diff --git a/docs/registry.md b/docs/registry.md
index 521f4d0a..4d9a7385 100644
--- a/docs/registry.md
+++ b/docs/registry.md
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@ is the `registry/dist/` folder of the SDK's repository served as static JSON.
 When that host cannot be reached, `lousho add` reads the same committed folder
 from GitHub instead: the release tag of the installed SDK version
 (`https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LinuxDevil/agent-sdk/<version>/registry/dist/index.json`),
-then the same tag with a `v` prefix (older releases), then `main`;
-only the default falls back, never a registry you named.
+then the same tag with a `v` prefix (older releases), then `main`.
+If GitHub cannot be reached either (offline, an outage, a version whose tag was
+never pushed), `lousho add` reads the copy of `registry/dist/` that ships inside
+the installed package and prints a one-line notice that this bundled registry
+may be older than the online one. Only the default falls back, never a registry you named.
 `--registry` and `LOUSHO_REGISTRY` point it at another registry, and the value
 `none` (in either place) disables the registry entirely — `lousho add` then
 fails with `LOUSHO_CONFIG_INVALID`, for offline or locked-down use.
diff --git a/llms-full.txt b/llms-full.txt
index 3225539a..ee6d4b2c 100644
--- a/llms-full.txt
+++ b/llms-full.txt
@@ -15777,8 +15777,11 @@ is the `registry/dist/` folder of the SDK's repository served as static JSON.
 When that host cannot be reached, `lousho add` reads the same committed folder
 from GitHub instead: the release tag of the installed SDK version
 (`https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LinuxDevil/agent-sdk/<version>/registry/dist/index.json`),
-then the same tag with a `v` prefix (older releases), then `main`;
-only the default falls back, never a registry you named.
+then the same tag with a `v` prefix (older releases), then `main`.
+If GitHub cannot be reached either (offline, an outage, a version whose tag was
+never pushed), `lousho add` reads the copy of `registry/dist/` that ships inside
+the installed package and prints a one-line notice that this bundled registry
+may be older than the online one. Only the default falls back, never a registry you named.
 `--registry` and `LOUSHO_REGISTRY` point it at another registry, and the value
 `none` (in either place) disables the registry entirely — `lousho add` then
 fails with `LOUSHO_CONFIG_INVALID`, for offline or locked-down use.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1604e781..9b8ec66f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -288,6 +288,7 @@
     "!src/**/__snapshots__",
     "!src/**/__cassettes__",
     "bin",
+    "registry/dist",
     "apps/agent-forge/package.json",
     "apps/agent-forge/dist",
     "apps/agent-forge/dist-server",
diff --git a/src/cli/add.test.ts b/src/cli/add.test.ts
index c38bf142..a54a68d1 100644
--- a/src/cli/add.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/add.test.ts
@@ -245,12 +245,23 @@ describe('lousho add', () => {
     expect(explicit.code).toBe(1);
     expect(explicit.err).toContain('LOUSHO_REGISTRY_UNREACHABLE');
 
-    // Everything down: one error naming every URL tried.
-    const down = await add(['--list'], { fetch: stubWhere(undefined, []) });
-    expect(down.code).toBe(1);
-    expect(down.err).toContain('the default registry is unreachable');
-    for (const url of [DEFAULT_REGISTRY, ...DEFAULT_REGISTRY_FALLBACKS]) expect(down.err).toContain(url);
-    expect(down.err).toContain('--registry');
+    // Everything down: the registry bundled in the package answers (index and item), with a notice.
+    const seenDown: string[] = [];
+    const down = await add(['--list'], { fetch: stubWhere(undefined, seenDown) });
+    expect(down.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(seenDown).toEqual([DEFAULT_REGISTRY, ...DEFAULT_REGISTRY_FALLBACKS]);
+    expect(down.err).toContain('using the registry bundled with this lousho version');
+    expect(down.out).toContain('changelog');
+    const offline = await add(['code-review', '--yes', '--dir', 'agent'], { fetch: stubWhere(undefined, []) });
+    expect(offline.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(offline.out).toContain('Added code-review');
+    expect(readReceipt().items['code-review'].registry).toBe(path.join(dist, 'index.json'));
+
+    // An explicit registry still fails when it is down, with no bundled fallback.
+    const explicitDown = await add(['--list', '--registry', 'https://example.invalid/index.json'], { fetch: stubWhere(undefined, []) });
+    expect(explicitDown.code).toBe(1);
+    expect(explicitDown.err).toContain('LOUSHO_REGISTRY_UNREACHABLE');
+    expect(explicitDown.err).not.toContain('bundled');
   });
 
   it('suggests the closest name for an unknown item', async () => {
diff --git a/src/cli/add.ts b/src/cli/add.ts
index b967ecb1..12ac60b6 100644
--- a/src/cli/add.ts
+++ b/src/cli/add.ts
@@ -263,7 +263,8 @@ async function install(args: AddArgs, registry: string, item: RegistryItem, io:
 }
 
