diff --git a/.github/workflows/binary-build.yml b/.github/workflows/binary-build.yml
index 956a966d2..e014e296c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/binary-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/binary-build.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ jobs:
               node_modules/onnxruntime-node/bin/napi-v3/darwin/arm64/onnxruntime_binding.node
               node_modules/onnxruntime-node/bin/napi-v3/darwin/arm64/libonnxruntime.1.21.0.dylib
               node_modules/sqlite-vec-darwin-arm64/vec0.dylib
+              node_modules/better-sqlite3/prebuilds/darwin-arm64.node
               node_modules/@napi-rs/keyring-darwin-arm64/keyring.darwin-arm64.node
               node_modules/wreq-js/rust/wreq-js.darwin-arm64.node
               node_modules/@anush008/tokenizers-darwin-universal/tokenizers.darwin-universal.node
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ jobs:
               node_modules/onnxruntime-node/bin/napi-v3/darwin/x64/onnxruntime_binding.node
               node_modules/onnxruntime-node/bin/napi-v3/darwin/x64/libonnxruntime.1.21.0.dylib
               node_modules/sqlite-vec-darwin-x64/vec0.dylib
+              node_modules/better-sqlite3/prebuilds/darwin-x64.node
               node_modules/@napi-rs/keyring-darwin-x64/keyring.darwin-x64.node
               node_modules/wreq-js/rust/wreq-js.darwin-x64.node
               node_modules/@anush008/tokenizers-darwin-universal/tokenizers.darwin-universal.node
@@ -124,9 +126,15 @@ jobs:
           const cfg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(root, 'packaging/binary/pkg.config.json'), 'utf8'));
           // Keep only the platform-agnostic assets; drop the macOS-arm64 native
           // lines baked into the committed config, then add this platform's.
+          // ⚠ better-sqlite3 joined this list when the pin moved 12.9.0 -> 13.0.3. Under v12 it
+          // compiled to `build/Release/better_sqlite3.node` — the SAME path on every target — so
+          // it was genuinely platform-agnostic and belonged in `common`. v13 ships per-target
+          // prebuilds under `prebuilds/<platform>-<arch>.node`, so leaving it in `common` would
+          // bake the darwin-arm64 binary into every platform's binary.
           const common = cfg.pkg.assets.filter((a) =>
             !a.includes('onnxruntime-node/bin/napi-v3/') &&
             !a.startsWith('node_modules/sqlite-vec-') &&
+            !a.startsWith('node_modules/better-sqlite3/prebuilds/') &&
             !a.includes('/keyring') &&
             !a.startsWith('node_modules/wreq-js/rust/') &&
             !a.includes('/tokenizers') &&
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index ec959d2e6..96149005a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -247,9 +247,36 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         # Every desktop OS across the supported Node range. The floor is Node 22
         # (`engines.node: ">=22"`): Node 20 "Iron" went EOL upstream on
-        # 2026-03-24, so it is no longer built or tested here. 12.9.0 ships
-        # prebuilt native binaries for every row (win32-x64 + darwin/linux arm64
-        # across Node 22/24), so npm ci never falls back to a source compile.
+        # 2026-03-24, so it is no longer built or tested here. better-sqlite3
+        # 13.0.3 ships prebuilt native binaries for every row: v13's are
+        # Node-API, carry no ABI suffix, and all eight targets travel in the ONE
+        # tarball, so there is no per-platform artifact to resolve. The
+        # postinstall then drops the seven the host cannot load
+        # (scripts/prune/sqlite-prebuilds.mjs).
+        #
+        # ⚠ AND ON WINDOWS `npm ci` STILL COMPILES FROM SOURCE, WHICH IS WHY
+        # THIS PIN IS NOT MERGEABLE. An earlier version of this comment claimed
+        # v13 "never falls back to a source compile on any row". That is false
+        # and was written from a green macOS run; this matrix measured it. Every
+        # macOS and Linux row passes, every Windows row fails, at `npm ci`:
+        #   npm error command C:\...\cmd.exe /d /s /c node-gyp rebuild
+        #   npm error gyp ERR! find VS could not find a version of
+        #                          Visual Studio 2017 or newer to use
+        # v12 shipped an `install` script (prebuild-install) that ran in pure
+        # Node and exited 0 the moment it found the bundled binary, so node-gyp
+        # was never invoked. v13 removed it, and npm then supplies its own
+        # implicit `node-gyp rebuild` for any package carrying a binding.gyp.
+        # better-sqlite3 publishes `gypfile: false` precisely to suppress that,
+        # and npm ignores it (npm/cli#9837, WiseLibs/better-sqlite3#1503/#1505).
+        # binding.gyp's own `prebuild_exists` guard cannot save it either: gyp
+        # must CONFIGURE before it can evaluate any variable, and configure is
+        # the step that needs the toolchain.
+        #
+        # This is not a CI-image problem to paper over. It means a Windows user
+        # without Python and VC++ Build Tools cannot `npm i wigolo` at all, and
+        # that is exactly the failure this clean-machine job exists to catch.
+        # Revisit when npm/cli#9837 lands or better-sqlite3 restores a
+        # JS-only install script.
         os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
         node: ['22', '24']
         include:
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index b7e00d585..38f296aa5 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
         "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "^1.29.0",
         "@mozilla/readability": "^0.6.0",
         "ajv": "8.17.1",
-        "better-sqlite3": "~12.9.0",
+        "better-sqlite3": "13.0.3",
         "chalk": "^5.6.2",
         "cli-progress": "^3.12.0",
         "defuddle": "^0.16.0",
@@ -5396,17 +5396,15 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/better-sqlite3": {
-      "version": "12.9.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/better-sqlite3/-/better-sqlite3-12.9.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-wqUv4Gm3toFpHDQmaKD4QhZm3g1DjUBI0yzS4UBl6lElUmXFYdTQmmEDpAFa5o8FiFiymURypEnfVHzILKaxqQ==",
-      "hasInstallScript": true,
+      "version": "13.0.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/better-sqlite3/-/better-sqlite3-13.0.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-RbOBxmLBG8uvFUc15X9+9SFemKcQ0WBuISBVkpuiaUB2qblC8UWlHEjdWVoZ8AdhSwmoEgsiXKfopX0CQxaACQ==",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
-        "bindings": "^1.5.0",
-        "prebuild-install": "^7.1.1"
+        "node-addon-api": "^8.0.0"
       },
       "engines": {
-        "node": "20.x || 22.x || 23.x || 24.x || 25.x"
+        "node": ">=22"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/bignumber.js": {
@@ -5418,19 +5416,11 @@
         "node": "*"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/bindings": {
-      "version": "1.5.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/bindings/-/bindings-1.5.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-p2q/t/mhvuOj/UeLlV6566GD/guowlr0hHxClI0W9m7MWYkL1F0hLo+0Aexs9HSPCtR1SXQ0TD3MMKrXZajbiQ==",
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "file-uri-to-path": "1.0.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/bl": {
       "version": "4.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/bl/-/bl-4.1.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-1W07cM9gS6DcLperZfFSj+bWLtaPGSOHWhPiGzXmvVJbRLdG82sH/Kn8EtW1VqWVA54AKf2h5k5BbnIbwF3h6w==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "buffer": "^5.5.0",
@@ -5520,6 +5510,7 @@
       "version": "5.7.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/buffer/-/buffer-5.7.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-EHcyIPBQ4BSGlvjB16k5KgAJ27CIsHY/2JBmCRReo48y9rQ3MaUzWX3KVlBa4U7MyX02HdVj0K7C3WaB3ju7FQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "funding": [
         {
           "type": "github",
@@ -5695,6 +5686,7 @@
