diff --git a/.claude/rules/file-map.md b/.claude/rules/file-map.md
index 8a221bc0..91f7f772 100644
--- a/.claude/rules/file-map.md
+++ b/.claude/rules/file-map.md
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ Full module index for LocalChat. **Keep this current** — update in the same co
 | `docs/CONFIGURATION.md` | Configuration reference — every env var, default and effect (lifted out of README) |
 | `docs/MIGRATIONS.md` | Migration docs — how to apply, write, and roll back |
 | `tests/integration/test_object_authorization_over_the_wire.py` | P2-2b — a plain user holding workspace A addresses workspace B's objects over HTTP against a real Postgres, and every route must refuse. The route list is derived from `app.openapi()` (not `app.routes`, which this FastAPI version leaves unflattened as `_IncludedRouter` with `path=None`), an unclassified path parameter fails rather than silently dropping its routes, and the fixture proves its own objects are reachable by their owner — a 404 is a pass here, so an empty fixture would be a perfect green run testing nothing. Runs as an editor and as an owner of A (R-5), and probes ids named in a body or header beside a control with the caller's own |
+| `tests/integration/test_ontology_reads_live_documents.py` | A workspace's ontology counts only its live documents and live chunks: a retired document and a chunk retired by a re-ingest leave it |
 | `tests/integration/test_chunk_statistics_scope.py` | R-1 (QP-9 review) — document statistics count and sample only the caller's workspace's live chunks, with a second workspace and a retired document beside it |
 | `tests/integration/test_migrations_apply.py` | TQ-5b — the migration chain applies against a real database, lands on the single head, and a second run does nothing |
 | `tests/integration/test_set_local_scope_mechanism.py` | P2-1b's precondition, made executable — a transaction-local scope plus RLS returns zero rows when unset, does not survive `COMMIT`, and is not inherited by the next transaction; the properties `hnsw.ef_search` lacks |
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1840adf3..2d132c55 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ OpenAI, `https://api.openai.com/v1`) and drop any `provider/` prefix from `CLOUD
   not OpenAI-shaped (Anthropic's native API, Vertex) is no longer reachable, as ADR-4
   accepted.
 
+### Fixed
+
+- **A workspace's ontology counts only its live documents.** `workspace_ontology` counted
+  the entities of retired documents, and of chunks a re-ingest had retired. Found by the
+  separate review of #527.
+
 ## [3.5.0] — 2026-10-31
 
 The release that closes the quality plan's maturity target (Initiative 12). All six
diff --git a/src/db/entities.py b/src/db/entities.py
index 3273c169..42a9d212 100644
--- a/src/db/entities.py
+++ b/src/db/entities.py
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ def related_names(
                 return [r[0] for r in cursor.fetchall()]
 
     def workspace_ontology(self, top_n: int = 20, *, scope: Scope) -> dict[str, Any]:
-        """Return the ontology of *scope*: top entity types and relation patterns."""
+        """Return the ontology of *scope*'s live documents: top entity types and relation patterns."""
         if not self._db.is_connected:
             return {"entity_types": [], "relation_patterns": []}
 
@@ -124,7 +124,8 @@ def workspace_ontology(self, top_n: int = 20, *, scope: Scope) -> dict[str, Any]
                     SELECT e.type, COUNT(DISTINCT er.source_id) AS entity_count
                     FROM entity_relations er
                     JOIN entities e ON e.id = er.source_id
-                    JOIN documents d ON d.id = er.doc_id
+                    JOIN documents d ON d.id = er.doc_id AND d.deleted_at IS NULL
+                    JOIN document_chunks c ON c.id = er.chunk_id AND c.deleted_at IS NULL
                     WHERE true {ws_filter}
                     GROUP BY e.type
                     ORDER BY entity_count DESC
@@ -142,7 +143,8 @@ def workspace_ontology(self, top_n: int = 20, *, scope: Scope) -> dict[str, Any]
                     f"""
                     SELECT er.relation, COUNT(*) AS freq
                     FROM entity_relations er
-                    JOIN documents d ON d.id = er.doc_id
+                    JOIN documents d ON d.id = er.doc_id AND d.deleted_at IS NULL
+                    JOIN document_chunks c ON c.id = er.chunk_id AND c.deleted_at IS NULL
                     WHERE true {ws_filter}
                     GROUP BY er.relation
                     ORDER BY freq DESC
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_ontology_reads_live_documents.py b/tests/integration/test_ontology_reads_live_documents.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..46eb1734
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/test_ontology_reads_live_documents.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+"""A workspace's ontology counts only its live documents and their live chunks.
+
+`workspace_ontology` joined each relation to its document without asking whether the
+document, or the chunk the relation came from, was retired, so a retired document's
+entities kept shaping the ontology. Found by the separate review of #527.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import uuid
+from collections.abc import Iterator
+from typing import Any
+
+import pytest
+
+pytestmark = [pytest.mark.integration, pytest.mark.db]
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def database() -> Any:
+    from src.db import Database
+
+    db = Database()
+    ok, message = db.initialize()
+    if not ok or not db.is_connected:
+        pytest.skip(f"PostgreSQL is not available: {message}")
+    from src.app_bootstrap import _run_alembic_migrations
+
+    _run_alembic_migrations()
+    return db
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def workspace(database: Any) -> Iterator[str]:
+    ws = database.workspaces.create(f"onto-{uuid.uuid4().hex[:8]}", owner_id=None)
+    yield ws
+    database.workspaces.retire(ws)
+
+
+def _relate(database: Any, ws: str, entity_type: str) -> int:
+    tag = uuid.uuid4().hex[:8]
+    doc = database.documents.insert(f"onto-{tag}.txt", "x", workspace_id=ws, scope=ws)
+    chunk = database.documents.insert_chunks([(doc, "x", 0, [0.02] * 768)], scope=ws)[0]
+    database.entities.insert_relation(
+        database.entities.upsert(f"A{tag}", entity_type), database.entities.upsert(f"B{tag}", entity_type),
+        doc, chunk)
+    return doc
+
+
+def test_a_retired_document_and_a_retired_chunk_leave_the_ontology(database, workspace):
+    _relate(database, workspace, "LIVE")
+    database.documents.retire(_relate(database, workspace, "RETIRED_DOC"), scope=workspace)
+    database.documents.retire_chunks(_relate(database, workspace, "RETIRED_CHUNK"), scope=workspace)
+    types = {t["type"] for t in database.entities.workspace_ontology(scope=workspace)["entity_types"]}
+    assert types == {"LIVE"}