diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 687ab3d..a12360c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ data/
 
 # Python
 .venv/
+.mlx-venv/
 __pycache__/
 *.pyc
 .pytest_cache/
diff --git a/chat/app.py b/chat/app.py
index 7241cd0..3e7fcb9 100644
--- a/chat/app.py
+++ b/chat/app.py
@@ -72,17 +72,28 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     # (free / lower paid tiers cap at 2). Shared across all
     # FeatherlessClient instances in the process.
     from chat.llm.featherless import FeatherlessClient
+    from chat.llm.local_mlx import LocalMLXClient
+    from chat.llm.router import RoutedLLMClient
 
     FeatherlessClient.configure_concurrency(settings.featherless_max_concurrent)
+    LocalMLXClient.configure_concurrency(settings.local_mlx_max_concurrent)
 
-    # Background worker for the async significance pass (T22). Each job
-    # constructs a fresh FeatherlessClient via the factory; tests can
-    # disable enqueue by toggling ``app.state.background_worker.enabled``.
+    # Background workers (significance scoring, embedding indexer)
+    # construct a fresh client per job via the factory. Workers route
+    # through the same RoutedLLMClient as request-time traffic so the
+    # narrative model still goes to Featherless and the classifier +
+    # embeddings hit the local MLX server.
     def _factory():
-        return FeatherlessClient(
+        narrative = FeatherlessClient(
             api_key=settings.featherless_api_key,
             base_url=settings.featherless_base_url,
         )
+        local = LocalMLXClient(base_url=settings.local_mlx_base_url)
+        return RoutedLLMClient(
+            narrative=narrative,
+            local=local,
+            narrative_model=settings.narrative_model,
+        )
 
     worker = BackgroundWorker(settings, llm_client_factory=_factory)
     await worker.start()
diff --git a/chat/config.py b/chat/config.py
index d10dea4..fa08803 100644
--- a/chat/config.py
+++ b/chat/config.py
@@ -39,13 +39,22 @@ class Settings(BaseModel):
     data_dir: Path = REPO_ROOT / "data"
     bind_host: str = "127.0.0.1"
     bind_port: int = 8000
+    # Local MLX server (e.g. ``mlx-omni-server``) — serves any model
+    # whose id is NOT ``narrative_model``. The :class:`RoutedLLMClient`
+    # inspects the ``model`` kwarg at call time: ``model == narrative_model``
+    # -> Featherless, otherwise local. ``embed()`` always routes local.
+    # If no MLX server is running and ``classifier_model`` is set to a
+    # local model id, classifier calls will fail; ``embed()`` will fall
+    # back to the zero-vector path with a T107 warning. To use the
+    # default Featherless-only deployment, leave ``classifier_model``
+    # at its remote default and ``embedding_model`` at the pseudo.
+    local_mlx_base_url: str = "http://127.0.0.1:10240/v1"
+    local_mlx_max_concurrent: int = 1
     # T112 (Phase 4.5): embedding model identifier. Default is the
-    # deterministic local pseudo (semantically meaningless but keeps the
-    # vector pipeline structurally valid). Swap to a real model name
-    # (e.g. "bge-small-en-v1.5") once the LLMClient implementation
-    # supports embed() — currently FeatherlessClient does NOT, so a
-    # non-default value will trigger the zero-vector fallback path
-    # plus a T107 warning until a different provider is wired in.
+    # deterministic local pseudo so fresh installs / tests don't need
+    # any external infra. Override via config.toml to a real model id
+    # (e.g. ``"mlx-community/bge-small-en-v1.5-bf16"``) once a local
+    # MLX server is running.
     embedding_model: str = "pseudo-sha256-384"
 
