diff --git a/mempalace/llm_refine.py b/mempalace/llm_refine.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91a950c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mempalace/llm_refine.py
@@ -0,0 +1,368 @@
+"""
+llm_refine.py — Optional LLM refinement of regex-detected entities.
+
+Takes the candidate set produced by phase-1 detection (manifests, git
+authors, regex on prose) and asks an LLM to reclassify each candidate as
+PERSON / PROJECT / TOPIC / COMMON_WORD / AMBIGUOUS.
+
+Design constraints:
+- Opt-in. Default init path never imports this module.
+- Local-first by default (Ollama).
+- Interactive UX: visible progress, clean cancellation (Ctrl-C returns
+  whatever was classified before the interrupt).
+- Don't feed the raw corpus to the LLM — feed candidates + a few sampled
+  context lines each. Keeps total input to ~50-100K tokens even for huge
+  prose corpora.
+
+Public:
+    refine_entities(detected, corpus_text, provider, ...) -> dict
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import re
+import sys
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+from mempalace.llm_client import LLMError, LLMProvider
+
+
+BATCH_SIZE = 25  # candidates per LLM call; tuned for 4B local models
+CONTEXT_LINES_PER_CANDIDATE = 3
+CONTEXT_WINDOW_CHARS = 240  # max chars per context line to keep tokens bounded
+
+# Valid labels the LLM is allowed to return. Anything else is treated as
+# AMBIGUOUS so the user reviews it.
+VALID_LABELS = {"PERSON", "PROJECT", "TOPIC", "COMMON_WORD", "AMBIGUOUS"}
+
+
+SYSTEM_PROMPT = """You are helping organize a user's memory palace by classifying capitalized tokens found in their files.
+
+For each candidate, pick exactly ONE label:
+- PERSON: a specific real person the user knows (colleague, family, character they write about)
+- PROJECT: a named product, codebase, or effort the user works on
+- TOPIC: a recurring theme or subject (not a person, not a project) — cities, technologies, concepts
+- COMMON_WORD: an English word, verb, or fragment that isn't a named entity at all (e.g. "Created", "Before", "Never")
+- AMBIGUOUS: context is insufficient to decide between two of the above
+
+Use the provided context lines to disambiguate. A capitalized word that only appears in metadata ("Created: 2026-04-24") is COMMON_WORD. A name that appears with pronouns and dialogue is PERSON.
+
+Respond with JSON only. Schema:
+{"classifications": [{"name": "<exact candidate name>", "label": "<LABEL>", "reason": "<one short sentence>"}]}
+
+One entry per candidate, same order as the input."""
+
+
+@dataclass
+class RefineResult:
+    merged: dict  # updated detected dict
+    reclassified: int  # entries whose type changed
+    dropped: int  # entries moved out (COMMON_WORD, or AMBIGUOUS sent to uncertain)
+    errors: list[str]  # per-batch error messages (transport/parse failures)
+    batches_completed: int
+    batches_total: int
+    cancelled: bool
+
+
+def _collect_contexts(
+    corpus_lines: list[str], name: str, max_lines: int = CONTEXT_LINES_PER_CANDIDATE
+) -> list[str]:
+    """Return up to `max_lines` distinct lines from the corpus that mention `name`.
+
+    Case-insensitive substring match. Lines are truncated to
+    CONTEXT_WINDOW_CHARS chars to keep token usage bounded.
+    """
+    needle = name.lower()
+    seen: set[str] = set()
+    out: list[str] = []
+    for line in corpus_lines:
+        if needle not in line.lower():
+            continue
+        trimmed = line.strip()[:CONTEXT_WINDOW_CHARS]
+        if not trimmed or trimmed in seen:
+            continue
+        seen.add(trimmed)
+        out.append(trimmed)
+        if len(out) >= max_lines:
+            break
+    return out
+
+
+def _build_user_prompt(candidates_with_contexts: list[tuple[str, str, list[str]]]) -> str:
+    """Shape: for each candidate, list its current type guess + sampled contexts."""
