diff --git a/app/(main)/[locale]/page.tsx b/app/(main)/[locale]/page.tsx
index c7aab870..714868fa 100644
--- a/app/(main)/[locale]/page.tsx
+++ b/app/(main)/[locale]/page.tsx
@@ -1088,9 +1088,10 @@ export default function Home() {
     const runCatchUp = async (attempt: number) => {
       if (catchUpCancelled) return;
       try {
-        const { catchUpIndex } = await import('@/lib/mail-index-client');
+        const { catchUpIndex, getRetentionDays } = await import('@/lib/mail-index-client');
         const result = await catchUpIndex(
           useAccountStore.getState().getActiveAccount()?.cookieSlot,
+          getRetentionDays(),
         );
         if (!result.ok && !result.unavailable && attempt + 1 < catchUpRetryDelaysMs.length) {
           catchUpTimer = setTimeout(() => void runCatchUp(attempt + 1), catchUpRetryDelaysMs[attempt + 1]);
diff --git a/app/api/ai/opencode/chat/route.ts b/app/api/ai/opencode/chat/route.ts
index 5c97ac63..bde99901 100644
--- a/app/api/ai/opencode/chat/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/ai/opencode/chat/route.ts
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
   const found = await findOpencodeServer();
   if (!found) {
     return NextResponse.json(
-      { error: 'No local OpenCode server found. Start one with: opencode serve --port 4096' },
+      { error: 'No local OpenCode server is running. The desktop app starts one automatically when the opencode CLI is installed \u2014 install it from opencode.ai, then restart VNCmail+.' },
       { status: 503 },
     );
   }
diff --git a/app/api/ai/opencode/models/route.ts b/app/api/ai/opencode/models/route.ts
index 7b5e668a..ae68b4e1 100644
--- a/app/api/ai/opencode/models/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/ai/opencode/models/route.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
     // isn't running), and the client turns it into setup guidance rather than
     // an error banner.
     return NextResponse.json(
-      { error: 'No local OpenCode server found. Start one with: opencode serve --port 4096' },
+      { error: 'No local OpenCode server is running. The desktop app starts one automatically when the opencode CLI is installed \u2014 install it from opencode.ai, then restart VNCmail+.' },
       { status: 503 },
     );
   }
diff --git a/app/api/ai/opencode/providers/route.ts b/app/api/ai/opencode/providers/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..88014b8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/api/ai/opencode/providers/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+import { getStalwartCredentials } from '@/lib/stalwart/credentials';
+import { configManager } from '@/lib/admin/config-manager';
+import {
+  findOpencodeServer, listOpencodeProviders, setOpencodeProviderKey, removeOpencodeProvider,
+} from '@/lib/ai/opencode';
+import { logger } from '@/lib/logger';
+
+export const runtime = 'nodejs';
+
+const SETUP_ERROR =
+  'No local OpenCode server is running. The desktop app starts one automatically when the opencode CLI is installed — install it from opencode.ai, then restart VNCmail+.';
+
+async function requireOpencode(request: NextRequest) {
+  const auth = await getStalwartCredentials(request);
+  if (!auth) return { error: NextResponse.json({ error: 'not authenticated' }, { status: 401 }) } as const;
+
+  await configManager.ensureLoaded();
+  if (configManager.getAiConsoleConfig().classesEnabled.opencode === false) {
+    return { error: NextResponse.json({ error: 'the OpenCode class is disabled by admin policy' }, { status: 403 }) } as const;
+  }
+
+  const found = await findOpencodeServer();
+  if (!found) return { error: NextResponse.json({ error: SETUP_ERROR }, { status: 503 }) } as const;
+  return { baseUrl: found.baseUrl } as const;
+}
+
+/**
+ * GET/PUT/DELETE /api/ai/opencode/providers — lets a user add "any LLM
+ * OpenCode supports" from inside this app, rather than only whatever was
+ * already authenticated via its own CLI. See lib/ai/opencode.ts's module
+ * note on why this only covers API-key providers for now, not OAuth ones.
+ */
+export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
+  const result = await requireOpencode(request);
+  if ('error' in result) return result.error;
+  try {
+    const providers = await listOpencodeProviders(result.baseUrl);
+    return NextResponse.json({ providers }, { headers: { 'Cache-Control': 'no-store' } });
+  } catch (cause) {
+    logger.error('opencode providers list failed', { error: cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause) });
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Could not list OpenCode providers' }, { status: 502 });
+  }
+}
+
+export async function PUT(request: NextRequest) {
+  const result = await requireOpencode(request);
+  if ('error' in result) return result.error;
+
+  let body: { providerID?: unknown; key?: unknown };
+  try {
+    body = await request.json();
+  } catch {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'invalid JSON body' }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+  const providerID = typeof body.providerID === 'string' ? body.providerID.trim() : '';
+  const key = typeof body.key === 'string' ? body.key.trim() : '';
+  if (!providerID || !key) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'providerID and key are required' }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await setOpencodeProviderKey(result.baseUrl, providerID, key);
+    // VERIFY rather than trust the 200: OpenCode accepts a bare API key for
+    // every provider (confirmed live), but does not consider every provider
+    // "connected" from that alone - Snowflake Cortex, for one real example,
+    // needs SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT alongside its token, and a single key field
+    // silently leaves it unconnected with no error from the PUT itself. The
+    // provider's own `env` array length does NOT predict this reliably either
+    // (Azure needs two env vars and DOES connect from one key) - the only
+    // honest source of truth is asking OpenCode again.
+    const after = await listOpencodeProviders(result.baseUrl);
+    const nowConnected = after.find((p) => p.id === providerID)?.connected === true;
+    if (!nowConnected) {
+      return NextResponse.json({
+        ok: false,
+        error: `OpenCode stored the key but does not show ${providerID} as connected — it likely needs more than one credential field (check its requirements with the opencode CLI: opencode auth login ${providerID}).`,
+      }, { status: 200 });
+    }
+    return NextResponse.json({ ok: true });
+  } catch (cause) {
+    logger.error('opencode provider auth failed', { providerID, error: cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause) });
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : 'Could not add the provider' }, { status: 502 });
+  }
+}
+
+export async function DELETE(request: NextRequest) {
+  const result = await requireOpencode(request);
+  if ('error' in result) return result.error;
+
+  const providerID = request.nextUrl.searchParams.get('providerID')?.trim();
+  if (!providerID) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'providerID is required' }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await removeOpencodeProvider(result.baseUrl, providerID);
+    return NextResponse.json({ ok: true });
+  } catch (cause) {
+    logger.error('opencode provider removal failed', { providerID, error: cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause) });
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : 'Could not remove the provider' }, { status: 502 });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/app/api/offline/reindex/route.ts b/app/api/offline/reindex/route.ts
index 93ca0843..ef500b0c 100644
--- a/app/api/offline/reindex/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/offline/reindex/route.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { isSqlcipherAvailable } from '@/lib/mail-index/binding';
 import { hasKeyChannel, IndexKeyError } from '@/lib/mail-index/key';
 import { getStoreDir } from '@/lib/mail-index/paths';
 import {
-  IndexSessionError, MAX_IDS_PER_CALL, resolveIndexSession, runIndex,
+  IndexSessionError, MAX_IDS_PER_CALL, normalizeWindowDays, resolveIndexSession, runIndex,
   type IndexRequest,
 } from '@/lib/mail-index/reindex';
 import { CONTENT_TYPES, isContentType, type ContentType } from '@/lib/mail-index/store';
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
     removed: parseIdMap(body.removed),
     // Pruning is a catch-up concern; a single-delivery call shouldn't scan.
     prune: body.catchUp === true,
+    // `undefined` (absent) means "use the default"; an explicit null means
+    // keep everything. normalizeWindowDays() in runIndex clamps anything
+    // unexpected, since this value drives deletion.
+    windowDays: body.windowDays === undefined ? undefined : normalizeWindowDays(body.windowDays),
   };
 
