diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/cli.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/cli.py
index b5ad5c9c..2d2860e8 100644
--- a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/cli.py
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/cli.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import asyncio
+import uuid
+from datetime import UTC, datetime
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import typer
@@ -6,6 +8,7 @@ from dotenv import find_dotenv, load_dotenv
 
 load_dotenv(find_dotenv(usecwd=True))
 
+from haiku.rag.client import HaikuRAG  # noqa: E402
 from haiku.rag.config import (  # noqa: E402
     AppConfig,
     find_config_file,
@@ -13,7 +16,10 @@ from haiku.rag.config import (  # noqa: E402
     load_yaml_config,
     set_config,
 )
+from haiku.rag.ingester.exceptions import PermanentError, TransientError  # noqa: E402
 from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.migrations import open_queue  # noqa: E402
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import Job, JobOp, JobStatus  # noqa: E402
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.pipeline import run_job  # noqa: E402
 
 cli = typer.Typer(
     name="haiku-ingester",
@@ -88,3 +94,65 @@ def queue_migrate(
     path = _resolve_queue_path(app_config, queue)
     asyncio.run(_ensure_schema(path))
     typer.echo(f"Queue at {path} is up to date")
+
+
+@cli.command("run-once")
+def run_once(
+    uri: str = typer.Argument(..., help="URI to ingest (file://, http(s)://, s3://)."),
+    config: Path | None = typer.Option(
+        None, "--config", "-c", help="Path to haiku.rag.yaml."
+    ),
+    db: Path | None = typer.Option(
+        None,
+        "--db",
+        help="LanceDB path (overrides config.storage.data_dir).",
+    ),
+    delete: bool = typer.Option(
+        False, "--delete", help="Run a delete op instead of upsert."
+    ),
+) -> None:
+    """Build an ad-hoc Job and run it through the worker pipeline once.
+
+    Bypasses the queue — does NOT enqueue. Useful for smoke-testing the
+    Source adapter + pipeline path without spinning up the full pool.
+    """
+    app_config = _load_config_with_override(config)
+    asyncio.run(_run_once(app_config, uri, db, delete))
+
+
+async def _run_once(
+    app_config: AppConfig, uri: str, db_path: Path | None, delete: bool
+) -> None:
+    db = db_path or (app_config.storage.data_dir / "haiku.rag.lancedb")
+    now = datetime.now(UTC)
+    job = Job(
+        id=f"adhoc-{uuid.uuid4()}",
+        source_id="adhoc",
+        uri=uri,
+        op=JobOp.DELETE if delete else JobOp.UPSERT,
+        status=JobStatus.CLAIMED,
+        attempts=1,
+        max_attempts=1,
+        enqueued_at=now,
+        scheduled_at=now,
+        claimed_at=now,
+        claimed_by="run-once",
+    )
+
+    async with HaikuRAG(db, config=app_config) as client:
+        try:
+            result = await run_job(client, job)
+        except PermanentError as e:
+            typer.echo(f"PERMANENT: {e}", err=True)
+            raise typer.Exit(2) from e
+        except TransientError as e:
+            typer.echo(f"TRANSIENT: {e}", err=True)
+            raise typer.Exit(1) from e
+
+    if result.deleted:
+        typer.echo(f"Deleted document at {uri}")
+    else:
+        typer.echo(
+            f"Ingested {uri}: document_id={result.document_id} "
+            f"revision={result.revision} md5={result.content_hash}"
+        )
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/exceptions.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/exceptions.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae493b3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/exceptions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+class IngesterError(Exception):
+    """Base class for ingester errors that the worker classifies on."""
+
+
+class PermanentError(IngesterError):
+    """The job will never succeed without intervention (bad URI, unsupported
+    content type, 410 Gone, etc.). Goes straight to dead — no retry."""
+
+
+class TransientError(IngesterError):
+    """The job might succeed on a future attempt (network hiccup, 5xx, DB
+    busy). Worker reschedules with backoff up to max_attempts, then dead."""
