diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d7c9d45..70cf55c 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -8,6 +8,17 @@ version = "2.0.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "320119579fcad9c21884f5c4861d16174d0e06250625266f50fe6898340abefa"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "aes"
+version = "0.8.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b169f7a6d4742236a0a00c541b845991d0ac43e546831af1249753ab4c3aa3a0"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "cipher",
+ "cpufeatures",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ahash"
 version = "0.8.12"
@@ -508,6 +519,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "generic-array",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "block-padding"
+version = "0.3.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a8894febbff9f758034a5b8e12d87918f56dfc64a8e1fe757d65e29041538d93"
+dependencies = [
+ "generic-array",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "brotli"
 version = "8.0.2"
@@ -535,6 +555,12 @@ version = "3.20.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5d20789868f4b01b2f2caec9f5c4e0213b41e3e5702a50157d699ae31ced2fcb"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bytecount"
+version = "0.6.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "175812e0be2bccb6abe50bb8d566126198344f707e304f45c648fd8f2cc0365e"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "byteorder"
 version = "1.5.0"
@@ -588,6 +614,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "uuid",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cbc"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "26b52a9543ae338f279b96b0b9fed9c8093744685043739079ce85cd58f289a6"
+dependencies = [
+ "cipher",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cc"
 version = "1.2.58"
@@ -690,6 +725,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "half",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cipher"
+version = "0.4.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "773f3b9af64447d2ce9850330c473515014aa235e6a783b02db81ff39e4a3dad"
+dependencies = [
+ "crypto-common",
+ "inout",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "combine"
 version = "4.6.7"
@@ -894,6 +939,25 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-deque"
+version = "0.8.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9dd111b7b7f7d55b72c0a6ae361660ee5853c9af73f70c3c2ef6858b950e2e51"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-epoch",
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-epoch"
+version = "0.9.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5b82ac4a3c2ca9c3460964f020e1402edd5753411d7737aa39c3714ad1b5420e"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-utils"
 version = "0.8.21"
@@ -2311,6 +2375,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "aibridge",
  "axum",
  "catalogd",
+ "ingestd",
  "object_store",
  "opentelemetry",
  "opentelemetry-stdout",
@@ -2820,6 +2885,38 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfb",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ingestd"
+version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "arrow",
+ "axum",
+ "bytes",
+ "catalogd",
+ "chrono",
+ "csv",
+ "lopdf",
+ "object_store",
+ "parquet",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "sha2",
+ "shared",
+ "storaged",
+ "tokio",
+ "tracing",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "inout"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "879f10e63c20629ecabbb64a8010319738c66a5cd0c29b02d63d272b03751d01"
+dependencies = [
+ "block-padding",
+ "generic-array",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "integer-encoding"
 version = "3.0.4"
@@ -3075,6 +3172,30 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b3bd0dd2cd90571056fdb71f6275fada10131182f84899f4b2a916e565d81d86"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "lopdf"
+version = "0.35.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5c7c1d3350d071cb86987a6bcb205c7019a0eb70dcad92b454fec722cca8d68b"
+dependencies = [
+ "aes",
+ "cbc",
+ "chrono",
+ "encoding_rs",
+ "flate2",
+ "indexmap",
+ "itoa",
+ "log",
+ "md-5",
+ "nom",
+ "nom_locate",
+ "rangemap",
+ "rayon",
+ "thiserror 2.0.18",
+ "time",
+ "weezl",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lru-slab"
 version = "0.1.2"
@@ -3217,6 +3338,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicase",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "minimal-lexical"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "68354c5c6bd36d73ff3feceb05efa59b6acb7626617f4962be322a825e61f79a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "miniz_oxide"
 version = "0.8.9"
@@ -3291,6 +3418,27 @@ dependencies = [
  "jni-sys 0.3.1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "nom"
+version = "7.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d273983c5a657a70a3e8f2a01329822f3b8c8172b73826411a55751e404a0a4a"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "minimal-lexical",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "nom_locate"
+version = "4.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1e3c83c053b0713da60c5b8de47fe8e494fe3ece5267b2f23090a07a053ba8f3"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytecount",
+ "memchr",
+ "nom",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "nu-ansi-term"
 version = "0.50.3"
@@ -3971,12 +4119,38 @@ dependencies = [
  "getrandom 0.3.4",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rangemap"
+version = "1.7.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "973443cf09a9c8656b574a866ab68dfa19f0867d0340648c7d2f6a71b8a8ea68"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "raw-window-handle"
 version = "0.6.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "20675572f6f24e9e76ef639bc5552774ed45f1c30e2951e1e99c59888861c539"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rayon"
+version = "1.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "368f01d005bf8fd9b1206fb6fa653e6c4a81ceb1466406b81792d87c5677a58f"
+dependencies = [
+ "either",
+ "rayon-core",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rayon-core"
+version = "1.13.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "22e18b0f0062d30d4230b2e85ff77fdfe4326feb054b9783a3460d8435c8ab91"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-deque",
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "recursive"
 version = "0.1.1"
@@ -5439,6 +5613,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustls-pki-types",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "weezl"
+version = "0.1.12"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a28ac98ddc8b9274cb41bb4d9d4d5c425b6020c50c46f25559911905610b4a88"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "winapi-util"
 version = "0.1.11"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b7ade62..695759b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ members = [
     "crates/catalogd",
     "crates/queryd",
     "crates/aibridge",
+    "crates/ingestd",
     "crates/gateway",
     "crates/ui",
 ]
@@ -38,3 +39,6 @@ opentelemetry_sdk = { version = "0.28", features = ["rt-tokio"] }
 opentelemetry-stdout = { version = "0.28", features = ["trace"] }
 tracing-opentelemetry = "0.29"
 toml = "0.8"
+csv = "1"
+lopdf = "0.35"
+encoding_rs = "0.8"
diff --git a/crates/gateway/Cargo.toml b/crates/gateway/Cargo.toml
