diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index c8bd4ae..f80c5bf 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ bin/          self-describing tools bin/{subject}/{method}.go (shebang)
 bin/brain/    search.go serve.go index.go get.go stats.go eval.go watch.go
 bin/chats/    sync.go import.go facts.go apply.go; libs in internal/chats
 bin/mail/     sync.go import.go (index_mail → brain/index.go)
-bin/markdown/ import.go (mistune leafs)
+bin/markdown/ import.go (H2 leaf split; Python bin/md/import fallback)
 bin/postgres/ query.go (read-only YAML)
 bin/git/      import.go (go-git history; Python shim execs it)
 bin/web/      search.go (SearXNG; Python shim execs it)
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ bin/brain/get.go <id> [--body] [--json]          # Go read; Python bin/kb/get CI
 bin/brain/stats.go [--json]
 bin/brain/eval.go [--json]                       # recall@5; questions in internal/brain/rank
 bin/brain/serve.go                               # HTTP :8630; GET /openapi.json POST /mcp
-bin/markdown/import.go [dir]                      # mistune leaves → YAML
+bin/markdown/import.go [dir]                      # H2 leafs → YAML; Python bin/md/import fallback
 bin/git/import.go [REPO] [--json] [--limit N]     # go-git history → commit leafs
 bin/web/search.go "query" [--json]                # SearXNG; throttled ≠ absence
 bin/reasoner/bakeoff.go [--model ID] [--json]     # D18 CPU tool-call bake-off
diff --git a/PLAN.md b/PLAN.md
index 6a197cc..fc73587 100644
--- a/PLAN.md
+++ b/PLAN.md
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ detective method: **a fact needs ≥2 independent sources or it is
     brain/serve.go          HTTP API in-process + OpenAPI/MCP (D20); Zig CGO (D21)
     cgo/zig zcc zc++        CGO toolchain (zig cc, not gcc)
     mail/import.go          JSON → markdown (no brain write)
-    markdown/import.go      mistune leaves
+    markdown/import.go      H2 leaf split (Go); Python bin/md/import fallback
     postgres/query.go       read-only YAML (wraps bin/db/psql-yq)
     git/import.go           go-git history (no git binary; conversion only)
     web/search.go           SearXNG client (throttled ≠ absence)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d25dd06..503e73f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ graph TB
         EX["bin/facts/extract.go<br/>2-source pairing"]
         AU["bin/facts/audit.go<br/>confidence + staleness"]
         IDX["bin/brain/index.go<br/>chunk + embed"]
-        MD["bin/markdown/import.go<br/>mistune leaves"]
+        MD["bin/markdown/import.go<br/>H2 leaf split"]
         SR["bin/brain/search.go<br/>deduction"]
     end
 
diff --git a/bin/markdown/import.go b/bin/markdown/import.go
index 546c562..f730f54 100755
--- a/bin/markdown/import.go
+++ b/bin/markdown/import.go
@@ -1,20 +1,100 @@
-//usr/bin/env go run -tags=markdown_import "$0" "$@"; exit
-//go:build markdown_import
+//usr/bin/env go run "$0" "$@"; exit
 //
-// bin/markdown/import.go - split markdown into leafs (mistune).
+// bin/markdown/import.go - split markdown into leafs (H2 boundaries).
 //
 //	./bin/markdown/import.go [dir]
 //	./bin/markdown/import.go --files a.md,b.md --json
 //
+// Conversion only. Brain write is bin/brain/index.go.
+// Python bin/md/import remains as a fallback.
 // NOTE: never run `gofmt -w` on this file — it breaks the shebang.
 package main
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 
-	"github.com/eSlider/2dph/internal/cmdbin"
+	"github.com/eSlider/2dph/internal/mdleaves"
 )
 
 func main() {
-	os.Exit(cmdbin.ExecFile("bin/md/import", os.Args[1:]))
+	os.Exit(run(os.Args[1:]))
+}
+
+func run(args []string) int {
+	jsonOut := false
+	files := ""
+	root := "."
