diff --git a/apps/skit/src/lib.rs b/apps/skit/src/lib.rs
index dab5e0e62..5082c19f3 100644
--- a/apps/skit/src/lib.rs
+++ b/apps/skit/src/lib.rs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ pub mod plugin_records;
 pub mod plugins;
 pub mod profiling;
 pub mod role_extractor;
+pub mod sample_discovery;
 pub mod samples;
 pub mod server;
 pub mod session;
diff --git a/apps/skit/src/main.rs b/apps/skit/src/main.rs
index c9a20a94e..c4f05277c 100644
--- a/apps/skit/src/main.rs
+++ b/apps/skit/src/main.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ mod plugin_records;
 mod plugins;
 mod profiling;
 mod role_extractor;
+mod sample_discovery;
 mod samples;
 mod server;
 mod session;
diff --git a/apps/skit/src/sample_discovery.rs b/apps/skit/src/sample_discovery.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..03eedebdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/skit/src/sample_discovery.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2025 StreamKit Contributors
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+//! Explicit discovery metadata for sample pipelines.
+//!
+//! The Convert and Stream views group near-duplicate samples (e.g. the
+//! colorbars codec/hardware family) into a single card with a variant selector,
+//! and expose faceted/fuzzy search over capability tags and categories. All of
+//! this is driven by metadata authored directly in each sample's YAML
+//! (`group`/`variant`/`canonical`/`category`/`tags`/`keywords`) — there is no
+//! runtime derivation from filenames or node-kind substrings. Bundled samples
+//! are required to carry a consistent set of fields, enforced by
+//! `apps/skit/tests/sample_discovery_metadata_test.rs` so a missing or
+//! inconsistent field breaks CI rather than silently degrading the UI.
+
+/// Discovery metadata parsed from a sample's YAML.
+#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone)]
+pub struct Discovery {
+    pub group: Option<String>,
+    pub variant: Option<String>,
+    pub canonical: bool,
+    pub category: Option<String>,
+    pub tags: Vec<String>,
+    pub keywords: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+fn push_term(terms: &mut Vec<String>, value: &str) {
+    let term = value.trim().to_lowercase();
+    if !term.is_empty() && !terms.contains(&term) {
+        terms.push(term);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Builds the backend search document the UI matches queries against.
+///
+/// Combines the human-facing fields with the sample id (so slug fragments like
+/// `vaapi_h264_colorbars` stay searchable), authored keywords, and the
+/// pipeline's node kinds (with `::`/`_` separators flattened to spaces so
+/// individual segments like `whisper` or `vaapi` are matchable). Lowercased and
+/// de-duplicated.
+pub fn build_search_terms(
+    id: &str,
+    name: &str,
+    description: &str,
+    discovery: &Discovery,
+    node_kinds: &[String],
+) -> Vec<String> {
+    let mut terms = Vec::new();
+
+    push_term(&mut terms, id);
+    push_term(&mut terms, name);
+    push_term(&mut terms, description);
+    if let Some(category) = discovery.category.as_deref() {
+        push_term(&mut terms, category);
+    }
+    if let Some(group) = discovery.group.as_deref() {
+        push_term(&mut terms, group);
+    }
+    if let Some(variant) = discovery.variant.as_deref() {
+        push_term(&mut terms, variant);
+    }
+    for tag in &discovery.tags {
+        push_term(&mut terms, tag);
+    }
+    for keyword in &discovery.keywords {
+        push_term(&mut terms, keyword);
+    }
+    for kind in node_kinds {
+        push_term(&mut terms, &kind.replace("::", " ").replace('_', " "));
+    }
+
+    terms
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn kinds(list: &[&str]) -> Vec<String> {
+        list.iter().map(|s| (*s).to_string()).collect()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn search_terms_include_authored_metadata() {
+        let discovery = Discovery {
+            group: Some("video-colorbars".to_string()),
+            variant: Some("VA-API H.264".to_string()),
+            canonical: false,
+            category: Some("Video Encoding".to_string()),
+            tags: vec!["video-encoding".to_string(), "hardware:vaapi".to_string()],
+            keywords: vec!["test pattern".to_string(), "smpte".to_string()],
+        };
+        let terms = build_search_terms(
+            "dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_h264_colorbars",
+            "Video Color Bars (VA-API H.264)",
+            "Encodes SMPTE color bars",
+            &discovery,
+            &kinds(&["video::vaapi::h264_encoder"]),
+        );
+
+        assert!(terms.contains(&"video encoding".to_string()));
+        assert!(terms.contains(&"hardware:vaapi".to_string()));
+        assert!(terms.contains(&"test pattern".to_string()));
+        assert!(terms.contains(&"video vaapi h264 encoder".to_string()));
+        assert!(terms.contains(&"dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_h264_colorbars".to_string()));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn search_terms_are_lowercased_and_deduped() {
+        let discovery = Discovery {
+            category: Some("Streaming".to_string()),
+            tags: vec!["streaming".to_string()],
+            ..Discovery::default()
+        };
+        let terms = build_search_terms("streaming", "Streaming", "STREAMING", &discovery, &[]);
+
+        assert_eq!(terms.iter().filter(|t| *t == "streaming").count(), 1);
+        assert!(terms.iter().all(|t| t == &t.to_lowercase()));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn search_terms_skip_absent_optional_fields() {
+        let discovery = Discovery::default();
+        let terms = build_search_terms("oneshot/solo", "Solo Sample", "", &discovery, &[]);
+        assert_eq!(terms, vec!["oneshot/solo".to_string(), "solo sample".to_string()]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/apps/skit/src/samples.rs b/apps/skit/src/samples.rs
index ed07eaefa..6ab0c92c9 100644
--- a/apps/skit/src/samples.rs
+++ b/apps/skit/src/samples.rs
@@ -183,24 +183,49 @@ fn has_yaml_extension(filename: &str) -> bool {
         .is_some_and(|ext| ext.eq_ignore_ascii_case("yml") || ext.eq_ignore_ascii_case("yaml"))
 }
 
