diff --git a/src/commands/eval-retrieval-quality.ts b/src/commands/eval-retrieval-quality.ts
index 175a1e7a3..7d48dc10f 100644
--- a/src/commands/eval-retrieval-quality.ts
+++ b/src/commands/eval-retrieval-quality.ts
@@ -20,12 +20,13 @@ import {
 
 export async function runEvalRetrievalQuality(engine: BrainEngine, args: string[]): Promise<void> {
   const json = args.includes('--json');
+  const abRelational = args.includes('--ab-relational');
   const sourceIdx = args.indexOf('--source');
   const sourceId = sourceIdx >= 0 ? args[sourceIdx + 1] : undefined;
   const fixture = args.find(a => !a.startsWith('--') && a !== sourceId);
 
   if (!fixture) {
-    console.error('Usage: gbrain eval retrieval-quality <fixture.jsonl> [--json] [--source <id>]');
+    console.error('Usage: gbrain eval retrieval-quality <fixture.jsonl> [--json] [--source <id>] [--ab-relational]');
     process.exit(2);
   }
 
@@ -47,6 +48,48 @@ export async function runEvalRetrievalQuality(engine: BrainEngine, args: string[
     return results.map(r => r.slug);
   };
 
+  // v0.43 — A/B the relational recall arm (off vs on) over the same questions
+  // in a fixed mode (expansion off, skipCache-equivalent via bare hybridSearch)
+  // so the delta is purely the arm. Headline: graph-relationship recall@10 lift.
+  if (abRelational) {
+    const mk = (relationalRetrieval: boolean): SearchFn => async (q) => {
+      const results = await hybridSearch(engine, q, {
+        limit: 10, relationalRetrieval, expansion: false,
+        ...(sourceId ? { sourceId } : {}),
+      });
+      return results.map(r => r.slug);
+    };
+    const t0 = Date.now();
+    const off = await runRetrievalQuality(questions, mk(false));
+    const tMid = Date.now();
+    const on = await runRetrievalQuality(questions, mk(true));
+    const tEnd = Date.now();
+    const fam = (r: typeof off, f: string) => r.families.find(x => x.family === f);
+    const rel = { off: fam(off, 'graph-relationship'), on: fam(on, 'graph-relationship') };
+    const payload = {
+      schema_version: 1 as const,
+      ab: 'relational',
+      graph_relationship: {
+        n: rel.on?.n ?? 0,
+        recall_at_10: { off: rel.off?.recall_at_10 ?? 0, on: rel.on?.recall_at_10 ?? 0,
+          delta: (rel.on?.recall_at_10 ?? 0) - (rel.off?.recall_at_10 ?? 0) },
+        hit_at_3: { off: rel.off?.hit_at_3 ?? 0, on: rel.on?.hit_at_3 ?? 0 },
+      },
+      latency_ms: { off_total: tMid - t0, on_total: tEnd - tMid },
+      families: { off: off.families, on: on.families },
+    };
+    if (json) {
+      console.log(JSON.stringify(payload, null, 2));
+    } else {
+      console.log(`Relational A/B — graph-relationship n=${payload.graph_relationship.n}`);
+      const g = payload.graph_relationship;
+      console.log(`  recall@10:  off=${(g.recall_at_10.off * 100).toFixed(0)}%  on=${(g.recall_at_10.on * 100).toFixed(0)}%  Δ=+${(g.recall_at_10.delta * 100).toFixed(0)}pp`);
+      console.log(`  Hit@3:      off=${(g.hit_at_3.off * 100).toFixed(0)}%  on=${(g.hit_at_3.on * 100).toFixed(0)}%`);
+      console.log(`  latency:    off=${payload.latency_ms.off_total}ms  on=${payload.latency_ms.on_total}ms (arm adds ${payload.latency_ms.on_total - payload.latency_ms.off_total}ms over ${payload.graph_relationship.n} queries)`);
+    }
+    process.exit(0);
+  }
+
   const report = await runRetrievalQuality(questions, searchFn);
   const gate = evaluateGate(report);
 
diff --git a/src/core/search/hybrid.ts b/src/core/search/hybrid.ts
index f23fd035c..ee1b08c6e 100644
--- a/src/core/search/hybrid.ts
+++ b/src/core/search/hybrid.ts
@@ -981,6 +981,23 @@ export async function hybridSearch(
     titleBoost: resolvedMode.title_boost,
   };
 