+    parts: list[str] = ["CANDIDATES:"]
+    for i, (name, current_type, contexts) in enumerate(candidates_with_contexts, 1):
+        parts.append(f"\n{i}. {name}  (currently: {current_type})")
+        if contexts:
+            for c in contexts:
+                parts.append(f"   > {c}")
+        else:
+            parts.append("   > (no context available)")
+    return "\n".join(parts)
+
+
+def _parse_response(text: str, expected_names: list[str]) -> dict[str, tuple[str, str]]:
+    """Parse the LLM's JSON response into {name: (label, reason)}.
+
+    Robust to the model occasionally wrapping JSON in text or returning
+    slight schema variations. Falls back to matching by candidate name.
+    """
+    # Strip any surrounding fences or prose
+    text = text.strip()
+    if text.startswith("```"):
+        text = re.sub(r"^```(?:json)?\s*", "", text)
+        text = re.sub(r"\s*```\s*$", "", text)
+    try:
+        data = json.loads(text)
+    except json.JSONDecodeError:
+        return {}
+
+    entries = data.get("classifications") if isinstance(data, dict) else data
+    if not isinstance(entries, list):
+        return {}
+
+    name_to_label: dict[str, tuple[str, str]] = {}
+    expected_set = {n.lower(): n for n in expected_names}
+    for entry in entries:
+        if not isinstance(entry, dict):
+            continue
+        name = entry.get("name") or entry.get("candidate")
+        label = entry.get("label") or entry.get("type") or entry.get("classification")
+        reason = entry.get("reason") or ""
+        if not isinstance(name, str) or not isinstance(label, str):
+            continue
+        # Restore canonical casing from expected_names
+        canonical = expected_set.get(name.lower(), name)
+        lbl = label.strip().upper()
+        if lbl not in VALID_LABELS:
+            lbl = "AMBIGUOUS"
+        name_to_label[canonical] = (lbl, reason.strip()[:120])
+    return name_to_label
+
+
+def _apply_classifications(
+    detected: dict, decisions: dict[str, tuple[str, str]]
+) -> tuple[dict, int, int]:
+    """Merge LLM decisions back into the detected dict.
+
+    Returns (new_detected, reclassified_count, dropped_count).
+    """
+    label_to_bucket = {
+        "PERSON": "people",
+        "PROJECT": "projects",
+        "TOPIC": "uncertain",
+        "AMBIGUOUS": "uncertain",
+    }
+
+    # Index every entity by name for in-place update
+    all_entries: list[tuple[str, dict]] = []
+    for bucket, items in detected.items():
+        for e in items:
+            all_entries.append((bucket, e))
+
+    reclassified = 0
+    dropped = 0
+    new_detected: dict[str, list[dict]] = {
+        "people": [],
+        "projects": [],
+        "uncertain": [],
+    }
+
+    for old_bucket, entry in all_entries:
+        decision = decisions.get(entry["name"])
+        if decision is None:
+            # No LLM opinion — keep as-is
+            new_detected[old_bucket].append(entry)
+            continue
+
+        label, reason = decision
+        if label == "COMMON_WORD":
+            dropped += 1
+            continue
+
+        target_bucket = label_to_bucket[label]
+        updated = dict(entry)
+        # Append the LLM's reason as a new signal so the user sees why it moved
+        signals = list(updated.get("signals", []))
+        signals.append(f"LLM: {label.lower()} — {reason}" if reason else f"LLM: {label.lower()}")
+        updated["signals"] = signals
+        if target_bucket != old_bucket:
+            reclassified += 1
+            updated["type"] = (
+                "person"
+                if target_bucket == "people"
+                else "project"
+                if target_bucket == "projects"
+                else "uncertain"
+            )
+        new_detected[target_bucket].append(updated)
+
+    return new_detected, reclassified, dropped
+
+
+def _print_progress(batch_idx: int, total: int, current_name: str) -> None:
+    """Overwrite-line progress indicator."""
