diff --git a/aborist/distill/__init__.py b/aborist/distill/__init__.py
index 4b034dc..2756c55 100644
--- a/aborist/distill/__init__.py
+++ b/aborist/distill/__init__.py
@@ -2,11 +2,19 @@
 
 from aborist.distill.base import DistillationResult, Distiller
 from aborist.distill.first_sentence import FirstSentenceDistiller
+from aborist.distill.tfidf import TfidfKeywordDistiller
 
-__all__ = ["DistillationResult", "Distiller", "FirstSentenceDistiller"]
+__all__ = [
+    "DistillationResult",
+    "Distiller",
+    "FirstSentenceDistiller",
+    "TfidfKeywordDistiller",
+]
 
 
 def get_distiller(name: str) -> Distiller:
     if name == FirstSentenceDistiller.name:
         return FirstSentenceDistiller()
+    if name == TfidfKeywordDistiller.name:
+        return TfidfKeywordDistiller()
     raise ValueError(f"unknown distiller: {name}")
diff --git a/aborist/distill/tfidf.py b/aborist/distill/tfidf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d2d115
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aborist/distill/tfidf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+"""TF-IDF top-K keyword distiller.
+
+Pure-Python, stdlib-only. Uses chunk-level "documents" as the corpus
+baseline so a term that appears in every chunk of the same source gets
+penalized relative to a term concentrated in fewer chunks.
+
+Output core content is a deterministic comma-separated keyword list —
+extreme compression toward the "tweet/haiku" end of the planet metaphor.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import math
+import re
+from collections import Counter
+
+from aborist.distill.base import DistillationResult, Distiller
+from aborist.document import Document
+
+
+_TOKEN_RE = re.compile(r"\b[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z\-']{2,}\b")
+_STOPWORDS = frozenset(
+    """
+    the and or in of to is are was were for with on as by an be this that
+    these those from at but not have has had been they their his her its
+    our we you he she it all any if no more than such also can may will
+    would should could do does did between which where when what who how
+    some many most into through during above below after before since
+    while well much even only still about other only own same so very
+    just over under
+    """.split()
+)
+
+
+def _tokenize(text: str) -> list[str]:
+    return [t.lower() for t in _TOKEN_RE.findall(text) if t.lower() not in _STOPWORDS]
+
+
+class TfidfKeywordDistiller(Distiller):
+    name = "tfidf-keywords-v1"
+
+    def __init__(self, top_k: int = 16):
+        self.top_k = top_k
+
+    def distill(
+        self, source: Document, source_chunks: list[str]
+    ) -> DistillationResult:
+        if not source_chunks:
+            return self._empty_result(source)
+
+        chunk_tokens = [_tokenize(c) for c in source_chunks]
+        n = len(chunk_tokens)
+
+        df: Counter[str] = Counter()
+        for toks in chunk_tokens:
+            df.update(set(toks))
+
+        tf: Counter[str] = Counter()
+        for toks in chunk_tokens:
+            tf.update(toks)
+
+        scores: dict[str, float] = {}
+        for t, f in tf.items():
+            idf = math.log((n + 1) / (df[t] + 1)) + 1.0
+            scores[t] = f * idf
+
+        ranked = sorted(scores.items(), key=lambda kv: (-kv[1], kv[0]))
+        keywords = [t for t, _ in ranked[: self.top_k]]
+        kw_set = set(keywords)
+
+        contributing: set[int] = set()
+        for i, toks in enumerate(chunk_tokens):
+            if any(t in kw_set for t in toks):
+                contributing.add(i)
+
+        core_text = ", ".join(keywords)
+        return DistillationResult(
+            core=Document(
+                uri=f"{source.uri}#core/{self.name}",
+                content=core_text,
+                source_type=f"core:{self.name}",
+                title=(source.title or "") + " [KEYWORDS]",
+            ),
+            contributing_chunk_indices=sorted(contributing),
+        )
+
+    def _empty_result(self, source: Document) -> DistillationResult:
+        return DistillationResult(
+            core=Document(
+                uri=f"{source.uri}#core/{self.name}",
+                content="",
+                source_type=f"core:{self.name}",
+                title=(source.title or "") + " [KEYWORDS]",
+            ),
+            contributing_chunk_indices=[],
+        )
diff --git a/tests/test_tfidf.py b/tests/test_tfidf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdefbf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_tfidf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+"""TF-IDF keyword distiller tests."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+from typing import Iterator
+
+from aborist.distill import TfidfKeywordDistiller
+from aborist.distill.runner import distill_existing
+from aborist.document import Document
+from aborist.ingest import ingest_source
+from aborist.merkle import proof_from_dict, verify_proof
+from aborist.source import Source
+from aborist.store import connect
+
+
+class FakeSource(Source):
+    source_type = "test"
+
+    def __init__(self, docs: list[Document]):
+        self.docs = docs
+
+    def iter_documents(self) -> Iterator[Document]:
+        yield from self.docs
+
+
+def test_tfidf_picks_distinctive_terms():
+    """A term concentrated in one chunk should outrank one spread across all."""
+    distiller = TfidfKeywordDistiller(top_k=4)
+    chunks = [
+        "merkle merkle merkle providence cryptography",
+        "the quick brown fox common common common common",
+        "wikipedia article history history history",
+    ]
+    src = Document(uri="x", content="", source_type="t", title="t")
+    result = distiller.distill(src, chunks)
+    keywords = result.core.content.split(", ")
+    # 'merkle' (3x in chunk 0, 0 elsewhere) should rank high.
+    assert "merkle" in keywords
+    # 'history' should also rank high (3x in chunk 2).
+    assert "history" in keywords
+
+
+def test_tfidf_deterministic():
+    """Same input -> same output."""
+    d = TfidfKeywordDistiller(top_k=8)
+    src = Document(uri="x", content="", source_type="t", title="t")
+    chunks = [
+        "merkle providence proves provenance cryptographically",
+        "providence cache stores answer records",
+    ]
+    a = d.distill(src, chunks)
+    b = d.distill(src, chunks)
+    assert a.core.content == b.core.content
+    assert a.contributing_chunk_indices == b.contributing_chunk_indices
+
+
+def test_tfidf_distillation_full_round_trip(tmp_path):
+    db = tmp_path / "tfidf.db"
+    conn = connect(db)
+    try:
+        long_text = (
+            "merkle providence reverse rag verifies provenance cryptographically. " * 30
+            + "\n\n"
+            + "wikipedia article from 2003 about anarchism. " * 30
+            + "\n\n"
+            + "the eight forms of capital include living, social, intellectual. " * 30
+        )
+        ingest_source(conn, FakeSource([Document(uri="t://x", content=long_text, source_type="test", title="X")]))
+        result = distill_existing(conn, TfidfKeywordDistiller(top_k=8))
+        assert result["distilled"] == 1
+
+        core = conn.execute(
+            "SELECT * FROM documents WHERE kind='core'"
+        ).fetchone()
+        assert core["source_type"] == "core:tfidf-keywords-v1"
+        assert "[KEYWORDS]" in (core["title"] or "")
+
+        # Core content is comma-separated tokens.
+        chunk_row = conn.execute(
+            "SELECT content FROM chunks WHERE document_root=? ORDER BY idx",
+            (core["document_root"],),
+        ).fetchone()
+        keywords = chunk_row["content"].split(", ")
+        assert len(keywords) <= 8
+        # Distinctive terms should appear.
+        assert any(k in {"merkle", "providence", "anarchism", "wikipedia", "capital"} for k in keywords)
+
+        # Per-chunk Merkle proofs in derivation must reconstruct source root.
+        deriv = conn.execute("SELECT proof_blob, src_root FROM derivations").fetchone()
+        blob = json.loads(deriv["proof_blob"])
+        for entry in blob["contributing"]:
+            p = proof_from_dict(entry["proof"])
+            assert verify_proof(p)
+            assert p.root.hex() == deriv["src_root"]
+    finally:
+        conn.close()