diff --git a/packages/mnemopi/src/core/embeddings.ts b/packages/mnemopi/src/core/embeddings.ts
index 09db3e136..8e32f6551 100644
--- a/packages/mnemopi/src/core/embeddings.ts
+++ b/packages/mnemopi/src/core/embeddings.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { mkdirSync } from "node:fs";
+import * as fsp from "node:fs/promises";
+import * as nodePath from "node:path";
 import { type ApiKey, getOpenRouterHeaders, withAuth } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-ai";
 import { ProviderHttpError } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-ai/error";
 import { hostMatchesUrl } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-catalog/hosts";
@@ -62,12 +64,43 @@ const queryCache = new LRUCache<string, Vector>({ max: QUERY_CACHE_MAX });
 const providerIds = new WeakMap<object, number>();
 let nextProviderId = 1;
 
+/**
+ * Quarantine the exact ONNX file named by a "Protobuf parsing failed" init
+ * error. A truncated cached model blocks local embeddings forever: the
+ * downloader treats the existing file as complete, so every init re-parses
+ * the same broken bytes. The extracted path is error-message CONTENT, so it
+ * is only honored when it resolves inside the fastembed cache directory —
+ * never rename an arbitrary file a dependency happens to mention. Atomic
+ * rename; losing a concurrent-heal race (file already renamed/removed)
+ * still returns true because a retry is safe either way.
+ * @internal exported for tests
+ */
+export async function quarantineCorruptModelFile(message: string, cacheDir?: string): Promise<boolean> {
+	const match = /Load model from (.+?\.onnx) failed:.*Protobuf parsing failed/i.exec(message);
+	if (!match) return false;
+	const modelFile = nodePath.resolve(match[1]);
+	const cacheRoot = nodePath.resolve(cacheDir ?? getFastembedCacheDir());
+	if (!modelFile.startsWith(cacheRoot + nodePath.sep)) return false;
+	try {
+		await fsp.rename(modelFile, `${modelFile}.corrupt-${Date.now()}`);
+		logger.warn("mnemopi: quarantined corrupt local embedding model; retrying init", { modelFile });
+	} catch {
+		// Concurrent heal or vanished file: the single retry stays safe. A
+		// rename that failed with the file still in place just makes the
+		// retry surface the original error again.
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
 async function defaultLocalModelInitializer(options: LocalModelInitOptions): Promise<LocalEmbeddingModel> {
 	const { FlagEmbedding } = await loadFastembed();
 	try {
 		return await FlagEmbedding.init(options);
 	} catch (error) {
 		const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : "";
+		if (/Protobuf parsing failed/i.test(message) && (await quarantineCorruptModelFile(message))) {
+			return FlagEmbedding.init(options);
+		}
 		if (
 			!/(?:Config file not found at .*config|Tokenizer file not found at .*tokenizer|Tokens map file not found at .*special_tokens_map)/u.test(
 				message,
diff --git a/packages/mnemopi/test/corrupt-model-quarantine.test.ts b/packages/mnemopi/test/corrupt-model-quarantine.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..760a5abab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/mnemopi/test/corrupt-model-quarantine.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+// Contract: a "Protobuf parsing failed" init error quarantines EXACTLY the
+// model file named in the message (atomic rename to *.corrupt-<ts>) and
+// reports retry-safety; unrelated init errors never touch the filesystem.
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import * as fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import * as os from "node:os";
+import * as path from "node:path";
+import { quarantineCorruptModelFile } from "../src/core/embeddings";
+
+async function tempModelFile(): Promise<string> {
+	const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "mnemopi-quarantine-"));
+	const file = path.join(dir, "model_optimized.onnx");
+	await fs.writeFile(file, "not a protobuf");
+	return file;
+}
+
+/** The helper only honors paths inside the given cache root. */
+function cacheRootOf(file: string): string {
+	return path.dirname(path.dirname(file));
+}
+
+describe("quarantineCorruptModelFile", () => {
+	test("renames the exact file named by a protobuf failure and allows retry", async () => {
+		const file = await tempModelFile();
+		const healed = await quarantineCorruptModelFile(
+			`Load model from ${file} failed:Protobuf parsing failed.`,
+			cacheRootOf(file),
+		);
+		expect(healed).toBe(true);
+		// Original gone, quarantined copy present.
+		await expect(fs.access(file)).rejects.toThrow();
+		const siblings = await fs.readdir(path.dirname(file));
+		expect(siblings.some(name => name.startsWith("model_optimized.onnx.corrupt-"))).toBe(true);
+		await fs.rm(path.dirname(file), { recursive: true, force: true });
+	});
+
+	test("does not treat unrelated init errors as corruption", async () => {
+		const file = await tempModelFile();
+		const healed = await quarantineCorruptModelFile(`Model file not found at ${file}`, cacheRootOf(file));
+		expect(healed).toBe(false);
+		// Untouched: no rename happened.
+		expect(await fs.access(file).then(() => true)).toBe(true);
+		await fs.rm(path.dirname(file), { recursive: true, force: true });
+	});
+
+	test("a missing file (concurrent heal) still reports retry-safe", async () => {
+		const ghost = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `mnemopi-ghost-${Date.now()}`, "model_optimized.onnx");
+		const healed = await quarantineCorruptModelFile(
+			`Load model from ${ghost} failed:Protobuf parsing failed.`,
+			path.dirname(path.dirname(ghost)),
+		);
+		expect(healed).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	test("refuses to touch a file OUTSIDE the fastembed cache directory", async () => {
+		const file = await tempModelFile();
+		// Cache root that does NOT contain the file: containment must reject.
+		const foreignRoot = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "mnemopi-foreign-"));
+		const healed = await quarantineCorruptModelFile(
+			`Load model from ${file} failed:Protobuf parsing failed.`,
+			foreignRoot,
+		);
+		expect(healed).toBe(false);
+		expect(await fs.access(file).then(() => true)).toBe(true);
+		await fs.rm(path.dirname(file), { recursive: true, force: true });
+		await fs.rm(foreignRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+	});
+});