diff --git a/cmd/vectord/main.go b/cmd/vectord/main.go
index b6e76e6..a9b287f 100644
--- a/cmd/vectord/main.go
+++ b/cmd/vectord/main.go
@@ -274,21 +274,18 @@ func (h *handlers) handleAdd(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			return
 		}
 	}
+	// Pre-validation above is exhaustive (id, dim, finite, zero-norm),
+	// so BatchAdd takes the write-lock once and pushes the whole batch
+	// into coder/hnsw via one variadic Graph.Add. Saves N-1 lock
+	// acquisitions per HTTP batch.
+	batch := make([]vectord.BatchItem, len(req.Items))
 	for j, it := range req.Items {
-		if err := idx.Add(it.ID, it.Vector, it.Metadata); err != nil {
-			// Vector-validation errors (NaN/Inf, zero-norm under
-			// cosine) only surface here; pre-validation is intentional
-			// minimal scope (id + dim only).
-			if errors.Is(err, vectord.ErrDimensionMismatch) ||
-				strings.Contains(err.Error(), "non-finite") ||
-				strings.Contains(err.Error(), "zero-norm") {
-				http.Error(w, "items["+strconv.Itoa(j)+"]: "+err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
-				return
-			}
-			slog.Error("add", "name", name, "id", it.ID, "err", err)
-			http.Error(w, "internal", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-			return
-		}
+		batch[j] = vectord.BatchItem{ID: it.ID, Vector: it.Vector, Metadata: it.Metadata}
+	}
+	if err := idx.BatchAdd(batch); err != nil {
+		slog.Error("batch add", "name", name, "err", err)
+		http.Error(w, "internal", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		return
 	}
 	// One save per batch (post-loop), not per item. Per scrum
 	// O-W4-style discipline: HTTP-batch boundary is the natural unit.
diff --git a/internal/vectord/batch_bench_test.go b/internal/vectord/batch_bench_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d42a474
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/vectord/batch_bench_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package vectord
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// BenchmarkSingleAdd vs BenchmarkBatchAdd quantifies the lock-amortization
+// win for the HTTP-batch shape. Same N items, same vectors; one path
+// takes the lock N times, the other takes it once. Run with:
+//   go test ./internal/vectord/ -bench=. -benchmem -benchtime=1x
+func BenchmarkSingleAdd(b *testing.B) {
+	for _, n := range []int{16, 128, 1024} {
+		b.Run(fmt.Sprintf("N=%d", n), func(b *testing.B) {
+			items := makeBatch(n, 768)
+			for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+				idx := mustIndex(b)
+				for _, it := range items {
+					if err := idx.Add(it.ID, it.Vector, it.Metadata); err != nil {
+						b.Fatalf("Add: %v", err)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkBatchAdd(b *testing.B) {
+	for _, n := range []int{16, 128, 1024} {
+		b.Run(fmt.Sprintf("N=%d", n), func(b *testing.B) {
+			items := makeBatch(n, 768)
+			for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+				idx := mustIndex(b)
+				if err := idx.BatchAdd(items); err != nil {
+					b.Fatalf("BatchAdd: %v", err)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func mustIndex(tb testing.TB) *Index {
+	tb.Helper()
+	idx, err := NewIndex(IndexParams{
+		Name:      "bench",
+		Dimension: 768,
+		M:         DefaultM,
+		EfSearch:  DefaultEfSearch,
+		Distance:  DistanceCosine,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		tb.Fatalf("NewIndex: %v", err)
+	}
+	return idx
+}
+
+func makeBatch(n, dim int) []BatchItem {
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(int64(n)))
+	out := make([]BatchItem, n)
+	for i := range out {
+		v := make([]float32, dim)
+		for j := range v {
+			v[j] = rng.Float32()*2 - 1
+		}
+		out[i] = BatchItem{ID: fmt.Sprintf("k-%06d", i), Vector: v}
+	}
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/internal/vectord/index.go b/internal/vectord/index.go
index b7da62c..30aeb34 100644
--- a/internal/vectord/index.go
+++ b/internal/vectord/index.go
@@ -225,6 +225,66 @@ func validateVector(vec []float32, distance string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// BatchItem is one entry in a BatchAdd call. Same per-field
+// contract as Add: ID + Vector required, Metadata follows
+// upsert-style semantics (nil = leave existing alone).
+type BatchItem struct {
+	ID       string
+	Vector   []float32
+	Metadata json.RawMessage
+}
+
+// BatchAdd inserts a slice of items under a single write-lock, with
+// one variadic call into coder/hnsw's Graph.Add. Net win vs. a loop
+// of single Add calls: N→1 lock acquisitions per HTTP batch and one
+// variadic library call instead of N.
+//
+// Contract: items MUST be pre-validated by the caller (id non-empty,
+// vector dimension matches, vector finite + non-zero-norm under
+// cosine). Pre-validation lives in the HTTP handler so per-item
+// error messages stay precise; reproducing it here would force
+// position-encoded errors on every consumer.
+//
+// Intra-batch duplicate IDs are undefined behavior — coder/hnsw's
+// internal "node not added" length-invariant fires on the second
+// occurrence. Callers must de-dup before calling. The HTTP smoke
+// uses unique IDs so this isn't an exercised path; documented for
+// future callers.
+func (i *Index) BatchAdd(items []BatchItem) error {
+	if len(items) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	i.mu.Lock()
+	defer i.mu.Unlock()
+
+	// Pre-pass: drop any existing IDs so coder/hnsw's variadic Add
+	// never sees a re-add. Same library-quirk handling as single
+	// Add — Len()==1 needs a full graph reset because Delete of the
+	// last node leaves layers[0] entryless.
+	for _, it := range items {
+		if _, exists := i.g.Lookup(it.ID); exists {
+			if i.g.Len() == 1 {
+				i.resetGraphLocked()
+			} else {
+				i.g.Delete(it.ID)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	nodes := make([]hnsw.Node[string], len(items))
+	for j, it := range items {
+		nodes[j] = hnsw.MakeNode(it.ID, it.Vector)
+	}
+	i.g.Add(nodes...)
+
+	for _, it := range items {
+		if it.Metadata != nil {
+			i.meta[it.ID] = it.Metadata
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Delete removes id from the index. Returns true if present.
 func (i *Index) Delete(id string) bool {
 	i.mu.Lock()