diff --git a/src/face_watch.rs b/src/face_watch.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87d0103
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/face_watch.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,389 @@
+//! Face-detection pass for the file watcher.
+//!
+//! `process_new_files` calls [`run_face_detection_pass`] after the EXIF
+//! registration loop. We walk the candidates (images, not yet face-scanned,
+//! not excluded by EXCLUDED_DIRS), fan out parallel detect calls to Apollo,
+//! and persist the results — detected faces, `no_faces` markers when Apollo
+//! found nothing, `failed` markers on permanent decode errors, no marker on
+//! transient failures so the next scan retries.
+//!
+//! The watcher runs in a plain `std::thread`, so we build a short-lived
+//! tokio runtime per pass and `block_on` a join of K detect futures. K is
+//! configurable via `FACE_DETECT_CONCURRENCY` (default 8). Apollo's
+//! threadpool is bounded to 1–2 workers anyway, so the runs queue
+//! server-side; the client-side fan-out is purely about overlapping IO
+//! (file read + JSON encode) with someone else's inference.
+
+use crate::ai::face_client::{DetectMeta, FaceClient, FaceDetectError};
+use crate::exif;
+use crate::faces::{FaceDao, InsertFaceDetectionInput};
+use crate::file_types;
+use crate::libraries::Library;
+use crate::memories::PathExcluder;
+use log::{debug, info, warn};
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
+use tokio::sync::Semaphore;
+
+/// One file the watcher would like to face-scan. Built by the caller from
+/// the EXIF batch (we need `content_hash` to key everything against).
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct FaceCandidate {
+    pub rel_path: String,
+    pub content_hash: String,
+}
+
+/// Synchronous entry point. Returns once every candidate has been
+/// processed (or definitively skipped). When `face_client.is_enabled()`
+/// is false this is a no-op so the watcher can call unconditionally.
+pub fn run_face_detection_pass(
+    library: &Library,
+    excluded_dirs: &[String],
+    face_client: &FaceClient,
+    face_dao: Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn FaceDao>>>,
+    candidates: Vec<FaceCandidate>,
+) {
+    if !face_client.is_enabled() {
+        return;
+    }
+    if candidates.is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let base = Path::new(&library.root_path);
+    let filtered = filter_excluded(base, excluded_dirs, candidates, Some(&library.name));
+    if filtered.is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let concurrency: usize = std::env::var("FACE_DETECT_CONCURRENCY")
+        .ok()
+        .and_then(|s| s.parse().ok())
+        .filter(|n: &usize| *n > 0)
+        .unwrap_or(8);
+
+    info!(
+        "face_watch: running detection on {} candidates (library '{}', concurrency {})",
+        filtered.len(),
+        library.name,
+        concurrency
+    );
+
+    // Per-pass tokio runtime. The watcher thread isn't in any pre-existing
+    // async context — building one here keeps the rest of the watcher
+    // sync-only. Worker count is small; the parallelism we care about is
+    // task-level (semaphore) not thread-level.
+    let rt = match tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread()
+        .worker_threads(2)
+        .enable_all()
+        .build()
+    {
+        Ok(rt) => rt,
+        Err(e) => {
+            warn!("face_watch: failed to build tokio runtime: {e}");
+            return;
+        }
+    };
+
+    let library_id = library.id;
+    let library_root = library.root_path.clone();
+    rt.block_on(async move {
+        let sem = Arc::new(Semaphore::new(concurrency));
+        let mut handles = Vec::with_capacity(filtered.len());
+        for cand in filtered {
+            let permit_sem = sem.clone();
+            let face_client = face_client.clone();
+            let face_dao = face_dao.clone();
+            let library_root = library_root.clone();
+            handles.push(tokio::spawn(async move {
+                // acquire_owned would let us drop the permit explicitly
+                // before await points; for a one-shot call into Apollo
+                // the simpler bounded acquire is enough.
+                let _permit = permit_sem.acquire().await.expect("face semaphore");
+                process_one(library_id, &library_root, cand, &face_client, face_dao).await;
+            }));
+        }
+        for h in handles {
+            // join; per-task panics are logged inside process_one before
+            // they reach here, so we don't propagate.
