diff --git a/.aegir.js b/.aegir.js
index 56f892ef3..00d8dac0f 100644
--- a/.aegir.js
+++ b/.aegir.js
@@ -2,7 +2,16 @@
 import * as findUp from "find-up";
 import path from "path";
 
-const root = path.dirname(await findUp.findUp(".git", { type: "directory" }));
+// In git worktrees, `.git` is a *file* (not a directory), so don't constrain the type.
+// Fall back to workspace markers for non-git environments.
+const rootMarker =
+	(await findUp.findUp(".git")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("pnpm-workspace.yaml")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("package.json"));
+if (!rootMarker) {
+	throw new Error("Unable to locate repo root (no .git/workspace marker found)");
+}
+const root = path.dirname(rootMarker);
 
 export default {
 	// global options
diff --git a/debugging-plan.md b/debugging-plan.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6bb0ff0ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debugging-plan.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+## 2026-02-06 - Strict distributed search under churn
+- Added test `strict search under churn` to validate strict completeness with churn using `remote.throwOnMissing`, increased `remote.timeout`, `remote.wait`, `remote.reach`, and harness-level retries/backoff.
+- Test inserts 200 docs across two shard ranges, stops one peer, restarts it mid-retry, and asserts full result completeness (or fails with actionable error).
+- Test command: `PEERBIT_TEST_SESSION=mock pnpm --filter @peerbit/document test -- --grep "strict search under churn"`.
diff --git a/packages/clients/peerbit/.aegir.js b/packages/clients/peerbit/.aegir.js
index 64df93a99..a36d0dd4f 100644
--- a/packages/clients/peerbit/.aegir.js
+++ b/packages/clients/peerbit/.aegir.js
@@ -4,7 +4,16 @@ import fs from "fs";
 import { createRequire } from "module";
 import path from "path";
 
-const root = path.dirname(await findUp.findUp(".git", { type: "directory" }));
+// In git worktrees, `.git` is a *file* (not a directory), so don't constrain the type.
+// Fall back to workspace markers for non-git environments.
+const rootMarker =
+	(await findUp.findUp(".git")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("pnpm-workspace.yaml")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("package.json"));
+if (!rootMarker) {
+	throw new Error("Unable to locate repo root (no .git/workspace marker found)");
+}
+const root = path.dirname(rootMarker);
 const resolverFromRoot = createRequire(path.join(root, "package.json"));
 const resolverFromLocal = createRequire(import.meta.url);
 
