diff --git a/packages/elf-service/src/search/finish.rs b/packages/elf-service/src/search/finish.rs
index d30d0922..45dcd69b 100644
--- a/packages/elf-service/src/search/finish.rs
+++ b/packages/elf-service/src/search/finish.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+mod finalize;
 mod metadata;
 mod relations;
 mod rerank;
diff --git a/packages/elf-service/src/search/finish/finalize.rs b/packages/elf-service/src/search/finish/finalize.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3899f81d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/elf-service/src/search/finish/finalize.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+use crate::search::{
+	BuildTraceArgs, ElfService, FinishSearchArgs, FinishSearchScoringResult, OffsetDateTime,
+	RawSearchPath, Result, SearchResponse, Uuid, ranking,
+};
+
+impl ElfService {
+	pub(in crate::search) async fn finish_search(
+		&self,
+		args: FinishSearchArgs<'_>,
+	) -> Result<SearchResponse> {
+		let now = OffsetDateTime::now_utc();
+		let candidate_count = args.candidates.len();
+		let candidate_note_ids: Vec<Uuid> =
+			args.candidates.iter().map(|candidate| candidate.note_id).collect();
+		let policies = self.resolve_finish_search_policies(args.ranking_override.as_ref())?;
+		let note_meta = self
+			.fetch_note_meta_for_candidates(
+				args.tenant_id,
+				args.project_id,
+				args.agent_id,
+				args.allowed_scopes,
+				candidate_note_ids.as_slice(),
+				now,
+			)
+			.await?;
+		let scoring = self
+			.build_finish_search_scoring(
+				args.query,
+				args.candidates,
+				&note_meta,
+				&policies,
+				args.top_k,
+				candidate_count,
+				args.filter,
+				args.requested_candidate_k,
+				args.effective_candidate_k,
+				now,
+				args.path == RawSearchPath::Quick,
+			)
+			.await?;
+		let FinishSearchScoringResult {
+			query_tokens,
+			filtered_candidates,
+			scored_count,
+			snippet_count,
+			filtered_candidate_count,
+			filter_impact,
+			mut trace_candidates,
+			fused_results,
+			selected_results,
+			diversity_decisions,
+			selected_count,
+		} = scoring;
+		let relation_contexts = self
+			.build_relation_context_for_selected_results(
+				&selected_results,
+				args.tenant_id,
+				args.project_id,
+				args.agent_id,
+				args.allowed_scopes,
+				now,
+			)
+			.await?;
+
+		ranking::attach_diversity_decisions_to_trace_candidates(
+			&mut trace_candidates,
+			&diversity_decisions,
+		);
+
+		self.record_hits_if_enabled(args.record_hits_enabled, args.query, &selected_results, now)
+			.await?;
+
+		let (items, trajectory_summary) = self
+			.build_items_and_write_trace(BuildTraceArgs {
+				path: args.path,
+				trace_id: args.trace_id,
+				query: args.query,
+				tenant_id: args.tenant_id,
+				project_id: args.project_id,
+				agent_id: args.agent_id,
+				token_id: args.token_id,
+				read_profile: args.read_profile,
+				expansion_mode: args.expansion_mode,
+				expanded_queries: args.expanded_queries,
+				allowed_scopes: args.allowed_scopes,
+				candidate_count,
+				filtered_candidate_count,
+				snippet_count,
+				scored_count,
+				fused_count: fused_results.len(),
+				selected_count,
+				top_k: args.top_k,
+				query_tokens: query_tokens.as_slice(),
+				structured_matches: &args.structured_matches,
+				policies: &policies,
+				diversity_decisions: &diversity_decisions,
+				recall_candidates: filtered_candidates,
+				fused_results,
+				selected_results,
+				relation_contexts,
+				trace_candidates,
+				recursive_retrieval: args.recursive_retrieval.as_ref(),
+				now,
+				ranking_override: &args.ranking_override,
+				filter_impact,
+				payload_level: args.payload_level,
+			})
+			.await?;
+
+		Ok(SearchResponse {
+			trace_id: args.trace_id,
+			items,
+			trajectory_summary: Some(trajectory_summary),
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/packages/elf-service/src/search/service.rs b/packages/elf-service/src/search/service.rs