+	for i := 0; i < len(args); i++ {
+		a := args[i]
+		switch {
+		case a == "--json":
+			jsonOut = true
+		case a == "--files" && i+1 < len(args):
+			i++
+			files = args[i]
+		case strings.HasPrefix(a, "--files="):
+			files = strings.TrimPrefix(a, "--files=")
+		case a == "-h" || a == "--help":
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "bin/markdown/import.go [dir] [--files a.md,b.md] [--json]")
+			return 0
+		case strings.HasPrefix(a, "-"):
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "unknown arg:", a)
+			return 2
+		default:
+			root = a
+		}
+	}
+
+	var paths []string
+	if files != "" {
+		for _, f := range strings.Split(files, ",") {
+			f = strings.TrimSpace(f)
+			if f != "" {
+				paths = append(paths, f)
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		st, err := os.Stat(root)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "md/import: no such path %s\n", root)
+			return 2
+		}
+		if !st.IsDir() {
+			paths = []string{root}
+		} else {
+			var err error
+			paths, err = mdleaves.WalkMarkdown(root)
+			if err != nil {
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "md/import: %v\n", err)
+				return 1
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if len(paths) == 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "md/import: no markdown files")
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	var all []mdleaves.Leaf
+	for _, p := range paths {
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(p)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "md/import: %s: %v\n", p, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		all = append(all, mdleaves.ToAll(string(raw), p, "")...)
+	}
+	if jsonOut {
+		s, err := mdleaves.EncodeJSON(all)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+			return 1
+		}
+		fmt.Print(s)
+		return 0
+	}
+	fmt.Print(mdleaves.EncodeYAML(all))
+	return 0
 }
diff --git a/bin/tools/test_bin_layout.py b/bin/tools/test_bin_layout.py
index 32bd70e..b1f50b4 100644
--- a/bin/tools/test_bin_layout.py
+++ b/bin/tools/test_bin_layout.py
@@ -125,8 +125,28 @@ class BinLayoutTest(unittest.TestCase):
             "index_mail must point at bin/brain/index.go",
         )
 
-    def test_markdown_import_is_shebang(self) -> None:
+    def test_markdown_import_is_go_not_python_exec(self) -> None:
         self._assert_shebang("bin/markdown/import.go")
+        text = (ROOT / "bin" / "markdown" / "import.go").read_text()
+        self.assertNotIn("ExecFile", text)
+        self.assertNotIn("cmdbin", text)
+        self.assertIn("internal/mdleaves", text)
+        self.assertNotIn("kb.lbug", text)
+
+    def test_import_adapters_do_not_write_ladybug(self) -> None:
+        for rel in (
+            "bin/mail/import.go",
+            "bin/mail/import",
+            "bin/markdown/import.go",
+            "bin/chats/import.go",
+            "bin/git/import.go",
+        ):
+            text = (ROOT / rel).read_text()
+            self.assertNotIn("upsert_leaf", text, rel)
+            self.assertNotIn("kb.lbug", text, rel)
+            self.assertNotIn("var/brain.lbug", text, rel)
+        index = (ROOT / "bin" / "brain" / "index.go").read_text()
+        self.assertIn("bin/kb/index", index)
 
     def test_postgres_query_is_shebang(self) -> None:
         self._assert_shebang("bin/postgres/query.go")
diff --git a/bin/tools/test_index_adapters.py b/bin/tools/test_index_adapters.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..638b226
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/tools/test_index_adapters.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+"""Import adapters write files only. Index rebuild is brain/index (D14 / Gitea #7)."""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
+
+
+class IndexAdapterTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_dry_run_fixture_corpus_does_not_write_lbug(self) -> None:
+        tmp = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp())
+        (tmp / "note.md").write_text("# Fixture\n\n## Leaf\n\nhello corpus\n", encoding="utf-8")
+        lbug = tmp / "kb.lbug"
+        try:
+            import ladybug  # noqa: F401