 def load_settings() -> Settings:
diff --git a/chat/llm/local_mlx.py b/chat/llm/local_mlx.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed22bb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chat/llm/local_mlx.py
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+"""Local MLX OpenAI-compatible client.
+
+Talks to a locally-running MLX server (e.g., ``mlx-omni-server``) over
+the same OpenAI surface that :class:`chat.llm.featherless.FeatherlessClient`
+uses, via :class:`openai.AsyncOpenAI`. The underlying server runs MLX
+models on Apple Silicon (M-series) for chat completions AND embeddings.
+
+Use cases (Phase 4.5+):
+- Classifier traffic moved off Featherless to local MLX (cost + latency).
+- Embeddings via ``client.embed`` actually work — Featherless's
+  ``/v1/embeddings`` always returns 500.
+
+Constructor takes a ``base_url`` (e.g., ``"http://127.0.0.1:10240/v1"``)
+and an optional ``api_key`` (most local MLX servers don't authenticate;
+the OpenAI SDK requires *some* string, so we default to a placeholder).
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+import asyncio
+from typing import AsyncIterator, Sequence
+
+from openai import AsyncOpenAI
+
+from .client import Message
+
+
+class LocalMLXClient:
+    """OpenAI-compatible client for a local MLX server.
+
+    The server is single-process by default (``mlx-omni-server`` loads
+    one model at a time and swaps on demand). The class-level semaphore
+    serializes concurrent requests so we never queue more than
+    ``max_concurrent`` at a time — defaults to 1, since MLX inference
+    on a single M-series device is sequential anyway.
+    """
+
+    _semaphore: asyncio.Semaphore | None = None
+
+    @classmethod
+    def configure_concurrency(cls, max_concurrent: int) -> None:
+        cls._semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(max(1, int(max_concurrent)))
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _sem(cls) -> asyncio.Semaphore:
+        if cls._semaphore is None:
+            cls._semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(1)
+        return cls._semaphore
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        base_url: str = "http://127.0.0.1:10240/v1",
+        api_key: str = "not-needed",
+    ):
+        self._client = AsyncOpenAI(api_key=api_key, base_url=base_url)
+
+    async def generate(
+        self, messages: Sequence[Message], *, model: str, **params
+    ) -> str:
+        async with self._sem():
+            resp = await self._client.chat.completions.create(
+                model=model,
+                messages=[{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages],
+                **params,
+            )
+            return resp.choices[0].message.content or ""
+
+    async def stream(
+        self, messages: Sequence[Message], *, model: str, **params
+    ) -> AsyncIterator[str]:
+        async with self._sem():
+            stream = await self._client.chat.completions.create(
+                model=model,
+                messages=[{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages],
+                stream=True,
+                **params,
+            )
+            async for chunk in stream:
+                delta = chunk.choices[0].delta.content or ""
+                if delta:
+                    yield delta
+
+    async def embed(self, text: str, *, model: str) -> list[float]:
+        """Return an embedding vector for ``text`` using the named model.
+
+        Targets ``/v1/embeddings`` on the local MLX server; the server
+        loads the model on first request and caches it. The embedding
+        model is independent of the chat model loaded for ``generate``
+        / ``stream`` (the server can serve both).
+        """
+        async with self._sem():
+            resp = await self._client.embeddings.create(
+                model=model,
+                input=text,
+            )
+            return list(resp.data[0].embedding)
diff --git a/chat/llm/router.py b/chat/llm/router.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b113a66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chat/llm/router.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+"""Routed LLM client — splits traffic across multiple backends by model.
+
+Phase 4.5+ deployment: the 24B narrative model stays on Featherless,
+the 8B classifier model moves to local MLX, and embeddings run on a
+local BGE/MLX model. One :class:`LLMClient` interface, two underlying
+backends, dispatched by the ``model`` argument at every call site.
+
+Routing rule: requests whose ``model`` argument matches the configured
+``narrative_model`` go to the narrative backend; everything else
+(classifier, embeddings, future locally-hosted models) goes to the
+local backend.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+from typing import AsyncIterator, Sequence
+
+from .client import LLMClient, Message
+
+
+class RoutedLLMClient:
+    """Delegates to one of two underlying clients based on ``model``.
+
+    The narrative client is exercised only when ``model`` exactly equals
+    ``narrative_model`` (the configured remote model id). Everything
+    else — classifier traffic, embeddings, any future locally-hosted
+    model — routes to the local client. ``embed`` always routes locally
+    (the remote provider doesn't support it; see
+    :class:`chat.llm.featherless.FeatherlessClient.embed`).
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        *,
+        narrative: LLMClient,
+        local: LLMClient,
+        narrative_model: str,
+    ) -> None:
+        self._narrative = narrative
+        self._local = local
+        self._narrative_model = narrative_model
+
+    def _pick(self, model: str) -> LLMClient:
+        return self._narrative if model == self._narrative_model else self._local
+
+    async def generate(
+        self, messages: Sequence[Message], *, model: str, **params
+    ) -> str:
+        return await self._pick(model).generate(messages, model=model, **params)
+
+    async def stream(
+        self, messages: Sequence[Message], *, model: str, **params
+    ) -> AsyncIterator[str]:
+        async for chunk in self._pick(model).stream(messages, model=model, **params):
+            yield chunk
+
+    async def embed(self, text: str, *, model: str) -> list[float]:
+        # Embeddings always run on the local backend — the remote
+        # provider doesn't expose a working ``/v1/embeddings`` endpoint.
+        return await self._local.embed(text, model=model)
diff --git a/chat/web/kickoff.py b/chat/web/kickoff.py
index 320b771..b214147 100644
--- a/chat/web/kickoff.py
+++ b/chat/web/kickoff.py
@@ -32,14 +32,30 @@ router = APIRouter()
 