+  // v0.43 — build the relational recall arm ONCE here, before any return
+  // path, so typed-edge answers contribute on ALL THREE paths: the
+  // no-embedding-provider path, the embed-failed keyword fallback, and the
+  // main RRF path. Parsed from the original query (deterministic); empty for
+  // non-relational queries → pure no-op. (Modality gate lives on the main
+  // path; the parser only matches text-shaped relational queries anyway.)
+  let relationalList: SearchResult[] = [];
+  if (resolvedMode.relationalRetrieval) {
+    relationalList = await buildRelationalArm(engine, query, {
+      sourceId: opts?.sourceId,
+      sourceIds: opts?.sourceIds,
+      depth: resolvedMode.relational_retrieval_depth,
+      limit: opts?.limit ?? resolvedMode.searchLimit,
+      onMeta: opts?.onRelationalMeta,
+    });
+  }
+
   // Skip vector search entirely if the gateway has no embedding provider configured (Codex C3).
   // v0.36 (D10): ask "is the RESOLVED column's provider reachable?" rather
   // than "is the global default reachable?" — otherwise an unreachable
@@ -989,13 +1006,24 @@ export async function hybridSearch(
   const { isAvailable } = await import('../ai/gateway.ts');
   const providerProbe = resolvedCol.embeddingModel || undefined;
   if (!isAvailable('embedding', providerProbe)) {
-    if (keywordResults.length > 0) {
-      await runPostFusionStages(engine, keywordResults, postFusionOpts);
-      keywordResults.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score);
+    // v0.43 — fuse the relational arm with keyword so typed-edge answers
+    // survive on the no-embedding-provider path (the relational win is most
+    // valuable exactly when vector is unavailable).
+    let noEmbedResults = keywordResults;
+    if (relationalList.length > 0) {
+      const fk = opts?.rrfK ?? RRF_K;
+      noEmbedResults = rrfFusionWeighted(
+        [{ list: keywordResults, k: fk }, { list: relationalList, k: fk }],
+        detailResolved !== 'high',
+      );
+    }
+    if (noEmbedResults.length > 0) {
+      await runPostFusionStages(engine, noEmbedResults, postFusionOpts);
+      noEmbedResults.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score);
     }
     // T3/T4 — alias hop + evidence stamp even without an embedding provider
     // (the named-thing fix is most valuable exactly when vector is unavailable).
-    const noEmbedHopped = await applyAliasHop(engine, dedupResults(keywordResults), query, {
+    const noEmbedHopped = await applyAliasHop(engine, dedupResults(noEmbedResults), query, {
       sourceId: opts?.sourceId,
       sourceIds: opts?.sourceIds,
     });
@@ -1213,11 +1241,21 @@ export async function hybridSearch(
     // v0.29.1 codex pass-2 #4: this is the third return path. Apply
     // post-fusion stages here too — without it, salience='on' silently
     // does nothing on embed failures.
-    if (keywordResults.length > 0) {
-      await runPostFusionStages(engine, keywordResults, postFusionOpts);
-      keywordResults.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score);
+    // v0.43: fuse the relational arm with keyword via RRF so typed-edge
+    // answers survive even when vector is unavailable.
+    let fallbackResults = keywordResults;
+    if (relationalList.length > 0) {
+      const fk = opts?.rrfK ?? RRF_K;
+      fallbackResults = rrfFusionWeighted(
+        [{ list: keywordResults, k: fk }, { list: relationalList, k: fk }],
+        detail !== 'high',
+      );
     }
-    const kwHopped = await applyAliasHop(engine, dedupResults(keywordResults), query, {
+    if (fallbackResults.length > 0) {
+      await runPostFusionStages(engine, fallbackResults, postFusionOpts);
+      fallbackResults.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score);
+    }
+    const kwHopped = await applyAliasHop(engine, dedupResults(fallbackResults), query, {
       sourceId: opts?.sourceId,
       sourceIds: opts?.sourceIds,
     });
@@ -1276,25 +1314,13 @@ export async function hybridSearch(
       { list: keywordResults, k: keywordK },
     ];
 