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/__init__.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..807831ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.pipeline import JobResult, run_job
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.pool import WorkerPool
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.retry import RetryPolicy, compute_backoff
+
+__all__ = [
+    "JobResult",
+    "RetryPolicy",
+    "WorkerPool",
+    "compute_backoff",
+    "run_job",
+]
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pipeline.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pipeline.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6b6c3402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pipeline.py
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+import asyncio
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+import httpx
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+from haiku.rag.ingester.exceptions import PermanentError, TransientError
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import Job, JobOp
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from haiku.rag.client import HaikuRAG
+
+# ValueError messages from create_document_from_source that mean "this job
+# will never succeed". Anything else from ValueError defaults to transient.
+_PERMANENT_VALUE_MARKERS = (
+    "Unsupported file extension",
+    "Unsupported content type",
+    "Invalid S3 URI",
+    "File does not exist",
+    "uri override is not supported",
+)
+
+
+class JobResult(BaseModel):
+    """What the worker needs after a successful job: enough metadata to
+    update sync_state. document_id is None for DELETE ops."""
+
+    document_id: str | None = None
+    revision: str | None = None
+    content_hash: str | None = None
+    deleted: bool = False
+
+
+def _classify(exc: BaseException) -> Exception:
+    """Wrap an unclassified exception into Permanent or Transient. Already-
+    classified errors pass through unchanged."""
+    if isinstance(exc, PermanentError | TransientError):
+        return exc
+
+    if isinstance(exc, ValueError):
+        message = str(exc)
+        if any(marker in message for marker in _PERMANENT_VALUE_MARKERS):
+            return PermanentError(message)
+        return TransientError(message)
+
+    if isinstance(exc, httpx.HTTPStatusError):
+        status = exc.response.status_code
+        # 401/403/404/410 are unrecoverable without operator action; 408/429/5xx
+        # are transient. Everything else in 4xx is treated as permanent — better
+        # to DLQ a misconfigured URL than to retry it forever.
+        if status in (408, 429) or status >= 500:
+            return TransientError(f"HTTP {status}: {exc}")
+        return PermanentError(f"HTTP {status}: {exc}")
+
+    if isinstance(
+        exc,
+        httpx.ConnectError | httpx.ReadTimeout | httpx.WriteTimeout | httpx.PoolTimeout,
+    ):
+        return TransientError(f"network: {exc}")
+
+    if isinstance(exc, asyncio.TimeoutError | TimeoutError | OSError):
+        return TransientError(f"timeout/io: {exc}")
+
+    # Unknown errors default to transient — retry up to max_attempts gives the
+    # operator visibility into the failure mode without dropping data on the
+    # first hiccup.
+    return TransientError(f"unexpected: {exc!r}")
+
+
+def _logfire_span_or_null(name: str, **attrs):
+    """logfire is available via pydantic-ai but may be disabled; use the
+    no-op API surface so tests don't need it configured."""
+    try:
+        import logfire
+
+        return logfire.span(name, **attrs)
+    except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover - logfire ships with pydantic-ai
+
+        class _Null:
+            def __enter__(self):
+                return self
+
+            def __exit__(self, *_):
+                return False
+
+            def set_attribute(self, *_args, **_kwargs):
+                pass
+
+        return _Null()
+
+
+async def run_job(client: "HaikuRAG", job: Job) -> JobResult:
+    """Execute the work described by `job`. Raises PermanentError or
+    TransientError; the worker uses that to decide dead vs retry."""
+    extra = job.extra or {}
+    storage_options = extra.get("storage_options")
+    user_metadata = extra.get("metadata", {})
+
+    with _logfire_span_or_null(
+        "ingester.job",
+        job_id=job.id,
+        source_id=job.source_id,
+        uri=job.uri,
+        op=job.op.value,
+        attempt=job.attempts,
+    ):
+        try:
+            if job.op is JobOp.DELETE:
+                doc = await client.get_document_by_uri(job.uri)
+                if doc is not None and doc.id is not None:
+                    await client.delete_document(doc.id)
+                return JobResult(deleted=True)
+
+            result = await client.create_document_from_source(
+                job.uri,
+                metadata=user_metadata,
+                storage_options=storage_options,
+            )
+            # Directory ingestion returns list[Document] — workers ingest single
+            # resources, so a list here is a programming error in the caller.
