diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6af5f3c33945..c3da626ac5d8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Memory/local embeddings: run local GGUF embeddings in an isolated worker sidecar and degrade to configured fallback or keyword search on worker failure so native embedding crashes do not take down the Gateway. (#85348) Thanks @osolmaz.
 - Agents/heartbeat: stop heartbeat turns after the first valid `heartbeat_respond` so repeated response loops do not burn tokens. (#86357) Thanks @udaymanish6.
 - Memory-core: keep REM dreaming focused on live light-staged memories and mark staged entries as considered so old recall history no longer dominates fresh candidates. (#86302) Thanks @SebTardif.
 - Telegram: propagate forum topic names through the account-scoped topic cache for native command context and topic create/edit actions. (#86299) Thanks @SebTardif.
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/index.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/index.test.ts
index ee75b9900acc..d6f49b2473ac 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/index.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/index.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { afterAll, afterEach, beforeAll, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi }
 import "./test-runtime-mocks.js";
 import type { MemoryIndexManager } from "./index.js";
 import { closeAllMemorySearchManagers, getMemorySearchManager } from "./index.js";
+import { LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES } from "./manager-local-worker-errors.js";
 import { closeMemoryIndexManagersForAgent, EMBEDDING_PROBE_CACHE_TTL_MS } from "./manager.js";
 import {
   DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL,
@@ -34,6 +35,14 @@ let providerCloseGate: Promise<void> | null = null;
 let providerCalls: Array<{ provider?: string; model?: string; outputDimensionality?: number }> = [];
 let forceNoProvider = false;
 
+function createLocalWorkerExitError(): Error {
+  return Object.assign(new Error("Local embedding worker exited unexpectedly (exit code 134)"), {
+    code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.exited,
+    reason: "exit",
+    exitCode: 134,
+  });
+}
+
 vi.mock("./embeddings.js", () => {
   const embedText = (text: string) => {
     const lower = text.toLowerCase();
@@ -44,6 +53,10 @@ vi.mock("./embeddings.js", () => {
     return [alpha, beta, image, audio];
   };
   return {
+    resolveEmbeddingProviderFallbackModel: (providerId: string, fallbackSourceModel: string) =>
+      providerId === "gemini" || providerId === "fallback-provider"
+        ? `${providerId}-embed`
+        : fallbackSourceModel,
     createEmbeddingProvider: async (options: {
       provider?: string;
       model?: string;
@@ -61,7 +74,10 @@ vi.mock("./embeddings.js", () => {
           providerUnavailableReason: "No API key found for provider",
         };
       }
-      const providerId = options.provider === "gemini" ? "gemini" : "mock";
+      const providerId =
+        options.provider === "gemini" || options.provider === "fallback-provider"
+          ? options.provider
+          : "mock";
       const model = options.model ?? "mock-embed";
       return {
         requestedProvider: options.provider ?? "openai",
@@ -81,7 +97,7 @@ vi.mock("./embeddings.js", () => {
             embedBatchCalls += 1;
             return texts.map(embedText);
           },
-          ...(providerId === "gemini"
+          ...(providerId === "gemini" || providerId === "fallback-provider"
             ? {
                 embedBatchInputs: async (
                   inputs: Array<{
@@ -112,12 +128,12 @@ vi.mock("./embeddings.js", () => {
               }
             : {}),
         },
-        ...(providerId === "gemini"
+        ...(providerId === "gemini" || providerId === "fallback-provider"
           ? {
               runtime: {
-                id: "gemini",
+                id: providerId,
                 cacheKeyData: {
-                  provider: "gemini",
+                  provider: providerId,
                   baseUrl: "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta",
                   model,
                   outputDimensionality: options.outputDimensionality,
@@ -242,7 +258,8 @@ describe("memory index", () => {
     extraPaths?: string[];
     sources?: Array<"memory" | "sessions">;
     sessionMemory?: boolean;
-    provider?: "openai" | "gemini";
+    provider?: "openai" | "gemini" | "fallback-provider";
+    fallback?: "none" | "gemini" | "fallback-provider";
     model?: string;
     outputDimensionality?: number;
     multimodal?: {
@@ -263,6 +280,7 @@ describe("memory index", () => {
           memorySearch: {
             provider: params.provider ?? "openai",
             model: params.model ?? "mock-embed",
+            fallback: params.fallback,
             outputDimensionality: params.outputDimensionality,
             store: { path: params.storePath, vector: { enabled: params.vectorEnabled ?? false } },
             // Perf: keep test indexes to a single chunk to reduce sqlite work.
@@ -577,6 +595,144 @@ describe("memory index", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("clears cached embedding probe readiness when local embeddings degrade", async () => {
+    const cfg = createCfg({ storePath: path.join(workspaceDir, "index-probe-degraded.sqlite") });
+    const manager = await getPersistentManager(cfg);
+
+    await expect(manager.probeEmbeddingAvailability()).resolves.toEqual({ ok: true });
+    expect(manager.getCachedEmbeddingAvailability()?.ok).toBe(true);
+    (
+      manager as unknown as {
+        provider: {
+          id: string;
+          model: string;
+          embedQuery: (text: string) => Promise<number[]>;
+          embedBatch: (texts: string[]) => Promise<number[][]>;
+          close: () => Promise<void>;
+        };
+      }
+    ).provider = {
+      id: "local",
+      model: "local-model",
+      embedQuery: async () => [1, 0],
+      embedBatch: async (texts: string[]) => texts.map(() => [1, 0]),
+      close: async () => {},
+    };
+
+    (
+      manager as unknown as {
+        markLocalEmbeddingProviderDegraded: (err: unknown) => void;
+      }
+    ).markLocalEmbeddingProviderDegraded(createLocalWorkerExitError());
+
+    expect(manager.getCachedEmbeddingAvailability()).toBeNull();
+    await expect(manager.probeEmbeddingAvailability()).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      ok: false,
+      error: expect.stringContaining("Local embeddings degraded"),
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("activates configured fallback when local embeddings degrade during search", async () => {
+    const cfg = createCfg({
+      storePath: path.join(workspaceDir, "index-search-degraded-fallback.sqlite"),
+      fallback: "fallback-provider",
+      hybrid: { enabled: true, vectorWeight: 0.5, textWeight: 0.5 },
+    });
+    const manager = await getPersistentManager(cfg);
+
+    await manager.sync({ reason: "test" });
+    const callsBeforeSearch = providerCalls.length;
+    (
+      manager as unknown as {
+        provider: {
+          id: string;
+          model: string;
+          embedQuery: () => Promise<number[]>;
+          embedBatch: (texts: string[]) => Promise<number[][]>;
+          close: () => Promise<void>;
+        };
+      }
+    ).provider = {
+      id: "local",
+      model: "mock-embed",
+      embedQuery: async () => {
+        throw createLocalWorkerExitError();
+      },
+      embedBatch: async (texts: string[]) => texts.map(() => [1, 0, 0, 0]),
+      close: async () => {},
+    };
+
+    const results = await manager.search("alpha");
+
+    expect(results.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    const resultKeys = results.map(
+      (result) => `${result.source}:${result.path}:${result.startLine}:${result.endLine}`,
+    );
+    expect(new Set(resultKeys).size).toBe(resultKeys.length);
+    expect(providerCalls.slice(callsBeforeSearch).map((call) => call.provider)).toContain(
+      "fallback-provider",
+    );
+    expect(
+      (
+        manager as unknown as {
+          provider: { id: string } | null;
+        }
+      ).provider?.id,
+    ).toBe("fallback-provider");
+  });
+
+  it("activates configured fallback after probe-time local degradation", async () => {
+    const cfg = createCfg({
+      storePath: path.join(workspaceDir, "index-probe-degraded-fallback.sqlite"),
+      fallback: "fallback-provider",
+      hybrid: { enabled: true, vectorWeight: 0.5, textWeight: 0.5 },
+    });
+    const manager = await getPersistentManager(cfg);
+
+    await manager.sync({ reason: "test" });
+    (
+      manager as unknown as {
+        provider: {
+          id: string;
+          model: string;
+          embedQuery: () => Promise<number[]>;
+          embedBatch: () => Promise<number[][]>;
+          close: () => Promise<void>;
+        };
+      }
+    ).provider = {
+      id: "local",
+      model: "mock-embed",
+      embedQuery: async () => {
+        throw createLocalWorkerExitError();
+      },
+      embedBatch: async () => {
+        throw createLocalWorkerExitError();
+      },
+      close: async () => {},
+    };
+    const callsBeforeSearch = providerCalls.length;
+
+    await expect(manager.probeEmbeddingAvailability()).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      ok: false,
+      error: expect.stringContaining("Local embedding worker exited"),
+    });
+
+    const results = await manager.search("alpha");
+
+    expect(results.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(providerCalls.slice(callsBeforeSearch).map((call) => call.provider)).toContain(
+      "fallback-provider",
+    );
+    expect(
+      (
+        manager as unknown as {
+          provider: { id: string } | null;
+        }
+      ).provider?.id,
+    ).toBe("fallback-provider");
+  });
+
   it("streams embedding cache rows during safe reindex", async () => {
     vi.stubEnv("OPENCLAW_TEST_MEMORY_UNSAFE_REINDEX", "0");
     type EmbeddingCacheRow = {
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-errors.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-errors.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..df586304e233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-errors.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/error-runtime";
+
+export const MEMORY_EMBEDDING_OPERATION_ERROR_CODE = "MEMORY_EMBEDDING_OPERATION_FAILED";
+
+export type MemoryEmbeddingOperationKind = "query" | "batch" | "structured-batch";
+
+export type MemoryEmbeddingOperationError = Error & {
+  code: typeof MEMORY_EMBEDDING_OPERATION_ERROR_CODE;
+  operation: MemoryEmbeddingOperationKind;
+  providerId?: string;
+  cause?: unknown;
+};
+
+export function createMemoryEmbeddingOperationError(params: {
+  operation: MemoryEmbeddingOperationKind;
+  providerId?: string;
+  cause: unknown;
+}): MemoryEmbeddingOperationError {
+  const message = formatErrorMessage(params.cause);
+  const error = new Error(message) as MemoryEmbeddingOperationError;
+  error.code = MEMORY_EMBEDDING_OPERATION_ERROR_CODE;
+  error.operation = params.operation;
+  if (params.providerId) {
+    error.providerId = params.providerId;
+  }
+  error.cause = params.cause;
+  return error;
+}
+
+export function isMemoryEmbeddingOperationError(
+  err: unknown,
+): err is MemoryEmbeddingOperationError {
+  return (
+    err instanceof Error &&
+    (err as { code?: unknown }).code === MEMORY_EMBEDDING_OPERATION_ERROR_CODE
+  );
+}
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-ops.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-ops.ts
index eca200d67600..15209a9b7817 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-ops.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-ops.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   loadMemoryEmbeddingCache,
   upsertMemoryEmbeddingCache,
 } from "./manager-embedding-cache.js";
+import { createMemoryEmbeddingOperationError } from "./manager-embedding-errors.js";
 import {
   buildMemoryEmbeddingBatches,
   buildTextEmbeddingInputs,
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
   protected abstract batchFailureLastError?: string;
   protected abstract batchFailureLastProvider?: string;
   protected abstract batchFailureLock: Promise<void>;
+  protected abstract markLocalEmbeddingProviderDegraded(err: unknown): void;
 
