diff --git a/crates/sem-cli/src/commands/query.rs b/crates/sem-cli/src/commands/query.rs
index 0700e516..bb95a827 100644
--- a/crates/sem-cli/src/commands/query.rs
+++ b/crates/sem-cli/src/commands/query.rs
@@ -252,12 +252,10 @@ pub(crate) fn is_file_stale(idx: &QueryIndex, root: &Path, path: &str) -> bool {
 /// *corpus-shaped* index answer needs (: `sem impact --all/--tests`'
 /// transitive walk, `sem graph`'s whole-repo dump, `sem context`'s subgraph).
 ///
-/// The entity-scoped verbs (`find`/`callers`/`refs`/`impact --deps`) get away
-/// with proving only the files their own answer touches, because an edit
-/// anywhere else cannot change *their* answer. A transitive walk has no such
-/// boundary: an edit in a file the walk never visits can add an edge *into*
-/// the closure, so the only honest gate is the one the SQL path already
-/// used — the whole corpus, membership and content both.
+/// Name lookup must also inspect changed files that did not previously match:
+/// an edit can introduce a new name. It repairs definition rows locally rather
+/// than rebuilding topology. A transitive walk additionally needs fresh edges
+/// from the whole corpus, so its gate proves membership and content together.
 ///
 /// - membership: `index::complete_check` (`Complete` tier), which needs
 ///   `DIRS`; an image without it is refused outright rather than trusted,
@@ -368,6 +366,32 @@ fn index_answer_verified(
     let registry = super::create_registry(&opts.cwd);
     let mut defs = resolve_defs(idx, &opts.query, opts.file.as_deref());
 
+    if verb == Verb::Find {
+        use rayon::prelude::*;
+        // A rename or a new declaration in an existing file is absent from
+        // NAMES. Checking only files of existing hits silently misses it.
+        // Stat the indexed corpus, but parse only changed files: no topology
+        // rebuild or whole-graph serialization is needed for definitions.
+        let files = idx.all_file_paths();
+        let stale: Vec<_> = files
+            .par_iter()
+            .copied()
+            .filter(|path| opts.file.as_deref().is_none_or(|file| file == *path))
+            .filter(|path| file_is_stale(idx, root, path))
+            .collect();
+        defs.retain(|entity| !stale.iter().any(|path| entity.file_path == *path));
+        let fresh: Vec<EntityInfo> = stale
+            .par_iter()
+            .flat_map_iter(|path| reextract_file(&registry, root, path))
+            .filter(|entity| matches_query(entity, &opts.query))
+            .collect();
+        defs.extend(fresh);
+        return Some(Answer {
+            defs,
+            related: Vec::new(),
+        });
+    }
+
     // Definition-side freshness: content-local, repaired in place.
     let def_files: Vec<String> = defs.iter().map(|e| e.file_path.clone()).collect();
     for path in dedup(def_files) {
diff --git a/crates/sem-cli/tests/index_membership.rs b/crates/sem-cli/tests/index_membership.rs
index 9030d4d6..f62db97a 100644
--- a/crates/sem-cli/tests/index_membership.rs
+++ b/crates/sem-cli/tests/index_membership.rs
@@ -54,6 +54,84 @@ fn prime_index(repo: &Path, cache: &Path) {
     );
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn find_repairs_renames_and_added_duplicates_without_refresh() {
+    let repo = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let cache = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    fs::write(repo.path().join("a.ts"), "export function original() {}\n").unwrap();
+    fs::write(repo.path().join("b.ts"), "export function existing() {}\n").unwrap();
+    prime_index(repo.path(), cache.path());
+    fs::write(repo.path().join("a.ts"),
+        "export function newlyRenamed() { return 123; }\nexport function existing() { return 456; }\n").unwrap();
+    for (query, expected) in [("newlyRenamed", 1), ("original", 0), ("existing", 2)] {
+        let out = assert_success(
+            sem(repo.path(), cache.path(), &["find", query, "--json"]),
+            query,
+        );
+        let rows: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_slice(&out.stdout).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            rows.as_array().unwrap().len(),
+            expected,
+            "{query}: {}",
+            output_text(&out)
+        );
+    }
+    // A second edit must also be visible; no eager graph refresh is involved.
+    fs::write(
+        repo.path().join("a.ts"),
+        "export function finalNameAfterSecondEdit() {}\n",
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+    let out = assert_success(
+        sem(
+            repo.path(),
+            cache.path(),
+            &["find", "finalNameAfterSecondEdit", "--json"],
+        ),
+        "second edit",
+    );
+    let rows: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_slice(&out.stdout).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(rows.as_array().unwrap().len(), 1);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn find_repairs_existing_files_across_languages() {
+    for (file, before, after) in [
+        (
+            "a.py",
+            "def old_name():\n    return 1\n",
+            "def newly_added_name():\n    return 123\n",
+        ),
+        (
+            "a.rs",
+            "fn old_name() {}\n",
+            "fn newly_added_name() { let _x = 123; }\n",
+        ),
+    ] {
+        let repo = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        let cache = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        fs::write(repo.path().join(file), before).unwrap();
+        prime_index(repo.path(), cache.path());
+        fs::write(repo.path().join(file), after).unwrap();
+        let out = assert_success(
+            sem(
+                repo.path(),
+                cache.path(),
+                &["find", "newly_added_name", "--json"],
+            ),
+            file,
+        );
+        let rows: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_slice(&out.stdout).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            rows.as_array().unwrap().len(),
+            1,
+            "{file}: {}",
+            output_text(&out)
+        );
+        assert_eq!(rows[0]["file"], file);
+    }
+}
+
 /// Wait until `dir`'s mtime has visibly moved past `before` — the POSIX
 /// signal `Complete` freshness leans on: creating,
 /// deleting, or renaming a directory entry bumps the directory's own mtime.