diff --git a/src/date_resolver.rs b/src/date_resolver.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8498cb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/date_resolver.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,495 @@
+//! Canonical `date_taken` resolution for ingest and the per-tick backfill
+//! drain.
+//!
+//! The waterfall (in order; first hit wins):
+//!
+//! 1. **kamadak-exif** — fast in-process EXIF read. Already done by
+//!    `exif::extract_exif_from_path` for image-bearing formats; callers
+//!    pass that result in via `prior_exif_date` so we don't re-parse.
+//! 2. **exiftool** — shell-out fallback that reaches places kamadak-exif
+//!    can't: QuickTime/MP4 (`MediaCreateDate`, `TrackCreateDate`,
+//!    `CreateDate`), Apple's `ContentCreateDate`, MakerNote sub-IFDs.
+//!    Required for videos to land a real date; degrades silently when
+//!    `exiftool` isn't on PATH.
+//! 3. **filename regex** — `memories::extract_date_from_filename` covers
+//!    common screenshot / chat-export / timestamp-named patterns.
+//! 4. **earliest filesystem time** — `utils::earliest_fs_time` picks the
+//!    earlier of created / modified, which on copied-from-backup files is
+//!    a better proxy for content age than either alone.
+//!
+//! `DateSource` records which step won so the per-tick drain can re-resolve
+//! weak sources (`fs_time`) once exiftool becomes available, and so the
+//! UI/debug surface can answer "why does this photo show up under this
+//! date." Note that the previous `/memories` request-time logic preferred
+//! filename even when EXIF was present; this resolver inverts that — EXIF
+//! is authoritative when it exists, on the theory that an EXIF
+//! `DateTimeOriginal` is more reliable than a filename pattern that may
+//! reflect import time rather than capture time.
+
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
+use std::sync::OnceLock;
+
+use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
+use log::{debug, trace, warn};
+use serde::Deserialize;
+
+use crate::utils::earliest_fs_time;
+
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum DateSource {
+    /// kamadak-exif read DateTime/DateTimeOriginal directly.
+    Exif,
+    /// exiftool fallback caught a video / MakerNote / QuickTime tag.
+    Exiftool,
+    /// `extract_date_from_filename` matched a known pattern.
+    Filename,
+    /// Fell through to `earliest_fs_time(metadata)`.
+    FsTime,
+}
+
+impl DateSource {
+    pub fn as_str(self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            DateSource::Exif => "exif",
+            DateSource::Exiftool => "exiftool",
+            DateSource::Filename => "filename",
+            DateSource::FsTime => "fs_time",
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug)]
+pub struct ResolvedDate {
+    pub timestamp: i64,
+    pub source: DateSource,
+}
+
+/// Resolve the canonical date for a single file, given an already-extracted
+/// kamadak-exif date if available. Returns `None` only if every step in the
+/// waterfall fails — for files that exist on disk this should be vanishingly
+/// rare (the fs-time fallback alone almost always succeeds).
+pub fn resolve_date_taken(path: &Path, prior_exif_date: Option<i64>) -> Option<ResolvedDate> {
+    if let Some(ts) = prior_exif_date {
+        return Some(ResolvedDate {
+            timestamp: ts,
+            source: DateSource::Exif,
+        });
+    }
+    if let Some(ts) = exiftool_date_single(path) {
+        return Some(ResolvedDate {
+            timestamp: ts,
+            source: DateSource::Exiftool,
+        });
+    }
+    if let Some(dt) = path
+        .file_name()
+        .and_then(|f| f.to_str())
+        .and_then(crate::memories::extract_date_from_filename)
+    {
+        return Some(ResolvedDate {
+            timestamp: dt.timestamp(),
+            source: DateSource::Filename,
+        });
+    }
+    if let Ok(meta) = std::fs::metadata(path)
+        && let Some(t) = earliest_fs_time(&meta)
+    {
+        let dt: DateTime<Utc> = t.into();
+        return Some(ResolvedDate {
+            timestamp: dt.timestamp(),
+            source: DateSource::FsTime,
+        });
+    }
+    None
+}
+
+/// Batch waterfall. exiftool runs once over the whole batch (single
+/// subprocess); everything else is per-file and runs only on misses.
+/// `prior_exif_dates` lets the caller pass in already-known kamadak dates
+/// keyed by path; entries without a prior date fall through to exiftool
+/// and the rest of the waterfall.
+///
+/// The per-tick backfill drain is the primary caller — it loads ~500 rows
+/// at a time and uses one exiftool subprocess to drain the lot.
+pub fn resolve_dates_batch(
+    paths: &[PathBuf],
+    prior_exif_dates: &HashMap<PathBuf, i64>,
+) -> HashMap<PathBuf, ResolvedDate> {
+    let mut out: HashMap<PathBuf, ResolvedDate> = HashMap::new();
+    let mut needs_exiftool: Vec<&Path> = Vec::with_capacity(paths.len());
+
+    for path in paths {
+        if let Some(&ts) = prior_exif_dates.get(path) {
+            out.insert(
+                path.clone(),
+                ResolvedDate {
+                    timestamp: ts,
+                    source: DateSource::Exif,
+                },
+            );
+        } else {
+            needs_exiftool.push(path.as_path());
+        }
+    }
+
+    if !needs_exiftool.is_empty() {
+        let exiftool_results = exiftool_dates_batch(&needs_exiftool);
+        for path in &needs_exiftool {
+            if let Some(&ts) = exiftool_results.get(*path) {
+                out.insert(
+                    path.to_path_buf(),
+                    ResolvedDate {
+                        timestamp: ts,
+                        source: DateSource::Exiftool,
+                    },
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    for path in paths {
+        if out.contains_key(path) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if let Some(dt) = path
+            .file_name()
+            .and_then(|f| f.to_str())
+            .and_then(crate::memories::extract_date_from_filename)
+        {
+            out.insert(
+                path.clone(),
+                ResolvedDate {
+                    timestamp: dt.timestamp(),
+                    source: DateSource::Filename,
+                },
+            );
+            continue;
+        }
+        if let Ok(meta) = std::fs::metadata(path)
+            && let Some(t) = earliest_fs_time(&meta)
+        {
+            let dt: DateTime<Utc> = t.into();
+            out.insert(
+                path.clone(),
+                ResolvedDate {
+                    timestamp: dt.timestamp(),
+                    source: DateSource::FsTime,
+                },
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    out
+}
+
+/// Tag priority for exiftool extraction. First non-zero value wins.
+///
+/// Photos: `DateTimeOriginal` (original capture) and `SubSecDateTimeOriginal`
+/// are most authoritative. `CreateDate` is a common alias and a sane fallback.
+///
+/// Videos: `MediaCreateDate` / `TrackCreateDate` are the QuickTime/MP4
+/// timestamps. `ContentCreateDate` is Apple's iOS-set tag; it often
+/// reflects local capture time on iPhone exports better than the others.
+///
+/// Notably absent: `FileModifyDate` / `FileAccessDate` — those are
+/// filesystem-derived and the resolver covers them via the `fs_time`
+/// fallback. Letting exiftool pull them here would mask "no real EXIF
+/// date" with a `source = exiftool` row that's no better than fs_time.
+const EXIFTOOL_DATE_TAGS: &[&str] = &[
+    "DateTimeOriginal",
+    "SubSecDateTimeOriginal",
+    "CreateDate",
+    "MediaCreateDate",
+    "TrackCreateDate",
+    "ContentCreateDate",
+];
+
+/// Cache the "exiftool exists on PATH" check across the process lifetime so
+/// the per-tick backfill doesn't fork a doomed subprocess every iteration on
+/// deploys without exiftool installed.
+fn exiftool_available() -> bool {
+    static AVAIL: OnceLock<bool> = OnceLock::new();
+    *AVAIL.get_or_init(|| {
+        let ok = Command::new("exiftool")
+            .arg("-ver")
+            .stdout(Stdio::null())
+            .stderr(Stdio::null())
+            .status()
+            .map(|s| s.success())
+            .unwrap_or(false);
+        if !ok {
+            warn!("exiftool not on PATH; date_taken waterfall skips that step");
+        }
+        ok
+    })
+}
+
+/// One-file exiftool invocation. Used by the upload + GPS-write paths,
+/// which deal with one file at a time. The batch path uses
+/// `exiftool_dates_batch` so we don't pay subprocess startup per row.
+fn exiftool_date_single(path: &Path) -> Option<i64> {
+    if !exiftool_available() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let mut cmd = Command::new("exiftool");
+    cmd.arg("-j").arg("-q").arg("-d").arg("%s").arg("-fast2");
+    for tag in EXIFTOOL_DATE_TAGS {
+        cmd.arg(format!("-{}", tag));
+    }
+    cmd.arg(path);
+    let output = cmd.output().ok()?;
+    if !output.status.success() {
+        trace!("exiftool exited non-zero for {:?}", path);
+        return None;
+    }
+    parse_exiftool_json(&output.stdout)
+        .into_iter()
+        .next()
+        .map(|(_, ts)| ts)
+}
+
+/// Drain a batch via a single exiftool subprocess. Paths are fed on stdin
+/// via `-@ -`, so the argv stays short regardless of batch size — safe for
+/// libraries with very long path components.
+fn exiftool_dates_batch(paths: &[&Path]) -> HashMap<PathBuf, i64> {
+    let mut out = HashMap::new();
+    if paths.is_empty() || !exiftool_available() {
+        return out;
+    }
+
+    let mut cmd = Command::new("exiftool");
+    cmd.arg("-j").arg("-q").arg("-d").arg("%s").arg("-fast2");
+    for tag in EXIFTOOL_DATE_TAGS {
+        cmd.arg(format!("-{}", tag));
+    }
+    cmd.arg("-@").arg("-");
+    cmd.stdin(Stdio::piped())
+        .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+        .stderr(Stdio::null());
+
+    let mut child = match cmd.spawn() {
+        Ok(c) => c,
+        Err(e) => {
+            warn!("exiftool batch spawn failed: {}", e);
+            return out;
+        }
+    };
+
+    if let Some(mut stdin) = child.stdin.take() {
+        for p in paths {
+            // exiftool's argfile reader treats each line as one path; OS
+            // path bytes don't always survive a String round-trip, but
+            // every path we get here originated from rel_path / root_path
+            // strings already, so to-string-lossy is a non-event.
+            if let Err(e) = writeln!(stdin, "{}", p.display()) {
+                warn!("exiftool batch stdin write failed: {}", e);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    let output = match child.wait_with_output() {
+        Ok(o) => o,
+        Err(e) => {
+            warn!("exiftool batch wait failed: {}", e);
+            return out;
+        }
+    };
+    if !output.status.success() {
+        debug!(
+            "exiftool batch exit status {:?}; partial output may still parse",
+            output.status.code()
+        );
+    }
+    for (source, ts) in parse_exiftool_json(&output.stdout) {
+        out.insert(PathBuf::from(source), ts);
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+/// One row per input file. exiftool emits any tag we asked for that was
+/// present, plus the `SourceFile` it was reading. Tags are JSON values
+/// because `-d %s` returns the timestamp as a *string* of digits, not a
+/// number, when the date parses; absent tags are simply missing keys.
+#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
+struct ExiftoolEntry {
+    #[serde(rename = "SourceFile")]
+    source_file: String,
+    #[serde(rename = "DateTimeOriginal")]
+    date_time_original: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+    #[serde(rename = "SubSecDateTimeOriginal")]
+    sub_sec_date_time_original: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+    #[serde(rename = "CreateDate")]
+    create_date: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+    #[serde(rename = "MediaCreateDate")]
+    media_create_date: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+    #[serde(rename = "TrackCreateDate")]
+    track_create_date: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+    #[serde(rename = "ContentCreateDate")]
+    content_create_date: Option<serde_json::Value>,
+}
+
+fn parse_exiftool_json(stdout: &[u8]) -> Vec<(String, i64)> {
+    let entries: Vec<ExiftoolEntry> = match serde_json::from_slice(stdout) {
+        Ok(v) => v,
+        Err(e) => {
+            // Empty stdout on total failure isn't a parse error worth
+            // logging at warn — the caller already noted the non-zero
+            // exit status.
+            if !stdout.is_empty() {
+                warn!("exiftool JSON parse failed: {}", e);
+            }
+            return Vec::new();
+        }
+    };
+
+    let mut out = Vec::with_capacity(entries.len());
+    for entry in entries {
+        // Walk the priority list. exiftool sometimes returns the literal
+        // string "0000:00:00 00:00:00" for missing-but-allocated date
+        // slots; with `-d %s` that becomes the unix epoch (0). Reject
+        // anything <= 0 so we fall through to the next tag.
+        let tags = [
+            entry.date_time_original.as_ref(),
+            entry.sub_sec_date_time_original.as_ref(),
+            entry.create_date.as_ref(),
+            entry.media_create_date.as_ref(),
+            entry.track_create_date.as_ref(),
+            entry.content_create_date.as_ref(),
+        ];
+        let mut chosen: Option<i64> = None;
+        for tag in tags.iter().flatten() {
+            if let Some(ts) = coerce_to_unix_seconds(tag)
+                && ts > 0
+            {
+                chosen = Some(ts);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        if let Some(ts) = chosen {
+            out.push((entry.source_file, ts));
+        }
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+/// `-d %s` should hand us a numeric string, but exiftool's JSON encoder
+/// will emit a number when the tag was defined as numeric in its lib —
+/// accept both shapes.
