diff --git a/src/unified_search.rs b/src/unified_search.rs
index 7bb78dd..d80feec 100644
--- a/src/unified_search.rs
+++ b/src/unified_search.rs
@@ -231,6 +231,22 @@ pub async fn unified_search<TagD: TagDao>(
     let has_struct =
         has_exif_filter || gps.is_some() || !sq.tag_ids.is_empty() || sq.media_type.is_some();
 
+    // Stage trace: what the model extracted + whether a structured filter is
+    // active. The chips show this to the user too, but logging it makes the
+    // "why no results" path debuggable from the server side.
+    log::info!(
+        "unified_search: q={nl:?} semantic={:?} tag_ids={:?} exclude={:?} place={:?} gps={:?} date=({:?},{:?}) media={:?} unmatched={:?} has_struct={has_struct}",
+        sq.semantic,
+        sq.tag_ids,
+        sq.exclude_tag_ids,
+        resolved_place.as_ref().map(|p| p.display_name.as_str()),
+        gps,
+        sq.date_from,
+        sq.date_to,
+        sq.media_type,
+        sq.unmatched_tags,
+    );
+
     // ── 3. Build the structured candidate set (EXIF rows passing every
     // filter). Skipped entirely for a pure-semantic query. ──
     let mut candidate: Vec<crate::database::models::ImageExif> = Vec::new();
@@ -255,6 +271,11 @@ pub async fn unified_search<TagD: TagDao>(
                 }
             }
         };
+        log::info!(
+            "unified_search: tag_ids={:?} -> tag_set_files={:?}",
+            sq.tag_ids,
+            tag_set.as_ref().map(|s| s.len())
+        );
 
         // EXIF query handles camera/lens/gps-box/date. With no EXIF filters
         // it returns the whole table, which we then narrow by the predicates
@@ -322,6 +343,11 @@ pub async fn unified_search<TagD: TagDao>(
             .iter()
             .filter_map(|r| r.content_hash.clone())
             .collect();
+        log::info!(
+            "unified_search: candidate_rows={} allowed_hashes={}",
+            candidate.len(),
+            allowed_hashes.len()
+        );
     }
 
     // ── 4. Rank ──
@@ -334,6 +360,8 @@ pub async fn unified_search<TagD: TagDao>(
                     Ok(s) => s,
                     Err(e) => return score_error_response(e),
                 };
+            let considered = scored.considered;
+            let clip_hits = scored.hits.len();
             let hits: Vec<(f32, String)> = if has_struct {
                 scored
                     .hits
@@ -343,6 +371,10 @@ pub async fn unified_search<TagD: TagDao>(
             } else {
                 scored.hits
             };
+            log::info!(
+                "unified_search: clip considered={considered} hits={clip_hits} after_struct_filter={}",
+                hits.len()
+            );
             let total_matching = hits.len();
             let page = paginate(&hits, offset, limit);
             let results = resolve_hits(&exif_dao, &page);
@@ -364,6 +396,7 @@ pub async fn unified_search<TagD: TagDao>(
             }
             candidate.sort_by(|a, b| b.date_taken.cmp(&a.date_taken));
             let total_matching = candidate.len();
+            log::info!("unified_search: filters-only matches={total_matching}");
             let end = (offset + limit).min(total_matching);
             let results: Vec<SearchHit> = if offset >= total_matching {
                 Vec::new()