+            if isinstance(result, list):
+                raise PermanentError(
+                    f"Job {job.id} resolved to a directory; queue jobs must "
+                    f"reference a single document URI."
+                )
+
+            metadata = result.metadata or {}
+            return JobResult(
+                document_id=result.id,
+                revision=metadata.get("etag"),
+                content_hash=metadata.get("md5"),
+            )
+        except BaseException as exc:
+            raise _classify(exc) from exc
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pool.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pool.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c9d79b87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/pool.py
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+import asyncio
+import logging
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+from haiku.rag.ingester.exceptions import PermanentError, TransientError
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import Job, JobOp
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.repository import JobRepo, SyncStateRepo
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.pipeline import run_job
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.retry import RetryPolicy, compute_backoff
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from haiku.rag.client import HaikuRAG
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class WorkerPool:
+    """Asyncio-based pool. N worker tasks share a bounded Semaphore, each
+    pulling jobs from the queue and running them through `run_job`. Reaper
+    task resets claims older than `claim_timeout_s` so a crashed worker
+    doesn't strand its job.
+
+    Lifecycle: build it, await start(), let it run, await stop().
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        *,
+        client: "HaikuRAG",
+        job_repo: JobRepo,
+        sync_repo: SyncStateRepo,
+        worker_count: int = 4,
+        max_concurrent: int = 4,
+        retry_policy: RetryPolicy | None = None,
+        poll_idle_interval_s: float = 1.0,
+        claim_timeout_s: int = 1800,
+        reaper_interval_s: int = 60,
+    ):
+        self._client = client
+        self._jobs = job_repo
+        self._sync = sync_repo
+        self._worker_count = worker_count
+        self._semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(max_concurrent)
+        self._retry = retry_policy or RetryPolicy()
+        self._poll_idle_s = poll_idle_interval_s
+        self._claim_timeout_s = claim_timeout_s
+        self._reaper_interval_s = reaper_interval_s
+        self._stop = asyncio.Event()
+        self._workers: list[asyncio.Task] = []
+        self._reaper: asyncio.Task | None = None
+
+    async def start(self) -> None:
+        if self._workers:
+            raise RuntimeError("WorkerPool already started")
+        self._stop.clear()
+        for i in range(self._worker_count):
+            self._workers.append(asyncio.create_task(self._worker_loop(f"worker-{i}")))
+        self._reaper = asyncio.create_task(self._reaper_loop())
+
+    async def stop(self) -> None:
+        self._stop.set()
+        tasks = list(self._workers)
+        if self._reaper is not None:
+            tasks.append(self._reaper)
+        if tasks:
+            await asyncio.gather(*tasks, return_exceptions=True)
+        self._workers.clear()
+        self._reaper = None
+
+    async def drain_once(self, worker_id: str = "drain") -> int:
+        """Drain every currently-claimable job to completion on the calling
+        coroutine. Used by run-once and by tests; not by `start()`."""