index db6c48f..0c3dfd5 100644
--- a/crates/gateway/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/gateway/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ storaged = { path = "../storaged" }
 catalogd = { path = "../catalogd" }
 queryd = { path = "../queryd" }
 aibridge = { path = "../aibridge" }
+ingestd = { path = "../ingestd" }
 tokio = { workspace = true }
 axum = { workspace = true }
 serde = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/gateway/src/main.rs b/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
index c4eb7c6..490f049 100644
--- a/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/gateway/src/main.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 mod auth;
 mod observability;
 
-use axum::{Router, routing::get};
+use axum::{Router, extract::DefaultBodyLimit, routing::get};
 use proto::lakehouse::catalog_service_server::CatalogServiceServer;
 use shared::config::Config;
 use tower_http::cors::{Any, CorsLayer};
@@ -39,10 +39,14 @@ async fn main() {
     // HTTP router
     let mut app = Router::new()
         .route("/health", get(health))
-        .nest("/storage", storaged::service::router(store))
+        .nest("/storage", storaged::service::router(store.clone()))
         .nest("/catalog", catalogd::service::router(registry.clone()))
         .nest("/query", queryd::service::router(engine))
-        .nest("/ai", aibridge::service::router(ai_client));
+        .nest("/ai", aibridge::service::router(ai_client))
+        .nest("/ingest", ingestd::service::router(ingestd::service::IngestState {
+            store: store.clone(),
+            registry: registry.clone(),
+        }));
 
     // Auth middleware (if enabled)
     if config.auth.enabled {
@@ -58,6 +62,7 @@ async fn main() {
     }
 
     app = app
+        .layer(DefaultBodyLimit::max(256 * 1024 * 1024)) // 256MB
         .layer(CorsLayer::new()
             .allow_origin(Any)
             .allow_methods(Any)
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/Cargo.toml b/crates/ingestd/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1963e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+[package]
+name = "ingestd"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2024"
+
+[dependencies]
+shared = { path = "../shared" }
+storaged = { path = "../storaged" }
+catalogd = { path = "../catalogd" }
+tokio = { workspace = true }
+axum = { workspace = true, features = ["multipart"] }
+lopdf = { workspace = true }
+serde = { workspace = true }
+serde_json = { workspace = true }
+tracing = { workspace = true }
+arrow = { workspace = true }
+parquet = { workspace = true }
+bytes = { workspace = true }
+sha2 = { workspace = true }
+csv = { workspace = true }
+chrono = { workspace = true }
+object_store = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/src/csv_ingest.rs b/crates/ingestd/src/csv_ingest.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68cf932
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/src/csv_ingest.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+use arrow::array::{ArrayRef, Float64Array, Int64Array, StringArray, BooleanArray};
+use arrow::datatypes::{DataType, Field, Schema};
+use arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+/// Inferred column type from sampling data.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
+enum InferredType {
+    Integer,
+    Float,
+    Boolean,
+    String,
+}
+
+/// Parse CSV bytes into Arrow RecordBatches with automatic schema detection.
+/// Per ADR-010: ambiguous types default to String.
+pub fn parse_csv(content: &[u8]) -> Result<(Arc<Schema>, Vec<RecordBatch>), String> {
+    let mut reader = csv::ReaderBuilder::new()
+        .flexible(true) // allow varying column counts
+        .trim(csv::Trim::All)
+        .from_reader(content);
+
+    let headers: Vec<String> = reader.headers()
+        .map_err(|e| format!("CSV header error: {e}"))?
+        .iter()
+        .enumerate()
+        .map(|(i, h)| {
+            let h = h.trim().to_string();
+            if h.is_empty() { format!("column_{i}") } else { sanitize_column_name(&h) }
+        })
+        .collect();
+
+    let n_cols = headers.len();
+    if n_cols == 0 {
+        return Err("CSV has no columns".into());
+    }
+
+    // Read all rows into string columns
+    let mut columns: Vec<Vec<String>> = vec![vec![]; n_cols];
+    let mut row_count = 0;
+
+    for result in reader.records() {
+        let record = result.map_err(|e| format!("CSV row error: {e}"))?;
+        for (i, field) in record.iter().enumerate() {
+            if i < n_cols {
+                columns[i].push(field.trim().to_string());
+            }
+        }
+        // Pad short rows with empty strings
+        for col in columns.iter_mut().skip(record.len().min(n_cols)) {
+            col.push(String::new());
+        }
+        row_count += 1;
+    }
+
+    if row_count == 0 {
+        return Err("CSV has no data rows".into());
+    }
+
+    tracing::info!("parsed CSV: {row_count} rows × {n_cols} columns");
+
+    // Infer types by sampling (look at all values)
+    let types: Vec<InferredType> = columns.iter().map(|col| infer_column_type(col)).collect();
+
+    // Build Arrow schema
+    let fields: Vec<Field> = headers.iter().zip(types.iter()).map(|(name, typ)| {
+        let dt = match typ {
+            InferredType::Integer => DataType::Int64,
+            InferredType::Float => DataType::Float64,
+            InferredType::Boolean => DataType::Boolean,
+            InferredType::String => DataType::Utf8,
+        };
+        Field::new(name, dt, true) // all nullable
+    }).collect();
+
+    let schema = Arc::new(Schema::new(fields));
+
+    // Build arrays
+    let arrays: Vec<ArrayRef> = columns.iter().zip(types.iter()).map(|(col, typ)| {
+        match typ {
+            InferredType::Integer => {
+                let vals: Vec<Option<i64>> = col.iter().map(|v| {
+                    if v.is_empty() { None } else { v.replace(',', "").parse().ok() }
+                }).collect();
+                Arc::new(Int64Array::from(vals)) as ArrayRef
+            }
+            InferredType::Float => {
+                let vals: Vec<Option<f64>> = col.iter().map(|v| {
+                    if v.is_empty() { None }
+                    else { v.replace(',', "").replace('$', "").replace('%', "").parse().ok() }
+                }).collect();
+                Arc::new(Float64Array::from(vals)) as ArrayRef
+            }
+            InferredType::Boolean => {
+                let vals: Vec<Option<bool>> = col.iter().map(|v| {
+                    match v.to_lowercase().as_str() {
+                        "true" | "yes" | "1" | "y" | "t" => Some(true),
+                        "false" | "no" | "0" | "n" | "f" => Some(false),
+                        _ => None,
+                    }
+                }).collect();
+                Arc::new(BooleanArray::from(vals)) as ArrayRef
+            }
+            InferredType::String => {
+                Arc::new(StringArray::from(col.clone())) as ArrayRef
+            }
+        }
+    }).collect();
+
+    let batch = RecordBatch::try_new(schema.clone(), arrays)
+        .map_err(|e| format!("RecordBatch error: {e}"))?;
+
+    Ok((schema, vec![batch]))
+}
+
+/// Infer column type from values. Conservative: defaults to String on ambiguity.