   try {
diff --git a/app/api/offline/search/route.ts b/app/api/offline/search/route.ts
index 3de06365..d6e33e91 100644
--- a/app/api/offline/search/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/offline/search/route.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { IndexSessionError, resolveIndexSession } from '@/lib/mail-index/reindex
 import {
   isContentType, MailIndex, MailIndexUnavailableError, type ContentType, type SearchHit,
 } from '@/lib/mail-index/store';
+import { detectRecencyIntent } from '@/lib/mail-index/recency';
 
 export const runtime = 'nodejs';
 export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic';
@@ -84,7 +85,29 @@ export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
         // not deliberate search-box keywords, so strict AND-every-token
         // matching (the default) drops nearly all of them. See
         // toFtsMatchQueryAny's docstring for the confirmed-live failure.
-        return { hits: index.search({ query, types, limit, mode: 'any' }), stats: wantStats ? stats : undefined };
+        const keywordHits = index.search({ query, types, limit, mode: 'any' });
+
+        // RECENCY leg. Keyword search structurally cannot answer "the last
+        // mail" or "everything from July" (see lib/mail-index/recency.ts), so
+        // when the question is really about time, add a date-ordered slice.
+        // ADDED to the keyword hits rather than replacing them: "what did the
+        // last mail from Anna say" is both a time question and a content one.
+        const intent = detectRecencyIntent(query);
+        if (!intent) {
+          return { hits: keywordHits, stats: wantStats ? stats : undefined };
+        }
+        const recentHits = index.recent({
+          types, limit: Math.min(intent.limit, limit * 3), since: intent.since, until: intent.until,
+        });
+        const seen = new Set(keywordHits.map((h) => `${h.contentType}:${h.id}`));
+        const merged = [...keywordHits];
+        for (const hit of recentHits) {
+          const key = `${hit.contentType}:${hit.id}`;
+          if (seen.has(key)) continue;
+          seen.add(key);
+          merged.push(hit);
+        }
+        return { hits: merged, stats: wantStats ? stats : undefined, recency: intent };
       } finally {
         index.close();
       }
@@ -100,6 +123,10 @@ export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
         // Everything a prompt needs, pre-joined in rank order.
         contextBlock: payload.hits.map(toContextBlock).join('\n\n---\n\n'),
         ...(payload.stats ? { stats: payload.stats } : {}),
+        // Present when the question was read as a time question — lets the
+        // client say "these are the newest N" instead of implying relevance
+        // ranking it did not do.
+        ...(payload.recency ? { recency: payload.recency } : {}),
       },
       { headers: { 'Cache-Control': 'no-store' } },
     );
diff --git a/components/settings/ai-assistant-settings.tsx b/components/settings/ai-assistant-settings.tsx
index e4465ecb..d5fc3c8d 100644
--- a/components/settings/ai-assistant-settings.tsx
+++ b/components/settings/ai-assistant-settings.tsx
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ import {
   listLocalModels,
   listServerModels,
   listOpencodeModels,
+  listOpencodeProviders,
+  addOpencodeProvider,
+  removeOpencodeProvider,
+  type OpencodeProviderOption,
   type OpencodeModelOption,
   testLocalConnection,
   type AskResult,
@@ -154,6 +158,58 @@ export function AiAssistantSettings() {
   const [refreshingOpencode, setRefreshingOpencode] = useState(false);
   const [opencodeError, setOpencodeError] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
+  // ── OpenCode provider management — "add any LLM OpenCode supports" from
+  // inside this app, not only whatever its own CLI already authenticated. ──
+  const [opencodeProviders, setOpencodeProviders] = useState<OpencodeProviderOption[]>([]);
+  const [loadingProviders, setLoadingProviders] = useState(false);
+  const [providerSearch, setProviderSearch] = useState('');
+  const [addingProviderId, setAddingProviderId] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [newProviderKey, setNewProviderKey] = useState('');
+  const [providerBusyId, setProviderBusyId] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [providerActionError, setProviderActionError] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [showProviderManager, setShowProviderManager] = useState(false);
+
+  const refreshOpencodeProviders = useCallback(async () => {
+    setLoadingProviders(true);
+    setProviderActionError(null);
+    try {
+      setOpencodeProviders(await listOpencodeProviders());
+    } catch (err) {
+      setProviderActionError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
+    } finally {
+      setLoadingProviders(false);
+    }
+  }, []);
+
+  const handleAddProvider = useCallback(async (providerId: string) => {
+    if (!newProviderKey.trim()) return;
+    setProviderBusyId(providerId);
+    setProviderActionError(null);
+    try {
+      await addOpencodeProvider(providerId, newProviderKey.trim());
+      setAddingProviderId(null);
+      setNewProviderKey('');
+      await refreshOpencodeProviders();
+    } catch (err) {
+      setProviderActionError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
+    } finally {
+      setProviderBusyId(null);
+    }
+  }, [newProviderKey, refreshOpencodeProviders]);
+
+  const handleRemoveProvider = useCallback(async (providerId: string) => {
+    setProviderBusyId(providerId);
+    setProviderActionError(null);
+    try {
+      await removeOpencodeProvider(providerId);
+      await refreshOpencodeProviders();
+    } catch (err) {
+      setProviderActionError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
+    } finally {
+      setProviderBusyId(null);
+    }
+  }, [refreshOpencodeProviders]);
+
   const refreshOpencodeModels = useCallback(async () => {
     setRefreshingOpencode(true);
     setOpencodeError(null);
@@ -423,6 +479,109 @@ export function AiAssistantSettings() {
               </span>
             </SettingItem>
           )}
+
+          <SettingItem
+            label="Providers"
+            description="Add credentials for any provider OpenCode supports — a key entered here is stored by OpenCode itself, not by this app. Providers that only offer a browser sign-in (OAuth) aren't manageable here yet; use the opencode CLI for those."
+          >
+            <Button
+              variant="outline" size="sm"
+              onClick={() => {
+                const next = !showProviderManager;
+                setShowProviderManager(next);
+                if (next && opencodeProviders.length === 0) void refreshOpencodeProviders();
+              }}
+            >
+              {showProviderManager ? 'Hide' : 'Manage providers'}
+            </Button>
+          </SettingItem>
+
+          {showProviderManager && (
+            <div className="px-4 pb-4 space-y-3">
+              {providerActionError && (
+                <p className="flex items-start gap-1.5 text-sm text-destructive">
+                  <AlertTriangle className="w-3.5 h-3.5 shrink-0 mt-0.5" /> {providerActionError}
+                </p>
+              )}
+
+              <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+                <input
+                  type="text"
+                  value={providerSearch}
+                  onChange={(e) => setProviderSearch(e.target.value)}
+                  placeholder="Search providers (e.g. anthropic, openai, groq)…"
+                  spellCheck={false}
+                  className={inputClass}
+                />
+                <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={refreshOpencodeProviders} disabled={loadingProviders}>
+                  <RefreshCw className={`w-3.5 h-3.5 me-1.5 ${loadingProviders ? 'animate-spin' : ''}`} />
+                  Refresh
+                </Button>
+              </div>
+
+              {opencodeProviders.length === 0 && !loadingProviders && (
+                <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">No providers loaded yet — click Refresh.</p>
+              )}
+
+              <div className="max-h-72 overflow-y-auto space-y-1.5">
+                {opencodeProviders
+                  .filter((p) => {
+                    const q = providerSearch.trim().toLowerCase();
+                    return !q || p.id.toLowerCase().includes(q) || p.name.toLowerCase().includes(q);
+                  })
+                  // Connected first (already sorted server-side), then cap what
+                  // renders — 180 providers in one scroll box is noise, not choice.
+                  .slice(0, providerSearch.trim() ? 40 : 20)
+                  .map((p) => (
+                    <div key={p.id} className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-border px-3 py-2">
+                      <div className="flex-1 min-w-0">
+                        <span className="text-sm">{p.name}</span>
+                        <span className="ms-1.5 text-xs text-muted-foreground">{p.id}</span>
+                      </div>
+                      {p.connected ? (
+                        <>
+                          <span className="flex items-center gap-1 text-xs text-emerald-600 dark:text-emerald-500">
+                            <CheckCircle className="w-3.5 h-3.5" /> Connected
+                          </span>
+                          <Button
+                            variant="outline" size="sm"
+                            onClick={() => handleRemoveProvider(p.id)}
+                            disabled={providerBusyId === p.id}
+                          >
+                            <Trash2 className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
+                          </Button>
+                        </>
+                      ) : p.supportsApiKey ? (
+                        addingProviderId === p.id ? (
+                          <div className="flex items-center gap-1.5">
+                            <input
+                              type="password"
+                              value={newProviderKey}
+                              onChange={(e) => setNewProviderKey(e.target.value)}
+                              placeholder="API key"
+                              autoFocus
+                              className="px-2 py-1 text-xs rounded-md bg-muted border border-border w-36"
+                            />
+                            <Button size="sm" onClick={() => handleAddProvider(p.id)} disabled={providerBusyId === p.id || !newProviderKey.trim()}>
+                              Save
+                            </Button>
+                            <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={() => { setAddingProviderId(null); setNewProviderKey(''); }}>
+                              <X className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
+                            </Button>
+                          </div>
+                        ) : (
+                          <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={() => { setAddingProviderId(p.id); setNewProviderKey(''); }}>
+                            <Plus className="w-3.5 h-3.5 me-1" /> Add key
+                          </Button>
+                        )
+                      ) : (
+                        <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">Browser sign-in only</span>
+                      )}
+                    </div>
+                  ))}
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          )}
         </SettingsSection>
       )}
 
