diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 95d1335..7f45eb0 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ LLAMA_GPU_LAYERS=999
 # of dropping context: --cache-type-k/v q8_0 roughly halves it.
 LLAMA_CTX_SIZE=131072
 
+# --- embedding-server (OmniRoute memory) ---
+# bge-small-en-v1.5, CPU-only, 384-dim output — see docker-compose.yml's
+# embedding-server service comment for why this is a second model/process
+# rather than reusing llama-server.
+EMBEDDING_MODEL_FILE=bge-small-en-v1.5-q8_0.gguf
+
 # --- Lazytainer ---
 # Seconds of inactivity before llama-server is stopped. 900 = 15 min.
 LAZYTAINER_INACTIVE_TIMEOUT=900
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 40bdab7..3153876 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -37,4 +37,4 @@ The gateway also fronts SearXNG-backed web search — see `docs/research/litellm
 ## What's not here
 
 - **Open WebUI** — this stack has no chat UI; every client is a coding CLI. Removed rather than kept idle.
-- **Gateway-level knowledgebase/memory** (`litellm-pgvector`, `pgvector-db`, a dedicated embedding model) — removed as unwanted, unrelated to OmniRoute's own lack of parity with it (see issue #31's #34). Superseded by OmniRoute's own memory feature, backed by `qdrant` (bare service — wired up as a memory provider by hand in the dashboard, no static config here).
+- **Gateway-level knowledgebase/memory** (`litellm-pgvector`, `pgvector-db`, a dedicated embedding model) — removed as unwanted, unrelated to OmniRoute's own lack of parity with it (see issue #31's #34). Superseded by OmniRoute's own memory feature, backed by `qdrant` and `embedding-server` (bge-small-en-v1.5, CPU-only) — both bare services, wired up as a memory provider by hand in the dashboard, no static routing config here.
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index f1de11d..4199b09 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ services:
   # `docker compose --profile tools run --rm downloader`. Folded into
   # scripts/update.sh, which runs this every time; the `test -f` guard is
   # what makes that safe to re-run without re-downloading. Keeps the model
-  # file inside the named `models` volume instead of a host bind-mount.
+  # files inside the named `models` volume instead of a host bind-mount.
   downloader:
     image: curlimages/curl:latest
     profiles: ["tools"]
@@ -54,7 +54,34 @@ services:
         test -f /models/${LLAMA_MODEL_FILE:-Qwen3.8-27B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf} &&
         echo "already downloaded, skipping" ||
         curl -L --fail --create-dirs -o /models/${LLAMA_MODEL_FILE:-Qwen3.8-27B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf}
-        https://huggingface.co/unsloth/Qwen3.8-27B-GGUF/resolve/main/${LLAMA_MODEL_FILE:-Qwen3.8-27B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf}
+        https://huggingface.co/unsloth/Qwen3.8-27B-GGUF/resolve/main/${LLAMA_MODEL_FILE:-Qwen3.8-27B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf};
+        test -f /models/${EMBEDDING_MODEL_FILE:-bge-small-en-v1.5-q8_0.gguf} &&
+        echo "already downloaded, skipping" ||
+        curl -L --fail --create-dirs -o /models/${EMBEDDING_MODEL_FILE:-bge-small-en-v1.5-q8_0.gguf}
+        https://huggingface.co/ggml-org/bge-small-en-v1.5-Q8_0-GGUF/resolve/main/${EMBEDDING_MODEL_FILE:-bge-small-en-v1.5-q8_0.gguf}
+
+  # Dedicated embedding model for OmniRoute's memory feature. llama.cpp loads
+  # one model per process and the already-running Qwen3.8-27B chat model
+  # isn't embedding-trained, so this is a second, separate llama-server
+  # instance rather than adding --embeddings to the chat one — see
+  # docs/research/litellm-knowledgebase.md #3. bge-small-en-v1.5 outputs
+  # 384-dim vectors — use that as the Qdrant collection size.
+  # ponytail: CPU image, no GPU devices — a 33M-param embedding model is
+  # fast enough on CPU and this avoids VRAM contention with llama-server's
+  # 27B chat model on the same GPU.
+  embedding-server:
+    image: ghcr.io/ggml-org/llama.cpp:server
+    container_name: embedding-server
+    volumes:
+      - models:/models
+    command: >
+      -m /models/${EMBEDDING_MODEL_FILE:-bge-small-en-v1.5-q8_0.gguf}
+      --host 0.0.0.0
+      --port 8081
+      --embeddings
+      --pooling mean
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    networks: [ai-stack]
 
   # Vector store for OmniRoute's memory feature — wired up in the OmniRoute
   # dashboard as a memory service, not via static config here. Not published