diff --git a/src/lib/server/embeddings/embedding.service.test.ts b/src/lib/server/embeddings/embedding.service.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e309b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/embeddings/embedding.service.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,415 @@
+/**
+ * Unit tests for the embedding provider abstraction and EmbeddingService
+ * storage logic.
+ *
+ * Tests use in-memory SQLite and mock providers — no real API calls are made.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
+import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/better-sqlite3';
+import { migrate } from 'drizzle-orm/better-sqlite3/migrator';
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import * as schema from '../db/schema.js';
+
+import { NoopEmbeddingProvider, EmbeddingError, type EmbeddingVector } from './provider.js';
+import { OpenAIEmbeddingProvider } from './openai.provider.js';
+import { EmbeddingService } from './embedding.service.js';
+import {
+	createProviderFromConfig,
+	defaultEmbeddingConfig,
+	EMBEDDING_CONFIG_KEY,
+	type EmbeddingConfig
+} from './factory.js';
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Test DB helpers
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function createTestDb() {
+	const client = new Database(':memory:');
+	client.pragma('foreign_keys = ON');
+
+	const db = drizzle(client, { schema });
+	const migrationsFolder = join(import.meta.dirname, '../db/migrations');
+	migrate(db, { migrationsFolder });
+
+	const ftsSql = readFileSync(join(import.meta.dirname, '../db/fts.sql'), 'utf-8');
+	client.exec(ftsSql);
+
+	return { db, client };
+}
+
+const now = new Date();
+
+function seedSnippet(
+	db: ReturnType<typeof drizzle>,
+	client: Database.Database,
+	overrides: Partial<schema.NewSnippet> = {}
+): string {
+	const repoId = '/test/embed-repo';
+	// Ensure repo exists (ignore if already there).
+	try {
+		db.insert(schema.repositories)
+			.values({
+				id: repoId,
+				title: 'Embed Repo',
+				source: 'github',
+				sourceUrl: 'https://github.com/test/embed-repo',
+				createdAt: now,
+				updatedAt: now
+			})
+			.run();
+	} catch {
+		// already exists
+	}
+
+	const docId = crypto.randomUUID();
+	db.insert(schema.documents)
+		.values({
+			id: docId,
+			repositoryId: repoId,
+			filePath: 'README.md',
+			checksum: 'abc',
+			indexedAt: now
+		})
+		.run();
+
+	const snippetId = crypto.randomUUID();
+	db.insert(schema.snippets)
+		.values({
+			id: snippetId,
+			documentId: docId,
+			repositoryId: repoId,
+			type: 'info',
+			content: 'Hello embedding world',
+			title: 'Embed snippet',
+			createdAt: now,
+			...overrides
+		})
+		.run();
+
+	return snippetId;
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// NoopEmbeddingProvider
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('NoopEmbeddingProvider', () => {
+	it('returns an empty array for any input', async () => {
+		const provider = new NoopEmbeddingProvider();
+		const result = await provider.embed(['text1', 'text2']);
+		expect(result).toEqual([]);
+	});
+
+	it('isAvailable() returns false', async () => {
+		const provider = new NoopEmbeddingProvider();
+		expect(await provider.isAvailable()).toBe(false);
+	});
+
+	it('has the expected name and dimensions', () => {
+		const provider = new NoopEmbeddingProvider();
+		expect(provider.name).toBe('noop');
+		expect(provider.dimensions).toBe(0);
+		expect(provider.model).toBe('none');
+	});
+});
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// OpenAIEmbeddingProvider (with fetch mocking)
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('OpenAIEmbeddingProvider', () => {
+	function makeFakeEmbedding(dim: number, index = 0): number[] {
+		return Array.from({ length: dim }, (_, i) => (i + index + 1) * 0.01);
+	}
+
+	function mockFetchSuccess(embeddings: number[][]) {
+		const data = embeddings.map((emb, index) => ({ embedding: emb, index }));
+		vi.stubGlobal(
+			'fetch',
+			vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+				ok: true,
+				json: async () => ({ data })
+			})
+		);
+	}
+
+	function mockFetchFailure(status: number) {
+		vi.stubGlobal(
+			'fetch',
+			vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+				ok: false,
+				status,
+				json: async () => ({ error: { message: 'Bad request' } })
+			})
+		);
+	}
+
+	beforeEach(() => {
+		vi.restoreAllMocks();
+	});
+
+	it('embeds texts and returns Float32Array vectors', async () => {
+		const emb = makeFakeEmbedding(4);
+		mockFetchSuccess([emb]);
+
+		const provider = new OpenAIEmbeddingProvider({
+			baseUrl: 'https://api.openai.com/v1',
+			apiKey: 'test-key',
+			model: 'text-embedding-3-small'
+		});
+
+		const result = await provider.embed(['hello world']);
+		expect(result).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(result[0].model).toBe('text-embedding-3-small');
+		expect(result[0].dimensions).toBe(4);
+		expect(result[0].values).toBeInstanceOf(Float32Array);
+		expect(result[0].values[0]).toBeCloseTo(0.01, 5);
+	});
+
+	it('batches large input into multiple fetch calls', async () => {
+		// Make fetch always succeed with 2 fake embeddings.
+		const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+			ok: true,
+			json: async () => ({
+				data: [
+					{ embedding: makeFakeEmbedding(2, 0), index: 0 },
+					{ embedding: makeFakeEmbedding(2, 1), index: 1 }
+				]
+			})
+		});
+		vi.stubGlobal('fetch', fetchMock);
+
+		const provider = new OpenAIEmbeddingProvider({
+			baseUrl: 'https://api.openai.com/v1',
+			apiKey: 'sk-test',
+			model: 'text-embedding-3-small',
+			maxBatchSize: 2
+		});
+
+		// 4 texts with maxBatchSize=2 → 2 fetch calls.
+		const result = await provider.embed(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']);
+		expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+		expect(result).toHaveLength(4);
+	});
+
+	it('throws EmbeddingError on API failure', async () => {
+		mockFetchFailure(400);
+
+		const provider = new OpenAIEmbeddingProvider({
+			baseUrl: 'https://api.openai.com/v1',
+			apiKey: 'bad-key',
+			model: 'text-embedding-3-small'
+		});
+
+		await expect(provider.embed(['hello'])).rejects.toThrow(EmbeddingError);
+	});
+
+	it('includes dimensions in request body when configured', async () => {
+		const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+			ok: true,
+			json: async () => ({ data: [{ embedding: [0.1, 0.2], index: 0 }] })
+		});
+		vi.stubGlobal('fetch', fetchMock);
+
+		const provider = new OpenAIEmbeddingProvider({
+			baseUrl: 'https://api.openai.com/v1',
+			apiKey: 'sk-test',
+			model: 'text-embedding-3-small',
+			dimensions: 512
+		});
+
+		await provider.embed(['test']);
+
+		const callBody = JSON.parse(fetchMock.mock.calls[0][1].body);
+		expect(callBody.dimensions).toBe(512);
+	});
+
+	it('omits dimensions field when not configured', async () => {
+		const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+			ok: true,
+			json: async () => ({ data: [{ embedding: [0.1], index: 0 }] })
+		});
+		vi.stubGlobal('fetch', fetchMock);
+
+		const provider = new OpenAIEmbeddingProvider({
+			baseUrl: 'https://api.openai.com/v1',
+			apiKey: 'sk-test',
+			model: 'nomic-embed-text'
+		});
+
+		await provider.embed(['test']);
+
+		const callBody = JSON.parse(fetchMock.mock.calls[0][1].body);
+		expect(callBody.dimensions).toBeUndefined();
+	});
+});
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// EmbeddingService — storage logic
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('EmbeddingService', () => {
+	let client: Database.Database;
+	let db: ReturnType<typeof drizzle<typeof schema>>;
+
+	beforeEach(() => {
+		({ client, db } = createTestDb());
+	});
+
+	function makeProvider(dim: number, modelName = 'test-model') {
+		return {
+			name: 'mock',
+			dimensions: dim,
+			model: modelName,
+			async embed(texts: string[]): Promise<EmbeddingVector[]> {
+				return texts.map(() => ({
+					values: new Float32Array(Array.from({ length: dim }, (_, i) => i * 0.1)),
+					dimensions: dim,
+					model: modelName
+				}));
+			},
+			async isAvailable() {
+				return true;
+			}
+		};
+	}
+
+	it('stores embeddings in snippet_embeddings table', async () => {
+		const snippetId = seedSnippet(db, client);
+		const provider = makeProvider(4);
+		const service = new EmbeddingService(client, provider);
+
+		await service.embedSnippets([snippetId]);
+
+		const rows = client.prepare('SELECT * FROM snippet_embeddings WHERE snippet_id = ?').all(snippetId);
+		expect(rows).toHaveLength(1);
+
+		const row = rows[0] as { model: string; dimensions: number; embedding: Buffer };
+		expect(row.model).toBe('test-model');
+		expect(row.dimensions).toBe(4);
+		expect(row.embedding).toBeInstanceOf(Buffer);
+	});
+
+	it('stores embeddings as retrievable Float32Array blobs', async () => {
+		const snippetId = seedSnippet(db, client);
+		const provider = makeProvider(3);
+		const service = new EmbeddingService(client, provider);
+
+		await service.embedSnippets([snippetId]);
+
+		const retrieved = service.getEmbedding(snippetId);
+		expect(retrieved).toBeInstanceOf(Float32Array);
+		expect(retrieved!.length).toBe(3);
+		expect(retrieved![0]).toBeCloseTo(0.0, 5);