-/// Parse pipeline YAML and extract metadata (name, description, mode)
-fn parse_pipeline_metadata(
-    yaml: &str,
-    path: &std::path::Path,
-) -> (Option<String>, Option<String>, streamkit_api::EngineMode) {
-    streamkit_api::yaml::parse_yaml(yaml).map_or_else(
-        |e| {
+/// Metadata extracted from a pipeline YAML for listing, search, and discovery.
+#[derive(Default)]
+struct PipelineMetadata {
+    name: Option<String>,
+    description: Option<String>,
+    mode: streamkit_api::EngineMode,
+    explicit: crate::sample_discovery::Discovery,
+    node_kinds: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+/// Parse pipeline YAML and extract metadata used for listing and discovery.
+fn parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml: &str, path: &std::path::Path) -> PipelineMetadata {
+    use streamkit_api::yaml::UserPipeline;
+
+    let user_pipeline = match streamkit_api::yaml::parse_yaml(yaml) {
+        Ok(p) => p,
+        Err(e) => {
             warn!("Failed to parse pipeline metadata from {}: {}", path.display(), e);
-            (None, None, streamkit_api::EngineMode::default())
+            return PipelineMetadata::default();
         },
-        |user_pipeline| {
-            use streamkit_api::yaml::UserPipeline;
-            match user_pipeline {
-                UserPipeline::Steps { name, description, mode, .. }
-                | UserPipeline::Dag { name, description, mode, .. } => (name, description, mode),
-            }
+    };
+
+    let node_kinds: Vec<String> = match &user_pipeline {
+        UserPipeline::Steps { steps, .. } => steps.iter().map(|s| s.kind.clone()).collect(),
+        UserPipeline::Dag { nodes, .. } => nodes.values().map(|n| n.kind.clone()).collect(),
+    };
+
+    let (UserPipeline::Steps { meta, .. } | UserPipeline::Dag { meta, .. }) = user_pipeline;
+
+    PipelineMetadata {
+        name: meta.name,
+        description: meta.description,
+        mode: meta.mode,
+        explicit: crate::sample_discovery::Discovery {
+            group: meta.group,
+            variant: meta.variant,
+            canonical: meta.canonical,
+            category: meta.category,
+            tags: meta.tags,
+            keywords: meta.keywords,
         },
-    )
+        node_kinds,
+    }
 }
 
 fn mode_to_string(mode: streamkit_api::EngineMode) -> String {
@@ -240,23 +265,37 @@ async fn load_samples_from_dir(
 
         match fs::read_to_string(&path).await {
             Ok(yaml) => {
-                let (name, description, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(&yaml, &path);
+                let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(&yaml, &path);
 
                 let base_filename = filename.trim_end_matches(".yml").trim_end_matches(".yaml");
                 let id = format!("{subdir}/{base_filename}");
 
-                let name = name.unwrap_or_else(|| filename_to_name(filename));
-                let description = description.unwrap_or_default();
+                let name = meta.name.unwrap_or_else(|| filename_to_name(filename));
+                let description = meta.description.unwrap_or_default();
                 let is_fragment = name == filename_to_name(filename) && description.is_empty();
 
+                let search_terms = crate::sample_discovery::build_search_terms(
+                    &id,
+                    &name,
+                    &description,
+                    &meta.explicit,
+                    &meta.node_kinds,
+                );
+
                 samples.push(SamplePipeline {
                     id,
                     name,
                     description,
                     yaml,
                     is_system,
-                    mode: mode_to_string(mode),
+                    mode: mode_to_string(meta.mode),
                     is_fragment,
+                    group: meta.explicit.group,
+                    variant: meta.explicit.variant,
+                    canonical: meta.explicit.canonical,
+                    category: meta.explicit.category,
+                    tags: meta.explicit.tags,
+                    search_terms,
                 });
             },
             Err(e) => {
@@ -362,11 +401,11 @@ pub async fn get_sample(
 
                 let yaml = fs::read_to_string(&path).await?;
 
-                let (name, description, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(&yaml, &path);
+                let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(&yaml, &path);
+                let mode_str = mode_to_string(meta.mode);
 
-                let name = name.unwrap_or_else(|| filename_to_name(&filename));
-                let description = description.unwrap_or_default();
-                let mode_str = mode_to_string(mode);
+                let name = meta.name.unwrap_or_else(|| filename_to_name(&filename));
+                let description = meta.description.unwrap_or_default();
 
                 let relative_path =
                     path.strip_prefix(&base_path).unwrap_or(&path).to_string_lossy().to_string();
@@ -377,6 +416,14 @@ pub async fn get_sample(
                 let is_fragment = name == filename_to_name(&filename) && description.is_empty();
                 let full_id = format!("{subdir}/{filename_base}");
 
+                let search_terms = crate::sample_discovery::build_search_terms(
+                    &full_id,
+                    &name,
+                    &description,
+                    &meta.explicit,
+                    &meta.node_kinds,
+                );
+
                 return Ok(SamplePipeline {
                     id: full_id,
                     name,
@@ -385,6 +432,12 @@ pub async fn get_sample(
                     is_system,
                     mode: mode_str,
                     is_fragment,
+                    group: meta.explicit.group,
+                    variant: meta.explicit.variant,
+                    canonical: meta.explicit.canonical,
+                    category: meta.explicit.category,
+                    tags: meta.explicit.tags,
+                    search_terms,
                 });
             }
         }
@@ -494,8 +547,16 @@ async fn save_sample(
     // Always prefix user pipelines with "user/"
     let id = format!("user/{base_filename}");
 
