diff --git a/src/search/index.ts b/src/search/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61e7978
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/search/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/**
+ * Fuzzy search unit barrel export.
+ */
+
+export { normalizeText, tokenize, tokenizeWithOffsets, type Token } from "./tokenize.ts";
+export { boundedLevenshtein, scoreToken, scoreField, type FieldScore } from "./score.ts";
+export { extractSnippet } from "./snippet.ts";
+export {
+  rankRecords,
+  DEFAULT_MIN_SCORE,
+  type MatchMode,
+  type FieldSpec,
+  type FieldMatch,
+  type Ranked,
+  type RankOptions,
+} from "./rank.ts";
+export {
+  searchPipeline,
+  mapWithConcurrency,
+  isFatalSearchError,
+  DEFAULT_ENRICH_LIMIT,
+  DEFAULT_CONCURRENCY,
+  type PipelineSpec,
+  type PipelineEntry,
+  type PipelineResult,
+} from "./pipeline.ts";
diff --git a/src/search/pipeline.ts b/src/search/pipeline.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7520c27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/search/pipeline.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+/**
+ * Two-phase search orchestration.
+ *
+ * Phase 1 ranks candidates on data the list endpoint already returned, at no
+ * additional API cost. Phase 2 enriches a bounded subset with deep content
+ * and re-ranks. Final score is max(shallow, deep) so that a dead-on title
+ * match is never diluted by an unrelated body.
+ */
+
+import { OpenProjectAuthenticationError } from "../client/api-client.ts";
+import { rankRecords, type FieldMatch, type FieldSpec, type RankOptions } from "./rank.ts";
+
+export const DEFAULT_ENRICH_LIMIT = 25;
+export const DEFAULT_CONCURRENCY = 8;
+
+export interface PipelineSpec<TShallow, TDeep> {
+  /** Fetches the candidate window. */
+  fetchCandidates: () => Promise<TShallow[]>;
+  /** Fields available without any additional API call. */
+  shallowFields: FieldSpec<TShallow>[];
+  /** Fetches deep content for one candidate. */
+  enrich: (candidate: TShallow) => Promise<TDeep>;
+  /** Fields available only after enrichment. */
+  deepFields: FieldSpec<TDeep>[];
+  enrichLimit?: number;
+  concurrency?: number;
+  /** Orders the recency backfill. Omitted means "keep API order". */
+  recencyOf?: (candidate: TShallow) => string | number;
+  idOf?: (candidate: TShallow) => number;
+}
+
+export interface PipelineEntry<TShallow, TDeep> {
+  record: TShallow;
+  score: number;
+  matches: FieldMatch[];
+  deep?: TDeep;
+}
+
+export interface PipelineResult<TShallow, TDeep> {
+  ranked: PipelineEntry<TShallow, TDeep>[];
+  /** True when at least one enrichment failed non-fatally. */
+  degraded: boolean;
+  enrichmentFailures: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * True for errors that must abort the whole search rather than degrade one
+ * record: an expired token must not be reported to the model as "no results".
+ */
+export function isFatalSearchError(error: unknown): boolean {
+  if (error instanceof OpenProjectAuthenticationError) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  const statusCode = (error as { statusCode?: number } | null)?.statusCode;
+  return statusCode === 401 || statusCode === 403 || statusCode === 429;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Maps over items with a bounded number of in-flight operations, preserving
+ * input order in the results.
+ */
+export async function mapWithConcurrency<T, R>(
+  items: T[],
+  concurrency: number,
+  fn: (item: T, index: number) => Promise<R>
+): Promise<R[]> {
+  const results = new Array<R>(items.length);
+  let nextIndex = 0;
+
+  const workerCount = Math.max(1, Math.min(concurrency, items.length));
+  const workers = Array.from({ length: workerCount }, async () => {
+    for (;;) {
+      const index = nextIndex++;
+      if (index >= items.length) {
+        return;
+      }
+      results[index] = await fn(items[index]!, index);
+    }
+  });
+
+  await Promise.all(workers);
+  return results;
+}
+
+function recencyValue<T>(
+  recencyOf: ((candidate: T) => string | number) | undefined,
+  candidate: T
+): number {
+  if (!recencyOf) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+  const value = recencyOf(candidate);
+  if (typeof value === "number") {
+    return value;
+  }
+  const parsed = Date.parse(value);
+  return Number.isNaN(parsed) ? 0 : parsed;
+}
+
+export async function searchPipeline<TShallow, TDeep>(
+  spec: PipelineSpec<TShallow, TDeep>,
+  query: string,
+  opts?: RankOptions<TShallow>
+): Promise<PipelineResult<TShallow, TDeep>> {
+  const candidates = await spec.fetchCandidates();
+  const enrichLimit = spec.enrichLimit ?? DEFAULT_ENRICH_LIMIT;
+  const concurrency = spec.concurrency ?? DEFAULT_CONCURRENCY;
+  const idOf = spec.idOf ?? ((candidate: TShallow) => (candidate as { id?: number })?.id ?? 0);
+
+  // Phase 1: rank on data we already have. No limit here — the limit applies
+  // to the final merged result, not the intermediate ranking.