+            let _ = h.await;
+        }
+    });
+}
+
+async fn process_one(
+    library_id: i32,
+    library_root: &str,
+    cand: FaceCandidate,
+    face_client: &FaceClient,
+    face_dao: Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn FaceDao>>>,
+) {
+    let abs = Path::new(library_root).join(&cand.rel_path);
+    // Read the bytes off disk in a blocking-friendly task. Filesystem IO
+    // is sync but cheap; a small spawn_blocking would be overkill.
+    let bytes = match read_image_bytes_for_detect(&abs) {
+        Ok(b) => b,
+        Err(e) => {
+            // Don't mark — file may have been moved/renamed mid-scan; let
+            // the next pass try again. Future-bug check: a permanently
+            // unreadable file would loop forever; we accept that for v1
+            // because process_new_files already prunes vanished rows on
+            // full scans.
+            warn!(
+                "face_watch: read failed for {} ({}): {}",
+                cand.rel_path, library_id, e
+            );
+            return;
+        }
+    };
+
+    let meta = DetectMeta {
+        content_hash: cand.content_hash.clone(),
+        library_id,
+        rel_path: cand.rel_path.clone(),
+        orientation: None,
+        model_version: None,
+    };
+    let ctx = opentelemetry::Context::current();
+
+    match face_client.detect(bytes, meta).await {
+        Ok(resp) => {
+            // Hold the dao lock only across the synchronous DB writes.
+            let mut dao = face_dao.lock().expect("face dao");
+            if resp.faces.is_empty() {
+                if let Err(e) = dao.mark_status(
+                    &ctx,
+                    library_id,
+                    &cand.content_hash,
+                    &cand.rel_path,
+                    "no_faces",
+                    &resp.model_version,
+                ) {
+                    warn!(
+                        "face_watch: mark no_faces failed for {}: {:?}",
+                        cand.rel_path, e
+                    );
+                }
+                debug!(
+                    "face_watch: {} → no faces (model {})",
+                    cand.rel_path, resp.model_version
+                );
+            } else {
+                let face_count = resp.faces.len();
+                for face in &resp.faces {
+                    let emb = match face.decode_embedding() {
+                        Ok(b) => b,
+                        Err(e) => {
+                            warn!("face_watch: bad embedding for {}: {:?}", cand.rel_path, e);
+                            continue;
+                        }
+                    };
+                    if let Err(e) = dao.store_detection(
+                        &ctx,
+                        InsertFaceDetectionInput {
+                            library_id,
+                            content_hash: cand.content_hash.clone(),
+                            rel_path: cand.rel_path.clone(),
+                            bbox: Some((face.bbox.x, face.bbox.y, face.bbox.w, face.bbox.h)),
+                            embedding: Some(emb),
+                            confidence: Some(face.confidence),
+                            source: "auto".to_string(),
+                            person_id: None,
+                            status: "detected".to_string(),
+                            model_version: resp.model_version.clone(),
+                        },
+                    ) {
+                        warn!(
+                            "face_watch: store_detection failed for {}: {:?}",
+                            cand.rel_path, e
+                        );
+                    }
+                }
+                info!(
+                    "face_watch: {} → {} face(s) ({}ms, {})",
+                    cand.rel_path, face_count, resp.duration_ms, resp.model_version
+                );
+            }
+        }
+        Err(FaceDetectError::Permanent(e)) => {
+            warn!(
+                "face_watch: permanent failure on {}: {} — marking failed",
+                cand.rel_path, e
+            );
+            let mut dao = face_dao.lock().expect("face dao");
+            // model_version is best-effort here — the engine that rejected
+            // the bytes may not have echoed one. Empty string is fine; this
+            // row is purely a "don't retry" sentinel.