+        processed = 0
+        while True:
+            job = await self._jobs.claim_next(worker_id)
+            if job is None:
+                return processed
+            await self._process(job)
+            processed += 1
+
+    async def _worker_loop(self, worker_id: str) -> None:
+        while not self._stop.is_set():
+            try:
+                job = await self._jobs.claim_next(worker_id)
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("claim_next failed in %s", worker_id)
+                await self._sleep_or_stop(self._poll_idle_s)
+                continue
+
+            if job is None:
+                await self._sleep_or_stop(self._poll_idle_s)
+                continue
+
+            async with self._semaphore:
+                await self._process(job)
+
+    async def _reaper_loop(self) -> None:
+        while not self._stop.is_set():
+            await self._sleep_or_stop(self._reaper_interval_s)
+            if self._stop.is_set():
+                return
+            try:
+                reset = await self._jobs.reap_stale(self._claim_timeout_s)
+                if reset:
+                    logger.info("Reaper reset %d stale claim(s)", reset)
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("reaper failed")
+
+    async def _sleep_or_stop(self, seconds: float) -> None:
+        try:
+            await asyncio.wait_for(self._stop.wait(), timeout=seconds)
+        except TimeoutError:
+            pass
+
+    async def _process(self, job: Job) -> None:
+        try:
+            result = await run_job(self._client, job)
+        except PermanentError as e:
+            await self._jobs.mark_dead(job.id, str(e))
+            logger.info("Job %s dead (permanent): %s", job.id, e)
+            return
+        except TransientError as e:
+            if job.attempts >= job.max_attempts:
+                await self._jobs.mark_dead(job.id, str(e))
+                logger.info(
+                    "Job %s dead (max attempts %d): %s", job.id, job.max_attempts, e
+                )
+                return
+            delay = compute_backoff(job.attempts, self._retry)
+            await self._jobs.reschedule(job.id, delay, str(e))
+            logger.info(
+                "Job %s rescheduled in %.1fs (attempt %d/%d): %s",
+                job.id,
+                delay,
+                job.attempts,
+                job.max_attempts,
+                e,
+            )
+            return
+        except Exception as e:
+            # Defensive: pipeline classifier should have caught everything.
+            await self._jobs.mark_dead(job.id, f"unclassified: {e!r}")
+            logger.exception("Unclassified error in job %s", job.id)
+            return
+
+        await self._jobs.mark_succeeded(job.id)
+        if job.op is JobOp.DELETE:
+            await self._sync.delete(job.source_id, job.uri)
+        else:
+            await self._sync.upsert(
+                job.source_id,
+                job.uri,
+                revision=result.revision,
+                content_hash=result.content_hash,
+                ingested=True,
+            )
diff --git a/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/retry.py b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/retry.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1c7a15f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/haiku_rag_slim/haiku/rag/ingester/workers/retry.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import random
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class RetryPolicy:
+    """Exponential backoff with jitter. Per-source override is allowed so
+    one slow/flaky source doesn't drag the rest of the queue."""
+
+    max_attempts: int = 5
+    base_delay_s: float = 2.0
+    max_delay_s: float = 300.0
+    jitter: float = 0.25  # ±25%
+
+
+def compute_backoff(
+    attempt: int,
+    policy: RetryPolicy,
+    *,
+    rng: random.Random | None = None,
+) -> float:
+    """Delay before the next attempt. `attempt` is the 1-indexed count of
+    attempts already made (so attempt=1 → first retry delay).
+
+    `rng` is injectable for deterministic tests.
+    """
+    if attempt < 1:
+        attempt = 1
+    raw = min(policy.base_delay_s * (2 ** (attempt - 1)), policy.max_delay_s)
+    r = rng if rng is not None else random
+    j = 1.0 + (r.random() * 2 - 1) * policy.jitter
+    return max(0.0, raw * j)
diff --git a/tests/ingester/test_pipeline.py b/tests/ingester/test_pipeline.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6aecd747
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ingester/test_pipeline.py
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+from datetime import UTC, datetime
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock
+
+import httpx
+import pytest
+
+from haiku.rag.client import HaikuRAG
+from haiku.rag.ingester.exceptions import PermanentError, TransientError
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import Job, JobOp, JobStatus
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.pipeline import run_job
+from haiku.rag.store.models.document import Document
+
+
+def _job(
+    *,
+    op: JobOp = JobOp.UPSERT,
+    uri: str = "https://example.com/a.pdf",
