diff --git a/internal/application/service/knowledge.go b/internal/application/service/knowledge.go
index 1411f86b6..b7f226254 100644
--- a/internal/application/service/knowledge.go
+++ b/internal/application/service/knowledge.go
@@ -2021,6 +2021,7 @@ func (s *knowledgeService) processChunks(ctx context.Context,
 			KnowledgeID:     knowledge.ID,
 			KnowledgeBaseID: knowledge.KnowledgeBaseID,
 			Content:         chunkData.Content,
+			ContextHeader:   chunkData.ContextHeader,
 			ChunkIndex:      int(chunkData.Seq),
 			IsEnabled:       true,
 			CreatedAt:       time.Now(),
@@ -2102,7 +2103,10 @@ func (s *knowledgeService) processChunks(ctx context.Context,
 			titlePrefix = t + "\n"
 		}
 		for _, chunk := range textChunks {
-			indexContent := titlePrefix + chunk.Content
+			// chunk.EmbeddingContent prepends ContextHeader (heading breadcrumb)
+			// when the chunker populated it during Tier-1 splitting; falls back
+			// to plain Content otherwise. Title prefix sits outermost.
+			indexContent := titlePrefix + chunk.EmbeddingContent()
 			indexInfoList = append(indexInfoList, &types.IndexInfo{
 				Content:         indexContent,
 				SourceID:        chunk.ID,
@@ -7494,11 +7498,12 @@ func (s *knowledgeService) triggerManualProcessing(ctx context.Context,
 		parsed = make([]types.ParsedChunk, len(pcResult.Children))
 		for i, c := range pcResult.Children {
 			parsed[i] = types.ParsedChunk{
-				Content:     c.Content,
-				Seq:         c.Seq,
-				Start:       c.Start,
-				End:         c.End,
-				ParentIndex: c.ParentIndex,
+				Content:       c.Content,
+				ContextHeader: c.ContextHeader,
+				Seq:           c.Seq,
+				Start:         c.Start,
+				End:           c.End,
+				ParentIndex:   c.ParentIndex,
 			}
 		}
 		parentChunks := make([]types.ParsedParentChunk, len(pcResult.Parents))
@@ -7511,10 +7516,11 @@ func (s *knowledgeService) triggerManualProcessing(ctx context.Context,
 		parsed = make([]types.ParsedChunk, len(splitChunks))
 		for i, c := range splitChunks {
 			parsed[i] = types.ParsedChunk{
-				Content: c.Content,
-				Seq:     c.Seq,
-				Start:   c.Start,
-				End:     c.End,
+				Content:       c.Content,
+				ContextHeader: c.ContextHeader,
+				Seq:           c.Seq,
+				Start:         c.Start,
+				End:           c.End,
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -8350,11 +8356,12 @@ func (s *knowledgeService) ProcessDocument(ctx context.Context, t *asynq.Task) e
 		chunks = make([]types.ParsedChunk, len(pcResult.Children))
 		for i, c := range pcResult.Children {
 			chunks[i] = types.ParsedChunk{
-				Content:     c.Content,
-				Seq:         c.Seq,
-				Start:       c.Start,
-				End:         c.End,
-				ParentIndex: c.ParentIndex,
+				Content:       c.Content,
+				ContextHeader: c.ContextHeader,
+				Seq:           c.Seq,
+				Start:         c.Start,
+				End:           c.End,
+				ParentIndex:   c.ParentIndex,
 			}
 		}
 		parentChunks := make([]types.ParsedParentChunk, len(pcResult.Parents))
@@ -8369,10 +8376,11 @@ func (s *knowledgeService) ProcessDocument(ctx context.Context, t *asynq.Task) e
 		chunks = make([]types.ParsedChunk, len(splitChunks))
 		for i, c := range splitChunks {
 			chunks[i] = types.ParsedChunk{
-				Content: c.Content,
-				Seq:     c.Seq,
-				Start:   c.Start,
-				End:     c.End,
+				Content:       c.Content,
+				ContextHeader: c.ContextHeader,
+				Seq:           c.Seq,
+				Start:         c.Start,
+				End:           c.End,
 			}
 		}
 		logger.Infof(ctx, "Split document into %d chunks for knowledge %s", len(chunks), knowledge.ID)
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter.go b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter.go
index 3789aa148..4a9e13416 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter.go
@@ -74,35 +74,34 @@ func splitByHeadingsImpl(text string, cfg SplitterConfig) []Chunk {
 		}
 
