diff --git a/pyrightconfig.json b/pyrightconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a3c77051a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyrightconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{
+  "include": ["src/", "tests/"],
+  "exclude": [".venv/", "build/", "dist/", ".pytest_cache/", ".hypothesis/"],
+  "pythonVersion": "3.14",
+  "venvPath": ".",
+  "venv": ".venv",
+  "typeCheckingMode": "standard",
+  "reportUnknownArgumentType": false,
+  "reportUnknownMemberType": false,
+  "reportUnknownVariableType": false,
+  "reportUnknownParameterType": false,
+  "reportUnknownLambdaType": false,
+  "reportCallIssue": false,
+  "reportPrivateUsage": false,
+  "reportMissingTypeStubs": false
+}
diff --git a/src/synthorg/api/middleware.py b/src/synthorg/api/middleware.py
index 703eab22ee..62590bc07e 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/api/middleware.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/api/middleware.py
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ async def capture_send(message: Any) -> None:
                 and message.get("type") == "http.response.start"
             ):
                 status_code = message.get("status", 500)
-            await original_send(message)
+            await original_send(message)  # pyright: ignore[reportArgumentType]
 
         try:
             await self.app(scope, receive, capture_send)
diff --git a/src/synthorg/config/loader.py b/src/synthorg/config/loader.py
index c3aa592994..bc6ae7a369 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/config/loader.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/config/loader.py
@@ -116,9 +116,10 @@ def _parse_yaml_string(
     except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
         line: int | None = None
         col: int | None = None
-        if hasattr(exc, "problem_mark") and exc.problem_mark is not None:
-            line = exc.problem_mark.line + 1
-            col = exc.problem_mark.column + 1
+        mark = getattr(exc, "problem_mark", None)
+        if mark is not None:
+            line = mark.line + 1
+            col = mark.column + 1
         msg = f"YAML syntax error in {source_name}: {exc}"
         logger.warning(
             CONFIG_PARSE_FAILED,
diff --git a/src/synthorg/memory/backends/mem0/adapter.py b/src/synthorg/memory/backends/mem0/adapter.py
index c4c6d68c1e..66a993231c 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/memory/backends/mem0/adapter.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/memory/backends/mem0/adapter.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ async def connect(self) -> None:
                 )
                 msg = f"Failed to connect to Mem0: {exc}"
                 raise MemoryConnectionError(msg) from exc
-            self._client = client
+            self._client = client  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
             self._connected = True
             logger.info(MEMORY_BACKEND_CONNECTED, backend="mem0")
 
diff --git a/src/synthorg/memory/org/store.py b/src/synthorg/memory/org/store.py
index 776d009b80..b0007a0078 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/memory/org/store.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/memory/org/store.py
@@ -421,6 +421,7 @@ async def query(
             clauses.append(f"category IN ({placeholders})")
             params.extend(c.value for c in categories)
 
+        escaped = ""
         if text is not None:
             escaped = text.replace("\\", "\\\\").replace("%", "\\%").replace("_", "\\_")
             clauses.append("content LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\'")
diff --git a/src/synthorg/observability/events/template.py b/src/synthorg/observability/events/template.py
index ac0e1bc451..c61178025c 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/observability/events/template.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/observability/events/template.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 TEMPLATE_RENDER_JINJA2_ERROR: Final[str] = "template.render.jinja2_error"
 TEMPLATE_RENDER_YAML_ERROR: Final[str] = "template.render.yaml_error"
 TEMPLATE_RENDER_VALIDATION_ERROR: Final[str] = "template.render.validation_error"
+TEMPLATE_PERSONALITY_PRESET_INVALID: Final[str] = "template.personality_preset.invalid"
 TEMPLATE_PERSONALITY_PRESET_UNKNOWN: Final[str] = "template.personality_preset.unknown"
 TEMPLATE_PASS1_FLOAT_FALLBACK: Final[str] = "template.pass1.float_fallback"
 TEMPLATE_INHERIT_RESOLVE_START: Final[str] = "template.inherit.resolve_start"
diff --git a/src/synthorg/templates/presets.py b/src/synthorg/templates/presets.py
index bf4c60f625..cf25738f78 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/templates/presets.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/templates/presets.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 from synthorg.core.agent import PersonalityConfig
 from synthorg.observability import get_logger
 from synthorg.observability.events.template import (
+    TEMPLATE_PERSONALITY_PRESET_INVALID,
     TEMPLATE_PERSONALITY_PRESET_UNKNOWN,
 )
 