+        except ImportError:
+            venv_py = ROOT / ".venv" / "bin" / "python"
+            if not venv_py.is_file():
+                self.skipTest("ladybug missing")
+            py = str(venv_py)
+        else:
+            py = sys.executable
+        proc = subprocess.run(
+            [py, str(ROOT / "bin" / "kb" / "index"), "--dry-run", "--json", "--corpus", str(tmp)],
+            cwd=ROOT,
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            env=os.environ.copy(),
+            check=False,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(proc.returncode, 0, proc.stderr)
+        msg = json.loads(proc.stdout)
+        self.assertTrue(msg.get("dry_run"))
+        self.assertGreaterEqual(msg.get("corpus_total", 0), 1)
+        self.assertFalse(lbug.exists(), "dry-run must not create a Ladybug file")
diff --git a/internal/mdleaves/leaf.go b/internal/mdleaves/leaf.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..939c4ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/mdleaves/leaf.go
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+package mdleaves
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+type Leaf struct {
+	Source  string `json:"source"`
+	Repo    string `json:"repo"`
+	Heading string `json:"heading"`
+	Text    string `json:"text"`
+	Type    string `json:"type"`
+	Status  string `json:"status"`
+	Related string `json:"related"`
+}
+
+type chunk struct {
+	Heading string
+	Text    string
+}
+
+var (
+	h1 = regexp.MustCompile(`^# \S`)
+	h2 = regexp.MustCompile(`^## \S`)
+)
+
+func ExtractFrontmatter(text string) (map[string]string, string) {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(text, "---") {
+		return map[string]string{}, text
+	}
+	end := strings.Index(text[3:], "\n---")
+	if end == -1 {
+		return map[string]string{}, text
+	}
+	fm := strings.TrimSpace(text[3 : 3+end])
+	body := text[3+end+4:]
+	meta := map[string]string{}
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(fm, "\n") {
+		key, value, ok := strings.Cut(line, ":")
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		meta[strings.TrimSpace(key)] = strings.Trim(strings.TrimSpace(value), `"'`)
+	}
+	return meta, body
+}
+
+func SplitLeafs(meta map[string]string, body string) []chunk {
+	lines := strings.Split(body, "\n")
+	title := ""
+	type hdr struct {
+		heading string
+		start   int
+	}
+	var headers []hdr
+	for i, line := range lines {
+		switch {
+		case h1.MatchString(line):
+			title = strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimLeft(line, "#"))
+		case h2.MatchString(line):
+			headers = append(headers, hdr{strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimLeft(line, "#")), i})
+		}
+	}
+	if len(headers) == 0 {
+		var kept []string
+		for _, l := range lines {
+			if strings.TrimSpace(l) != "" {
+				kept = append(kept, l)
+			}
+		}
+		return []chunk{{Heading: title, Text: strings.TrimSpace(strings.Join(kept, "\n"))}}
+	}
+	out := make([]chunk, 0, len(headers))
+	for idx, h := range headers {
+		end := len(lines)
+		if idx+1 < len(headers) {
+			end = headers[idx+1].start
+		}
+		var kept []string
+		for _, l := range lines[h.start:end] {
+			if strings.TrimSpace(l) != "" {
+				kept = append(kept, l)
+			}
+		}
+		text := strings.Join(kept, "\n")
+		if idx == 0 && title != "" {
+			text = title + "\n\n" + text
+		}
+		out = append(out, chunk{Heading: h.heading, Text: strings.TrimSpace(text)})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func ToAll(text, path, repo string) []Leaf {
+	meta, body := ExtractFrontmatter(text)
+	if meta["type"] == "" {
+		meta["type"] = "reference"
+	}
+	if meta["status"] == "" {
+		meta["status"] = "current"
+	}
+	chunks := SplitLeafs(meta, body)
+	out := make([]Leaf, 0, len(chunks))
+	for _, c := range chunks {
+		out = append(out, Leaf{
+			Source:  path,
+			Repo:    repo,
+			Heading: c.Heading,
+			Text:    c.Text,
+			Type:    meta["type"],
+			Status:  meta["status"],
+			Related: meta["related"],
+		})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func WalkMarkdown(root string) ([]string, error) {
+	var out []string