diff --git a/packages/programs/data/document/document/test/strict-search-under-churn.spec.ts b/packages/programs/data/document/document/test/strict-search-under-churn.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..648da55d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/programs/data/document/document/test/strict-search-under-churn.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+import { SearchRequest } from "@peerbit/document-interface";
+import { MissingResponsesError } from "@peerbit/rpc";
+import { TestSession } from "@peerbit/test-utils";
+import { delay, waitForResolved } from "@peerbit/time";
+import { expect } from "chai";
+import fs from "fs/promises";
+import os from "os";
+import path from "path";
+import { Documents } from "../src/program.js";
+import { Document, TestStore } from "./data.js";
+
+describe("strict search under churn", () => {
+	let session: TestSession | undefined;
+	let tempDir: string | undefined;
+
+	afterEach(async () => {
+		if (session) {
+			await session.stop();
+			session = undefined;
+		}
+		if (tempDir) {
+			await fs.rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+			tempDir = undefined;
+		}
+	});
+
+	it("eventually returns complete results with strict mitigations", async () => {
+		tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "peerbit-churn-"));
+		const peer1Dir = path.join(tempDir, "peer1");
+		const peer2Dir = path.join(tempDir, "peer2");
+		await Promise.all([
+			fs.mkdir(peer1Dir, { recursive: true }),
+			fs.mkdir(peer2Dir, { recursive: true }),
+		]);
+
+		// Use on-disk blocks so that stop/start resembles production restart (no data loss).
+		session = await TestSession.connected(2, [
+			{ directory: peer1Dir },
+			{ directory: peer2Dir },
+		]);
+
+		const store1 = new TestStore({
+			docs: new Documents<Document>(),
+		});
+		await session.peers[0].open(store1, {
+			args: {
+				replicate: { offset: 0, factor: 0.5 },
+				replicas: { min: 1 },
+				timeUntilRoleMaturity: 0,
+			},
+		});
+
+		let store2 = await session.peers[1].open(store1.clone(), {
+			args: {
+				replicate: { offset: 0.5, factor: 0.5 },
+				replicas: { min: 1 },
+				timeUntilRoleMaturity: 0,
+			},
+		});
+
+		const count = 200;
+		for (let i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+			await store1.docs.put(
+				new Document({ id: i.toString(), number: BigInt(i) }),
+			);
+		}
+
+		await waitForResolved(() =>
+			expect(store2.docs.log.log.length).to.be.greaterThan(0),
+		);
+		await waitForResolved(() =>
+			expect(store1.docs.log.log.length).to.be.lessThan(count),
+		);
+
+		const remoteOptions = {
+			timeout: 15_000,
+			throwOnMissing: true,
+		};
+
+		const request = new SearchRequest({ query: [], fetch: count });
+		const localOnly = await store1.docs.index.search(request, { remote: false });
+		expect(localOnly.length).to.be.lessThan(count);
+
+		const baseline = await store1.docs.index.search(request, {
+			remote: remoteOptions,
+		});
+		expect(baseline).to.have.length(count);
+
+		await session.peers[1].stop();
+
+		// During churn, a strict client can either:
+		// - throw on missing responders (throwOnMissing=true), or
+		// - detect a short read and retry until reachability/convergence is restored.
+		try {
+			const downResults = await store1.docs.index.search(request, {
+				remote: { ...remoteOptions, timeout: 250 },
+			});
+			expect(downResults.length).to.be.lessThan(count);
+		} catch (error) {
+			expect(error).to.be.instanceOf(MissingResponsesError);
+		}
+
+		const restartDelay = 800;
+		const restartPromise = (async () => {
+			await delay(restartDelay);
+			await session!.peers[1].start();
+			store2 = await session!.peers[1].open(store2.clone(), {
+				args: {
+					replicate: { offset: 0.5, factor: 0.5 },
+					replicas: { min: 1 },
+					timeUntilRoleMaturity: 0,
+				},
+			});
+			await store2.docs.log.waitForReplicators();
+		})();
+
+		const strictSearchWithRetries = async (options: {
+			attempts: number;
+			baseDelay: number;
+		}) => {
+			let lastError: Error | undefined;
+			for (let attempt = 0; attempt < options.attempts; attempt++) {
+				try {
+					const results = await store1.docs.index.search(request, {
+						remote: remoteOptions,
+					});
+					if (results.length !== count) {
+						throw new Error(
+							`Strict search incomplete: expected ${count}, got ${results.length}`,
+						);
+					}
+					return results;
+				} catch (error) {
+					lastError = error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error));
+					if (attempt < options.attempts - 1) {
+						await delay(options.baseDelay * 2 ** attempt);
+					}
+				}
+			}
+
+			const hint =
+				lastError instanceof MissingResponsesError
+					? "Missing responders for one or more shards."
+					: "Timeout or incomplete results while waiting on remote shards.";
+			throw new Error(
+				`Strict distributed search failed after ${options.attempts} attempts. ${hint} Last error: ${lastError?.message}`,
+			);
+		};
+
+		await restartPromise;
+		const results = await strictSearchWithRetries({
+			attempts: 6,
+			baseDelay: 250,
+		});
+		expect(results).to.have.length(count);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/packages/utils/any-store/any-store/.aegir.js b/packages/utils/any-store/any-store/.aegir.js
index 6a2b238c8..bf010b296 100644
--- a/packages/utils/any-store/any-store/.aegir.js
+++ b/packages/utils/any-store/any-store/.aegir.js
@@ -4,7 +4,16 @@ import fs from "fs";
 import { createRequire } from "module";
 import path from "path";
 
-const root = path.dirname(await findUp.findUp(".git", { type: "directory" }));
+// In git worktrees, `.git` is a *file* (not a directory), so don't constrain the type.
+// Fall back to workspace markers for non-git environments.
+const rootMarker =
+	(await findUp.findUp(".git")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("pnpm-workspace.yaml")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("package.json"));
+if (!rootMarker) {
+	throw new Error("Unable to locate repo root (no .git/workspace marker found)");
+}
+const root = path.dirname(rootMarker);
 const resolverFromRoot = createRequire(path.join(root, "package.json"));
 const resolverFromLocal = createRequire(import.meta.url);
 
diff --git a/packages/utils/indexer/sqlite3/.aegir.js b/packages/utils/indexer/sqlite3/.aegir.js
index 3a253af33..53a7a1901 100644
--- a/packages/utils/indexer/sqlite3/.aegir.js
+++ b/packages/utils/indexer/sqlite3/.aegir.js
@@ -2,7 +2,16 @@ import * as findUp from "find-up";
 import fs from "fs";
 import path from "path";
 
-const root = path.dirname(await findUp.findUp(".git", { type: "directory" }));
+// In git worktrees, `.git` is a *file* (not a directory), so don't constrain the type.
+// Fall back to workspace markers for non-git environments.
+const rootMarker =
+	(await findUp.findUp(".git")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("pnpm-workspace.yaml")) ??
+	(await findUp.findUp("package.json"));
+if (!rootMarker) {
+	throw new Error("Unable to locate repo root (no .git/workspace marker found)");
+}
+const root = path.dirname(rootMarker);
 
 export default {
 	// test cmd options