diff --git a/lab_api.py b/lab_api.py
index fa4a6bf..aa48c89 100644
--- a/lab_api.py
+++ b/lab_api.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ from routes.precon import router as precon_router
 from routes.import_routes import router as import_router
 from routes.lab import router as lab_router
 from routes.scanner import router as scanner_router
+from routes.rag import router as rag_router
 from routes.deepseek import router as deepseek_router
 from routes.deckgen import router as deckgen_router
 from routes.coach import router as coach_router, init_coach_service
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ app.include_router(precon_router)
 app.include_router(import_router)
 app.include_router(lab_router)
 app.include_router(scanner_router)
+app.include_router(rag_router)
 app.include_router(deepseek_router)
 app.include_router(deckgen_router)
 app.include_router(coach_router)
@@ -108,20 +110,6 @@ async def health_check():
     """Health check endpoint for load balancers and Unity client polling."""
     return {"status": "ok"}
 
-
-@app.get("/api/rag/status")
-async def rag_status():
-    """
-    Returns the current state of the Scryfall bulk card database.
-    Useful for confirming Phase 1 is live before building the ChromaDB index.
-    """
-    try:
-        from services.scryfall_bulk import get_stats
-        return {"bulk_db": get_stats(), "status": "ok"}
-    except Exception as exc:
-        return {"status": "error", "error": str(exc)}
-
-
 # ── Static UI (MUST come after all @app.get routes) ────────────────────────────
 _legacy_ui_dir = Path(__file__).parent / "ui"
 _spa_dir = Path(__file__).parent / "frontend" / "commander-ai-lab-ui" / "dist"
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index c5a133f..8c896af 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -20,5 +20,8 @@ ollama>=0.2.0
 scrython>=2.0.0
 
 # Embeddings
+
+# RAG vector store
+chromadb>=0.5.0
 sentence-transformers>=3.0.0
 torch>=2.0.0
diff --git a/routes/rag.py b/routes/rag.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3839ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routes/rag.py
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+"""
+routes/rag.py
+=============
+RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) endpoints for semantic card search.
+
+Endpoints:
+  POST /api/rag/build          — build / rebuild the ChromaDB vector index
+  POST /api/rag/search         — semantic search over indexed cards
+  GET  /api/rag/status         — index health & stats
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+from typing import List, Optional
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+
+log = logging.getLogger("commander_ai_lab.routes.rag")
+
+router = APIRouter(tags=["rag"])
+
+
+# ── Request / Response models ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+class RAGSearchRequest(BaseModel):
+    query: str = Field(..., description="Natural-language card search query")
+    color_identity: Optional[List[str]] = Field(
+        None,
+        description="Optional color identity filter, e.g. ['W','U','B']",
+    )
+    top_k: int = Field(10, ge=1, le=50, description="Number of results to return")
+
+
+class RAGCardResult(BaseModel):
+    name: str
+    type_line: str = ""
+    oracle_text: str = ""
+    color_identity: str = ""
+    score: float = 0.0
+
+
+class RAGSearchResponse(BaseModel):
+    query: str
+    results: List[RAGCardResult]
+    total: int
+
+
+class RAGBuildRequest(BaseModel):
+    force: bool = Field(False, description="Force full rebuild even if index exists")
+    batch_size: int = Field(500, ge=50, le=5000)
+
+
+# ── Endpoints ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+@router.post("/api/rag/build")
+async def rag_build(body: RAGBuildRequest = RAGBuildRequest()):
+    """
+    Build or rebuild the ChromaDB vector index from the Scryfall bulk DB.
+    Runs synchronously (may take 1-5 min on first build).
+    """
+    try:
+        from services.rag_store import build_index
+        result = build_index(force=body.force, batch_size=body.batch_size)
+        return {"status": "ok", **result}
+    except FileNotFoundError as exc:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=str(exc))
+    except Exception as exc:
+        log.exception("RAG build failed")
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(exc))
+
+
+@router.post("/api/rag/search")
+async def rag_search(body: RAGSearchRequest):
+    """
+    Semantic search over the ChromaDB card index.
+    Returns ranked card results with relevance scores.