+		expect(retrieved![1]).toBeCloseTo(0.1, 5);
+		expect(retrieved![2]).toBeCloseTo(0.2, 5);
+	});
+
+	it('is idempotent — re-embedding replaces the existing row', async () => {
+		const snippetId = seedSnippet(db, client);
+		const provider = makeProvider(2);
+		const service = new EmbeddingService(client, provider);
+
+		await service.embedSnippets([snippetId]);
+		await service.embedSnippets([snippetId]);
+
+		const rows = client
+			.prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) as cnt FROM snippet_embeddings WHERE snippet_id = ?')
+			.get(snippetId) as { cnt: number };
+		expect(rows.cnt).toBe(1);
+	});
+
+	it('calls onProgress after each batch', async () => {
+		const ids: string[] = [];
+		for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+			ids.push(seedSnippet(db, client));
+		}
+
+		const provider = makeProvider(2);
+		const service = new EmbeddingService(client, provider);
+
+		const progress: Array<[number, number]> = [];
+		await service.embedSnippets(ids, (done, total) => {
+			progress.push([done, total]);
+		});
+
+		// With BATCH_SIZE=50 and 3 items, we expect exactly one progress call.
+		expect(progress.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+		expect(progress[progress.length - 1][0]).toBe(3);
+		expect(progress[progress.length - 1][1]).toBe(3);
+	});
+
+	it('handles empty snippetIds gracefully', async () => {
+		const provider = makeProvider(4);
+		const service = new EmbeddingService(client, provider);
+		// Should not throw.
+		await expect(service.embedSnippets([])).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+	});
+
+	it('returns null from getEmbedding when no embedding exists', () => {
+		const provider = makeProvider(4);
+		const service = new EmbeddingService(client, provider);
+
+		const result = service.getEmbedding('nonexistent-id');
+		expect(result).toBeNull();
+	});
+
+	it('ignores snippet IDs that do not exist in the database', async () => {
+		const provider = makeProvider(4);
+		const service = new EmbeddingService(client, provider);
+
+		// Should complete without error.
+		await expect(service.embedSnippets(['ghost-id-1', 'ghost-id-2'])).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+
+		const rows = client.prepare('SELECT COUNT(*) as cnt FROM snippet_embeddings').get() as {
+			cnt: number;
+		};
+		expect(rows.cnt).toBe(0);
+	});
+});
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Factory
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('createProviderFromConfig', () => {
+	it('returns NoopEmbeddingProvider for provider=none', () => {
+		const provider = createProviderFromConfig({ provider: 'none' });
+		expect(provider.name).toBe('noop');
+	});
+
+	it('returns OpenAIEmbeddingProvider for provider=openai', () => {
+		const provider = createProviderFromConfig({
+			provider: 'openai',
+			openai: {
+				baseUrl: 'https://api.openai.com/v1',
+				apiKey: 'sk-test',
+				model: 'text-embedding-3-small'
+			}
+		});
+		expect(provider.name).toBe('openai');
+	});
+
+	it('returns LocalEmbeddingProvider for provider=local', () => {
+		const provider = createProviderFromConfig({ provider: 'local' });
+		expect(provider.name).toBe('local');
+	});
+
+	it('throws when openai provider is selected without config', () => {
+		expect(() =>
+			createProviderFromConfig({ provider: 'openai' } as EmbeddingConfig)
+		).toThrow();
+	});
+
+	it('defaultEmbeddingConfig returns provider=none', () => {
+		expect(defaultEmbeddingConfig().provider).toBe('none');
+	});
+
+	it('EMBEDDING_CONFIG_KEY is the expected settings key', () => {
+		expect(EMBEDDING_CONFIG_KEY).toBe('embedding_config');
+	});
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/server/embeddings/embedding.service.ts b/src/lib/server/embeddings/embedding.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e245dd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/embeddings/embedding.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/**
+ * EmbeddingService — batches embedding requests and persists results to
+ * the snippet_embeddings table.
