diff --git a/src/fusion.rs b/src/fusion.rs
index 8bd026f..f3f0134 100644
--- a/src/fusion.rs
+++ b/src/fusion.rs
@@ -115,11 +115,13 @@ pub fn rrf_fuse(lanes: &[(&str, &[RankedResult], f64)], k: usize) -> Vec<FusedRe
         })
         .collect();
 
-    // Sort by rrf_score descending
+    // Sort by rrf_score descending; tiebreak on file_path so equal scores
+    // rank deterministically (acc_map iteration order is random per process).
     results.sort_by(|a, b| {
         b.rrf_score
             .partial_cmp(&a.rrf_score)
             .unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal)
+            .then_with(|| a.file_path.cmp(&b.file_path))
     });
 
     // Normalize confidence as percentage of max score
diff --git a/src/graph.rs b/src/graph.rs
index fd63633..10736ff 100644
--- a/src/graph.rs
+++ b/src/graph.rs
@@ -121,7 +121,11 @@ pub fn graph_expand(
         .into_iter()
         .map(|(fid, (score, hop, seed))| (fid, score, hop, seed))
         .collect();
-    results.sort_by(|a, b| b.1.partial_cmp(&a.1).unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal));
+    results.sort_by(|a, b| {
+        b.1.partial_cmp(&a.1)
+            .unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal)
+            .then_with(|| a.0.cmp(&b.0))
+    });
     results.truncate(max_expansions);
 
     // Convert to RankedResult
diff --git a/src/search.rs b/src/search.rs
index 4a78481..ff98d92 100644
--- a/src/search.rs
+++ b/src/search.rs
@@ -268,6 +268,7 @@ pub fn search_with_intelligence(
             b.score
                 .partial_cmp(&a.score)
                 .unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal)
+                .then_with(|| a.file_path.cmp(&b.file_path))
         });
         true
     } else {
@@ -311,6 +312,7 @@ pub fn search_with_intelligence(
             b.score
                 .partial_cmp(&a.score)
                 .unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal)
+                .then_with(|| a.file_path.cmp(&b.file_path))
         });
 
         // 5-lane RRF (rerank_results is empty when reranker absent, weight 0)
@@ -374,10 +376,14 @@ fn dedup_by_file(results: Vec<RankedResult>) -> Vec<RankedResult> {
         }
     }
     let mut deduped: Vec<RankedResult> = by_file.into_values().collect();
+    // Tiebreak on file_path: the map's iteration order is random per process,
+    // and equal scores otherwise land in random rank order (nondeterministic
+    // RRF ranks downstream).
     deduped.sort_by(|a, b| {
         b.score
             .partial_cmp(&a.score)
             .unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal)
+            .then_with(|| a.file_path.cmp(&b.file_path))
     });
     deduped
 }
@@ -393,7 +399,15 @@ fn merge_seeds(semantic: &[RankedResult], fts: &[RankedResult]) -> Vec<RankedRes
             by_file.insert(r.file_path.clone(), r.clone());
         }
     }
-    by_file.into_values().collect()
+    let mut seeds: Vec<RankedResult> = by_file.into_values().collect();
+    // Deterministic seed order (map iteration order is random per process).
+    seeds.sort_by(|a, b| {
+        b.score
+            .partial_cmp(&a.score)
+            .unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal)
+            .then_with(|| a.file_path.cmp(&b.file_path))
+    });
+    seeds
 }
 
 /// Run a search query and print results.
diff --git a/src/store.rs b/src/store.rs
index 0e621ef..1075188 100644
--- a/src/store.rs
+++ b/src/store.rs
@@ -131,6 +131,8 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS chunks (
     vector      BLOB
 );
 
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_chunks_file_id ON chunks(file_id);
+
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS tombstones (
     id         INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
     vector_id  INTEGER UNIQUE NOT NULL,
@@ -1001,7 +1003,7 @@ impl Store {
     /// Get the best (highest token_count) chunk for a file.
     pub fn get_best_chunk_for_file(&self, file_id: i64) -> Result<Option<(String, String)>> {
         let mut stmt = self.conn.prepare(
-            "SELECT heading, snippet FROM chunks WHERE file_id = ?1 ORDER BY token_count DESC LIMIT 1",
+            "SELECT heading, snippet FROM chunks WHERE file_id = ?1 ORDER BY token_count DESC, id ASC LIMIT 1",
         )?;
         let mut rows = stmt.query_map(params![file_id], |row| {
             Ok((row.get::<_, String>(0)?, row.get::<_, String>(1)?))
@@ -2619,6 +2621,9 @@ mod tests {
         store
             .insert_chunk(f1, "Big heading", "big snippet", 2, 100)
             .unwrap();
+        store
+            .insert_chunk(f1, "Later tie", "later snippet", 3, 100)
+            .unwrap();
 
         let best = store.get_best_chunk_for_file(f1).unwrap().unwrap();
         assert_eq!(best.0, "Big heading");
diff --git a/tests/golden_search.rs b/tests/golden_search.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e043c08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/golden_search.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+//! Deterministic, model-free search regression battery.
+//!
+//! The old integration suites exercised deleted HNSW/Embedder modules. This
+//! fixture uses the current Store + MockLlm path and repeats the same queries
+//! to catch ranking nondeterminism without downloading a GGUF model.
+
+use engraph::docid::generate_docid;
+use engraph::llm::MockLlm;
+use engraph::search::search_internal;
+use engraph::store::Store;
+
+fn fixture_store() -> Store {
+    let store = Store::open_memory().unwrap();
+    let embedder = MockLlm::new(256);
+    let documents = [
+        (
+            "notes/alpha.md",
+            "retrieval ranking architecture",
+            "retrieval ranking",
+        ),
+        (
+            "notes/beta.md",
+            "retrieval ranking operations",
+            "retrieval ranking",
+        ),
+        ("notes/gamma.md", "unrelated gardening notes", "unrelated"),
+    ];
+
+    for (path, snippet, vector_seed) in documents {
+        let file_id = store
+            .insert_file(path, path, 0, &[], &generate_docid(path), None, None)
+            .unwrap();
+        let vector_id = store.next_vector_id().unwrap();
+        let vector = embedder.hash_to_vector(vector_seed);
+        store
+            .insert_chunk_with_vector(file_id, "# Fixture", snippet, vector_id, 3, &vector)
+            .unwrap();
+        store.insert_vec(vector_id, &vector).unwrap();
+        store.insert_fts_chunk(file_id, 0, snippet).unwrap();
+    }
+    store
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn golden_search_battery_is_stable() {
+    let store = fixture_store();
+    let mut embedder = MockLlm::new(256);
+
+    for _ in 0..10 {
+        let retrieval = search_internal("retrieval ranking", 2, &store, &mut embedder).unwrap();
+        let retrieval_paths: Vec<&str> = retrieval
+            .results
+            .iter()
+            .map(|result| result.file_path.as_str())
+            .collect();
+        assert_eq!(
+            retrieval_paths,
+            vec!["notes/alpha.md", "notes/beta.md"],
+            "retrieval golden result changed"
+        );
+
+        let unrelated = search_internal("unrelated", 1, &store, &mut embedder).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            unrelated.results[0].file_path, "notes/gamma.md",
+            "unrelated golden result changed"
+        );
+    }
+}