+            if let Err(e) = dao.mark_status(
+                &ctx,
+                library_id,
+                &cand.content_hash,
+                &cand.rel_path,
+                "failed",
+                "",
+            ) {
+                warn!(
+                    "face_watch: mark failed errored for {}: {:?}",
+                    cand.rel_path, e
+                );
+            }
+        }
+        Err(FaceDetectError::Transient(e)) => {
+            // Don't mark anything; next scan tick retries naturally.
+            // Demoted to debug because OOM and engine-not-ready are noisy
+            // and self-resolving.
+            debug!(
+                "face_watch: transient on {}: {} (will retry next pass)",
+                cand.rel_path, e
+            );
+        }
+        Err(FaceDetectError::Disabled) => {
+            // Caller already checked is_enabled(); this branch is defensive.
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Drop candidates whose path matches the watcher's `EXCLUDED_DIRS` rules.
+/// Pulled out for unit testing — the same `PathExcluder` /memories uses,
+/// just applied at the face-detect candidate set instead of the memories
+/// listing. Skip @eaDir / .thumbnails / user-defined paths before we burn
+/// a detect call (and Apollo's GPU memory) on junk.
+pub(crate) fn filter_excluded(
+    base: &Path,
+    excluded_dirs: &[String],
+    candidates: Vec<FaceCandidate>,
+    library_name: Option<&str>,
+) -> Vec<FaceCandidate> {
+    if excluded_dirs.is_empty() {
+        return candidates;
+    }
+    let excluder = PathExcluder::new(base, excluded_dirs);
+    candidates
+        .into_iter()
+        .filter(|c| {
+            let abs = base.join(&c.rel_path);
+            if excluder.is_excluded(&abs) {
+                debug!(
+                    "face_watch: skipping excluded path {} (library {})",
+                    c.rel_path,
+                    library_name.unwrap_or("<unknown>")
+                );
+                return false;
+            }
+            true
+        })
+        .collect()
+}
+
+/// Read image bytes for face detection. Insightface (via opencv) can't
+/// decode RAW or HEIC — for those we extract the embedded JPEG preview
+/// the way the thumbnail pipeline does. Plain JPEG/PNG/WebP/etc. go
+/// through a direct read.
+pub(crate) fn read_image_bytes_for_detect(path: &Path) -> std::io::Result<Vec<u8>> {
+    if file_types::needs_ffmpeg_thumbnail(path)
+        && let Some(preview) = exif::extract_embedded_jpeg_preview(path)
+    {
+        return Ok(preview);
+    }
+    // Plain read for everything else. RAW/HEIC files without an embedded
+    // preview fall through here too; Apollo will then 422 and the caller
+    // marks the row failed. That's fine; we tried.
+    std::fs::read(path)
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::fs;
+
+    fn cand(rel_path: &str) -> FaceCandidate {
+        FaceCandidate {
+            rel_path: rel_path.to_string(),
+            content_hash: format!("hash-{rel_path}"),
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn filter_excluded_pattern_drops_dir_components() {
+        // A pattern matches a path *component* under base, not a substring.
+        // Phase 3 needs this for @eaDir / .thumbnails skipping.
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let base = tmp.path();
+        let candidates = vec![
+            cand("photos/a.jpg"),                  // keep
+            cand("photos/@eaDir/SYNOPHOTO_THUMB"), // drop (component match)
+            cand("photos/eaDir-not-a-thing.jpg"),  // keep (substring, not component)
+        ];
+        let kept = filter_excluded(base, &["@eaDir".to_string()], candidates, Some("test"));
+        let kept_paths: Vec<_> = kept.iter().map(|c| c.rel_path.as_str()).collect();
+        assert_eq!(
+            kept_paths,
+            vec!["photos/a.jpg", "photos/eaDir-not-a-thing.jpg"]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn filter_excluded_absolute_dir_drops_subtree() {
+        // Absolute (under-base) entries drop the whole subtree.