+    width = 40
+    filled = int(width * batch_idx / total) if total else 0
+    bar = "█" * filled + "░" * (width - filled)
+    msg = f"\r  LLM refine: [{bar}] batch {batch_idx}/{total}  current: {current_name[:30]:<30}"
+    sys.stderr.write(msg)
+    sys.stderr.flush()
+
+
+def refine_entities(
+    detected: dict,
+    corpus_text: str,
+    provider: LLMProvider,
+    batch_size: int = BATCH_SIZE,
+    show_progress: bool = True,
+) -> RefineResult:
+    """Reclassify detected entities using the LLM provider.
+
+    Only candidates in the ``uncertain`` and ``projects`` buckets are sent for
+    refinement — ``people`` entries from git authorship are already
+    high-confidence and don't benefit from LLM second-guessing.
+
+    Ctrl-C during refinement: cancels the remaining batches, returns a
+    RefineResult with ``cancelled=True`` and whatever was classified before
+    the interrupt. The partial result is safe to pass straight to
+    ``confirm_entities``.
+
+    Transport or parse failures in individual batches are recorded in
+    ``errors`` and do not abort the run.
+    """
+    # Only refine buckets that actually benefit — keep `people` as-is
+    # (git-authored people are already authoritative).
+    candidates: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+    for bucket in ("projects", "uncertain"):
+        for e in detected.get(bucket, []):
+            # Skip already-high-confidence entries (manifest-backed projects etc.)
+            if e.get("confidence", 0) >= 0.95 and bucket == "projects":
+                continue
+            candidates.append((e["name"], bucket.rstrip("s")))  # "projects" -> "project"
+
+    corpus_lines = corpus_text.splitlines() if corpus_text else []
+
+    # Deduplicate candidate names while preserving order
+    seen: set[str] = set()
+    unique: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+    for name, kind in candidates:
+        if name not in seen:
+            seen.add(name)
+            unique.append((name, kind))
+
+    if not unique:
+        return RefineResult(
+            merged=detected,
+            reclassified=0,
+            dropped=0,
+            errors=[],
+            batches_completed=0,
+            batches_total=0,
+            cancelled=False,
+        )
+
+    # Build batches
+    batches: list[list[tuple[str, str, list[str]]]] = []
+    for i in range(0, len(unique), batch_size):
+        chunk = unique[i : i + batch_size]
+        enriched = [(name, kind, _collect_contexts(corpus_lines, name)) for name, kind in chunk]
+        batches.append(enriched)
+
+    all_decisions: dict[str, tuple[str, str]] = {}
+    errors: list[str] = []
+    completed = 0
+    cancelled = False
+
+    for idx, batch in enumerate(batches, 1):
+        if show_progress and batch:
+            _print_progress(idx - 1, len(batches), batch[0][0])
+        user_prompt = _build_user_prompt(batch)
+        try:
+            resp = provider.classify(SYSTEM_PROMPT, user_prompt, json_mode=True)
+        except KeyboardInterrupt:
+            cancelled = True
+            break
+        except LLMError as e:
+            errors.append(f"batch {idx}: {e}")
+            continue
+        names_in_batch = [name for name, _, _ in batch]
+        decisions = _parse_response(resp.text, names_in_batch)
+        if not decisions:
+            errors.append(f"batch {idx}: could not parse response")
+        all_decisions.update(decisions)
+        completed += 1
+        if show_progress:
+            _print_progress(idx, len(batches), batch[-1][0])
+
+    if show_progress:
+        sys.stderr.write("\n")
+        sys.stderr.flush()
+
+    merged, reclassified, dropped = _apply_classifications(detected, all_decisions)
+
+    return RefineResult(
+        merged=merged,
+        reclassified=reclassified,
+        dropped=dropped,
+        errors=errors,
+        batches_completed=completed,
+        batches_total=len(batches),
+        cancelled=cancelled,
+    )
+
+
+def collect_corpus_text(
+    project_dir: str,
+    max_files: int = 30,
+    max_bytes_per_file: int = 20_000,
+) -> str:
+    """Gather prose text from ``project_dir`` for use as LLM context source.