+fn infer_column_type(values: &[String]) -> InferredType {
+    let non_empty: Vec<&str> = values.iter()
+        .map(|v| v.as_str())
+        .filter(|v| !v.is_empty() && *v != "NULL" && *v != "null" && *v != "N/A" && *v != "n/a")
+        .collect();
+
+    if non_empty.is_empty() {
+        return InferredType::String;
+    }
+
+    // Check boolean
+    let all_bool = non_empty.iter().all(|v| {
+        matches!(v.to_lowercase().as_str(), "true" | "false" | "yes" | "no" | "1" | "0" | "y" | "n" | "t" | "f")
+    });
+    if all_bool && non_empty.len() >= 2 {
+        // Make sure it's not just all "1" and "0" which could be integers
+        let has_text_bool = non_empty.iter().any(|v| {
+            matches!(v.to_lowercase().as_str(), "true" | "false" | "yes" | "no" | "y" | "n" | "t" | "f")
+        });
+        if has_text_bool {
+            return InferredType::Boolean;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Check integer (allow commas as thousands separator)
+    let int_rate = non_empty.iter()
+        .filter(|v| v.replace(',', "").parse::<i64>().is_ok())
+        .count() as f64 / non_empty.len() as f64;
+    if int_rate > 0.95 {
+        return InferredType::Integer;
+    }
+
+    // Check float (allow $, %, commas)
+    let float_rate = non_empty.iter()
+        .filter(|v| v.replace(',', "").replace('$', "").replace('%', "").parse::<f64>().is_ok())
+        .count() as f64 / non_empty.len() as f64;
+    if float_rate > 0.95 {
+        return InferredType::Float;
+    }
+
+    InferredType::String
+}
+
+/// Sanitize column name for SQL compatibility.
+fn sanitize_column_name(name: &str) -> String {
+    name.chars()
+        .map(|c| if c.is_alphanumeric() || c == '_' { c.to_ascii_lowercase() } else { '_' })
+        .collect::<String>()
+        .trim_matches('_')
+        .to_string()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_simple_csv() {
+        let csv = b"Name,Age,Salary\nAlice,30,50000\nBob,25,45000\n";
+        let (schema, batches) = parse_csv(csv).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(schema.fields().len(), 3);
+        assert_eq!(batches[0].num_rows(), 2);
+        assert_eq!(schema.field(1).data_type(), &DataType::Int64);
+        assert_eq!(schema.field(2).data_type(), &DataType::Int64);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_csv_with_mixed_types() {
+        let csv = b"id,value\n1,hello\n2,world\n3,N/A\n";
+        let (schema, _) = parse_csv(csv).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(schema.field(0).data_type(), &DataType::Int64);
+        assert_eq!(schema.field(1).data_type(), &DataType::Utf8);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_csv_with_dollar_amounts() {
+        let csv = b"item,price\nWidget,$29.99\nGadget,$149.50\n";
+        let (schema, _) = parse_csv(csv).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(schema.field(1).data_type(), &DataType::Float64);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sanitize_names() {
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_column_name("First Name"), "first_name");
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_column_name("Bill Rate ($)"), "bill_rate");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/src/detect.rs b/crates/ingestd/src/detect.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fff0e57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/src/detect.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+use sha2::{Digest, Sha256};
+
+/// Detected file type from content inspection.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
+pub enum FileType {
+    Csv,
+    Json,
+    NdJson, // newline-delimited JSON
+    Pdf,
+    Text,   // plain text, SMS logs, etc.
+    Unknown,
+}
+
+/// Detect file type from filename extension and content sniffing.
+pub fn detect_file_type(filename: &str, content: &[u8]) -> FileType {
+    // Extension-based first
+    let lower = filename.to_lowercase();
+    if lower.ends_with(".csv") || lower.ends_with(".tsv") {
+        return FileType::Csv;
+    }
+    if lower.ends_with(".json") {
+        // Check if it's newline-delimited JSON
+        if content.iter().take(4096).filter(|&&b| b == b'\n').count() > 2 {
+            let first_line = content.split(|&b| b == b'\n').next().unwrap_or(b"");
+            if first_line.starts_with(b"{") {
+                return FileType::NdJson;
+            }
+        }
+        return FileType::Json;
+    }
+    if lower.ends_with(".ndjson") || lower.ends_with(".jsonl") {
+        return FileType::NdJson;
+    }
+    if lower.ends_with(".pdf") {
+        return FileType::Pdf;
+    }
+    if lower.ends_with(".txt") || lower.ends_with(".log") || lower.ends_with(".sms") {
+        return FileType::Text;
+    }
+
+    // Content sniffing fallback
+    if content.starts_with(b"%PDF") {
+        return FileType::Pdf;
+    }
+    if content.starts_with(b"[") || content.starts_with(b"{") {
+        return FileType::Json;
+    }
+
+    // Check if it looks like CSV (has commas and newlines in first chunk)
+    let sample = &content[..content.len().min(4096)];
+    let comma_count = sample.iter().filter(|&&b| b == b',').count();
+    let newline_count = sample.iter().filter(|&&b| b == b'\n').count();
+    if comma_count > 3 && newline_count > 1 {
+        return FileType::Csv;
+    }
+
+    // If it's valid UTF-8, treat as text
+    if std::str::from_utf8(sample).is_ok() {
+        return FileType::Text;
+    }
+
+    FileType::Unknown
+}
+
+/// Compute SHA-256 hash of content for deduplication.
+pub fn content_hash(content: &[u8]) -> String {
+    let mut hasher = Sha256::new();
+    hasher.update(content);
+    format!("{:x}", hasher.finalize())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn detect_csv_by_extension() {
+        assert_eq!(detect_file_type("data.csv", b"a,b,c\n1,2,3"), FileType::Csv);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn detect_json_by_extension() {
+        assert_eq!(detect_file_type("data.json", b"[{\"a\":1}]"), FileType::Json);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn detect_pdf_by_magic() {
+        assert_eq!(detect_file_type("unknown", b"%PDF-1.4 blah"), FileType::Pdf);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn detect_csv_by_content() {
+        let csv = b"name,age,city\nAlice,30,NYC\nBob,25,LA\n";
+        assert_eq!(detect_file_type("unknown.dat", csv), FileType::Csv);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn content_hash_deterministic() {
+        let h1 = content_hash(b"hello world");
+        let h2 = content_hash(b"hello world");
+        assert_eq!(h1, h2);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/src/json_ingest.rs b/crates/ingestd/src/json_ingest.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa91140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/src/json_ingest.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+use arrow::array::{ArrayRef, Float64Array, Int64Array, StringArray, BooleanArray};
+use arrow::datatypes::{DataType, Field, Schema};
+use arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch;
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+/// Parse JSON (array of objects or newline-delimited) into Arrow RecordBatches.
+/// Nested objects are flattened: {"a": {"b": 1}} → column "a_b".