   protected pruneEmbeddingCacheIfNeeded(): void {
     if (!this.cache.enabled) {
@@ -195,9 +197,13 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
       const inputs = buildTextEmbeddingInputs(batch);
       const hasStructuredInputs = inputs.some((input) => hasNonTextEmbeddingParts(input));
       if (hasStructuredInputs && !provider.embedBatchInputs) {
-        throw new Error(
-          `Embedding provider "${provider.id}" does not support multimodal memory inputs.`,
-        );
+        throw createMemoryEmbeddingOperationError({
+          operation: "structured-batch",
+          providerId: provider.id,
+          cause: new Error(
+            `Embedding provider "${provider.id}" does not support multimodal memory inputs.`,
+          ),
+        });
       }
       const batchEmbeddings = hasStructuredInputs
         ? await this.embedBatchInputsWithRetry(inputs)
@@ -324,27 +330,36 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
     if (!provider) {
       throw new Error("Cannot embed batch in FTS-only mode (no embedding provider)");
     }
-    return await runMemoryEmbeddingRetryLoop({
-      run: async () => {
-        const timeoutMs = this.resolveEmbeddingTimeout("batch");
-        log.debug("memory embeddings: batch start", {
-          provider: provider.id,
-          items: texts.length,
-          timeoutMs,
-        });
-        return await runEmbeddingOperationWithTimeout({
-          timeoutMs,
-          message: `memory embeddings batch timed out after ${Math.round(timeoutMs / 1000)}s`,
-          run: async (signal) => await provider.embedBatch(texts, { signal }),
-        });
-      },
-      isRetryable: isRetryableMemoryEmbeddingError,
-      waitForRetry: async (delayMs) => {
-        await this.waitForEmbeddingRetry(delayMs, "retrying");
-      },
-      maxAttempts: EMBEDDING_RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
-      baseDelayMs: EMBEDDING_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS,
-    });
+    try {
+      return await runMemoryEmbeddingRetryLoop({
+        run: async () => {
+          const timeoutMs = this.resolveEmbeddingTimeout("batch");
+          log.debug("memory embeddings: batch start", {
+            provider: provider.id,
+            items: texts.length,
+            timeoutMs,
+          });
+          return await runEmbeddingOperationWithTimeout({
+            timeoutMs,
+            message: `memory embeddings batch timed out after ${Math.round(timeoutMs / 1000)}s`,
+            run: async (signal) => await provider.embedBatch(texts, { signal }),
+          });
+        },
+        isRetryable: isRetryableMemoryEmbeddingError,
+        waitForRetry: async (delayMs) => {
+          await this.waitForEmbeddingRetry(delayMs, "retrying");
+        },
+        maxAttempts: EMBEDDING_RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+        baseDelayMs: EMBEDDING_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS,
+      });
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.markLocalEmbeddingProviderDegraded(err);
+      throw createMemoryEmbeddingOperationError({
+        operation: "batch",
+        providerId: provider.id,
+        cause: err,
+      });
+    }
   }
 
   protected async embedBatchInputsWithRetry(inputs: EmbeddingInput[]): Promise<number[][]> {
@@ -356,27 +371,36 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
     if (!embedBatchInputs) {
       return await this.embedBatchWithRetry(inputs.map((input) => input.text));
     }
-    return await runMemoryEmbeddingRetryLoop({
-      run: async () => {
-        const timeoutMs = this.resolveEmbeddingTimeout("batch");
-        log.debug("memory embeddings: structured batch start", {
-          provider: provider.id,
-          items: inputs.length,
-          timeoutMs,
-        });
-        return await runEmbeddingOperationWithTimeout({
-          timeoutMs,
-          message: `memory embeddings batch timed out after ${Math.round(timeoutMs / 1000)}s`,
-          run: async (signal) => await embedBatchInputs(inputs, { signal }),
-        });
-      },
-      isRetryable: isRetryableMemoryEmbeddingError,
-      waitForRetry: async (delayMs) => {
-        await this.waitForEmbeddingRetry(delayMs, "retrying structured batch");
-      },
-      maxAttempts: EMBEDDING_RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
-      baseDelayMs: EMBEDDING_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS,
-    });
+    try {
+      return await runMemoryEmbeddingRetryLoop({
+        run: async () => {
+          const timeoutMs = this.resolveEmbeddingTimeout("batch");
+          log.debug("memory embeddings: structured batch start", {
+            provider: provider.id,
+            items: inputs.length,
+            timeoutMs,
+          });
+          return await runEmbeddingOperationWithTimeout({
+            timeoutMs,
+            message: `memory embeddings batch timed out after ${Math.round(timeoutMs / 1000)}s`,
+            run: async (signal) => await embedBatchInputs(inputs, { signal }),
+          });
+        },
+        isRetryable: isRetryableMemoryEmbeddingError,
+        waitForRetry: async (delayMs) => {
+          await this.waitForEmbeddingRetry(delayMs, "retrying structured batch");
+        },
+        maxAttempts: EMBEDDING_RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+        baseDelayMs: EMBEDDING_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS,
+      });
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.markLocalEmbeddingProviderDegraded(err);
+      throw createMemoryEmbeddingOperationError({
+        operation: "structured-batch",
+        providerId: provider.id,
+        cause: err,
+      });
+    }
   }
 
   private async waitForEmbeddingRetry(delayMs: number, action: string): Promise<void> {
@@ -405,11 +429,20 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
     }
     const timeoutMs = this.resolveEmbeddingTimeout("query");
     log.debug("memory embeddings: query start", { provider: provider.id, timeoutMs });
-    return await runEmbeddingOperationWithTimeout({
-      timeoutMs,
-      message: `memory embeddings query timed out after ${Math.round(timeoutMs / 1000)}s`,
-      run: async (signal) => await provider.embedQuery(text, { signal }),
-    });
+    try {
+      return await runEmbeddingOperationWithTimeout({
+        timeoutMs,
+        message: `memory embeddings query timed out after ${Math.round(timeoutMs / 1000)}s`,
+        run: async (signal) => await provider.embedQuery(text, { signal }),
+      });
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.markLocalEmbeddingProviderDegraded(err);
+      throw createMemoryEmbeddingOperationError({
+        operation: "query",
+        providerId: provider.id,
+        cause: err,
+      });
+    }
   }
 