+
+    Stratified: reads up to ``max_files`` prose files (``.md``, ``.txt``,
+    ``.rst``), preferring recently-modified. Each file capped at
+    ``max_bytes_per_file`` to bound total input.
+    """
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    from mempalace.entity_detector import PROSE_EXTENSIONS, SKIP_DIRS
+
+    root = Path(project_dir).expanduser().resolve()
+    if not root.is_dir():
+        return ""
+    candidates: list[tuple[float, Path]] = []
+    for dirpath, dirs, files in _walk_prose(root, SKIP_DIRS):
+        for fname in files:
+            p = dirpath / fname
+            if p.suffix.lower() not in PROSE_EXTENSIONS:
+                continue
+            try:
+                mtime = p.stat().st_mtime
+            except OSError:
+                continue
+            candidates.append((mtime, p))
+    candidates.sort(reverse=True)
+    selected = [p for _, p in candidates[:max_files]]
+    chunks: list[str] = []
+    for p in selected:
+        try:
+            with open(p, encoding="utf-8", errors="replace") as f:
+                chunks.append(f.read(max_bytes_per_file))
+        except OSError:
+            continue
+    return "\n".join(chunks)
+
+
+def _walk_prose(root, skip_dirs):
+    """Walk a directory yielding (Path, dirs, files), pruning skip_dirs.
+
+    Inlined from ``project_scanner._walk`` to avoid a private-name import
+    coupling. Functionality is intentionally narrow: prose collection only.
+    """
+    import os
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    for dirpath, dirs, files in os.walk(root):
+        dirs[:] = [d for d in dirs if d not in skip_dirs and not d.startswith(".")]
+        yield Path(dirpath), dirs, files
diff --git a/tests/test_llm_refine.py b/tests/test_llm_refine.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..329f91a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_llm_refine.py
@@ -0,0 +1,446 @@
+"""Tests for mempalace.llm_refine.
+
+Uses a fake provider for deterministic, offline tests. No network.
+"""
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+
+from mempalace.llm_client import LLMError, LLMResponse
+from mempalace.llm_refine import (
+    _apply_classifications,
+    _build_user_prompt,
+    _collect_contexts,
+    _parse_response,
+    collect_corpus_text,
+    refine_entities,
+)
+
+
+# ── fake provider ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+@dataclass
+class FakeProvider:
+    """Returns a caller-supplied JSON string on every classify call."""
+
+    response_text: str = ""
+    should_raise: Exception = None
+    call_count: int = 0
+    interrupt_on_call: int = -1
+
+    def classify(self, system, user, json_mode=True):
+        self.call_count += 1
+        if self.call_count == self.interrupt_on_call:
+            raise KeyboardInterrupt()
+        if self.should_raise is not None:
+            raise self.should_raise
+        return LLMResponse(text=self.response_text, model="fake", provider="fake", raw={})
+
+    def check_available(self):
+        return True, "ok"
+
+
+# ── _collect_contexts ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_collect_contexts_finds_matches():
+    lines = [
+        "Something about Alice",
+        "Bob said hello",
+        "Alice was here",
+        "Alice walked by",
+    ]
+    out = _collect_contexts(lines, "Alice", max_lines=2)
+    assert len(out) == 2
+    assert all("alice" in line.lower() for line in out)
+
+
+def test_collect_contexts_case_insensitive():
+    lines = ["lowercase alice mention"]
+    out = _collect_contexts(lines, "Alice")
+    assert out == ["lowercase alice mention"]
+
+
+def test_collect_contexts_dedupes_identical_lines():
+    lines = ["Alice", "Alice", "Alice was here"]
+    out = _collect_contexts(lines, "Alice", max_lines=5)
+    # two unique lines, not three
+    assert len(out) == 2
+
+
+def test_collect_contexts_truncates_long_lines():
+    lines = ["Alice " + ("x" * 1000)]
+    out = _collect_contexts(lines, "Alice")
+    assert len(out[0]) <= 240
+
+
+def test_collect_contexts_no_matches():
+    assert _collect_contexts(["nothing here"], "Alice") == []
+
+
+# ── _build_user_prompt ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_build_user_prompt_numbers_and_includes_contexts():
+    prompt = _build_user_prompt(
+        [
+            ("Alice", "uncertain", ["Alice said hi"]),
+            ("Bob", "project", []),
+        ]
+    )
+    assert "1. Alice" in prompt
+    assert "2. Bob" in prompt
+    assert "Alice said hi" in prompt
+    assert "(no context available)" in prompt
+
+
+# ── _parse_response ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_parse_response_canonicalizes_label():
+    text = '{"classifications": [{"name": "Alice", "label": "person", "reason": "x"}]}'
+    out = _parse_response(text, ["Alice"])
+    assert out["Alice"] == ("PERSON", "x")
+
+
+def test_parse_response_accepts_type_alias():
+    """LLMs may return 'type' instead of 'label'."""