+	err := filepath.Walk(root, func(p string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if info.IsDir() {
+			return nil
+		}
+		ext := strings.ToLower(filepath.Ext(p))
+		if ext == ".md" || ext == ".markdown" {
+			out = append(out, p)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+	return out, err
+}
+
+func EncodeJSON(leafs []Leaf) (string, error) {
+	raw, err := json.MarshalIndent(leafs, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return string(raw) + "\n", nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/mdleaves/leaf_test.go b/internal/mdleaves/leaf_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4dfa3f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/mdleaves/leaf_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+package mdleaves
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestSplitLeafsOnH2(t *testing.T) {
+	body := "# Title\n\n## One\n\nalpha\n\n## Two\n\nbeta\n"
+	leafs := SplitLeafs(map[string]string{}, body)
+	if len(leafs) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("n=%d", len(leafs))
+	}
+	if leafs[0].Heading != "One" || !strings.Contains(leafs[0].Text, "Title") {
+		t.Fatalf("first=%+v", leafs[0])
+	}
+	if leafs[1].Heading != "Two" || strings.Contains(leafs[1].Text, "Title") {
+		t.Fatalf("second=%+v", leafs[1])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSplitLeafsNoH2IsWholeDoc(t *testing.T) {
+	body := "# Title\n\njust a paragraph\n"
+	leafs := SplitLeafs(nil, body)
+	if len(leafs) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("n=%d", len(leafs))
+	}
+	if leafs[0].Heading != "Title" {
+		t.Fatalf("heading=%q", leafs[0].Heading)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(leafs[0].Text, "just a paragraph") {
+		t.Fatalf("text=%q", leafs[0].Text)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestFrontmatterAndToAll(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := "---\ntype: howto\nstatus: current\nrelated: docs/design.md\n---\n# Doc\n\n## Step\n\ndo it\n"
+	got := ToAll(raw, "docs/x.md", "eSlider/2dph")
+	if len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("n=%d", len(got))
+	}
+	if got[0].Type != "howto" || got[0].Status != "current" {
+		t.Fatalf("%+v", got[0])
+	}
+	if got[0].Source != "docs/x.md" || got[0].Repo != "eSlider/2dph" {
+		t.Fatalf("%+v", got[0])
+	}
+	if got[0].Related != "docs/design.md" {
+		t.Fatalf("related=%q", got[0].Related)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEncodeJSONAndYAML(t *testing.T) {
+	leafs := ToAll("# Hi\n\nbody\n", "a.md", "")
+	js, err := EncodeJSON(leafs)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(js, `"heading": "Hi"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("json=%s", js)
+	}
+	y := EncodeYAML(leafs)
+	if !strings.Contains(y, "heading: Hi") {
+		t.Fatalf("yaml=%s", y)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDefaultsTypeAndStatus(t *testing.T) {
+	got := ToAll("# Hi\n\nbody\n", "a.md", "")
+	if got[0].Type != "reference" || got[0].Status != "current" {
+		t.Fatalf("%+v", got[0])
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/mdleaves/yaml.go b/internal/mdleaves/yaml.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29c2ee1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/mdleaves/yaml.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package mdleaves
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+func EncodeYAML(leafs []Leaf) string {
+	if len(leafs) == 0 {
+		return "[]\n"
+	}
+	var b strings.Builder
+	for _, lf := range leafs {
+		b.WriteString("-\n")
+		writeKV(&b, "source", lf.Source)
+		writeKV(&b, "repo", lf.Repo)
+		writeKV(&b, "heading", lf.Heading)
+		writeKV(&b, "text", lf.Text)
+		writeKV(&b, "type", lf.Type)
+		writeKV(&b, "status", lf.Status)
+		writeKV(&b, "related", lf.Related)
+	}
+	return b.String()
+}
+
+func writeKV(b *strings.Builder, k, v string) {
+	fmt.Fprintf(b, "  %s: %s\n", k, yamlScalar(v))
+}
+
+func yamlScalar(s string) string {
+	if strings.Contains(s, "\n") || s == "" || strings.ContainsAny(s, ":#'\"[]{}&*!|>%@`") || s != strings.TrimSpace(s) {
+		return strconv.Quote(s)
+	}
+	return s
+}