diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index afcc94f..651dd90 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@ daemon/build/
 daemon/dev/
 daemon/META-INF/
 
-# Compiled shaders
-client/odin/shaders/compiled/
-
 # Odin build output
 /odin
 client/odin/odin
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a0fe970..591f7fb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -76,13 +76,13 @@ Gradle workspace import records module source roots, test source roots, resource
 
 Use `Ctrl+Shift+T` to toggle Gradle tasks in the right sidebar. Use Up/Down, PageUp/PageDown, Home/End, mouse wheel, or row clicks to select tasks, and Enter to run the selected task; the sidebar shows the loaded task count and reports started/finished/failed events, the final response, and recent stdout/stderr output.
 
-Compile starter SDL3 GPU shaders with:
+The SDL3 GPU shaders are compiled to SPIR-V under `client/odin/shaders/compiled/` and embedded into the client binary at build time, so the editor has no runtime shader files to find. The compiled files are committed; after editing the GLSL sources, regenerate them with:
 
 ```sh
 scripts/compile-shaders.sh
 ```
 
-The script uses `glslc` from shaderc and emits Vulkan/SPIR-V files under `client/odin/shaders/compiled/`. On Fedora, install it with `sudo dnf install glslc`.
+The script uses `glslc` from shaderc. On Fedora, install it with `sudo dnf install glslc`.
 
 Run autonomous opencode continuation loops with:
 
diff --git a/client/odin/gpu_renderer.odin b/client/odin/gpu_renderer.odin
index 6a4c613..945948b 100644
--- a/client/odin/gpu_renderer.odin
+++ b/client/odin/gpu_renderer.odin
@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@ GPU_Renderer :: struct {
     height:          int,
 }
 
+// Compiled SPIR-V is embedded at build time so the binary never depends on
+// finding shader files at runtime. Regenerate with scripts/compile-shaders.sh
+// after editing the GLSL sources, then rebuild.
+GPU_RECT_VERT_SPV :: #load("shaders/compiled/rect.vert.spv")
+GPU_RECT_FRAG_SPV :: #load("shaders/compiled/rect.frag.spv")
+GPU_TEXT_VERT_SPV :: #load("shaders/compiled/text.vert.spv")
+GPU_TEXT_FRAG_SPV :: #load("shaders/compiled/text.frag.spv")
+
 GPU_MAX_VERTICES :: 240000
 GPU_MAX_TEXT_VERTICES :: 120000
 GPU_FONT_ATLAS_SIZE :: 512
@@ -83,12 +91,12 @@ gpu_renderer_make :: proc(window: ^SDL.Window) -> GPU_Renderer {
         return GPU_Renderer{}
     }
 
-    gpu.vertex_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.vert.spv", .VERTEX)
-    gpu.fragment_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.frag.spv", .FRAGMENT)
-    gpu.text_vertex_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.vert.spv", .VERTEX)
-    gpu.text_fragment_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.frag.spv", .FRAGMENT)
+    gpu.vertex_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "rect.vert", GPU_RECT_VERT_SPV, .VERTEX, 0)
+    gpu.fragment_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "rect.frag", GPU_RECT_FRAG_SPV, .FRAGMENT, 0)
+    gpu.text_vertex_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "text.vert", GPU_TEXT_VERT_SPV, .VERTEX, 0)
+    gpu.text_fragment_shader = gpu_create_shader(gpu.device, "text.frag", GPU_TEXT_FRAG_SPV, .FRAGMENT, 1)
     if gpu.vertex_shader == nil || gpu.fragment_shader == nil || gpu.text_vertex_shader == nil || gpu.text_fragment_shader == nil {
-        fmt.println("SDL GPU shaders unavailable; run scripts/compile-shaders.sh")
+        fmt.println("SDL GPU shader creation failed, falling back:", SDL.GetError())
         gpu_renderer_destroy(&gpu)
         return GPU_Renderer{}
     }
@@ -222,25 +230,18 @@ gpu_renderer_destroy :: proc(gpu: ^GPU_Renderer) {
     gpu^ = {}
 }
 