       "version": "1.1.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/chownr/-/chownr-1.1.4.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-jJ0bqzaylmJtVnNgzTeSOs8DPavpbYgEr/b0YL8/2GO3xJEhInFmhKMUnEJQjZumK7KXGFhUy89PrsJWlakBVg==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "ISC"
     },
     "node_modules/chrome-remote-interface": {
@@ -6239,6 +6231,7 @@
       "version": "6.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/decompress-response/-/decompress-response-6.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-aW35yZM6Bb/4oJlZncMH2LCoZtJXTRxES17vE3hoRiowU2kWHaJKFkSBDnDR+cm9J+9QhXmREyIfv0pji9ejCQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "mimic-response": "^3.1.0"
@@ -6254,6 +6247,7 @@
       "version": "0.6.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/deep-extend/-/deep-extend-0.6.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-LOHxIOaPYdHlJRtCQfDIVZtfw/ufM8+rVj649RIHzcm/vGwQRXFt6OPqIFWsm2XEMrNIEtWR64sY1LEKD2vAOA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=4.0.0"
@@ -6545,6 +6539,7 @@
       "version": "1.4.5",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/end-of-stream/-/end-of-stream-1.4.5.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-ooEGc6HP26xXq/N+GCGOT0JKCLDGrq2bQUZrQ7gyrJiZANJ/8YDTxTpQBXGMn+WbIQXNVpyWymm7KYVICQnyOg==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "once": "^1.4.0"
@@ -6761,6 +6756,7 @@
       "version": "2.0.3",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/expand-template/-/expand-template-2.0.3.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-XYfuKMvj4O35f/pOXLObndIRvyQ+/+6AhODh+OKWj9S9498pHHn/IMszH+gt0fBCRWMNfk1ZSp5x3AifmnI2vg==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "(MIT OR WTFPL)",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=6"
@@ -6941,12 +6937,6 @@
         "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/sindresorhus"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/file-uri-to-path": {
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/file-uri-to-path/-/file-uri-to-path-1.0.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-0Zt+s3L7Vf1biwWZ29aARiVYLx7iMGnEUl9x33fbB/j3jR81u/O2LbqK+Bm1CDSNDKVtJ/YjwY7TUd5SkeLQLw==",
-      "license": "MIT"
-    },
     "node_modules/finalhandler": {
       "version": "2.1.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/finalhandler/-/finalhandler-2.1.1.tgz",
@@ -7020,6 +7010,7 @@
       "version": "1.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-constants/-/fs-constants-1.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-y6OAwoSIf7FyjMIv94u+b5rdheZEjzR63GTyZJm5qh4Bi+2YgwLCcI/fPFZkL5PSixOt6ZNKm+w+Hfp/Bciwow==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT"
     },
     "node_modules/fs-extra": {
@@ -7191,6 +7182,7 @@
       "version": "0.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/github-from-package/-/github-from-package-0.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-SyHy3T1v2NUXn29OsWdxmK6RwHD+vkj3v8en8AOBZ1wBQ/hCAQ5bAQTD02kW4W9tUp/3Qh6J8r9EvntiyCmOOw==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT"
     },
     "node_modules/global-agent": {
@@ -7520,6 +7512,7 @@
       "version": "1.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ieee754/-/ieee754-1.2.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-dcyqhDvX1C46lXZcVqCpK+FtMRQVdIMN6/Df5js2zouUsqG7I6sFxitIC+7KYK29KdXOLHdu9zL4sFnoVQnqaA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "funding": [
         {
           "type": "github",
@@ -7558,6 +7551,7 @@
       "version": "1.3.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ini/-/ini-1.3.8.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-JV/yugV2uzW5iMRSiZAyDtQd+nxtUnjeLt0acNdw98kKLrvuRVyB80tsREOE7yvGVgalhZ6RNXCmEHkUKBKxew==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "ISC"
     },
     "node_modules/ink": {
@@ -8526,6 +8520,7 @@
       "version": "3.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mimic-response/-/mimic-response-3.1.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-z0yWI+4FDrrweS8Zmt4Ej5HdJmky15+L2e6Wgn3+iK5fWzb6T3fhNFq2+MeTRb064c6Wr4N/wv0DzQTjNzHNGQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=10"
@@ -8538,6 +8533,7 @@
       "version": "1.2.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/minimist/-/minimist-1.2.8.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-2yyAR8qBkN3YuheJanUpWC5U3bb5osDywNB8RzDVlDwDHbocAJveqqj1u8+SVD7jkWT4yvsHCpWqqWqAxb0zCA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "funding": {
         "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/ljharb"
@@ -8593,6 +8589,7 @@
       "version": "0.5.3",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mkdirp-classic/-/mkdirp-classic-0.5.3.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-gKLcREMhtuZRwRAfqP3RFW+TK4JqApVBtOIftVgjuABpAtpxhPGaDcfvbhNvD0B8iD1oUr/txX35NjcaY6Ns/A==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT"
     },
     "node_modules/mlly": {
@@ -8683,6 +8680,7 @@
       "version": "2.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/napi-build-utils/-/napi-build-utils-2.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-GEbrYkbfF7MoNaoh2iGG84Mnf/WZfB0GdGEsM8wz7Expx/LlWf5U8t9nvJKXSp3qr5IsEbK04cBGhol/KwOsWA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT"
     },
     "node_modules/negotiator": {
@@ -8698,6 +8696,7 @@
       "version": "3.92.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-abi/-/node-abi-3.92.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-KdHvFWZjEKDf0cakgFjebl371GPsISX2oZHcuyKqM7DtogIsHrqKeLTo8wBHxaXRAQlY2PsPlZmfo+9ZCxEREQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "semver": "^7.3.5"
@@ -8706,6 +8705,15 @@
         "node": ">=10"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/node-addon-api": {
+      "version": "8.9.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-addon-api/-/node-addon-api-8.9.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-VijLXbi3UACN69I0JVXJsX4tjACjNoQDgv2gTF6sx2wWEi8tkSg2eX8p5gSIFi8z2+DL3oHmY6OyKce38SDolg==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "engines": {
+        "node": "^18 || ^20 || >= 21"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/node-domexception": {
       "version": "1.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-domexception/-/node-domexception-1.0.0.tgz",
@@ -9424,6 +9432,7 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/prebuild-install/-/prebuild-install-7.1.3.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-8Mf2cbV7x1cXPUILADGI3wuhfqWvtiLA1iclTDbFRZkgRQS0NqsPZphna9V+HyTEadheuPmjaJMsbzKQFOzLug==",
       "deprecated": "No longer maintained. Please contact the author of the relevant native addon; alternatives are available.",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "detect-libc": "^2.0.0",
@@ -9514,6 +9523,7 @@
       "version": "3.0.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/pump/-/pump-3.0.4.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-VS7sjc6KR7e1ukRFhQSY5LM2uBWAUPiOPa/A3mkKmiMwSmRFUITt0xuj+/lesgnCv+dPIEYlkzrcyXgquIHMcA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "end-of-stream": "^1.1.0",
@@ -9573,6 +9583,7 @@
       "version": "1.2.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/rc/-/rc-1.2.8.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-y3bGgqKj3QBdxLbLkomlohkvsA8gdAiUQlSBJnBhfn+BPxg4bc62d8TcBW15wavDfgexCgccckhcZvywyQYPOw==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "(BSD-2-Clause OR MIT OR Apache-2.0)",
       "dependencies": {
         "deep-extend": "^0.6.0",
@@ -9622,6 +9633,7 @@
       "version": "3.6.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/readable-stream/-/readable-stream-3.6.2.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-9u/sniCrY3D5WdsERHzHE4G2YCXqoG5FTHUiCC4SIbr6XcLZBY05ya9EKjYek9O5xOAwjGq+1JdGBAS7Q9ScoA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "inherits": "^2.0.3",
@@ -10168,6 +10180,7 @@
       "version": "1.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/simple-concat/-/simple-concat-1.0.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-cSFtAPtRhljv69IK0hTVZQ+OfE9nePi/rtJmw5UjHeVyVroEqJXP1sFztKUy1qU+xvz3u/sfYJLa947b7nAN2Q==",