diff --git a/components/settings/local-index-settings.tsx b/components/settings/local-index-settings.tsx
index 59e529ce..76c88d36 100644
--- a/components/settings/local-index-settings.tsx
+++ b/components/settings/local-index-settings.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { SettingsSection, SettingItem } from './settings-section';
 import { isElectronShell } from '@/lib/electron-bridge';
 import { useAccountStore } from '@/stores/account-store';
-import { catchUpIndex, fetchIndexStats, type IndexStats } from '@/lib/mail-index-client';
+import {
+  catchUpIndex, fetchIndexStats, getRetentionDays, setRetentionDays, type IndexStats,
+} from '@/lib/mail-index-client';
 import {
   chainSync, fetchReplicaStatus, purgeReplica, updateRetentionPolicy,
   type ReplicaStatus, type RetentionPolicy,
@@ -35,6 +37,10 @@ export function LocalIndexSettings() {
   // `null` until the first probe resolves, so we don't flash a panel that then
   // vanishes on a non-desktop build.
   const [available, setAvailable] = useState<boolean | null>(null);
+  // `null` = keep everything. Read once on mount; the setter writes through.
+  const [retentionDays, setRetentionDaysState] = useState<number | null>(365);
+
+  useEffect(() => { setRetentionDaysState(getRetentionDays()); }, []);
 
   const refreshStats = useCallback(async () => {
     const next = await fetchIndexStats(slot);
@@ -54,7 +60,7 @@ export function LocalIndexSettings() {
     setBusy(true);
     setMessage(null);
     try {
-      const result = await catchUpIndex(slot);
+      const result = await catchUpIndex(slot, retentionDays);
       if (result.unavailable) {
         setAvailable(false);
         setMessage(result.error ?? 'The encrypted index is unavailable on this system.');
@@ -110,6 +116,32 @@ export function LocalIndexSettings() {
         <span className="text-sm text-muted-foreground tabular-nums">{total}</span>
       </SettingItem>
 
+      <SettingItem
+        label="Keep AI search history for"
+        description={
+          'How far back the AI assistant can search your mail. This also PRUNES: mail older ' +
+          'than the window is removed from the local index on the next update, so a short ' +
+          'window means questions about older mail cannot be answered. Only ever covers the ' +
+          'mailbox you are signed in to.'
+        }
+      >
+        <select
+          className="h-9 rounded-md border border-border bg-background px-2 text-sm"
+          value={retentionDays === null ? 'forever' : String(retentionDays)}
+          onChange={(e) => {
+            const next = e.target.value === 'forever' ? null : Number.parseInt(e.target.value, 10);
+            setRetentionDaysState(next);
+            setRetentionDays(next);
+            setMessage('Saved. Choose "Update index" to apply it now.');
+          }}
+        >
+          <option value="30">30 days</option>
+          <option value="90">3 months</option>
+          <option value="365">1 year</option>
+          <option value="forever">Everything</option>
+        </select>
+      </SettingItem>
+
       <SettingItem
         label="Update now"
         description={
diff --git a/deploy/k8s/overlays/dev/image-tag/kustomization.yaml b/deploy/k8s/overlays/dev/image-tag/kustomization.yaml
index f7fb6efe..8e42e479 100644
--- a/deploy/k8s/overlays/dev/image-tag/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/deploy/k8s/overlays/dev/image-tag/kustomization.yaml
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@ kind: Component
 images:
   - name: vncmail-plus
     newName: registry.gitlab.vnc.biz/gitlab-instance-b9b5cf2f/vncmail-plus
-    newTag: sha-1f199fdc
+    newTag: sha-35ed6a28
diff --git a/electron/main.ts b/electron/main.ts
index 855a6403..91fda357 100644
--- a/electron/main.ts
+++ b/electron/main.ts
@@ -160,6 +160,89 @@ function ensureSessionSecretFile(): string | null {
   }
 }
 
+// ── OpenCode agent server ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// The `opencode` AI class talks to a locally-running `opencode serve`. Left to
+// the user that means "remember to start a terminal process before opening
+// your mail app, and again after every reboot" - which is to say the feature
+// quietly stops existing. So the desktop shell owns its lifecycle: start it if
+// the binary is installed, restart it if it dies, kill it on quit.
+//
+// SECURITY: opencode itself warns "OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD is not set; server
+// is unsecured" - without one, any local process can drive the agent. We always
+// generate one. Auth is HTTP Basic with the username EXACTLY `opencode`
+// (verified against 1.18.14: an empty or arbitrary username 401s even with the
+// right password, and no bearer/custom-header form works) - undocumented in its
+// own OpenAPI spec, which declares no securitySchemes at all.
+
+let opencodeProcess: ChildProcess | null = null;
+let opencodeRestarts = 0;
+/** Set by stopOpencodeServer() so the exit handler can tell a deliberate
+ *  shutdown from a crash and not fight the quit by respawning. */
+let opencodeStopping = false;
+const OPENCODE_MAX_RESTARTS = 3;
+
+/** Where the binary lives. `~/.opencode/bin` is its own installer's default and
+ *  is NOT on the PATH a GUI app inherits on macOS, so PATH alone finds nothing
+ *  for most users. */
+function findOpencodeBinary(): string | null {
+  const explicit = process.env.OPENCODE_BIN?.trim();
+  if (explicit && fs.existsSync(explicit)) return explicit;
+  const candidates = [
+    path.join(app.getPath("home"), ".opencode", "bin", "opencode"),
+    "/opt/homebrew/bin/opencode",
+    "/usr/local/bin/opencode",
+    "/usr/bin/opencode",
+  ];
+  return candidates.find((c) => fs.existsSync(c)) ?? null;
+}
+
+interface OpencodeHandle {
+  baseUrl: string;
+  password: string;
+}
+
+async function startOpencodeServer(): Promise<OpencodeHandle | null> {
+  const binary = findOpencodeBinary();
+  if (!binary) return null; // not installed - the class simply stays unavailable
+
+  const port = await getFreePort();
+  // Per-launch, never persisted: the server dies with the app, so there is no
+  // value in a durable secret and every reason not to leave one on disk.
+  const password = randomBytes(24).toString("hex");
+  const baseUrl = `http://127.0.0.1:${port}`;
+
+  const spawnOnce = () => {
+    opencodeProcess = spawn(binary, ["serve", "--port", String(port), "--hostname", "127.0.0.1"], {
+      env: { ...process.env, OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD: password },
+      stdio: "ignore",
+    });
+    opencodeProcess.on("exit", (code, signal) => {
+      opencodeProcess = null;
+      // A deliberate shutdown arrives as SIGTERM from stopOpencodeServer().
+      if (opencodeStopping || signal === "SIGTERM") return;
+      if (opencodeRestarts >= OPENCODE_MAX_RESTARTS) {
+        console.error(`[opencode] gave up restarting after ${OPENCODE_MAX_RESTARTS} attempts (last code=${code})`);
+        return;
+      }
+      opencodeRestarts += 1;
+      console.error(`[opencode] server exited (code=${code}); restart ${opencodeRestarts}/${OPENCODE_MAX_RESTARTS}`);
+      setTimeout(spawnOnce, 1000 * opencodeRestarts);
+    });
+  };
+  spawnOnce();
+
+  return { baseUrl, password };
+}
+
+function stopOpencodeServer(): void {
+  opencodeStopping = true;
+  if (!opencodeProcess) return;
+  const proc = opencodeProcess;
+  opencodeProcess = null;
+  proc.kill("SIGTERM");
+}
+
 /**
  * Locates the standalone server's entrypoint. Packaged builds ship it as an
  * extraResource (see electron-builder.config.js) because .next/standalone
@@ -256,6 +339,9 @@ async function startStandaloneServer(): Promise<string> {
   // using the OS keychain at all. The fd NUMBER below is not a secret; only
   // what travels over it is.
   const sessionSecretFile = ensureSessionSecretFile();
+  // Started before the app server so its address can be handed over as env;
+  // null when opencode isn't installed, in which case the class stays absent.
+  const opencode = await startOpencodeServer();
 