 		bcLen := utf8.RuneCountInString(breadcrumb)
-		// Reserve some headroom (breadcrumb + 2 newlines) when fitting a section.
+		// Single-chunk section: emit as-is, breadcrumb tracked separately.
+		// The breadcrumb is delivered via Chunk.ContextHeader (not Content)
+		// to preserve End-Start == len(Content) invariants relied on by
+		// document reconstruction (knowledge.go:2278+).
 		if bcLen+2+secLen <= cfg.ChunkSize {
-			content := prependBreadcrumb(sectionContent, breadcrumb)
 			out = append(out, Chunk{
-				Content: content,
-				Seq:     seq,
-				Start:   b.runeStart,
-				End:     endRune,
+				Content:       sectionContent,
+				ContextHeader: breadcrumb,
+				Seq:           seq,
+				Start:         b.runeStart,
+				End:           endRune,
 			})
 			seq++
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// Section too large for one chunk: defer to the legacy splitter for
-		// inner segmentation, then prepend the breadcrumb to every sub-chunk.
-		// Reduce the inner budget by the breadcrumb length so the final
-		// chunk (incl. breadcrumb) still fits under cfg.ChunkSize.
-		innerCfg := cfg
-		if bcLen > 0 && innerCfg.ChunkSize > bcLen+10 {
-			innerCfg.ChunkSize -= bcLen + 2
-		}
-		subChunks := SplitText(sectionContent, innerCfg)
+		// Section too large: defer to the legacy splitter for inner
+		// segmentation. Sub-chunks inherit the same breadcrumb via
+		// ContextHeader. We do NOT shrink the inner ChunkSize budget here
+		// because the breadcrumb no longer counts against Content size.
+		subChunks := SplitText(sectionContent, cfg)
 		for _, sub := range subChunks {
-			content := prependBreadcrumb(sub.Content, breadcrumb)
 			out = append(out, Chunk{
-				Content: content,
-				Seq:     seq,
-				Start:   b.runeStart + sub.Start,
-				End:     b.runeStart + sub.End,
+				Content:       sub.Content,
+				ContextHeader: breadcrumb,
+				Seq:           seq,
+				Start:         b.runeStart + sub.Start,
+				End:           b.runeStart + sub.End,
 			})
 			seq++
 		}
@@ -189,16 +188,3 @@ func observeSubHeadings(runes []rune, primaryLevel int, h *HeadingHierarchy) {
 	}
 }
 
-// prependBreadcrumb attaches the breadcrumb to content unless content
-// already begins with that exact breadcrumb (avoid duplication when a
-// section's first line is itself the section heading).
-func prependBreadcrumb(content, breadcrumb string) string {
-	if breadcrumb == "" {
-		return content
-	}
-	trimmed := strings.TrimLeft(content, " \t\r\n")
-	if strings.HasPrefix(trimmed, breadcrumb) {
-		return content
-	}
-	return breadcrumb + "\n\n" + content
-}
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter_test.go b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter_test.go
index 9132eb7be..f8257b306 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter_test.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heading_splitter_test.go
@@ -23,14 +23,17 @@ content of C.`
 		t.Fatalf("expected ≥3 chunks (one per section), got %d", len(chunks))
 	}
 