-    let (_, _, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(&yaml_with_metadata, &path);
-    let mode_str = mode_to_string(mode);
+    let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(&yaml_with_metadata, &path);
+    let mode_str = mode_to_string(meta.mode);
+
+    let search_terms = crate::sample_discovery::build_search_terms(
+        &id,
+        &request.name,
+        &request.description,
+        &meta.explicit,
+        &meta.node_kinds,
+    );
 
     Ok(SamplePipeline {
         id,
@@ -505,6 +566,12 @@ async fn save_sample(
         is_system: false,
         mode: mode_str,
         is_fragment: request.is_fragment,
+        group: meta.explicit.group,
+        variant: meta.explicit.variant,
+        canonical: meta.explicit.canonical,
+        category: meta.explicit.category,
+        tags: meta.explicit.tags,
+        search_terms,
     })
 }
 
@@ -836,11 +903,11 @@ nodes:
     needs: input
 ";
         let path = std::path::Path::new("test.yml");
-        let (name, description, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
+        let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
 
-        assert_eq!(name.as_deref(), Some("My Sample"));
-        assert_eq!(description.as_deref(), Some("A nice description"));
-        assert_eq!(mode, EngineMode::OneShot);
+        assert_eq!(meta.name.as_deref(), Some("My Sample"));
+        assert_eq!(meta.description.as_deref(), Some("A nice description"));
+        assert_eq!(meta.mode, EngineMode::OneShot);
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -854,11 +921,12 @@ steps:
   - kind: streamkit::http_output
 ";
         let path = std::path::Path::new("steps.yml");
-        let (name, description, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
+        let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
 
-        assert_eq!(name.as_deref(), Some("Linear"));
-        assert_eq!(description.as_deref(), Some("Steps form"));
-        assert_eq!(mode, EngineMode::Dynamic);
+        assert_eq!(meta.name.as_deref(), Some("Linear"));
+        assert_eq!(meta.description.as_deref(), Some("Steps form"));
+        assert_eq!(meta.mode, EngineMode::Dynamic);
+        assert_eq!(meta.node_kinds, vec!["streamkit::http_input", "streamkit::http_output"]);
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -871,12 +939,12 @@ nodes:
     kind: streamkit::http_input
 ";
         let path = std::path::Path::new("anon.yml");
-        let (name, description, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
+        let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
 
-        assert!(name.is_none(), "expected no name, got {name:?}");
-        assert!(description.is_none(), "expected no description, got {description:?}");
-        assert_eq!(mode, EngineMode::default());
-        assert_eq!(mode, EngineMode::Dynamic, "Dynamic must be the documented default");
+        assert!(meta.name.is_none(), "expected no name, got {:?}", meta.name);
+        assert!(meta.description.is_none(), "expected no description, got {:?}", meta.description);
+        assert_eq!(meta.mode, EngineMode::default());
+        assert_eq!(meta.mode, EngineMode::Dynamic, "Dynamic must be the documented default");
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -888,10 +956,10 @@ nodes:
     kind: streamkit::http_input
 ";
         let path = std::path::Path::new("no-mode.yml");
-        let (name, _, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
+        let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
 
-        assert_eq!(name.as_deref(), Some("No mode"));
-        assert_eq!(mode, EngineMode::default());
+        assert_eq!(meta.name.as_deref(), Some("No mode"));
+        assert_eq!(meta.mode, EngineMode::default());
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -902,11 +970,11 @@ nodes:
         // best-effort enrichment.
         let yaml = "this: is: not: valid: yaml: at: all: [";
         let path = std::path::Path::new("broken.yml");
-        let (name, description, mode) = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
+        let meta = parse_pipeline_metadata(yaml, path);
 
