diff --git a/mempalace/cli.py b/mempalace/cli.py
index d0f097e..467f618 100644
--- a/mempalace/cli.py
+++ b/mempalace/cli.py
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def cmd_split(args):
     import sys
 
     # Rebuild argv for split_mega_files argparse
-    argv = [args.dir]
+    argv = ["--source", args.dir]
     if args.output_dir:
         argv += ["--output-dir", args.output_dir]
     if args.dry_run:
@@ -147,6 +147,77 @@ def cmd_status(args):
     status(palace_path=palace_path)
 
 
+def cmd_repair(args):
+    """Rebuild palace vector index from SQLite metadata."""
+    import chromadb
+    import shutil
+
+    palace_path = os.path.expanduser(args.palace) if args.palace else MempalaceConfig().palace_path
+
+    if not os.path.isdir(palace_path):
+        print(f"\n  No palace found at {palace_path}")
+        return
+
+    print(f"\n{'=' * 55}")
+    print("  MemPalace Repair")
+    print(f"{'=' * 55}\n")
+    print(f"  Palace: {palace_path}")
+
+    # Try to read existing drawers
+    try:
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
+        total = col.count()
+        print(f"  Drawers found: {total}")
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"  Error reading palace: {e}")
+        print("  Cannot recover — palace may need to be re-mined from source files.")
+        return
+
+    if total == 0:
+        print("  Nothing to repair.")
+        return
+
+    # Extract all drawers in batches
+    print("\n  Extracting drawers...")
+    batch_size = 5000
+    all_ids = []
+    all_docs = []
+    all_metas = []
+    offset = 0
+    while offset < total:
+        batch = col.get(limit=batch_size, offset=offset, include=["documents", "metadatas"])
+        all_ids.extend(batch["ids"])
+        all_docs.extend(batch["documents"])
+        all_metas.extend(batch["metadatas"])
+        offset += batch_size
+    print(f"  Extracted {len(all_ids)} drawers")
+
+    # Backup and rebuild
+    backup_path = palace_path + ".backup"
+    if os.path.exists(backup_path):
+        shutil.rmtree(backup_path)
+    print(f"  Backing up to {backup_path}...")
+    shutil.copytree(palace_path, backup_path)
+
+    print("  Rebuilding collection...")
+    client.delete_collection("mempalace_drawers")
+    new_col = client.create_collection("mempalace_drawers")
+
+    filed = 0
+    for i in range(0, len(all_ids), batch_size):
+        batch_ids = all_ids[i : i + batch_size]
+        batch_docs = all_docs[i : i + batch_size]
+        batch_metas = all_metas[i : i + batch_size]
+        new_col.add(documents=batch_docs, ids=batch_ids, metadatas=batch_metas)
+        filed += len(batch_ids)
+        print(f"  Re-filed {filed}/{len(all_ids)} drawers...")
+
+    print(f"\n  Repair complete. {filed} drawers rebuilt.")
+    print(f"  Backup saved at {backup_path}")
+    print(f"\n{'=' * 55}\n")
+
+
 def cmd_compress(args):
     """Compress drawers in a wing using AAAK Dialect."""
     import chromadb
@@ -350,6 +421,12 @@ def main():
         help="Only split files containing at least N sessions (default: 2)",
     )
 
+    # repair
+    sub.add_parser(
+        "repair",
+        help="Rebuild palace vector index from stored data (fixes segfaults after corruption)",
+    )
+
     # status
     sub.add_parser("status", help="Show what's been filed")
 
@@ -366,6 +443,7 @@ def main():
         "search": cmd_search,
         "compress": cmd_compress,
         "wake-up": cmd_wakeup,
+        "repair": cmd_repair,
         "status": cmd_status,
     }
     dispatch[args.command](args)
diff --git a/mempalace/normalize.py b/mempalace/normalize.py
index 4492de3..b82773b 100644
--- a/mempalace/normalize.py
+++ b/mempalace/normalize.py
@@ -95,11 +95,33 @@ def _try_claude_code_jsonl(content: str) -> Optional[str]:
 
 
 def _try_claude_ai_json(data) -> Optional[str]:
-    """Claude.ai JSON export: [{"role": "user", "content": "..."}]"""
+    """Claude.ai JSON export: flat messages list or privacy export with chat_messages."""
     if isinstance(data, dict):
         data = data.get("messages", data.get("chat_messages", []))
     if not isinstance(data, list):
         return None
+
+    # Privacy export: array of conversation objects with chat_messages inside each
+    if data and isinstance(data[0], dict) and "chat_messages" in data[0]:
+        all_messages = []
+        for convo in data:
+            if not isinstance(convo, dict):
+                continue
+            chat_msgs = convo.get("chat_messages", [])
+            for item in chat_msgs:
+                if not isinstance(item, dict):
+                    continue
+                role = item.get("role", "")
+                text = _extract_content(item.get("content", ""))
+                if role in ("user", "human") and text:
+                    all_messages.append(("user", text))
+                elif role in ("assistant", "ai") and text:
+                    all_messages.append(("assistant", text))
+        if len(all_messages) >= 2:
+            return _messages_to_transcript(all_messages)
+        return None
+
+    # Flat messages list
     messages = []
     for item in data:
         if not isinstance(item, dict):
diff --git a/mempalace/room_detector_local.py b/mempalace/room_detector_local.py
index f927a84..a0d2c5c 100644
--- a/mempalace/room_detector_local.py
+++ b/mempalace/room_detector_local.py
@@ -255,7 +255,14 @@ def get_user_approval(rooms: list) -> list:
 def save_config(project_dir: str, project_name: str, rooms: list):
     config = {
         "wing": project_name,
-        "rooms": [{"name": r["name"], "description": r["description"]} for r in rooms],
+        "rooms": [
+            {
+                "name": r["name"],
+                "description": r["description"],
+                "keywords": r.get("keywords", [r["name"]]),
+            }
+            for r in rooms
+        ],
     }
     config_path = Path(project_dir).expanduser().resolve() / "mempalace.yaml"
     with open(config_path, "w") as f: