts.json that
+ *     carries the ALL scalars but no `allCountsDerivedBy: 'identity-record'`
+ *     stamp predates this fix; loading it marks `suspect = true` from a
+ *     single field read alone, never a directory walk, and warns exactly
+ *     once naming the cause.
+ * (3) THE SANCTIONED RECOUNT CLEARS IT — `repairIndex()` prunes the orphaned
+ *     containers, recounts from the canonical metadata.json walk, and
+ *     re-stamps — suspect clears and the ALL scalar is exact again.
+ * (4) A FRESH STORE IS NEVER SUSPECT — the one-time derivation for a store
+ *     with no counts.json stamps as it writes, so a brand-new store never
+ *     carries the legacy signature.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs'
+import * as os from 'node:os'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
+import { Brainy, FileSystemStorage } from '../../src/index.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../../src/utils/logger.js'
+
+const countsPath = (root: string) => path.join(root, '_system', 'counts.json')
+
+/** Plant a ghost container: a stale `vectors.json` leg, no metadata leg. */
+function plantGhost(root: string, shard: string, id: string): void {
+  const idDir = path.join(root, 'entities', 'nouns', shard, id)
+  fs.mkdirSync(idDir, { recursive: true })
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(idDir, 'vectors.json'), JSON.stringify({ vector: [0.1, 0.2, 0.3] }))
+}
+
+/** Plant a scar container: an empty id directory, no legs at all. */
+function plantScar(root: string, shard: string, id: string): void {
+  fs.mkdirSync(path.join(root, 'entities', 'nouns', shard, id), { recursive: true })
+}
+
+describe('ledger derivation identity — the ALL scalar is the identity-record population, never the container count', () => {
+  let dir: string
+
+  const open = async () => {
+    const b: any = new Brainy({
+      requireSubtype: false,
+      storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+      silent: true,
+      dimensions: 384
+    })
+    await b.init()
+    return b
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    process.env.BRAINY_DETERMINISTIC_EMBEDDINGS = 'true'
+    dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-ledger-identity-'))
+  })
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks()
+    fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  it('(a) ghost + scar containers count ZERO; the fresh derivation stamps counts.json', async () => {
+    let brain = await open()
+    const baseline = (await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()).nouns.all // the VFS root alone
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      await brain.add({ data: `real ${i}`, type: 'document' })
+    }
+    await brain.flush()
+    const realTotal = baseline + 3
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // 3 ghosts (stale vectors.json, no metadata leg) + 2 scars (empty dirs) —
+    // neither is a live entity.
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) plantGhost(dir, 'fe', `ghost-${i}`)
+    for (let i = 0; i < 2; i++) plantScar(dir, 'fd', `scar-${i}`)
+
+    // Remove counts.json so open() re-derives from scratch (the one-time
+    // legacy/lost-file derivation path).
+    fs.rmSync(countsPath(dir), { force: true })
+
+    brain = await open()
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledger.nouns.all).toBe(realTotal) // ghosts + scars contribute nothing
+    expect(ledger.suspect).toBe(false)
+
+    const raw = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(countsPath(dir), 'utf-8'))
+    expect(raw.totalNounCountAll).toBe(realTotal)
+    expect(raw.allCountsDerivedBy).toBe('identity-record')
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(b) a counts.json with the ALL scalars but no stamp is marked suspect at open — an O(1) field read, never a walk', async () => {
+    let brain = await open()
+    await brain.add({ data: 'one', type: 'document' })
+    await brain.add({ data: 'two', type: 'document' })
+    await brain.flush()
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // Confirm a normal close under the fix DOES stamp — then strip the stamp
+    // to simulate a counts.json produced before this fix existed.
+    const raw = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(countsPath(dir), 'utf-8'))
+    expect(raw.allCountsDerivedBy).toBe('identity-record')
+    expect(typeof raw.totalNounCountAll).toBe('number')
+    expect(typeof raw.totalVerbCountAll).toBe('number')
+    expect(typeof raw.totalVectoredNounCount).toBe('number')
+    delete raw.allCountsDerivedBy
+    fs.writeFileSync(countsPath(dir), JSON.stringify(raw, null, 2))
+
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+    // The two derivation walks live on FileSystemStorage's prototype —
+    // spying here (rather than on fs.promises.readdir globally) isolates
+    // THIS code path's behavior from unrelated walks elsewhere in the open
+    // sequence (a separate, pre-existing engine's own O(store) cost — not
+    // this fix's concern, and not something this pin should be sensitive
+    // to). Neither derivation method may run: the stamp check is a field
+    // read on the already-parsed counts.json, nothing more.
+    const scanEntitiesSpy = vi.spyOn(FileSystemStorage.prototype as any, 'scanCanonicalEntities')
+    const scanVectoredSpy = vi.spyOn(FileSystemStorage.prototype as any, 'scanVectoredNounCount')
+
+    brain = await open()
+
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledger.suspect).toBe(true)
+
+    const stampWarnings = warnSpy.mock.calls.filter(
+      ([msg]) => String(msg).includes('legacy') && String(msg).includes('container rule')
+    )
+    expect(stampWarnings.length).toBe(1) // exactly one, loud
+
+    expect(scanEntitiesSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled() // O(1) field read only, no re-derivation walk
+    expect(scanVectoredSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(c) repairIndex() prunes the orphans, recounts, and re-stamps — suspect clears, the ALL scalar is exact, and it survives reopen', async () => {
+    let brain = await open()
+    const baseline = (await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()).nouns.all
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      await brain.add({ data: `real ${i}`, type: 'document' })
+    }
+    await brain.flush()
+    const realTotal = baseline + 3
+    await brain.close()
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) plantGhost(dir, 'fe', `ghost-${i}`)
+    for (let i = 0; i < 2; i++) plantScar(dir, 'fd', `scar-${i}`)
+
+    // Force the legacy (unstamped, container-rule-inflated) shape directly —
+    // the shape a pre-existing production store actually carries.
+    const raw = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(countsPath(dir), 'utf-8'))
+    raw.totalNounCountAll = realTotal + 5 // the old rule: +3 ghosts +2 scars
+    delete raw.allCountsDerivedBy
+    fs.writeFileSync(countsPath(dir), JSON.stringify(raw, null, 2))
+
+    brain = await open()
+    expect((await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()).suspect).toBe(true) // named suspect at load
+
+    await brain.repairIndex()
+
+    let ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledger.suspect).toBe(false)
+    expect(ledger.nouns.all).toBe(realTotal) // ghosts + scars pruned; exact again
+
+    const persisted = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(countsPath(dir), 'utf-8'))
+    expect(persisted.allCountsDerivedBy).toBe('identity-record')
+    expect(persisted.allCountsSuspect).toBe(false)
+    expect(persisted.totalNounCountAll).toBe(realTotal)
+
+    await brain.close()
+    brain = await open()
+    ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledger.suspect).toBe(false)
+    expect(ledger.nouns.all).toBe(realTotal)
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(d) a fresh store derives with the stamp and is never suspect', async () => {
+    const brain = await open()
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledger.suspect).toBe(false)
+    const raw = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(countsPath(dir), 'utf-8'))
+    expect(raw.allCountsDerivedBy).toBe('identity-record')
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tests/integration/vector-leg-open-build.test.ts b/tests/integration/vector-leg-open-build.test.ts
index a1ccaefa..ea841545 100644
--- a/tests/integration/vector-leg-open-build.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/vector-leg-open-build.test.ts
@@ -176,21 +176,22 @@ describe('vector-leg open-build (two-engine gate, last red)', () => {
   })
 
   it('the inverse: only deferred (never-landed) user nouns — the ledger is never inflated by them, and search over them honestly returns []', async () => {
-    // ARCHITECTURAL NOTE (found while building this pin): every brainy store
-    // carries ONE permanent, always-vectored noun beyond user data — the VFS
-    // root (`entities/nouns/.../00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000`,
-    // src/vfs/VirtualFileSystem.ts). It is inserted with an explicit all-zero
-    // (but non-empty, length-384) vector on EVERY store's first open — never
-    // deferred (a deliberate WASM-cold-compile-avoidance fix, see that
-    // file's comment) — and VFS init unconditionally re-creates it if
-    // missing, before the rebuild gate ever runs. A literal "0 vectored
-    // nouns" store is therefore unreachable through the public API; a
-    // brand-new store's `vectors.all` floor is 1, not 0. This pin verifies
-    // the law the task names in the ACHIEVABLE form: nouns whose embed is
-    // still deferred/unlanded contribute NOTHING to the vectored-noun ledger
-    // — the coverage-gap comparison sees exactly the root (1), never
-    // root+deferred — and semantic search over deferred-only user content
-    // honestly returns `[]` (no error, no false "coverage restored" claim).
+    // ARCHITECTURAL NOTE (updated by the zero-norm root cure): every brainy
+    // store carries ONE permanent VFS root noun beyond user data
+    // (`entities/nouns/.../00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000`,
+    // src/vfs/VirtualFileSystem.ts), created (or, on a pre-fix store,
+    // migrated) on every open — but it is deliberately UNVECTORED (vector
+    // `[]`), never a real all-zero placeholder: a zero-norm vector is not a
+    // vector and never crosses an engine boundary (see that file's
+    // doInitializeRoot() comment). It therefore contributes NOTHING to the
+    // vectored-noun ledger — a brand-new store's `vectors.all` floor is 0,
+    // not 1. This pin verifies the law the task names in the ACHIEVABLE
+    // form: nouns whose embed is still deferred/unlanded contribute NOTHING
+    // to the vectored-noun ledger either — the coverage-gap comparison sees
+    // exactly the baseline (the root, contributing 0), never
+    // baseline+deferred — and semantic search over deferred-only user
+    // content honestly returns `[]` (no error, no false "coverage restored"
+    // claim).
     const dir = mkTmp()
 
     const build: any = new Brainy({
@@ -202,6 +203,8 @@ describe('vector-leg open-build (two-engine gate, last red)', () => {
     })
     await build.init()
     const rootOnlyLedger = await build.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    // THE NEW LAW: the root is unvectored — a brand-new store's floor is 0.
+    expect(rootOnlyLedger.vectors.all).toBe(0)
     // Block the embedder permanently so every add below stays deferred and
     // unlanded for the rest of this test (a fast deterministic embedder
     // could otherwise land it before we ever observe the "still 0 extra"
diff --git a/tests/integration/vfs-root-zero-norm.test.ts b/tests/integration/vfs-root-zero-norm.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..577ae7ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/vfs-root-zero-norm.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,216 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/integration/vfs-root-zero-norm
+ * @description THE ZERO-NORM ROOT CURE — a production incident traced 150+
+ * darkened rows in a downstream engine's index to the VFS root's persisted
+ * ALL-ZERO placeholder vector: lawful inside brainy (`cosineDistance`
+ * treats a zero-norm operand as MAXIMUM distance, src/utils/distance.ts)
+ * but a "false attractor" for an engine serving squared-euclidean distance,
+ * which cannot tell a real all-zero vector apart from a legitimate origin
+ * point. THE LAW: a zero-norm vector is not a vector — it never crosses an
+ * engine boundary.
+ *
+ * Three legs pinned here:
+ * (a) the root persists NO zeros — a brand-new store creates it with
+ *     vector `[]` (the "unvectored" shape), absent from the HNSW index, and
+ *     the canonical vectored-noun ledger does not count it.
+ * (b) a ONE-TIME migration heals an existing (pre-fix) store: an old-shape
+ *     root (a REAL all-zero vector, genuinely indexed and ledgered — the
+ *     harness reproduces exactly what a pre-fix store looked like on disk)
+ *     is rewritten to `[]` on the next `init()`, the ledger is decremented
+ *     through the sanctioned path, and a second `init()` is a no-op.
+ * (c) THE CANONICAL-WRITE NORMALIZATION (Leg A of the follow-up
+ *     zero-norm/unvector-door fix): an entity added with an EXPLICIT
+ *     all-zero vector (any dimension) is normalized to the "unvectored"
+ *     `[]` shape BEFORE the canonical write, the ledger flag, and the index
+ *     ops ever see it — the canonical write still succeeds, loudly, and the
+ *     vector-index insert never happens (nothing to index). Supersedes the
+ *     original "canonical keeps the zero vector, only the index refuses"
+ *     shape: a downstream engine's health-report gate reads the canonical
+ *     ledger directly, so leaving a zero-norm vector on the canonical side
+ *     re-opened the exact false-attractor risk this whole fix closes.
+ * (d) the migrated root never surfaces in `find()` results (it was already
+ *     hidden behind `visibility: 'system'` — this pin holds regardless).
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs'
+import * as os from 'node:os'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
+import { Brainy } from '../../src/index.js'
+import { NounType } from '../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../../src/utils/logger.js'
+
+const ROOT_ID = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
+
+process.env.BRAINY_DETERMINISTIC_EMBEDDINGS = 'true'
+
+const tmpDirs: string[] = []
+function mkTmp(): string {
+  const d = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-vfs-root-zero-norm-'))
+  tmpDirs.push(d)
+  return d
+}
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.restoreAllMocks()
+  for (const d of tmpDirs.splice(0)) fs.rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true })
+})
+
+function openBrain(dir: string): any {
+  return new Brainy({
+    requireSubtype: false,
+    storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+    silent: true,
+    dimensions: 384
+  })
+}
+
+describe('VFS root zero-norm cure', () => {
+  it('(a) a brand-new store persists the root with vector [], absent from the HNSW index, and the canonical ledger counts it unvectored', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    const brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    const root = await brain.get(ROOT_ID, { includeVectors: true })
+    expect(root).not.toBeNull()
+    expect(root.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    const status = await brain.getIndexStatus()
+    expect(status.hnswIndex.size).toBe(0)
+
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledger.vectors.all).toBe(0)
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(b) an old-shape store (a real all-zero placeholder root) migrates to [] exactly once on init; the ledger is decremented through the sanctioned path; a second init is a no-op', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+
+    // SESSION 1 — build the store, then hand-rewrite the root to the LEGACY
+    // shape: a REAL all-zero 384-dim vector, genuinely inserted into the
+    // vector index and genuinely counted by the vectored-noun ledger —
+    // reproducing exactly what a pre-fix store's root looked like on disk
+    // (the pre-fix add() always indexed + counted it). `index.addItem` is
+    // called directly (bypassing AddToVectorIndexOperation's own zero-norm
+    // belt, added by this same fix) precisely because the pre-fix code path
+    // had no such belt — this harness must match history, not the cure.
+    let brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+    const oldVector = new Array(384).fill(0)
+    await brain.storage.saveNoun({ id: ROOT_ID, vector: oldVector, connections: new Map(), level: 0 })
+    await brain.index.addItem({ id: ROOT_ID, vector: oldVector })
+    await brain.storage.noteVectorLanded(ROOT_ID)
+    await brain.storage.persistCounts()
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const ledgerBeforeMigration = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerBeforeMigration.vectors.all).toBe(1)
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // SESSION 2 — reopen: VFS init must detect the legacy shape and migrate.
+    // Spy on the sanctioned migration method itself (not console output —
+    // `silent: true` monkey-patches `console.log` to a no-op INSIDE init(),
+    // which would silently swallow any pre-installed console spy too).
+    brain = openBrain(dir)
+    const migrateSpy = vi.spyOn(brain, 'unvectorNounForRootMigration')
+    await brain.init()
+
+    expect(migrateSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(migrateSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(ROOT_ID)
+    await expect(migrateSpy.mock.results[0].value).resolves.toBe(true)
+
+    const migratedRoot = await brain.get(ROOT_ID, { includeVectors: true })
+    expect(migratedRoot.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    const ledgerAfterMigration = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerAfterMigration.vectors.all).toBe(0)
+
+    const statusAfterMigration = await brain.getIndexStatus()
+    expect(statusAfterMigration.hnswIndex.size).toBe(0)
+
+    await brain.flush()
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // SESSION 3 — reopen again: the migration is a permanent no-op, not a
+    // one-time flag that silently re-drifts or re-fires. The zero-norm
+    // detection at the VFS init site never even calls the migration method
+    // again — the root's vector is already `[]`.
+    brain = openBrain(dir)
+    const migrateSpy2 = vi.spyOn(brain, 'unvectorNounForRootMigration')
+    await brain.init()
+
+    expect(migrateSpy2).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    const rootAfterSecondInit = await brain.get(ROOT_ID, { includeVectors: true })
+    expect(rootAfterSecondInit.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    const ledgerAfterSecondInit = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerAfterSecondInit.vectors.all).toBe(0)
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(c) canonical-write normalization: an entity added with an explicit all-zero vector persists UNVECTORED ([]), loudly, and never reaches the vector index', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    const brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+
+    const sizeBefore = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+    const ledgerBefore = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    const zeroVector = new Array(384).fill(0)
+    const id = await brain.add({ data: 'poisoned entity', type: NounType.Document, vector: zeroVector })
+
+    // The canonical write succeeded — but the zero-norm vector was
+    // normalized to the "unvectored" `[]` shape BEFORE it was persisted
+    // (Leg A: a zero-norm vector is not a vector — it never crosses an
+    // engine boundary, canonical side included).
+    const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+    expect(entity).not.toBeNull()
+    expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    // Nothing to index — the vector-index size never moved, and the
+    // vectored-noun ledger never counted this row.
+    const sizeAfter = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+    expect(sizeAfter).toBe(sizeBefore)
+    const ledgerAfter = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerAfter.vectors.all).toBe(ledgerBefore.vectors.all)
+
+    // The normalization was LOUD and named the entity.
+    const loudCall = warnSpy.mock.calls.find(
+      (call) => typeof call[0] === 'string' && call[0].includes(id) && call[0].toLowerCase().includes('zero-norm')
+    )
+    expect(loudCall).toBeDefined()
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(d) find() over a store whose root has been migrated never returns the root (already hidden behind visibility: system — pinned anyway)', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+
+    // Build an old-shape store (same harness as pin (b)) and let it migrate.
