diff --git a/src/faces.rs b/src/faces.rs
index 3d97d07..10cd0b6 100644
--- a/src/faces.rs
+++ b/src/faces.rs
@@ -2107,6 +2107,8 @@ async fn update_face_handler<D: FaceDao>(
     request: HttpRequest,
     path: web::Path<i32>,
     body: web::Json<UpdateFaceReq>,
+    app_state: web::Data<AppState>,
+    face_client: web::Data<FaceClient>,
     face_dao: web::Data<Mutex<D>>,
 ) -> impl Responder {
     let context = extract_context_from_request(&request);
@@ -2121,21 +2123,92 @@ async fn update_face_handler<D: FaceDao>(
     };
     let bbox_patch = body.bbox.as_ref().map(|b| (b.x, b.y, b.w, b.h));
 
-    // bbox change → embedding becomes stale. Phase 2 only stores the new
-    // bbox; re-embed is a Phase 3 concern (it requires reading the image
-    // off disk and going back through face_client.embed). For now log a
-    // warning so we can spot orphan-embedding rows.
-    if bbox_patch.is_some() {
-        warn!(
-            "PATCH /image/faces/{}: bbox updated; embedding now stale (Phase 3 will re-embed)",
-            id
-        );
+    // Bbox change → re-embed. The embedding is what auto-bind and the
+    // cluster suggester key on, so leaving it stale would silently
+    // corrupt every downstream similarity match. We crop the new bbox,
+    // pass it through face_client.embed, and store the fresh vector.
+    // Net cost: one Apollo round-trip per bbox edit (~100-500ms on
+    // CPU); acceptable for a manual operator action.
+    let mut new_embedding: Option<Vec<u8>> = None;
+    if let Some((bx, by, bw, bh)) = bbox_patch {
+        if !face_client.is_enabled() {
+            return HttpResponse::ServiceUnavailable()
+                .body("face client disabled — bbox edit requires Apollo");
+        }
+        // Look up the current row so we know which photo to crop.
+        let current = {
+            let mut dao = face_dao.lock().expect("face dao lock");
+            match dao.get_face(&span_context, id) {
+                Ok(Some(r)) => r,
+                Ok(None) => return HttpResponse::NotFound().finish(),
+                Err(e) => return HttpResponse::InternalServerError().body(e.to_string()),
+            }
+        };
+        let library = match app_state.library_by_id(current.library_id) {
+            Some(l) => l.clone(),
+            None => {
+                return HttpResponse::InternalServerError().body(format!(
+                    "face row references unknown library_id {}",
+                    current.library_id
+                ));
+            }
+        };
+        let abs_path = library.resolve(&current.rel_path);
+        let crop_bytes = match crop_image_to_bbox(&abs_path, bx, by, bw, bh) {
+            Ok(b) => b,
+            Err(e) => {
+                warn!(
+                    "PATCH /image/faces/{}: crop failed for {:?}: {:?}",
+                    id, abs_path, e
+                );
+                return HttpResponse::BadRequest()
+                    .body(format!("cannot crop new bbox: {}", e));
+            }
+        };
+        let meta = DetectMeta {
+            content_hash: current.content_hash.clone(),
+            library_id: current.library_id,
+            rel_path: current.rel_path.clone(),
+            orientation: None,
+            model_version: Some(current.model_version.clone()),
+        };
+        match face_client.embed(crop_bytes, meta).await {
+            Ok(resp) => {
+                if let Some(face) = resp.faces.first() {
+                    match face.decode_embedding() {
+                        Ok(b) => new_embedding = Some(b),
+                        Err(e) => {
+                            warn!(
+                                "PATCH /image/faces/{}: bad embedding from face service: {:?}",
+                                id, e
+                            );
+                            return HttpResponse::BadGateway()
+                                .body("invalid embedding from face service");
+                        }
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    return HttpResponse::UnprocessableEntity()
+                        .body("no face in new bbox");
+                }
+            }
+            Err(FaceDetectError::Permanent(e)) => {
+                return HttpResponse::UnprocessableEntity().body(format!("{}", e));
+            }
+            Err(FaceDetectError::Transient(e)) => {
+                return HttpResponse::ServiceUnavailable().body(format!("{}", e));
+            }
+            Err(FaceDetectError::Disabled) => {
+                return HttpResponse::ServiceUnavailable()
+                    .body("face client disabled mid-flight");
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     let mut dao = face_dao.lock().expect("face dao lock");
-    dao.update_face(&span_context, id, person_patch, bbox_patch, None)
-        .map(|row| HttpResponse::Ok().json(row))
-        .into_http_internal_err()
+    match dao.update_face(&span_context, id, person_patch, bbox_patch, new_embedding) {
+        Ok(row) => HttpResponse::Ok().json(row),
+        Err(e) => HttpResponse::InternalServerError().body(e.to_string()),
+    }
 }
 
 async fn delete_face_handler<D: FaceDao>(