diff --git a/cmd/mavend/voice.go b/cmd/mavend/voice.go
index 9bbd226..df318f4 100644
--- a/cmd/mavend/voice.go
+++ b/cmd/mavend/voice.go
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) applyAction(ctx context.Context, dec router.Decision)
 		// fail the fact write). Facts aren't in the notes table, so this is the
 		// only recall path for them — "когда я пил воду?" reads back from here.
 		if h.memStore != nil {
-			if vec, err := h.embedder.Embed(ctx, dec.Utterance); err != nil {
+			if vec, err := router.EmbedPassage(ctx, h.embedder, dec.Utterance); err != nil {
 				log.Printf("voice: embed fact for memory: %v", err)
 			} else if err := h.memStore.Insert(ctx, "fact:"+dec.Slots.Key+":"+strconv.FormatInt(now.Unix(), 10), vec, map[string]string{
 				"source": "voice",
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) applyAction(ctx context.Context, dec router.Decision)
 		// embed the note text with the same model the classifier uses, persist
 		// via CoreAPI (source=tap:voice). Semantic recall lives in `notes`, not
 		// facts — no predicate reads it (spec's two-memory split).
-		vec, err := h.embedder.Embed(ctx, dec.Utterance)
+		vec, err := router.EmbedPassage(ctx, h.embedder, dec.Utterance)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("voice: embed note: %v", err)
 			return "не получилось сохранить заметку."
@@ -758,7 +758,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) applyAction(ctx context.Context, dec router.Decision)
 			return fmt.Sprintf("в %s сейчас %.0f градусов, %s.", w.Location, w.Temperature, w.Condition)
 		}
 
-		vec, err := h.embedder.Embed(ctx, dec.Utterance)
+		vec, err := router.EmbedQuery(ctx, h.embedder, dec.Utterance)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("voice: embed query: %v", err)
 			return "не получилось найти ответ."
diff --git a/internal/router/embedder.go b/internal/router/embedder.go
index e9c0de1..a69f535 100644
--- a/internal/router/embedder.go
+++ b/internal/router/embedder.go
@@ -19,6 +19,37 @@ type Embedder interface {
 	Close() error
 }
 