 async function runParsed(args: AddArgs, io: AddIo): Promise<number> {
-  const { registry, index } = await openRegistry({ registry: args.registry, env: io.env, fetch: io.fetch });
+  const { registry, index } = await openRegistry({ registry: args.registry, env: io.env, fetch: io.fetch, onNotice: (message) => io.stderr.write(`${message}
+`) });
   if (args.list || !args.name) {
     io.stdout.write(`${listLines(index).join('\n')}\n`);
     return 0;
diff --git a/src/cli/registry.ts b/src/cli/registry.ts
index 4029d5eb..bf1f64a6 100644
--- a/src/cli/registry.ts
+++ b/src/cli/registry.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
  * document per item, at a URL or a local path. Reading is all this does; nothing
  * from a registry is executed or imported. See docs/registry.md.
  */
+import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import * as path from 'node:path';
 import { z } from 'zod';
+import { findSdkRoot } from '../deploy/bundle';
 import { SDKError } from '../execution/errors';
 import { isHostPattern } from '../security/hostPattern';
 import { closestMatch } from '../utils/closestMatch';
@@ -112,6 +114,8 @@ export interface RegistryOptions {
   registry?: string;
   env?: Record<string, string | undefined>;
   fetch?: typeof fetch;
+  /** Called with a one-line notice when the default registry is served from the copy bundled in the package. */
+  onNotice?: (message: string) => void;
 }
 
 const isHttp = (source: string): boolean => /^https?:\/\//i.test(source);
@@ -170,6 +174,16 @@ function registrySource(options: RegistryOptions): string {
   return source || DEFAULT_REGISTRY;
 }
 
+/** The `registry/dist/index.json` shipped inside the installed package, or undefined when this copy has none (e.g. a trimmed install). */
+function bundledIndexPath(): string | undefined {
+  try {
+    const file = path.join(findSdkRoot(), 'registry', 'dist', 'index.json');
+    return existsSync(file) ? file : undefined;
+  } catch {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+}
+
 async function loadIndex(registry: string, options: RegistryOptions): Promise<RegistryIndex> {
   return readJson(registry, IndexSchema, options);
 }
@@ -178,7 +192,8 @@ async function loadIndex(registry: string, options: RegistryOptions): Promise<Re
  * Loads the index of the configured registry (see `registrySource`) and
  * returns it with the location that answered, which item references resolve
  * against. The default registry falls back to `DEFAULT_REGISTRY_FALLBACKS`
- * when its host is unreachable.
+ * when its host is unreachable, and then to the `registry/dist/` copy bundled
+ * in the package (announced through `onNotice`).
  */
 export async function openRegistry(options: RegistryOptions): Promise<{ registry: string; index: RegistryIndex }> {
   const registry = registrySource(options);
@@ -186,22 +201,40 @@ export async function openRegistry(options: RegistryOptions): Promise<{ registry
     return { registry, index: await loadIndex(registry, options) };
   } catch (error) {
     if (registry !== DEFAULT_REGISTRY || !(error instanceof SDKError) || error.code !== 'LOUSHO_REGISTRY_UNREACHABLE') throw error;
-    const reason = (e: SDKError) => e.detail.replace(/^lousho add: /, '');
-    const failures: string[] = [];
-    for (const fallback of DEFAULT_REGISTRY_FALLBACKS) {
-      try {
-        return { registry: fallback, index: await loadIndex(fallback, options) };
-      } catch (fallbackError) {
-        if (!(fallbackError instanceof SDKError) || fallbackError.code !== 'LOUSHO_REGISTRY_UNREACHABLE') throw fallbackError;
-        failures.push(reason(fallbackError));
-      }
+    return openDefaultFallback(error, options);
+  }
+}
+
+const reasonOf = (error: SDKError): string => error.detail.replace(/^lousho add: /, '');
+
+/** The default registry's host is down: try each GitHub fallback, then the copy bundled in the package. */
+async function openDefaultFallback(unreachableError: SDKError, options: RegistryOptions): Promise<{ registry: string; index: RegistryIndex }> {
+  const failures: string[] = [];
+  for (const fallback of DEFAULT_REGISTRY_FALLBACKS) {
+    try {
+      return { registry: fallback, index: await loadIndex(fallback, options) };
+    } catch (fallbackError) {
+      if (!(fallbackError instanceof SDKError) || fallbackError.code !== 'LOUSHO_REGISTRY_UNREACHABLE') throw fallbackError;
+      failures.push(reasonOf(fallbackError));
+    }
+  }
+  const bundled = bundledIndexPath();
+  if (bundled) {
+    try {
+      const index = await loadIndex(bundled, options);
+      options.onNotice?.(
+        `lousho add: the default registry is unreachable; using the registry bundled with this lousho version (${VERSION}), which may be older than the online one.`
+      );
+      return { registry: bundled, index };
+    } catch {
+      // an unreadable bundled copy is the same as none: report the network failure below
     }
-    throw new SDKError(
-      `lousho add: the default registry is unreachable: ${reason(error)}; and its fallbacks: ${failures.join('; ')}`,
-      'LOUSHO_REGISTRY_UNREACHABLE',
-      { cause: error, hint: 'Check that you are online, or pass --registry <url-or-path> (e.g. a local copy of registry/dist/index.json).' }
-    );
   }
+  throw new SDKError(
+    `lousho add: the default registry is unreachable: ${reasonOf(unreachableError)}; and its fallbacks: ${failures.join('; ')}`,
+    'LOUSHO_REGISTRY_UNREACHABLE',
+    { cause: unreachableError, hint: 'Check that you are online, or pass --registry <url-or-path> (e.g. a local copy of registry/dist/index.json).' }
+  );
 }
 
 /** Resolves an index entry's `url` / `path` against the registry's own location. */