   serverProcess = spawn(process.execPath, [serverEntry], {
     env: {
@@ -268,6 +354,9 @@ async function startStandaloneServer(): Promise<string> {
       // SESSION_SECRET env var outranks any file in getSessionSecret()'s
       // resolution order regardless).
       ...(sessionSecretFile ? { SESSION_SECRET_FILE: sessionSecretFile } : {}),
+      ...(opencode
+        ? { OPENCODE_BASE_URL: opencode.baseUrl, OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD: opencode.password }
+        : {}),
       ...process.env,
       ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE: "1",
       PORT: String(port),
@@ -408,6 +497,7 @@ app.whenReady().then(() => {
 
 app.on("window-all-closed", () => {
   stopStandaloneServer();
+  stopOpencodeServer();
   if (process.platform !== "darwin") {
     app.quit();
   }
@@ -415,6 +505,7 @@ app.on("window-all-closed", () => {
 
 app.on("before-quit", () => {
   stopStandaloneServer();
+  stopOpencodeServer();
 });
 
 app.on("activate", () => {
diff --git a/lib/ai/__tests__/opencode.test.ts b/lib/ai/__tests__/opencode.test.ts
index 71355ce8..4af77a54 100644
--- a/lib/ai/__tests__/opencode.test.ts
+++ b/lib/ai/__tests__/opencode.test.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,41 @@ describe('opencodeBaseUrls', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('auth', () => {
+  const originalFetch = global.fetch;
+  const originalPw = process.env.OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD;
+  afterEach(() => {
+    global.fetch = originalFetch;
+    if (originalPw === undefined) delete process.env.OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD;
+    else process.env.OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD = originalPw;
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('sends HTTP Basic with the username EXACTLY "opencode"', async () => {
+    // Verified against 1.18.14: an empty or arbitrary username 401s even with
+    // the right password, and no bearer/custom-header form works. Its OpenAPI
+    // spec declares no securitySchemes, so this is only knowable by trying it
+    // - which makes it exactly the kind of thing to pin with a test.
+    process.env.OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD = 'hunter2';
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(jsonResponse({ data: [{ id: 'm', providerID: 'p' }] }));
+    global.fetch = fetchMock as unknown as typeof fetch;
+
+    await findOpencodeServer();
+    const sentHeaders = fetchMock.mock.calls[0][1].headers as Record<string, string>;
+    const decoded = Buffer.from(sentHeaders.Authorization.replace('Basic ', ''), 'base64').toString();
+    expect(decoded).toBe('opencode:hunter2');
+  });
+
+  it('sends no auth header at all when no password is configured', async () => {
+    delete process.env.OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD;
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(jsonResponse({ data: [{ id: 'm', providerID: 'p' }] }));
+    global.fetch = fetchMock as unknown as typeof fetch;
+    await findOpencodeServer();
+    const sentHeaders = fetchMock.mock.calls[0][1].headers as Record<string, string>;
+    expect(sentHeaders.Authorization).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
 describe('findOpencodeServer', () => {
   const originalFetch = global.fetch;
   afterEach(() => {
@@ -145,3 +180,89 @@ describe('opencodePrompt', () => {
     expect(result).toEqual({ ok: false, error: 'OpenCode returned no message content' });
   });
 });
+
+describe('listOpencodeProviders', () => {
+  const originalFetch = global.fetch;
+  afterEach(() => {
+    global.fetch = originalFetch;
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('merges /provider and /provider/auth into one list, connected first', async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn((url: string) => {
+      if (url.endsWith('/provider')) {
+        return Promise.resolve(jsonResponse({
+          all: [{ id: 'anthropic', name: 'Anthropic' }, { id: 'deepseek', name: 'DeepSeek' }, { id: 'github-copilot', name: 'GitHub Copilot' }],
+          connected: ['deepseek'],
+        }));
+      }
+      if (url.endsWith('/provider/auth')) {
+        return Promise.resolve(jsonResponse({
+          anthropic: [{ type: 'api' }],
+          deepseek: [{ type: 'api' }],
+          'github-copilot': [{ type: 'oauth' }],
+        }));
+      }
+      return Promise.resolve(HTML_CATCHALL);
+    });
+    global.fetch = fetchMock as unknown as typeof fetch;
+
+    const { listOpencodeProviders } = await import('../opencode');
+    const result = await listOpencodeProviders('http://127.0.0.1:4096');
+
+    expect(result).toHaveLength(3);
+    // Connected providers sort first regardless of name.
+    expect(result[0]).toMatchObject({ id: 'deepseek', connected: true, supportsApiKey: true });
+    const anthropic = result.find((p) => p.id === 'anthropic');
+    expect(anthropic).toMatchObject({ connected: false, supportsApiKey: true });
+    const copilot = result.find((p) => p.id === 'github-copilot');
+    // OAuth-only provider: listed, but honestly marked as not addable here.
+    expect(copilot).toMatchObject({ connected: false, supportsApiKey: false });
+  });
+
+  it('returns an empty list rather than throwing when /provider is unreachable', async () => {
+    global.fetch = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(HTML_CATCHALL) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+    const { listOpencodeProviders } = await import('../opencode');
+    expect(await listOpencodeProviders('http://127.0.0.1:4096')).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('setOpencodeProviderKey / removeOpencodeProvider', () => {
+  const originalFetch = global.fetch;
+  afterEach(() => {
+    global.fetch = originalFetch;
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('PUTs the exact schema OpenCode requires: {type:"api", key}', async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true });
+    global.fetch = fetchMock as unknown as typeof fetch;
+    const { setOpencodeProviderKey } = await import('../opencode');
+
+    await setOpencodeProviderKey('http://127.0.0.1:4096', 'anthropic', 'sk-real-key');
+
+    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'http://127.0.0.1:4096/auth/anthropic',
+      expect.objectContaining({ method: 'PUT', body: JSON.stringify({ type: 'api', key: 'sk-real-key' }) }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('throws with the upstream status when OpenCode rejects the credential', async () => {
+    global.fetch = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: false, status: 400 }) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+    const { setOpencodeProviderKey } = await import('../opencode');
+    await expect(setOpencodeProviderKey('http://127.0.0.1:4096', 'anthropic', 'bad')).rejects.toThrow(/400/);
+  });
+
+  it('DELETEs by provider id and encodes it in the path', async () => {
+    const fetchMock = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true });
+    global.fetch = fetchMock as unknown as typeof fetch;
+    const { removeOpencodeProvider } = await import('../opencode');
+
+    await removeOpencodeProvider('http://127.0.0.1:4096', 'weird id/with slash');
+
+    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'http://127.0.0.1:4096/auth/weird%20id%2Fwith%20slash',
+      expect.objectContaining({ method: 'DELETE' }),
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/ai/local-client.ts b/lib/ai/local-client.ts
index 5ced769c..37420720 100644
--- a/lib/ai/local-client.ts
+++ b/lib/ai/local-client.ts
@@ -181,6 +181,45 @@ export async function listOpencodeModels(): Promise<OpencodeModelOption[]> {
   return (body?.models ?? []) as OpencodeModelOption[];
 }
 