+fn coerce_to_unix_seconds(v: &serde_json::Value) -> Option<i64> {
+    match v {
+        serde_json::Value::String(s) => s.trim().parse::<i64>().ok(),
+        serde_json::Value::Number(n) => n.as_i64(),
+        _ => None,
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_exiftool_json_picks_first_priority_tag() {
+        let json = br#"[{
+            "SourceFile": "/lib/IMG.jpg",
+            "DateTimeOriginal": "1500000000",
+            "CreateDate": "1400000000"
+        }]"#;
+        let parsed = parse_exiftool_json(json);
+        assert_eq!(parsed, vec![("/lib/IMG.jpg".to_string(), 1500000000)]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_exiftool_json_falls_through_zeros() {
+        // exiftool emits "0000:00:00 00:00:00" → unix epoch 0 with -d %s.
+        // The resolver should skip those and pick the next tag.
+        let json = br#"[{
+            "SourceFile": "/lib/clip.mov",
+            "DateTimeOriginal": "0",
+            "MediaCreateDate": "1500000000"
+        }]"#;
+        let parsed = parse_exiftool_json(json);
+        assert_eq!(parsed, vec![("/lib/clip.mov".to_string(), 1500000000)]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_exiftool_json_accepts_numeric_values() {
+        let json = br#"[{
+            "SourceFile": "/lib/a.jpg",
+            "CreateDate": 1234567890
+        }]"#;
+        let parsed = parse_exiftool_json(json);
+        assert_eq!(parsed, vec![("/lib/a.jpg".to_string(), 1234567890)]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_exiftool_json_emits_nothing_when_no_tag_present() {
+        let json = br#"[{"SourceFile": "/lib/no_dates.bin"}]"#;
+        let parsed = parse_exiftool_json(json);
+        assert!(parsed.is_empty());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_exiftool_json_handles_multiple_entries() {
+        let json = br#"[
+            {"SourceFile": "/lib/a.jpg", "DateTimeOriginal": "100"},
+            {"SourceFile": "/lib/b.jpg", "CreateDate": "200"}
+        ]"#;
+        let parsed = parse_exiftool_json(json);
+        assert_eq!(
+            parsed,
+            vec![
+                ("/lib/a.jpg".to_string(), 100),
+                ("/lib/b.jpg".to_string(), 200)
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn date_source_as_str_round_trip() {
+        for src in [
+            DateSource::Exif,
+            DateSource::Exiftool,
+            DateSource::Filename,
+            DateSource::FsTime,
+        ] {
+            assert!(!src.as_str().is_empty());
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn resolve_uses_prior_exif_when_present() {
+        // Path doesn't need to exist when prior_exif_date short-circuits.
+        let resolved =
+            resolve_date_taken(Path::new("/nonexistent/file.jpg"), Some(1700000000)).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(resolved.timestamp, 1700000000);
+        assert_eq!(resolved.source, DateSource::Exif);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn resolve_filename_when_no_exif_and_file_missing() {
+        // No prior EXIF, no exiftool match (file missing), but the filename
+        // pattern still matches so the resolver lands on Filename.
+        let resolved = resolve_date_taken(
+            Path::new("/nonexistent/Screenshot_2014-06-01-20-44-50.png"),
+            None,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(resolved.source, DateSource::Filename);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn resolve_fs_time_when_only_metadata_available() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let path = dir.path().join("plain.jpg");
+        std::fs::File::create(&path).unwrap();
+        let resolved = resolve_date_taken(&path, None).unwrap();
+        // exiftool may or may not be installed in the test env; either
+        // way the file has no EXIF and no filename date, so we should
+        // fall to fs_time.
+        assert_eq!(resolved.source, DateSource::FsTime);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index c110d8e..46deaac 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ pub mod cleanup;
 pub mod content_hash;
 pub mod data;
 pub mod database;
+pub mod date_resolver;
 pub mod duplicates;
 pub mod error;
 pub mod exif;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 3c0a9a6..84af187 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ mod auth;
 mod content_hash;
 mod data;
 mod database;
+mod date_resolver;
 mod duplicates;
 mod error;
 mod exif;