+    text = '{"classifications": [{"name": "Bob", "type": "PROJECT"}]}'
+    out = _parse_response(text, ["Bob"])
+    assert out["Bob"][0] == "PROJECT"
+
+
+def test_parse_response_maps_unknown_label_to_ambiguous():
+    text = '{"classifications": [{"name": "X", "label": "WEIRD"}]}'
+    out = _parse_response(text, ["X"])
+    assert out["X"][0] == "AMBIGUOUS"
+
+
+def test_parse_response_restores_canonical_casing():
+    """Model may lowercase the name; we restore against the expected set."""
+    text = '{"classifications": [{"name": "mempalace", "label": "PROJECT"}]}'
+    out = _parse_response(text, ["MemPalace"])
+    assert "MemPalace" in out
+    assert out["MemPalace"][0] == "PROJECT"
+
+
+def test_parse_response_strips_code_fences():
+    text = '```json\n{"classifications": [{"name": "X", "label": "TOPIC"}]}\n```'
+    out = _parse_response(text, ["X"])
+    assert out["X"][0] == "TOPIC"
+
+
+def test_parse_response_malformed_returns_empty():
+    out = _parse_response("not json at all", ["X"])
+    assert out == {}
+
+
+def test_parse_response_accepts_top_level_list():
+    """Some models skip the wrapping object and return the list directly."""
+    text = '[{"name": "Y", "label": "PERSON"}]'
+    out = _parse_response(text, ["Y"])
+    assert out["Y"][0] == "PERSON"
+
+
+# ── _apply_classifications ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_apply_classifications_moves_to_correct_bucket():
+    detected = {
+        "people": [],
+        "projects": [
+            {
+                "name": "Foo",
+                "type": "project",
+                "confidence": 0.8,
+                "frequency": 3,
+                "signals": ["old"],
+            }
+        ],
+        "uncertain": [
+            {"name": "Alice", "type": "uncertain", "confidence": 0.4, "frequency": 5, "signals": []}
+        ],
+    }
+    decisions = {
+        "Foo": ("PROJECT", "real project name"),
+        "Alice": ("PERSON", "clearly a person"),
+    }
+    new, reclass, dropped = _apply_classifications(detected, decisions)
+    assert len(new["people"]) == 1
+    assert new["people"][0]["name"] == "Alice"
+    assert new["people"][0]["type"] == "person"
+    assert reclass == 1  # Alice moved uncertain -> people
+    assert dropped == 0
+
+
+def test_apply_classifications_drops_common_word():
+    detected = {
+        "people": [],
+        "projects": [],
+        "uncertain": [
+            {
+                "name": "Never",
+                "type": "uncertain",
+                "confidence": 0.4,
+                "frequency": 20,
+                "signals": [],
+            }
+        ],
+    }
+    decisions = {"Never": ("COMMON_WORD", "adverb")}
+    new, _, dropped = _apply_classifications(detected, decisions)
+    assert dropped == 1
+    assert new["uncertain"] == []
+
+
+def test_apply_classifications_keeps_unvisited_entries():
+    detected = {
+        "people": [
+            {
+                "name": "Igor",
+                "type": "person",
+                "confidence": 0.99,
+                "frequency": 100,
+                "signals": ["git"],
+            }
+        ],
+        "projects": [],
+        "uncertain": [],
+    }
+    # No decision for Igor — should stay untouched
+    new, reclass, dropped = _apply_classifications(detected, {})
+    assert new["people"][0]["name"] == "Igor"
+    assert reclass == 0
+    assert dropped == 0
+
+
+def test_apply_classifications_appends_reason_signal():