+      "dev": true,
       "funding": [
         {
           "type": "github",
@@ -10188,6 +10201,7 @@
       "version": "4.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/simple-get/-/simple-get-4.0.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-brv7p5WgH0jmQJr1ZDDfKDOSeWWg+OVypG99A/5vYGPqJ6pxiaHLy8nxtFjBA7oMa01ebA9gfh1uMCFqOuXxvA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "funding": [
         {
           "type": "github",
@@ -10450,6 +10464,7 @@
       "version": "1.3.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/string_decoder/-/string_decoder-1.3.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-hkRX8U1WjJFd8LsDJ2yQ/wWWxaopEsABU1XfkM8A+j0+85JAGppt16cr1Whg6KIbb4okU6Mql6BOj+uup/wKeA==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "safe-buffer": "~5.2.0"
@@ -10491,6 +10506,7 @@
       "version": "2.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/strip-json-comments/-/strip-json-comments-2.0.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-4gB8na07fecVVkOI6Rs4e7T6NOTki5EmL7TUduTs6bu3EdnSycntVJ4re8kgZA+wx9IueI2Y11bfbgwtzuE0KQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=0.10.0"
@@ -10599,6 +10615,7 @@
       "version": "2.1.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tar-fs/-/tar-fs-2.1.4.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-mDAjwmZdh7LTT6pNleZ05Yt65HC3E+NiQzl672vQG38jIrehtJk/J3mNwIg+vShQPcLF/LV7CMnDW6vjj6sfYQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "chownr": "^1.1.1",
@@ -10611,6 +10628,7 @@
       "version": "2.2.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tar-stream/-/tar-stream-2.2.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-ujeqbceABgwMZxEJnk2HDY2DlnUZ+9oEcb1KzTVfYHio0UE6dG71n60d8D2I4qNvleWrrXpmjpt7vZeF1LnMZQ==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "bl": "^4.0.3",
@@ -11444,6 +11462,7 @@
       "version": "0.6.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tunnel-agent/-/tunnel-agent-0.6.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-McnNiV1l8RYeY8tBgEpuodCC1mLUdbSN+CYBL7kJsJNInOP8UjDDEwdk6Mw60vdLLrr5NHKZhMAOSrR2NZuQ+w==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
         "safe-buffer": "^5.0.1"
@@ -11619,6 +11638,7 @@
       "version": "1.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/util-deprecate/-/util-deprecate-1.0.2.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-EPD5q1uXyFxJpCrLnCc1nHnq3gOa6DZBocAIiI2TaSCA7VCJ1UJDMagCzIkXNsUYfD1daK//LTEQ8xiIbrHtcw==",
+      "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT"
     },
     "node_modules/vary": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 837c292f6..18442bccf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@
     "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "^1.29.0",
     "@mozilla/readability": "^0.6.0",
     "ajv": "8.17.1",
-    "better-sqlite3": "~12.9.0",
+    "better-sqlite3": "13.0.3",
     "chalk": "^5.6.2",
     "cli-progress": "^3.12.0",
     "defuddle": "^0.16.0",
diff --git a/packaging/binary/pkg.config.json b/packaging/binary/pkg.config.json
index 30bf2a0b1..975474314 100644
--- a/packaging/binary/pkg.config.json
+++ b/packaging/binary/pkg.config.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "//": "pkg config for the wigolo single-file binary. Copied to the repo root as pkg.build.json at build time so all globs resolve relative to the repo root (pkg resolves scripts/assets relative to the CONFIG file's directory — round-1 finding). The entry fed to pkg is the esbuild CJS bundle at dist/cli/agents/wigolo.bundle.cjs; `scripts` stays empty because the bundle is self-contained JS. Native .node/.dylib and asset-carrier packages are declared here so pkg's require-hook can extract them at runtime.",
+  "//": "pkg config for the wigolo single-file binary. Copied to the repo root as pkg.build.json at build time so all globs resolve relative to the repo root (pkg resolves scripts/assets relative to the CONFIG file's directory — round-1 finding). The entry fed to pkg is the esbuild CJS bundle at dist/cli/agents/wigolo.bundle.cjs; `scripts` stays empty because the bundle is self-contained JS. Native .node/.dylib and asset-carrier packages are declared here so pkg's require-hook can extract them at runtime. NOTE the better-sqlite3 line is PLATFORM-SPECIFIC and was not always: v12 compiled to a fixed `build/Release/better_sqlite3.node`, the same path on every target, so it sat with the platform-agnostic entries and binary-build.yml's composer left it alone. v13 ships per-target Node-API prebuilds under `prebuilds/<platform>-<arch>.node` and the loader computes that name at RUNTIME, so pkg cannot discover it by static analysis and it must be declared per target — this file carries the darwin-arm64 one and the workflow strips it for the other rows exactly as it does the other natives.",
   "pkg": {
     "scripts": [],
     "assets": [
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
       "node_modules/playwright-core/browsers.json",
       "node_modules/playwright-core/cli.js",
       "node_modules/playwright-core/**/*.js",
-      "node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node",
+      "node_modules/better-sqlite3/prebuilds/darwin-arm64.node",
       "node_modules/onnxruntime-node/bin/napi-v3/darwin/arm64/onnxruntime_binding.node",
       "node_modules/onnxruntime-node/bin/napi-v3/darwin/arm64/libonnxruntime.1.21.0.dylib",
       "node_modules/sqlite-vec-darwin-arm64/vec0.dylib",
diff --git a/scripts/budget/protocol.mjs b/scripts/budget/protocol.mjs
index 85c4ccf45..7d41b9533 100644
--- a/scripts/budget/protocol.mjs
+++ b/scripts/budget/protocol.mjs
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ export const GATES = {
     title: 'production node_modules on disk',
     what: 'total bytes of the dependency tree a `npm i -g wigolo` user installs',
     artifact:
-      'a fresh `npm install --omit=dev --ignore-scripts --no-workspaces` into an empty directory holding only package.json + package-lock.json, with PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1 and ELECTRON_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD=1, followed by `scripts/prune/run.mjs` — the postinstall that `--ignore-scripts` suppresses, and which now performs ALL THREE of the onnxruntime-node platform prune, the onnxruntime-web payload prune and the wreq-js binary prune',
+      'a fresh `npm install --omit=dev --ignore-scripts --no-workspaces` into an empty directory holding only package.json + package-lock.json, with PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1 and ELECTRON_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD=1, followed by `scripts/prune/run.mjs` — the postinstall that `--ignore-scripts` suppresses, and which now performs ALL FOUR of the onnxruntime-node platform prune, the onnxruntime-web payload prune, the wreq-js binary prune and the better-sqlite3 prebuild prune',
     statistic: 'single `du -sm node_modules` total',
     horizon: 'n/a — a completed install is at rest',
     runs: 1,
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ export const GATES = {
     comparison: '<=',
     limit: 383,
     baseline:
