diff --git a/BACKLOG.md b/BACKLOG.md
index 0b338f8..f0b5a75 100644
--- a/BACKLOG.md
+++ b/BACKLOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ hardening, or docs, not defects._
   `_weight_generated`, `_weight_superseded`, and `_owners` now share one map built once
   per index `generation` and cached per process, like the packed vector matrix. Query
   cost tracks the fused candidate set instead of the vault size.
+- [x] **A `SCHEMA_VERSION` bump that adds a column wedged an existing search index** ([#210](https://github.com/CryptoJones/omind/issues/210)) — _bug (retrieval)_ —
+  shipped in 6.6.0 and caught while setting up the #193 eval gate: the baseline read
+  `recall@1 = 0%`. `_wipe` deleted rows but never dropped tables, so a new column never
+  materialised and every ingest failed silently forever. Retrieval fell back to the
+  substring scan, so it degraded quietly instead of erroring. `_wipe` now drops and
+  recreates; a test exercises the upgrade path from the previous shape.
 - [x] **Compliance-log rotation silently never fired on Windows** ([#202](https://github.com/CryptoJones/omind/issues/202)) — _bug (enforcement)_ —
   found by CI on the #188 PR, before it shipped. The rotation renamed the log while this
   process still held its fd; Windows refuses that, and the `PermissionError` was swallowed
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 771af39..491ba15 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,23 @@ _The last of the 2026-08-01 review and 2026-08-02 comparison backlogs, released
 together rather than as another run of point versions._
 
 ### Fixed
+- **A `SCHEMA_VERSION` bump that adds a column no longer wedges an existing
+  search index** ([#210](https://github.com/CryptoJones/omind/issues/210)).
+  `_wipe` cleared the index with `DELETE FROM`, rows only — but `_SCHEMA` is
+  entirely `CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS` and runs *before* the wipe, so on an
+  existing index file the **old column shape survived**. 6.6.0 added two columns
+  to `notes` and bumped the schema 4 → 5, after which every ingest INSERT failed
+  with `no such column: confidence`, `refresh()` and `search()` returned `None`
+  on every call, and the only repair was a manual `omind reindex --rebuild`.
+
+  Quiet by construction: retrieval fell back to the pre-index substring scan
+  (invariant 2 held), so the symptom was silently worse recall rather than an
+  error. Measured on a live 784-note vault: **recall@1 0% wedged → 60% rebuilt**,
+  MRR **0.00 → 0.64**. `_wipe` now drops the tables and re-runs `_SCHEMA`.
+
+  Latent since `SCHEMA_VERSION` was introduced — earlier bumps happened to be
+  shape-compatible. `SCHEMA_VERSION` promised a migration it never performed,
+  and nothing tested the upgrade path from a previous shape; now something does.
 - **One failing `PostToolUse` side effect no longer cancels the rest**
   ([#204](https://github.com/CryptoJones/omind/issues/204), found while writing
   the #189 test). `hooks.run_hook` ran four independent subsystems — the loop
diff --git a/src/omind/searchindex.py b/src/omind/searchindex.py
index 457d613..2088f11 100644
--- a/src/omind/searchindex.py
+++ b/src/omind/searchindex.py
@@ -541,11 +541,22 @@ def _meta(db: sqlite3.Connection, key: str) -> str:
         return str(row["value"]) if row else ""
 
     def _wipe(self, db: sqlite3.Connection) -> None:
-        """Drop everything: the schema or the embedding model changed, so every
-        stored vector and every FTS row is suspect."""
+        """Drop and recreate everything: the schema or the embedding model
+        changed, so every stored vector and every FTS row is suspect.
+
+        This must ``DROP``, not ``DELETE``. ``_SCHEMA`` is all
+        ``CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS``, so deleting rows leaves the *old column
+        shape* in place — and a ``SCHEMA_VERSION`` bump that adds a column then
+        made every INSERT fail with "no such column" forever. The index stayed
+        empty, `refresh()` and `search()` returned ``None`` on every call, and
+        the only repair was a manual `omind reindex --rebuild`. Retrieval fell
+        back to the pre-index substring scan (invariant 2 held), so the symptom
+        was silently worse results rather than an error.
+        """
         for table in ("notes", "note_tags", "chunks", "chunks_fts", "vectors", "links", "meta"):
             with contextlib.suppress(sqlite3.Error):
-                db.execute(f"DELETE FROM {table}")
+                db.execute(f"DROP TABLE IF EXISTS {table}")
+        db.executescript(_SCHEMA)
         db.execute(
             "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO meta(key, value) VALUES ('schema', ?), ('model', ?)",
             (str(SCHEMA_VERSION), self.model),
diff --git a/tests/test_searchindex.py b/tests/test_searchindex.py
index 3921878..47a40cd 100644
--- a/tests/test_searchindex.py
+++ b/tests/test_searchindex.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import sqlite3
 from collections.abc import Iterator
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -507,3 +508,34 @@ def test_a_conflict_is_surfaced_on_both_notes(omi: Path) -> None:
     by_name = {hit.filename: hit for hit in hits}
     assert by_name["Claim A.md"].conflicts_with == "Claim B.md"
     assert by_name["Claim B.md"].conflicts_with == "Claim A.md"  # symmetric
+
+
+def test_a_schema_bump_that_adds_a_column_rebuilds_the_index(omi: Path) -> None:
+    """A SCHEMA_VERSION bump must survive an existing index file.
+
+    `_SCHEMA` is all CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS, so wiping by DELETE left the
+    old *column shape* in place: every INSERT then failed with "no such column"
+    and the index stayed empty forever — refresh() and search() returning None
+    on every call, repairable only by a manual `omind reindex --rebuild`.
+    Retrieval fell back to the substring scan, so the symptom was quietly worse
+    results rather than an error.
+    """
+    _note(omi, "Handbook", "curated operations", ["ops"], details="zebracorn rollback")
+    index = searchindex.SearchIndex(omi)
+    assert index.refresh() is not None
+    path = index.path()
+    index.close()
+
+    # Age the file into the shape a previous release wrote: two fewer columns,
+    # and the schema number that shipped with them.
+    db = sqlite3.connect(path)
+    db.execute("ALTER TABLE notes DROP COLUMN confidence")
+    db.execute("ALTER TABLE notes DROP COLUMN conflicts_with")
+    db.execute("INSERT OR REPLACE INTO meta(key, value) VALUES ('schema', '4')")
+    db.commit()
+    db.close()
+
+    upgraded = searchindex.SearchIndex(omi)
+    stats = upgraded.refresh()
+    assert stats is not None and stats.notes == 1  # rebuilt, not wedged
+    assert [hit.filename for hit in (upgraded.search("zebracorn") or [])] == ["Handbook.md"]