   protected async withTimeout<T>(
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-timeout.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-timeout.test.ts
index 6e7dfbe30496..4d464e0860fd 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-timeout.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-embedding-timeout.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ import {
   resolveMemoryIndexConcurrency,
   runEmbeddingOperationWithTimeout,
 } from "./manager-embedding-ops.js";
+import {
+  isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure,
+  LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES,
+} from "./manager-local-worker-errors.js";
 
 describe("memory embedding timeout resolution", () => {
   it("uses hosted defaults for inline embedding calls", () => {
@@ -38,6 +42,34 @@ describe("memory embedding timeout resolution", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("local embedding worker failure detection", () => {
+  it("matches structured local worker failure codes", () => {
+    expect(
+      isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure(
+        Object.assign(new Error("Local embedding worker exited unexpectedly (exit code 134)"), {
+          code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.exited,
+          reason: "exit",
+        }),
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure(
+        Object.assign(new Error("Local embedding worker process failed"), {
+          code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.processError,
+          reason: "process-error",
+        }),
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure(
+        Object.assign(new Error("Local embedding request aborted"), {
+          code: "ABORT_ERR",
+        }),
+      ),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("memory embedding timeout abort", () => {
   it("aborts the provider operation when the timeout fires", async () => {
     let signalSeen: AbortSignal | undefined;
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-local-worker-errors.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-local-worker-errors.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d7b4f32ffdcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-local-worker-errors.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+export const LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES = {
+  exited: "LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_EXITED",
+  processError: "LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_PROCESS_ERROR",
+  ipcError: "LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_IPC_ERROR",
+} as const;
+
+export type LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureCode =
+  (typeof LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES)[keyof typeof LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES];
+
+export type LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError = Error & {
+  code: LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureCode;
+};
+
+const LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_FAILURE_CODES = new Set<string>(
+  Object.values(LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES),
+);
+
+export function isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure(
+  err: unknown,
+): err is LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError {
+  return (
+    err instanceof Error &&
+    LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_FAILURE_CODES.has(String((err as { code?: unknown }).code))
+  );
+}
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-provider-state.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-provider-state.ts
index ad30efc05df3..fd2668353932 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-provider-state.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-provider-state.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,96 @@ type MemoryResolvedProviderState = {
   fallbackReason?: string;
   providerUnavailableReason?: string;
   providerRuntime?: EmbeddingProviderRuntime;
+  lifecycle: MemoryProviderLifecycleState;
 };
 
+export type MemoryProviderLifecycleState =
+  | {
+      mode: "pending";
+      requestedProvider: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      mode: "active";
+      providerId: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      mode: "degraded";
+      providerId: string;
+      reason: string;
+      code?: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      mode: "fallback-active";
+      providerId: string;
+      fallbackFrom: string;
+      reason: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      mode: "fts-only";
+      reason: string;
+      attemptedProviderId?: string;
+    };
+
+export function createPendingMemoryProviderLifecycle(
+  requestedProvider: string,
+): MemoryProviderLifecycleState {
+  return { mode: "pending", requestedProvider };
+}
+
+export function createDegradedMemoryProviderLifecycle(params: {
+  providerId: string;
+  reason: string;
+  code?: string;
+}): MemoryProviderLifecycleState {
+  return {
+    mode: "degraded",
+    providerId: params.providerId,
+    reason: params.reason,
+    ...(params.code ? { code: params.code } : {}),
+  };
+}
+
+function resolveProviderLifecycle(
+  result: Pick<
+    EmbeddingProviderResult,
+    | "provider"
+    | "fallbackFrom"
+    | "fallbackReason"
+    | "providerUnavailableReason"
+    | "requestedProvider"
+  >,
+): MemoryProviderLifecycleState {
+  if (result.provider && result.fallbackFrom) {
+    return {
+      mode: "fallback-active",
+      providerId: result.provider.id,
+      fallbackFrom: result.fallbackFrom,
+      reason: result.fallbackReason ?? "fallback activated",
+    };
+  }
+  if (result.provider) {
+    return { mode: "active", providerId: result.provider.id };
+  }
+  return {
+    mode: "fts-only",
+    reason: result.providerUnavailableReason ?? "No embedding provider available",
+    attemptedProviderId: result.requestedProvider,
+  };
+}
+
+export function resolveFallbackCurrentProviderId(params: {
+  provider: EmbeddingProvider | null;
+  lifecycle: MemoryProviderLifecycleState;
+}): string | null {
+  if (params.provider) {
+    return params.provider.id;
+  }
+  if (params.lifecycle.mode === "degraded") {
+    return params.lifecycle.providerId;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 export function resolveMemoryPrimaryProviderRequest(params: {
   settings: ResolvedMemorySearchConfig;
 }): {
@@ -46,7 +134,12 @@ export function resolveMemoryPrimaryProviderRequest(params: {
 export function resolveMemoryProviderState(
   result: Pick<
     EmbeddingProviderResult,
-    "provider" | "fallbackFrom" | "fallbackReason" | "providerUnavailableReason" | "runtime"
+    | "provider"
+    | "fallbackFrom"
+    | "fallbackReason"
+    | "providerUnavailableReason"
+    | "runtime"
+    | "requestedProvider"
   >,
 ): MemoryResolvedProviderState {
   return {
@@ -55,6 +148,7 @@ export function resolveMemoryProviderState(
     fallbackReason: result.fallbackReason,
     providerUnavailableReason: result.providerUnavailableReason,
     providerRuntime: result.runtime,
+    lifecycle: resolveProviderLifecycle(result),
   };
 }
 
@@ -68,8 +162,21 @@ export function applyMemoryFallbackProviderState(params: {
     ...params.current,
     fallbackFrom: params.fallbackFrom,
     fallbackReason: params.reason,
+    providerUnavailableReason: undefined,
     provider: params.result.provider,
     providerRuntime: params.result.runtime,
+    lifecycle: params.result.provider
+      ? {
+          mode: "fallback-active",
+          providerId: params.result.provider.id,
+          fallbackFrom: params.fallbackFrom,
+          reason: params.reason,
+        }
+      : {
+          mode: "fts-only",
+          reason: params.reason,
+          attemptedProviderId: params.fallbackFrom,
+        },
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.archive-delta-bypass.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.archive-delta-bypass.test.ts
index 37ac2c448893..36534e3a86f1 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.archive-delta-bypass.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.archive-delta-bypass.test.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ class SessionDeltaHarness extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
   };
   protected readonly vector = { enabled: false, available: false };
   protected readonly cache = { enabled: false };
+  protected providerUnavailableReason?: string;
+  protected providerLifecycle = { mode: "active" as const, providerId: "test" };
   protected db = null as unknown as DatabaseSync;
 
   readonly syncCalls: SyncParams[] = [];
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.startup-catchup.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.startup-catchup.test.ts
index a5338c330ed8..d1396d6ac967 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.startup-catchup.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.startup-catchup.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ class SessionStartupCatchupHarness extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
   };
   protected readonly vector = { enabled: false, available: false };
   protected readonly cache = { enabled: false };
+  protected providerUnavailableReason?: string;
+  protected providerLifecycle = { mode: "active" as const, providerId: "test" };
   protected db: DatabaseSync;
 
