diff --git a/mempalace/diary_ingest.py b/mempalace/diary_ingest.py
index ef5625528f..e0d6b3c8c7 100644
--- a/mempalace/diary_ingest.py
+++ b/mempalace/diary_ingest.py
@@ -174,7 +174,6 @@ def ingest_diaries(
         _now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
         now_iso = _now.isoformat()
         now_ts = _now.timestamp()
-        drawer_id = _diary_drawer_id(wing, date_str)
         entities = _extract_entities_for_metadata(text)
         source_file = str(diary_path)
 
diff --git a/mempalace/searcher.py b/mempalace/searcher.py
index db14c19ff9..683c35e0b2 100644
--- a/mempalace/searcher.py
+++ b/mempalace/searcher.py
@@ -745,6 +745,38 @@ def _apply_candidate_strategy(
         merger(hits, query, palace_path, wing, room, n_results, max_distance=max_distance)
 
 
+def _open_drawers_or_error_dict(palace_path, collection_name):
+    """Open the drawers collection, distinguishing recoverable filesystem
+    states from unexpected errors.
+
+    Returns the open collection on success or the user-facing "No palace
+    found" error dict if the palace directory genuinely doesn't exist
+    (PalaceNotFoundError). All other exceptions log the full chained
+    traceback via logger.exception and propagate with their original type
+    so callers can distinguish the failure mode.
+
+    Used to be inlined in search_memories under a bare ``except Exception``
+    that swallowed every error under the same misleading "No palace found"
+    message, hiding e.g. chromadb's KeyError('_type') on a corrupt
+    collection config under the same diagnostic.
+    """
+    try:
+        return get_collection(palace_path, collection_name=collection_name, create=False)
+    except PalaceNotFoundError as e:
+        logger.error("No palace found at %s: %s", palace_path, e)
+        return {
+            "error": "No palace found",
+            "hint": "Run: mempalace init <dir> && mempalace mine <dir>",
+        }
+    except Exception:
+        logger.exception(
+            "get_collection failed for palace=%s collection=%s",
+            palace_path,
+            collection_name,
+        )
+        raise
+
+
 def search_memories(
     query: str,
     palace_path: str,
@@ -808,14 +840,10 @@ def search_memories(
             collection_name=collection_name,
         )
 
-    try:
-        drawers_col = get_collection(palace_path, collection_name=collection_name, create=False)
-    except Exception as e:
-        logger.error("No palace found at %s: %s", palace_path, e)
-        return {
-            "error": "No palace found",
-            "hint": "Run: mempalace init <dir> && mempalace mine <dir>",
-        }
+    opened = _open_drawers_or_error_dict(palace_path, collection_name)
+    if isinstance(opened, dict):
+        return opened
+    drawers_col = opened
 
     where = build_where_filter(wing, room)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_backfill_filed_at_ts.py b/tests/test_backfill_filed_at_ts.py
index 1b6ff834c9..09d6f14075 100644
--- a/tests/test_backfill_filed_at_ts.py
+++ b/tests/test_backfill_filed_at_ts.py
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 """Tests for mempalace.backfill_filed_at_ts."""
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import os
 import sqlite3
-import tempfile
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
 
diff --git a/tests/test_classifier.py b/tests/test_classifier.py
index 971b156035..3394abe8ad 100644
--- a/tests/test_classifier.py
+++ b/tests/test_classifier.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 from typing import Any
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
-import pytest
 
 from mempalace.provenance.classifier import (
     DEFAULT_ENDPOINT,
diff --git a/tests/test_provenance.py b/tests/test_provenance.py
index 0a228382b5..025eec9a2f 100644
--- a/tests/test_provenance.py
+++ b/tests/test_provenance.py
@@ -11,14 +11,12 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import pytest
 
 from mempalace.provenance import (
     HEURISTIC_CONFIDENCE_QUOTE,
     HEURISTIC_CONFIDENCE_RELATION_ONLY,
     WING_LINEAGE_SCHEMA_DOC,
     ProvenanceCandidate,
-    ProvenanceRecord,
     extract_candidates,
     validate_candidate,
 )
diff --git a/tests/test_provenance_mining.py b/tests/test_provenance_mining.py
index ad7dffbc26..138716c24b 100644
--- a/tests/test_provenance_mining.py
+++ b/tests/test_provenance_mining.py
@@ -17,10 +17,8 @@
 
 from typing import Any
 
-import pytest
 
 from mempalace.provenance.mining import (
-    DEFAULT_CONFIDENCE_THRESHOLD,
     mine_chunk_for_provenance,
     _rewrite_speaker_to_source,
 )
diff --git a/tests/test_searcher.py b/tests/test_searcher.py
index 721bb117e6..771254a27c 100644
--- a/tests/test_searcher.py
+++ b/tests/test_searcher.py
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@
 plus mock-based tests for error paths.
 """
 
+import logging
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 import pytest
 
+from mempalace.backends import PalaceNotFoundError
 from mempalace.searcher import SearchError, search, search_memories
 
 
@@ -84,6 +86,51 @@ def test_search_memories_query_error(self):
         assert "error" in result
         assert "query failed" in result["error"]
 
+    def test_search_memories_palace_not_found_returns_error_dict(self):
+        """PalaceNotFoundError raised from get_collection (backend filesystem
+        race) returns the user-facing error dict, preserving the contract for
+        the common filesystem-missing case."""
+        with patch(
+            "mempalace.searcher.get_collection",
+            side_effect=PalaceNotFoundError("missing palace"),
+        ):
+            result = search_memories("anything", "/nonexistent/palace")
+        assert isinstance(result, dict)
+        assert result.get("error") == "No palace found"
+        assert "mempalace init" in result.get("hint", "")
+
+    def test_search_memories_unexpected_exception_propagates_with_chain(self, caplog):
+        """Non-filesystem errors (e.g. chromadb's KeyError('_type') from a
+        corrupt collection config) propagate to the caller with the original
+        exception type and chained traceback. Diagnostic logging fires via
+        logger.exception so the traceback always lands in mempalace logs even
+        if the caller swallows the exception silently."""
+        original = KeyError("_type")
+        with patch(
+            "mempalace.searcher.get_collection",
+            side_effect=original,
+        ):
+            with caplog.at_level(logging.ERROR, logger="mempalace_mcp"):
+                with pytest.raises(KeyError) as exc_info:
+                    search_memories("anything", "/some/palace")
+        # Original exception preserved (same type, same args).
+        assert exc_info.value.args == ("_type",)
+        # Chained context preserved (`__context__` / `__cause__` are the same
+        # instance, set by Python's implicit exception chaining when `raise`
+        # is used inside an except block).
+        assert exc_info.value.__context__ is original or exc_info.value is original
+        # Full traceback logged via logger.exception (level=ERROR plus
+        # exc_info=True), so callers that suppress the exception still leave a
+        # diagnostic trail naming the failure.
+        diagnostic_records = [
+            r for r in caplog.records
+            if r.name == "mempalace_mcp" and r.exc_info is not None
+        ]
+        assert len(diagnostic_records) >= 1, (
+            "Expected logger.exception() call from search_memories' get_collection "
+            "wrapper, got no records with exc_info set"
+        )
+
     def test_search_memories_vector_path_uses_explicit_collection_name(self):
         mock_col = MagicMock()
         mock_col.query.return_value = {