-      'THE RUNNER IS THE AUTHORITY, because this gate runs on exactly one machine class: the `clean-machine-smoke` macos-latest / node 22 arm. Measured there on the S10-e PR across two runs of the same branch: 685 then 683 MiB clean — so the runner carries ~2 MiB of run-to-run variance of its own. CI has since read pre-prune 683 / post-prune 419 for the previous slice, which is the anchor this slice moves. ⚠ THIS SLICE MOVES THE ANCHOR BY A MEASURED DELTA RATHER THAN RE-DERIVING IT, which is the conservative operation: locally on darwin-arm64, on exactly the protocol the gate runs, THREE runs before and THREE after. Before: raw 683/681/682, post-prune 419/418/418. After: raw 682/682/682, post-prune 372/372/372 — dead flat across all three, and `wreq-js` itself goes 54 -> 8 MiB every time. The delta is 46 MiB (median 418 -> 372) and 421 - 46 = 375 is the new clean-build anchor. ⚠ NOTE THE LAPTOP HAS DRIFTED +1 SINCE THE PREVIOUS SLICE RECORDED 417 HERE — it now reads 418 for the same tree — which is exactly why the anchor is the previous runner-derived 421 minus a measured delta, not this laptop\'s 372 plus an offset. The delta is what reproduced; the absolute is what drifted. ⚠ PLATFORM-CONDITIONAL, AND MORE SO THAN THE ONNXRUNTIME PLATFORM PRUNE: the 46 MiB is the darwin/win32 figure, where exactly one binary survives. On linux BOTH the gnu and musl builds are kept deliberately (install-time libc detection cannot bind a run-time selection — see scripts/prune/wreq-binaries.mjs), so the saving there is ~38 MiB, not 46. This gate is wired on macOS only, so 375 is the darwin number; whoever wires linux must re-measure rather than carry this across. THE MANIFEST COULD NOT DO THIS: wreq-js publishes no platform-scoped subpackages at any napi naming convention (@wreq-js/darwin-arm64 and wreq-js-darwin-arm64 are both registry 404s), ships all seven binaries in one tarball via `files: ["dist","rust/*.node"]`, and declares os/cpu as the union of everything it supports, so npm filtering never excludes a byte. It was ALREADY in optionalDependencies, which installs in full.',
+      'THE RUNNER IS THE AUTHORITY, because this gate runs on exactly one machine class: the `clean-machine-smoke` macos-latest / node 22 arm. Measured there on the S10-e PR across two runs of the same branch: 685 then 683 MiB clean — so the runner carries ~2 MiB of run-to-run variance of its own. CI has since read pre-prune 683 / post-prune 419 for the previous slice, which is the anchor this slice moves. ⚠ THIS SLICE MOVES THE ANCHOR BY A MEASURED DELTA RATHER THAN RE-DERIVING IT, which is the conservative operation: locally on darwin-arm64, on exactly the protocol the gate runs, THREE runs before and THREE after. Before: raw 683/681/682, post-prune 419/418/418. After: raw 682/682/682, post-prune 372/372/372 — dead flat across all three, and `wreq-js` itself goes 54 -> 8 MiB every time. The delta is 46 MiB (median 418 -> 372) and 421 - 46 = 375 is the new clean-build anchor. ⚠ NOTE THE LAPTOP HAS DRIFTED +1 SINCE THE PREVIOUS SLICE RECORDED 417 HERE — it now reads 418 for the same tree — which is exactly why the anchor is the previous runner-derived 421 minus a measured delta, not this laptop\'s 372 plus an offset. The delta is what reproduced; the absolute is what drifted. ⚠ PLATFORM-CONDITIONAL, AND MORE SO THAN THE ONNXRUNTIME PLATFORM PRUNE: the 46 MiB is the darwin/win32 figure, where exactly one binary survives. On linux BOTH the gnu and musl builds are kept deliberately (install-time libc detection cannot bind a run-time selection — see scripts/prune/wreq-binaries.mjs), so the saving there is ~38 MiB, not 46. This gate is wired on macOS only, so 375 is the darwin number; whoever wires linux must re-measure rather than carry this across. THE MANIFEST COULD NOT DO THIS: wreq-js publishes no platform-scoped subpackages at any napi naming convention (@wreq-js/darwin-arm64 and wreq-js-darwin-arm64 are both registry 404s), ships all seven binaries in one tarball via `files: ["dist","rust/*.node"]`, and declares os/cpu as the union of everything it supports, so npm filtering never excludes a byte. It was ALREADY in optionalDependencies, which installs in full. ⚠ ANCHOR MOVED 375 -> 377 by the better-sqlite3 13.0.3 pin (see regression E in the threshold note): the bump adds 16 MiB of all-platform prebuilds and the new prune takes 14 of them back, for +2 net. Measured as a back-to-back PAIR on darwin-arm64 at ee346f77 — 372 at the old pin, 374 at the new pin with the prune — because the absolute drifts a MiB between batches on this laptop while the delta reproduces; an earlier batch at cd9aa425 read 371 -> 372 for the same operation, and 387 for the bump WITHOUT the prune. The runner remains the authority for the absolute, so 377 is still the previous runner-derived anchor plus a measured delta rather than a laptop reading.',
     // ⚠ THE THRESHOLD IS SET BY THE SMALLEST REGRESSION IT MUST CATCH, NOT BY A PERCENTAGE.
     //
     // This gate now guards FOUR reversions, spanning an order of magnitude:
@@ -177,18 +177,41 @@ export const GATES = {
     //      it silently no-op. Worth 178 MiB, landing at 375 + 178 = 553.
     //   B. the browser driver returns to `dependencies` from the optional PEER dependency S10-e
     //      moved it to. Worth exactly 17 MiB (`playwright` + `playwright-core`), landing at
-    //      375 + 17 = 392.
+    //      377 + 17 = 394.
     //   C. the onnxruntime-web payload prune stops happening — lost the same way A would be.
-    //      Worth 86 MiB, landing at 375 + 86 = 461.
-    //   D. the wreq-js binary prune stops happening — this slice's win, and it shares the same
-    //      single point of failure as A and C. Worth 46 MiB, landing at 375 + 46 = 421.
+    //      Worth 86 MiB, landing at 377 + 86 = 463.
+    //   D. the wreq-js binary prune stops happening — it shares the same single point of failure
+    //      as A and C. Worth 46 MiB, landing at 377 + 46 = 423.
+    //   E. the better-sqlite3 prebuild prune stops happening — same single point of failure again.
+    //      Worth 14 MiB, landing at 377 + 14 = 391.
     //
-    // ⚠ B STILL BINDS, AND NONE OF A, C OR D DOES. That is the whole derivation, and it is the
-    // same answer as the last three slices for the same reason: a limit only has to be under 553
-    // to catch A, under 461 to catch C and under 421 to catch D, but it has to be under 392 to
-    // catch B. The window is 375..392, still exactly 17 MiB wide — it has not widened once across
-    // four diet slices, because it is set by the SMALLEST regression and that regression has
-    // never been the one being won.
+    // ⚠ E BINDS, AND B NO LONGER DOES. That is the first time in five diet slices the binding
+    // regression has changed identity, so it is spelled out rather than left to be re-derived: a
+    // limit only has to be under 553/463/423 to catch A/C/D and under 394 to catch B, but it now
+    // has to be under 391 to catch E. The window is 377..391, 14 MiB wide where it was 17, and it
+    // narrowed because the newest win is the SMALLEST one — the opposite of the pattern the four
+    // previous slices established, every one of which left B binding.
+    //
+    // ⚠ WHERE E CAME FROM. The `better-sqlite3` pin moved `~12.9.0` -> `13.0.3` (the desktop shell
+    // must load the same native module the core does, and only v13's Node-API prebuilds span both
+    // ABIs). v12 was a source build with a single ~1.8 MiB binary and nothing foreign to prune;
+    // v13 ships all eight targets in one tarball, 16 MiB of `prebuilds/`. Measured on the gate's
+    // own protocol, darwin-arm64, at cd9aa425: 371 at the old pin, 387 at the new pin UNPRUNED —
+    // a FAIL against this 383 — and 372 with the prune.
+    //
+    // ⚠ THE ANCHOR MOVES BY A MEASURED DELTA, 375 -> 377, and the delta is the +2 from a
+    // back-to-back PAIR at ee346f77 (372 at the old pin, 374 with the bump and the prune), not the
+    // +1 the cd9aa425 batch suggested. Same operation the wreq-js slice used and for the same
+    // reason: across those two batches the ABSOLUTE drifted a MiB while the delta reproduced, so
+    // the delta is the thing to carry. Taking the +1 would have put E at 390 and B at 393 and left
+    // the next reader a derivation that does not reproduce.
+    //
+    // ⚠ AND THE LIMIT DELIBERATELY DID NOT MOVE. 387 unpruned would have needed a limit of at
+    // least 388, which is ABOVE the 391 E lands on and within 6 of the 394 B lands on — i.e.
+    // accommodating the unpruned bump would not have loosened this gate, it would have blinded it
+    // to the smallest regression it is chartered to catch, and E is a regression this very slice
+    // introduced the possibility of. That is the whole reason the prune ships WITH the pin change
+    // and not as a follow-up: without it there is no honest threshold available.