-gpu_create_shader :: proc(device: ^SDL.GPUDevice, path: string, stage: SDL.GPUShaderStage) -> ^SDL.GPUShader {
-    bytes, err := os.read_entire_file(path, context.allocator)
-    if err != nil {
-        fmt.println("read shader failed:", path, err)
-        return nil
-    }
-    defer delete(bytes)
-
+gpu_create_shader :: proc(device: ^SDL.GPUDevice, name: string, code: []u8, stage: SDL.GPUShaderStage, num_samplers: u32) -> ^SDL.GPUShader {
     shader := SDL.CreateGPUShader(device, {
-        code_size = len(bytes),
-        code = raw_data(bytes),
+        code_size = len(code),
+        code = raw_data(code),
         entrypoint = "main",
         format = {.SPIRV},
         stage = stage,
         num_uniform_buffers = 1 if stage == .VERTEX else 0,
-        num_samplers = 1 if stage == .FRAGMENT && strings_has_suffix(path, "text.frag.spv") else 0,
+        num_samplers = num_samplers,
     })
     if shader == nil {
-        fmt.println("CreateGPUShader failed:", path, SDL.GetError())
+        fmt.println("CreateGPUShader failed:", name, SDL.GetError())
     }
     return shader
 }
@@ -545,11 +546,6 @@ gpu_global_font_advance :: proc(ch: u8) -> f32 {
     return 8
 }
 
-strings_has_suffix :: proc(s, suffix: string) -> bool {
-    if len(suffix) > len(s) do return false
-    return s[len(s) - len(suffix):] == suffix
-}
-
 color_f32 :: proc(r, g, b, a: u8) -> [4]f32 {
     return {f32(r) / 255.0, f32(g) / 255.0, f32(b) / 255.0, f32(a) / 255.0}
 }
diff --git a/client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.frag.spv b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.frag.spv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86ea3d5
Binary files /dev/null and b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.frag.spv differ
diff --git a/client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.vert.spv b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.vert.spv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbce493
Binary files /dev/null and b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/rect.vert.spv differ
diff --git a/client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.frag.spv b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.frag.spv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2496ea5
Binary files /dev/null and b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.frag.spv differ
diff --git a/client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.vert.spv b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.vert.spv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c49d649
Binary files /dev/null and b/client/odin/shaders/compiled/text.vert.spv differ
diff --git a/docs/shader-toolchain.md b/docs/shader-toolchain.md
index 885c2f2..e08ae5a 100644
--- a/docs/shader-toolchain.md
+++ b/docs/shader-toolchain.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ For this Linux-first prototype, use GLSL compiled to SPIR-V with `glslc` from sh
 scripts/compile-shaders.sh
 ```
 
-Outputs are written to `client/odin/shaders/compiled/` and intentionally ignored by git.
+Outputs are written to `client/odin/shaders/compiled/` and are committed to git: the Odin client embeds them at compile time with `#load`, so they must exist to build. After editing the GLSL sources, rerun the script and rebuild the client.
 
 Fedora install:
 
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ Current recommendation:
 
 Current renderer state:
 
-- The editor loads `rect.vert.spv` and `rect.frag.spv` for the direct SDL3 GPU path.
-- The editor loads `text.vert.spv` and `text.frag.spv` for font-atlas text.
+- The editor embeds `rect.vert.spv` and `rect.frag.spv` for the direct SDL3 GPU path.
+- The editor embeds `text.vert.spv` and `text.frag.spv` for font-atlas text.
+- The binary has no runtime dependency on the shader files; they are baked in at build time.
 - Text is rendered from a baked `stb_truetype` atlas using `/usr/share/fonts/google-noto/NotoSansMono-Regular.ttf`.
 - A later portability step should bundle a project font or add configurable font discovery.