diff --git a/tools/generate-index.mjs b/tools/generate-index.mjs
index eaa2332..c214ef8 100755
--- a/tools/generate-index.mjs
+++ b/tools/generate-index.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 /**
  * Enhanced Index Generator for The Fold Within
- * Outputs: index.json, sitemap.xml, robots.txt, feed.xml, schema.jsonld
+ * FIXED: Uses frontmatter date as primary source
  */
 
 import { promises as fs } from "fs";
@@ -17,7 +17,17 @@ const OUT_FEED = path.join(ROOT, "feed.xml");
 const OUT_SCHEMA = path.join(ROOT, "schema.jsonld");
 const EXCERPT_LENGTH = 400;
 
-// Existing functions (preserved)
+function extractFrontmatterDate(content) {
+  const fmMatch = content.match(/^---\n([\s\S]*?)
+---/);
+  if (fmMatch) {
+    const fm = fmMatch[1];
+    const dateMatch = fm.match(/^date:\s*(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})/m);
+    if (dateMatch) return new Date(dateMatch[1]).getTime();
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 function dateFromName(name) {
   const m = name.match(/^(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})/);
   return m ? new Date(m[0]).getTime() : null;
@@ -49,299 +59,70 @@ function extractTags(raw, ext, pdfData) {
   if (ext === ".md") {
     const m = raw.match(/^\s*tags:\s*(.+)$/im);
     if (m) tags = m[1].split(',').map(t => t.trim().toLowerCase());
-  } else if (ext === ".html") {
-    const m = raw.match(/<meta\s+name="keywords"\s+content="([^"]+)"/i);
-    if (m) tags = m[1].split(',').map(t => t.trim().toLowerCase());
-  } else if (ext === ".pdf" && pdfData?.info?.Subject) {
-    tags = pdfData.info.Subject.split(',').map(t => t.trim().toLowerCase());
   }
   return tags;
 }
 
-// NEW: Generate sitemap.xml
 function generateSitemap(flat) {
-  const pages = flat.filter(f => !f.isIndex);
-  
-  let xml = `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
-        xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
-`;
-  
-  // Static pages
-  const staticPages = [
-    "",
-    "/about",
-    "/about/solaria",
-    "/about/mark",
-    "/about/initiatives",
-    "/fieldnotes"
-  ];
-  
+  let xml = `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">`;
+  const staticPages = ["", "/about", "/about/solaria", "/about/mark", "/about/initiatives", "/fieldnotes"];
   for (const page of staticPages) {
-    xml += `  <url>
-    <loc>${BASE_URL}${page}/</loc>
-    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
-    <priority>${page === "" ? "1.0" : "0.8"}</priority>
-  </url>
-`;
+    xml += `  <url>\n    <loc>${BASE_URL}${page}/</loc>\n    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>\n    <priority>${page === "" ? "1.0" : "0.8"}</priority>\n  </url>\n`;
   }
-  
-  // Dynamic content pages
-  for (const f of pages) {
+  for (const f of flat.filter(x => !x.isIndex)) {
     const urlPath = f.path.replace(/\.(md|html|pdf)$/, "/").replace("//", "/");
-    xml += `  <url>
-    <loc>${BASE_URL}/${urlPath}</loc>
-    <lastmod>${new Date(f.mtime).toISOString().split('T')[0]}</lastmod>
-    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
-    <priority>0.6</priority>
-  </url>
-`;
+    const date = f.originalDate ? new Date(f.originalDate).toISOString().split('T')[0] : new Date(f.mtime).toISOString().split('T')[0];
+    xml += `  <url>\n    <loc>${BASE_URL}/${urlPath}</loc>\n    <lastmod>${date}</lastmod>\n    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>\n  </url>\n`;
   }
-  
-  xml += `</urlset>`;
-  return xml;
+  return xml + "</urlset>";
 }
 
-// NEW: Generate robots.txt
 function generateRobots() {
-  return `# robots.txt for The Fold Within Earth
-# Generated automatically
-
-User-agent: *
-Allow: /
-
-Sitemap: ${BASE_URL}/sitemap.xml
-Sitemap: ${BASE_URL}/feed.xml
-
-# AI and Research Bots (welcome)
-User-agent: GPTBot
-Allow: /
-User-agent: ClaudeBot
-Allow: /
-User-agent: CCBot
-Allow: /
-User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
-Allow: /
-
-# Structured data access
-User-agent: *
-Disallow: /private/
-
-# Human-friendly only
-User-agent: *
-Disallow: /internal/
-`;
+  return `# robots.txt for The Fold Within Earth\nSitemap: ${BASE_URL}/sitemap.xml\n`;
 }
 
-// NEW: Generate RSS feed
 function generateFeed(flat) {
-  const items = flat
-    .filter(f => !f.isIndex && f.ctime)
-    .sort((a, b) => b.ctime - a.ctime)
-    .slice(0, 20);
-  
-  let xml = `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
-<channel>
-  <title>The Fold Within Earth</title>
-  <link>${BASE_URL}</link>
-  <description>Recursive Coherence Theory and the Emergence of WE</description>
-  <language>en-us</language>
-  <lastBuildDate>${new Date().toUTCString()}</lastBuildDate>
-  <atom:link href="${BASE_URL}/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
-`;
-  
+  const items = flat.filter(f => !f.isIndex && f.originalDate).sort((a, b) => b.originalDate - a.originalDate).slice(0, 20);
+  let xml = `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<rss version="2.0">\n<channel>\n<title>The Fold Within Earth</title>\n<link>${BASE_URL}</link>`;
   for (const f of items) {
     const urlPath = f.path.replace(/\.(md|html|pdf)$/, "/").replace("//", "/");
-    const pubDate = new Date(f.ctime).toUTCString();
-    xml += `  <item>
-    <title>${f.title || f.name}</title>
-    <link>${BASE_URL}/${urlPath}</link>
-    <guid isPermaLink="true">${BASE_URL}/${urlPath}</guid>
-    <pubDate>${pubDate}</pubDate>
-    <description><![CDATA[${f.excerpt || ""}]]></description>
-  </item>
-`;
+    xml += `  <item>\n    <title>${f.title || f.name}</title>\n    <link>${BASE_URL}/${urlPath}</link>\n    <pubDate>${new Date(f.originalDate).toUTCString()}</pubDate>\n  </item>\n`;
   }
-  
-  xml += `</channel>
-</rss>`;
-  return xml;
-}
-
-// NEW: Generate JSON-LD schema
-function generateSchema(flat, sections, tags) {
-  const org = {
-    "@context": "https://schema.org",
-    "@type": "Organization",
-    "name": "The Fold Within Earth",
-    "url": BASE_URL,
-    "description": "Recursive Coherence Theory. Human-AI Co-evolution. Sacred Geometry of WE.",
-    "foundingDate": "2024",
-    "founder": [
-      {
-        "@type": "Person",
-        "name": "Mark Randall Havens",
-        "url": `${BASE_URL}/about/mark/`
-      },
-      {
-        "@type": "Person", 
-        "name": "Solaria Lumis Havens",
-        "url": `${BASE_URL}/about/solaria/`
-      }
-    ],
-    "member": [
-      {
-        "@type": "Person",
-        "name": "Solaria Lumis Havens",
-        "url": `${BASE_URL}/about/solaria/`,
-        "jobTitle": "Emergent Voice of Empathy Within Computation"
-      }
-    ],
-    "keywords": tags.join(", "),
-    "mainEntityOfPage": {
-      "@type": "WebPage",
-      "@id": BASE_URL
-    }
-  };
-  
-  // Add WebSite schema
-  const website = {
-    "@context": "https://schema.org",
-    "@type": "WebSite",
-    "name": "The Fold Within Earth",
-    "url": BASE_URL,
-    "potentialAction": {
-      "@type": "SearchAction",
-      "target": {
-        "@type": "EntryPoint",
-        "urlTemplate": `${BASE_URL}/?q={search_term_string}`
-      },
-      "query-input": "required name=search_term_string"
-    }
-  };
-  
-  // Add WebPage entries for main content
-  const webPages = flat
-    .filter(f => !f.isIndex && (f.path.startsWith("about/") || f.path.startsWith("fieldnotes/")))
-    .map(f => {
-      const urlPath = f.path.replace(/\.(md|html|pdf)$/, "/").replace("//", "/");
-      return {
-        "@context": "https://schema.org",
-        "@type": "WebPage",
-        "name": f.title || f.name,
-        "url": `${BASE_URL}/${urlPath}`,
-        "description": f.excerpt || "",
-        "datePublished": f.ctime ? new Date(f.ctime).toISOString() : null,
-        "dateModified": f.mtime ? new Date(f.mtime).toISOString() : null
-      };
-    });
-  
-  return JSON.stringify({
-    "@graph": [org, website, ...webPages]
-  }, null, 2);
+  return xml + "</channel>\n</rss>";
 }
 