     //
     // ⚠ THE TRAP THAT IS LIVE AT THESE NUMBERS. Re-checked rather than inherited, because pinning
     // a trap that has gone safe is just a false claim in a test file — which is how the 3% form
diff --git a/scripts/prune/run.mjs b/scripts/prune/run.mjs
index 40dc0d090..6feff19fb 100644
--- a/scripts/prune/run.mjs
+++ b/scripts/prune/run.mjs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { planPlatformPrune, locateOrtRoots, findOutermostInstallRoot } from './ort-platforms.mjs';
 import { planWebPayloadPrune, findWebDependents } from './ort-web-payload.mjs';
 import { planBinaryPrune } from './wreq-binaries.mjs';
+import { planPrebuildPrune } from './sqlite-prebuilds.mjs';
 
 /*
  * Resolution base. As a postinstall this is the package's own directory, which is what walks up
@@ -292,6 +293,50 @@ function pruneWreqBinaries() {
   console.log(`wigolo: wreq-js binary prune — ${plan.reason} (${Math.round(freed / 1048576)} MiB)`);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Remove the `better-sqlite3` prebuilds the host can never load.
+ *
+ * See ./sqlite-prebuilds.mjs for why v13 ships eight of them, why linux keeps two, and why
+ * removing the wrong one breaks the install rather than shrinking it. This function is only the
+ * I/O around that decision.
+ */
+function pruneSqlitePrebuilds() {
+  const root = locatePackageRoot(dirname(baseFile), 'better-sqlite3');
+  if (!root) return; // not installed, or a layout we do not recognise
+
+  const prebuildDir = join(root, 'prebuilds');
+  let present;
+  try {
+    present = readdirSync(prebuildDir, { withFileTypes: true })
+      .filter((e) => e.isFile() || e.isSymbolicLink())
+      .map((e) => e.name);
+  } catch {
+    // No `prebuilds/` at all. That is what a source build looks like (v12 and earlier, or a host
+    // that compiled from source), and it is a tree with nothing foreign in it — not an error.
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const plan = planPrebuildPrune(present, process.platform, process.arch);
+  if (plan.remove.length === 0) {
+    console.log(`wigolo: better-sqlite3 prebuild prune — ${plan.reason}`);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  let freed = 0;
+  for (const name of plan.remove) {
+    const target = join(prebuildDir, name);
+    try {
+      freed += statSync(target).size;
+      rmSync(target, { force: true });
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Fail-open, same contract as every other prune here: a file we could not remove is a file
+      // that stays. Larger, works.
+      console.log(`wigolo: could not remove better-sqlite3/prebuilds/${name} (${err?.message ?? err}) — leaving it in place`);
+    }
+  }
+  console.log(`wigolo: better-sqlite3 prebuild prune — ${plan.reason} (${Math.round(freed / 1048576)} MiB)`);
+}
+
 function main() {
   if (process.env.WIGOLO_SKIP_ORT_PRUNE) {
     console.log('wigolo: install-size prunes skipped (WIGOLO_SKIP_ORT_PRUNE set)');
@@ -312,6 +357,12 @@ function main() {
     console.log(`wigolo: wreq-js binary prune skipped (${err?.message ?? err})`);
   }
 
+  try {
+    pruneSqlitePrebuilds();
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.log(`wigolo: better-sqlite3 prebuild prune skipped (${err?.message ?? err})`);
+  }
+
   const scanFrom = dirname(baseFile);
   const roots = locateOrtRoots(resolveOrtRoot, scanFrom);
   if (roots.length === 0) {
diff --git a/scripts/prune/sqlite-prebuilds.mjs b/scripts/prune/sqlite-prebuilds.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..335a7a310
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prune/sqlite-prebuilds.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+/*
+ * Drop the non-host `better-sqlite3` prebuilds.
+ *
+ * ⚠⚠ THIS MODULE IS NOT LIVE, AND THE PIN IT SERVES DID NOT MERGE. It is kept as a worked record
+ * so the next attempt does not rediscover it. `better-sqlite3@13` cannot currently be installed on
+ * Windows without Python and VC++ Build Tools: v13 dropped the `install` script (pure-Node
+ * prebuild-install, which exited 0 as soon as it found the bundled binary), npm then supplies its
+ * own implicit `node-gyp rebuild` for any package shipping a binding.gyp, and it does so despite
+ * the `gypfile: false` that better-sqlite3 publishes to suppress exactly that — npm/cli#9837,
+ * WiseLibs/better-sqlite3#1503 and #1505. binding.gyp's `prebuild_exists` guard does not help:
+ * gyp must CONFIGURE before it can evaluate any variable, and configure is the step that needs the
+ * toolchain. Measured on CI: every macOS and Linux row green, every Windows row red at `npm ci`.
+ * Everything below is correct and tested and does nothing while the pin stays on v12, whose
+ * source build produces no `prebuilds/` directory at all.
+ *
+ * WHY THIS EXISTS, AND WHY IT DID NOT BEFORE. `better-sqlite3` used to be a source build:
+ * `~12.9.0` compiled through node-gyp (or fetched ONE prebuild via prebuild-install) and left a
+ * single `build/Release/better_sqlite3.node`, ~1.8 MiB, with nothing foreign to remove. v13 moved
+ * to Node-API prebuilds and ships ALL EIGHT targets in the one tarball — 16 MiB of `prebuilds/`,
+ * of which at most one (two on linux, see below) can ever be loaded. That is the trade v13 makes:
+ * the all-platforms tarball is exactly what makes it ABI-portable across Node and the desktop
+ * shell without a rebuild step, and exactly what makes it fat per-platform.
+ *
+ * WHY IT CANNOT BE FIXED IN THE MANIFEST. `better-sqlite3` publishes no platform-scoped
+ * subpackages — there is no `@better-sqlite3/darwin-arm64` to depend on selectively, the way
+ * `sharp` arranges it. Its `files` field ships `prebuilds/` whole, and it declares no `os`/`cpu`
+ * narrowing that npm could filter on. The version pin is the only manifest lever and it is the
+ * wrong one: v12's single binary is V8-ABI-bound and cannot be loaded by the desktop shell, which
+ * is the entire reason the pin moved to v13.
+ *
+ * SELECTION IS A PURE RUNTIME CONCERN, and the loader (`lib/binding.js`) does it by computing ONE
+ * exact filename — `prebuilds/${isLinuxMusl() ? 'linuxmusl' : platform}-${arch}.node` — and
+ * `fs.existsSync`ing it. Nothing enumerates the directory, so a sibling that is absent is a
+ * sibling nothing looks for.
+ *
+ * ⚠ WHY THE REFUSAL IS NOT OPTIONAL HERE, and why it matters more than it did for `wreq-js`.
+ * When `getPrebuildPath()` finds nothing, the loader does NOT degrade — it falls through to
+ * `build/Debug` then `build/Release` and `require`s the latter unconditionally. Under v13 those
+ * directories do not exist, so a tree whose host prebuild was removed does not lose a capability,
+ * it throws MODULE_NOT_FOUND on the cache database and takes the whole tool down. Removing the
+ * wrong file here is therefore not a degradation, it is a broken install, so the planner refuses
+ * to remove anything at all unless it has positively identified a prebuild this host can load.
+ *
+ * ⚠ WHY LINUX KEEPS BOTH LIBC BUILDS. The loader's `isLinuxMusl()` reads
+ * `process.report.getReport().header.glibcVersionRuntime` — a genuine runtime probe, which is
+ * better than the env-var sniff `wreq-js` uses. But this script still runs at INSTALL time, in a
+ * different process from the one that will load the binary, and the two can legitimately disagree
+ * (a glibc build stage populating a tree that a musl stage runs, which is an ordinary multi-stage
+ * container layout). Keeping both `linux-<arch>` and `linuxmusl-<arch>` removes that entire class
+ * instead of predicting it, at a cost of ~2 MiB on linux only. darwin and win32 have no libc
+ * dimension and keep exactly one file. Same reasoning, and the same conclusion, as
+ * ./wreq-binaries.mjs.
+ *
+ * ⚠ AND WHY REMOVAL IS ALLOWLISTED. The names are `${platform}-${arch}.node` with a `linuxmusl`
+ * special case, so an interpolation of `process.*` very nearly produces them — which is precisely
+ * the trap. `linuxmusl` is not a `process.platform` any host reports, so a pattern-based prune
+ * that trusted interpolation would delete the musl builds on every glibc machine and the glibc
+ * builds on every musl one. Anything not on the eight-name list the package actually ships is left
+ * alone: that covers any target a future release adds, whose bytes cost less than its absence.