+ */
+
+import type Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+import type { EmbeddingProvider } from './provider.js';
+
+interface SnippetRow {
+	id: string;
+	title: string | null;
+	breadcrumb: string | null;
+	content: string;
+}
+
+const BATCH_SIZE = 50;
+const TEXT_MAX_CHARS = 2048;
+
+export class EmbeddingService {
+	constructor(
+		private readonly db: Database.Database,
+		private readonly provider: EmbeddingProvider
+	) {}
+
+	/**
+	 * Embed the given snippet IDs and store the results in snippet_embeddings.
+	 *
+	 * Only snippets that actually exist in the database are processed.
+	 * Results are upserted (INSERT OR REPLACE) so re-embedding is idempotent.
+	 *
+	 * @param snippetIds - Array of snippet UUIDs to embed.
+	 * @param onProgress - Optional callback invoked after each batch with
+	 *                     (completedCount, totalCount).
+	 */
+	async embedSnippets(
+		snippetIds: string[],
+		onProgress?: (done: number, total: number) => void
+	): Promise<void> {
+		if (snippetIds.length === 0) return;
+
+		const placeholders = snippetIds.map(() => '?').join(',');
+		const snippets = this.db
+			.prepare<string[], SnippetRow>(
+				`SELECT id, title, breadcrumb, content FROM snippets WHERE id IN (${placeholders})`
+			)
+			.all(...snippetIds);
+
+		if (snippets.length === 0) return;
+
+		const texts = snippets.map((s) =>
+			[s.title, s.breadcrumb, s.content]
+				.filter(Boolean)
+				.join('\n')
+				.slice(0, TEXT_MAX_CHARS)
+		);
+
+		const insert = this.db.prepare<[string, string, number, Buffer]>(`
+			INSERT OR REPLACE INTO snippet_embeddings (snippet_id, model, dimensions, embedding, created_at)
+			VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, unixepoch())
+		`);
+
+		for (let i = 0; i < snippets.length; i += BATCH_SIZE) {
+			const batchSnippets = snippets.slice(i, i + BATCH_SIZE);
+			const batchTexts = texts.slice(i, i + BATCH_SIZE);
+
+			const embeddings = await this.provider.embed(batchTexts);
+
+			const insertMany = this.db.transaction(() => {
+				for (let j = 0; j < batchSnippets.length; j++) {
+					const snippet = batchSnippets[j];
+					const embedding = embeddings[j];
+					insert.run(
+						snippet.id,
+						embedding.model,
+						embedding.dimensions,
+						Buffer.from(embedding.values.buffer)
+					);
+				}
+			});
+			insertMany();
+
+			onProgress?.(Math.min(i + BATCH_SIZE, snippets.length), snippets.length);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Retrieve a stored embedding for a snippet as a Float32Array.
+	 * Returns null when no embedding has been stored for the given snippet.
+	 */
+	getEmbedding(snippetId: string): Float32Array | null {
+		const row = this.db
+			.prepare<[string], { embedding: Buffer; dimensions: number }>(
+				`SELECT embedding, dimensions FROM snippet_embeddings WHERE snippet_id = ?`
+			)
+			.get(snippetId);
+
+		if (!row) return null;
+
+		return new Float32Array(row.embedding.buffer, row.embedding.byteOffset, row.dimensions);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/server/embeddings/factory.ts b/src/lib/server/embeddings/factory.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..692206b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/embeddings/factory.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/**
+ * Factory — create an EmbeddingProvider from a persisted EmbeddingConfig.