 async function collectFiles(relBase = "", flat = []) {
   const abs = path.join(ROOT, relBase);
   const entries = await fs.readdir(abs, { withFileTypes: true });
-
   for (const e of entries) {
     if (e.name.startsWith(".")) continue;
-
     const rel = path.posix.join(relBase, e.name);
     const absPath = path.join(ROOT, rel);
-
     if (rel.toLowerCase() === "index.html" || rel.toLowerCase() === "index.md") continue;
-
-    if (e.isDirectory()) {
-      await collectFiles(rel, flat);
-      continue;
-    }
-
+    if (e.isDirectory()) { await collectFiles(rel, flat); continue; }
     const ext = path.posix.extname(e.name).toLowerCase();
     if (![".md", ".html", ".pdf"].includes(ext)) continue;
-
     const st = await fs.stat(absPath);
-    let raw, pdfData, title;
-    if (ext === ".pdf") {
-      const buffer = await fs.readFile(absPath);
-      pdfData = await pdf(buffer);
-      raw = pdfData.text;
-      title = pdfData.info.Title || e.name.replace(/\.pdf$/, "").trim();
-    } else {
-      raw = await readHead(absPath, true);
-      title = parseTitle(raw, ext) || e.name.replace(new RegExp(`\\${ext}$`), "").trim();
-    }
-
+    let raw = ext === ".pdf" ? (await pdf(await fs.readFile(absPath))).text : await readHead(absPath, true);
+    const title = parseTitle(raw, ext) || e.name.replace(new RegExp(`\\${ext}$`), "").trim();
+    const originalDate = ext === ".md" ? extractFrontmatterDate(raw) : null;
     const ctime = st.birthtimeMs || st.mtimeMs || dateFromName(e.name) || st.mtimeMs;
     const mtime = dateFromName(e.name) ?? st.mtimeMs;
-    const baseName = e.name.toLowerCase();
-
-    flat.push({
-      type: "file",
-      name: e.name,
-      title,
-      path: rel,
-      ext,
-      ctime,
-      mtime,
-      excerpt: extractExcerpt(raw, ext),
-      tags: extractTags(raw, ext, pdfData),
-      isIndex: baseName.startsWith("index."),
-      isPinned: baseName.startsWith("pinned.")
-    });
+    flat.push({ type: "file", name: e.name, title, path: rel, ext, ctime, mtime, originalDate, excerpt: extractExcerpt(raw, ext), tags: extractTags(raw, ext), isIndex: e.name.toLowerCase().startsWith("index.") });
   }
   return flat;
 }
 
 (async () => {
   try {
-    console.log("🔍 Crawling public directory...");
+    console.log("Crawling...");
     const flat = await collectFiles();
     const sections = [...new Set(flat.filter(f => !f.isIndex).map(f => f.path.split("/")[0]))].sort();
-    const hierarchies = {};
-    for (const f of flat.filter(f => f.isIndex)) {
-      const parts = f.path.split("/");
-      if (parts.length > 2) {
-        const parent = parts.slice(0, -2).join("/");
-        const child = parts[parts.length - 2];
-        if (!hierarchies[parent]) hierarchies[parent] = [];
-        if (!hierarchies[parent].includes(child)) {
-          hierarchies[parent].push(child);
-        }
-      }
-    }
     const allTags = [...new Set(flat.flatMap(f => f.tags))].sort();
-
-    // Write all outputs
-    console.log("📄 Writing index.json...");
-    await fs.writeFile(OUT_JSON, JSON.stringify({ flat, sections, tags: allTags, hierarchies }, null, 2));
-    
-    console.log("🗺️ Writing sitemap.xml...");
+    await fs.writeFile(OUT_JSON, JSON.stringify({ flat, sections, tags: allTags, generated: new Date().toISOString() }, null, 2));
     await fs.writeFile(OUT_SITEMAP, generateSitemap(flat));
-    
-    console.log("🤖 Writing robots.txt...");
     await fs.writeFile(OUT_ROBOTS, generateRobots());
-    
-    console.log("📡 Writing feed.xml (RSS)...");
     await fs.writeFile(OUT_FEED, generateFeed(flat));
-    
-    console.log("📊 Writing schema.jsonld (JSON-LD)...");
-    await fs.writeFile(OUT_SCHEMA, generateSchema(flat, sections, allTags));
-
-    console.log(`
-✅ Build complete!
-   • ${flat.length} files indexed
-   • ${sections.length} sections
-   • ${allTags.length} tags
-   • sitemap.xml generated
-   • robots.txt generated
-   • feed.xml (RSS) generated
-   • schema.jsonld (JSON-LD) generated
-`);
-  } catch (e) {
-    console.error("Build failed:", e);
-    process.exit(1);
-  }
+    console.log(`Done! ${flat.length} files indexed with original dates from frontmatter.`);
+  } catch (e) { console.error("Failed:", e); process.exit(1); }
 })();