+    let brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+    const oldVector = new Array(384).fill(0)
+    await brain.storage.saveNoun({ id: ROOT_ID, vector: oldVector, connections: new Map(), level: 0 })
+    await brain.index.addItem({ id: ROOT_ID, vector: oldVector })
+    await brain.storage.noteVectorLanded(ROOT_ID)
+    await brain.storage.persistCounts()
+    await brain.add({ data: 'a document about technology', type: NounType.Document })
+    await brain.flush()
+    await brain.close()
+
+    brain = openBrain(dir) // migrates on init()
+    await brain.init()
+
+    const results = await brain.find({ query: 'technology', limit: 10 })
+    expect(results.some((r: any) => r.id === ROOT_ID)).toBe(false)
+
+    // Even asking explicitly for system-tier entities must never surface the
+    // root as a semantic-search HIT (it carries no vector to match against).
+    const resultsIncludingSystem = await brain.find({ query: 'technology', limit: 10, includeSystem: true })
+    expect(resultsIncludingSystem.some((r: any) => r.id === ROOT_ID)).toBe(false)
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tests/integration/zero-norm-unvector-door.test.ts b/tests/integration/zero-norm-unvector-door.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d3290010
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/zero-norm-unvector-door.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,399 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/integration/zero-norm-unvector-door
+ * @description THE SEAM LAW, GENERALIZED: "a zero-norm vector is not a
+ * vector — it never crosses an engine boundary." `tests/integration/
+ * vfs-root-zero-norm.test.ts` pins the VFS-root-specific cure; this file
+ * pins the follow-up that generalizes it to every write path plus the
+ * sanctioned door for shedding a vector on purpose.
+ *
+ * Four legs pinned here:
+ * (A) THE CANONICAL WRITE NORMALIZES ZERO-NORM TO `[]` — `add()` (single and
+ *     `transact()`) persists an explicit real all-zero vector as the
+ *     "unvectored" `[]` shape, loudly, before the ledger flag/dimension
+ *     pin/index ops ever see it. The canonical write still succeeds.
+ * (B) THE LEGACY DERIVATION IS ZERO-NORM-AWARE — a lost/corrupted
+ *     `counts.json`'s one-time re-derivation walk excludes a persisted
+ *     zero-norm row from the vectored-noun scalar, matching the live
+ *     ledger's definition of "vectored".
+ * (C) THE LEGACY VFS ROOT MIGRATES AT OPEN, BEFORE THE GATE, IN O(1) — a
+ *     store whose ONLY vectored row is a legacy all-zero VFS root opens
+ *     clean (no `VectorIndexNotReadyError`), via one fixed-path read, never
+ *     a listing.
+ * (D) THE UNVECTOR DOOR — `update({ id, vector: [] })` (and the same op
+ *     inside `transact()`) is the sanctioned, idempotent way to shed a
+ *     vector on purpose: ledger decrement exactly once, index removal, no
+ *     re-embed, and a pending deferred-embed marker is cleared rather than
+ *     left to re-vectorize the row later.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs'
+import * as os from 'node:os'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
+import { Brainy } from '../../src/index.js'
+import { NounType } from '../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../../src/utils/logger.js'
+import { JsHnswVectorIndex } from '../../src/hnsw/hnswIndex.js'
+import { BaseStorage } from '../../src/storage/baseStorage.js'
+
+const ROOT_ID = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
+
+process.env.BRAINY_DETERMINISTIC_EMBEDDINGS = 'true'
+
+const tmpDirs: string[] = []
+function mkTmp(): string {
+  const d = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'brainy-zero-norm-unvector-'))
+  tmpDirs.push(d)
+  return d
+}
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.restoreAllMocks()
+  for (const d of tmpDirs.splice(0)) fs.rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true })
+})
+
+function openBrain(dir: string): any {
+  return new Brainy({
+    requireSubtype: false,
+    storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+    silent: true,
+    dimensions: 384
+  })
+}
+
+const countsPath = (root: string) => path.join(root, '_system', 'counts.json')
+
+describe('zero-norm canonical write + the sanctioned unvector door', () => {
+  it('(A1) add() with an explicit all-zero vector persists [], warns loudly, never indexes, and the ledger is unchanged', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    const brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    const ledgerBefore = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    const sizeBefore = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+
+    const zeroVector = new Array(384).fill(0)
+    const id = await brain.add({ data: 'zero-norm add', type: NounType.Document, vector: zeroVector })
+
+    const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+    expect(entity).not.toBeNull()
+    expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    const ledgerAfter = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerAfter.vectors.all).toBe(ledgerBefore.vectors.all)
