diff --git a/crates/gateway/src/main.rs b/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
index 728d559..1aa588e 100644
--- a/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
@@ -57,10 +57,15 @@ async fn main() {
             store: store.clone(),
             registry: registry.clone(),
         }))
-        .nest("/vectors", vectord::service::router(vectord::service::VectorState {
-            store: store.clone(),
-            ai_client: ai_client.clone(),
-            job_tracker: vectord::jobs::JobTracker::new(),
+        .nest("/vectors", vectord::service::router({
+            let index_reg = vectord::index_registry::IndexRegistry::new(store.clone());
+            let _ = index_reg.rebuild().await;
+            vectord::service::VectorState {
+                store: store.clone(),
+                ai_client: ai_client.clone(),
+                job_tracker: vectord::jobs::JobTracker::new(),
+                index_registry: index_reg,
+            }
         }))
         .nest("/workspaces", queryd::workspace_service::router(workspace_mgr))
         .nest("/journal", journald::service::router(journal));
diff --git a/crates/vectord/src/index_registry.rs b/crates/vectord/src/index_registry.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7bc3367
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/vectord/src/index_registry.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+/// Vector index registry — tracks all indexes with model versioning.
+/// Each index knows which model created it, enabling:
+/// - Multi-version indexes (same data, different models, coexist)
+/// - Incremental re-embed (only new/changed docs on model upgrade)
+/// - A/B search comparison between model versions
+
+use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
+use object_store::ObjectStore;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use tokio::sync::RwLock;
+
+use storaged::ops;
+
+/// Metadata for a vector index.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct IndexMeta {
+    pub index_name: String,
+    pub source: String,           // dataset this was built from
+    pub model_name: String,       // "nomic-embed-text"
+    pub model_version: String,    // "latest" or specific version
+    pub dimensions: u32,          // 768
+    pub chunk_count: usize,
+    pub doc_count: usize,
+    pub chunk_size: usize,
+    pub overlap: usize,
+    pub storage_key: String,      // "vectors/resumes_v1_nomic.parquet"
+    pub created_at: DateTime<Utc>,
+    pub build_time_secs: f32,
+    pub chunks_per_sec: f32,
+}
+
+/// Registry of all vector indexes.
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct IndexRegistry {
+    indexes: Arc<RwLock<HashMap<String, IndexMeta>>>,
+    store: Arc<dyn ObjectStore>,
+}
+
+impl IndexRegistry {
+    pub fn new(store: Arc<dyn ObjectStore>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            indexes: Arc::new(RwLock::new(HashMap::new())),
+            store,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Rebuild from persisted index metadata on startup.
+    pub async fn rebuild(&self) -> Result<usize, String> {
+        let keys = ops::list(&self.store, Some("vectors/meta/")).await?;
+        let mut reg = self.indexes.write().await;
+        reg.clear();
+
+        for key in &keys {
+            if !key.ends_with(".json") { continue; }
+            let data = ops::get(&self.store, key).await?;
+            match serde_json::from_slice::<IndexMeta>(&data) {
+                Ok(meta) => { reg.insert(meta.index_name.clone(), meta); }
+                Err(e) => tracing::warn!("failed to load index meta {key}: {e}"),
+            }
+        }
+
+        let count = reg.len();
+        if count > 0 {
+            tracing::info!("loaded {count} vector index metadata entries");
+        }
+        Ok(count)
+    }
+
+    /// Register a new index.
+    pub async fn register(&self, meta: IndexMeta) -> Result<(), String> {
+        let key = format!("vectors/meta/{}.json", meta.index_name);
+        let json = serde_json::to_vec_pretty(&meta).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+        ops::put(&self.store, &key, json.into()).await?;
+        self.indexes.write().await.insert(meta.index_name.clone(), meta);
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Get metadata for an index.
+    pub async fn get(&self, index_name: &str) -> Option<IndexMeta> {
+        self.indexes.read().await.get(index_name).cloned()
+    }
+
+    /// List all indexes, optionally filtered by source or model.
+    pub async fn list(&self, source: Option<&str>, model: Option<&str>) -> Vec<IndexMeta> {
+        self.indexes.read().await.values()
+            .filter(|m| source.map_or(true, |s| m.source == s))
+            .filter(|m| model.map_or(true, |mo| m.model_name == mo))
+            .cloned()
+            .collect()
+    }
+
+    /// Find all versions of an index for a given source dataset.
+    /// Returns indexes sorted by creation time (newest first).
+    pub async fn versions_for_source(&self, source: &str) -> Vec<IndexMeta> {
+        let mut versions: Vec<IndexMeta> = self.indexes.read().await.values()
+            .filter(|m| m.source == source)
+            .cloned()
+            .collect();
+        versions.sort_by(|a, b| b.created_at.cmp(&a.created_at));
+        versions
+    }
+
+    /// Delete an index (metadata only — vector Parquet stays for safety).
+    pub async fn delete(&self, index_name: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
+        let key = format!("vectors/meta/{index_name}.json");
+        ops::delete(&self.store, &key).await?;
+        self.indexes.write().await.remove(index_name);
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/vectord/src/lib.rs b/crates/vectord/src/lib.rs
index 4c138f3..943e2b5 100644
--- a/crates/vectord/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/vectord/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 pub mod chunker;
+pub mod index_registry;
 pub mod jobs;
 pub mod store;
 pub mod search;
diff --git a/crates/vectord/src/service.rs b/crates/vectord/src/service.rs
index f193202..2734ff0 100644
--- a/crates/vectord/src/service.rs
+++ b/crates/vectord/src/service.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use axum::{
     Json, Router,
-    extract::{Path, State},
+    extract::{Path, Query, State},
     http::StatusCode,
     response::IntoResponse,
     routing::{get, post},
@@ -10,19 +10,22 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use aibridge::client::{AiClient, EmbedRequest};
-use crate::{chunker, jobs, rag, search, store, supervisor};
+use crate::{chunker, index_registry, jobs, rag, search, store, supervisor};
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct VectorState {
     pub store: Arc<dyn ObjectStore>,
     pub ai_client: AiClient,
     pub job_tracker: jobs::JobTracker,
+    pub index_registry: index_registry::IndexRegistry,
 }
 
