diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index a7ba1f2..c73851a 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
 import { CircuitBreaker, CircuitOpenError, type CircuitPermit } from './circuit-breaker.js';
 import { resolveGeneralConfig, getFallbackChain } from './matrices/general-matrix.js';
 import { resolvePerplexityConfig } from './matrices/perplexity-matrix.js';
-import { requiresSearchProvider } from './matrices/search-policy.js';
+import { assertSearchVisionCompatible, requiresSearchProvider } from './matrices/search-policy.js';
 import { classifyProviderError, isCircuitFailure } from './provider-errors.js';
 import { OpenRouterClient, validateImageUrl, type OpenRouterClientLike } from './providers/openrouter.js';
 import { PerplexityClient, type PerplexityClientLike } from './providers/perplexity.js';
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   type RouterConfig,
   type RoutingDecision,
   type RoutingResolution,
+  type SearchPolicySource,
   type TaskDescriptor,
 } from './types.js';
 import { generateFullSiteQAPlan, resolveVisionConfig, VIEWPORTS, type FullSiteQAConfig, type VisualQATask } from './vision/index.js';
@@ -41,16 +42,19 @@ export interface RouterDependencies {
 }
 
 export function resolveRoute(task: TaskDescriptor): RoutingResolution {
-  if (requiresSearchProvider(task)) {
+  const searchRequired = requiresSearchProvider(task);
+  const searchPolicySource: SearchPolicySource = typeof task.requiresSearch === 'boolean' ? 'EXPLICIT' : 'TASK_DEFAULT';
+  assertSearchVisionCompatible(task, searchRequired);
+  if (searchRequired) {
     const config = resolvePerplexityConfig(task);
-    return { taskType: task.type, complexity: task.complexity, provider: Provider.PERPLEXITY, model: config.model, estimatedCost: config.estimatedCostPerCall, reason: config.resolutionReason };
+    return { taskType: task.type, complexity: task.complexity, provider: Provider.PERPLEXITY, model: config.model, estimatedCost: config.estimatedCostPerCall, reason: config.resolutionReason, searchRequired, searchPolicySource };
   }
   if (VISION_TASKS.has(task.type)) {
     const config = resolveVisionConfig(task.type as TaskType.VISUAL_QA | TaskType.SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS | TaskType.LAYOUT_VALIDATION, task.complexity, task.images?.length ?? 1);
-    return { taskType: task.type, complexity: task.complexity, provider: Provider.OPENROUTER, model: config.model, estimatedCost: config.estimatedCostPerCall, reason: config.resolutionReason };
+    return { taskType: task.type, complexity: task.complexity, provider: Provider.OPENROUTER, model: config.model, estimatedCost: config.estimatedCostPerCall, reason: config.resolutionReason, searchRequired: false, searchPolicySource };
   }
   const config = resolveGeneralConfig(task);
-  return { taskType: task.type, complexity: task.complexity, provider: Provider.OPENROUTER, model: config.model, estimatedCost: config.estimatedCostPerCall, reason: config.resolutionReason };
+  return { taskType: task.type, complexity: task.complexity, provider: Provider.OPENROUTER, model: config.model, estimatedCost: config.estimatedCostPerCall, reason: config.resolutionReason, searchRequired: false, searchPolicySource };
 }
 
 export function getDowngradedModel(
@@ -247,7 +251,7 @@ export { ProviderRequestError } from './provider-errors.js';
 export { TaskValidationError, RouterConfigValidationError } from './schemas.js';
 export { UnsafeImageUrlError, InvalidBaseUrlError, DEFAULT_OPENROUTER_BASE_URL, resolveOpenRouterBaseUrl } from './providers/openrouter.js';
 export { VIEWPORTS } from './vision/index.js';
-export { isSearchTask, requiresSearchProvider } from './matrices/search-policy.js';
+export { isSearchTask, requiresSearchProvider, UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError, assertSearchVisionCompatible } from './matrices/search-policy.js';
 
 export { hydrateRouterPrompt } from './memory.js';
 export type { RouterMemoryConfig } from './memory.js';
diff --git a/src/matrices/perplexity-matrix.ts b/src/matrices/perplexity-matrix.ts
index c8750cf..fa5fbb5 100644
--- a/src/matrices/perplexity-matrix.ts
+++ b/src/matrices/perplexity-matrix.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,11 @@ export function resolvePerplexityConfig(task: TaskDescriptor): PerplexityConfig
     domainFilter: task.domainFilter ?? [],
     variations,
     reasoningEffort: selectReasoningEffort(model, task.complexity),
-    disableSearch: task.requiresSearch === false && !isSearchTask(task.type),
+    // A Perplexity route is only selected when requiresSearchProvider(task) is
+    // true (search required by explicit flag or TaskType default), so a resolved
+    // router config never disables search. The field stays on the config
+    // contract for direct-provider callers; the router always sets false.