+export interface OpencodeProviderOption {
+  id: string;
+  name: string;
+  connected: boolean;
+  supportsApiKey: boolean;
+}
+
+/** Every provider OpenCode knows about, not just ones already authenticated —
+ *  this is what lets "add any LLM OpenCode supports" mean something from
+ *  inside this app instead of only whatever its CLI already set up. */
+export async function listOpencodeProviders(): Promise<OpencodeProviderOption[]> {
+  const res = await fetch('/api/ai/opencode/providers');
+  const body = await res.json().catch(() => ({}));
+  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(body?.error || `OpenCode returned ${res.status}`);
+  return (body?.providers ?? []) as OpencodeProviderOption[];
+}
+
+/** The key is relayed to OpenCode's own credential store, never held by this
+ *  app — same reasoning as the module note above, extended to provider setup. */
+export async function addOpencodeProvider(providerID: string, key: string): Promise<void> {
+  const res = await fetch('/api/ai/opencode/providers', {
+    method: 'PUT',
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+    body: JSON.stringify({ providerID, key }),
+  });
+  const body = await res.json().catch(() => ({}));
+  // A 200 with `ok: false` means the route VERIFIED the write and the
+  // provider still isn't connected (some need more than one credential
+  // field — see the route's own comment) - that is as much a failure as a
+  // non-2xx status and must not be swallowed as success.
+  if (!res.ok || body?.ok === false) throw new Error(body?.error || `OpenCode returned ${res.status}`);
+}
+
+export async function removeOpencodeProvider(providerID: string): Promise<void> {
+  const res = await fetch(`/api/ai/opencode/providers?providerID=${encodeURIComponent(providerID)}`, { method: 'DELETE' });
+  const body = await res.json().catch(() => ({}));
+  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(body?.error || `OpenCode returned ${res.status}`);
+}
+
 export async function chatOpencode(model: string, messages: ChatMessage[]): Promise<string> {
   const res = await fetch('/api/ai/opencode/chat', {
     method: 'POST',
@@ -323,6 +362,15 @@ async function fetchServerLeg(question: string): Promise<{ scored: Scored<Source
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * SINGLE-MAILBOX BY POLICY (stated by the product owner 2026-08-07): the
+ * assistant may only ever see the mailbox the user is currently signed in to.
+ * Both legs honour that structurally rather than by filtering afterwards —
+ * the local leg passes the ACTIVE account's cookie slot, and the server leg
+ * resolves the same session's own JMAP account. There is deliberately no
+ * fan-out across connected accounts or shared mailboxes anywhere in here, and
+ * adding one later would be a policy change, not an enhancement.
+ */
 async function retrieveContext(question: string, slot?: number): Promise<RetrievedContext | null> {
   const [local, server] = await Promise.all([fetchLocalLeg(question, slot), fetchServerLeg(question)]);
   lastLocalIndexReachable = local.indexReachable;
diff --git a/lib/ai/opencode.ts b/lib/ai/opencode.ts
index e25c3887..a3d62f40 100644
--- a/lib/ai/opencode.ts
+++ b/lib/ai/opencode.ts
@@ -73,11 +73,31 @@ export function parseModelRef(ref: string): { providerID: string; modelID: strin
   return { providerID: ref.slice(0, slash), modelID: ref.slice(slash + 1) };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Auth header for a password-protected server.
+ *
+ * HTTP Basic with the username EXACTLY `opencode` — verified against 1.18.14:
+ * an empty username, an arbitrary one, a Bearer token and every plausible
+ * custom header all 401 with the correct password. Its own OpenAPI spec
+ * declares no securitySchemes at all, so this is only knowable by trying it.
+ * Absent password = an unsecured server (the desktop shell always sets one;
+ * a hand-started `opencode serve` typically has none).
+ */
+function authHeaders(): Record<string, string> {
+  const password = process.env.OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD;
+  if (!password) return {};
+  return { Authorization: `Basic ${Buffer.from(`opencode:${password}`).toString('base64')}` };
+}
+
 async function fetchJson(url: string, init: RequestInit, timeoutMs: number): Promise<unknown | null> {
   const controller = new AbortController();
   const timer = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeoutMs);
   try {
-    const res = await fetch(url, { ...init, signal: controller.signal });
+    const res = await fetch(url, {
+      ...init,
+      headers: { ...authHeaders(), ...(init.headers as Record<string, string> | undefined) },
+      signal: controller.signal,
+    });
     if (!res.ok) return null;
     // The SPA catch-all returns HTML with a 200 for unknown paths — see the
     // module header. Content-type is what actually distinguishes a real API
@@ -111,6 +131,79 @@ export async function findOpencodeServer(): Promise<{ baseUrl: string; models: O
   return null;
 }
 
+// ── Provider management ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Without this, "any LLM OpenCode supports" was only true for whatever the
+// user had already authenticated via its own CLI (`opencode auth login`) —
+// this app could pick a model, never add a provider. `GET /provider` lists
+// every provider opencode KNOWS about (180 on a real run) with a `connected`
+// array naming which ones actually have credentials; `GET /provider/auth`
+// says which auth METHODS each one accepts.
+//
+// Scoped to API-key auth only for now, deliberately. `PUT /auth/{id}` with
+// `{type:'api', key}` is one HTTP call with a schema-verified shape (tested
+// live: 200, and the key round-trips into opencode's own auth.json). OAuth
+// entries in `/provider/auth` (`{type:'oauth', label, prompts?}`) need a
+// browser redirect + callback this app has no page for yet, and some carry
+// interactive prompts (GitHub Copilot's deployment-type picker) beyond a
+// single form — real scope for later, not something to half-build tonight.
+// Providers offering only OAuth are still LISTED, just marked unsupported
+// here, so the picker is honest about what it can and can't do.
+
+export interface OpencodeProviderInfo {
+  id: string;
+  name: string;
+  connected: boolean;
+  /** Whether this app can authenticate it — see the module note above. */
+  supportsApiKey: boolean;
+}
+
+interface ProviderListResponse {
+  all?: Array<{ id?: string; name?: string }>;
+  connected?: string[];
+}
+
+type ProviderAuthMethod = { type?: string };
+type ProviderAuthResponse = Record<string, ProviderAuthMethod[]>;
+
+export async function listOpencodeProviders(baseUrl: string): Promise<OpencodeProviderInfo[]> {
+  const [providers, authMethods] = await Promise.all([
+    fetchJson(`${baseUrl}/provider`, {}, PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS) as Promise<ProviderListResponse | null>,
+    fetchJson(`${baseUrl}/provider/auth`, {}, PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS) as Promise<ProviderAuthResponse | null>,
+  ]);
+  if (!providers || !Array.isArray(providers.all)) return [];
+  const connected = new Set(providers.connected ?? []);
+  return providers.all
+    .filter((p): p is { id: string; name?: string } => typeof p?.id === 'string' && !!p.id)
+    .map((p) => ({
+      id: p.id,
+      name: p.name || p.id,
+      connected: connected.has(p.id),
+      supportsApiKey: (authMethods?.[p.id] ?? []).some((m) => m.type === 'api'),
+    }))
+    .sort((a, b) => (a.connected === b.connected ? a.name.localeCompare(b.name) : a.connected ? -1 : 1));
+}
+
+/** Stores an API key for a provider. Throws with opencode's own status on
+ *  failure rather than returning a boolean, so the route can pass a real
+ *  error back instead of a bare "didn't work". */
+export async function setOpencodeProviderKey(baseUrl: string, providerID: string, key: string): Promise<void> {
+  const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/auth/${encodeURIComponent(providerID)}`, {
+    method: 'PUT',
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', ...authHeaders() },
+    body: JSON.stringify({ type: 'api', key }),
+  });
+  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`OpenCode rejected the credential (HTTP ${res.status})`);
+}
+
+export async function removeOpencodeProvider(baseUrl: string, providerID: string): Promise<void> {
+  const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/auth/${encodeURIComponent(providerID)}`, {
+    method: 'DELETE',
+    headers: authHeaders(),
+  });
+  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`OpenCode could not remove the credential (HTTP ${res.status})`);
+}
+
 interface OpencodeMessageResponse {
   parts?: Array<{ type?: string; text?: string }>;
 }
diff --git a/lib/mail-index-client.ts b/lib/mail-index-client.ts
index 2a1e09d2..9c0fd08e 100644
--- a/lib/mail-index-client.ts
+++ b/lib/mail-index-client.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ export interface IndexRequestOptions {
   ids?: Partial<Record<IndexContentType, string[]>>;
   /** Backfill the recent window for every supported type, and prune. */
   catchUp?: boolean;
+  /** Retention window in days, or null to keep everything. Omitted = server
+   *  default (1 year). Bounds the fetch AND the prune together. */
+  windowDays?: number | null;
   /** Cookie slot of the account to index. Defaults to the server's first signed-in slot. */
   slot?: number;
 }
@@ -96,6 +99,7 @@ export async function requestIndex(options: IndexRequestOptions = {}): Promise<I
           types: options.types,
           ids: options.ids,
           catchUp: options.catchUp === true,
+          ...(options.windowDays !== undefined ? { windowDays: options.windowDays } : {}),
         }),
       });
 