-	// Each chunk should contain the H1 + section heading as breadcrumb.
+	// Breadcrumb is delivered via ContextHeader, not Content.
 	for i, c := range chunks {
-		if !strings.Contains(c.Content, "# Top") {
-			t.Errorf("chunk %d missing H1 breadcrumb:\n%s", i, c.Content)
+		if !strings.Contains(c.ContextHeader, "# Top") {
+			t.Errorf("chunk %d missing H1 in ContextHeader:\n%q", i, c.ContextHeader)
+		}
+		// EmbeddingContent merges header + content for the embedder.
+		if !strings.Contains(c.EmbeddingContent(), "# Top") {
+			t.Errorf("chunk %d EmbeddingContent missing H1", i)
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Section B chunk should mention Section B.
 	found := false
 	for _, c := range chunks {
 		if strings.Contains(c.Content, "Section B") && strings.Contains(c.Content, "content of B") {
@@ -60,10 +63,10 @@ func TestSplitByHeadings_LargeSectionRecursesIntoLegacy(t *testing.T) {
 	if len(chunks) < 2 {
 		t.Fatalf("large section should be sub-split, got %d chunks", len(chunks))
 	}
-	// Every sub-chunk should still carry the breadcrumb.
+	// Every sub-chunk should carry the breadcrumb via ContextHeader.
 	for i, c := range chunks {
-		if !strings.Contains(c.Content, "# Top") {
-			t.Errorf("sub-chunk %d missing H1 breadcrumb", i)
+		if !strings.Contains(c.ContextHeader, "# Top") {
+			t.Errorf("sub-chunk %d missing H1 in ContextHeader", i)
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -82,14 +85,13 @@ text B`
 	if len(chunks) < 3 {
 		t.Fatalf("expected ≥3 chunks, got %d", len(chunks))
 	}
-	// Section B chunk's breadcrumb should NOT mention Section A
 	for _, c := range chunks {
 		if strings.Contains(c.Content, "text B") {
-			if strings.Contains(c.Content, "## Section A") {
-				t.Errorf("Section B chunk should not include Section A in breadcrumb:\n%s", c.Content)
+			if strings.Contains(c.ContextHeader, "## Section A") {
+				t.Errorf("Section B chunk should not include Section A in breadcrumb:\n%s", c.ContextHeader)
 			}
-			if !strings.Contains(c.Content, "## Section B") {
-				t.Errorf("Section B chunk should include its own heading:\n%s", c.Content)
+			if !strings.Contains(c.ContextHeader, "## Section B") {
+				t.Errorf("Section B chunk should include its own heading in breadcrumb:\n%s", c.ContextHeader)
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -99,15 +101,12 @@ func TestSplitByHeadings_IgnoresHeadingsInsideCodeFence(t *testing.T) {
 	doc := "# Real\n\n```\n# Fake heading inside code\n```\n\nbody"
 	cfg := SplitterConfig{ChunkSize: 500, ChunkOverlap: 0}
 	chunks := splitByHeadingsImpl(doc, cfg)
-	// The fake heading should not create a section boundary — there's only
-	// one real H1, so we expect either 1 chunk or fall-through.
 	for _, c := range chunks {
-		if strings.Contains(c.Content, "# Real") {
-			// Good — found the real one.
+		if strings.Contains(c.ContextHeader, "# Real") || strings.Contains(c.Content, "# Real") {
 			return
 		}
 	}
-	t.Error("expected real H1 breadcrumb in some chunk")
+	t.Error("expected real H1 breadcrumb on some chunk")
 }
 
 func TestSplitByHeadings_PreservesPositionRelativeToOriginal(t *testing.T) {
@@ -123,3 +122,64 @@ func TestSplitByHeadings_PreservesPositionRelativeToOriginal(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// TestSplitByHeadings_PositionInvariant ensures End-Start == len(Content)
+// and runes[Start:End] == Content for every emitted chunk. This invariant
+// is required by knowledge.go:2278+ document reconstruction logic.
+func TestSplitByHeadings_PositionInvariant(t *testing.T) {
+	doc := `# Top
+intro paragraph here.
+
+## Section A
+content of A here, several sentences.
+
+## Section B
+content of B here.
+
+## Section C
+content of C here.`
+	cfg := SplitterConfig{ChunkSize: 200, ChunkOverlap: 20}
+	chunks := splitByHeadingsImpl(doc, cfg)
+	if len(chunks) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("expected chunks")
+	}
+	docRunes := []rune(doc)
+	for i, c := range chunks {
+		contentRuneLen := len([]rune(c.Content))
+		span := c.End - c.Start
+		if span != contentRuneLen {
+			t.Errorf("chunk %d: span(%d) != content_runes(%d)\nContent:\n%q", i, span, contentRuneLen, c.Content)
+		}
+		if c.Start >= 0 && c.End <= len(docRunes) {
+			if string(docRunes[c.Start:c.End]) != c.Content {
+				t.Errorf("chunk %d: runes[Start:End] != Content", i)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestSplitByHeadings_NoBreadcrumbDuplication ensures the section's own
+// heading line does not appear twice in the chunk content (once as part of
+// the breadcrumb, once as the section's first line).
+func TestSplitByHeadings_NoBreadcrumbDuplication(t *testing.T) {
+	doc := `# Chapter 1
+intro.
+
+## Section A
+body A.
+
+## Section B
+body B.`
+	cfg := SplitterConfig{ChunkSize: 500, ChunkOverlap: 0}
+	chunks := splitByHeadingsImpl(doc, cfg)
+	for i, c := range chunks {
+		// Count occurrences of "## Section A" / "## Section B"
+		for _, heading := range []string{"## Section A", "## Section B"} {
+			n := strings.Count(c.Content, heading)
+			if n > 1 {
+				t.Errorf("chunk %d contains %q %d times — duplicated by breadcrumb prepend:\n%s",
+					i, heading, n, c.Content)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heuristic_splitter.go b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heuristic_splitter.go
index 502b448b1..a9bc74c53 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heuristic_splitter.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/heuristic_splitter.go
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ func splitByHeuristicsImpl(text string, cfg SplitterConfig) []Chunk {
 		if accumulated > cfg.ChunkSize && curEnd-chunkStart >= minChunkSize {
 			// Flush accumulated content as a chunk, restart at curEnd.
 			out = appendChunk(out, runes, chunkStart, curEnd, &seq)
-			// Apply overlap by shifting chunkStart back a bit.
-			chunkStart = applyOverlap(curEnd, cfg.ChunkOverlap)
+			// Snap overlap start to the nearest semantic boundary or line
+			// break instead of slicing mid-line / mid-word.
+			chunkStart = applyOverlapAligned(runes, curEnd, cfg.ChunkOverlap, bounds)
 		}
 		curEnd = nextEnd
 	}
@@ -227,16 +228,42 @@ func appendOversizeBlock(out []Chunk, runes []rune, start, end int, cfg Splitter
 	return out
 }
 