+    """
+    try:
+        from services.rag_store import search_cards
+        results = search_cards(
+            query=body.query,
+            color_identity=body.color_identity,
+            top_k=body.top_k,
+        )
+        return RAGSearchResponse(
+            query=body.query,
+            results=[RAGCardResult(**r) for r in results],
+            total=len(results),
+        )
+    except FileNotFoundError as exc:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=404,
+            detail=f"Index not built yet. Call POST /api/rag/build first. {exc}",
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:
+        log.exception("RAG search failed")
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(exc))
+
+
+@router.get("/api/rag/status")
+async def rag_status_detail():
+    """
+    Detailed RAG index status including card count and age.
+    """
+    try:
+        from services.rag_store import get_index_status
+        return {"status": "ok", **get_index_status()}
+    except Exception as exc:
+        log.exception("RAG status check failed")
+        return {"status": "error", "error": str(exc)}
diff --git a/services/rag_store.py b/services/rag_store.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a989eff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/rag_store.py
@@ -0,0 +1,391 @@
+"""
+services/rag_store.py
+=====================
+ChromaDB-backed semantic vector store over the Scryfall bulk card database.
+
+Reads all cards from the Phase 1 SQLite bulk DB (services/scryfall_bulk.py),
+embeds their oracle text using Ollama's nomic-embed-text model, and stores
+the vectors in a persistent ChromaDB collection on disk.
+
+This is RAG Phase 2.  Phase 3 will query this store to inject relevant card
+oracle text into the LLM prompt before calling the coach.
+
+Public API:
+    ensure_rag_store()           -> None   (build if missing / stale)
+    query_cards(text, n, colors) -> list[dict]
+    get_rag_stats()              -> dict
+
+Data path:  ./data/rag_chroma/
+Embedding:  nomic-embed-text via Ollama (localhost:11434)
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import logging
+import os
+import time
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Optional
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("commander_ai_lab.rag_store")
+
+# ── Config ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+RAG_CHROMA_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "data" / "rag_chroma"
+OLLAMA_BASE_URL = os.environ.get("OLLAMA_BASE_URL", "http://localhost:11434")
+EMBEDDING_MODEL = os.environ.get("RAG_EMBEDDING_MODEL", "nomic-embed-text")
+COLLECTION_NAME = "mtg_oracle"
+BATCH_SIZE = 200
+_rag_lock = threading.Lock()
+_rag_ready = False
+
+
+# ── Helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def _build_document(card: dict) -> str:
+    """Build the text document to embed for a single card.
+
+    Format:  Name | Type | Oracle Text
+    This mirrors the structure used by the existing coach embeddings
+    (coach/embeddings.py) so vector similarity is consistent across
+    both systems.
+    """
+    parts = [card.get("name", "")]
+    type_line = card.get("type_line", "")
+    if type_line:
+        parts.append(type_line)
+    oracle = card.get("oracle_text", "")
+    if oracle:
+        parts.append(oracle)
+    return " | ".join(parts)
+
+
+def _build_metadata(card: dict) -> dict:
+    """Build ChromaDB metadata dict for filtering."""
+    ci_raw = card.get("color_identity", "[]")
+    if isinstance(ci_raw, str):
+        try:
+            ci_list = json.loads(ci_raw)
+        except (json.JSONDecodeError, TypeError):
+            ci_list = []
+    else:
+        ci_list = ci_raw or []
+
+    return {
+        "name": card.get("name", ""),
+        "type_line": card.get("type_line", ""),
+        "cmc": float(card.get("cmc") or 0),
+        "color_identity": ",".join(sorted(ci_list)),
+        "rarity": card.get("rarity", ""),
+        "mana_cost": card.get("mana_cost", ""),
+    }
+
+
+def _get_chromadb_client():
+    """Return a persistent ChromaDB client, creating the data dir if needed."""
+    try:
+        import chromadb
+    except ImportError:
+        raise ImportError(
+            "chromadb is required for RAG Phase 2. "
+            "Install with:  pip install chromadb"
+        )
+    RAG_CHROMA_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    return chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(RAG_CHROMA_DIR))
+
+
+def _get_ollama_embedding_fn():
+    """Return a ChromaDB-compatible embedding function using Ollama."""
+    try:
+        from chromadb.utils.embedding_functions import OllamaEmbeddingFunction
+    except ImportError:
+        raise ImportError(
+            "chromadb >= 0.4.0 with Ollama support is required. "
+            "Install with:  pip install chromadb"
+        )
+    return OllamaEmbeddingFunction(
+        url=f"{OLLAMA_BASE_URL}/api/embeddings",
+        model_name=EMBEDDING_MODEL,
+    )
+
+
+def _get_collection():
+    """Return the ChromaDB collection, creating it if needed."""