+    extra: dict | None = None,
+    attempts: int = 0,
+) -> Job:
+    now = datetime.now(UTC)
+    return Job(
+        id="job-1",
+        source_id="src",
+        uri=uri,
+        op=op,
+        status=JobStatus.CLAIMED,
+        attempts=attempts,
+        max_attempts=5,
+        extra=extra,
+        enqueued_at=now,
+        scheduled_at=now,
+    )
+
+
+def _mock_client() -> AsyncMock:
+    return AsyncMock(spec=HaikuRAG)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_upsert_calls_create_document_from_source_and_returns_metadata():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.return_value = Document(
+        id="doc-42",
+        content="x",
+        uri="https://example.com/a.pdf",
+        metadata={"md5": "abcd", "etag": "xyz", "contentType": "application/pdf"},
+    )
+
+    result = await run_job(
+        client, _job(extra={"metadata": {"k": "v"}, "storage_options": {"o": "1"}})
+    )
+
+    assert result.document_id == "doc-42"
+    assert result.revision == "xyz"
+    assert result.content_hash == "abcd"
+    assert result.deleted is False
+    client.create_document_from_source.assert_awaited_once_with(
+        "https://example.com/a.pdf",
+        metadata={"k": "v"},
+        storage_options={"o": "1"},
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_upsert_without_extra_passes_empty_metadata():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.return_value = Document(
+        id="d", content="x", uri="u", metadata={}
+    )
+
+    await run_job(client, _job())
+    client.create_document_from_source.assert_awaited_once_with(
+        "https://example.com/a.pdf", metadata={}, storage_options=None
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_delete_calls_delete_document_when_present():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.get_document_by_uri.return_value = Document(id="doc-9", content="", uri="u")
+
+    result = await run_job(client, _job(op=JobOp.DELETE))
+
+    assert result.deleted is True
+    assert result.document_id is None
+    client.delete_document.assert_awaited_once_with("doc-9")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_delete_is_noop_when_document_missing():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.get_document_by_uri.return_value = None
+
+    result = await run_job(client, _job(op=JobOp.DELETE))
+
+    assert result.deleted is True
+    client.delete_document.assert_not_awaited()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_unsupported_extension_classified_permanent():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = ValueError(
+        "Unsupported file extension: .xyz"
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(PermanentError, match="Unsupported"):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_unsupported_content_type_classified_permanent():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = ValueError(
+        "Unsupported content type/extension: application/octet-stream/.bin"
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(PermanentError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_invalid_s3_uri_classified_permanent():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = ValueError(
+        "Invalid S3 URI: s3:///bad"
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(PermanentError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_missing_file_classified_permanent():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = ValueError(
+        "File does not exist: /nope"
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(PermanentError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_other_value_error_classified_transient():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = ValueError("DB busy")
+    with pytest.raises(TransientError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("status", [401, 403, 404, 410])
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_http_4xx_classified_permanent(status):
+    client = _mock_client()
+    response = httpx.Response(
+        status, request=httpx.Request("GET", "https://example.com/a")
+    )
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = httpx.HTTPStatusError(
+        "err", request=response.request, response=response
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(PermanentError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("status", [408, 429, 500, 502, 503])
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_http_408_429_5xx_classified_transient(status):
+    client = _mock_client()
+    response = httpx.Response(
+        status, request=httpx.Request("GET", "https://example.com/a")
+    )
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = httpx.HTTPStatusError(
+        "err", request=response.request, response=response
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(TransientError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_connect_error_classified_transient():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = httpx.ConnectError("boom")
+    with pytest.raises(TransientError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_unknown_exception_classified_transient():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = RuntimeError("???")