 
 def get_llm_client(request: Request) -> LLMClient:
-    """Production LLM client. Tests override this via ``app.dependency_overrides``."""
+    """Production LLM client. Tests override this via ``app.dependency_overrides``.
+
+    Returns a :class:`chat.llm.router.RoutedLLMClient` that splits
+    traffic: the narrative model goes to Featherless, the classifier
+    + embeddings go to the local MLX server (``mlx-omni-server``).
+    Both backends share the OpenAI-compatible surface, so the routing
+    is invisible to call sites — they just pass ``model=...`` and the
+    router picks the backend.
+    """
     settings = request.app.state.settings
     from chat.llm.featherless import FeatherlessClient
+    from chat.llm.local_mlx import LocalMLXClient
+    from chat.llm.router import RoutedLLMClient
 
-    return FeatherlessClient(
+    narrative = FeatherlessClient(
         api_key=settings.featherless_api_key,
         base_url=settings.featherless_base_url,
     )
+    local = LocalMLXClient(base_url=settings.local_mlx_base_url)
+    return RoutedLLMClient(
+        narrative=narrative,
+        local=local,
+        narrative_model=settings.narrative_model,
+    )
 
 
 def _parse_holding(text: str) -> list[str]:
diff --git a/scripts/start_mlx_server.sh b/scripts/start_mlx_server.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3615c94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/start_mlx_server.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Start the local mlx-omni-server that serves the classifier + embedding
+# models. The chat app's RoutedLLMClient routes everything except the
+# narrative model to this server; with no MLX server running, classifier
+# calls fail and embeddings degrade to the zero-vector fallback.
+#
+# Run in the foreground:
+#   ./scripts/start_mlx_server.sh
+# Run as a background daemon (logs to data/mlx-server.log):
+#   ./scripts/start_mlx_server.sh --daemon
+#
+# Models are pulled from Hugging Face on first request; expect a delay
+# the first time you exercise the classifier or embedding path.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
+VENV="${REPO_ROOT}/.mlx-venv"
+LOG="${REPO_ROOT}/data/mlx-server.log"
+PORT="${MLX_PORT:-10240}"
+HOST="${MLX_HOST:-127.0.0.1}"
+
+if [ ! -x "${VENV}/bin/mlx-omni-server" ]; then
+  echo "error: mlx-omni-server not installed in ${VENV}" >&2
+  echo "create the venv with:" >&2
+  echo "  python3.12 -m venv ${VENV} && ${VENV}/bin/pip install mlx-omni-server" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "${1:-}" = "--daemon" ]; then
+  mkdir -p "$(dirname "${LOG}")"
+  nohup "${VENV}/bin/mlx-omni-server" --host "${HOST}" --port "${PORT}" \
+    >>"${LOG}" 2>&1 &
+  echo "mlx-omni-server started in background (pid $!)"
+  echo "logs: ${LOG}"
+else
+  exec "${VENV}/bin/mlx-omni-server" --host "${HOST}" --port "${PORT}"
+fi
diff --git a/tests/test_local_mlx_client.py b/tests/test_local_mlx_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7893875
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_local_mlx_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+"""Tests for LocalMLXClient (Phase 4.5+).
+
+Talks to a local mlx-omni-server over the OpenAI-compatible surface.
+We don't spin up a real server in tests — instead we monkey-patch the
+underlying ``AsyncOpenAI`` instance to assert on the request shape and
+return canned responses. The semaphore behavior is shared with
+FeatherlessClient (same pattern), so we don't re-test that here.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+
+import pytest
+
+from chat.llm.client import Message
+from chat.llm.local_mlx import LocalMLXClient
+
+
+class _FakeChatCompletions:
+    def __init__(self, response):
+        self.response = response
+        self.calls = []
+
+    async def create(self, **kw):
+        self.calls.append(kw)
+        return self.response
+
+
+class _FakeEmbeddings:
+    def __init__(self, vector):
+        self.vector = vector
+        self.calls = []
+
+    async def create(self, **kw):
+        self.calls.append(kw)
+        return SimpleNamespace(data=[SimpleNamespace(embedding=self.vector)])
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_local_mlx_client_generate_calls_chat_completions():
+    client = LocalMLXClient(base_url="http://localhost:10240/v1")
+    fake_response = SimpleNamespace(
+        choices=[SimpleNamespace(message=SimpleNamespace(content="hello"))]
+    )
+    fake_chat = _FakeChatCompletions(fake_response)
+    client._client.chat = SimpleNamespace(completions=fake_chat)
+
+    out = await client.generate(
+        [Message(role="user", content="hi")],
+        model="mlx-community/Hermes-3-Llama-3.1-8B-8bit",
+    )
+
+    assert out == "hello"
+    assert len(fake_chat.calls) == 1
+    assert fake_chat.calls[0]["model"] == "mlx-community/Hermes-3-Llama-3.1-8B-8bit"