-  // v0.43 — relational recall arm (fourth RRF arm). Fires only when the mode
-  // enables it AND the query is text-shaped (E4: no-op in image-only mode).
-  // Parsed from the ORIGINAL query (never expanded variants) so it's
-  // deterministic. Empty list = pure no-op for non-relational queries. Rides
-  // every downstream stage (cosine re-score, post-fusion boosts, dedup,
-  // reranker, autocut, token budget) like any other arm.
-  if (resolvedMode.relationalRetrieval && effectiveModality !== 'image') {
-    const relationalList = await buildRelationalArm(engine, query, {
-      sourceId: opts?.sourceId,
-      sourceIds: opts?.sourceIds,
-      depth: resolvedMode.relational_retrieval_depth,
-      limit: opts?.limit ?? resolvedMode.searchLimit,
-      onMeta: opts?.onRelationalMeta,
-    });
-    if (relationalList.length > 0) {
-      // Neutral weight: competes evenly with keyword/vector (baseRrfK), not
-      // dominating. Calibrated against the Commit 5 A/B.
-      allLists.push({ list: relationalList, k: baseRrfK });
-    }
+  // v0.43 — relational recall arm (fourth RRF arm), built above so it also
+  // contributes on the keyword-only fallback path. Neutral weight (baseRrfK):
+  // competes evenly with keyword/vector, not dominating. Empty for
+  // non-relational queries → pure no-op. Rides every downstream stage (cosine
+  // re-score, post-fusion boosts, dedup, reranker, autocut, token budget).
+  if (relationalList.length > 0 && effectiveModality !== 'image') {
+    allLists.push({ list: relationalList, k: baseRrfK });
   }
 
   let fused = rrfFusionWeighted(allLists, detail !== 'high');
diff --git a/test/relational-ab.test.ts b/test/relational-ab.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b1c747f32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/relational-ab.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/**
+ * Relational A/B proof + no-regression gate (PGLite, default CI).
+ *
+ * Seeds the lexically-unrecoverable relational corpus, then runs the gold
+ * question set twice through bare hybridSearch — relational arm OFF vs ON —
+ * and asserts:
+ *   1. recall@10 on the graph-relationship family jumps materially with the
+ *      arm on (the answers are unreachable by keyword/vector).
+ *   2. a non-relational content query returns the SAME results with the arm
+ *      on vs off (the arm is a true no-op off-target — the regression gate).
+ *
+ * This is the headline proof artifact for the feature: relational queries
+ * that the corpus can't surface lexically jump from ~0 to high recall.
+ */
+
+import { describe, test, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'bun:test';
+import { PGLiteEngine } from '../src/core/pglite-engine.ts';
+import { hybridSearch } from '../src/core/search/hybrid.ts';
+import { runRetrievalQuality, parseQuestionsJsonl, type SearchFn } from '../src/eval/retrieval-quality/harness.ts';
+import { seedRelationalCorpus, RELATIONAL_QUESTIONS } from './fixtures/retrieval-quality/relational/corpus.ts';
+import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
+import { join } from 'path';
+
+let eng: PGLiteEngine;
+
+beforeAll(async () => {
+  eng = new PGLiteEngine();
+  await eng.connect({});
+  await eng.initSchema();
+  await seedRelationalCorpus(eng);
+}, 60_000);
+
+afterAll(async () => { await eng.disconnect(); });
+
+const searchFnWith = (relationalRetrieval: boolean): SearchFn => async (q) => {
+  const results = await hybridSearch(eng, q, { limit: 10, relationalRetrieval, expansion: false });
+  return results.map(r => r.slug);
+};
+
+describe('relational A/B', () => {
+  test('corpus has a meaningful question set', () => {
+    expect(RELATIONAL_QUESTIONS.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(30);
+  });
+
+  test('relational.jsonl matches the corpus module (no drift)', () => {
+    const path = join(import.meta.dir, 'fixtures/retrieval-quality/relational/relational.jsonl');
+    const fromFile = parseQuestionsJsonl(readFileSync(path, 'utf8'));
+    expect(JSON.stringify(fromFile)).toBe(JSON.stringify(RELATIONAL_QUESTIONS));
+  });
+
+  test('recall@10 lifts materially with the relational arm ON', async () => {
+    const off = await runRetrievalQuality(RELATIONAL_QUESTIONS, searchFnWith(false));
+    const on = await runRetrievalQuality(RELATIONAL_QUESTIONS, searchFnWith(true));
+
+    const offFam = off.families.find(f => f.family === 'graph-relationship')!;
+    const onFam = on.families.find(f => f.family === 'graph-relationship')!;
+
+    // Answers are lexically unrecoverable → baseline recall is near zero.
+    expect(offFam.recall_at_10).toBeLessThan(0.25);
+    // Typed-edge arm surfaces them → large lift.
+    expect(onFam.recall_at_10).toBeGreaterThan(0.75);
+    expect(onFam.recall_at_10 - offFam.recall_at_10).toBeGreaterThan(0.5);
+    // Hit@3 should also rise sharply.
+    expect(onFam.hit_at_3).toBeGreaterThan(offFam.hit_at_3);
+  }, 120_000);
+
+  test('no-regression: non-relational query is identical arm-on vs arm-off', async () => {
+    const q = 'early-stage venture fund first checks';
+    const off = await searchFnWith(false)(q);
+    const on = await searchFnWith(true)(q);
+    expect(on).toEqual(off);
+  }, 60_000);
+});