+    disableSearch: false,
     estimatedCostPerCall,
     resolutionReason: `Task[${task.type}] complexity[${task.complexity}] uses ${model}`,
   };
diff --git a/src/matrices/search-policy.ts b/src/matrices/search-policy.ts
index 182b613..cb072ca 100644
--- a/src/matrices/search-policy.ts
+++ b/src/matrices/search-policy.ts
@@ -48,3 +48,33 @@ export function requiresSearchProvider(task: TaskDescriptor): boolean {
   }
   return isSearchTask(task.type);
 }
+
+/**
+ * Fail-closed guard for capability combinations no current provider supports.
+ *
+ * The Perplexity client is text-only, so a search-required route cannot consume
+ * images. Rather than silently dropping either requested capability (dropping
+ * the images, or routing vision while pretending search happened), resolution
+ * refuses the combination until a multimodal-search provider contract exists.
+ */
+export class UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError extends Error {
+  public readonly code = 'SEARCH_VISION_COMBINATION_UNSUPPORTED' as const;
+  constructor(public readonly taskType: TaskType, public readonly capabilities: readonly string[]) {
+    super(`Task type "${taskType}" requires an unsupported capability combination: ${capabilities.join(' + ')}`);
+    this.name = 'UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError';
+  }
+  toJSON(): Record<string, unknown> {
+    return { name: this.name, code: this.code, taskType: this.taskType, capabilities: this.capabilities, message: this.message };
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Throws {@link UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError} when a search-required
+ * route would also have to consume images. No silent capability loss: neither
+ * the images nor the search request is dropped behind the caller's back.
+ */
+export function assertSearchVisionCompatible(task: TaskDescriptor, searchRequired: boolean): void {
+  if (searchRequired && (task.images?.length ?? 0) > 0) {
+    throw new UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError(task.type, ['search', 'vision']);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/provider-errors.ts b/src/provider-errors.ts
index 22f1812..6acb644 100644
--- a/src/provider-errors.ts
+++ b/src/provider-errors.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ const LOCAL_ERROR_NAMES = new Set([
   'TaskValidationError',
   'RouterConfigValidationError',
   'UnsafeImageUrlError',
+  'UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError',
   'BudgetExhaustedError',
   'CircuitOpenError',
   'AbortError',
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index ddbd12e..044b780 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ export interface RouterConfig {
   providerMaxRetries?: 0;
 }
 
+export type SearchPolicySource = 'EXPLICIT' | 'TASK_DEFAULT';
+
 export interface RoutingResolution {
   taskType: TaskType;
   complexity: TaskComplexity;
@@ -190,6 +192,10 @@ export interface RoutingResolution {
   model: GeneralModel | SonarModel;
   estimatedCost: number;
   reason: string;
+  /** Whether the resolved route carries web-search capability (explicit flag or task-type default). */
+  searchRequired: boolean;
+  /** Where `searchRequired` came from: an explicit `TaskDescriptor.requiresSearch` boolean, or the legacy per-TaskType default. */
+  searchPolicySource: SearchPolicySource;
 }
 
 export interface RoutingDecision extends RoutingResolution {
diff --git a/tests/routing-matrix.test.ts b/tests/routing-matrix.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb0c632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/routing-matrix.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  L9LLMRouter,
+  UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError,
+  requiresSearchProvider,
+  resolveRoute,