   readonly syncCalls: SyncParams[] = [];
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.ts
index 6763a6fbc1da..a7fc8c8d0fbf 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-ops.ts
@@ -42,9 +42,12 @@ import {
 } from "./embeddings.js";
 import { runMemoryAtomicReindex } from "./manager-atomic-reindex.js";
 import { closeMemoryDatabase, openMemoryDatabaseAtPath } from "./manager-db.js";
+import { isMemoryEmbeddingOperationError } from "./manager-embedding-errors.js";
 import {
   applyMemoryFallbackProviderState,
   resolveMemoryFallbackProviderRequest,
+  resolveFallbackCurrentProviderId,
+  type MemoryProviderLifecycleState,
 } from "./manager-provider-state.js";
 import {
   resolveConfiguredScopeHash,
@@ -170,6 +173,8 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
   protected abstract readonly settings: ResolvedMemorySearchConfig;
   protected provider: EmbeddingProvider | null = null;
   protected fallbackFrom?: EmbeddingProviderId;
+  protected abstract providerUnavailableReason?: string;
+  protected abstract providerLifecycle: MemoryProviderLifecycleState;
   protected providerRuntime?: EmbeddingProviderRuntime;
   protected abstract batch: {
     enabled: boolean;
@@ -1131,7 +1136,7 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
       syncSessionFiles: async (targetedParams) => {
         await this.syncSessionFiles(targetedParams);
       },
-      shouldFallbackOnError: (message) => this.shouldFallbackOnError(message),
+      shouldFallbackOnError: (err) => this.shouldFallbackOnError(err),
       activateFallbackProvider: async (reason) => await this.activateFallbackProvider(reason),
       runSafeReindex: async (reindexParams) => {
         await this.runSafeReindex(reindexParams);
@@ -1205,7 +1210,7 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
     } catch (err) {
       const reason = formatErrorMessage(err);
       const activated =
-        this.shouldFallbackOnError(reason) && (await this.activateFallbackProvider(reason));
+        this.shouldFallbackOnError(err) && (await this.activateFallbackProvider(reason));
       if (activated) {
         await this.runSafeReindex({
           reason: params?.reason ?? "fallback",
@@ -1214,12 +1219,21 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
         });
         return;
       }
+      if (!this.provider && this.fts.enabled && this.shouldFallbackOnError(err)) {
+        log.warn(`memory embeddings unavailable; rebuilding lexical memory index only: ${reason}`);
+        await this.runSafeReindex({
+          reason: params?.reason ?? "embedding-degraded",
+          force: true,
+          progress: progress ?? undefined,
+        });
+        return;
+      }
       throw err;
     }
   }
 
-  private shouldFallbackOnError(message: string): boolean {
-    return /embedding|embeddings|batch/i.test(message);
+  protected shouldFallbackOnError(err: unknown): boolean {
+    return isMemoryEmbeddingOperationError(err);
   }
 
   protected resolveBatchConfig(): {
@@ -1240,19 +1254,22 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
     };
   }
 
-  private async activateFallbackProvider(reason: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  protected async activateFallbackProvider(reason: string): Promise<boolean> {
+    const currentProviderId = resolveFallbackCurrentProviderId({
+      provider: this.provider,
+      lifecycle: this.providerLifecycle,
+    });
     const fallbackRequest = resolveMemoryFallbackProviderRequest({
       cfg: this.cfg,
       settings: this.settings,
-      currentProviderId: this.provider?.id ?? null,
+      currentProviderId,
     });
-    if (!fallbackRequest || !this.provider) {
+    if (!fallbackRequest || !currentProviderId) {
       return false;
     }
     if (this.fallbackFrom) {
       return false;
     }
-    const fallbackFrom = this.provider.id;
 
     const fallbackResult = await createEmbeddingProvider({
       config: this.cfg,
@@ -1267,8 +1284,9 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
         fallbackReason: this.fallbackReason,
         providerUnavailableReason: undefined,
         providerRuntime: this.providerRuntime,
+        lifecycle: this.providerLifecycle,
       },
-      fallbackFrom,
+      fallbackFrom: currentProviderId,
       reason,
       result: fallbackResult,
     });
@@ -1276,6 +1294,8 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
     this.fallbackReason = fallbackState.fallbackReason;
     this.provider = fallbackState.provider;
     this.providerRuntime = fallbackState.providerRuntime;
+    this.providerUnavailableReason = fallbackState.providerUnavailableReason;
+    this.providerLifecycle = fallbackState.lifecycle;
     this.providerKey = this.computeProviderKey();
     this.batch = this.resolveBatchConfig();
     log.warn(`memory embeddings: switched to fallback provider (${fallbackRequest.provider})`, {
@@ -1284,7 +1304,7 @@ export abstract class MemoryManagerSyncOps {
     return true;
   }
 
-  private async runSafeReindex(params: {
+  protected async runSafeReindex(params: {
     reason?: string;
     force?: boolean;
     progress?: MemorySyncProgressState;
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-yield.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-yield.test.ts
index 57749c7eb94c..fd801741461e 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-yield.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-sync-yield.test.ts
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ class SessionSyncYieldHarness extends MemoryManagerSyncOps {
   };
   protected readonly vector = { enabled: false, available: false };
   protected readonly cache = { enabled: false };
+  protected providerUnavailableReason?: string;
+  protected providerLifecycle = { mode: "active" as const, providerId: "test" };
   protected db = createDbMock();
 
   readonly indexedPaths: string[] = [];
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-targeted-sync.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-targeted-sync.ts
index e29d7c6e10d2..0074b6198989 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-targeted-sync.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager-targeted-sync.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export async function runMemoryTargetedSessionSync(params: {
     targetSessionFiles?: string[];
     progress?: TargetedSyncProgress;
   }) => Promise<void>;
-  shouldFallbackOnError: (message: string) => boolean;
+  shouldFallbackOnError: (err: unknown) => boolean;
   activateFallbackProvider: (reason: string) => Promise<boolean>;
   runSafeReindex: (params: {
     reason?: string;
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export async function runMemoryTargetedSessionSync(params: {
   } catch (err) {
     const reason = formatErrorMessage(err);
     const activated =
-      params.shouldFallbackOnError(reason) && (await params.activateFallbackProvider(reason));
+      params.shouldFallbackOnError(err) && (await params.activateFallbackProvider(reason));
     if (!activated) {
       throw err;
     }
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.mistral-provider.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.mistral-provider.test.ts
index bee1410793b0..f8c1bb727b44 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.mistral-provider.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.mistral-provider.test.ts
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ describe("memory manager mistral provider wiring", () => {
 
     const state = resolveMemoryProviderState({
       provider: mistralProvider,
+      requestedProvider: "mistral",
       runtime: mistralRuntime,
       fallbackFrom: undefined,
       fallbackReason: undefined,
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ describe("memory manager mistral provider wiring", () => {
     const mistralProvider = createProvider("mistral");
     const current = resolveMemoryProviderState({
       provider: createProvider("openai"),
+      requestedProvider: "openai",
       runtime: openAiRuntime,
       fallbackFrom: undefined,
       fallbackReason: undefined,
@@ -124,6 +126,30 @@ describe("memory manager mistral provider wiring", () => {
     expect(fallbackState.providerRuntime).toBe(mistralRuntime);
   });
 
+  it("clears provider unavailable reason after fallback activation", () => {
+    const fallbackState = applyMemoryFallbackProviderState({
+      current: resolveMemoryProviderState({
+        provider: null,
+        requestedProvider: "local",
+        fallbackFrom: undefined,
+        fallbackReason: undefined,
+        providerUnavailableReason: "Local embeddings degraded: worker crashed",
+        runtime: undefined,
+      }),
+      fallbackFrom: "local",
+      reason: "worker crashed",
+      result: {
+        provider: createProvider("openai"),
+        runtime: {
+          id: "openai",
+          cacheKeyData: { provider: "openai", model: "text-embedding-3-small" },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(fallbackState.providerUnavailableReason).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
   it("uses default ollama model when activating ollama fallback", () => {
     const request = resolveMemoryFallbackProviderRequest({
       cfg: {} as OpenClawConfig,
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.ts
index 684c18661e3d..119a420e5b29 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/manager.ts
@@ -38,9 +38,13 @@ import {
 } from "./manager-cache.js";
 import { closeMemoryDatabase } from "./manager-db.js";
 import { MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps } from "./manager-embedding-ops.js";
+import { isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure } from "./manager-local-worker-errors.js";
 import {
+  createDegradedMemoryProviderLifecycle,
+  createPendingMemoryProviderLifecycle,
   resolveMemoryPrimaryProviderRequest,
   resolveMemoryProviderState,
+  type MemoryProviderLifecycleState,
 } from "./manager-provider-state.js";
 import { resolveMemorySearchPreflight } from "./manager-search-preflight.js";
 import { searchKeyword, searchVector } from "./manager-search.js";
@@ -124,7 +128,8 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
   private providerInitialized = false;
   protected override fallbackFrom?: EmbeddingProviderId;
   protected override fallbackReason?: string;
-  private providerUnavailableReason?: string;
+  protected providerUnavailableReason?: string;
+  protected override providerLifecycle: MemoryProviderLifecycleState;
   protected override providerRuntime?: EmbeddingProviderRuntime;
   protected batch: {
     enabled: boolean;
@@ -239,6 +244,7 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
     this.settings = params.settings;
     this.provider = null;
     this.requestedProvider = params.settings.provider;
+    this.providerLifecycle = createPendingMemoryProviderLifecycle(this.requestedProvider);
     if (params.providerResult) {
       this.applyProviderResult(params.providerResult);
     }
@@ -283,6 +289,7 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
     this.fallbackFrom = providerState.fallbackFrom;
     this.fallbackReason = providerState.fallbackReason;
     this.providerUnavailableReason = providerState.providerUnavailableReason;
+    this.providerLifecycle = providerState.lifecycle;
     this.providerRuntime = providerState.providerRuntime;
     this.providerInitialized = true;
   }
@@ -312,6 +319,35 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
     }
   }
 