+    detected = {
+        "people": [],
+        "projects": [],
+        "uncertain": [
+            {
+                "name": "Foo",
+                "type": "uncertain",
+                "confidence": 0.4,
+                "frequency": 5,
+                "signals": ["regex"],
+            }
+        ],
+    }
+    decisions = {"Foo": ("PERSON", "spoken of by name")}
+    new, _, _ = _apply_classifications(detected, decisions)
+    assert any("LLM: person" in s for s in new["people"][0]["signals"])
+    assert any("spoken of by name" in s for s in new["people"][0]["signals"])
+
+
+def test_apply_classifications_topic_goes_to_uncertain():
+    detected = {
+        "people": [],
+        "projects": [
+            {
+                "name": "Paris",
+                "type": "project",
+                "confidence": 0.7,
+                "frequency": 5,
+                "signals": ["regex"],
+            }
+        ],
+        "uncertain": [],
+    }
+    decisions = {"Paris": ("TOPIC", "city, not a project")}
+    new, reclass, _ = _apply_classifications(detected, decisions)
+    assert len(new["projects"]) == 0
+    assert len(new["uncertain"]) == 1
+    assert new["uncertain"][0]["name"] == "Paris"
+    assert reclass == 1
+
+
+# ── refine_entities ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def _sample_detected():
+    return {
+        "people": [
+            {
+                "name": "Igor",
+                "type": "person",
+                "confidence": 0.99,
+                "frequency": 100,
+                "signals": ["git"],
+            }
+        ],
+        "projects": [
+            {
+                "name": "Foo",
+                "type": "project",
+                "confidence": 0.7,
+                "frequency": 5,
+                "signals": ["regex"],
+            }
+        ],
+        "uncertain": [
+            {
+                "name": "Never",
+                "type": "uncertain",
+                "confidence": 0.4,
+                "frequency": 10,
+                "signals": [],
+            },
+            {
+                "name": "Alice",
+                "type": "uncertain",
+                "confidence": 0.4,
+                "frequency": 5,
+                "signals": [],
+            },
+        ],
+    }
+
+
+def test_refine_entities_end_to_end_with_fake_provider():
+    provider = FakeProvider(
+        response_text=(
+            '{"classifications": ['
+            '{"name": "Foo", "label": "PROJECT", "reason": "real"},'
+            '{"name": "Never", "label": "COMMON_WORD"},'
+            '{"name": "Alice", "label": "PERSON", "reason": "name"}'
+            "]}"
+        )
+    )
+    result = refine_entities(
+        _sample_detected(),
+        corpus_text="Alice said hi. Foo was shipped. Never gonna.",
+        provider=provider,
+        show_progress=False,
+    )
+    assert result.batches_total == 1
+    assert result.batches_completed == 1
+    assert not result.cancelled
+    # Alice → people, Never → dropped, Foo stays in projects
+    names_in_people = [e["name"] for e in result.merged["people"]]
+    assert "Alice" in names_in_people
+    assert "Igor" in names_in_people  # untouched
+    assert "Never" not in [e["name"] for e in result.merged["uncertain"]]
+    assert result.dropped == 1
+
+
+def test_refine_entities_skips_high_confidence_projects():
+    """Manifest-backed projects (conf >= 0.95) aren't sent to the LLM."""