index b69f6daf..dbabcbef 100644
--- a/packages/elf-service/src/search/service.rs
+++ b/packages/elf-service/src/search/service.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 use crate::{
 	Error,
 	search::{
-		self, BuildQueryPlanArgs, BuildTraceArgs, DynamicGateSummary, ElfService, ExpansionMode,
-		FinishSearchArgs, FinishSearchScoringResult, HashMap, MAX_CANDIDATE_K,
-		MaybeDynamicSearchArgs, OffsetDateTime, RawSearchExecutionContext, RawSearchPath, Result,
-		SearchFilter, SearchRawPlannedResponse, SearchRequest, SearchResponse, SearchRetrievalArgs,
-		Uuid, ranking,
+		self, BuildQueryPlanArgs, DynamicGateSummary, ElfService, ExpansionMode, FinishSearchArgs,
+		HashMap, MAX_CANDIDATE_K, MaybeDynamicSearchArgs, RawSearchExecutionContext, RawSearchPath,
+		Result, SearchFilter, SearchRawPlannedResponse, SearchRequest, SearchResponse,
+		SearchRetrievalArgs, Uuid, ranking,
 	},
 };
 
@@ -303,111 +302,4 @@ impl ElfService {
 			query_plan,
 		}
 	}
-
-	pub(super) async fn finish_search(&self, args: FinishSearchArgs<'_>) -> Result<SearchResponse> {
-		let now = OffsetDateTime::now_utc();
-		let candidate_count = args.candidates.len();
-		let candidate_note_ids: Vec<Uuid> =
-			args.candidates.iter().map(|candidate| candidate.note_id).collect();
-		let policies = self.resolve_finish_search_policies(args.ranking_override.as_ref())?;
-		let note_meta = self
-			.fetch_note_meta_for_candidates(
-				args.tenant_id,
-				args.project_id,
-				args.agent_id,
-				args.allowed_scopes,
-				candidate_note_ids.as_slice(),
-				now,
-			)
-			.await?;
-		let scoring = self
-			.build_finish_search_scoring(
-				args.query,
-				args.candidates,
-				&note_meta,
-				&policies,
-				args.top_k,
-				candidate_count,
-				args.filter,
-				args.requested_candidate_k,
-				args.effective_candidate_k,
-				now,
-				args.path == RawSearchPath::Quick,
-			)
-			.await?;
-		let FinishSearchScoringResult {
-			query_tokens,
-			filtered_candidates,
-			scored_count,
-			snippet_count,
-			filtered_candidate_count,
-			filter_impact,
-			mut trace_candidates,
-			fused_results,
-			selected_results,
-			diversity_decisions,
-			selected_count,
-		} = scoring;
-		let relation_contexts = self
-			.build_relation_context_for_selected_results(
-				&selected_results,
-				args.tenant_id,
-				args.project_id,
-				args.agent_id,
-				args.allowed_scopes,
-				now,
-			)
-			.await?;
-
-		ranking::attach_diversity_decisions_to_trace_candidates(
-			&mut trace_candidates,
-			&diversity_decisions,
-		);
-
-		self.record_hits_if_enabled(args.record_hits_enabled, args.query, &selected_results, now)
-			.await?;
-
-		let (items, trajectory_summary) = self
-			.build_items_and_write_trace(BuildTraceArgs {
-				path: args.path,
-				trace_id: args.trace_id,
-				query: args.query,
-				tenant_id: args.tenant_id,
-				project_id: args.project_id,
-				agent_id: args.agent_id,
-				token_id: args.token_id,
-				read_profile: args.read_profile,
-				expansion_mode: args.expansion_mode,
-				expanded_queries: args.expanded_queries,
-				allowed_scopes: args.allowed_scopes,
-				candidate_count,
-				filtered_candidate_count,
-				snippet_count,
-				scored_count,
-				fused_count: fused_results.len(),
-				selected_count,
-				top_k: args.top_k,
-				query_tokens: query_tokens.as_slice(),
-				structured_matches: &args.structured_matches,
-				policies: &policies,
-				diversity_decisions: &diversity_decisions,
-				recall_candidates: filtered_candidates,
-				fused_results,
-				selected_results,
-				relation_contexts,
-				trace_candidates,
-				recursive_retrieval: args.recursive_retrieval.as_ref(),
-				now,
-				ranking_override: &args.ranking_override,
-				filter_impact,
-				payload_level: args.payload_level,
-			})
-			.await?;
-
-		Ok(SearchResponse {
-			trace_id: args.trace_id,
-			items,
-			trajectory_summary: Some(trajectory_summary),
-		})
-	}
 }