+// AsymmetricEmbedder — an embedder that wants to know whether a text is a
+// search query or a stored passage. Recall is asymmetric: a short question
+// goes in, a longer note comes out. The e5 family is trained for exactly that
+// and needs the side written into the text ("query: " / "passage: ").
+//
+// Optional on purpose: HashEmbedder has no such notion, so callers go through
+// EmbedQuery and EmbedPassage below, which fall back to plain Embed.
+type AsymmetricEmbedder interface {
+	Embedder
+	EmbedQuery(ctx context.Context, text string) ([]float32, error)
+	EmbedPassage(ctx context.Context, text string) ([]float32, error)
+}
+
+// EmbedQuery embeds text that is being searched WITH — a question.
+func EmbedQuery(ctx context.Context, e Embedder, text string) ([]float32, error) {
+	if a, ok := e.(AsymmetricEmbedder); ok {
+		return a.EmbedQuery(ctx, text)
+	}
+	return e.Embed(ctx, text)
+}
+
+// EmbedPassage embeds text that is being searched FOR — a note or a fact on
+// its way into the store. Store and lookup must use these two calls, not one
+// of them twice, or the asymmetry buys nothing.
+func EmbedPassage(ctx context.Context, e Embedder, text string) ([]float32, error) {
+	if a, ok := e.(AsymmetricEmbedder); ok {
+		return a.EmbedPassage(ctx, text)
+	}
+	return e.Embed(ctx, text)
+}
+
 // HashEmbedder — a deterministic bag-of-words embedder used for tests and as a
 // non-zero default floor. NOT semantically meaningful across languages; the
 // real classifier swaps in the multilingual ONNX model wholesale.
diff --git a/internal/router/embedder_test.go b/internal/router/embedder_test.go
index 5f815b1..f4ef243 100644
--- a/internal/router/embedder_test.go
+++ b/internal/router/embedder_test.go
@@ -37,3 +37,60 @@ func TestHashEmbedderCyrillic(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("cosine(shared)=%.3f not > cosine(disjoint)=%.3f", cosine(a, b), cosine(a, c))
 	}
 }
+
+// recordingEmbedder — an asymmetric embedder that only remembers which side
+// was asked for. Enough to pin the dispatch; real vectors need the model.
+type recordingEmbedder struct{ calls []string }
+
+func (r *recordingEmbedder) Dim() int     { return 2 }
+func (r *recordingEmbedder) Close() error { return nil }
+
+func (r *recordingEmbedder) Embed(_ context.Context, _ string) ([]float32, error) {
+	r.calls = append(r.calls, "embed")
+	return []float32{1, 0}, nil
+}
+
+func (r *recordingEmbedder) EmbedQuery(_ context.Context, _ string) ([]float32, error) {
+	r.calls = append(r.calls, "query")
+	return []float32{1, 0}, nil
+}
+
+func (r *recordingEmbedder) EmbedPassage(_ context.Context, _ string) ([]float32, error) {
+	r.calls = append(r.calls, "passage")
+	return []float32{0, 1}, nil
+}
+
+// TestEmbedQueryAndPassageSplit — a question and a stored note must not take
+// the same path. If both ended up on the same call the asymmetric model buys
+// nothing, which is the whole reason for the swap.
+func TestEmbedQueryAndPassageSplit(t *testing.T) {
+	rec := &recordingEmbedder{}
+	if _, err := EmbedQuery(context.Background(), rec, "где логи?"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("EmbedQuery: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := EmbedPassage(context.Background(), rec, "логи в /var/log"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("EmbedPassage: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(rec.calls) != 2 || rec.calls[0] != "query" || rec.calls[1] != "passage" {
+		t.Errorf("calls %v, want [query passage]", rec.calls)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestEmbedFallsBackToPlainEmbed — HashEmbedder has no sides, so both helpers
+// must still work and give the same vector.
+func TestEmbedFallsBackToPlainEmbed(t *testing.T) {
+	h := NewHashEmbedder(64)
+	q, err := EmbedQuery(context.Background(), h, "text")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("EmbedQuery: %v", err)
+	}
+	p, err := EmbedPassage(context.Background(), h, "text")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("EmbedPassage: %v", err)
+	}
+	for i := range q {
+		if q[i] != p[i] {
+			t.Fatalf("hash embedder gave two different vectors for the same text")
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/router/onnxembedder.go b/internal/router/onnxembedder.go
index a7356ee..770790b 100644
--- a/internal/router/onnxembedder.go
+++ b/internal/router/onnxembedder.go
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/text/unicode/norm"
 )
 
+// The deployed model is multilingual-e5-small. e5 was trained with these two
+// words glued to the front of every text, and it scores badly without them —
+// they are part of the model, not a style choice. Swapping back to a symmetric
+// paraphrase model means dropping them again.
+const (
+	queryPrefix   = "query: "
+	passagePrefix = "passage: "
+)
+
 const (
 	padTokenID = 1
 	unkTokenID = 3
@@ -54,7 +63,25 @@ func NewONNXEmbedder(modelPath, tokenizerPath, libPath string) (*onnxEmbedder, e
 
 func (e *onnxEmbedder) Dim() int { return embedDim }
 
+// Embed treats the text as a query. The classifier compares one short
+// utterance to another short seed phrase, so both sides get the same prefix
+// and the comparison stays fair. The recall path must call EmbedQuery and
+// EmbedPassage instead.
 func (e *onnxEmbedder) Embed(ctx context.Context, text string) ([]float32, error) {
+	return e.embed(ctx, queryPrefix+text)
+}
+
+// EmbedQuery — the question the user just asked.
+func (e *onnxEmbedder) EmbedQuery(ctx context.Context, text string) ([]float32, error) {
+	return e.embed(ctx, queryPrefix+text)
+}
+
+// EmbedPassage — a note or fact being stored, or re-scored at lookup time.
+func (e *onnxEmbedder) EmbedPassage(ctx context.Context, text string) ([]float32, error) {
+	return e.embed(ctx, passagePrefix+text)
+}
+
+func (e *onnxEmbedder) embed(ctx context.Context, text string) ([]float32, error) {
 	inputIDs, attentionMask, _ := e.tokenizer.Encode(text)
 
 	inputShape := ort.NewShape(1, int64(maxLength))
@@ -313,4 +340,4 @@ func preTokenize(text string) []string {
 	return out
 }
 
-var _ Embedder = (*onnxEmbedder)(nil)
+var _ AsymmetricEmbedder = (*onnxEmbedder)(nil)