 pub fn router(state: VectorState) -> Router {
     Router::new()
         .route("/health", get(health))
         .route("/index", post(create_index))
+        .route("/indexes", get(list_indexes))
+        .route("/indexes/{name}", get(get_index_meta))
         .route("/jobs", get(list_jobs))
         .route("/jobs/{id}", get(get_job))
         .route("/search", post(search_index))
@@ -88,17 +91,42 @@ async fn create_index(
     let tracker = state.job_tracker.clone();
     let ai_client = state.ai_client.clone();
     let obj_store = state.store.clone();
+    let registry = state.index_registry.clone();
     let jid = job_id.clone();
+    let source_name = req.source.clone();
+    let idx_name = req.index_name.clone();
 
     tokio::spawn(async move {
+        let start_time = std::time::Instant::now();
         let config = supervisor::SupervisorConfig::default();
         let result = supervisor::run_supervised(
-            &jid, &index_name, chunks, &ai_client, &obj_store, &tracker, config,
+            &jid, &idx_name, chunks, &ai_client, &obj_store, &tracker, config,
         ).await;
         match result {
             Ok(key) => {
+                let elapsed = start_time.elapsed().as_secs_f32();
+                let rate = if elapsed > 0.0 { n_chunks as f32 / elapsed } else { 0.0 };
+
+                // Register index metadata with model version info
+                let meta = index_registry::IndexMeta {
+                    index_name: idx_name.clone(),
+                    source: source_name,
+                    model_name: "nomic-embed-text".to_string(), // from sidecar config
+                    model_version: "latest".to_string(),
+                    dimensions: 768,
+                    chunk_count: n_chunks,
+                    doc_count: n_docs,
+                    chunk_size: chunk_size,
+                    overlap: overlap,
+                    storage_key: key.clone(),
+                    created_at: chrono::Utc::now(),
+                    build_time_secs: elapsed,
+                    chunks_per_sec: rate,
+                };
+                let _ = registry.register(meta).await;
+
                 tracker.complete(&jid, key).await;
-                tracing::info!("job {jid}: completed");
+                tracing::info!("job {jid}: completed — {n_chunks} chunks in {elapsed:.0}s ({rate:.0}/sec)");
             }
             Err(e) => {
                 tracker.fail(&jid, e.clone()).await;
@@ -116,8 +144,37 @@ async fn create_index(
     })))
 }
 
-/// Run the actual embedding work in background.
-async fn run_embedding_job(
+// --- Index Registry ---
+
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+struct IndexListQuery {
+    source: Option<String>,
+    model: Option<String>,
+}
+
+async fn list_indexes(
+    State(state): State<VectorState>,
+    Query(q): Query<IndexListQuery>,
+) -> impl IntoResponse {
+    let indexes = state.index_registry.list(q.source.as_deref(), q.model.as_deref()).await;
+    Json(indexes)
+}
+
+async fn get_index_meta(
+    State(state): State<VectorState>,
+    Path(name): Path<String>,
+) -> impl IntoResponse {
+    match state.index_registry.get(&name).await {
+        Some(meta) => Ok(Json(meta)),
+        None => Err((StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, format!("index not found: {name}"))),
+    }
+}
+
+// --- unused legacy function below, kept for reference ---
+
+#[allow(dead_code)]
+/// Legacy single-pipeline embedding (replaced by supervisor).
+async fn _run_embedding_job_legacy(
     job_id: &str,
     index_name: &str,
     chunks: &[chunker::TextChunk],