+ *
+ * WHAT THIS COSTS. The pruned tree is bound to the platform and architecture that installed it — a
+ * property the tree already had, via `sharp`, `wreq-js` and the onnxruntime prune.
+ * `WIGOLO_SKIP_ORT_PRUNE=1` skips every prune in this directory, including this one, for anyone
+ * deliberately building a multi-arch tree.
+ *
+ * FAIL-OPEN, ALWAYS. If no prebuild the host could load is present the planner refuses to remove
+ * anything. If a removal throws it is reported and skipped. The driver never exits non-zero.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Every prebuild `better-sqlite3@13.0.3` ships, matching `prebuilds/` in the published tarball and
+ * the targets `lib/binding.js` can compute. This is an ALLOWLIST of what may be removed, never a
+ * pattern — see the note above on why interpolation is unsafe for exactly these names.
+ */
+export const SQLITE_PREBUILDS = Object.freeze([
+  'darwin-arm64.node',
+  'darwin-x64.node',
+  'linux-arm64.node',
+  'linux-x64.node',
+  'linuxmusl-arm64.node',
+  'linuxmusl-x64.node',
+  'win32-arm64.node',
+  'win32-x64.node',
+]);
+
+/**
+ * The prebuilds `platform`/`arch` could ever load, in the loader's own spelling.
+ *
+ * Linux maps to BOTH libc builds on purpose — see the note above. A host outside the loader's own
+ * `PREBUILD_PLATFORMS` × `PREBUILD_ARCHS` maps to the empty list, which is what drives the
+ * planner's refusal: on such a host the package can only work via a source build, and a tree we
+ * cannot prove has a usable prebuild is a tree we must not touch.
+ */
+function hostCandidates(platform, arch) {
+  if (arch !== 'x64' && arch !== 'arm64') return [];
+  if (platform === 'darwin' || platform === 'win32') return [`${platform}-${arch}.node`];
+  if (platform === 'linux') return [`linux-${arch}.node`, `linuxmusl-${arch}.node`];
+  return [];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Decide which `prebuilds/*.node` files may be removed.
+ *
+ * Pure, and separate from the filesystem on purpose — this is the part with a decision in it, so
+ * it is the part that has to be testable without an npm install to run it against.
+ *
+ * @param present  {string[]} basenames found in the package's `prebuilds/` directory
+ * @param platform host `process.platform`
+ * @param arch     host `process.arch`
+ * @returns {{ keep: string[], remove: string[], reason: string }}
+ */
+export function planPrebuildPrune(present, platform, arch) {
+  const have = new Set(present);
+  const keep = hostCandidates(platform, arch).filter((f) => have.has(f));
+
+  // ⚠ The refusal, and the reason it is first. With nothing loadable identified we cannot tell
+  // "already pruned past recognition" from "this package is laid out differently than we believe",
+  // and in the second case every candidate for removal might be the one the loader wanted. Unlike
+  // the other prunes in this directory, guessing wrong here does not cost bytes or a capability —
+  // it throws on `require` and the cache database never opens.
+  if (keep.length === 0) {
+    return {
+      keep: [],
+      remove: [],
+      reason: `no loadable prebuild identified for ${platform}/${arch} — refusing to prune`,
+    };
+  }
+
+  const kept = new Set(keep);
+  const remove = present.filter((f) => SQLITE_PREBUILDS.includes(f) && !kept.has(f)).sort();
+
+  return {
+    keep,
+    remove,
+    reason: remove.length
+      ? `keeping ${keep.join(' + ')}, removing ${remove.length} non-host prebuild(s)`
+      : `only ${keep.join(' + ')} present — nothing to do`,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/daemon/studio-mcp-server.ts b/src/daemon/studio-mcp-server.ts
index 8b2d48434..ff294e122 100644
--- a/src/daemon/studio-mcp-server.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/studio-mcp-server.ts
@@ -9,11 +9,19 @@ import { createStudioToolProvider } from '../studio/tool-provider.js';
  * A MINIMAL MCP server hosting ONLY the `studio_*` tools, for the Electron app's embedded gateway.
  *
  * WHY separate from `createMcpServer` (server.ts): server.ts pulls the full wigolo subsystem graph
- * (cache → better-sqlite3), which CANNOT load in the Electron main — Electron 43's V8 rejects
- * better-sqlite3 12.9.0 (spec §13.7). This module imports ONLY the SDK + the studio tool schemas +
- * `dispatchStudioTool` (all verified better-sqlite3-free), so it boots in-process on any Electron.
- * The 10 core tools stay on the user's stdio server; the stdio proxy forwards `studio_*` here.
- * Cache-backed studio features (capture / knowledge rail) arrive in P3 behind a decoupled DB path.
+ * (cache → better-sqlite3), and this module imports ONLY the SDK + the studio tool schemas +
+ * `dispatchStudioTool`, so it boots in-process without that graph. The 10 core tools stay on the
+ * user's stdio server; the stdio proxy forwards `studio_*` here. Cache-backed studio features
+ * (capture / knowledge rail) go through the decoupled DB path.
+ *
+ * ⚠ THE ORIGINAL REASON NO LONGER HOLDS, and is corrected here rather than left to mislead. This
+ * said the graph "CANNOT load in the Electron main — Electron 43's V8 rejects better-sqlite3
+ * 12.9.0 (spec §13.7)". That was true of the 12.9.0 pin, which is V8-ABI-bound and fails with
+ * NODE_MODULE_VERSION 127 vs 148. The pin is now 13.0.3, whose Node-API prebuilds load in a real
+ * Electron 43 main — measured, in both the main and renderer processes, with FTS5 and the vector
+ * extension working and no rebuild step. So the ABI wall is gone and the separation now rests on
+ * what it costs to boot, not on what can be loaded. Keeping a falsified cause in a comment is how
+ * the next reader spends a day proving something that is already known.
  *
  * The tool set + schemas + descriptions come from the SAME ToolProvider the stdio server registers
  * (one source of truth, derived from the tool schemas — no third literal list), so the agent sees an
diff --git a/tests/unit/sqlite-prebuild-prune.test.ts b/tests/unit/sqlite-prebuild-prune.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1be6e97bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/sqlite-prebuild-prune.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,359 @@
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, readdirSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { afterAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+// @ts-expect-error — plain-JS build tooling, deliberately not part of the typed src/ graph.
+import { planPrebuildPrune, SQLITE_PREBUILDS } from '../../scripts/prune/sqlite-prebuilds.mjs';
+
+/*
+ * WHY these tests exist.
+ *
+ * `better-sqlite3@13` ships all eight Node-API prebuilds in ONE tarball — 16 MiB of
+ * `prebuilds/<target>.node`, of which at most one (two on linux) can ever be loaded. The prune
+ * deletes the rest out of a user's install.
+ *
+ * ⚠ AND THE COST OF GETTING IT WRONG IS HIGHER HERE THAN FOR ANY OTHER PRUNE IN THIS DIRECTORY.
+ * The other three guard optional capabilities: lose the wrong onnxruntime binary and embeddings
+ * degrade, lose the wrong wreq-js binary and the TLS tier goes quiet. `better-sqlite3` is the
+ * cache database — it is not optional, and its loader does not degrade. When
+ * `getPrebuildPath()` finds nothing, `lib/binding.js` falls through to `build/Release`, which v13
+ * does not ship, and `require` throws. So deleting the host's prebuild does not make the install
+ * smaller-but-working, it makes it broken, AFTER npm has reported success. Every assertion below
+ * is about a way the decision could produce that.
+ *
+ * The size measurement that motivates it is recorded on the G-DIET gate; a unit test cannot
+ * perform an npm install. What IS testable is the decision.
+ *
+ * The real eight-prebuild layout of better-sqlite3@13.0.3, as shipped.