-// applyOverlap shifts the next chunk's start back by `overlap` runes (but
-// not before zero) so consecutive chunks share content. Mirrors the
-// computeOverlap behavior of the legacy splitter.
-func applyOverlap(curEnd, overlap int) int {
+// applyOverlapAligned returns the rune offset where the next chunk should
+// start. The target is `curEnd - overlap`, but we snap to the nearest
+// preceding boundary (within 2x overlap) or, failing that, the previous
+// newline so chunks don't begin mid-line / mid-word. Falls back to the raw
+// target only if neither option is available.
+func applyOverlapAligned(runes []rune, curEnd, overlap int, bounds []boundary) int {
 	if overlap <= 0 {
 		return curEnd
 	}
-	start := curEnd - overlap
-	if start < 0 {
-		start = 0
+	target := curEnd - overlap
+	if target < 0 {
+		target = 0
 	}
-	return start
+	// Allowed search window: [curEnd - 2*overlap, curEnd]
+	windowStart := curEnd - 2*overlap
+	if windowStart < 0 {
+		windowStart = 0
+	}
+
+	// Prefer a semantic boundary inside the window.
+	bestBound := -1
+	for _, b := range bounds {
+		if b.runeStart >= windowStart && b.runeStart <= curEnd && b.runeStart > bestBound {
+			bestBound = b.runeStart
+		}
+	}
+	if bestBound >= 0 {
+		return bestBound
+	}
+
+	// Fallback: scan backwards from `target` to the previous newline, but
+	// not past windowStart so we keep the overlap roughly the right size.
+	for i := target; i > windowStart && i < len(runes); i-- {
+		if runes[i] == '\n' {
+			return i + 1
+		}
+	}
+	return target
 }
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter.go b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter.go
index 5e8db3514..1cf51c5b0 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter.go
@@ -12,11 +12,33 @@ import (
 )
 
 // Chunk represents a piece of split text with position tracking.
+//
+// Content holds exactly the text from the original document between Start
+// and End (rune offsets), so End-Start == utf8.RuneCountInString(Content).
+// This invariant is relied on by document-reconstruction code paths
+// (knowledge.go:2278+ for summary generation, UI highlighting, etc.).
+//
+// ContextHeader is a separately-tracked context string (e.g. a Markdown
+// heading breadcrumb) that should be prepended at embedding/retrieval time
+// but is NOT part of Content. Keeping the two apart preserves the
+// position invariant while still letting embedding pipelines see the
+// section context.
 type Chunk struct {
-	Content string
-	Seq     int
-	Start   int
-	End     int
+	Content       string
+	ContextHeader string
+	Seq           int
+	Start         int
+	End           int
+}
+
+// EmbeddingContent returns the text that should be fed to the embedding
+// model — the ContextHeader prepended (when set) plus the chunk content.
+// Use this where Content alone would lose semantic context (Tier-1 chunks).
+func (c Chunk) EmbeddingContent() string {
+	if c.ContextHeader == "" {
+		return c.Content
+	}
+	return c.ContextHeader + "\n\n" + c.Content
 }
 
 // ImageRef is an image reference found within a chunk's content.
@@ -46,9 +68,20 @@ type SplitterConfig struct {
 