-        assert!(name.is_none());
-        assert!(description.is_none());
-        assert_eq!(mode, EngineMode::default());
+        assert!(meta.name.is_none());
+        assert!(meta.description.is_none());
+        assert_eq!(meta.mode, EngineMode::default());
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/skit/tests/sample_discovery_metadata_test.rs b/apps/skit/tests/sample_discovery_metadata_test.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f6a25cdcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/skit/tests/sample_discovery_metadata_test.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2025 StreamKit Contributors
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+//! Enforces the explicit discovery-metadata contract for every bundled sample.
+//!
+//! The Convert/Stream pickers render group/variant/category/tags straight from
+//! the sample YAML — there is no runtime derivation. This test is the single
+//! source of truth that the authored metadata is present and internally
+//! consistent, so a missing field or a malformed group fails CI loudly instead
+//! of silently degrading the UI (e.g. an uncategorised card, or a group that
+//! titles itself after an arbitrary member).
+
+// Test-fixture checks should fail fast with contextual assertion messages.
+#![allow(clippy::expect_used, clippy::panic)]
+
+use std::collections::{BTreeMap, BTreeSet};
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use streamkit_api::yaml::{parse_yaml, UserPipeline};
+
+/// A sample's authored discovery metadata, flattened across the `Steps`/`Dag`
+/// pipeline arms.
+struct SampleMeta {
+    file: String,
+    group: Option<String>,
+    variant: Option<String>,
+    canonical: bool,
+    category: Option<String>,
+    tags: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+fn samples_root() -> PathBuf {
+    PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"))
+        .parent()
+        .and_then(|p| p.parent())
+        .expect("streamkit-server should live under workspace_root/apps/skit")
+        .join("samples/pipelines")
+}
+
+/// Sample subdirectories surfaced in the Convert/Stream pickers. The `test/`
+/// fixtures are validation-only and never listed, so they are excluded.
+const DISCOVERABLE_SUBDIRS: &[&str] = &["dynamic", "oneshot"];
+
+fn read_samples() -> Vec<SampleMeta> {
+    let root = samples_root();
+    let mut samples = Vec::new();
+
+    for subdir in DISCOVERABLE_SUBDIRS {
+        let dir = root.join(subdir);
+        let entries = std::fs::read_dir(&dir)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("reading {} failed: {e}", dir.display()));
+        for entry in entries {
+            let path = entry.expect("readable dir entry").path();
+            let ext = path.extension().and_then(|e| e.to_str()).unwrap_or("");
+            if ext != "yml" && ext != "yaml" {
+                continue;
+            }
+            let file =
+                format!("{subdir}/{}", path.file_name().expect("file name").to_string_lossy());
+            let yaml = std::fs::read_to_string(&path).expect("sample readable");
+            let pipeline =
+                parse_yaml(&yaml).unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("{file}: parse failed: {e}"));
+
+            let (UserPipeline::Steps { meta, .. } | UserPipeline::Dag { meta, .. }) = pipeline;
+
+            samples.push(SampleMeta {
+                file,
+                group: meta.group,
+                variant: meta.variant,
+                canonical: meta.canonical,
+                category: meta.category,
+                tags: meta.tags,
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
+    assert!(!samples.is_empty(), "expected to find bundled sample files");
+    samples
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn every_bundled_sample_has_required_discovery_metadata() {
+    let mut failures = Vec::new();
+
+    for sample in read_samples() {
+        match &sample.category {
+            Some(c) if !c.trim().is_empty() => {},
+            _ => failures.push(format!("{}: missing required `category`", sample.file)),
+        }
+        if sample.tags.iter().all(|t| t.trim().is_empty()) {
+            failures.push(format!("{}: missing required `tags`", sample.file));
+        } else if sample.tags.iter().any(|t| t.trim().is_empty()) {
+            failures.push(format!("{}: has a blank `tags` entry", sample.file));
+        }
+    }
+
+    assert!(failures.is_empty(), "discovery metadata check failed:\n{}", failures.join("\n"));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn grouped_samples_are_internally_consistent() {
+    let samples = read_samples();
+    let mut failures = Vec::new();
+    let mut groups: BTreeMap<String, Vec<&SampleMeta>> = BTreeMap::new();
+
+    for sample in &samples {
+        match sample.group.as_deref().map(str::trim) {
+            Some(group) if !group.is_empty() => {
+                groups.entry(group.to_string()).or_default().push(sample);
+            },
+            _ => {
+                // Ungrouped samples are standalone cards; the canonical flag and
+                // a variant label are meaningless without a group to represent.
+                if sample.canonical {
+                    failures.push(format!(
+                        "{}: sets `canonical: true` but has no `group`",
+                        sample.file
+                    ));
+                }
+                if sample.variant.as_deref().is_some_and(|v| !v.trim().is_empty()) {
+                    failures.push(format!("{}: sets `variant` but has no `group`", sample.file));
+                }
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+    for (group, members) in &groups {
+        if members.len() < 2 {
+            let member = members[0];
+            failures.push(format!(
+                "{}: `group: {group}` has only one member; drop the group or add siblings",
+                member.file
+            ));
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        let canonical_count = members.iter().filter(|m| m.canonical).count();
+        if canonical_count != 1 {
+            failures.push(format!(
+                "group `{group}` must have exactly one `canonical: true` member, found \
+                 {canonical_count} ({})",
+                members.iter().map(|m| m.file.as_str()).collect::<Vec<_>>().join(", ")
+            ));
+        }
+
+        let mut seen_variants = BTreeSet::new();
+        for member in members {
+            match member.variant.as_deref().map(str::trim) {
+                Some(variant) if !variant.is_empty() => {
+                    if !seen_variants.insert(variant.to_string()) {
+                        failures.push(format!(
+                            "group `{group}` has duplicate `variant: {variant}`; variant labels \
+                             must be unique within a group"
+                        ));
+                    }
+                },
+                _ => failures.push(format!(
+                    "{}: member of multi-sample group `{group}` must set a `variant` label",
+                    member.file
+                )),
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    assert!(failures.is_empty(), "group consistency check failed:\n{}", failures.join("\n"));
+}
diff --git a/crates/api/src/lib.rs b/crates/api/src/lib.rs
index 82ee1e3e2..08093b604 100644
--- a/crates/api/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/api/src/lib.rs
@@ -391,6 +391,27 @@ pub struct SamplePipeline {
     pub mode: String,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub is_fragment: bool,
+    /// Base-scenario key shared by variants; collapses near-duplicate samples
+    /// into a single card with a variant selector in the UI.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub group: Option<String>,
+    /// Human label distinguishing this variant within its `group`.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub variant: Option<String>,
+    /// Whether this member represents its `group` (supplies the card title and
+    /// description). Exactly one member of a multi-sample group sets this.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub canonical: bool,
+    /// Top-level bucket used for faceted filtering.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub category: Option<String>,
+    /// Facetable capability keywords powering the facet chips.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub tags: Vec<String>,
+    /// Resolved, lowercased search document (name, description, category,
+    /// tags, authored keywords, node kinds) the UI matches queries against.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub search_terms: Vec<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, TS)]
diff --git a/crates/api/src/yaml/compiler.rs b/crates/api/src/yaml/compiler.rs
index 85046a9c7..374ee10b6 100644
--- a/crates/api/src/yaml/compiler.rs
+++ b/crates/api/src/yaml/compiler.rs
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ use indexmap::IndexMap;
 
 pub fn compile(pipeline: UserPipeline) -> Result<Pipeline, String> {
     match pipeline {
-        UserPipeline::Steps { name, description, mode, steps, client } => {
-            Ok(compile_steps(name, description, mode, steps, client))
+        UserPipeline::Steps { meta, steps, client } => {
+            Ok(compile_steps(meta.name, meta.description, meta.mode, steps, client))
         },
-        UserPipeline::Dag { name, description, mode, nodes, client } => {
-            compile_dag(name, description, mode, nodes, client)
+        UserPipeline::Dag { meta, nodes, client } => {
+            compile_dag(meta.name, meta.description, meta.mode, nodes, client)
         },
     }
 }
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ fn value_type_name(v: &serde_json::Value) -> &'static str {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
-    use crate::yaml::{Needs, NeedsDependency, UserNode, UserPipeline};
+    use crate::yaml::{Needs, NeedsDependency, PipelineMeta, UserNode, UserPipeline};
     use crate::EngineMode;
     use indexmap::IndexMap;
 