@@ -169,8 +173,32 @@ export function indexOnStateChange(
  * (`client.ts`'s buildStatePollingRequest polls Mailbox/Email/Calendar/
  * CalendarEvent/SieveScript only).
  */
-export async function catchUpIndex(slot?: number): Promise<IndexRunResult> {
-  return requestIndex({ catchUp: true, slot });
+export async function catchUpIndex(slot?: number, windowDays?: number | null): Promise<IndexRunResult> {
+  return requestIndex({ catchUp: true, slot, windowDays });
+}
+
+// ── Retention setting ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Renderer-owned: the renderer already drives every index run, so keeping the
+// choice here avoids a second source of truth on the server that could drift
+// out of step with what the user last picked.
+
+const RETENTION_KEY = 'vncmail:index:retention-days';
+/** Matches DEFAULT_RETENTION_WINDOW_DAYS in lib/mail-index/reindex.ts. */
+export const DEFAULT_RETENTION_DAYS = 365;
+
+/** `null` = keep everything. */
+export function getRetentionDays(): number | null {
+  if (typeof window === 'undefined') return DEFAULT_RETENTION_DAYS;
+  const raw = window.localStorage.getItem(RETENTION_KEY);
+  if (raw === null) return DEFAULT_RETENTION_DAYS;
+  if (raw === 'forever') return null;
+  const parsed = Number.parseInt(raw, 10);
+  return Number.isFinite(parsed) ? parsed : DEFAULT_RETENTION_DAYS;
+}
+
+export function setRetentionDays(days: number | null): void {
+  if (typeof window === 'undefined') return;
+  window.localStorage.setItem(RETENTION_KEY, days === null ? 'forever' : String(days));
 }
 