+    client = _get_chromadb_client()
+    embed_fn = _get_ollama_embedding_fn()
+    return client.get_or_create_collection(
+        name=COLLECTION_NAME,
+        embedding_function=embed_fn,
+        metadata={"hnsw:space": "cosine"},
+    )
+
+
+def _collection_is_current(collection, bulk_card_count: int) -> bool:
+    """Check if the ChromaDB collection is reasonably up-to-date.
+
+    We compare the stored card count against the bulk DB count.  If they
+    differ by more than 5%, we consider the collection stale and rebuild.
+    """
+    chroma_count = collection.count()
+    if chroma_count == 0:
+        return False
+    try:
+        meta = collection.metadata or {}
+        built_at = float(meta.get("built_at", 0))
+        age_days = (time.time() - built_at) / 86400
+        if age_days > 14:
+            logger.info("RAG collection older than 14 days — rebuilding.")
+            return False
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        pass
+    ratio = chroma_count / max(bulk_card_count, 1)
+    if ratio < 0.95 or ratio > 1.05:
+        logger.info(
+            "RAG collection count mismatch: chroma=%d, bulk=%d — rebuilding.",
+            chroma_count, bulk_card_count,
+        )
+        return False
+    return True
+
+
+# ── Build pipeline ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def _build_collection_from_bulk() -> int:
+    """Read all cards from the bulk SQLite DB and insert into ChromaDB.
+
+    Returns the number of cards indexed.
+    """
+    from services.scryfall_bulk import get_bulk_db
+
+    conn = get_bulk_db()
+    cursor = conn.execute(
+        "SELECT name, oracle_text, type_line, mana_cost, cmc, "
+        "color_identity, rarity, scryfall_id FROM cards "
+        "WHERE oracle_text != '' "
+        "ORDER BY edhrec_rank ASC"
+    )
+
+    client = _get_chromadb_client()
+    embed_fn = _get_ollama_embedding_fn()
+    try:
+        client.delete_collection(COLLECTION_NAME)
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+    collection = client.create_collection(
+        name=COLLECTION_NAME,
+        embedding_function=embed_fn,
+        metadata={
+            "hnsw:space": "cosine",
+            "built_at": str(time.time()),
+        },
+    )
+
+    inserted = 0
+    batch_ids: list[str] = []
+    batch_docs: list[str] = []
+    batch_metas: list[dict] = []
+
+    for row in cursor:
+        card = dict(row)
+        doc = _build_document(card)
+        if not doc.strip():
+            continue
+
+        card_id = card.get("scryfall_id", "")
+        if not card_id:
+            continue
+
+        batch_ids.append(card_id)
+        batch_docs.append(doc)
+        batch_metas.append(_build_metadata(card))
+
+        if len(batch_ids) >= BATCH_SIZE:
+            try:
+                collection.add(
+                    ids=batch_ids,
+                    documents=batch_docs,
+                    metadatas=batch_metas,
+                )
+                inserted += len(batch_ids)
+                if inserted % 2000 == 0:
+                    logger.info("  RAG indexed %d cards...", inserted)
+            except Exception as exc:
+                logger.warning(
+                    "RAG batch insert failed at %d: %s", inserted, exc
+                )
+            batch_ids.clear()
+            batch_docs.clear()
+            batch_metas.clear()
+
+    if batch_ids:
+        try:
+            collection.add(
+                ids=batch_ids,
+                documents=batch_docs,
+                metadatas=batch_metas,
+            )
+            inserted += len(batch_ids)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logger.warning("RAG final batch insert failed: %s", exc)
+
+    logger.info("RAG vector store complete: %d cards indexed.", inserted)
+    return inserted
+
+
+# ── Public API ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def ensure_rag_store() -> None:
+    """Build the ChromaDB vector store if it is missing or stale.
+
+    Safe to call at startup — no-ops quickly if the store is current.
+    Requires:
+      - Phase 1 bulk DB to be populated (services/scryfall_bulk)
+      - Ollama running with nomic-embed-text pulled
+    """
+    global _rag_ready
+    with _rag_lock:
+        if _rag_ready:
+            return
+        try:
+            from services.scryfall_bulk import get_stats as bulk_stats
+            stats = bulk_stats()
+            bulk_count = stats.get("card_count", 0)
+            if bulk_count == 0:
+                logger.warning(
+                    "Scryfall bulk DB is empty — skipping RAG store build. "
+                    "Run ensure_bulk_db() first."