@@ -296,7 +296,11 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     fn dag_pipeline(nodes: IndexMap<String, UserNode>, mode: EngineMode) -> UserPipeline {
-        UserPipeline::Dag { name: None, description: None, mode, nodes, client: None }
+        UserPipeline::Dag {
+            meta: PipelineMeta { mode, ..PipelineMeta::default() },
+            nodes,
+            client: None,
+        }
     }
 
     fn user_node(kind: &str, needs: Needs) -> UserNode {
diff --git a/crates/api/src/yaml/mod.rs b/crates/api/src/yaml/mod.rs
index 0fada506f..c6cd1bec2 100644
--- a/crates/api/src/yaml/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/api/src/yaml/mod.rs
@@ -269,26 +269,46 @@ pub struct ControlConfig {
     pub options: Option<Vec<SelectOption>>,
 }
 
+/// Top-level pipeline metadata shared by both `UserPipeline` arms. The
+/// discovery fields (group/variant/canonical/category/tags/keywords) power the
+/// Convert/Stream pickers' variant grouping and faceted/fuzzy search; bundled
+/// samples are required to author them explicitly (enforced by
+/// `apps/skit/tests/sample_discovery_metadata_test.rs`) — there is no runtime
+/// derivation. See `apps/skit/src/sample_discovery.rs`.
+#[derive(Debug, Default, Deserialize)]
+pub struct PipelineMeta {
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub name: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub description: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub mode: EngineMode,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub group: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub variant: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub category: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub tags: Vec<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub canonical: bool,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub keywords: Vec<String>,
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(untagged)]
 pub enum UserPipeline {
     Steps {
-        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
-        name: Option<String>,
-        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
-        description: Option<String>,
-        #[serde(default)]
-        mode: EngineMode,
+        #[serde(flatten)]
+        meta: PipelineMeta,
         steps: Vec<Step>,
         client: Option<ClientSection>,
     },
     Dag {
-        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
-        name: Option<String>,
-        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
-        description: Option<String>,
-        #[serde(default)]
-        mode: EngineMode,
+        #[serde(flatten)]
+        meta: PipelineMeta,
         nodes: IndexMap<String, UserNode>,
         client: Option<ClientSection>,
     },
diff --git a/e2e/tests/convert.spec.ts b/e2e/tests/convert.spec.ts
index 49673350c..408a590f7 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/convert.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/convert.spec.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { ensureLoggedIn, getAuthHeaders } from './auth-helpers';
 import {
   type ConsoleErrorCollector,
   createConsoleErrorCollector,
+  selectPipelineTemplate,
   verifyAudioPlayback,
   verifyVideoPlayback,
 } from './test-helpers';
@@ -105,11 +106,7 @@ test.describe('Convert View - Audio Mixing Pipeline', () => {
   }) => {
     await expect(page.getByText('1. Select Pipeline Template')).toBeVisible();
 
-    const templateCard = page.getByText('Audio Mixing (Upload + Music Track)', {
-      exact: true,
-    });
-    await expect(templateCard).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
-    await templateCard.click();
+    await selectPipelineTemplate(page, 'Audio Mixing (Upload + Music Track)', 'Upload + Music');
 
     await expect(page.locator('input[type="file"]').first()).toBeAttached();
     await page.locator('input[type="file"]').first().setInputFiles(sampleOggPath);
@@ -137,11 +134,7 @@ test.describe('Convert View - Audio Mixing Pipeline', () => {
   }) => {
     await expect(page.getByText('1. Select Pipeline Template')).toBeVisible();
 
-    const templateCard = page.getByText('Audio Mixing (Upload + Music Track)', {
-      exact: true,
-    });
-    await expect(templateCard).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
-    await templateCard.click();
+    await selectPipelineTemplate(page, 'Audio Mixing (Upload + Music Track)', 'Upload + Music');
 
     const assetModeButton = page.getByRole('button', {
       name: /Select Existing Asset/i,
@@ -192,11 +185,7 @@ test.describe('Convert View - Video Color Bars Pipeline', () => {
 
     await expect(page.getByText('1. Select Pipeline Template')).toBeVisible();
 
-    const templateCard = page.getByText('Video Color Bars (VP9/WebM)', {
-      exact: true,
-    });
-    await expect(templateCard).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
-    await templateCard.click();
+    await selectPipelineTemplate(page, 'Video Color Bars (VP9/WebM)', 'VP9 (Software)');
 
     // This is a no-input (generator) pipeline, so the button says "Generate".
     const generateButton = page.getByRole('button', { name: /Generate/i });
diff --git a/e2e/tests/stream.spec.ts b/e2e/tests/stream.spec.ts
index 6a8f94b31..6eac46ad1 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/stream.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/stream.spec.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   MOQ_BENIGN_PATTERNS,
   createConsoleErrorCollector,
   installAudioContextTracker,
+  selectPipelineTemplate,
   verifyAudioContextActive,
   verifyCanvasRendering,
 } from './test-helpers';
@@ -37,11 +38,7 @@ test.describe('Stream View - Dynamic Pipeline', () => {
     const pipelineHeading = page.getByText('Pipeline Selection');
     await expect(pipelineHeading).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
 