+
+    const sizeAfter = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+    expect(sizeAfter).toBe(sizeBefore)
+
+    const loud = warnSpy.mock.calls.find(
+      (c) => typeof c[0] === 'string' && c[0].includes(id) && c[0].toLowerCase().includes('zero-norm')
+    )
+    expect(loud).toBeDefined()
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(A2) transact() add with an explicit all-zero vector — the same canonical normalization', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    const brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    const ledgerBefore = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+    const zeroVector = new Array(384).fill(0)
+    const id = 'aaaaaaaa-0000-4000-8000-000000000001'
+
+    await brain.transact([
+      { op: 'add', id, type: NounType.Document, data: 'zero-norm transact add', vector: zeroVector }
+    ])
+
+    const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+    expect(entity).not.toBeNull()
+    expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    const ledgerAfter = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerAfter.vectors.all).toBe(ledgerBefore.vectors.all)
+
+    const loud = warnSpy.mock.calls.find(
+      (c) => typeof c[0] === 'string' && c[0].includes(id) && c[0].toLowerCase().includes('zero-norm')
+    )
+    expect(loud).toBeDefined()
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(B) the legacy counts.json derivation excludes a persisted zero-norm row from the vectored-noun scalar', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+    let brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+
+    // The VFS root alone (unvectored — []) — the floor.
+    const baseline = (await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()).vectors.all
+
+    const realId = await brain.add({ data: 'a real vectored document', type: NounType.Document })
+
+    // Plant the legacy all-zero shape BY HAND: a genuine identity record
+    // (via add(), so it has real metadata) whose vector leg is then
+    // overwritten directly through the raw storage primitive — bypassing
+    // Leg A's canonical-write normalization entirely (brain.storage.saveNoun
+    // is not Brainy.add()/update()'s normalized path) — reproducing exactly
+    // what a pre-fix store could have persisted on disk.
+    const zeroId = await brain.add({ data: 'a legacy zero-norm document', type: NounType.Document })
+    const zeroVector = new Array(384).fill(0)
+    await brain.storage.saveNoun({ id: zeroId, vector: zeroVector, connections: new Map(), level: 0 })
+
+    await brain.flush()
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // Remove counts.json so the next open re-derives from scratch (the
+    // one-time legacy/lost-file derivation path — Leg B).
+    fs.rmSync(countsPath(dir), { force: true })
+
+    brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+    const ledger = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    // Only realId counts; zeroId's persisted all-zero vector does not.
+    expect(ledger.vectors.all).toBe(baseline + 1)
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  it('(C) a legacy all-zero VFS root as the ONLY vectored row: open succeeds with no not-ready error, via an O(1) fixed-path read (no entities-tree readdir), and the ledger is 0 after open', async () => {
+    const dir = mkTmp()
+
+    // SESSION 1 — build the legacy shape: the root is a REAL all-zero
+    // 384-dim vector, genuinely indexed and genuinely ledgered — exactly
+    // what a pre-fix store's root looked like on disk (see
+    // vfs-root-zero-norm.test.ts pin (b) for the identical harness).
+    // `index.addItem` is called directly (bypassing the transactional
+    // zero-norm belt) because the pre-fix code path had no such belt — this
+    // harness must match history, not the cure. No other entity is added,
+    // so the root is the store's ONLY vectored row.
+    let brain = openBrain(dir)
+    await brain.init()
+    const oldVector = new Array(384).fill(0)
+    await brain.storage.saveNoun({ id: ROOT_ID, vector: oldVector, connections: new Map(), level: 0 })
+    await brain.index.addItem({ id: ROOT_ID, vector: oldVector })
+    await brain.storage.noteVectorLanded(ROOT_ID)
+    await brain.storage.persistCounts()
+    await brain.flush()
+    expect((await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()).vectors.all).toBe(1)
+    await brain.close()
+
+    // SESSION 2 — reopen with a FAKE native vector provider that claims
+    // `serving: true` at `size()===0` (the exact shape a downstream
+    // engine's own health report can legitimately carry — same technique as
+    // tests/integration/vector-leg-open-build.test.ts). This is the ONLY
+    // codepath where the vector-leg open gate's FAIL-TYPED throw
+    // (VectorIndexNotReadyError) can fire; the built-in JS engine alone
+    // never reaches it (the size-heuristic branch just rebuilds instead) —
+    // so this is the faithful reproduction of the incident Leg C closes.