+ */
+
+import type { EmbeddingProvider } from './provider.js';
+import { NoopEmbeddingProvider } from './provider.js';
+import { OpenAIEmbeddingProvider } from './openai.provider.js';
+import { LocalEmbeddingProvider } from './local.provider.js';
+
+export interface EmbeddingConfig {
+	provider: 'openai' | 'local' | 'none';
+	openai?: {
+		baseUrl: string;
+		apiKey: string;
+		model: string;
+		dimensions?: number;
+		maxBatchSize?: number;
+	};
+}
+
+/** The settings table key used to persist the embedding configuration. */
+export const EMBEDDING_CONFIG_KEY = 'embedding_config';
+
+/**
+ * Construct the appropriate EmbeddingProvider for the given config.
+ * Falls back to NoopEmbeddingProvider for unknown or missing providers.
+ */
+export function createProviderFromConfig(config: EmbeddingConfig): EmbeddingProvider {
+	switch (config.provider) {
+		case 'openai': {
+			if (!config.openai) {
+				throw new Error('OpenAI provider selected but no openai config provided.');
+			}
+			return new OpenAIEmbeddingProvider(config.openai);
+		}
+		case 'local': {
+			return new LocalEmbeddingProvider();
+		}
+		case 'none':
+		default:
+			return new NoopEmbeddingProvider();
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * Return a default (noop) config when nothing has been stored yet.
+ */
+export function defaultEmbeddingConfig(): EmbeddingConfig {
+	return { provider: 'none' };
+}
+
+export type { EmbeddingProvider };
diff --git a/src/lib/server/embeddings/local.provider.ts b/src/lib/server/embeddings/local.provider.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f27fed7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/embeddings/local.provider.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/**
+ * LocalEmbeddingProvider — uses @xenova/transformers (optional dependency).
+ *
+ * @xenova/transformers is NOT installed by default. This provider uses a
+ * dynamic import so the module is only required at runtime when the local
+ * provider is actually configured. If the package is absent, isAvailable()
+ * returns false and embed() throws a clear error.
+ */
+
+import { EmbeddingError, type EmbeddingProvider, type EmbeddingVector } from './provider.js';
+
+export class LocalEmbeddingProvider implements EmbeddingProvider {
+	readonly name = 'local';
+	readonly model = 'Xenova/all-MiniLM-L6-v2';
+	readonly dimensions = 384;
+
+	// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+	private pipeline: ((text: string, options: Record<string, unknown>) => Promise<any>) | null =
+		null;
+
+	async embed(texts: string[]): Promise<EmbeddingVector[]> {
+		if (!this.pipeline) {
+			let transformers: { pipeline: Function };
+			try {
+				// Dynamic import — only succeeds when @xenova/transformers is installed.
+				// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+				transformers = (await import('@xenova/transformers' as any)) as {
+					pipeline: Function;
+				};
+			} catch {
+				throw new EmbeddingError(
+					'@xenova/transformers is not installed. Install it to use the local embedding provider.'
+				);
+			}
+			this.pipeline = await transformers.pipeline('feature-extraction', this.model);
+		}
+
+		const results: EmbeddingVector[] = [];
+		for (const text of texts) {
+			const output = await this.pipeline!(text, {
+				pooling: 'mean',
+				normalize: true
+			});
+			results.push({
+				values: new Float32Array(output.data),
+				dimensions: this.dimensions,
+				model: this.model
+			});
+		}
+		return results;
+	}
+
+	async isAvailable(): Promise<boolean> {
+		try {
+			await import('@xenova/transformers' as never);
+			return true;
+		} catch {
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/server/embeddings/openai.provider.ts b/src/lib/server/embeddings/openai.provider.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aab6564
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/embeddings/openai.provider.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/**
+ * OpenAIEmbeddingProvider — works with any OpenAI-compatible embeddings API
+ * including OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Ollama.