+pub fn parse_json(content: &[u8]) -> Result<(Arc<Schema>, Vec<RecordBatch>), String> {
+    let text = std::str::from_utf8(content).map_err(|e| format!("invalid UTF-8: {e}"))?;
+    let text = text.trim();
+
+    // Parse into Vec<Map>
+    let rows: Vec<serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>> = if text.starts_with('[') {
+        // JSON array
+        let arr: Vec<serde_json::Value> = serde_json::from_str(text)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("JSON parse error: {e}"))?;
+        arr.into_iter()
+            .filter_map(|v| v.as_object().cloned())
+            .collect()
+    } else {
+        // Newline-delimited JSON
+        text.lines()
+            .filter(|l| !l.trim().is_empty())
+            .map(|l| {
+                let v: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(l)
+                    .map_err(|e| format!("NDJSON line parse error: {e}"))?;
+                v.as_object().cloned().ok_or_else(|| "NDJSON line is not an object".into())
+            })
+            .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, String>>()?
+    };
+
+    if rows.is_empty() {
+        return Err("JSON has no records".into());
+    }
+
+    // Flatten and collect all columns
+    let mut columns: BTreeMap<String, Vec<serde_json::Value>> = BTreeMap::new();
+    let n_rows = rows.len();
+
+    for (row_idx, row) in rows.iter().enumerate() {
+        let flat = flatten_object(row, "");
+        // Pad existing columns that aren't in this row
+        for key in columns.keys().cloned().collect::<Vec<_>>() {
+            if !flat.contains_key(&key) {
+                columns.get_mut(&key).unwrap().push(serde_json::Value::Null);
+            }
+        }
+        // Add new columns or append values
+        for (key, val) in flat {
+            let col = columns.entry(key).or_insert_with(Vec::new);
+            // Pad with nulls if this column is new and we've seen prior rows
+            while col.len() < row_idx {
+                col.push(serde_json::Value::Null);
+            }
+            col.push(val);
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Pad short columns
+    for col in columns.values_mut() {
+        while col.len() < n_rows {
+            col.push(serde_json::Value::Null);
+        }
+    }
+
+    tracing::info!("parsed JSON: {n_rows} rows × {} columns", columns.len());
+
+    // Infer types and build schema
+    let mut fields = Vec::new();
+    let mut arrays: Vec<ArrayRef> = Vec::new();
+
+    for (name, values) in &columns {
+        let (dt, array) = json_column_to_arrow(values);
+        fields.push(Field::new(name, dt, true));
+        arrays.push(array);
+    }
+
+    let schema = Arc::new(Schema::new(fields));
+    let batch = RecordBatch::try_new(schema.clone(), arrays)
+        .map_err(|e| format!("RecordBatch error: {e}"))?;
+
+    Ok((schema, vec![batch]))
+}
+
+/// Flatten nested JSON object: {"a": {"b": 1}} → {"a_b": 1}
+fn flatten_object(obj: &serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>, prefix: &str) -> BTreeMap<String, serde_json::Value> {
+    let mut result = BTreeMap::new();
+    for (key, val) in obj {
+        let full_key = if prefix.is_empty() { key.clone() } else { format!("{prefix}_{key}") };
+        match val {
+            serde_json::Value::Object(inner) => {
+                result.extend(flatten_object(inner, &full_key));
+            }
+            other => {
+                result.insert(full_key, other.clone());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    result
+}
+
+/// Convert a column of JSON values to an Arrow array.
+fn json_column_to_arrow(values: &[serde_json::Value]) -> (DataType, ArrayRef) {
+    // Check if all non-null values are the same type
+    let non_null: Vec<&serde_json::Value> = values.iter()
+        .filter(|v| !v.is_null())
+        .collect();
+
+    if non_null.is_empty() {
+        return (DataType::Utf8, Arc::new(StringArray::from(vec![None::<&str>; values.len()])));
+    }
+
+    let all_bool = non_null.iter().all(|v| v.is_boolean());
+    let all_i64 = non_null.iter().all(|v| v.is_i64() || v.is_u64());
+    let all_f64 = non_null.iter().all(|v| v.is_number());
+
+    if all_bool {
+        let arr: Vec<Option<bool>> = values.iter().map(|v| v.as_bool()).collect();
+        (DataType::Boolean, Arc::new(BooleanArray::from(arr)))
+    } else if all_i64 {
+        let arr: Vec<Option<i64>> = values.iter().map(|v| v.as_i64()).collect();
+        (DataType::Int64, Arc::new(Int64Array::from(arr)))
+    } else if all_f64 {
+        let arr: Vec<Option<f64>> = values.iter().map(|v| v.as_f64()).collect();
+        (DataType::Float64, Arc::new(Float64Array::from(arr)))
+    } else {
+        // Default to string
+        let arr: Vec<Option<String>> = values.iter().map(|v| {
+            match v {
+                serde_json::Value::Null => None,
+                serde_json::Value::String(s) => Some(s.clone()),
+                other => Some(other.to_string()),
+            }
+        }).collect();
+        (DataType::Utf8, Arc::new(StringArray::from(arr)))
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_json_array() {
+        let json = br#"[{"name":"Alice","age":30},{"name":"Bob","age":25}]"#;
+        let (schema, batches) = parse_json(json).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(batches[0].num_rows(), 2);
+        assert!(schema.field_with_name("age").unwrap().data_type() == &DataType::Int64);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_ndjson() {
+        let json = b"{\"x\":1}\n{\"x\":2}\n{\"x\":3}\n";
+        let (_, batches) = parse_json(json).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(batches[0].num_rows(), 3);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn flatten_nested() {
+        let json = br#"[{"user":{"name":"Alice","address":{"city":"NYC"}},"score":9.5}]"#;
+        let (schema, _) = parse_json(json).unwrap();
+        let names: Vec<&str> = schema.fields().iter().map(|f| f.name().as_str()).collect();
+        assert!(names.contains(&"user_name"));
+        assert!(names.contains(&"user_address_city"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/src/lib.rs b/crates/ingestd/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c507d30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+pub mod detect;
+pub mod csv_ingest;
+pub mod json_ingest;
+pub mod pdf_ingest;
+pub mod pipeline;
+pub mod service;
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/src/pdf_ingest.rs b/crates/ingestd/src/pdf_ingest.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c087e80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/src/pdf_ingest.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+use arrow::array::{ArrayRef, Int32Array, StringArray};
+use arrow::datatypes::{DataType, Field, Schema};
+use arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+/// Extract text from a PDF file.
+/// Returns one row per page: (page_number, text_content).
+/// This handles text-based PDFs. Scanned/image PDFs need OCR (not implemented yet).