-    const templateCard = page.getByText('MoQ Peer Transcoder (Gateway)', {
-      exact: true,
-    });
-    await expect(templateCard).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
-    await templateCard.click();
+    await selectPipelineTemplate(page, 'MoQ Peer Transcoder (Gateway)');
 
     const createButton = page.getByRole('button', { name: /Create Session/i });
     await expect(createButton).toBeEnabled({ timeout: 5_000 });
@@ -93,11 +90,7 @@ test.describe('Stream View - Dynamic Pipeline', () => {
       }
     }
 
-    const templateCard = page.getByText('MoQ Peer Transcoder (Gateway)', {
-      exact: true,
-    });
-    await expect(templateCard).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
-    await templateCard.click();
+    await selectPipelineTemplate(page, 'MoQ Peer Transcoder (Gateway)');
 
     const createButton = page.getByRole('button', { name: /Create Session/i });
     await expect(createButton).toBeEnabled({ timeout: 5_000 });
@@ -233,11 +226,7 @@ test.describe('Stream View - Video MoQ Color Bars Pipeline', () => {
     }
 
     // Select the video colorbars MoQ template.
-    const templateCard = page.getByText('Video Color Bars (MoQ Stream)', {
-      exact: true,
-    });
-    await expect(templateCard).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
-    await templateCard.click();
+    await selectPipelineTemplate(page, 'Video Color Bars (MoQ Stream)', 'VP9 (Software)');
 
     // Create session.
     const createButton = page.getByRole('button', { name: /Create Session/i });
@@ -375,11 +364,7 @@ test.describe('Stream View - Webcam PiP Pipeline', () => {
     }
 
     // Select the webcam PiP template.
-    const templateCard = page.getByText('Webcam PiP (MoQ Stream)', {
-      exact: true,
-    });
-    await expect(templateCard).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
-    await templateCard.click();
+    await selectPipelineTemplate(page, 'Webcam PiP (MoQ Stream)', 'VP9');
 
     // Create session.
     const createButton = page.getByRole('button', { name: /Create Session/i });
diff --git a/e2e/tests/test-helpers.ts b/e2e/tests/test-helpers.ts
index 2660095b2..5ad74012f 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/test-helpers.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/test-helpers.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 //
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
 
-import type { Page } from '@playwright/test';
+import { expect, type Page } from '@playwright/test';
 
 // Console error substrings that are always benign regardless of test context.
 // ResizeObserver loop errors are a Chromium quirk; WebSocket reconnect chatter
@@ -32,6 +32,30 @@ export interface ConsoleErrorCollector {
   getUnexpected(extraBenignPatterns?: string[]): string[];
 }
 
+/**
+ * Selects a sample pipeline in the TemplateSelector.
+ *
+ * Ungrouped cards expose a single radio whose accessible name is the sample
+ * name. Grouped scenario cards expose one radio per variant whose accessible
+ * name is the variant label (which matches its visible text per WCAG 2.5.3);
+ * to disambiguate identically-labelled variants across groups, pass `variant`
+ * and the lookup is scoped to that card's `"<name> variants"` group.
+ */
+export async function selectPipelineTemplate(
+  page: Page,
+  name: string,
+  variant?: string
+): Promise<void> {
+  const radio = variant
+    ? page.getByRole('group', { name: `${name} variants` }).getByRole('radio', {
+        name: variant,
+        exact: true,
+      })
+    : page.getByRole('radio', { name, exact: true });
+  await expect(radio.first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
+  await radio.first().click();
+}
+
 /**
  * Attach a console-error listener to `page` and return a collector object.
  *
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq.yml
index d21bc2e60..9e520c7ad 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 name: Real-Time MoQ Transcoder
 description: Decodes a MoQ input broadcast, applies gain, and republishes to MoQ
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - transcoding
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - media over quic
+  - opus
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/transcoder
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_echo.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_echo.yml
index de58660bb..e4a63cdbd 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_echo.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_echo.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@ name: MoQ AAC Echo
 description: |
   Accepts Opus audio via MoQ peer, re-encodes to AAC, and
   broadcasts the AAC echo back to subscribers.
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - transcoding
+  - audio-encoding
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - aac
+  - echo
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/aac-echo
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_mixing.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_mixing.yml
index aa2534075..913483fa0 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_mixing.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_aac_mixing.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,18 @@ name: Real-Time MoQ Mixing (AAC)
 description: |
   Accepts Opus audio via MoQ, mixes with a local music track,
   encodes to AAC, and broadcasts the mixed AAC stream to subscribers.
+group: moq-mixing
+variant: AAC
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - mixing
+  - audio-encoding
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - mix
+  - music
+  - aac
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/mixing-aac
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_mixing.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_mixing.yml
index 6c705b464..cc5ce947b 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_mixing.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_mixing.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 name: Real-Time MoQ Mixing (Mic + Music)
 description: Mixes a live MoQ input stream with a local music track and republishes to MoQ
+group: moq-mixing
+variant: Opus
+canonical: true
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - mixing
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - mix
+  - music
+  - opus
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/mixing
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_peer.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_peer.yml
index b83742fd6..0deef75e6 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_peer.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_peer.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@
 
 name: MoQ Peer Transcoder (Gateway)
 description: Accepts a WebTransport client via transport::moq::peer, applies gain, and loops processed audio back to subscribers
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - transcoding
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - webtransport
+  - gateway
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_echo.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_echo.yml
index 166873196..809529cb1 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_echo.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_echo.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@
 