+  protected markLocalEmbeddingProviderDegraded(err: unknown): void {
+    if (this.provider?.id !== "local") {
+      return;
+    }
+    if (!isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure(err)) {
+      return;
+    }
+    const message = formatErrorMessage(err);
+    const degradedProvider = this.provider;
+    this.provider = null;
+    this.providerRuntime = undefined;
+    this.providerUnavailableReason = `Local embeddings degraded: ${message}`;
+    this.providerLifecycle = createDegradedMemoryProviderLifecycle({
+      providerId: degradedProvider.id,
+      reason: message,
+      code: err.code,
+    });
+    EMBEDDING_PROBE_CACHE.delete(this.cacheKey);
+    this.providerKey = this.computeProviderKey();
+    this.batch = this.resolveBatchConfig();
+    this.vector.semanticAvailable = false;
+    void Promise.resolve(degradedProvider.close?.()).catch((err: unknown) => {
+      log.debug(`memory embeddings: failed to close degraded local provider: ${String(err)}`);
+    });
+    log.warn("memory embeddings: local provider degraded after worker failure", {
+      error: message,
+    });
+  }
+
   async warmSession(sessionKey?: string): Promise<void> {
     if (!this.settings.sync.onSessionStart) {
       return;
@@ -394,6 +430,20 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
       Math.max(1, Math.floor(maxResults * hybrid.candidateMultiplier)),
     );
 
+    if (!this.provider && this.providerLifecycle.mode === "degraded") {
+      const activatedFallback = await this.activateFallbackProvider(
+        this.providerLifecycle.reason,
+      ).catch((fallbackErr: unknown) => {
+        log.warn(
+          `memory search: failed to activate fallback provider: ${formatErrorMessage(fallbackErr)}`,
+        );
+        return false;
+      });
+      if (activatedFallback) {
+        await this.runSafeReindex({ reason: "fallback", force: true });
+      }
+    }
+
     // FTS-only mode: no embedding provider available
     if (!this.provider) {
       if (!this.fts.enabled || !this.fts.available) {
@@ -461,7 +511,7 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
     }
 
     // If FTS isn't available, hybrid mode cannot use keyword search; degrade to vector-only.
-    const keywordResults =
+    const loadKeywordResults = async () =>
       hybrid.enabled && this.fts.enabled && this.fts.available
         ? await this.searchKeyword(
             cleaned,
@@ -473,8 +523,32 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
             return [];
           })
         : [];
+    let keywordResults = await loadKeywordResults();
 