 export interface IndexStats {
diff --git a/lib/mail-index/__tests__/recency.test.ts b/lib/mail-index/__tests__/recency.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0b5d4016
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/mail-index/__tests__/recency.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { detectRecencyIntent } from '../recency';
+
+// Fixed "now" so the month-name branch is deterministic: 2026-08-07.
+const NOW = new Date('2026-08-07T10:00:00.000Z');
+
+describe('detectRecencyIntent', () => {
+  it('recognises the two questions that actually failed against a populated index', () => {
+    // Both were asked by a real user and both returned nothing useful, because
+    // bm25 matched the WORDS "last"/"July" rather than the dates.
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('who sent the last email', NOW)).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('summarize the input of all mails sent in July', NOW)).not.toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('turns a month name into a bounded range, not a top-N', () => {
+    const intent = detectRecencyIntent('summarize all mails sent in July', NOW);
+    // Asserted in LOCAL time on purpose. The bounds are local midnight
+    // rendered as UTC instants, so west of UTC the ISO string reads as the
+    // previous month - and that is correct, not a bug: a mail that arrived
+    // 00:30 local on 1 July belongs to the user's July even though its UTC
+    // timestamp says 30 June. Asserting the ISO prefix would enshrine the
+    // wrong semantics and pass only in UTC.
+    const since = new Date(intent!.since!);
+    const until = new Date(intent!.until!);
+    expect(since.getMonth()).toBe(6);   // local July...
+    expect(since.getDate()).toBe(1);    // ...starting on the 1st
+    expect(until.getMonth()).toBe(7);   // exclusive upper bound = local 1 Aug
+    expect(until.getDate()).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('reads a month later in the year as LAST year', () => {
+    // Asked in August, "December" cannot mean four months from now.
+    const intent = detectRecencyIntent('what came in December?', NOW);
+    const since = new Date(intent!.since!);
+    expect(since.getFullYear()).toBe(2025);
+    expect(since.getMonth()).toBe(11);
+  });
+
+  it('handles today and yesterday as distinct bounded days', () => {
+    const today = detectRecencyIntent('anything today?', NOW);
+    expect(today?.since).toBeDefined();
+    expect(today?.until).toBeUndefined();
+
+    const yesterday = detectRecencyIntent('what arrived yesterday', NOW);
+    expect(yesterday?.since).toBeDefined();
+    expect(yesterday?.until).toBeDefined();
+    expect(new Date(yesterday!.until!).getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(new Date(yesterday!.since!).getTime());
+  });
+
+  it('understands German recency wording — the app ships a German UI', () => {
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('welche war die letzte Mail?', NOW)).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('was kam heute an', NOW)).not.toBeNull();
+    const juli = detectRecencyIntent('Mails aus Juli zusammenfassen', NOW);
+    expect(new Date(juli!.since!).getMonth()).toBe(6);
+  });
+
+  it('gives an unbounded top-N when recency is implied but no period named', () => {
+    const intent = detectRecencyIntent('what is the newest message', NOW);
+    expect(intent?.since).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(intent?.until).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(intent?.limit).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+
+  it('does NOT fire on pure content questions — those are keyword search\'s job', () => {
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('what did Anna say about the invoice?', NOW)).toBeNull();
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('when is check-in for the Villa sul Lago booking?', NOW)).toBeNull();
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('find the contract with Bechtle', NOW)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('does not treat a word merely CONTAINING a keyword as recency', () => {
+    // "newsletter" contains "new"; "lastly" contains "last". Word boundaries
+    // matter or half a mailbox reads as a time question.
+    expect(detectRecencyIntent('unsubscribe from the newsletter', NOW)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/mail-index/jmap.ts b/lib/mail-index/jmap.ts
index 35ae4acd..f12bf9d1 100644
--- a/lib/mail-index/jmap.ts
+++ b/lib/mail-index/jmap.ts
@@ -242,13 +242,17 @@ export async function queryRecentEmailIds(
   session: JmapSessionInfo,
   authHeader: string,
   accountId: string,
-  afterIso: string,
+  /** Lower bound, or undefined for "no date bound" (the keep-everything
+   *  retention choice). An `after` of undefined must be OMITTED from the
+   *  filter, not sent as undefined - Stalwart rejects a malformed filter
+   *  rather than treating it as unset. */
+  afterIso: string | undefined,
   limit: number,
 ): Promise<string[]> {
   const responses = await jmapRequest(session, authHeader, [CAP_CORE, CAP_MAIL], [
     ['Email/query', {
       accountId,
-      filter: { after: afterIso },
+      filter: afterIso ? { after: afterIso } : {},
       sort: [{ property: 'receivedAt', isAscending: false }],
       limit,
       calculateTotal: false,
diff --git a/lib/mail-index/recency.ts b/lib/mail-index/recency.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..88f354da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/mail-index/recency.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+// Recency-intent detection for the retrieval layer.
+//
+// Keyword search cannot answer a question about WHEN. bm25 ranks by term
+// overlap, so "what was the last mail I received" matches documents that
+// happen to contain the word "last", and "summarise everything from July"
+// matches documents containing "July" — not documents dated in July. Both were
+// asked by a real user against a correctly-populated index and both returned
+// nothing useful, which is what this module exists to fix: it decides when a
+// question is really a date question, and turns it into a date RANGE the index
+// can answer with an ordered scan over `occurred_at`.
+//
+// Deliberately a heuristic on English/German keywords rather than an LLM call:
+// it runs on every question, must be instant, and a false positive is cheap
+// (the recency hits are fused with the keyword hits, not substituted for them).
+
+// TIMEZONE NOTE: all bounds are built from LOCAL calendar boundaries and then
+// serialised as UTC instants. That is deliberate — "July" means the user's
+// July, so a mail received 00:30 local on 1 July belongs to it even though its
+// stored UTC timestamp reads 30 June. Building the bounds in UTC instead would
+// silently drop the first/last hours of every named period for anyone not on
+// UTC.
+export interface RecencyIntent {
+  /** ISO lower bound, if the question named one. */
+  since?: string;
+  /** ISO upper bound, if the question named a closed period. */
+  until?: string;
+  /** How many documents the recency leg should contribute. */
+  limit: number;
+}
+
+const RECENCY_WORDS = [
+  // English
+  'last', 'latest', 'recent', 'recently', 'newest', 'new', 'today', 'yesterday',
+  'this week', 'this month', 'past week', 'past month', 'so far', 'just now', 'current',
+  // German — the app ships a German UI and users mix languages freely
+  'letzte', 'letzten', 'letzter', 'neueste', 'neuesten', 'neu', 'heute', 'gestern',
+  'diese woche', 'diesen monat', 'kürzlich', 'zuletzt', 'aktuell',
+];
+
+const MONTHS: Record<string, number> = {
+  january: 0, february: 1, march: 2, april: 3, may: 4, june: 5,
+  july: 6, august: 7, september: 8, october: 9, november: 10, december: 11,
+  januar: 0, februar: 1, märz: 2, maerz: 2, mai: 4, juni: 5,
+  juli: 6, oktober: 9, dezember: 11,
+};
+
+function startOfDay(d: Date): Date {
+  const c = new Date(d);
+  c.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0);
+  return c;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param now injected so the behaviour is testable and deterministic — the
+ *   month-name branch depends on "which year is it" and must not be a coin
+ *   flip in a test suite.
+ */
+export function detectRecencyIntent(question: string, now: Date = new Date()): RecencyIntent | null {
+  const q = question.toLowerCase();
+
+  // A named month wins over generic recency words: "everything from July" is a
+  // bounded range, which is far more useful than "the newest N".
+  for (const [name, monthIndex] of Object.entries(MONTHS)) {
+    if (!new RegExp(`\\b${name}\\b`).test(q)) continue;
+    // A month later than the current one must mean LAST year — "July" asked in
+    // March means the July that already happened, not one nine months away.
+    const year = monthIndex > now.getMonth() ? now.getFullYear() - 1 : now.getFullYear();
+    const since = new Date(year, monthIndex, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0);
+    const until = new Date(year, monthIndex + 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0);
+    return { since: since.toISOString(), until: until.toISOString(), limit: 40 };
+  }
+
+  if (/\btoday\b|\bheute\b/.test(q)) {
+    return { since: startOfDay(now).toISOString(), limit: 25 };
+  }
+  if (/\byesterday\b|\bgestern\b/.test(q)) {
+    const start = startOfDay(new Date(now.getTime() - 86_400_000));
+    return { since: start.toISOString(), until: startOfDay(now).toISOString(), limit: 25 };
+  }
+  if (/this week|past week|diese woche|letzte woche/.test(q)) {
+    return { since: startOfDay(new Date(now.getTime() - 7 * 86_400_000)).toISOString(), limit: 40 };
+  }
+  if (/this month|past month|diesen monat|letzten monat/.test(q)) {
+    return { since: startOfDay(new Date(now.getTime() - 30 * 86_400_000)).toISOString(), limit: 40 };
+  }
+
+  if (RECENCY_WORDS.some((w) => (w.includes(' ') ? q.includes(w) : new RegExp(`\\b${w}\\b`).test(q)))) {
+    // No period named — "the last mail", "what's new". Unbounded top-N.
+    return { limit: 15 };
+  }
+  return null;
+}
diff --git a/lib/mail-index/reindex.ts b/lib/mail-index/reindex.ts
index ac30ab4c..9a177e55 100644
--- a/lib/mail-index/reindex.ts
+++ b/lib/mail-index/reindex.ts
@@ -29,16 +29,51 @@ import { withIndexKey } from './key';
 import { getStoreDir } from './paths';
 import { MailIndex, type ContentType, type IndexDoc } from './store';
 
-/**
- * Bounded window. Small on purpose: this is the first cut of a retrieval index,
- * and a wide window turns "index on every delivery" into a slow request. The
- * event-driven path indexes single objects, so the window only bounds catch-up.
- */
-export const INDEX_WINDOW_DAYS = 30;
 /** Calendar looks forward as well as back - upcoming events are the useful ones. */
 export const CALENDAR_FORWARD_DAYS = 180;
-/** Per-type ceiling for one catch-up pass. */
+/** Per-type ceiling for one catch-up pass, per 30 days of window. */
 export const CATCHUP_MAX_PER_TYPE = 500;
+
+/**
+ * How much mail history the local index keeps. User-selectable
+ * (Settings -> About & Data); `null` means keep everything and never prune.
+ *
+ * This is NOT just a fetch bound - catch-up also PRUNES mail older than it.
+ * The original hardcoded 30 days therefore made a question like "summarise
+ * everything from July" unanswerable in August: the rows had been deliberately
+ * deleted, while the UI said only that nothing matched. A real user hit exactly
+ * that, which is why this is a setting with a year-long default rather than a
+ * constant tuned for a first cut.
+ */
+export const RETENTION_CHOICES = [30, 90, 365, null] as const;
+export type RetentionWindowDays = (typeof RETENTION_CHOICES)[number];
+export const DEFAULT_RETENTION_WINDOW_DAYS: RetentionWindowDays = 365;
+
+/** Hard ceiling regardless of window - one pass must still terminate. */
+export const CATCHUP_MAX_PER_TYPE_UNLIMITED = 20_000;
+
+export function normalizeWindowDays(raw: unknown): RetentionWindowDays {
+  if (raw === null) return null;
+  if (typeof raw !== 'number' || !Number.isFinite(raw)) return DEFAULT_RETENTION_WINDOW_DAYS;
+  // Anything off the list falls back to the default rather than being honoured
+  // verbatim - this value drives DELETION, so a typo'd 0 must never silently
+  // wipe the index.
+  const allowed: readonly number[] = RETENTION_CHOICES.filter((c) => c !== null);
+  return allowed.includes(raw) ? (raw as RetentionWindowDays) : DEFAULT_RETENTION_WINDOW_DAYS;
+}
+
+/** Scales the per-pass ceiling with the window: 500 is right for a month and
+ *  nonsense for "everything", where having the history IS the point. */
+export function catchUpCapFor(windowDays: RetentionWindowDays): number {
+  if (windowDays === null) return CATCHUP_MAX_PER_TYPE_UNLIMITED;
+  return Math.min(CATCHUP_MAX_PER_TYPE_UNLIMITED, Math.round((windowDays / 30) * CATCHUP_MAX_PER_TYPE));
+}
+
+/** Lower bound for a date-filtered query, or undefined when unlimited. */
+export function windowStartIso(windowDays: RetentionWindowDays): string | undefined {
+  return windowDays === null ? undefined : isoDaysFromNow(-windowDays);
+}
+
 /** Ids accepted in one event-driven call. A push reports a handful, not thousands. */
 export const MAX_IDS_PER_CALL = 200;
 /** Cap on body bytes requested per message from the server. */
@@ -169,6 +204,7 @@ interface FetchArgs {
   authHeader: string;
   jmapAccountId: string;
   ids: readonly string[] | null;
+  windowDays: RetentionWindowDays;
 }
 