+ */
+
+import { EmbeddingError, type EmbeddingProvider, type EmbeddingVector } from './provider.js';
+
+export interface OpenAIProviderConfig {
+	/** e.g. "https://api.openai.com/v1" or "http://localhost:11434/v1" */
+	baseUrl: string;
+	apiKey: string;
+	/** e.g. "text-embedding-3-small", "nomic-embed-text" */
+	model: string;
+	/** Override dimensions for models that support it (e.g. text-embedding-3-small). */
+	dimensions?: number;
+	/** Maximum number of texts per API request. Default: 100. */
+	maxBatchSize?: number;
+}
+
+function chunk<T>(arr: T[], size: number): T[][] {
+	const chunks: T[][] = [];
+	for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i += size) {
+		chunks.push(arr.slice(i, i + size));
+	}
+	return chunks;
+}
+
+export class OpenAIEmbeddingProvider implements EmbeddingProvider {
+	readonly name = 'openai';
+
+	get model(): string {
+		return this.config.model;
+	}
+
+	get dimensions(): number {
+		return this.config.dimensions ?? 1536;
+	}
+
+	constructor(private readonly config: OpenAIProviderConfig) {}
+
+	async embed(texts: string[]): Promise<EmbeddingVector[]> {
+		const batchSize = this.config.maxBatchSize ?? 100;
+		const batches = chunk(texts, batchSize);
+		const allEmbeddings: EmbeddingVector[] = [];
+
+		for (const batch of batches) {
+			const body: Record<string, unknown> = {
+				model: this.config.model,
+				input: batch
+			};
+			if (this.config.dimensions !== undefined) {
+				body.dimensions = this.config.dimensions;
+			}
+
+			const response = await fetch(`${this.config.baseUrl}/embeddings`, {
+				method: 'POST',
+				headers: {
+					Authorization: `Bearer ${this.config.apiKey}`,
+					'Content-Type': 'application/json'
+				},
+				body: JSON.stringify(body)
+			});
+
+			if (!response.ok) {
+				let detail = '';
+				try {
+					const errBody = await response.json();
+					detail = errBody?.error?.message ?? '';
+				} catch {
+					// ignore parse failure
+				}
+				throw new EmbeddingError(
+					`OpenAI API error ${response.status}${detail ? `: ${detail}` : ''}`
+				);
+			}
+
+			const data = (await response.json()) as {
+				data: Array<{ embedding: number[]; index: number }>;
+			};
+
+			// API returns results in order; sort by index just in case.
+			const sorted = [...data.data].sort((a, b) => a.index - b.index);
+			for (const item of sorted) {
+				allEmbeddings.push({
+					values: new Float32Array(item.embedding),
+					dimensions: item.embedding.length,
+					model: this.config.model
+				});
+			}
+		}
+
+		return allEmbeddings;
+	}
+
+	async isAvailable(): Promise<boolean> {
+		try {
+			// Ping with a minimal single-item embed request.
+			await this.embed(['ping']);
+			return true;
+		} catch {
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/server/embeddings/provider.ts b/src/lib/server/embeddings/provider.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f26e278
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/embeddings/provider.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/**
+ * EmbeddingProvider interface and NoopEmbeddingProvider.
+ *
+ * The Noop provider returns null embeddings and enables FTS5-only mode
+ * when no embedding backend is configured.
+ */
+
+export interface EmbeddingVector {
+	values: Float32Array;
+	dimensions: number;
+	model: string;
+}
+
+export interface EmbeddingProvider {
+	readonly name: string;
+	readonly dimensions: number;
+	readonly model: string;
+
+	embed(texts: string[]): Promise<EmbeddingVector[]>;
+	isAvailable(): Promise<boolean>;
+}
+
+export class EmbeddingError extends Error {
+	constructor(message: string) {
+		super(message);
+		this.name = 'EmbeddingError';
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * NoopEmbeddingProvider — always returns empty results.
+ * Used as the default when no provider is configured; the system
+ * falls back gracefully to FTS5-only search.