-    const queryVec = await this.embedQueryWithTimeout(cleaned);
+    let queryVec: number[];
+    try {
+      queryVec = await this.embedQueryWithTimeout(cleaned);
+    } catch (err) {
+      const message = formatErrorMessage(err);
+      const activatedFallback = this.shouldFallbackOnError(err)
+        ? await this.activateFallbackProvider(message).catch((fallbackErr: unknown) => {
+            log.warn(
+              `memory search: failed to activate fallback provider: ${formatErrorMessage(fallbackErr)}`,
+            );
+            return false;
+          })
+        : false;
+      if (activatedFallback) {
+        await this.runSafeReindex({ reason: "fallback", force: true });
+        keywordResults = await loadKeywordResults();
+        queryVec = await this.embedQueryWithTimeout(cleaned);
+      } else if (!this.provider && this.fts.enabled && this.fts.available) {
+        log.warn(`memory search: embeddings unavailable; using keyword-only results: ${message}`);
+        return this.selectScoredResults(keywordResults, maxResults, minScore, 0);
+      } else {
+        throw err;
+      }
+    }
     const hasVector = queryVec.some((v) => v !== 0);
     const vectorResults = hasVector
       ? await this.searchVector(queryVec, candidates, sourceFilterList).catch((err) => {
@@ -846,6 +920,7 @@ export class MemoryIndexManager extends MemoryManagerEmbeddingOps implements Mem
       },
       custom: {
         searchMode: providerInfo.searchMode,
+        providerState: this.providerLifecycle,
         providerUnavailableReason: this.providerUnavailableReason,
         readonlyRecovery: {
           attempts: this.readonlyRecoveryAttempts,
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
index 339aa7cd602d..81ee38dba34a 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
@@ -1401,6 +1401,8 @@ export class QmdMemoryManager implements MemorySearchManager {
         qmd: {
           collections: this.qmd.collections.length,
           lastUpdateAt: this.lastUpdateAt,
+          embedFailures: this.embedFailureCount,
+          embedBackoffUntil: this.embedBackoffUntil,
         },
       },
     };
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embedding-worker-errors.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embedding-worker-errors.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fc1762bc1364
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embedding-worker-errors.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+export const LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES = {
+  exited: "LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_EXITED",
+  processError: "LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_PROCESS_ERROR",
+  ipcError: "LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_IPC_ERROR",
+} as const;
+
+export type LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureCode =
+  (typeof LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES)[keyof typeof LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES];
+
+export type LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureReason = "exit" | "signal" | "process-error" | "ipc";
+
+export type LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError = Error & {
+  code: LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureCode;
+  reason: LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureReason;
+  exitCode?: number | null;
+  signal?: NodeJS.Signals | null;
+};
+
+const LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_FAILURE_CODES = new Set<string>(
+  Object.values(LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES),
+);
+
+export function createLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError(params: {
+  message: string;
+  code: LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureCode;
+  reason: LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureReason;
+  exitCode?: number | null;
+  signal?: NodeJS.Signals | null;
+  cause?: unknown;
+}): LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError {
+  return Object.assign(new Error(params.message), {
+    code: params.code,
+    reason: params.reason,
+    ...(params.exitCode !== undefined ? { exitCode: params.exitCode } : {}),
+    ...(params.signal !== undefined ? { signal: params.signal } : {}),
+    ...(params.cause !== undefined ? { cause: params.cause } : {}),
+  });
+}
+
+export function isLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailure(
+  err: unknown,
+): err is LocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError {
+  return (
+    err instanceof Error &&
+    LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_FAILURE_CODES.has(String((err as { code?: unknown }).code))
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings-worker-child.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings-worker-child.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a088f2b4c393
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings-worker-child.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+import { createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess } from "./embeddings.js";
+import type { EmbeddingProvider, EmbeddingProviderOptions } from "./embeddings.types.js";
+
+type LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequest =
+  | {
+      id: number;
+      type: "initialize";
+      options: EmbeddingProviderOptions;
+    }
+  | {
+      id: number;
+      type: "embedQuery";
+      options: EmbeddingProviderOptions;
+      text: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      id: number;
+      type: "embedBatch";
+      options: EmbeddingProviderOptions;
+      texts: string[];
+    }
+  | {
+      id: number;
+      type: "close";
+    };
+
+type LocalEmbeddingWorkerSerializedError = {
+  message: string;
+  code?: string;
+};
+
+let provider: EmbeddingProvider | null = null;
+let providerOptionsKey: string | null = null;
+let requestQueue: Promise<void> = Promise.resolve();
+
+function send(message: unknown): void {
+  if (typeof process.send === "function") {
+    process.send(message);
+  }
+}
+
+async function getProvider(options: EmbeddingProviderOptions): Promise<EmbeddingProvider> {
+  const key = JSON.stringify(options);
+  if (provider && providerOptionsKey === key) {
+    return provider;
+  }
+  await provider?.close?.();
+  provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess(options);
+  providerOptionsKey = key;
+  return provider;
+}
+
+async function closeProvider(): Promise<void> {
+  const current = provider;
+  provider = null;
+  providerOptionsKey = null;
+  await current?.close?.();
+}
+
+function serializeError(err: unknown): LocalEmbeddingWorkerSerializedError {
+  if (!(err instanceof Error)) {
+    return { message: String(err) };
+  }
+  const code = (err as Error & { code?: unknown }).code;
+  return {
+    message: err.message,
+    ...(typeof code === "string" ? { code } : {}),
+  };
+}
+
+async function handleRequest(request: LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequest): Promise<void> {
+  if (request.type === "close") {
+    await closeProvider();
+    send({ id: request.id, ok: true });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const currentProvider = await getProvider(request.options);
+  if (request.type === "initialize") {
+    send({ id: request.id, ok: true });
+    return;
+  }
+  if (request.type === "embedQuery") {
+    const value = await currentProvider.embedQuery(request.text);
+    send({ id: request.id, ok: true, value });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const value = await currentProvider.embedBatch(request.texts);
+  send({ id: request.id, ok: true, value });
+}
+
+process.on("message", (message) => {
+  const request = message as LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequest;
+  requestQueue = requestQueue.then(async () => {
+    try {
+      await handleRequest(request);
+    } catch (err) {
+      send({ id: request.id, ok: false, error: serializeError(err) });
+    }
+  });
+});
+
+process.once("disconnect", () => {
+  void closeProvider().finally(() => {
+    process.exit(0);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings-worker.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings-worker.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0defd7617e4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings-worker.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,364 @@
+import { fork, type ChildProcess } from "node:child_process";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL } from "./embedding-defaults.js";
+import {
+  createLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError,
+  LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES,
+} from "./embedding-worker-errors.js";
+import type { LocalEmbeddingProviderRuntimeOptions } from "./embeddings.js";
+import type {
+  EmbeddingProvider,
+  EmbeddingProviderCallOptions,
+  EmbeddingProviderOptions,
+} from "./embeddings.types.js";
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "./string-utils.js";
+
+type LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequestPayload =
+  | {
+      type: "initialize";
+      options: EmbeddingProviderOptions;
+    }
+  | {
+      type: "embedQuery";
+      options: EmbeddingProviderOptions;
+      text: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      type: "embedBatch";
+      options: EmbeddingProviderOptions;
+      texts: string[];
+    }
+  | {
+      type: "close";
+    };
+
+type LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequest = LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequestPayload & { id: number };
+
+type LocalEmbeddingWorkerResponse =
+  | {
+      id: number;
+      ok: true;
+      value?: number[] | number[][];
+    }
+  | {
+      id: number;
+      ok: false;
+      error:
+        | string
+        | {
+            message?: string;
+            code?: string;
+          };
+    };
+
+type PendingRequest = {
+  resolve: (value: number[] | number[][] | undefined) => void;
+  reject: (err: unknown) => void;
+  abort?: () => void;
+};
+
+function resolveDefaultWorkerScriptPath(): string {
+  const currentPath = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+  const extension = path.extname(currentPath);
+  const currentName = path.basename(currentPath);
+  const sibling =
+    extension === ".ts"
+      ? "embeddings-worker-child.ts"
+      : currentName.startsWith("embeddings-worker.")
+        ? "embeddings-worker-child.js"
+        : "memory-core-local-embedding-worker.js";
+  return path.join(path.dirname(currentPath), sibling);
+}
+
+function serializeLocalEmbeddingOptions(
+  options: EmbeddingProviderOptions,
+): EmbeddingProviderOptions {
+  return {
+    config: {},
+    provider: "local",
+    model: options.model,
+    fallback: "none",
+    local: options.local,
+  };
+}
+
+function createWorkerExitError(code: number | null, signal: NodeJS.Signals | null): Error {
+  const detail = signal ? `signal ${signal}` : `exit code ${code ?? "unknown"}`;
+  return createLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError({
+    message: `Local embedding worker exited unexpectedly (${detail})`,
+    code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.exited,
+    reason: signal ? "signal" : "exit",
+    exitCode: code,
+    signal,
+  });
+}
+
+function createWorkerResponseError(error: LocalEmbeddingWorkerResponse & { ok: false }): Error {
+  if (typeof error.error === "object" && error.error) {
+    const message = error.error.message || "Local embedding worker failed";
+    const workerError = new Error(message) as Error & { code?: string };
+    if (error.error.code) {
+      workerError.code = error.error.code;
+    }
+    return workerError;
+  }
+  return new Error(error.error || "Local embedding worker failed");
+}
+
+const WORKER_UNSAFE_EXEC_ARGV_FLAGS = new Set(["--inspect", "--inspect-brk"]);
+
+const WORKER_UNSAFE_EXEC_ARGV_FLAGS_WITH_VALUE = new Set([
+  "--eval",
+  "-e",
+  "--print",
+  "-p",
+  "--input-type",
+  "--inspect-port",
+]);
+
+const WORKER_UNSAFE_EXEC_ARGV_OPTION_PREFIXES = [
+  "--eval=",
+  "--print=",
+  "--input-type=",
+  "--inspect=",
+  "--inspect-brk=",
+  "--inspect-port=",
+];
+
+const WORKER_CLOSE_GRACE_MS = 250;
+
+function resolveWorkerExecArgv(): string[] {
+  const args: string[] = [];
+  let skipNext = false;
+  for (const arg of process.execArgv) {
+    if (skipNext) {
+      skipNext = false;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (WORKER_UNSAFE_EXEC_ARGV_FLAGS.has(arg)) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (WORKER_UNSAFE_EXEC_ARGV_FLAGS_WITH_VALUE.has(arg)) {
+      skipNext = true;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (WORKER_UNSAFE_EXEC_ARGV_OPTION_PREFIXES.some((prefix) => arg.startsWith(prefix))) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    args.push(arg);
+  }
+  return args;
+}
+
+class LocalEmbeddingWorkerClient {
+  private child: ChildProcess | null = null;
+  private nextRequestId = 1;
+  private pending = new Map<number, PendingRequest>();
+
+  constructor(private readonly scriptPath: string) {}
+
+  async initialize(options: EmbeddingProviderOptions): Promise<void> {
+    await this.send({ type: "initialize", options });
+  }
+
+  async embedQuery(
+    options: EmbeddingProviderOptions,
+    text: string,
+    callOptions?: EmbeddingProviderCallOptions,
+  ): Promise<number[]> {
+    const result = await this.send({ type: "embedQuery", options, text }, callOptions);
+    return Array.isArray(result) ? (result as number[]) : [];
+  }
+
+  async embedBatch(
+    options: EmbeddingProviderOptions,
+    texts: string[],
+    callOptions?: EmbeddingProviderCallOptions,
+  ): Promise<number[][]> {
+    const result = await this.send({ type: "embedBatch", options, texts }, callOptions);
+    return Array.isArray(result) ? (result as number[][]) : [];
+  }
+
+  async close(): Promise<void> {
+    const child = this.child;
+    if (!child) {
+      return;
+    }
+    let timeout: NodeJS.Timeout | undefined;
+    const closeRequest = this.send({ type: "close" }).then(() => "closed" as const);
+    const closeTimeout = new Promise<"timeout">((resolve) => {
+      timeout = setTimeout(() => resolve("timeout"), WORKER_CLOSE_GRACE_MS);
+      timeout.unref?.();
+    });
+    try {
+      const result = await Promise.race([closeRequest, closeTimeout]);
+      if (result === "timeout") {
+        closeRequest.catch(() => {});
+      }
+    } finally {
+      if (timeout) {
+        clearTimeout(timeout);
+      }
+      this.shutdownChild();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private ensureChild(): ChildProcess {
+    if (this.child?.connected) {
+      return this.child;
+    }
+
+    const child = fork(this.scriptPath, [], {
+      execArgv: resolveWorkerExecArgv(),
+      serialization: "json",
+      stdio: ["ignore", "ignore", "ignore", "ipc"],
+    });
+    child.on("message", (message) => this.handleMessage(message));
+    child.on("exit", (code, signal) => {
+      if (this.child === child) {
+        this.child = null;
+      }
+      this.rejectPending(createWorkerExitError(code, signal));
+    });
+    child.on("error", (err) => {
+      if (this.child === child) {
+        this.child = null;
+      }
+      this.rejectPending(
+        createLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError({
+          message: `Local embedding worker process failed: ${err.message}`,
+          code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.processError,
+          reason: "process-error",
+          cause: err,
+        }),
+      );
+    });
+    this.child = child;
+    return child;
+  }
+
+  private async send(
+    request: LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequestPayload,
+    options?: EmbeddingProviderCallOptions,
+  ): Promise<number[] | number[][] | undefined> {
+    options?.signal?.throwIfAborted();
+    const child = this.ensureChild();
+    const id = this.nextRequestId++;
+    const payload = { ...request, id } as LocalEmbeddingWorkerRequest;
+    return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+      const pending: PendingRequest = { resolve, reject };
+      if (options?.signal) {
+        const abort = () => {
+          this.pending.delete(id);
+          this.shutdownChild();
+          reject(options.signal?.reason ?? new Error("Local embedding request aborted"));
+        };
+        options.signal.addEventListener("abort", abort, { once: true });
+        pending.abort = () => options.signal?.removeEventListener("abort", abort);
+      }
+      this.pending.set(id, pending);
+      child.send(payload, (err) => {
+        if (err) {
+          this.pending.delete(id);
+          pending.abort?.();
+          reject(
+            createLocalEmbeddingWorkerFailureError({
+              message: `Local embedding worker IPC failed: ${err.message}`,
+              code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.ipcError,
+              reason: "ipc",
+              cause: err,
+            }),
+          );
+        }
+      });
+    });
+  }
+
+  private handleMessage(message: unknown): void {
+    const response = message as Partial<LocalEmbeddingWorkerResponse>;
+    if (typeof response.id !== "number") {
+      return;
+    }
+    const pending = this.pending.get(response.id);
+    if (!pending) {
+      return;
+    }
+    this.pending.delete(response.id);
+    pending.abort?.();
+    if (response.ok) {
+      pending.resolve(response.value);
+      return;
+    }
+    pending.reject(
+      createWorkerResponseError(response as LocalEmbeddingWorkerResponse & { ok: false }),
+    );
+  }
+
+  private shutdownChild(): void {
+    const child = this.child;
+    this.child = null;
+    if (!child) {
+      return;
+    }
+    if (child.connected) {
+      child.disconnect();
+    }
+    if (!child.killed) {
+      child.kill();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private rejectPending(err: unknown): void {
+    const pending = [...this.pending.values()];
+    this.pending.clear();
+    for (const entry of pending) {
+      entry.abort?.();
+      entry.reject(err);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+export async function createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider(
+  options: EmbeddingProviderOptions,
+  runtimeOptions?: LocalEmbeddingProviderRuntimeOptions,
+): Promise<EmbeddingProvider> {
+  const modelPath = normalizeOptionalString(options.local?.modelPath) || DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL;
+  const workerOptions = serializeLocalEmbeddingOptions(options);
+  const client = new LocalEmbeddingWorkerClient(
+    runtimeOptions?.workerScriptPath ?? resolveDefaultWorkerScriptPath(),
+  );
+  try {
+    await client.initialize(workerOptions);
+  } catch (err) {
+    await client.close().catch(() => {});
+    throw err;
+  }
+  let closed = false;
+
+  const throwIfClosed = () => {
+    if (closed) {
+      throw new Error("Local embedding provider has been closed");
+    }
+  };
+
+  return {
+    id: "local",
+    model: modelPath,
+    embedQuery: async (text, callOptions) => {
+      throwIfClosed();
+      return await client.embedQuery(workerOptions, text, callOptions);
+    },
+    embedBatch: async (texts, callOptions) => {
+      throwIfClosed();
+      return await client.embedBatch(workerOptions, texts, callOptions);
+    },
+    close: async () => {
+      if (closed) {
+        return;
+      }
+      closed = true;
+      await client.close();
+    },
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts
index c01343401f17..996790d53d84 100644
--- a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
-import { createLocalEmbeddingProvider, DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL } from "./embeddings.js";
+import { LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES } from "./embedding-worker-errors.js";
+import { createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider } from "./embeddings-worker.js";
+import {
+  createLocalEmbeddingProvider,
+  createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess,
+  DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL,
+} from "./embeddings.js";
 