+} from '../src/index.js';
+import { resolvePerplexityConfig } from '../src/matrices/perplexity-matrix.js';
+import { buildRequestBody } from '../src/providers/perplexity.js';
+import {
+  GeneralModel,
+  Provider,
+  TaskComplexity,
+  TaskType,
+  type GeneralModelConfig,
+  type LLMResponse,
+  type PerplexityConfig,
+  type TaskDescriptor,
+  type VisionConfig,
+} from '../src/types.js';
+
+const IMAGES = ['https://cdn.example.com/screenshot.png'];
+
+const base = (over: Partial<TaskDescriptor>): TaskDescriptor => ({
+  type: TaskType.CLASSIFICATION,
+  complexity: TaskComplexity.MEDIUM,
+  clientId: 'client',
+  ...over,
+});
+
+describe('routing matrix — explicit requiresSearch is authoritative', () => {
+  const matrix: Array<{ name: string; task: TaskDescriptor; expected: Provider | 'conflict' }> = [
+    { name: 'A. STRATEGIC_REASONING + false → NON_SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING, requiresSearch: false }), expected: Provider.OPENROUTER },
+    { name: 'B. STRATEGIC_REASONING + true → SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING, requiresSearch: true }), expected: Provider.PERPLEXITY },
+    { name: 'C. STRATEGIC_REASONING + undefined → NON_SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING }), expected: Provider.OPENROUTER },
+    { name: 'D. COMPETITOR_RESEARCH + true → SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.COMPETITOR_RESEARCH, requiresSearch: true }), expected: Provider.PERPLEXITY },
+    { name: 'E. COMPETITOR_RESEARCH + false → NON_SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.COMPETITOR_RESEARCH, requiresSearch: false }), expected: Provider.OPENROUTER },
+    { name: 'F. COMPETITOR_RESEARCH + undefined → SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.COMPETITOR_RESEARCH }), expected: Provider.PERPLEXITY },
+    { name: 'G. FACT_VERIFICATION + false → NON_SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.FACT_VERIFICATION, requiresSearch: false }), expected: Provider.OPENROUTER },
+    { name: 'H. FACT_VERIFICATION + undefined → SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.FACT_VERIFICATION }), expected: Provider.PERPLEXITY },
+    { name: 'I. CONTENT_GENERATION + false → NON_SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.CONTENT_GENERATION, requiresSearch: false }), expected: Provider.OPENROUTER },
+    { name: 'J. CONTENT_GENERATION + true → SEARCH', task: base({ type: TaskType.CONTENT_GENERATION, requiresSearch: true }), expected: Provider.PERPLEXITY },
+    { name: 'K. SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS + images + false → VISION', task: base({ type: TaskType.SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS, images: IMAGES, requiresSearch: false }), expected: Provider.OPENROUTER },
+    { name: 'L. SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS + images + undefined → VISION', task: base({ type: TaskType.SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS, images: IMAGES }), expected: Provider.OPENROUTER },
+    { name: 'M. SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS + images + true → fail closed', task: base({ type: TaskType.SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS, images: IMAGES, requiresSearch: true }), expected: 'conflict' },
+  ];
+
+  it.each(matrix)('$name', ({ task, expected }) => {
+    if (expected === 'conflict') {
+      expect(() => resolveRoute(task)).toThrow(UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError);
+      return;
+    }
+    expect(resolveRoute(task).provider).toBe(expected);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('routing audit evidence', () => {
+  it('explicit requiresSearch=false → searchRequired=false + EXPLICIT', () => {
+    const decision = resolveRoute(base({ type: TaskType.COMPETITOR_RESEARCH, requiresSearch: false }));