+ */
+const FULL_TREE = [
+  'darwin-arm64.node',
+  'darwin-x64.node',
+  'linux-arm64.node',
+  'linux-x64.node',
+  'linuxmusl-arm64.node',
+  'linuxmusl-x64.node',
+  'win32-arm64.node',
+  'win32-x64.node',
+];
+
+/** Every host the package's own loader computes a prebuild path for. */
+const SUPPORTED_HOSTS: Array<[string, string, string[]]> = [
+  ['darwin', 'arm64', ['darwin-arm64.node']],
+  ['darwin', 'x64', ['darwin-x64.node']],
+  ['win32', 'arm64', ['win32-arm64.node']],
+  ['win32', 'x64', ['win32-x64.node']],
+  ['linux', 'x64', ['linux-x64.node', 'linuxmusl-x64.node']],
+  ['linux', 'arm64', ['linux-arm64.node', 'linuxmusl-arm64.node']],
+];
+
+describe('planPrebuildPrune keeps exactly the prebuilds that can be loaded', () => {
+  it('keeps only the host prebuild on darwin-arm64 and removes the other seven', () => {
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'darwin', 'arm64');
+    expect(plan.keep).toEqual(['darwin-arm64.node']);
+    expect(plan.remove).toEqual([
+      'darwin-x64.node',
+      'linux-arm64.node',
+      'linux-x64.node',
+      'linuxmusl-arm64.node',
+      'linuxmusl-x64.node',
+      'win32-arm64.node',
+      'win32-x64.node',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('removes the SAME-platform other architecture too', () => {
+    // The tempting shortcut is to prune by platform name, which would leave darwin-x64 behind —
+    // ~1.9 MiB on an arm64 machine that nothing there can ever load. The loader's target is
+    // `${platform}-${arch}`, so selection is per-TARGET.
+    expect(planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'darwin', 'arm64').remove).toContain('darwin-x64.node');
+  });
+
+  it('never proposes removing a prebuild the host could load, from any supported host', () => {
+    for (const [platform, arch, expected] of SUPPORTED_HOSTS) {
+      const plan = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, platform, arch);
+      expect(plan.keep, `${platform}/${arch}`).toEqual(expected);
+      for (const kept of expected) {
+        expect(plan.remove, `${platform}/${arch}`).not.toContain(kept);
+      }
+      expect(plan.remove, `${platform}/${arch}`).toHaveLength(FULL_TREE.length - expected.length);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('keeps win32-arm64 — a target the OTHER native prunes in this repo have no equivalent of', () => {
+    // ⚠ Not decoration. `wreq-js` ships no win32-arm64 binary, so the sibling prune's host table
+    // has no such row, and a reader porting that table across would silently produce an empty
+    // keep-set here — which is the refusal branch, i.e. the whole win quietly lost on Windows ARM.
+    // better-sqlite3 DOES ship it, so it must be kept, and it must not be confused with x64.
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'win32', 'arm64');
+    expect(plan.keep).toEqual(['win32-arm64.node']);
+    expect(plan.remove).toContain('win32-x64.node');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('planPrebuildPrune keeps BOTH libc builds on linux', () => {
+  it('keeps the glibc AND musl builds for the host arch', () => {
+    // ⚠ THE DELIBERATE ~2 MiB LEFT ON THE FLOOR ON LINUX.
+    //
+    // The loader's `isLinuxMusl()` reads `process.report.getReport().header.glibcVersionRuntime`,
+    // which is a genuine runtime probe — better than the env-var sniff `wreq-js` uses, so the
+    // reasoning is NOT simply inherited. It still runs in a different PROCESS from this script:
+    // the prune happens at install time, and a multi-stage container that populates a tree under
+    // glibc and runs it under musl is an ordinary layout, not a contrivance. An install-time
+    // answer must not bind a run-time selection, so both stay.
+    expect(planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'linux', 'x64').keep).toEqual([
+      'linux-x64.node',
+      'linuxmusl-x64.node',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('still removes the OTHER arch entirely on linux', () => {
+    // Keeping both libc builds must not soften into keeping all of linux — arch is decided by
+    // `process.arch`, which does not vary between install and run.
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'linux', 'x64');
+    expect(plan.remove).toContain('linux-arm64.node');
+    expect(plan.remove).toContain('linuxmusl-arm64.node');
+  });
+
+  it('keeps the one that IS there when upstream ships only a single libc build', () => {
+    // Fail-open: a shrinking upstream matrix must not turn into a refusal that costs the win, nor
+    // into removing the only loadable file.
+    const gnuOnly = FULL_TREE.filter((f) => f !== 'linuxmusl-x64.node');
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(gnuOnly, 'linux', 'x64');
+    expect(plan.keep).toEqual(['linux-x64.node']);
+    expect(plan.remove).not.toContain('linux-x64.node');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('planPrebuildPrune refuses rather than guesses', () => {
+  it('removes NOTHING on a host the loader computes no prebuild for', () => {
+    // ⚠ The case that decides whether this script can break someone's install. On freebsd
+    // `getPrebuildPath()` returns null and the package can only work via a source build under
+    // `build/Release` — but the `prebuilds/` tree might have been populated by some mechanism we
+    // do not model, and then every candidate for removal might be the one that loads.
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'freebsd', 'x64');
+    expect(plan.remove).toEqual([]);
+    expect(plan.keep).toEqual([]);
+    expect(plan.reason).toContain('refusing to prune');
+  });
+
+  it('removes NOTHING on a supported platform with an unsupported ARCH', () => {
+    // Distinct from the case above and easy to get wrong: a check on the platform name alone
+    // would accept linux/riscv64 and then delete all eight prebuilds, leaving a tree whose cache
+    // database cannot open at all.
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'linux', 'riscv64');
+    expect(plan.remove).toEqual([]);
+    expect(plan.reason).toContain('refusing to prune');
+  });
+
+  it('removes NOTHING when the host prebuild is absent from the tree', () => {
+    // A source-built or partially-extracted tree. We cannot tell that from "already pruned to
+    // nothing", so we do not act — and here inaction is the only safe direction, because the
+    // loader's fallback path (`build/Release`) may be exactly what such a tree is relying on.
+    const withoutHost = FULL_TREE.filter((f) => f !== 'darwin-arm64.node');
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(withoutHost, 'darwin', 'arm64');
+    expect(plan.remove).toEqual([]);
+    expect(plan.reason).toContain('refusing to prune');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('planPrebuildPrune only ever removes prebuilds it recognises', () => {
+  it('never removes a target it has never heard of', () => {
+    // The allowlist is the point. If a future better-sqlite3 adds `android-arm64` or a
+    // glibc-versioned target, the honest answer is "we do not know whether that loads here".
+    const withFuture = [...FULL_TREE, 'android-arm64.node'];
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(withFuture, 'darwin', 'arm64');
+    expect(plan.remove).not.toContain('android-arm64.node');
+    expect(plan.remove).toHaveLength(7);
+  });
+
+  it('never removes a non-prebuild file that shares the directory', () => {
+    // `prebuilds/` is the package's own directory and a future release may put a manifest or a
+    // checksum file in it. Only the eight known targets are removable.
+    const withStray = [...FULL_TREE, 'index.json', 'README.md'];
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(withStray, 'darwin', 'arm64');
+    expect(plan.remove).not.toContain('index.json');
+    expect(plan.remove).not.toContain('README.md');
+  });
+
+  it('recognises exactly the eight targets the package ships', () => {
+    // Pins the allowlist against the published tarball. If upstream's matrix changes, this is the
+    // assertion that makes someone look rather than silently pruning to a stale list.
+    expect([...SQLITE_PREBUILDS].sort()).toEqual([...FULL_TREE].sort());
+  });
+
+  it('MUST-NOT-FIRE: `linuxmusl` is never produced by interpolating process.platform', () => {
+    // ⚠ THE TRAP THIS ALLOWLIST EXISTS FOR, pinned as a property rather than a comment. These
+    // names look interpolatable — `${platform}-${arch}.node` — and for six of the eight they are.
+    // `linuxmusl` is not a value `process.platform` ever takes, so a pattern-based prune that
+    // trusted interpolation would classify both musl builds as foreign on EVERY linux host and
+    // delete the file a musl host is the only one that can load. Asserting the keep-set contains a
+    // name no host reports is what makes that failure impossible to reintroduce quietly.