+pub fn parse_pdf(content: &[u8], source_filename: &str) -> Result<(Arc<Schema>, Vec<RecordBatch>), String> {
+    let doc = lopdf::Document::load_mem(content)
+        .map_err(|e| format!("PDF load error: {e}"))?;
+
+    let pages = doc.get_pages();
+    let mut page_numbers: Vec<i32> = Vec::new();
+    let mut page_texts: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
+    let mut sources: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
+
+    for (&page_num, _) in pages.iter() {
+        let text = doc.extract_text(&[page_num]).unwrap_or_default();
+        let text = text.trim().to_string();
+
+        if !text.is_empty() {
+            page_numbers.push(page_num as i32);
+            page_texts.push(text);
+            sources.push(source_filename.to_string());
+        }
+    }
+
+    if page_numbers.is_empty() {
+        // PDF has no extractable text — likely scanned/image
+        return Err("PDF contains no extractable text (may be scanned/image — OCR not yet supported)".into());
+    }
+
+    tracing::info!("extracted {} pages with text from PDF '{}'", page_numbers.len(), source_filename);
+
+    let schema = Arc::new(Schema::new(vec![
+        Field::new("source_file", DataType::Utf8, false),
+        Field::new("page_number", DataType::Int32, false),
+        Field::new("text_content", DataType::Utf8, false),
+    ]));
+
+    let arrays: Vec<ArrayRef> = vec![
+        Arc::new(StringArray::from(sources)),
+        Arc::new(Int32Array::from(page_numbers)),
+        Arc::new(StringArray::from(page_texts)),
+    ];
+
+    let batch = RecordBatch::try_new(schema.clone(), arrays)
+        .map_err(|e| format!("RecordBatch error: {e}"))?;
+
+    Ok((schema, vec![batch]))
+}
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/src/pipeline.rs b/crates/ingestd/src/pipeline.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2267064
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/src/pipeline.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+use arrow::datatypes::SchemaRef;
+use arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch;
+use bytes::Bytes;
+use object_store::ObjectStore;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use catalogd::registry::Registry;
+use shared::arrow_helpers::{fingerprint_schema, record_batch_to_parquet};
+use shared::types::{ObjectRef, SchemaFingerprint};
+use storaged::ops;
+
+use crate::detect::{FileType, content_hash, detect_file_type};
+use crate::csv_ingest;
+use crate::json_ingest;
+use crate::pdf_ingest;
+
+/// Result of an ingest operation.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, serde::Serialize)]
+pub struct IngestResult {
+    pub dataset_name: String,
+    pub file_type: String,
+    pub rows: usize,
+    pub columns: usize,
+    pub storage_key: String,
+    pub content_hash: String,
+    pub schema_fingerprint: String,
+    pub deduplicated: bool,
+}
+
+/// Full ingest pipeline: detect → parse → dedup → store → register.
+pub async fn ingest_file(
+    filename: &str,
+    content: &[u8],
+    dataset_name: Option<&str>,
+    store: &Arc<dyn ObjectStore>,
+    registry: &Registry,
+) -> Result<IngestResult, String> {
+    // 1. Detect file type
+    let file_type = detect_file_type(filename, content);
+    tracing::info!("ingesting '{}' as {:?} ({} bytes)", filename, file_type, content.len());
+
+    // 2. Parse into Arrow
+    let (schema, batches) = match file_type {
+        FileType::Csv => csv_ingest::parse_csv(content)?,
+        FileType::Json | FileType::NdJson => json_ingest::parse_json(content)?,
+        FileType::Pdf => pdf_ingest::parse_pdf(content, filename)?,
+        FileType::Text => parse_text_file(content, filename)?,
+        FileType::Unknown => return Err(format!("unknown file type for '{filename}'")),
+    };
+
+    let total_rows: usize = batches.iter().map(|b| b.num_rows()).sum();
+    let total_cols = schema.fields().len();
+
+    if total_rows == 0 {
+        return Err("file contains no data".into());
+    }
+
+    // 3. Content hash for dedup
+    let hash = content_hash(content);
+
+    // 4. Check if already ingested (same content hash)
+    let existing = registry.list().await;
+    if existing.iter().any(|d| d.schema_fingerprint.0 == hash) {
+        tracing::info!("file already ingested (hash: {}), skipping", &hash[..12]);
+        return Ok(IngestResult {
+            dataset_name: dataset_name.unwrap_or(filename).to_string(),
+            file_type: format!("{:?}", file_type),
+            rows: total_rows,
+            columns: total_cols,
+            storage_key: String::new(),
+            content_hash: hash,
+            schema_fingerprint: String::new(),
+            deduplicated: true,
+        });
+    }
+
+    // 5. Convert to Parquet
+    let mut all_parquet = Vec::new();
+    for batch in &batches {
+        let pq = record_batch_to_parquet(batch)?;
+        all_parquet.extend_from_slice(&pq);
+    }
+    let parquet_bytes = Bytes::from(all_parquet);
+    let parquet_size = parquet_bytes.len() as u64;
+
+    // 6. Store in object storage
+    let name = dataset_name.unwrap_or_else(|| {
+        filename.rsplit('/').next().unwrap_or(filename)
+            .rsplit('.').last().unwrap_or(filename)
+    });
+    let safe_name = sanitize_dataset_name(name);
+    let storage_key = format!("datasets/{}.parquet", safe_name);
+
+    ops::put(store, &storage_key, parquet_bytes).await?;
+    tracing::info!("stored {} as {} ({} bytes)", filename, storage_key, parquet_size);
+
+    // 7. Register in catalog
+    let schema_fp = fingerprint_schema(&schema);
+    let now = chrono::Utc::now();
+    let obj_ref = ObjectRef {
+        bucket: "data".to_string(),
+        key: storage_key.clone(),
+        size_bytes: parquet_size,
+        created_at: now,
+    };
+
+    // Use content hash as fingerprint for dedup tracking
+    registry.register(
+        safe_name.clone(),
+        SchemaFingerprint(hash.clone()),
+        vec![obj_ref],
+    ).await?;
+
+    Ok(IngestResult {
+        dataset_name: safe_name,
+        file_type: format!("{:?}", file_type),
+        rows: total_rows,
+        columns: total_cols,
+        storage_key,
+        content_hash: hash,
+        schema_fingerprint: schema_fp.0,
+        deduplicated: false,
+    })
+}
+
+/// Parse plain text / SMS logs into a simple table.