+    with pytest.raises(TransientError):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_directory_result_classified_permanent():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    client.create_document_from_source.return_value = [
+        Document(id="a", content="", uri="u1"),
+        Document(id="b", content="", uri="u2"),
+    ]
+    with pytest.raises(PermanentError, match="directory"):
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_existing_permanent_error_passes_through_unchanged():
+    client = _mock_client()
+    sentinel = PermanentError("explicit")
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = sentinel
+    with pytest.raises(PermanentError) as excinfo:
+        await run_job(client, _job())
+    assert excinfo.value is sentinel
diff --git a/tests/ingester/test_workers.py b/tests/ingester/test_workers.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0cd3b887
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ingester/test_workers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,252 @@
+import asyncio
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock
+
+import aiosqlite
+import pytest
+
+from haiku.rag.client import HaikuRAG
+from haiku.rag.ingester.exceptions import PermanentError, TransientError
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.migrations import apply_migrations
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.models import JobOp, JobStatus
+from haiku.rag.ingester.queue.repository import JobRepo, SyncStateRepo
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.pool import WorkerPool
+from haiku.rag.ingester.workers.retry import RetryPolicy
+from haiku.rag.store.models.document import Document
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+async def conn(tmp_path):
+    path = tmp_path / "queue.db"
+    connection = await aiosqlite.connect(str(path))
+    connection.row_factory = aiosqlite.Row
+    await apply_migrations(connection)
+    yield connection
+    await connection.close()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def jobs(conn):
+    return JobRepo(conn)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def sync(conn):
+    return SyncStateRepo(conn)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def client():
+    return AsyncMock(spec=HaikuRAG)
+
+
+def _pool(client, jobs, sync, **kwargs) -> WorkerPool:
+    return WorkerPool(
+        client=client,
+        job_repo=jobs,
+        sync_repo=sync,
+        worker_count=kwargs.pop("worker_count", 2),
+        max_concurrent=kwargs.pop("max_concurrent", 2),
+        poll_idle_interval_s=kwargs.pop("poll_idle_interval_s", 0.05),
+        reaper_interval_s=kwargs.pop("reaper_interval_s", 60),
+        claim_timeout_s=kwargs.pop("claim_timeout_s", 60),
+        retry_policy=kwargs.pop("retry_policy", RetryPolicy()),
+    )
+
+
+# --- drain_once: covers _process logic deterministically ---
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_drain_marks_job_succeeded_and_writes_sync_state(client, jobs, sync):
+    client.create_document_from_source.return_value = Document(
+        id="doc-1", content="x", uri="s3://b/k.md", metadata={"md5": "m1", "etag": "e1"}
+    )
+    job = await jobs.enqueue("src", "s3://b/k.md", JobOp.UPSERT, revision="e0")
+    assert job is not None
+
+    pool = _pool(client, jobs, sync)
+    processed = await pool.drain_once()
+    assert processed == 1
+
+    refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+    assert refreshed is not None
+    assert refreshed.status is JobStatus.SUCCEEDED
+
+    snapshot = await sync.get_snapshot("src")
+    assert snapshot == {"s3://b/k.md": "e1"}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_drain_delete_op_removes_sync_state(client, jobs, sync):
+    await sync.upsert("src", "s3://b/k.md", revision="e1", content_hash="m1")
+    client.get_document_by_uri.return_value = Document(
+        id="doc-1", content="", uri="s3://b/k.md"
+    )
+    job = await jobs.enqueue("src", "s3://b/k.md", JobOp.DELETE)
+    assert job is not None
+
+    pool = _pool(client, jobs, sync)
+    await pool.drain_once()
+
+    refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+    assert refreshed is not None
+    assert refreshed.status is JobStatus.SUCCEEDED
+    client.delete_document.assert_awaited_once_with("doc-1")
+
+    snapshot = await sync.get_snapshot("src")
+    assert snapshot == {}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_permanent_error_marks_dead_no_reschedule(client, jobs, sync):
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = PermanentError("unsupported")
+    job = await jobs.enqueue("src", "https://x/y.bin", JobOp.UPSERT)
+    assert job is not None
+
+    pool = _pool(client, jobs, sync)
+    await pool.drain_once()
+
+    refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+    assert refreshed is not None
+    assert refreshed.status is JobStatus.DEAD
+    assert refreshed.last_error == "unsupported"
+    # sync_state is NOT written on failure
+    assert await sync.get_snapshot("src") == {}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_transient_error_reschedules_below_max_attempts(client, jobs, sync):
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = TransientError("blip")
+    job = await jobs.enqueue("src", "u", JobOp.UPSERT, max_attempts=3)
+    assert job is not None
+
+    # base_delay large enough that claim_next won't re-pick the job within
+    # drain_once — we want exactly one process iteration.