+    expect(decision).toMatchObject({ searchRequired: false, searchPolicySource: 'EXPLICIT', provider: Provider.OPENROUTER });
+  });
+
+  it('explicit requiresSearch=true → searchRequired=true + EXPLICIT', () => {
+    const decision = resolveRoute(base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING, requiresSearch: true }));
+    expect(decision).toMatchObject({ searchRequired: true, searchPolicySource: 'EXPLICIT', provider: Provider.PERPLEXITY });
+  });
+
+  it('omitted flag on a default-search task → TASK_DEFAULT', () => {
+    const decision = resolveRoute(base({ type: TaskType.MARKET_RESEARCH }));
+    expect(decision).toMatchObject({ searchRequired: true, searchPolicySource: 'TASK_DEFAULT' });
+  });
+
+  it('omitted flag on a general task → TASK_DEFAULT', () => {
+    const decision = resolveRoute(base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING }));
+    expect(decision).toMatchObject({ searchRequired: false, searchPolicySource: 'TASK_DEFAULT' });
+  });
+
+  it('call log carries the resolved search policy and dispatched provider/model', async () => {
+    let selectedModel: GeneralModel | undefined;
+    const capturingOpenRouter = {
+      ...fakeOpenRouter,
+      completeWithFallback: async (config: GeneralModelConfig) => {
+        selectedModel = config.model;
+        return { ...response, model: config.model };
+      },
+    };
+    const router = new L9LLMRouter({ perplexityApiKey: 'p', openrouterApiKey: 'o' }, { openrouterClient: capturingOpenRouter, perplexityClient: fakePerplexity });
+    router.initClient('client');
+    const result = await router.execute(base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING, requiresSearch: false }), 's', 'u');
+    const entry = router.getCallLog()[0];
+    expect(entry).toMatchObject({
+      searchRequired: false,
+      searchPolicySource: 'EXPLICIT',
+      provider: Provider.OPENROUTER,
+      model: selectedModel,
+      actualCost: result.cost,
+      latencyMs: result.latencyMs,
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('provider dispatch — explicit search policy selects the right client', () => {
+  it('requiresSearch=true calls the search client and never the general client', async () => {
+    const { perplexityCalls, openrouterCalls, router } = makeCountingRouter();
+    router.initClient('client');
+    await router.execute(base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING, requiresSearch: true }), 's', 'u');
+    expect(perplexityCalls()).toBe(1);
+    expect(openrouterCalls()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('requiresSearch=false on a default-search TaskType calls the general client and never the search client', async () => {
+    const { perplexityCalls, openrouterCalls, router } = makeCountingRouter();
+    router.initClient('client');
+    await router.execute(base({ type: TaskType.COMPETITOR_RESEARCH, requiresSearch: false }), 's', 'u');
+    expect(openrouterCalls()).toBe(1);
+    expect(perplexityCalls()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('vision tasks dispatch through the vision path', async () => {
+    const { perplexityCalls, visionCalls, router } = makeCountingRouter();
+    router.initClient('client');
+    await router.execute(base({ type: TaskType.SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS, images: IMAGES }), 's', 'u');
+    expect(visionCalls()).toBe(1);
+    expect(perplexityCalls()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('unsupported search+vision fails closed with no provider dispatch and no budget leak', async () => {
+    const { perplexityCalls, openrouterCalls, router } = makeCountingRouter();
+    router.initClient('client');
+    await expect(router.execute(base({ type: TaskType.SCREENSHOT_ANALYSIS, images: IMAGES, requiresSearch: true }), 's', 'u'))