+fn parse_text_file(content: &[u8], filename: &str) -> Result<(SchemaRef, Vec<RecordBatch>), String> {
+    let text = String::from_utf8_lossy(content);
+    let lines: Vec<&str> = text.lines().filter(|l| !l.trim().is_empty()).collect();
+
+    if lines.is_empty() {
+        return Err("text file is empty".into());
+    }
+
+    let schema = Arc::new(arrow::datatypes::Schema::new(vec![
+        arrow::datatypes::Field::new("source_file", arrow::datatypes::DataType::Utf8, false),
+        arrow::datatypes::Field::new("line_number", arrow::datatypes::DataType::Int32, false),
+        arrow::datatypes::Field::new("text", arrow::datatypes::DataType::Utf8, false),
+    ]));
+
+    let sources: Vec<&str> = vec![filename; lines.len()];
+    let line_nums: Vec<i32> = (1..=lines.len() as i32).collect();
+
+    let arrays: Vec<arrow::array::ArrayRef> = vec![
+        Arc::new(arrow::array::StringArray::from(sources)),
+        Arc::new(arrow::array::Int32Array::from(line_nums)),
+        Arc::new(arrow::array::StringArray::from(lines)),
+    ];
+
+    let batch = RecordBatch::try_new(schema.clone(), arrays)
+        .map_err(|e| format!("RecordBatch error: {e}"))?;
+
+    Ok((schema, vec![batch]))
+}
+
+fn sanitize_dataset_name(name: &str) -> String {
+    let clean: String = name.chars()
+        .map(|c| if c.is_alphanumeric() || c == '_' { c.to_ascii_lowercase() } else { '_' })
+        .collect();
+    let trimmed = clean.trim_matches('_').to_string();
+    if trimmed.is_empty() { "unnamed_dataset".to_string() } else { trimmed }
+}
diff --git a/crates/ingestd/src/service.rs b/crates/ingestd/src/service.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ac3666
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ingestd/src/service.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+use axum::{
+    Json, Router,
+    extract::{Multipart, Query, State},
+    http::StatusCode,
+    response::IntoResponse,
+    routing::{get, post},
+};
+use object_store::ObjectStore;
+use serde::Deserialize;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use catalogd::registry::Registry;
+use crate::pipeline;
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct IngestState {
+    pub store: Arc<dyn ObjectStore>,
+    pub registry: Registry,
+}
+
+pub fn router(state: IngestState) -> Router {
+    Router::new()
+        .route("/health", get(health))
+        .route("/file", post(ingest_file))
+        .with_state(state)
+}
+
+async fn health() -> &'static str {
+    "ingestd ok"
+}
+
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+struct IngestQuery {
+    /// Override dataset name (otherwise derived from filename)
+    name: Option<String>,
+}
+
+/// Upload a file for ingestion. Accepts multipart/form-data with a "file" field.
+async fn ingest_file(
+    State(state): State<IngestState>,
+    Query(query): Query<IngestQuery>,
+    mut multipart: Multipart,
+) -> impl IntoResponse {
+    // Read the first file field
+    let field = match multipart.next_field().await {
+        Ok(Some(f)) => f,
+        Ok(None) => return Err((StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "no file uploaded".to_string())),
+        Err(e) => return Err((StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, format!("multipart error: {e}"))),
+    };
+
+    let filename = field.file_name().unwrap_or("unknown").to_string();
+    let content = field.bytes().await
+        .map_err(|e| (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, format!("read error: {e}")))?;
+
+    tracing::info!("received file '{}' ({} bytes) for ingest", filename, content.len());
+
+    let dataset_name = query.name.as_deref();
+
+    match pipeline::ingest_file(&filename, &content, dataset_name, &state.store, &state.registry).await {
+        Ok(result) => {
+            if result.deduplicated {
+                Ok((StatusCode::OK, Json(result)))
+            } else {
+                Ok((StatusCode::CREATED, Json(result)))
+            }
+        }
+        Err(e) => Err((StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, e)),
+    }
+}
diff --git a/data/_catalog/manifests/1ca61945-d151-490b-81fd-2ca0397b68fa.json b/data/_catalog/manifests/1ca61945-d151-490b-81fd-2ca0397b68fa.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d33132
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/_catalog/manifests/1ca61945-d151-490b-81fd-2ca0397b68fa.json
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{
+  "id": "1ca61945-d151-490b-81fd-2ca0397b68fa",
+  "name": "sms_messages",
+  "schema_fingerprint": "e1d079cbb2b7eedae5019767a886bd9a3396e291aa03630b9db69e9864948c09",
+  "objects": [
+    {
+      "bucket": "data",
+      "key": "datasets/sms_messages.parquet",
+      "size_bytes": 2018,
+      "created_at": "2026-03-27T13:07:14.253881797Z"
+    }
+  ],
+  "created_at": "2026-03-27T13:07:14.253886027Z",
+  "updated_at": "2026-03-27T13:07:14.253886027Z"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/_catalog/manifests/1f81445a-404f-48ea-bd72-00f6721ee18b.json b/data/_catalog/manifests/1f81445a-404f-48ea-bd72-00f6721ee18b.json
deleted file mode 100644
index be47193..0000000
--- a/data/_catalog/manifests/1f81445a-404f-48ea-bd72-00f6721ee18b.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "id": "1f81445a-404f-48ea-bd72-00f6721ee18b",
-  "name": "employees",
-  "schema_fingerprint": "auto",
-  "objects": [
-    {
-      "bucket": "data",
-      "key": "datasets/employees.parquet",
-      "size_bytes": 1424,
-      "created_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.013996293Z"
-    }
-  ],
-  "created_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.014010258Z",
-  "updated_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.014010258Z"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/_catalog/manifests/478072c3-0c95-46a2-9193-f4b3ac4085ab.json b/data/_catalog/manifests/478072c3-0c95-46a2-9193-f4b3ac4085ab.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c30c875
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/_catalog/manifests/478072c3-0c95-46a2-9193-f4b3ac4085ab.json
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{
+  "id": "478072c3-0c95-46a2-9193-f4b3ac4085ab",
+  "name": "test_ingest",
+  "schema_fingerprint": "4bdc4e5baeddc1187aecd4bfb788654f26145c2ba346b4bec6ca8ab950e1c133",
+  "objects": [
+    {
+      "bucket": "data",
+      "key": "datasets/test_ingest.parquet",
+      "size_bytes": 3129,
+      "created_at": "2026-03-27T13:06:57.437484309Z"
+    }
+  ],
+  "created_at": "2026-03-27T13:06:57.437488259Z",
+  "updated_at": "2026-03-27T13:06:57.437488259Z"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/_catalog/manifests/50d402a0-6fb4-4849-ac75-3541b8530aba.json b/data/_catalog/manifests/50d402a0-6fb4-4849-ac75-3541b8530aba.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 9e89f03..0000000
--- a/data/_catalog/manifests/50d402a0-6fb4-4849-ac75-3541b8530aba.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "id": "50d402a0-6fb4-4849-ac75-3541b8530aba",
-  "name": "u5",
-  "schema_fingerprint": "from-ui",
-  "objects": [
-    {
-      "bucket": "data",
-      "key": "datasets/events.parquet",
-      "size_bytes": 0,
-      "created_at": "2026-03-27T12:16:57.520054490Z"
-    }
-  ],
-  "created_at": "2026-03-27T12:16:57.520066991Z",
