diff --git a/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/algorithms.py b/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/algorithms.py
index 9c94da63..b4990b0c 100644
--- a/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/algorithms.py
+++ b/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/algorithms.py
@@ -292,9 +292,19 @@ class SearchAlgorithm(ABC):
             per-request, so this side-channel is concurrency-safe.
     """
 
+    # Class-level defaults are a safety net; __init__ shadows them per instance.
     query_embedding: list[float] | None = None
     query_token_count: int | None = None
 
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        # Set the query-embedding side-channel as instance attributes so
+        # concurrent SearchAlgorithm instances never share it through the
+        # class-level defaults above — per-request isolation by construction,
+        # not just by the convention that each subclass redeclares them.
+        # Subclasses with their own __init__ should call super().__init__().
+        self.query_embedding: list[float] | None = None
+        self.query_token_count: int | None = None
+
     @abstractmethod
     async def search(
         self,
diff --git a/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/bm25_hybrid.py b/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/bm25_hybrid.py
index bdbd32dc..9b19cb40 100644
--- a/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/bm25_hybrid.py
+++ b/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/bm25_hybrid.py
@@ -56,16 +56,15 @@ class BM25HybridSearchAlgorithm(SearchAlgorithm):
                 f"Invalid fusion algorithm '{fusion}'. Must be 'rrf' or 'dbsf'"
             )
 
+        # super() sets the per-instance query_embedding / query_token_count
+        # side-channel; this adds the cache key for it.
+        super().__init__()
         self.score_threshold = score_threshold
         self.fusion = models.Fusion.RRF if fusion == "rrf" else models.Fusion.DBSF
         self.fusion_name = fusion
-        # Per-request query-embedding cache. ``_embedded_query`` is the query
-        # string whose dense embedding is held in ``query_embedding`` — repeated
-        # search() calls on this instance (the doc_types loop) reuse it. These
-        # shadow the class-level defaults on SearchAlgorithm; set here so all
-        # three cache fields are instance attributes from construction.
-        self.query_embedding: list[float] | None = None
-        self.query_token_count: int | None = None
+        # ``_embedded_query`` is the query string whose dense embedding is held
+        # in ``query_embedding`` — repeated search() calls on this per-request
+        # instance (the doc_types loop) reuse it instead of re-embedding.
         self._embedded_query: str | None = None
 
     @property
diff --git a/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/semantic.py b/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/semantic.py
index ff516688..c81695ef 100644
--- a/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/semantic.py
+++ b/nextcloud_mcp_server/search/semantic.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ class SemanticSearchAlgorithm(SearchAlgorithm):
         Args:
             score_threshold: Minimum similarity score (0-1, default: 0.7)
         """
+        super().__init__()
         self.score_threshold = score_threshold
 
     @property
diff --git a/nextcloud_mcp_server/server/semantic.py b/nextcloud_mcp_server/server/semantic.py
index 57274ef9..382236a4 100644
--- a/nextcloud_mcp_server/server/semantic.py
+++ b/nextcloud_mcp_server/server/semantic.py
@@ -593,6 +593,14 @@ def configure_semantic_tools(mcp: FastMCP):
             # query is embedded — and metered — exactly once regardless of how
             # many doc_types were searched. See record_search_usage for the
             # metric/privacy details.
+            #
+            # NOTE (v1 billing gap): this fires only on a fully successful
+            # search. If the query embed succeeded (provider billed the tokens,
+            # and Prometheus recorded them via record_embedding_tokens) but a
+            # later step (Qdrant/verify) raised, no tokens_embedded row is
+            # written — the embed cost is real but absent from the billing
+            # ledger. Acceptable for v1 (search failures are rare and the meter
+            # is not billed today); revisit if billing accuracy needs it.
             await record_search_usage(
                 enabled=settings.usage_metering_enabled,
                 user_id=username,