+                )
+                return
+
+            collection = _get_collection()
+            if _collection_is_current(collection, bulk_count):
+                logger.info(
+                    "RAG vector store is current (%d cards).",
+                    collection.count(),
+                )
+                _rag_ready = True
+                return
+
+            logger.info(
+                "Building RAG vector store from %d bulk cards "
+                "(this may take several minutes on first run)...",
+                bulk_count,
+            )
+            _build_collection_from_bulk()
+            _rag_ready = True
+
+        except ImportError as exc:
+            logger.warning("RAG store unavailable: %s", exc)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logger.error("RAG store build failed: %s", exc)
+
+
+def query_cards(
+    query: str,
+    n_results: int = 8,
+    color_identity: Optional[list[str]] = None,
+    type_filter: Optional[str] = None,
+) -> list[dict]:
+    """Semantic search over card oracle text.
+
+    Args:
+        query: Natural language query (e.g. "draw cards when creatures die").
+        n_results: Maximum number of results.
+        color_identity: If provided, only return cards whose color identity
+            is a subset (e.g. ["W", "U", "B"]).
+        type_filter: Optional type_line substring filter (e.g. "Creature").
+
+    Returns:
+        List of dicts with keys: name, type_line, oracle_text, cmc,
+        color_identity, mana_cost, distance.
+    """
+    if not _rag_ready:
+        logger.warning("RAG store not ready — returning empty results.")
+        return []
+
+    try:
+        collection = _get_collection()
+    except Exception as exc:
+        logger.error("Failed to get RAG collection: %s", exc)
+        return []
+
+    where_filter = None
+    if type_filter:
+        where_filter = {"type_line": {"$contains": type_filter}}
+
+    try:
+        fetch_n = n_results * 3 if color_identity else n_results
+        results = collection.query(
+            query_texts=[query],
+            n_results=min(fetch_n, 50),
+            where=where_filter,
+            include=["documents", "metadatas", "distances"],
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:
+        logger.error("RAG query failed: %s", exc)
+        return []
+
+    if not results or not results.get("ids") or not results["ids"][0]:
+        return []
+
+    cards: list[dict] = []
+    ids = results["ids"][0]
+    docs = results["documents"][0] if results.get("documents") else [""] * len(ids)
+    metas = results["metadatas"][0] if results.get("metadatas") else [{}] * len(ids)
+    dists = results["distances"][0] if results.get("distances") else [0.0] * len(ids)
+
+    for i, card_id in enumerate(ids):
+        meta = metas[i] if i < len(metas) else {}
+        doc = docs[i] if i < len(docs) else ""
+
+        if color_identity:
+            card_ci_str = meta.get("color_identity", "")
+            card_ci = set(card_ci_str.split(",")) if card_ci_str else set()
+            deck_ci = set(color_identity)
+            if not card_ci.issubset(deck_ci):
+                continue
+
+        parts = doc.split(" | ", 2)
+        oracle = parts[2] if len(parts) > 2 else parts[-1] if parts else ""
+
+        cards.append({
+            "name": meta.get("name", ""),
+            "type_line": meta.get("type_line", ""),
+            "oracle_text": oracle,
+            "cmc": meta.get("cmc", 0),
+            "color_identity": meta.get("color_identity", ""),
+            "mana_cost": meta.get("mana_cost", ""),
+            "distance": round(dists[i], 4) if i < len(dists) else 0.0,
+        })
+        if len(cards) >= n_results:
+            break
+
+    return cards
+
+
+def get_rag_stats() -> dict:
+    """Return metadata about the RAG vector store state."""
+    result = {
+        "ready": _rag_ready,
+        "chroma_dir": str(RAG_CHROMA_DIR),
+        "embedding_model": EMBEDDING_MODEL,
+        "ollama_url": OLLAMA_BASE_URL,
+        "card_count": 0,
+        "built_at": None,
+        "age_days": None,
+    }
+    try:
+        collection = _get_collection()
+        result["card_count"] = collection.count()
+        meta = collection.metadata or {}
+        built_at = meta.get("built_at")
+        if built_at:
+            result["built_at"] = built_at
+            try:
+                age = (time.time() - float(built_at)) / 86400
+                result["age_days"] = round(age, 1)
+            except (ValueError, TypeError):
+                pass
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+    return result