 // Default sizes used by all entry points (DefaultConfig, ensureDefaults,
 // and buildSplitterConfig in the knowledge service).
+//
+// MIGRATION NOTE: Prior versions had three different overlap defaults
+// (Go DefaultConfig: 64, knowledge.go buildSplitterConfig: 50, Python
+// docreader: 100). This file is now the single source of truth at 80
+// (≈15% of DefaultChunkSize) — a community-recommended sweet spot.
+//
+// Existing knowledge bases that stored ChunkOverlap=0 in the DB will pick
+// up 80 on next re-index; their previously-indexed embeddings will not
+// match new ones bit-for-bit. Recall stays similar but search ranking
+// can shift slightly. To freeze the old behavior on a per-KB basis,
+// explicitly set ChunkingConfig.ChunkOverlap to 64 before re-indexing.
 const (
 	DefaultChunkSize    = 512
-	DefaultChunkOverlap = 80 // ≈ 15% of DefaultChunkSize
+	DefaultChunkOverlap = 80
 )
 
 // DefaultConfig returns sensible defaults.
@@ -122,17 +155,24 @@ type splitUnit struct {
 	start, end int
 }
 
-// splitBySeparators splits text by separators in priority order, keeping the
-// separators themselves as standalone units. Walks the separator list in
-// order: the first separator that actually splits the text wins, the rest
-// are not applied. Mirrors the recursive priority semantics of the Python
-// reference splitter (docreader/splitter/splitter.py:_split).
-func splitBySeparators(text string, separators []string) []string {
-	if len(separators) == 0 || text == "" {
+// splitBySeparators splits text by separators in priority order, recursively
+// applying the next separator to any piece that is still larger than
+// chunkSize. Mirrors the recursive priority semantics of the Python
+// reference splitter (docreader/splitter/splitter.py:_split): if `\n\n`
+// produces a piece that's still too big, `\n` (and subsequent separators)
+// are applied within that piece — not to the whole text.
+//
+// chunkSize == 0 disables the recursion guard; callers that don't care
+// about size budget (e.g. a final mergeUnits-style pass) pass 0.
+func splitBySeparators(text string, separators []string, chunkSize int) []string {
+	if text == "" || len(separators) == 0 {
+		return []string{text}
+	}
+	if chunkSize > 0 && runeLen(text) <= chunkSize {
 		return []string{text}
 	}
 
-	for _, sep := range separators {
+	for i, sep := range separators {
 		if sep == "" {
 			continue
 		}
@@ -143,18 +183,31 @@ func splitBySeparators(text string, separators []string) []string {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		var result []string
-		for i, s := range splits {
+		var pieces []string
+		for j, s := range splits {
 			if s != "" {
-				result = append(result, s)
+				pieces = append(pieces, s)
 			}
-			if i < len(matches) && matches[i] != "" {
-				result = append(result, matches[i])
+			if j < len(matches) && matches[j] != "" {
+				pieces = append(pieces, matches[j])
 			}
 		}
-		if len(result) > 1 {
-			return result
+		if len(pieces) <= 1 {
+			continue
 		}
+
+		// Recursively split any piece that is still too large with the
+		// remaining (lower-priority) separators.
+		var out []string
+		remaining := separators[i+1:]
+		for _, p := range pieces {
+			if chunkSize > 0 && runeLen(p) > chunkSize && len(remaining) > 0 {
+				out = append(out, splitBySeparators(p, remaining, chunkSize)...)
+			} else {
+				out = append(out, p)
+			}
+		}
+		return out
 	}
 	return []string{text}
 }
@@ -184,8 +237,10 @@ func SplitText(text string, cfg SplitterConfig) []Chunk {
 	// Step 1: Find protected spans
 	protected := protectedSpans(text)
 
-	// Step 2: Split non-protected regions by separators, keep protected as atomic units
-	units := buildUnitsWithProtection(text, protected, separators)
+	// Step 2: Split non-protected regions by separators, keep protected as atomic units.
+	// chunkSize is forwarded so splitBySeparators can recursively apply lower-priority
+	// separators to oversize pieces (Python-parity recursive split).
+	units := buildUnitsWithProtection(text, protected, separators, chunkSize)
 
 	// Step 3: Merge units into chunks with overlap
 	return mergeUnits(units, chunkSize, chunkOverlap)
@@ -196,7 +251,9 @@ func SplitText(text string, cfg SplitterConfig) []Chunk {
 // because downstream merge logic indexes content via []rune slicing.
 // If a protected span exceeds maxProtectedSize, it will be forcibly split to prevent
 // creating chunks that are too large for downstream processing (e.g., embedding APIs).
-func buildUnitsWithProtection(text string, protected []span, separators []string) []splitUnit {
+// chunkSize is forwarded to splitBySeparators so recursive splitting can keep pieces
+// under the budget when one separator alone leaves a piece oversize.
+func buildUnitsWithProtection(text string, protected []span, separators []string, chunkSize int) []splitUnit {
 	const maxProtectedSize = 7500 // Maximum size for a protected unit (留余量给标题等)
 