+      .rejects.toBeInstanceOf(UnsupportedCapabilityCombinationError);
+    expect(perplexityCalls()).toBe(0);
+    expect(openrouterCalls()).toBe(0);
+    expect(router.getClientBudgetReport('client')).toMatchObject({ reservedSpend: 0, activeReservations: 0 });
+    expect(router.getCircuitState(Provider.PERPLEXITY).failureCount).toBe(0);
+    expect(router.getCircuitState(Provider.OPENROUTER).failureCount).toBe(0);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('consensus is an execution modifier, not search-policy authority', () => {
+  it('consensus=true on a non-search route neither reroutes nor errors', async () => {
+    const { perplexityCalls, router } = makeCountingRouter();
+    router.initClient('client');
+    const result = await router.execute(base({ type: TaskType.STRATEGIC_REASONING, requiresSearch: false }), 's', 'u', { consensus: true });
+    expect(result.provider).toBe(Provider.OPENROUTER);
+    expect(perplexityCalls()).toBe(0);
+    expect(router.getCallLog()[0]).toMatchObject({ searchRequired: false, searchPolicySource: 'EXPLICIT' });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('Perplexity config agrees with the route decision', () => {
+  it('never disables search for any router-selected Perplexity route', () => {
+    for (const type of Object.values(TaskType)) {
+      for (const requiresSearch of [true, undefined] as const) {
+        const task = base({ type, requiresSearch });
+        if (!requiresSearchProvider(task)) continue;
+        expect(resolvePerplexityConfig(task).disableSearch, `${type} requiresSearch=${requiresSearch}`).toBe(false);
+      }
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('a resolved search config produces a request body with web search enabled', () => {
+    const config = resolvePerplexityConfig(base({ type: TaskType.MARKET_RESEARCH }));
+    const body = buildRequestBody(config, []);
+    expect(body.web_search_options).toBeDefined();
+  });
+});
+
+const response: LLMResponse = { content: 'ok', model: GeneralModel.GPT4O_MINI, provider: Provider.OPENROUTER, inputTokens: 1, outputTokens: 1, totalTokens: 2, cost: 0.1, latencyMs: 5, cached: false };
+const fakeOpenRouter = {
+  complete: async (_config: GeneralModelConfig) => response,
+  completeWithVision: async (_config: VisionConfig) => response,
+  completeWithFallback: async (_config: GeneralModelConfig) => response,
+};
+const fakePerplexity = {
+  complete: async (_config: PerplexityConfig) => ({ ...response, provider: Provider.PERPLEXITY }),
+  completeWithConsensus: async (_config: PerplexityConfig) => ({
+    best: { ...response, provider: Provider.PERPLEXITY },
+    all: [{ ...response, provider: Provider.PERPLEXITY }],
+    consensusScore: 1,
+    aggregate: { inputTokens: 1, outputTokens: 1, totalTokens: 2, cost: 0.1, latencyMs: 5, citations: [] },
+  }),
+};
+
+function makeCountingRouter() {
+  let perplexityCalls = 0;
+  let openrouterCalls = 0;
+  let visionCalls = 0;
+  const countingOpenRouter = {
+    complete: async (_config: GeneralModelConfig) => { openrouterCalls += 1; return response; },
+    completeWithVision: async (_config: VisionConfig) => { visionCalls += 1; return response; },
+    completeWithFallback: async (_config: GeneralModelConfig) => { openrouterCalls += 1; return response; },
+  };
+  const countingPerplexity = {
+    ...fakePerplexity,
+    complete: async (_config: PerplexityConfig) => { perplexityCalls += 1; return { ...response, provider: Provider.PERPLEXITY }; },
+  };
+  const router = new L9LLMRouter(
+    { perplexityApiKey: 'p', openrouterApiKey: 'o' },
+    { openrouterClient: countingOpenRouter, perplexityClient: countingPerplexity },
+  );
+  return { perplexityCalls: () => perplexityCalls, openrouterCalls: () => openrouterCalls, visionCalls: () => visionCalls, router };
+}