+  const shallowRanked = rankRecords(candidates, query, spec.shallowFields, {
+    ...opts,
+    idOf,
+    limit: undefined,
+  });
+
+  const entries = new Map<number, PipelineEntry<TShallow, TDeep>>();
+  for (const ranked of shallowRanked) {
+    entries.set(idOf(ranked.record), {
+      record: ranked.record,
+      score: ranked.score,
+      matches: ranked.matches,
+    });
+  }
+
+  // Enrichment set: top N by shallow score, backfilled by recency. The
+  // backfill exists because a record whose only match is deep scores zero
+  // shallowly and would otherwise never be enriched, and so never found.
+  const selected = shallowRanked.slice(0, enrichLimit).map((ranked) => ranked.record);
+  if (selected.length < enrichLimit) {
+    const alreadySelected = new Set(selected.map(idOf));
+    const backfill = candidates
+      .filter((candidate) => !alreadySelected.has(idOf(candidate)))
+      .sort((a, b) => recencyValue(spec.recencyOf, b) - recencyValue(spec.recencyOf, a));
+
+    for (const candidate of backfill) {
+      if (selected.length >= enrichLimit) {
+        break;
+      }
+      selected.push(candidate);
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Phase 2: bounded enrichment.
+  //
+  // The explicit EnrichedCandidate annotation is required, not stylistic:
+  // without it TypeScript infers the callback's return as a UNION of two
+  // object literal types ({ deep: Awaited<TDeep> } | { deep: undefined })
+  // rather than a single type with `deep: TDeep | undefined`. The narrowing
+  // predicate below is then rejected, because a type predicate's type must be
+  // assignable to its parameter's type and `Pair` is not assignable to the
+  // `{ deep: undefined }` arm.
+  interface EnrichedCandidate {
+    candidate: TShallow;
+    deep: TDeep | undefined;
+  }
+
+  let enrichmentFailures = 0;
+  const enriched: EnrichedCandidate[] = await mapWithConcurrency<TShallow, EnrichedCandidate>(
+    selected,
+    concurrency,
+    async (candidate) => {
+      try {
+        return { candidate, deep: await spec.enrich(candidate) };
+      } catch (error: unknown) {
+        if (isFatalSearchError(error)) {
+          throw error;
+        }
+        enrichmentFailures++;
+        return { candidate, deep: undefined };
+      }
+    }
+  );
+
+  interface Pair {
+    candidate: TShallow;
+    deep: TDeep;
+  }
+
+  const pairs: Pair[] = enriched.filter(
+    (entry): entry is Pair => entry.deep !== undefined
+  );
+
+  // Attach deep content to every enriched entry, matched or not, so callers
+  // can reuse it without re-fetching.
+  for (const pair of pairs) {
+    const existing = entries.get(idOf(pair.candidate));
+    if (existing) {
+      existing.deep = pair.deep;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const pairFields: FieldSpec<Pair>[] = spec.deepFields.map((field) => ({
+    name: field.name,
+    weight: field.weight,
+    extract: (pair: Pair) => field.extract(pair.deep),
+  }));
+
+  const deepRanked = rankRecords(pairs, query, pairFields, {
+    ...opts,
+    idOf: (pair: Pair) => idOf(pair.candidate),
+    limit: undefined,
+  });
+
+  for (const ranked of deepRanked) {
+    const id = idOf(ranked.record.candidate);
+    const existing = entries.get(id);
+
+    if (existing) {
+      // max(shallow, deep), never a sum.
+      if (ranked.score > existing.score) {
+        existing.score = ranked.score;
+      }
+      existing.matches = [...existing.matches, ...ranked.matches].sort(
+        (a, b) => b.score - a.score
+      );
+      existing.deep = ranked.record.deep;
+    } else {
+      entries.set(id, {
+        record: ranked.record.candidate,
+        score: ranked.score,
+        matches: ranked.matches,
+        deep: ranked.record.deep,
+      });
+    }
+  }
+
+  const ranked = [...entries.values()].sort(
+    (a, b) => b.score - a.score || idOf(a.record) - idOf(b.record)
+  );
+
+  const limited =
+    opts?.limit !== undefined && opts.limit > 0 ? ranked.slice(0, opts.limit) : ranked;
+
+  return {
+    ranked: limited,
+    degraded: enrichmentFailures > 0,
+    enrichmentFailures,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/tests/search/pipeline.test.ts b/tests/search/pipeline.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7384225
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/search/pipeline.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,204 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { mapWithConcurrency, searchPipeline } from "../../src/search/pipeline.ts";
+import { OpenProjectAuthenticationError, OpenProjectError } from "../../src/client/api-client.ts";
+import type { FieldSpec } from "../../src/search/rank.ts";
+
+interface Candidate {
+  id: number;
+  title: string;
+  updatedAt: string;
+}
+
+interface Enriched {
+  id: number;
+  notes: string;
+}
+
+function makeCandidates(count: number): Candidate[] {
+  return Array.from({ length: count }, (_, index) => ({
+    id: index + 1,
+    title: `Item ${index + 1}`,
+    updatedAt: new Date(2026, 0, index + 1).toISOString(),
+  }));
+}
+
+const SHALLOW: FieldSpec<Candidate>[] = [{ name: "title", weight: 3, extract: (c) => c.title }];
+const DEEP: FieldSpec<Enriched>[] = [{ name: "notes", weight: 2, extract: (e) => e.notes }];
+
+describe("mapWithConcurrency", () => {
+  test("never exceeds the concurrency limit", async () => {
+    let inFlight = 0;
+    let peak = 0;
+
+    await mapWithConcurrency(Array.from({ length: 50 }, (_, i) => i), 8, async (item) => {
+      inFlight++;