+    pool = _pool(
+        client, jobs, sync, retry_policy=RetryPolicy(base_delay_s=60.0, jitter=0.0)
+    )
+    processed = await pool.drain_once()
+    assert processed == 1
+
+    refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+    assert refreshed is not None
+    assert refreshed.status is JobStatus.QUEUED
+    assert refreshed.last_error == "blip"
+    assert refreshed.attempts == 1
+    assert refreshed.scheduled_at > job.scheduled_at
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_transient_error_at_max_attempts_marks_dead(client, jobs, sync, conn):
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = TransientError("blip")
+    job = await jobs.enqueue("src", "u", JobOp.UPSERT, max_attempts=1)
+    assert job is not None
+
+    pool = _pool(
+        client, jobs, sync, retry_policy=RetryPolicy(base_delay_s=0.0, jitter=0.0)
+    )
+    await pool.drain_once()
+
+    refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+    assert refreshed is not None
+    # attempts started at 0, claim_next set it to 1 = max → dead
+    assert refreshed.status is JobStatus.DEAD
+    assert refreshed.attempts == 1
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_unknown_exception_caught_and_marked_dead(client, jobs, sync):
+    # Pipeline classifies BaseException → TransientError, but if something
+    # slips past the pool catches with a final defensive net.
+    client.create_document_from_source.side_effect = KeyboardInterrupt("nope")
+    job = await jobs.enqueue("src", "u", JobOp.UPSERT, max_attempts=1)
+    assert job is not None
+
+    pool = _pool(
+        client, jobs, sync, retry_policy=RetryPolicy(base_delay_s=0.0, jitter=0.0)
+    )
+    # KeyboardInterrupt is a BaseException — pipeline wraps it to TransientError.
+    # With max_attempts=1, the worker marks dead.
+    await pool.drain_once()
+    refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+    assert refreshed is not None
+    assert refreshed.status is JobStatus.DEAD
+
+
+# --- start / stop lifecycle ---
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_workers_drain_queue_after_start(client, jobs, sync):
+    client.create_document_from_source.return_value = Document(
+        id="doc", content="x", uri="u", metadata={"md5": "m", "etag": "e"}
+    )
+    for i in range(5):
+        await jobs.enqueue("src", f"u{i}", JobOp.UPSERT)
+
+    pool = _pool(client, jobs, sync, worker_count=3, max_concurrent=3)
+    await pool.start()
+    try:
+        # Wait until everything is succeeded or until a deadline.
+        for _ in range(50):
+            counts = await jobs.counts_by_status()
+            if counts.get("succeeded", 0) == 5:
+                break
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.05)
+    finally:
+        await pool.stop()
+
+    counts = await jobs.counts_by_status()
+    assert counts.get("succeeded", 0) == 5
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_double_start_raises(client, jobs, sync):
+    pool = _pool(client, jobs, sync, worker_count=1)
+    await pool.start()
+    try:
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="already started"):
+            await pool.start()
+    finally:
+        await pool.stop()
+
+
+# --- reaper ---
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_reaper_resets_stale_claims(client, jobs, sync, conn):
+    from datetime import UTC, datetime, timedelta
+
+    job = await jobs.enqueue("src", "u", JobOp.UPSERT)
+    claimed = await jobs.claim_next("worker-old")
+    assert claimed is not None
+
+    # Push claimed_at back so reap_stale picks it up.
+    long_ago = (datetime.now(UTC) - timedelta(hours=1)).isoformat()
+    await conn.execute(
+        "UPDATE jobs SET claimed_at = ? WHERE id = ?", (long_ago, job.id)
+    )
+    await conn.commit()
+
+    pool = _pool(
+        client,
+        jobs,
+        sync,
+        worker_count=0,
+        reaper_interval_s=0.05,
+        claim_timeout_s=1,
+    )
+    await pool.start()
+    try:
+        for _ in range(30):
+            refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+            if refreshed is not None and refreshed.status is JobStatus.QUEUED:
+                break
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.05)
+    finally:
+        await pool.stop()
+
+    refreshed = await jobs.get_job(job.id)
+    assert refreshed is not None
+    assert refreshed.status is JobStatus.QUEUED