-  "updated_at": "2026-03-27T12:16:57.520066991Z"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/_catalog/manifests/6c8dabf2-a6b3-4e23-b7d7-dc3b37a5e1a8.json b/data/_catalog/manifests/6c8dabf2-a6b3-4e23-b7d7-dc3b37a5e1a8.json
deleted file mode 100644
index f140ce9..0000000
--- a/data/_catalog/manifests/6c8dabf2-a6b3-4e23-b7d7-dc3b37a5e1a8.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "id": "6c8dabf2-a6b3-4e23-b7d7-dc3b37a5e1a8",
-  "name": "events",
-  "schema_fingerprint": "auto",
-  "objects": [
-    {
-      "bucket": "data",
-      "key": "datasets/events.parquet",
-      "size_bytes": 1127,
-      "created_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.017003417Z"
-    }
-  ],
-  "created_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.017011224Z",
-  "updated_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.017011224Z"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/_catalog/manifests/f5281277-afe9-456b-b5fa-d667c2b0f41f.json b/data/_catalog/manifests/f5281277-afe9-456b-b5fa-d667c2b0f41f.json
deleted file mode 100644
index cd2a93e..0000000
--- a/data/_catalog/manifests/f5281277-afe9-456b-b5fa-d667c2b0f41f.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "id": "f5281277-afe9-456b-b5fa-d667c2b0f41f",
-  "name": "products",
-  "schema_fingerprint": "auto",
-  "objects": [
-    {
-      "bucket": "data",
-      "key": "datasets/products.parquet",
-      "size_bytes": 1341,
-      "created_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.019096056Z"
-    }
-  ],
-  "created_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.019098965Z",
-  "updated_at": "2026-03-27T11:55:55.019098965Z"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/_catalog/manifests/fc046131-8f44-428a-af90-ebf6347d4cc6.json b/data/_catalog/manifests/fc046131-8f44-428a-af90-ebf6347d4cc6.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 265200f..0000000
--- a/data/_catalog/manifests/fc046131-8f44-428a-af90-ebf6347d4cc6.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "id": "fc046131-8f44-428a-af90-ebf6347d4cc6",
-  "name": "u",
-  "schema_fingerprint": "from-ui",
-  "objects": [
-    {
-      "bucket": "data",
-      "key": "datasets/employees.parquet",
-      "size_bytes": 0,
-      "created_at": "2026-03-27T12:16:51.462058823Z"
-    }
-  ],
-  "created_at": "2026-03-27T12:16:51.462071311Z",
-  "updated_at": "2026-03-27T12:16:51.462071311Z"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/datasets/employees.parquet b/data/datasets/employees.parquet
deleted file mode 100644
index e830c57..0000000
Binary files a/data/datasets/employees.parquet and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/data/datasets/events.parquet b/data/datasets/events.parquet
deleted file mode 100644
index c9d827d..0000000
Binary files a/data/datasets/events.parquet and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/data/datasets/products.parquet b/data/datasets/products.parquet
deleted file mode 100644
index 0006892..0000000
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diff --git a/data/datasets/sms_messages.parquet b/data/datasets/sms_messages.parquet
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eedb46c
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diff --git a/data/datasets/test_ingest.parquet b/data/datasets/test_ingest.parquet
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc7b161
Binary files /dev/null and b/data/datasets/test_ingest.parquet differ
diff --git a/scripts/generate_demo.py b/scripts/generate_demo.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6effe8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/generate_demo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,254 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Generate realistic demo datasets that actually stress the stack."""
+
+import pyarrow as pa
+import pyarrow.parquet as pq
+import random
+import json
+import urllib.request
+import time
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+
+API = "http://localhost:3100"
+
+def upload_and_register(name, table):
+    """Upload Parquet to storage and register in catalog."""
+    path = f"/tmp/{name}.parquet"
+    pq.write_table(table, path, compression="snappy")
+    size = len(open(path, "rb").read())
+
+    with open(path, "rb") as f:
+        data = f.read()
+    key = f"datasets/{name}.parquet"
+    req = urllib.request.Request(f"{API}/storage/objects/{key}", data=data, method="PUT")
+    urllib.request.urlopen(req)
+
+    body = json.dumps({
+        "name": name,
+        "schema_fingerprint": "auto",
+        "objects": [{"bucket": "data", "key": key, "size_bytes": len(data)}]
+    }).encode()
+    req = urllib.request.Request(
+        f"{API}/catalog/datasets", data=body, method="POST",
+        headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"}
+    )
+    urllib.request.urlopen(req)
+    print(f"  {name}: {table.num_rows:,} rows, {len(data):,} bytes ({len(data)/1024/1024:.1f} MB)")
+
+# ============================================================
+# Dataset 1: web_events — 500K rows of web analytics
+# Shows: DataFusion scanning half a million rows in milliseconds
+# ============================================================
+print("Generating web_events (500K rows)...")
+
+N_EVENTS = 500_000
+countries = ["US", "UK", "DE", "FR", "JP", "BR", "IN", "AU", "CA", "KR", "MX", "NG", "ZA", "SE", "IT"]
+pages = ["/", "/pricing", "/docs", "/blog", "/about", "/login", "/signup", "/dashboard", "/settings", "/api",
+         "/docs/getting-started", "/docs/api-reference", "/docs/tutorials", "/blog/rust-performance",
+         "/blog/ai-lakehouse", "/blog/parquet-vs-csv", "/products", "/products/enterprise", "/contact", "/careers"]
+actions = ["pageview", "pageview", "pageview", "pageview", "click", "click", "scroll", "form_submit", "download", "signup"]
+browsers = ["Chrome", "Firefox", "Safari", "Edge", "Arc"]
+devices = ["desktop", "desktop", "desktop", "mobile", "mobile", "tablet"]
+
+base_time = datetime(2026, 1, 1)
+random.seed(42)
+
+timestamps = []
+user_ids = []
+page_list = []
+action_list = []
+duration_list = []
+country_list = []
+browser_list = []
+device_list = []
+session_ids = []
+
+for i in range(N_EVENTS):
+    ts = base_time + timedelta(seconds=random.randint(0, 86400 * 90))  # 90 days
+    timestamps.append(ts.isoformat())
+    user_ids.append(random.randint(1, 50000))
+    page_list.append(random.choice(pages))
+    action_list.append(random.choice(actions))
+    duration_list.append(random.randint(100, 300000))  # ms
+    country_list.append(random.choice(countries))
+    browser_list.append(random.choice(browsers))
+    device_list.append(random.choice(devices))
+    session_ids.append(f"sess_{random.randint(1, 200000):06d}")
+
+web_events = pa.table({
+    "timestamp": timestamps,
+    "user_id": user_ids,
+    "session_id": session_ids,
+    "page": page_list,
+    "action": action_list,
+    "duration_ms": duration_list,
+    "country": country_list,
+    "browser": browser_list,
+    "device": device_list,
+})
+upload_and_register("web_events", web_events)
+
+# ============================================================
+# Dataset 2: products — 5K products with real-ish descriptions
+# Shows: AI can read and understand product data, semantic search
+# ============================================================
+print("Generating products (5K rows)...")