+    assert fake_chat.calls[0]["messages"] == [{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_local_mlx_client_embed_returns_vector():
+    """``embed()`` actually works on this client (unlike FeatherlessClient
+    which raises NotImplementedError) — the local MLX server has a real
+    ``/v1/embeddings`` endpoint backed by an MLX-quantized model.
+    """
+    client = LocalMLXClient()
+    canned = [0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4]
+    fake_embeddings = _FakeEmbeddings(canned)
+    client._client.embeddings = fake_embeddings
+
+    out = await client.embed("hello", model="mlx-community/bge-small-en-v1.5-bf16")
+
+    assert out == canned
+    assert fake_embeddings.calls[0]["model"] == "mlx-community/bge-small-en-v1.5-bf16"
+    assert fake_embeddings.calls[0]["input"] == "hello"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_local_mlx_client_default_base_url():
+    """Default base_url targets ``mlx-omni-server`` on its standard port."""
+    client = LocalMLXClient()
+    # AsyncOpenAI normalizes trailing-slash differences; just check the
+    # configured host:port appears in the underlying client config.
+    assert "127.0.0.1:10240" in str(client._client.base_url)
diff --git a/tests/test_router_client.py b/tests/test_router_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ff9c45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_router_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+"""Tests for RoutedLLMClient (Phase 4.5+).
+
+Splits traffic across two underlying clients based on the ``model``
+kwarg. We use simple stub clients to assert the router picks the
+correct backend for each call.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import AsyncIterator, Sequence
+
+import pytest
+
+from chat.llm.client import Message
+from chat.llm.router import RoutedLLMClient
+
+
+class _StubClient:
+    def __init__(self, name: str):
+        self.name = name
+        self.generate_calls: list[str] = []
+        self.stream_calls: list[str] = []
+        self.embed_calls: list[str] = []
+
+    async def generate(self, messages, *, model, **params) -> str:
+        self.generate_calls.append(model)
+        return f"{self.name}:{model}"
+
+    async def stream(self, messages, *, model, **params) -> AsyncIterator[str]:
+        self.stream_calls.append(model)
+        yield f"{self.name}:{model}"
+
+    async def embed(self, text, *, model) -> list[float]:
+        self.embed_calls.append(model)
+        return [1.0, 2.0]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_router_generate_dispatches_narrative_to_narrative_backend():
+    narrative = _StubClient("narrative")
+    local = _StubClient("local")
+    router = RoutedLLMClient(
+        narrative=narrative,
+        local=local,
+        narrative_model="big-model",
+    )
+
+    out = await router.generate([Message(role="user", content="hi")], model="big-model")
+
+    assert out == "narrative:big-model"
+    assert narrative.generate_calls == ["big-model"]
+    assert local.generate_calls == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_router_generate_dispatches_classifier_to_local_backend():
+    narrative = _StubClient("narrative")
+    local = _StubClient("local")
+    router = RoutedLLMClient(
+        narrative=narrative,
+        local=local,
+        narrative_model="big-model",
+    )
+
+    out = await router.generate(
+        [Message(role="user", content="hi")], model="small-model"
+    )
+
+    assert out == "local:small-model"
+    assert local.generate_calls == ["small-model"]
+    assert narrative.generate_calls == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_router_stream_dispatches_by_model():
+    narrative = _StubClient("narrative")
+    local = _StubClient("local")
+    router = RoutedLLMClient(
+        narrative=narrative, local=local, narrative_model="big-model"
+    )
+
+    chunks_big = [c async for c in router.stream(
+        [Message(role="user", content="hi")], model="big-model"
+    )]
+    chunks_small = [c async for c in router.stream(
+        [Message(role="user", content="hi")], model="other-model"
+    )]
+
+    assert chunks_big == ["narrative:big-model"]
+    assert chunks_small == ["local:other-model"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_router_embed_always_routes_to_local():
+    """Embeddings always run locally — the remote provider doesn't
+    expose a working ``/v1/embeddings``, so the router never sends
+    embed calls there even if the model name happens to look 'remote'."""
+    narrative = _StubClient("narrative")
+    local = _StubClient("local")
+    router = RoutedLLMClient(
+        narrative=narrative, local=local, narrative_model="big-model"
+    )
+
+    out = await router.embed("hello", model="any-embedding-model")
+
+    assert out == [1.0, 2.0]
+    assert local.embed_calls == ["any-embedding-model"]
+    assert narrative.embed_calls == []