 	var units []splitUnit
@@ -206,7 +263,7 @@ func buildUnitsWithProtection(text string, protected []span, separators []string
 	for _, p := range protected {
 		if p.start > bytePos {
 			pre := text[bytePos:p.start]
-			parts := splitBySeparators(pre, separators)
+			parts := splitBySeparators(pre, separators, chunkSize)
 			runeOffset := runePos
 			for _, part := range parts {
 				partRuneLen := runeLen(part)
@@ -265,7 +322,7 @@ func buildUnitsWithProtection(text string, protected []span, separators []string
 
 	if bytePos < len(text) {
 		remaining := text[bytePos:]
-		parts := splitBySeparators(remaining, separators)
+		parts := splitBySeparators(remaining, separators, chunkSize)
 		runeOffset := runePos
 		for _, part := range parts {
 			partRuneLen := runeLen(part)
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter_test.go b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter_test.go
index b0e9d4386..91b2e581a 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter_test.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/splitter_test.go
@@ -168,6 +168,36 @@ func TestSplitText_SimulateMergeSlicing(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSplitText_RecursiveSeparators_NoOversizeChunks exposes the regression
+// where after picking the first separator that yields >1 piece, sub-pieces
+// that are still larger than ChunkSize were not split further with the next
+// separator. Real-world docs with one paragraph break followed by a long
+// run of newline-separated lines must still be honored.
+func TestSplitText_RecursiveSeparators_NoOversizeChunks(t *testing.T) {
+	// One paragraph break, then 50 short newline-separated lines forming
+	// ~1500 chars in the second paragraph.
+	body := strings.Repeat("This is one fairly short line of text.\n", 50)
+	text := "lead paragraph that is short.\n\n" + body
+	cfg := SplitterConfig{
+		ChunkSize:    300,
+		ChunkOverlap: 30,
+		Separators:   []string{"\n\n", "\n", ". "},
+	}
+	chunks := SplitText(text, cfg)
+	if len(chunks) < 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected multiple chunks, got %d", len(chunks))
+	}
+	// No chunk should exceed roughly 1.5x ChunkSize — recursive splitting
+	// at the next-priority separator should keep this bounded.
+	maxAllowed := cfg.ChunkSize * 3 / 2
+	for i, c := range chunks {
+		l := len([]rune(c.Content))
+		if l > maxAllowed {
+			t.Errorf("chunk %d is %d runes, > 1.5x ChunkSize (%d) — recursive split missing", i, l, maxAllowed)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSplitText_Empty(t *testing.T) {
 	chunks := SplitText("", DefaultConfig())
 	if len(chunks) != 0 {
@@ -242,7 +272,7 @@ func TestSplitText_OverlapChunks_NonNegativeStart(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestBuildUnitsWithProtection_RuneOffsets(t *testing.T) {
 	text := "你好世界"
-	units := buildUnitsWithProtection(text, nil, []string{"\n"})
+	units := buildUnitsWithProtection(text, nil, []string{"\n"}, 0)
 
 	if len(units) != 1 {
 		t.Fatalf("expected 1 unit, got %d", len(units))
@@ -263,7 +293,7 @@ func TestBuildUnitsWithProtection_RuneOffsets(t *testing.T) {
 func TestBuildUnitsWithProtection_WithProtectedSpan(t *testing.T) {
 	text := "前面![alt](url)后面"
 	protected := protectedSpans(text)
-	units := buildUnitsWithProtection(text, protected, []string{"\n"})
+	units := buildUnitsWithProtection(text, protected, []string{"\n"}, 0)
 
 	textRunes := []rune(text)
 	for i, u := range units {
@@ -293,7 +323,7 @@ func TestSplitBySeparators(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
-		parts := splitBySeparators(tt.text, tt.separators)
+		parts := splitBySeparators(tt.text, tt.separators, 0)
 		if len(parts) != tt.wantParts {
 			t.Errorf("splitBySeparators(%q, %v): got %d parts %v, want %d",
 				tt.text, tt.separators, len(parts), parts, tt.wantParts)
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy.go b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy.go
index 5162588b6..cf5e1bde0 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy.go
@@ -35,21 +35,35 @@ func Split(text string, cfg SplitterConfig) []Chunk {
 	chain := resolveChain(text, cfg)
 	totalChars := len([]rune(text))
 
