diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 57b116d3..76c173af 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 ### Fixed
 
 - Opening a database no longer writes to it: reads no longer rewrite the stored embedding settings or change the stored version, and the version is never downgraded. Embedding provider/name drift (matching `vector_dim`) warns on read-only opens and raises `ConfigMismatchError` on writable opens; reconcile with `rebuild --set-embedder`.
+- Read CLI verbs (`list`, `get`, `search`, `visualize`, `ask`, `analyze`, `inspect`, `chat`, `info`, `history`) open the database read-only.
 
 ## [0.54.0] - 2026-06-04
 
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/app.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/app.py
index 485c38d6..a9887ad1 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/app.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/app.py
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ class HaikuRAGApp:  # pragma: no cover
         async with HaikuRAG(
             db_path=self.db_path,
             config=self.config,
-            read_only=self.read_only,
+            read_only=True,
             before=self.before,
         ) as self.client:
             documents = await self.client.list_documents(filter=filter)
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ class HaikuRAGApp:  # pragma: no cover
         async with HaikuRAG(
             db_path=self.db_path,
             config=self.config,
-            read_only=self.read_only,
+            read_only=True,
             before=self.before,
         ) as self.client:
             doc = await self.client.get_document_by_id(doc_id)
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ class HaikuRAGApp:  # pragma: no cover
         async with HaikuRAG(
             db_path=self.db_path,
             config=self.config,
-            read_only=self.read_only,
+            read_only=True,
             before=self.before,
         ) as self.client:
             results = await self.client.search(
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ class HaikuRAGApp:  # pragma: no cover
         async with HaikuRAG(
             db_path=self.db_path,
             config=self.config,
-            read_only=self.read_only,
+            read_only=True,
             before=self.before,
         ) as self.client:
             chunk = await self.client.get_chunk_by_id(chunk_id)
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ class HaikuRAGApp:  # pragma: no cover
         async with HaikuRAG(
             db_path=self.db_path,
             config=self.config,
-            read_only=self.read_only,
+            read_only=True,
             before=self.before,
         ) as self.client:
             answer, citations = await self.client.ask(question, filter=filter)
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ class HaikuRAGApp:  # pragma: no cover
         async with HaikuRAG(
             db_path=self.db_path,
             config=self.config,
-            read_only=self.read_only,
+            read_only=True,
             before=self.before,
         ) as self.client:
             self.console.print(f"[bold blue]Question:[/bold blue] {question}")
@@ -566,6 +566,7 @@ class HaikuRAGApp:  # pragma: no cover
             config=self.config,
             skip_validation=True,
             skip_migration_check=True,
+            read_only=self.read_only,
         ) as store:
             return await store.migrate()
 
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py
index d646baf2..9e7e21ab 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/cli.py
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ def analyze(  # pragma: no cover
 @_cli.command("settings", help="Display current configuration settings")
 def settings():  # pragma: no cover
     config = get_config()
-    app = HaikuRAGApp(db_path=Path(), config=config)
+    app = HaikuRAGApp(db_path=Path(), config=config, read_only=True)
     app.show_settings()
 
 
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ def history(  # pragma: no cover
 
 @_cli.command("download-models", help="Download Docling and Ollama models per config")
 def download_models_cmd():  # pragma: no cover
-    app = HaikuRAGApp(db_path=Path(), config=get_config())
+    app = HaikuRAGApp(db_path=Path(), config=get_config(), read_only=True)
     try:
         asyncio.run(app.download_models())
     except Exception as e:
@@ -636,7 +636,7 @@ def inspect(  # pragma: no cover
         raise typer.Exit(1) from e
 
     db_path = db if db else get_config().storage.data_dir / "haiku.rag.lancedb"
-    run_inspector(db_path, read_only=_read_only, before=_before)
+    run_inspector(db_path, read_only=True, before=_before)
 
 
 @_cli.command("chat", help="Launch interactive chat TUI for conversational RAG")
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ def chat(  # pragma: no cover
 
     run_chat(
         db_path,
-        read_only=_read_only,
+        read_only=True,
         before=_before,
         model=model,
         skills=skills,
diff --git a/tests/store/test_read_only.py b/tests/store/test_read_only.py
index 9a5e191c..df2fa2cc 100644
--- a/tests/store/test_read_only.py
+++ b/tests/store/test_read_only.py
@@ -298,3 +298,61 @@ class TestClientReadOnly:
         async with HaikuRAG(temp_db_path, read_only=True) as client:
             docs = await client.list_documents()
             assert len(docs) == 1
+
+
+class TestAppReadVerbsDoNotWrite:
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_read_verb_leaves_settings_and_version_unchanged_on_drift(
+        self, temp_db_path
+    ):
+        """A read CLI verb opens read-only: drift warns but never writes."""
+        from haiku.rag.app import HaikuRAGApp
+        from haiku.rag.config import AppConfig
+
+        async with Store(temp_db_path, create=True) as store:
+            stored_name_before = (
+                await SettingsRepository(store).get_current_settings()
+            )["embeddings"]["model"]["name"]
+            version_before = await store.get_haiku_version()
+
+        drift = AppConfig()
+        drift.embeddings.model.name = "different-model"
+
+        # list is a read verb — must open read-only and not raise on drift
+        app = HaikuRAGApp(db_path=temp_db_path, config=drift)
+        await app.list_documents()
+
+        async with Store(temp_db_path, skip_validation=True, read_only=True) as store:
+            stored_name_after = (
+                await SettingsRepository(store).get_current_settings()
+            )["embeddings"]["model"]["name"]
+            version_after = await store.get_haiku_version()
+
+        assert stored_name_after == stored_name_before
+        assert version_after == version_before
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_write_verb_raises_on_drift_without_writing(self, temp_db_path):
+        """A write CLI verb opens writable: drift raises before any write."""
+        from haiku.rag.app import HaikuRAGApp
+        from haiku.rag.config import AppConfig
+        from haiku.rag.store.repositories.settings import ConfigMismatchError
+
+        async with Store(temp_db_path, create=True) as store:
+            stored_name_before = (
+                await SettingsRepository(store).get_current_settings()
+            )["embeddings"]["model"]["name"]
+
+        drift = AppConfig()
+        drift.embeddings.model.name = "different-model"
+
+        app = HaikuRAGApp(db_path=temp_db_path, config=drift)
+        with pytest.raises(ConfigMismatchError):
+            await app.add_document_from_text("hello")
+
+        async with Store(temp_db_path, skip_validation=True, read_only=True) as store:
+            stored_name_after = (
+                await SettingsRepository(store).get_current_settings()
+            )["embeddings"]["model"]["name"]
+
+        assert stored_name_after == stored_name_before