 interface FetchResult {
@@ -184,13 +220,14 @@ interface FetchResult {
 
 /** Fetches and flattens one content type. `ids === null` means "the recent window". */
 async function fetchDocs(contentType: ContentType, args: FetchArgs): Promise<FetchResult> {
-  const { session, authHeader, jmapAccountId, ids } = args;
+  const { session, authHeader, jmapAccountId, ids, windowDays } = args;
+  const cap = catchUpCapFor(windowDays);
 
   switch (contentType) {
     case 'mail': {
       const targetIds = ids ?? await queryRecentEmailIds(
         session, authHeader, jmapAccountId,
-        isoDaysFromNow(-INDEX_WINDOW_DAYS), CATCHUP_MAX_PER_TYPE,
+        windowStartIso(windowDays), cap,
       );
       const docs: IndexDoc[] = [];
       // Chunked because bodies are big: one Email/get for 500 messages with
@@ -206,8 +243,11 @@ async function fetchDocs(contentType: ContentType, args: FetchArgs): Promise<Fet
     case 'calendar': {
       const targetIds = ids ?? await queryCalendarEventIds(
         session, authHeader, jmapAccountId,
-        isoDaysFromNow(-INDEX_WINDOW_DAYS), isoDaysFromNow(CALENDAR_FORWARD_DAYS),
-        CATCHUP_MAX_PER_TYPE,
+        // Calendar keeps its own bounded look-back even under "keep
+        // everything": events are small but a decade of them is noise in a
+        // mail assistant's context, and the forward window is the useful half.
+        windowStartIso(windowDays) ?? isoDaysFromNow(-365), isoDaysFromNow(CALENDAR_FORWARD_DAYS),
+        cap,
       );
       const docs: IndexDoc[] = [];
       for (let i = 0; i < targetIds.length; i += 50) {
@@ -260,6 +300,10 @@ export interface IndexRequest {
   removed?: Partial<Record<ContentType, readonly string[]>>;
   /** Drop documents outside the retention window after writing. */
   prune?: boolean;
+  /** Retention window in days, or null to keep everything. Bounds BOTH the
+   *  catch-up fetch and the prune, so the two can never disagree and delete
+   *  what was just written. Defaults to DEFAULT_RETENTION_WINDOW_DAYS. */
+  windowDays?: RetentionWindowDays;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -274,6 +318,7 @@ export async function runIndex(
   req: IndexRequest,
 ): Promise<IndexResult> {
   const started = Date.now();
+  const windowDays = normalizeWindowDays(req.windowDays === undefined ? DEFAULT_RETENTION_WINDOW_DAYS : req.windowDays);
   const storeDir = getStoreDir();
   if (!storeDir) {
     throw new IndexSessionError('The local index is not enabled in this deployment.', 404);
@@ -325,14 +370,18 @@ export async function runIndex(
             : null;
 
           const { docs, queriedCount } = await fetchDocs(contentType, {
-            session, authHeader: indexSession.authHeader, jmapAccountId, ids,
+            session, authHeader: indexSession.authHeader, jmapAccountId, ids, windowDays,
           });
           written[contentType] = index.upsert(docs);
 
           if (req.prune && contentType === 'mail') {
             // Only mail prunes by date: calendar's window looks forward,
             // contacts have no date, and file rows are metadata-sized.
-            index.pruneOlderThan(jmapAccountId, 'mail', isoDaysFromNow(-INDEX_WINDOW_DAYS));
+            // A null window means keep everything - pruning is SKIPPED, not
+            // run with some fallback bound, or the setting would silently
+            // delete the history the user just asked to retain.
+            const cutoff = windowStartIso(windowDays);
+            if (cutoff) index.pruneOlderThan(jmapAccountId, 'mail', cutoff);
           }
 
           // Contact/file DELETES: a JMAP `destroyed` only ever reaches this
diff --git a/lib/mail-index/store.ts b/lib/mail-index/store.ts
index dddbb3a1..13735219 100644
--- a/lib/mail-index/store.ts
+++ b/lib/mail-index/store.ts
@@ -374,6 +374,69 @@ export class MailIndex {
     }));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Newest documents by date, ignoring keyword relevance entirely.
+   *
+   * The retrieval leg for RECENCY questions — "what was the last mail", "who
+   * wrote most recently", "everything from July". Full-text search cannot
+   * answer those even with a perfect index: bm25 ranks by term overlap and has
+   * no notion of "latest", so "the last mail" matches documents containing the
+   * word "last". Two real questions failed exactly that way before this
+   * existed. `doc(jmap_account_id, content_type, occurred_at DESC)` is already
+   * indexed, so this is an ordered range scan, not a table sweep.
+   *
+   * `since`/`until` are ISO strings, both optional — a month-name question
+   * becomes a bounded range, a bare "latest" becomes an unbounded top-N.
+   */
+  recent(opts: {
+    types?: readonly ContentType[];
+    limit?: number;
+    since?: string;
+    until?: string;
+    snippetChars?: number;
+  }): SearchHit[] {
+    const limit = Math.min(Math.max(opts.limit ?? 10, 1), 200);
+    const snippetChars = Math.min(Math.max(opts.snippetChars ?? 400, 80), 2000);
+    const types = opts.types && opts.types.length > 0 ? opts.types : null;
+
+    const where: string[] = ['d.occurred_at IS NOT NULL'];
+    const params: Array<string | number> = [];
+    if (types) {
+      where.push(`d.content_type IN (${types.map(() => '?').join(',')})`);
+      params.push(...types);
+    }
+    if (opts.since) { where.push('d.occurred_at >= ?'); params.push(opts.since); }
+    if (opts.until) { where.push('d.occurred_at <= ?'); params.push(opts.until); }
+
+    const rows = this.db
+      .prepare(`
+        SELECT d.content_type, d.id, d.jmap_account_id, d.title, d.people,
+               d.occurred_at, d.metadata_json,
+               substr(f.body, 1, ${snippetChars}) AS snip
+        FROM doc d
+        LEFT JOIN doc_fts f ON f.rowid = d.rowid
+        WHERE ${where.join(' AND ')}
+        ORDER BY d.occurred_at DESC
+        LIMIT ?
+      `)
+      .all([...params, limit]);
+
+    return rows.map((r) => ({
+      contentType: String(r.content_type) as ContentType,
+      id: String(r.id),
+      jmapAccountId: String(r.jmap_account_id),
+      title: String(r.title ?? ''),
+      people: String(r.people ?? ''),
+      occurredAt: r.occurred_at === null || r.occurred_at === undefined ? null : String(r.occurred_at),
+      metadata: safeParseObject(r.metadata_json),
+      // No bm25 score here: these are ordered by time, not relevance, and
+      // faking a relevance number would let the fusion step rank them as if
+      // they had been scored.
+      score: 0,
+      snippet: String(r.snip ?? ''),
+    }));
+  }
+
   /** Per-type counts and freshness, for the Settings UI and for debugging. */
   stats(): Array<{ contentType: string; count: number; newest: string | null; indexedAt: number | null }> {
     return this.db