-	for _, tier := range chain {
+	var lastOut []Chunk
+	for i, tier := range chain {
 		out := runTier(tier, text, cfg)
 		if v := ValidateChunks(out, totalChars, cfg.ChunkSize); v.OK {
 			return out
 		} else {
 			logger.Debugf(context.Background(), "chunker: tier %s rejected: %s", tier, v.Reason)
 		}
+		// Remember the legacy tier's output: we'll return it as-is below if
+		// every tier rejected — running SplitText again would just produce
+		// the same rejected result.
+		if tier == TierLegacy && i == len(chain)-1 {
+			lastOut = out
+		}
 	}
-	// Last-ditch fallback: always return *something*.
+	if lastOut != nil {
+		return lastOut
+	}
+	// Defensive last-ditch fallback (only reached if the chain didn't end on TierLegacy).
 	return SplitText(text, cfg)
 }
 
 // SplitParentChild is the strategy-aware analog of SplitTextParentChild.
 // It runs the tier selector for parent splitting, then re-splits each
 // parent into children with the small-chunk config.
+//
+// Children are forced to recursive splitting — they are sub-pieces of an
+// already-segmented parent, so re-profiling per parent would cost N extra
+// O(N) document scans without any real chance of picking a better tier.
 func SplitParentChild(text string, parentCfg, childCfg SplitterConfig) ParentChildResult {
 	if text == "" {
 		return ParentChildResult{}
@@ -62,6 +76,12 @@ func SplitParentChild(text string, parentCfg, childCfg SplitterConfig) ParentChi
 		return ParentChildResult{}
 	}
 
+	// Pin children to the recursive tier so SplitText runs directly without
+	// the profiler/strategy chain re-deciding per parent. Preserves Tier-1
+	// breadcrumb context (already attached to each parent) since we only
+	// re-split parent content, not re-detect headings.
+	childCfg.Strategy = StrategyRecursive
+
 	var newParents []Chunk
 	var children []ChildChunk
 	childSeq := 0
@@ -77,6 +97,12 @@ func SplitParentChild(text string, parentCfg, childCfg SplitterConfig) ParentChi
 			sub.Seq = childSeq
 			sub.Start += parent.Start
 			sub.End += parent.Start
+			// Children inherit the parent's breadcrumb so embedding still
+			// sees the section context — but only if the child itself does
+			// not already carry one (sub-splits don't, but defensive).
+			if sub.ContextHeader == "" {
+				sub.ContextHeader = parent.ContextHeader
+			}
 			children = append(children, ChildChunk{Chunk: sub, ParentIndex: parentIndex})
 			childSeq++
 		}
@@ -146,11 +172,15 @@ func ensureDefaults(cfg SplitterConfig) SplitterConfig {
 		charBudget := CharsForTokenLimit(cfg.TokenLimit, lang)
 		if charBudget > 0 && (cfg.ChunkSize == 0 || charBudget < cfg.ChunkSize) {
 			cfg.ChunkSize = charBudget
-			if cfg.ChunkOverlap >= cfg.ChunkSize {
-				cfg.ChunkOverlap = cfg.ChunkSize / 5
-			}
 		}
 	}
+	// Guard against pathological overlap configurations: if Overlap exceeds
+	// half of ChunkSize, almost every chunk is duplicate content. Cap it at
+	// ChunkSize/2 so Overlap stays a useful smoothing band rather than a
+	// near-clone of the previous chunk.
+	if cfg.ChunkOverlap > cfg.ChunkSize/2 && cfg.ChunkSize > 0 {
+		cfg.ChunkOverlap = cfg.ChunkSize / 2
+	}
 	return cfg
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy_test.go b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy_test.go
index b3a282060..662a9828d 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy_test.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/chunker/strategy_test.go
@@ -48,6 +48,49 @@ func TestSplit_AutoStrategy_PicksHeadingForMarkdownDoc(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSplit_PreservesPositionInvariantAcrossTiers ensures every chunk's
+// (Start, End, Content) triple stays consistent — End-Start must equal the
+// rune length of Content, and runes[Start:End] must equal Content. This is
+// the contract that knowledge.go:2278+ relies on for document reconstruction
+// during summary generation.
+func TestSplit_PreservesPositionInvariantAcrossTiers(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]string{
+		"heading-tier": "# Top\nintro paragraph here.\n\n## Section A\nbody A here.\n\n## Section B\nbody B here.\n\n## Section C\nbody C.",
+		"heuristic-tier": strings.Repeat("Kapitel 1: Einleitung\n", 1) + strings.Repeat("Beispieltext. ", 50) +
+			"\n\n" + strings.Repeat("Kapitel 2: Hauptteil\n", 1) + strings.Repeat("Mehr Text. ", 50),
+		"recursive-tier": strings.Repeat("plain prose without structure. ", 100),
+	}
+	cfg := SplitterConfig{ChunkSize: 300, ChunkOverlap: 30, Separators: []string{"\n\n", "\n", "。", ". "}, Strategy: StrategyAuto}
+
+	for name, doc := range cases {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			runes := []rune(doc)
+			chunks := Split(doc, cfg)
+			if len(chunks) == 0 {
+				t.Fatal("expected chunks")
+			}
+			for i, c := range chunks {
+				contentRuneLen := len([]rune(c.Content))
+				spanLen := c.End - c.Start
+				if spanLen != contentRuneLen {
+					t.Errorf("chunk %d: End(%d)-Start(%d)=%d but Content has %d runes:\n%q",
+						i, c.End, c.Start, spanLen, contentRuneLen, c.Content)
+				}
+				if c.Start < 0 || c.End > len(runes) {
+					t.Errorf("chunk %d: position out of range Start=%d End=%d totalRunes=%d",
+						i, c.Start, c.End, len(runes))
+				}
+				if c.Start >= 0 && c.End <= len(runes) {
+					sliced := string(runes[c.Start:c.End])
+					if sliced != c.Content {
+						t.Errorf("chunk %d: runes[Start:End] differs from Content", i)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSplitParentChild_LegacyStrategy(t *testing.T) {
 	text := strings.Repeat("This is a sentence. Another one.\n\n", 50)
 	parentCfg := SplitterConfig{ChunkSize: 400, ChunkOverlap: 40, Strategy: StrategyLegacy}
diff --git a/internal/types/chunk.go b/internal/types/chunk.go
index 2e8e2cfed..f171b0672 100644
--- a/internal/types/chunk.go
+++ b/internal/types/chunk.go
@@ -163,6 +163,24 @@ type Chunk struct {
 	UpdatedAt time.Time `json:"updated_at"`
 	// Soft delete marker, supports data recovery
 	DeletedAt gorm.DeletedAt `json:"deleted_at"               gorm:"index"`
+	// ContextHeader is an in-memory-only context string (e.g. a Markdown
+	// heading breadcrumb) that the indexing pipeline prepends to Content
+	// when generating embeddings. NOT persisted — populated by the chunker
+	// during initial splitting and discarded after indexing.
+	ContextHeader string `json:"-" gorm:"-"`
+}
+
+// EmbeddingContent returns the chunk content with ContextHeader prepended
+// when set. Use this where the embedding model needs section context that
+// isn't part of the literal Content.
+func (c *Chunk) EmbeddingContent() string {
+	if c == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	if c.ContextHeader == "" {
+		return c.Content
+	}
+	return c.ContextHeader + "\n\n" + c.Content
 }
 