+ */
+export class NoopEmbeddingProvider implements EmbeddingProvider {
+	readonly name = 'noop';
+	readonly dimensions = 0;
+	readonly model = 'none';
+
+	async embed(_texts: string[]): Promise<EmbeddingVector[]> {
+		return [];
+	}
+
+	async isAvailable(): Promise<boolean> {
+		return false;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/routes/api/v1/settings/embedding/+server.ts b/src/routes/api/v1/settings/embedding/+server.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22e4111
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/routes/api/v1/settings/embedding/+server.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/**
+ * GET  /api/v1/settings/embedding — retrieve current embedding configuration
+ * PUT  /api/v1/settings/embedding — update embedding configuration
+ */
+
+import { json } from '@sveltejs/kit';
+import type { RequestHandler } from './$types';
+import { getClient } from '$lib/server/db/client';
+import {
+	EMBEDDING_CONFIG_KEY,
+	createProviderFromConfig,
+	defaultEmbeddingConfig,
+	type EmbeddingConfig
+} from '$lib/server/embeddings/factory';
+import { handleServiceError, InvalidInputError } from '$lib/server/utils/validation';
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Helpers
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function readConfig(db: ReturnType<typeof getClient>): EmbeddingConfig {
+	const row = db
+		.prepare(`SELECT value FROM settings WHERE key = ?`)
+		.get(EMBEDDING_CONFIG_KEY) as { value: string } | undefined;
+
+	if (!row) return defaultEmbeddingConfig();
+
+	try {
+		return JSON.parse(row.value) as EmbeddingConfig;
+	} catch {
+		return defaultEmbeddingConfig();
+	}
+}
+
+function validateConfig(body: unknown): EmbeddingConfig {
+	if (typeof body !== 'object' || body === null) {
+		throw new InvalidInputError('Request body must be a JSON object');
+	}
+
+	const obj = body as Record<string, unknown>;
+
+	const provider = obj.provider;
+	if (provider !== 'openai' && provider !== 'local' && provider !== 'none') {
+		throw new InvalidInputError(
+			`Invalid provider "${String(provider)}". Must be one of: openai, local, none.`
+		);
+	}
+
+	if (provider === 'openai') {
+		const openai = obj.openai as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+		if (!openai || typeof openai !== 'object') {
+			throw new InvalidInputError('openai config object is required when provider is "openai"');
+		}
+		if (typeof openai.baseUrl !== 'string' || !openai.baseUrl) {
+			throw new InvalidInputError('openai.baseUrl must be a non-empty string');
+		}
+		if (typeof openai.apiKey !== 'string' || !openai.apiKey) {
+			throw new InvalidInputError('openai.apiKey must be a non-empty string');
+		}
+		if (typeof openai.model !== 'string' || !openai.model) {
+			throw new InvalidInputError('openai.model must be a non-empty string');
+		}
+
+		const config: EmbeddingConfig = {
+			provider: 'openai',
+			openai: {
+				baseUrl: openai.baseUrl as string,
+				apiKey: openai.apiKey as string,
+				model: openai.model as string,
+				dimensions:
+					typeof openai.dimensions === 'number' ? (openai.dimensions as number) : undefined,
+				maxBatchSize:
+					typeof openai.maxBatchSize === 'number'
+						? (openai.maxBatchSize as number)
+						: undefined
+			}
+		};
+		return config;
+	}
+
+	return { provider: provider as 'local' | 'none' };
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// GET
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export const GET: RequestHandler = () => {
+	try {
+		const db = getClient();
+		const config = readConfig(db);
+
+		// Strip the apiKey from the response for security.
+		const safeConfig = sanitizeForResponse(config);
+		return json(safeConfig);
+	} catch (err) {
+		return handleServiceError(err);
+	}
+};
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// PUT
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export const PUT: RequestHandler = async ({ request }) => {
+	try {
+		const body = await request.json();
+		const config = validateConfig(body);
+
+		// Verify provider connectivity before persisting (skip for noop).
+		if (config.provider !== 'none') {
+			const provider = createProviderFromConfig(config);
+			const available = await provider.isAvailable();
+			if (!available) {
+				throw new InvalidInputError(
+					`Could not connect to the "${config.provider}" embedding provider. Check your configuration.`
+				);
+			}
+		}
+
+		const db = getClient();
+		db.prepare(
+			`INSERT INTO settings (key, value, updated_at)
+			 VALUES (?, ?, unixepoch())
+			 ON CONFLICT (key) DO UPDATE SET value = excluded.value, updated_at = excluded.updated_at`
+		).run(EMBEDDING_CONFIG_KEY, JSON.stringify(config));
+
+		const safeConfig = sanitizeForResponse(config);
+		return json(safeConfig);
+	} catch (err) {
+		return handleServiceError(err);
+	}
+};
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Sanitize — remove sensitive fields before returning to clients
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function sanitizeForResponse(config: EmbeddingConfig): Omit<EmbeddingConfig, 'openai'> & {
+	openai?: Omit<NonNullable<EmbeddingConfig['openai']>, 'apiKey'>;
+} {
+	if (config.provider === 'openai' && config.openai) {
+		const { apiKey: _apiKey, ...rest } = config.openai;
+		return { ...config, openai: rest };
+	}
+	return config;
+}