 name: MoQ Relay Echo (Audio)
 description: Subscribes to an audio broadcast on a MoQ relay, applies unity gain, and republishes — validates the full relay pub/sub path
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - relay
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - relay
+  - echo
+  - pub/sub
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   relay_url: http://127.0.0.1:4443
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_screen_cam_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_screen_cam_pip.yml
index 7c54297fb..268b0eefd 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_screen_cam_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_screen_cam_pip.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,20 @@ description: >
 # NOTE: The publisher (browser) must already be streaming to the 'screen-input'
 # and 'cam-input' broadcasts before starting this pipeline, otherwise track
 # discovery will miss the video/hd pins.
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - relay
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - screen-capture
+  - webcam
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - relay
+  - screen
+  - camera
+  - pip
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   relay_url: http://127.0.0.1:4443
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_webcam_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_webcam_pip.yml
index 751d68fdb..f3a58657a 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_webcam_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_relay_webcam_pip.yml
@@ -6,6 +6,19 @@ name: MoQ Relay Webcam PiP (Audio + Video)
 description: Subscribes audio+video from a MoQ relay, composites the webcam as PiP over colorbars, and republishes both tracks — validates multi-track relay pub/sub
 # NOTE: The publisher must already be streaming to the 'input' broadcast before
 # starting this pipeline, otherwise track discovery will miss the video/hd pin.
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - relay
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - relay
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - pip
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   relay_url: http://127.0.0.1:4443
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_s3_archive.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_s3_archive.yml
index 780ba20ba..4ea6c1644 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_s3_archive.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_s3_archive.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@ name: MoQ Broadcast + S3 Archive
 description: |
   Accepts Opus audio via MoQ, broadcasts back via MoQ for live monitoring,
   and simultaneously archives the stream to S3-compatible object storage.
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - archival
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - s3
+  - object storage
+  - archive
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/s3-archive
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_to_rtmp_composite.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_to_rtmp_composite.yml
index dac56f2ed..cf584eb6d 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_to_rtmp_composite.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/moq_to_rtmp_composite.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,19 @@ name: MoQ to RTMP (Composited)
 description: |
   Receives audio+video via MoQ peer, composites with PiP and logo overlay,
   re-encodes to H.264+AAC, and publishes to an RTMP endpoint (e.g. YouTube Live).
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - audio-encoding
+keywords:
+  - moq
+  - rtmp
+  - youtube
+  - h.264
+  - aac
+  - composite
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/rtmp-out
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-en-es.yaml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-en-es.yaml
index 3f1021047..34ec7a448 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-en-es.yaml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-en-es.yaml
@@ -22,6 +22,24 @@
 
 name: Real-Time Speech Translation (English → Spanish)
 description: Real-time speech translation from English to Spanish via MoQ
+group: speech-translation-stream
+variant: NLLB (EN→ES)
+canonical: true
+category: Speech Translation
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - translation
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - translate
+  - english
+  - spanish
+  - nllb
+  - whisper
+  - piper
+  - stt
+  - tts
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/speech-translate-en-es
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-es-en.yaml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-es-en.yaml
index 3e481e4de..7638e0347 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-es-en.yaml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-es-en.yaml
@@ -23,6 +23,23 @@
 
 name: Real-Time Speech Translation (Spanish → English)
 description: Real-time speech translation from Spanish to English via MoQ
+group: speech-translation-stream
+variant: NLLB (ES→EN)
+category: Speech Translation
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - translation
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - translate
+  - spanish
+  - english
+  - nllb
+  - whisper
+  - kokoro
+  - stt
+  - tts
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/speech-translate-es-en
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-en-es.yaml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-en-es.yaml
index 1c9c394da..900fdad42 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-en-es.yaml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-en-es.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,22 @@
 
 name: Real-Time Speech Translation (English → Spanish) - Helsinki
 description: Real-time speech translation from English to Spanish using Apache 2.0 licensed Helsinki OPUS-MT
+group: speech-translation-stream
+variant: Helsinki (EN→ES)
+category: Speech Translation
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - translation
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - translate
+  - english
+  - spanish
+  - helsinki
+  - opus-mt
+  - stt
+  - tts
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/speech-translate-helsinki-en-es
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-es-en.yaml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-es-en.yaml
index 7bc497f09..230e75b1e 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-es-en.yaml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/speech-translate-helsinki-es-en.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,22 @@
 
 name: Real-Time Speech Translation (Spanish → English) - Helsinki
 description: Real-time speech translation from Spanish to English using Apache 2.0 licensed Helsinki OPUS-MT
+group: speech-translation-stream
+variant: Helsinki (ES→EN)
+category: Speech Translation
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - translation
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - translate
+  - spanish
+  - english
+  - helsinki
+  - opus-mt
+  - stt
+  - tts
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/speech-translate-helsinki-es-en
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_av1_compositor.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_av1_compositor.yml
index a110ce2da..9c2502485 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_av1_compositor.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_av1_compositor.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,19 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor – AV1 (MoQ Stream)
 description: Composites two colorbars sources with the StreamKit logo watermark, encodes as AV1 (rav1e) at 1280x720, and streams via MoQ
+group: video-compositor-stream
+variant: AV1 (rav1e)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - overlay
+  - watermark
+  - av1
+  - rav1e
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_colorbars.yml
index eb18cf847..738969d1f 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_colorbars.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,18 @@
 
 name: Video Color Bars (MoQ Stream)
 description: Continuously generates SMPTE color bars and streams via MoQ
+group: video-colorbars-stream
+variant: VP9 (Software)
+canonical: true
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - smpte
+  - test pattern
+  - vp9
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_compositor.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_compositor.yml
index 60a5c28e4..dfb341d17 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_compositor.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_compositor.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,19 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor (MoQ Stream)
 description: Composites two colorbars sources with the StreamKit logo watermark through the compositor node and streams via MoQ
+group: video-compositor-stream
+variant: VP9
+canonical: true
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - overlay
+  - watermark
+  - vp9
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_h264_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_h264_colorbars.yml
index ae6476a71..dba5a7227 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_h264_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_h264_colorbars.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,18 @@
 