 // AssignChunkSeqIDs assigns sequential SeqIDs to a batch of chunks that have SeqID == 0.
diff --git a/internal/types/docparser.go b/internal/types/docparser.go
index b2e1f1648..44a6fa6ed 100644
--- a/internal/types/docparser.go
+++ b/internal/types/docparser.go
@@ -69,11 +69,16 @@ type DocParserVLMConfig struct {
 
 type ParsedChunk struct {
 	Content string
-	Seq     int
-	Start   int
-	End     int
-	Images  []ParsedImage
-	ChunkID string // populated by processChunks with the actual DB UUID
+	// ContextHeader is an optional context string (e.g. a Markdown heading
+	// breadcrumb) that should be prepended at embedding time but is NOT
+	// part of the stored Content. Lets retrieval pipelines see section
+	// context without breaking End-Start == len(Content) invariants.
+	ContextHeader string
+	Seq           int
+	Start         int
+	End           int
+	Images        []ParsedImage
+	ChunkID       string // populated by processChunks with the actual DB UUID
 
 	// ParentIndex is set when using parent-child chunking strategy.
 	// -1 (or unset/0 for flat chunks) means this is a top-level chunk.
@@ -82,6 +87,17 @@ type ParsedChunk struct {
 	ParentIndex int
 }
 
+// EmbeddingContent returns the text that should be sent to the embedding
+// model: ContextHeader (if any) prepended to Content. Mirrors
+// chunker.Chunk.EmbeddingContent so the choice is consistent across the
+// chunker output and the indexing pipeline.
+func (c ParsedChunk) EmbeddingContent() string {
+	if c.ContextHeader == "" {
+		return c.Content
+	}
+	return c.ContextHeader + "\n\n" + c.Content
+}
+
 // ParsedParentChunk represents a parent chunk in the parent-child strategy.
 // Parent chunks are stored in DB for context retrieval but NOT vector-indexed.
 type ParsedParentChunk struct {