+    detected = {
+        "people": [],
+        "projects": [
+            {
+                "name": "manifest-backed",
+                "type": "project",
+                "confidence": 0.99,
+                "frequency": 50,
+                "signals": ["pyproject.toml"],
+            }
+        ],
+        "uncertain": [],
+    }
+    provider = FakeProvider(response_text='{"classifications": []}')
+    refine_entities(detected, "", provider, show_progress=False)
+    # Should not have called the LLM at all
+    assert provider.call_count == 0
+
+
+def test_refine_entities_empty_candidates_returns_noop():
+    detected = {"people": [], "projects": [], "uncertain": []}
+    provider = FakeProvider()
+    result = refine_entities(detected, "", provider, show_progress=False)
+    assert result.batches_total == 0
+    assert result.reclassified == 0
+    assert result.merged == detected
+
+
+def test_refine_entities_handles_batch_error_gracefully():
+    provider = FakeProvider(should_raise=LLMError("transport broke"))
+    result = refine_entities(
+        _sample_detected(),
+        corpus_text="",
+        provider=provider,
+        show_progress=False,
+    )
+    assert result.errors
+    assert "transport broke" in result.errors[0]
+    # Detected unchanged (no successful decisions)
+    assert result.reclassified == 0
+    assert result.cancelled is False
+
+
+def test_refine_entities_ctrl_c_returns_partial():
+    """Ctrl-C during refinement marks cancelled=True and returns partial result."""
+    # Two batches' worth of candidates
+    detected = {
+        "people": [],
+        "projects": [],
+        "uncertain": [
+            {
+                "name": f"Cand{i}",
+                "type": "uncertain",
+                "confidence": 0.4,
+                "frequency": 3,
+                "signals": [],
+            }
+            for i in range(50)
+        ],
+    }
+    provider = FakeProvider(
+        response_text='{"classifications": []}',
+        interrupt_on_call=2,  # interrupt on second batch
+    )
+    result = refine_entities(detected, "", provider, batch_size=25, show_progress=False)
+    assert result.cancelled is True
+    assert result.batches_completed == 1  # first batch finished; second interrupted
+    assert result.batches_total == 2
+
+
+def test_refine_entities_malformed_response_recorded_as_error():
+    provider = FakeProvider(response_text="not json")
+    result = refine_entities(_sample_detected(), "", provider, show_progress=False)
+    assert any("could not parse" in e for e in result.errors)
+
+
+# ── collect_corpus_text ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_collect_corpus_text_reads_prose_files(tmp_path):
+    (tmp_path / "a.md").write_text("hello world")
+    (tmp_path / "b.txt").write_text("more prose")
+    (tmp_path / "c.py").write_text("import os")  # not prose, skipped
+    text = collect_corpus_text(str(tmp_path))
+    assert "hello world" in text
+    assert "more prose" in text
+    assert "import os" not in text
+
+
+def test_collect_corpus_text_prefers_recent(tmp_path):
+    import os
+    import time
+
+    old = tmp_path / "old.md"
+    old.write_text("OLD_CONTENT")
+    time.sleep(0.01)
+    new = tmp_path / "new.md"
+    new.write_text("NEW_CONTENT")
+    # Force old to be older still
+    old_mtime = old.stat().st_mtime - 3600
+    os.utime(old, (old_mtime, old_mtime))
+
+    text = collect_corpus_text(str(tmp_path), max_files=1)
+    assert "NEW_CONTENT" in text
+    assert "OLD_CONTENT" not in text
+
+
+def test_collect_corpus_text_missing_dir_returns_empty(tmp_path):
+    assert collect_corpus_text(str(tmp_path / "nope")) == ""
+
+
+def test_collect_corpus_text_caps_bytes_per_file(tmp_path):
+    big = tmp_path / "big.md"
+    big.write_text("x" * 100_000)
+    text = collect_corpus_text(str(tmp_path), max_files=1, max_bytes_per_file=500)
+    assert len(text) <= 600  # 500 + newlines