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let base = tmp.path();
+        let candidates = vec![
+            cand("public/a.jpg"),
+            cand("private/a.jpg"),
+            cand("private/sub/b.jpg"),
+        ];
+        let kept = filter_excluded(base, &["/private".to_string()], candidates, None);
+        let kept_paths: Vec<_> = kept.iter().map(|c| c.rel_path.as_str()).collect();
+        assert_eq!(kept_paths, vec!["public/a.jpg"]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn filter_excluded_empty_rules_passes_all() {
+        // Skip the PathExcluder build entirely on the common path where
+        // EXCLUDED_DIRS is unset — saves an allocation per pass.
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let base = tmp.path();
+        let candidates = vec![cand("a.jpg"), cand("b.jpg")];
+        let kept = filter_excluded(base, &[], candidates, None);
+        assert_eq!(kept.len(), 2);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn read_bytes_passes_through_for_jpeg() {
+        // JPEG goes through plain read — we DON'T want to lose orientation
+        // metadata or re-encode here; insightface's exif_transpose handles
+        // orientation on its end.
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let path = tmp.path().join("test.jpg");
+        let mut buf = Vec::new();
+        // Tiny 4x4 grey JPEG — encoded by image crate so we know it round-trips.
+        let img = image::DynamicImage::ImageRgb8(image::RgbImage::from_pixel(
+            4,
+            4,
+            image::Rgb([128, 128, 128]),
+        ));
+        img.write_to(
+            &mut std::io::Cursor::new(&mut buf),
+            image::ImageFormat::Jpeg,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        fs::write(&path, &buf).unwrap();
+
+        let read = read_image_bytes_for_detect(&path).expect("read jpeg");
+        assert_eq!(read, buf, "JPEG bytes must pass through verbatim");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn read_bytes_falls_back_when_raw_has_no_preview() {
+        // A `.nef` file with non-RAW bytes won't have an embedded preview —
+        // the helper falls through to plain read rather than refusing. This
+        // matches the docstring contract; Apollo will then 422 and we'll
+        // mark the row as failed.
+        let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let path = tmp.path().join("not_really.nef");
+        fs::write(&path, b"definitely-not-a-raw-file").unwrap();
+
+        let read = read_image_bytes_for_detect(&path).expect("fallback read");
+        assert_eq!(read, b"definitely-not-a-raw-file");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index ad1c595..12de818 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ pub mod data;
 pub mod database;
 pub mod error;
 pub mod exif;
+pub mod face_watch;
 pub mod faces;
 pub mod file_types;
 pub mod files;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 8cee679..4e628d0 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ mod data;
 mod database;
 mod error;
 mod exif;
+mod face_watch;
 mod faces;
 mod file_types;
 mod files;
@@ -1460,6 +1461,8 @@ fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
             app_state.libraries.clone(),
             playlist_mgr_for_watcher,
             preview_gen_for_watcher,
+            app_state.face_client.clone(),
+            app_state.excluded_dirs.clone(),
         );
 
         // Start orphaned playlist cleanup job
@@ -1787,6 +1790,8 @@ fn watch_files(
     libs: Vec<libraries::Library>,
     playlist_manager: Addr<VideoPlaylistManager>,
     preview_generator: Addr<video::actors::PreviewClipGenerator>,
+    face_client: crate::ai::face_client::FaceClient,
+    excluded_dirs: Vec<String>,
 ) {
     std::thread::spawn(move || {
         // Get polling intervals from environment variables
@@ -1819,6 +1824,9 @@ fn watch_files(
         let preview_dao = Arc::new(Mutex::new(
             Box::new(SqlitePreviewDao::new()) as Box<dyn PreviewDao>
         ));
+        let face_dao = Arc::new(Mutex::new(
+            Box::new(faces::SqliteFaceDao::new()) as Box<dyn faces::FaceDao>
+        ));
 
         let mut last_quick_scan = SystemTime::now();
         let mut last_full_scan = SystemTime::now();
@@ -1844,6 +1852,9 @@ fn watch_files(
                         lib,
                         Arc::clone(&exif_dao),
                         Arc::clone(&preview_dao),
+                        Arc::clone(&face_dao),
+                        face_client.clone(),
+                        &excluded_dirs,
                         None,