 const nodeLlamaMock = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   importNodeLlamaCpp: vi.fn(),
@@ -39,10 +48,11 @@ function mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime(vector = new Float32Array([2.35, 3.45, 0.63,
     .fn()
     .mockResolvedValue({ getEmbeddingFor, dispose: disposeContext });
   const loadModel = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ createEmbeddingContext, dispose: disposeModel });
+  const getLlama = vi.fn(async () => ({ loadModel, dispose: disposeLlama }));
   const resolveModelFile = vi.fn(async (modelPath: string) => `/resolved/${modelPath}`);
 
   nodeLlamaMock.importNodeLlamaCpp.mockResolvedValue({
-    getLlama: async () => ({ loadModel, dispose: disposeLlama }),
+    getLlama,
     resolveModelFile,
     LlamaLogLevel: { error: 0 },
   } as never);
@@ -52,6 +62,7 @@ function mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime(vector = new Float32Array([2.35, 3.45, 0.63,
     disposeContext,
     disposeLlama,
     disposeModel,
+    getLlama,
     getEmbeddingFor,
     loadModel,
     resolveModelFile,
@@ -62,7 +73,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
   it("normalizes local embeddings and resolves the default local model", async () => {
     const runtime = mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime();
 
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -92,7 +103,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
   it("passes default contextSize (4096) to createEmbeddingContext when not configured", async () => {
     const runtime = mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime();
 
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -109,7 +120,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
   it("passes configured contextSize to createEmbeddingContext", async () => {
     const runtime = mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime();
 
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -127,7 +138,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
   it('passes "auto" contextSize to createEmbeddingContext when explicitly set', async () => {
     const runtime = mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime();
 
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -142,10 +153,43 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("runs local batch embeddings sequentially", async () => {
+    const calls: string[] = [];
+    const firstGate = createDeferred<{ vector: Float32Array }>();
+    const secondGate = createDeferred<{ vector: Float32Array }>();
+    const getEmbeddingFor = vi.fn((text: string) => {
+      calls.push(text);
+      return text === "first" ? firstGate.promise : secondGate.promise;
+    });
+    nodeLlamaMock.importNodeLlamaCpp.mockResolvedValue({
+      getLlama: vi.fn(async () => ({
+        loadModel: vi.fn(async () => ({
+          createEmbeddingContext: vi.fn(async () => ({ getEmbeddingFor })),
+        })),
+      })),
+      resolveModelFile: vi.fn(async () => "/resolved/model.gguf"),
+      LlamaLogLevel: { error: 0 },
+    } as never);
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
+      config: {} as never,
+      provider: "local",
+      model: "",
+      fallback: "none",
+    });
+
+    const batchPromise = provider.embedBatch(["first", "second"]);
+    await expect.poll(() => calls.join(",")).toBe("first");
+    firstGate.resolve({ vector: new Float32Array([1, 0]) });
+    await expect.poll(() => calls.join(",")).toBe("first,second");
+    secondGate.resolve({ vector: new Float32Array([0, 1]) });
+
+    await expect(batchPromise).resolves.toHaveLength(2);
+  });
+
   it("trims explicit local model paths and cache directories", async () => {
     const runtime = mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime(new Float32Array([1, 0]));
 
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -172,7 +216,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
   it("disposes cached local llama resources when closed", async () => {
     const runtime = mockLocalEmbeddingRuntime();
 