+
+categories = ["SaaS", "API", "Database", "Analytics", "Security", "DevOps", "AI/ML", "Storage", "Networking", "Monitoring"]
+adjectives = ["Enterprise", "Cloud-Native", "Open-Source", "Serverless", "Real-Time", "Distributed", "Scalable", "Lightweight", "High-Performance", "Self-Hosted"]
+nouns = ["Platform", "Engine", "Gateway", "Toolkit", "Framework", "Suite", "Service", "Connector", "Pipeline", "Hub"]
+features = [
+    "with built-in authentication and RBAC",
+    "featuring automatic horizontal scaling",
+    "with zero-config deployment",
+    "supporting 100+ integrations",
+    "with sub-millisecond latency",
+    "featuring end-to-end encryption",
+    "with real-time dashboards",
+    "supporting multi-region replication",
+    "with built-in CI/CD pipelines",
+    "featuring AI-powered anomaly detection",
+    "with comprehensive audit logging",
+    "supporting GraphQL and REST APIs",
+    "with automated backup and recovery",
+    "featuring smart caching layers",
+    "with native Kubernetes support",
+]
+
+product_ids = []
+product_names = []
+product_categories = []
+product_prices = []
+product_descriptions = []
+product_ratings = []
+product_reviews_count = []
+product_created = []
+
+for i in range(5000):
+    cat = random.choice(categories)
+    adj = random.choice(adjectives)
+    noun = random.choice(nouns)
+    feat = random.choice(features)
+    name = f"{adj} {cat} {noun}"
+    desc = f"{name} — a {cat.lower()} solution {feat}. Built for teams that need reliable {cat.lower()} infrastructure without the complexity."
+
+    product_ids.append(i + 1)
+    product_names.append(name)
+    product_categories.append(cat)
+    product_prices.append(round(random.uniform(9.99, 2999.99), 2))
+    product_descriptions.append(desc)
+    product_ratings.append(round(random.uniform(2.5, 5.0), 1))
+    product_reviews_count.append(random.randint(0, 5000))
+    product_created.append((base_time - timedelta(days=random.randint(0, 730))).strftime("%Y-%m-%d"))
+
+products = pa.table({
+    "product_id": product_ids,
+    "name": product_names,
+    "category": product_categories,
+    "price": product_prices,
+    "description": product_descriptions,
+    "rating": product_ratings,
+    "review_count": product_reviews_count,
+    "created_date": product_created,
+})
+upload_and_register("products", products)
+
+# ============================================================
+# Dataset 3: transactions — 200K purchase records
+# Shows: JOINs across datasets, aggregation at scale
+# ============================================================
+print("Generating transactions (200K rows)...")
+
+N_TXN = 200_000
+txn_ids = []
+txn_user_ids = []
+txn_product_ids = []
+txn_quantities = []
+txn_amounts = []
+txn_timestamps = []
+txn_statuses = []
+txn_payment_methods = []
+
+statuses = ["completed", "completed", "completed", "completed", "pending", "refunded", "failed"]
+payments = ["credit_card", "credit_card", "credit_card", "debit_card", "paypal", "crypto", "wire_transfer"]
+
+for i in range(N_TXN):
+    pid = random.randint(1, 5000)
+    qty = random.randint(1, 10)
+    price = product_prices[pid - 1]
+
+    txn_ids.append(f"TXN-{i+1:07d}")
+    txn_user_ids.append(random.randint(1, 50000))
+    txn_product_ids.append(pid)
+    txn_quantities.append(qty)
+    txn_amounts.append(round(price * qty, 2))
+    txn_timestamps.append((base_time + timedelta(seconds=random.randint(0, 86400 * 90))).isoformat())
+    txn_statuses.append(random.choice(statuses))
+    txn_payment_methods.append(random.choice(payments))
+
+transactions = pa.table({
+    "txn_id": txn_ids,
+    "user_id": txn_user_ids,
+    "product_id": txn_product_ids,
+    "quantity": txn_quantities,
+    "amount": txn_amounts,
+    "timestamp": txn_timestamps,
+    "status": txn_statuses,
+    "payment_method": txn_payment_methods,
+})
+upload_and_register("transactions", transactions)
+
+# ============================================================
+# Dataset 4: server_metrics — 1M rows of infrastructure telemetry
+# Shows: time-series analytics, the kind of data you'd put in a lakehouse
+# ============================================================
+print("Generating server_metrics (1M rows)...")
+
+N_METRICS = 1_000_000
+hosts = [f"prod-{i:03d}" for i in range(100)]
+metrics_names = ["cpu_usage", "memory_usage", "disk_io", "network_in", "network_out", "request_latency", "error_rate", "gc_pause"]
+regions = ["us-east-1", "us-west-2", "eu-west-1", "ap-southeast-1"]
+
+m_timestamps = []
+m_hosts = []
+m_metrics = []
+m_values = []
+m_regions = []
+
+for i in range(N_METRICS):
+    metric = random.choice(metrics_names)
+    if metric == "cpu_usage":
+        val = round(random.gauss(45, 20), 2)
+    elif metric == "memory_usage":
+        val = round(random.gauss(60, 15), 2)
+    elif metric in ("network_in", "network_out"):
+        val = round(random.expovariate(1/1000), 2)
+    elif metric == "request_latency":
+        val = round(random.expovariate(1/50), 2)
+    elif metric == "error_rate":
+        val = round(random.expovariate(1/2), 4)
+    else:
+        val = round(random.uniform(0, 100), 2)
+
+    m_timestamps.append((base_time + timedelta(seconds=random.randint(0, 86400 * 90))).isoformat())
+    m_hosts.append(random.choice(hosts))
+    m_metrics.append(metric)
+    m_values.append(max(0, val))
+    m_regions.append(random.choice(regions))
+
+server_metrics = pa.table({
+    "timestamp": m_timestamps,
+    "host": m_hosts,
+    "metric": m_metrics,
+    "value": m_values,
+    "region": m_regions,
+})
+upload_and_register("server_metrics", server_metrics)
+
+print(f"\nDone — 4 datasets, {N_EVENTS + 5000 + N_TXN + N_METRICS:,} total rows")
+print("\nDemo queries to try:")
+print('  "How many page views per country, sorted by volume?"')
+print('  "What are the top 10 products by total revenue?"')
+print('  "Show average CPU usage per host in us-east-1"')
+print('  "Which payment method has the highest failure rate?"')
+print('  "What are the busiest hours for web traffic?"')