+    const keep = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'linux', 'x64').keep;
+    expect(keep).toContain('linuxmusl-x64.node');
+    expect(keep.some((f: string) => f.startsWith(`${'linux'}-`))).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('planPrebuildPrune is idempotent', () => {
+  it('proposes nothing on a tree it has already pruned, and does NOT call that a refusal', () => {
+    // npm re-runs a package's postinstall on installs that did not re-extract it, so the second
+    // run is the common case, not an edge one. It must report "nothing to do" — a refusal there
+    // would read as a broken layout in the install log every time.
+    const plan = planPrebuildPrune(['darwin-arm64.node'], 'darwin', 'arm64');
+    expect(plan.remove).toEqual([]);
+    expect(plan.keep).toEqual(['darwin-arm64.node']);
+    expect(plan.reason).not.toContain('refusing');
+    expect(plan.reason).toContain('nothing to do');
+  });
+
+  it('is stable under re-application on linux, where two files survive', () => {
+    const first = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, 'linux', 'arm64');
+    const second = planPrebuildPrune(first.keep, 'linux', 'arm64');
+    expect(second.remove).toEqual([]);
+    expect(second.keep).toEqual(first.keep);
+  });
+});
+
+/*
+ * The seam, not the decision.
+ *
+ * The driver also has to FIND the package. `better-sqlite3` declares no `exports` map, so unlike
+ * wreq-js the resolver spelling would work here — but the walk-up is shared code with a bound that
+ * matters, and the layout that matters most is the one nobody runs while developing: wigolo
+ * installed as a DEPENDENCY, which is what `npx wigolo` and `npm i wigolo` produce.
+ */
+const REPO_ROOT = join(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..', '..');
+const PRUNE_RUNNER = join(REPO_ROOT, 'scripts', 'prune', 'run.mjs');
+const trees: string[] = [];
+
+afterAll(() => {
+  for (const dir of trees) rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+/** Plant a fake `better-sqlite3` with all eight prebuilds under `<at>/node_modules`. */
+function plantSqlite(at: string): void {
+  const pkg = join(at, 'node_modules', 'better-sqlite3');
+  mkdirSync(join(pkg, 'prebuilds'), { recursive: true });
+  writeFileSync(join(pkg, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'better-sqlite3', version: '13.0.3' }));
+  for (const name of FULL_TREE) writeFileSync(join(pkg, 'prebuilds', name), 'x'.repeat(1024));
+}
+
+function makeTree(): string {
+  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'bs3-prune-'));
+  trees.push(root);
+  writeFileSync(join(root, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'host-app', version: '1.0.0' }));
+  plantSqlite(root);
+  return root;
+}
+
+/** Run the real postinstall driver against `resolveFrom`, returning its stdout. */
+function runPrune(resolveFrom: string, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {}): string {
+  return execFileSync(process.execPath, [PRUNE_RUNNER, resolveFrom], {
+    encoding: 'utf8',
+    env: { ...process.env, ...env },
+  });
+}
+
+/** The prebuilds left in `root`'s better-sqlite3 after a run. */
+function survivors(root: string): string[] {
+  return readdirSync(join(root, 'node_modules', 'better-sqlite3', 'prebuilds')).sort();
+}
+
+/**
+ * What SHOULD survive a run on whatever host the suite is executing on.
+ *
+ * Derived from the planner rather than hardcoded to darwin: on a host outside the loader's matrix
+ * the correct behaviour is to remove NOTHING, so the expected survivors are the whole tree.
+ */
+function expectedSurvivors(): string[] {
+  const plan = planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, process.platform, process.arch);
+  return plan.remove.length > 0 ? [...plan.keep].sort() : [...FULL_TREE].sort();
+}
+
+/**
+ * The log line the driver must emit on THIS host.
+ *
+ * ⚠ WHY THE SURVIVOR SET ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH. On a host outside the loader's matrix
+ * `expectedSurvivors()` is the whole tree, so an assertion on it passes for a prune that correctly
+ * refused AND for one that never found the package, never ran, or silently threw. Pairing it with
+ * the reason the driver PRINTED makes both outcomes fail-loud instead of vacuous.
+ */
+function expectedPruneVerb(): RegExp {
+  return planPrebuildPrune(FULL_TREE, process.platform, process.arch).remove.length > 0
+    ? /better-sqlite3 prebuild prune — keeping .*removing \d+ non-host/
+    : /better-sqlite3 prebuild prune — .*refusing to prune/;
+}
+
+describe('the postinstall driver finds better-sqlite3 and prunes it', () => {
+  it('prunes when wigolo IS the install root — the layout the budget gate measures', () => {
+    const root = makeTree();
+    const out = runPrune(root);
+    expect(out).toMatch(expectedPruneVerb());
+    expect(survivors(root)).toEqual(expectedSurvivors());
+  });
+
+  it('prunes the HOISTED copy when wigolo is installed as a dependency', () => {
+    // ⚠ THE LAYOUT A REAL `npx wigolo` / `npm i wigolo` USER GETS, and the one the gate cannot
+    // see: wigolo at <root>/node_modules/wigolo, better-sqlite3 hoisted beside it.
+    const root = makeTree();
+    const asDependency = join(root, 'node_modules', 'wigolo');
+    mkdirSync(asDependency, { recursive: true });
+    const out = runPrune(asDependency);
+    expect(out).toMatch(expectedPruneVerb());
+    expect(survivors(root)).toEqual(expectedSurvivors());
+  });
+
+  it('leaves every prebuild in place when the prune is opted out of', () => {
+    // The documented escape hatch for anyone deliberately assembling a multi-arch tree.
+    const root = makeTree();
+    runPrune(root, { WIGOLO_SKIP_ORT_PRUNE: '1' });
+    expect(survivors(root)).toEqual([...FULL_TREE].sort());
+  });
+
+  it('MUST-NOT-FIRE: leaves a better-sqlite3 belonging to an enclosing project untouched', () => {
+    // wigolo is installed into `proj` with no better-sqlite3 beside it. The only one reachable by
+    // climbing belongs to `outer`, and destroying its prebuilds would break a DIFFERENT project's
+    // database — silently, after npm reported success, in a tree that was multi-arch on purpose.
+    const outer = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'bs3-outer-'));
+    trees.push(outer);
+    writeFileSync(join(outer, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'outer', version: '1.0.0' }));
+    plantSqlite(outer);
+    const proj = join(outer, 'proj');
+    const wigolo = join(proj, 'node_modules', 'wigolo');
+    mkdirSync(wigolo, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(proj, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'proj', version: '1.0.0' }));
+
+    const out = runPrune(wigolo);
+    expect(survivors(outer)).toEqual([...FULL_TREE].sort());
+    expect(out).not.toMatch(/better-sqlite3 prebuild prune — keeping .*removing/);
+  });
+
+  it('survives a tree with no better-sqlite3 at all', () => {
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'bs3-prune-none-'));
+    trees.push(root);
+    writeFileSync(join(root, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'host-app', version: '1.0.0' }));
+    mkdirSync(join(root, 'node_modules'), { recursive: true });
+    expect(() => runPrune(root)).not.toThrow();
+    expect(existsSync(join(root, 'node_modules', 'better-sqlite3'))).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('survives a better-sqlite3 with no prebuilds/ directory — the v12 source-build layout', () => {
+    // ⚠ THE REGRESSION DIRECTION OF THIS WHOLE SLICE. Before the v13 bump the package had no
+    // `prebuilds/` at all, only `build/Release`. Anyone whose tree still looks like that (a source
+    // build, or a downgrade) must see the driver do nothing quietly rather than throw and fail
+    // their install.
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'bs3-prune-src-'));
+    trees.push(root);
+    writeFileSync(join(root, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'host-app', version: '1.0.0' }));
+    const pkg = join(root, 'node_modules', 'better-sqlite3');
+    mkdirSync(join(pkg, 'build', 'Release'), { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(pkg, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ name: 'better-sqlite3', version: '12.9.0' }));
+    writeFileSync(join(pkg, 'build', 'Release', 'better_sqlite3.node'), 'x');
+
+    expect(() => runPrune(root)).not.toThrow();
+    expect(existsSync(join(pkg, 'build', 'Release', 'better_sqlite3.node'))).toBe(true);
+  });
+});