+    const readdirCalls: string[] = []
+    const originalReaddir = fs.promises.readdir.bind(fs.promises)
+    vi.spyOn(fs.promises, 'readdir').mockImplementation(((...args: any[]) => {
+      readdirCalls.push(String(args[0]))
+      return (originalReaddir as any)(...args)
+    }) as any)
+
+    // Spy at the PROTOTYPE level (BaseStorage.getNoun) — the new brain's
+    // storage instance does not exist until init() runs, so an
+    // instance-level spy cannot be installed beforehand. Records the
+    // readdir-call delta across the FIRST call made with the root id —
+    // Leg C's own fixed-path read — proving it needs no directory listing.
+    let readdirDeltaDuringRootRead: number | null = null
+    const originalGetNoun = BaseStorage.prototype.getNoun
+    vi.spyOn(BaseStorage.prototype, 'getNoun').mockImplementation(async function (
+      this: unknown,
+      id: string
+    ) {
+      const before = readdirCalls.length
+      const result = await originalGetNoun.call(this as BaseStorage, id)
+      if (id === ROOT_ID && readdirDeltaDuringRootRead === null) {
+        readdirDeltaDuringRootRead = readdirCalls.length - before
+      }
+      return result
+    })
+
+    brain = openBrain(dir)
+    brain.use({
+      name: 'fake-native-vector-unledgered-coverage',
+      activate: async (ctx: any) => {
+        ctx.registerProvider('vector', (config: any, distance: any, options: any) => {
+          const real = new JsHnswVectorIndex(config, distance, options)
+          let rebuilt = false
+          const originalRebuild = real.rebuild.bind(real)
+          ;(real as any).rebuild = async (...args: any[]) => {
+            const r = await originalRebuild(...args)
+            rebuilt = true
+            return r
+          }
+          const originalSize = real.size.bind(real)
+          ;(real as any).size = () => (rebuilt ? originalSize() : 0)
+          ;(real as any).healthReport = () => ({
+            provider: 'vector',
+            healthy: true,
+            serving: true,
+            invariants: [],
+            checkedAt: Date.now(),
+            durationMs: 0,
+            generation: 1,
+            unledgered: ['vector-coverage']
+          })
+          return real
+        })
+        return true
+      }
+    })
+
+    // Must NOT throw VectorIndexNotReadyError (or anything else) — a
+    // near-empty store whose only vectored row is the zero-norm root must
+    // never go dark.
+    await brain.init()
+
+    const migratedRoot = await brain.get(ROOT_ID, { includeVectors: true })
+    expect(migratedRoot.vector).toEqual([])
+
+    const ledgerAfter = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+    expect(ledgerAfter.vectors.all).toBe(0)
+
+    expect(readdirDeltaDuringRootRead).toBe(0)
+
+    await brain.close()
+  })
+
+  describe('the sanctioned unvector door', () => {
+    it('(D1) update({ id, vector: [] }) unvectors a real vectored row — canonical [], removed from the index, ledger decremented by exactly 1, no embed call', async () => {
+      const dir = mkTmp()
+      const brain = openBrain(dir)
+      await brain.init()
+
+      const id = await brain.add({ data: 'a real document', type: NounType.Document })
+      await brain.flush()
+
+      const ledgerBefore = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+      const sizeBefore = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+
+      const embedSpy = vi.spyOn(brain, 'embed')
+      await brain.update({ id, vector: [] })
+      expect(embedSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+      const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+      expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+
+      const ledgerAfter = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+      expect(ledgerAfter.vectors.all).toBe(ledgerBefore.vectors.all - 1)
+
+      const sizeAfter = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+      expect(sizeAfter).toBe(sizeBefore - 1)
+
+      await brain.close()
+    })
+
+    it('(D2) idempotent: a second update({ id, vector: [] }) on an already-unvectored row is a true no-op — no error, no further decrement', async () => {
+      const dir = mkTmp()
+      const brain = openBrain(dir)
+      await brain.init()
+
+      const id = await brain.add({ data: 'a real document', type: NounType.Document })
+      await brain.flush()
+
+      await brain.update({ id, vector: [] })
+      const ledgerAfterFirst = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+
+      await brain.update({ id, vector: [] })
+      const ledgerAfterSecond = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+      expect(ledgerAfterSecond.vectors.all).toBe(ledgerAfterFirst.vectors.all)
+
+      const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+      expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+
+      await brain.close()
+    })
+
+    it('(D3) a PENDING deferred-embed row: the unvector door clears the marker; awaitPendingEmbeds() then leaves it unvectored', async () => {
+      const dir = mkTmp()
+      const brain = openBrain(dir)
+      await brain.init()
+
+      // Prevent the background worker from ever actually running — it is
+      // fire-and-forget from add(), and a real run would race this test's
+      // own assertions (see tests/integration/vector-leg-open-build.test.ts
+      // for the same concern). This isolates exactly the marker-clearing
+      // behavior under test.