@@ -428,14 +429,22 @@ def get_personality_preset(name: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
 
 
 # Validate all presets at import time to catch key typos immediately.
-for _preset_name, _preset_dict in PERSONALITY_PRESETS.items():
-    try:
-        PersonalityConfig(**_preset_dict)
-    except (ValidationError, TypeError) as _exc:
-        msg = f"Invalid personality preset {_preset_name!r}: {_exc}"
-        raise ValueError(msg) from _exc
-if PERSONALITY_PRESETS:
-    del _preset_name, _preset_dict
+def _validate_presets() -> None:
+    for name, preset in PERSONALITY_PRESETS.items():
+        try:
+            PersonalityConfig(**preset)
+        except (ValidationError, TypeError) as exc:
+            logger.warning(
+                TEMPLATE_PERSONALITY_PRESET_INVALID,
+                preset_name=name,
+                error=str(exc),
+            )
+            msg = f"Invalid personality preset {name!r}: {exc}"
+            raise ValueError(msg) from exc
+
+
+_validate_presets()
+del _validate_presets
 
 
 def generate_auto_name(role: str, *, seed: int | None = None) -> str:
diff --git a/src/synthorg/tools/mcp/__init__.py b/src/synthorg/tools/mcp/__init__.py
index ce4917d3a3..3879f88b5f 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/tools/mcp/__init__.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/tools/mcp/__init__.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 no dependency on the tool base classes.
 """
 
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
 from .config import MCPConfig, MCPServerConfig
 from .errors import (
     MCPConnectionError,
@@ -15,6 +17,13 @@
 )
 from .models import MCPRawResult, MCPToolInfo
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from .bridge_tool import MCPBridgeTool
+    from .cache import MCPResultCache
+    from .client import MCPClient
+    from .factory import MCPToolFactory
+    from .result_mapper import map_call_tool_result
+
 __all__ = [
     "MCPBridgeTool",
     "MCPClient",
diff --git a/src/synthorg/tools/sandbox/docker_sandbox.py b/src/synthorg/tools/sandbox/docker_sandbox.py
index e917fe0d7b..a875fed201 100644
--- a/src/synthorg/tools/sandbox/docker_sandbox.py
+++ b/src/synthorg/tools/sandbox/docker_sandbox.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Final
 
 import aiodocker
+import aiodocker.containers
 
 from synthorg.observability import get_logger
 from synthorg.observability.events.docker import (
@@ -353,7 +354,7 @@ async def _run_container(  # noqa: PLR0913
         )
 
         try:
-            container = await docker.containers.create(config)
+            container = await docker.containers.create(config)  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
         except Exception as exc:
             msg = f"Failed to create container: {exc}"
             logger.exception(
@@ -409,7 +410,7 @@ async def _start_and_wait(
         Returns:
             A ``SandboxResult``.
         """
-        container_obj = docker.containers.container(container_id)
+        container_obj = docker.containers.container(container_id)  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
         try:
             await container_obj.start()
         except Exception as exc:
@@ -558,7 +559,7 @@ async def _stop_container(
             container_id: Container ID to stop.
         """
         try:
-            container_obj = docker.containers.container(container_id)
+            container_obj = docker.containers.container(container_id)  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
             await container_obj.stop(
                 t=_STOP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
             )
@@ -585,7 +586,7 @@ async def _remove_container(
             container_id: Container ID to remove.
         """
         try:
-            container_obj = docker.containers.container(container_id)
+            container_obj = docker.containers.container(container_id)  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
             await container_obj.delete(force=True)
             logger.debug(
                 DOCKER_CONTAINER_REMOVED,
diff --git a/tests/unit/memory/test_factory.py b/tests/unit/memory/test_factory.py
index 580905dece..fdb7fb5f6b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/memory/test_factory.py
+++ b/tests/unit/memory/test_factory.py
@@ -92,10 +92,12 @@ def test_backend_init_validation_error_wraps(self) -> None:
         class _Dummy(BaseModel):
             x: int
 
+        side_effect: ValidationError | None = None
         try:
             _Dummy(x="not-an-int")  # type: ignore[arg-type]
         except ValidationError as ve:
-            side_effect: ValidationError = ve
+            side_effect = ve
+        assert side_effect is not None  # always set — narrows type for pyright
 
         config = CompanyMemoryConfig(backend="mem0")
         with (