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -199,7 +243,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
       resolveModelFile: vi.fn(async (modelPath: string) => `/resolved/${modelPath}`),
       LlamaLogLevel: { error: 0 },
     } as never);
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -235,7 +279,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
       }),
       LlamaLogLevel: { error: 0 },
     } as never);
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -274,7 +318,7 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
       resolveModelFile: vi.fn(async () => "/resolved/model.gguf"),
       LlamaLogLevel: { error: 0 },
     } as never);
-    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProvider({
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess({
       config: {} as never,
       provider: "local",
       model: "",
@@ -291,4 +335,226 @@ describe("local embedding provider", () => {
     createContextGate.reject(new Error("context create aborted"));
     await expect(embedPromise).rejects.toThrow("context create aborted");
   });
+
+  it("uses a worker process for the public local provider", async () => {
+    const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-local-embedding-worker-"));
+    const workerScript = path.join(tempDir, "worker.cjs");
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      workerScript,
+      `
+process.on("message", (message) => {
+  if (message.type === "initialize") {
+    process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true });
+    return;
+  }
+  if (message.type === "embedQuery") {
+    process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true, value: [1, 0] });
+    return;
+  }
+  if (message.type === "embedBatch") {
+    process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true, value: message.texts.map(() => [0, 1]) });
+    return;
+  }
+  process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true });
+});
+`,
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider(
+      {
+        config: {} as never,
+        provider: "local",
+        model: "",
+        fallback: "none",
+      },
+      { workerScriptPath: workerScript },
+    );
+
+    await expect(provider.embedQuery("hello")).resolves.toEqual([1, 0]);
+    await expect(provider.embedBatch(["a", "b"])).resolves.toEqual([
+      [0, 1],
+      [0, 1],
+    ]);
+    await expect(provider.close?.()).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("terminates the worker when close runs behind a pending request", async () => {
+    const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-local-embedding-worker-"));
+    const workerScript = path.join(tempDir, "worker.cjs");
+    const embedStartedPath = path.join(tempDir, "embed-started");
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      workerScript,
+      `
+const fs = require("node:fs");
+const embedStartedPath = ${JSON.stringify(embedStartedPath)};
+let busy = false;
+
+process.on("message", (message) => {
+  if (busy) {
+    return;
+  }
+  if (message.type === "initialize") {
+    process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true });
+    return;
+  }
+  if (message.type === "embedQuery") {
+    busy = true;
+    fs.writeFileSync(embedStartedPath, "1");
+  }
+});
+`,
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider(
+      {
+        config: {} as never,
+        provider: "local",
+        model: "",
+        fallback: "none",
+      },
+      { workerScriptPath: workerScript },
+    );
+
+    const embedPromise = provider.embedQuery("stuck");
+    const embedError = embedPromise.then(
+      () => undefined,
+      (err) => err,
+    );
+    await expect
+      .poll(async () => {
+        try {
+          await fs.access(embedStartedPath);
+          return true;
+        } catch {
+          return false;
+        }
+      })
+      .toBe(true);
+
+    const closePromise = provider.close?.() ?? Promise.resolve();
+    const closeResult = await Promise.race([
+      closePromise.then(() => "closed" as const),
+      new Promise<"timeout">((resolve) => setTimeout(() => resolve("timeout"), 1_000)),
+    ]);
+
+    expect(closeResult).toBe("closed");
+    await expect(embedError).resolves.toMatchObject({
+      code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.exited,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("does not pass inline-source or inspector exec args to the file-backed worker", async () => {
+    const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-local-embedding-worker-"));
+    const workerScript = path.join(tempDir, "worker.cjs");
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      workerScript,
+      `
+process.on("message", (message) => {
+  if (message.type === "initialize" || message.type === "close") {
+    process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true });
+    return;
+  }
+  process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true, value: [process.execArgv.length] });
+});
+`,
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    const originalExecArgv = [...process.execArgv];
+    let provider: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider>> | undefined;
+    try {
+      process.execArgv.splice(
+        0,
+        process.execArgv.length,
+        "--eval",
+        "setInterval(() => {}, 1000)",
+        "--print",
+        "1 + 1",
+        "--input-type=module",
+        "--inspect-brk=127.0.0.1:0",
+        "--inspect-port",
+        "0",
+      );
+      provider = await createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider(
+        {
+          config: {} as never,
+          provider: "local",
+          model: "",
+          fallback: "none",
+        },
+        { workerScriptPath: workerScript },
+      );
+      await expect(provider.embedQuery("hello")).resolves.toEqual([0]);
+    } finally {
+      process.execArgv.splice(0, process.execArgv.length, ...originalExecArgv);
+      await provider?.close?.();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("reports worker initialization failures during provider creation", async () => {
+    const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-local-embedding-worker-"));
+    const workerScript = path.join(tempDir, "worker.cjs");
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      workerScript,
+      `
+process.on("message", (message) => {
+  process.send({
+    id: message.id,
+    ok: false,
+    error: { message: "Cannot find package 'node-llama-cpp'", code: "ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND" },
+  });
+});
+`,
+      "utf8",
+    );
+
+    try {
+      await createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider(
+        {
+          config: {} as never,
+          provider: "local",
+          model: "",
+          fallback: "none",
+        },
+        { workerScriptPath: workerScript },
+      );
+      throw new Error("expected local embedding provider creation to fail");
+    } catch (err) {
+      expect(err).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+      expect((err as Error).message).toBe("Cannot find package 'node-llama-cpp'");
+      expect((err as Error & { code?: string }).code).toBe("ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND");
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("reports worker exits with structured failure codes", async () => {
+    const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-local-embedding-worker-"));
+    const workerScript = path.join(tempDir, "worker.cjs");
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      workerScript,
+      `
+process.on("message", (message) => {
+  if (message.type === "initialize") {
+    process.send({ id: message.id, ok: true });
+    return;
+  }
+  process.exit(134);
+});
+`,
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    const provider = await createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider(
+      {
+        config: {} as never,
+        provider: "local",
+        model: "",
+        fallback: "none",
+      },
+      { workerScriptPath: workerScript },
+    );
+
+    await expect(provider.embedQuery("hello")).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      code: LOCAL_EMBEDDING_WORKER_ERROR_CODES.exited,
+      reason: "exit",
+      exitCode: 134,
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.ts
index e5449dda904a..c375249b17c8 100644
--- a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.ts
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL } from "./embedding-defaults.js";
 import { sanitizeAndNormalizeEmbedding } from "./embedding-vectors.js";
+import { createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider } from "./embeddings-worker.js";
 import type { EmbeddingProvider, EmbeddingProviderOptions } from "./embeddings.types.js";
 import {
   importNodeLlamaCpp,
@@ -24,6 +25,10 @@ export type {
 
 export { DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL } from "./embedding-defaults.js";
 
+export type LocalEmbeddingProviderRuntimeOptions = {
+  workerScriptPath?: string;
+};
+
 async function disposeResources(
   resources: Array<DisposableResource | null | undefined>,
 ): Promise<void> {
@@ -42,6 +47,12 @@ async function disposeResources(
 
 export async function createLocalEmbeddingProvider(
   options: EmbeddingProviderOptions,
+): Promise<EmbeddingProvider> {
+  return await createLocalEmbeddingWorkerProvider(options);
+}
+
+export async function createLocalEmbeddingProviderInProcess(
+  options: EmbeddingProviderOptions,
 ): Promise<EmbeddingProvider> {
   const modelPath = normalizeOptionalString(options.local?.modelPath) || DEFAULT_LOCAL_MODEL;
   const modelCacheDir = normalizeOptionalString(options.local?.modelCacheDir);
@@ -85,7 +96,9 @@ export async function createLocalEmbeddingProvider(
       initAbortController = abortController;
       try {
         if (!llama) {
-          const nextLlama = await getLlama({ logLevel: LlamaLogLevel.error });
+          const nextLlama = await getLlama({
+            logLevel: LlamaLogLevel.error,
+          });
           llama = await disposeAndThrowIfClosed(nextLlama);
         }
         if (!embeddingModel) {
@@ -138,14 +151,13 @@ export async function createLocalEmbeddingProvider(
       const ctx = await ensureContext();
       throwIfClosed();
       options?.signal?.throwIfAborted();
-      const embeddings = await Promise.all(
-        texts.map(async (text) => {
-          throwIfClosed();
-          options?.signal?.throwIfAborted();
-          const embedding = await ctx.getEmbeddingFor(text);
-          return sanitizeAndNormalizeEmbedding(Array.from(embedding.vector));
-        }),
-      );
+      const embeddings: number[][] = [];
+      for (const text of texts) {
+        throwIfClosed();
+        options?.signal?.throwIfAborted();
+        const embedding = await ctx.getEmbeddingFor(text);
+        embeddings.push(sanitizeAndNormalizeEmbedding(Array.from(embedding.vector)));
+      }
       return embeddings;
     },
     close: async () => {
diff --git a/src/config/config.schema-regressions.test.ts b/src/config/config.schema-regressions.test.ts
index 163c18a1ad98..2f2b551ff876 100644
--- a/src/config/config.schema-regressions.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.schema-regressions.test.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,23 @@ describe("config schema regressions", () => {
     expect(res.ok).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("rejects local memorySearch GPU policy", () => {
+    const res = validateConfigObject({
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          memorySearch: {
+            provider: "local",
+            local: {
+              gpu: "cpu",
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(res.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("accepts memorySearch.qmd.extraCollections", () => {
     const res = validateConfigObject({
       agents: {
diff --git a/src/plugins/memory-embedding-providers.ts b/src/plugins/memory-embedding-providers.ts
index 83ff0db0d9ef..5ee1831a44f0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/memory-embedding-providers.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/memory-embedding-providers.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ export type MemoryEmbeddingProviderCreateOptions = {
   local?: {
     modelPath?: string;
     modelCacheDir?: string;
+    contextSize?: number | "auto";
   };
   outputDimensionality?: number;
   taskType?:
diff --git a/tsdown.config.ts b/tsdown.config.ts
index 425ead1324ff..06941873b5dc 100644
--- a/tsdown.config.ts
+++ b/tsdown.config.ts
@@ -323,6 +323,8 @@ function buildUnifiedDistEntries(): Record<string, string> {
           "plugin-sdk/qa-runtime": "src/plugin-sdk/qa-runtime.ts",
         }
       : {}),
+    "memory-core-local-embedding-worker":
+      "packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings-worker-child.ts",
     ...listBundledPluginEntrySources(rootBundledPluginBuildEntries),
     ...bundledHookEntries,
   };