                         playlist_manager.clone(),
                         preview_generator.clone(),
@@ -1861,6 +1872,9 @@ fn watch_files(
                         lib,
                         Arc::clone(&exif_dao),
                         Arc::clone(&preview_dao),
+                        Arc::clone(&face_dao),
+                        face_client.clone(),
+                        &excluded_dirs,
                         Some(check_since),
                         playlist_manager.clone(),
                         preview_generator.clone(),
@@ -1907,6 +1921,9 @@ fn process_new_files(
     library: &libraries::Library,
     exif_dao: Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn ExifDao>>>,
     preview_dao: Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn PreviewDao>>>,
+    face_dao: Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn faces::FaceDao>>>,
+    face_client: crate::ai::face_client::FaceClient,
+    excluded_dirs: &[String],
     modified_since: Option<SystemTime>,
     playlist_manager: Addr<VideoPlaylistManager>,
     preview_generator: Addr<video::actors::PreviewClipGenerator>,
@@ -2082,6 +2099,24 @@ fn process_new_files(
         }
     }
 
+    // ── Face detection pass ────────────────────────────────────────────
+    // Run after EXIF writes so newly-registered files have their
+    // content_hash populated. Skipped wholesale when face_client is
+    // disabled (no Apollo integration configured) — Phase 3 wires this
+    // up; the watcher remains usable on legacy deploys.
+    if face_client.is_enabled() {
+        let candidates = build_face_candidates(&context, &files, &exif_dao, &face_dao);
+        if !candidates.is_empty() {
+            face_watch::run_face_detection_pass(
+                library,
+                excluded_dirs,
+                &face_client,
+                Arc::clone(&face_dao),
+                candidates,
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
     // Check for videos that need HLS playlists
     let video_path_base = dotenv::var("VIDEO_PATH").expect("VIDEO_PATH must be set");
     let mut videos_needing_playlists = Vec::new();
@@ -2206,6 +2241,64 @@ fn process_new_files(
     }
 }
 
+/// Build the face-detection candidate list for a scan tick.
+///
+/// We need `(rel_path, content_hash)` for every image file that has a
+/// content_hash recorded in image_exif but no row in face_detections yet.
+/// Re-querying image_exif here picks up rows the EXIF write loop just
+/// inserted alongside any pre-existing rows the watcher walked over —
+/// covers both new uploads and the initial backlog scan.
+fn build_face_candidates(
+    context: &opentelemetry::Context,
+    files: &[(PathBuf, String)],
+    exif_dao: &Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn ExifDao>>>,
+    face_dao: &Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn faces::FaceDao>>>,
+) -> Vec<face_watch::FaceCandidate> {
+    // Restrict to image files; videos aren't face-scanned in v1 (kamadak
+    // doesn't even register them in image_exif).
+    let image_paths: Vec<String> = files
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|(p, _)| !is_video_file(p))
+        .map(|(_, rel)| rel.clone())
+        .collect();
+    if image_paths.is_empty() {
+        return Vec::new();
+    }
+
+    let exif_records = {
+        let mut dao = exif_dao.lock().expect("Unable to lock ExifDao");
+        dao.get_exif_batch(context, &image_paths)
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    };
+    // rel_path → content_hash (only rows with a hash; without one we have
+    // nothing to key face data against).
+    let mut hash_by_path: HashMap<String, String> = HashMap::with_capacity(exif_records.len());
+    for record in exif_records {
+        if let Some(h) = record.content_hash {
+            hash_by_path.insert(record.file_path, h);
+        }
+    }
+
+    let mut candidates = Vec::new();
+    let mut dao = face_dao.lock().expect("face dao");
+    for rel_path in image_paths {
+        let Some(hash) = hash_by_path.get(&rel_path) else {
+            continue;
+        };
+        match dao.already_scanned(context, hash) {
+            Ok(true) => continue,
+            Ok(false) => candidates.push(face_watch::FaceCandidate {
+                rel_path,
+                content_hash: hash.clone(),
+            }),
+            Err(e) => {
+                warn!("face_watch: already_scanned errored for {}: {:?}", hash, e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    candidates
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;