+      vi.spyOn(brain as any, 'kickEmbedWorker').mockImplementation(() => {})
+
+      const id = await brain.add({
+        data: 'deferred content, never embedded',
+        type: NounType.Document,
+        deferEmbedding: true
+      })
+      expect(brain.pendingEmbedCount()).toBe(1)
+
+      const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+      await brain.update({ id, vector: [] })
+
+      expect(brain.pendingEmbedCount()).toBe(0)
+      const clearedWarn = warnSpy.mock.calls.find(
+        (c) => typeof c[0] === 'string' && c[0].includes(id) && c[0].toLowerCase().includes('pending')
+      )
+      expect(clearedWarn).toBeDefined()
+
+      // The barrier must not hang and must not re-vectorize the row — the
+      // worker (still mocked to a no-op) never runs again.
+      await brain.awaitPendingEmbeds()
+
+      const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+      expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+
+      await brain.close()
+    })
+
+    it('(D4) update({ vector: [], deferEmbedding: true }) is a typed refusal — the unvector door cannot be paired with a deferred embed', async () => {
+      const dir = mkTmp()
+      const brain = openBrain(dir)
+      await brain.init()
+
+      const id = await brain.add({ data: 'a real document', type: NounType.Document })
+      const before = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+
+      await expect(
+        brain.update({ id, vector: [], deferEmbedding: true })
+      ).rejects.toThrow(/unvector door/i)
+
+      // Refused before any write — the row is untouched.
+      const after = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+      expect(after.vector).toEqual(before.vector)
+
+      await brain.close()
+    })
+
+    it('(D5) the transact() twin of the unvector door decrements the ledger exactly once, and is idempotent on a second call', async () => {
+      const dir = mkTmp()
+      const brain = openBrain(dir)
+      await brain.init()
+
+      const id = await brain.add({ data: 'a real document for transact unvector', type: NounType.Document })
+      await brain.flush()
+
+      const ledgerBefore = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+      const sizeBefore = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+
+      await brain.transact([{ op: 'update', id, vector: [] }])
+
+      const entity = await brain.get(id, { includeVectors: true })
+      expect(entity.vector).toEqual([])
+
+      const ledgerAfter = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+      expect(ledgerAfter.vectors.all).toBe(ledgerBefore.vectors.all - 1)
+
+      const sizeAfter = (await brain.getIndexStatus()).hnswIndex.size
+      expect(sizeAfter).toBe(sizeBefore - 1)
+
+      // Idempotent through transact() too.
+      await brain.transact([{ op: 'update', id, vector: [] }])
+      const ledgerAfterSecond = await brain.storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+      expect(ledgerAfterSecond.vectors.all).toBe(ledgerAfter.vectors.all)
+
+      await brain.close()
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tests/lifecycle/biography.test.ts b/tests/lifecycle/biography.test.ts
index 8b274fce..274f0ef0 100644
--- a/tests/lifecycle/biography.test.ts
+++ b/tests/lifecycle/biography.test.ts
@@ -382,9 +382,17 @@ describe.sequential('lifecycle — the working store', () => {
           },
           // Every noun this biography ever adds carries an explicit/computed
           // vector (the harness never defers an embed), so the vectored-noun
-          // scalar tracks nouns.all exactly.
+          // scalar tracks nouns.all exactly EXCEPT for the VFS root counted
+          // in `vfsBaselineNouns`: the root is deliberately persisted with
+          // `vector: []` (the sanctioned "unvectored" shape — see
+          // VirtualFileSystem.doInitializeRoot()'s zero-norm-avoidance
+          // comment) so it never pays the WASM engine's cold-compile cost and
+          // never crosses an engine boundary as a false attractor. It is the
+          // ONE hidden-tier record `vfsBaselineNouns` represents (see
+          // biographyHarness's module header), so it is excluded here even
+          // though it counts toward `nouns.all`.
           vectors: {
-            all: aliveEntities.length + model.vfsFileNouns + model.vfsBaselineNouns
+            all: aliveEntities.length + model.vfsFileNouns
           },
           suspect: false
         })