+      peak = Math.max(peak, inFlight);
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1));
+      inFlight--;
+      return item;
+    });
+
+    expect(peak).toBeLessThanOrEqual(8);
+  });
+
+  test("preserves input order in the results", async () => {
+    const result = await mapWithConcurrency([3, 1, 2], 2, async (item) => {
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, item));
+      return item * 10;
+    });
+    expect(result).toEqual([30, 10, 20]);
+  });
+
+  test("handles an empty input array", async () => {
+    expect(await mapWithConcurrency([], 4, async (i) => i)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("searchPipeline", () => {
+  test("caps enrichment at the enrich limit", async () => {
+    let enrichCalls = 0;
+
+    await searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => makeCandidates(100),
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async (candidate) => {
+          enrichCalls++;
+          return { id: candidate.id, notes: "" };
+        },
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+        recencyOf: (candidate) => candidate.updatedAt,
+      },
+      "item"
+    );
+
+    expect(enrichCalls).toBe(25);
+  });
+
+  test("backfills the enrichment set by recency when few candidates match shallowly", async () => {
+    const enriched: number[] = [];
+
+    await searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => makeCandidates(100),
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async (candidate) => {
+          enriched.push(candidate.id);
+          return { id: candidate.id, notes: "" };
+        },
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+        recencyOf: (candidate) => candidate.updatedAt,
+      },
+      "zzzznomatch"
+    );
+
+    // Nothing matches shallowly, so the whole budget is spent on the most
+    // recently updated candidates: ids 100 down to 76.
+    expect(enriched).toHaveLength(25);
+    expect(enriched[0]).toBe(100);
+    expect(enriched).toContain(76);
+    expect(enriched).not.toContain(75);
+  });
+
+  test("finds a record whose only match is in deep content", async () => {
+    const result = await searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => makeCandidates(10),
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async (candidate) => ({
+          id: candidate.id,
+          notes: candidate.id === 3 ? "We agreed on the hiring freeze" : "routine notes",
+        }),
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+        recencyOf: (candidate) => candidate.updatedAt,
+      },
+      "hiring freeze"
+    );
+
+    expect(result.ranked[0]!.record.id).toBe(3);
+    expect(result.ranked[0]!.deep?.notes).toContain("hiring freeze");
+  });
+
+  test("takes the maximum of shallow and deep scores rather than the sum", async () => {
+    const result = await searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => [{ id: 1, title: "Budget", updatedAt: "2026-01-01" }],
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async () => ({ id: 1, notes: "totally unrelated filler text" }),
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+      },
+      "budget"
+    );
+
+    expect(result.ranked[0]!.score).toBeLessThanOrEqual(1);
+    expect(result.ranked[0]!.score).toBeGreaterThan(0.9);
+  });
+
+  test("marks the result degraded when an enrichment fails non-fatally", async () => {
+    const result = await searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => makeCandidates(3),
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async (candidate) => {
+          if (candidate.id === 2) {
+            throw new OpenProjectError("boom", { statusCode: 500 });
+          }
+          return { id: candidate.id, notes: "" };
+        },
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+      },
+      "item"
+    );
+
+    expect(result.degraded).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.enrichmentFailures).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.ranked.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+
+  test("propagates authentication errors instead of swallowing them", async () => {
+    const run = searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => makeCandidates(3),
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async () => {
+          throw new OpenProjectAuthenticationError();
+        },
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+      },
+      "item"
+    );
+
+    await expect(run).rejects.toThrow(OpenProjectAuthenticationError);
+  });
+
+  test("propagates rate limit errors instead of swallowing them", async () => {
+    const run = searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => makeCandidates(3),
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async () => {
+          throw new OpenProjectError("slow down", { statusCode: 429 });
+        },
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+      },
+      "item"
+    );
+
+    await expect(run).rejects.toThrow("slow down");
+  });
+
+  test("reports no degradation when every enrichment succeeds", async () => {
+    const result = await searchPipeline<Candidate, Enriched>(
+      {
+        fetchCandidates: async () => makeCandidates(3),
+        shallowFields: SHALLOW,
+        enrich: async (candidate) => ({ id: candidate.id, notes: "" }),
+        deepFields: DEEP,
+      },
+      "item"
+    );
+
+    expect(result.degraded).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.enrichmentFailures).toBe(0);
+  });
+});