diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 756caa3..9a6c5f4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,22 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 
 
+## [1.0.153] - 2026-06-02
+
+### Added
+
+- **Auto-prune stale repos during Phase 1 warmup** — when a repo fails warmup
+  because its path or database no longer exists, `codesearch serve` now
+  automatically removes it from `repos.json` and logs a warning, instead of
+  silently retrying on every restart. Works in concert with the relocation pass
+  (reconcile_all_paths): relocatable repos are rewritten first, truly missing
+  ones are pruned.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **Missing `YELLOW` color variable in `scripts/qc.sh`** — the variable was
+  referenced but never declared, causing a visual glitch in QC output.
+
 ## [1.0.152] - 2026-06-02
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5d32baf..386b4ee 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -628,7 +628,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "codesearch"
-version = "1.0.152"
+version = "1.0.153"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "arroy",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 33d2449..a59dd0e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "codesearch"
-version = "1.0.152"
+version = "1.0.153"
 edition = "2021"
 authors = ["codesearch contributors"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/scripts/qc.sh b/scripts/qc.sh
index 8892780..d8ea313 100644
--- a/scripts/qc.sh
+++ b/scripts/qc.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ GREEN='\033[0;32m'
 YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
 CYAN='\033[0;36m'
 GRAY='\033[0;90m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
 NC='\033[0m'
 
 FAILED=()
diff --git a/src/serve/mod.rs b/src/serve/mod.rs
index eb0fac8..8e31d0d 100644
--- a/src/serve/mod.rs
+++ b/src/serve/mod.rs
@@ -610,20 +610,74 @@ impl ServeState {
     }
 
     /// Phase 1: warm all repos sequentially, awaiting incremental refresh per repo.
+    /// Stale entries (database missing or repo path gone) are auto-pruned from repos.json.
     pub(crate) async fn run_phase_1_warmup_all(self: &Arc<Self>) {
         let aliases = self.aliases();
         if aliases.is_empty() {
             return;
         }
         info!("🔥 Phase 1 warmup: {} repos (no FSW)", aliases.len());
+
+        let mut pruned: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
+
         for alias in &aliases {
             match self.warmup_repo(alias).await {
                 Ok(()) => info!("phase-1: warmed '{}'", alias),
-                Err(e) => warn!("phase-1: warmup '{}' failed: {}", alias, e),
+                Err(e) => {
+                    // Auto-prune stale entries where the database or repo path no longer exists.
+                    let should_prune = {
+                        let config = self.config.read().ok();
+                        let path = config.as_ref().and_then(|c| c.resolve(alias));
+                        match path {
+                            Some(p) => {
+                                let db_missing = !p.join(DB_DIR_NAME).exists();
+                                let path_gone = !p.exists();
+                                db_missing || path_gone
+                            }
+                            None => {
+                                // Alias resolves to nothing — definitely stale
+                                true
+                            }
+                        }
+                    };
+
+                    if should_prune {
+                        warn!("phase-1: pruning stale alias '{}' — {}", alias, e);
+                        // Clean up any residual in-memory state
+                        let _ = self.stop_fsw(alias);
+                        self.repos.remove(alias);
+                        self.last_access.remove(alias);
+
+                        // Unregister from repos.json
+                        if let Ok(mut config) = self.config.write() {
+                            if config.unregister_alias(alias) {
+                                if let Err(save_err) = config.save() {
+                                    warn!(
+                                        "phase-1: failed to save repos.json after pruning '{}': {}",
+                                        alias, save_err
+                                    );
+                                } else {
+                                    pruned.push(alias.clone());
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        warn!("phase-1: warmup '{}' failed: {}", alias, e);
+                    }
+                }
             }
             tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_millis(200)).await;
         }
-        info!("🔥 Phase 1 warmup complete");
+
+        if !pruned.is_empty() {
+            info!(
+                "🔥 Phase 1 warmup complete (pruned {} stale: {})",
+                pruned.len(),
+                pruned.join(", ")
+            );
+        } else {
+            info!("🔥 Phase 1 warmup complete");
+        }
     }
 
     /// Phase 2: semaphore-bounded concurrent C# SCIP rebuilds, sorted by recency.