 name: Video Color Bars H.264 (MoQ Stream)
 description: Continuously generates SMPTE color bars with timer and streams via MoQ using OpenH264
+group: video-colorbars-stream
+variant: H.264 (OpenH264)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - smpte
+  - test pattern
+  - h.264
+  - openh264
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_nv_av1_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_nv_av1_colorbars.yml
index fb6572e86..261d5e492 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_nv_av1_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_nv_av1_colorbars.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,20 @@
 
 name: NVENC AV1 Color Bars (MoQ Stream)
 description: Continuously generates SMPTE color bars and streams via MoQ using NVIDIA NVENC AV1 HW encoder
+group: video-colorbars-stream
+variant: AV1 (NVENC)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:nvidia"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - smpte
+  - av1
+  - nvenc
+  - nvidia
+  - gpu
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_pip.yml
index 074f4f9f2..300a03a66 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_pip.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,24 @@ description: >
   picture-in-picture overlay, loops microphone audio, and streams via MoQ.
   Uses multi-broadcast subscription to receive screen and camera inputs on
   separate broadcasts with namespaced output pins.
+group: screen-cam-pip-stream
+variant: VP9
+canonical: true
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - screen-capture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - screen
+  - desktop
+  - camera
+  - webcam
+  - pip
+  - vp9
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/screenshare
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_svt_av1_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_svt_av1_pip.yml
index fa1a68780..3ef318bdd 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_svt_av1_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_cam_svt_av1_pip.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,24 @@ description: >
   picture-in-picture overlay (circle crop), loops microphone audio through
   a gain filter, re-encodes video as AV1 (SVT-AV1) at 1280x720, and streams
   both via MoQ.
+group: screen-cam-pip-stream
+variant: AV1 (SVT-AV1)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - screen-capture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - screen
+  - desktop
+  - camera
+  - webcam
+  - pip
+  - av1
+  - svt-av1
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/screenshare
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_share.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_share.yml
index c801fc956..cc25fafba 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_share.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_screen_share.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@
 
 name: Screen Share (MoQ Stream)
 description: Captures the user's screen, composites it with a text overlay, encodes as VP9 at 1920×1080, loops microphone audio through a gain filter, and streams both via MoQ
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - screen-capture
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - screen
+  - desktop
+  - screencast
+  - vp9
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/screen
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_servo_web_overlay.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_servo_web_overlay.yml
index b41df831f..5cd5fab46 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_servo_web_overlay.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_servo_web_overlay.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@
 
 name: Video Web Overlay (Servo + MoQ)
 description: Composites a Servo-rendered web page as PiP overlay on colorbars and streams via MoQ
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - web-capture
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - servo
+  - web
+  - browser
+  - overlay
+  - pip
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_slint_scoreboard.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_slint_scoreboard.yml
index 9a535d22e..0a1d60d44 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_slint_scoreboard.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_slint_scoreboard.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,17 @@
 
 name: Video Slint Scoreboard + Lower Third (MoQ)
 description: Composites colorbars with Slint scoreboard and lower-third overlays, streams via MoQ with runtime property updates
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - slint
+  - scoreboard
+  - lower third
+  - overlay
+  - graphics
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_svt_av1_compositor.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_svt_av1_compositor.yml
index bb3f989c0..9b6624891 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_svt_av1_compositor.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_svt_av1_compositor.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,19 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor – SVT-AV1 (MoQ Stream)
 description: Composites two colorbars sources with the StreamKit logo watermark, encodes as AV1 (SVT-AV1) at 1280x720, and streams via MoQ
+group: video-compositor-stream
+variant: AV1 (SVT-AV1)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - overlay
+  - watermark
+  - av1
+  - svt-av1
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml
index 112f2345a..a6b44a1b2 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,19 @@
 
 name: VA-API AV1 Color Bars (MoQ Stream)
 description: Continuously generates SMPTE color bars and streams via MoQ using VA-API AV1 HW encoder
+group: video-colorbars-stream
+variant: AV1 (VA-API)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:vaapi"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - smpte
+  - av1
+  - vaapi
+  - gpu
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml
index 30a10638a..68866bd06 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,19 @@
 
 name: VA-API H.264 Color Bars (MoQ Stream)
 description: Continuously generates SMPTE color bars and streams via MoQ using VA-API H.264 HW encoder
+group: video-colorbars-stream
+variant: H.264 (VA-API)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:vaapi"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - smpte
+  - h.264
+  - vaapi
+  - gpu
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_voice_controlled_compositor.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_voice_controlled_compositor.yml
index 9619c6232..13bb545ee 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_voice_controlled_compositor.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_voice_controlled_compositor.yml
@@ -57,6 +57,22 @@ description: >-
   speaking indicator are rendered via a separate Slint overlay.
   Three param_bridge nodes coordinate on two different target nodes
   (compositor + Slint subtitle).
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - webcam
+  - speech-to-text
+  - voice-activity-detection
+  - subtitles
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - voice control
+  - parakeet
+  - stt
+  - vad
+  - subtitles
+  - compositor
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml
index be381fdc6..27e82d357 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,19 @@
 
 name: Vulkan Video H.264 Color Bars (MoQ Stream)
 description: Continuously generates SMPTE color bars and streams via MoQ using Vulkan Video H.264 HW encoder
+group: video-colorbars-stream
+variant: H.264 (Vulkan)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:vulkan"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - smpte
+  - h.264
+  - vulkan
+  - gpu
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_av1_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_av1_pip.yml
index 2464fcff5..dc260b569 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_av1_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_av1_pip.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,21 @@
 
 name: Webcam PiP – AV1 Output (MoQ Stream)
 description: Composites the user's webcam as picture-in-picture over colorbars with a text overlay, loops audio through a gain filter, re-encodes video as AV1 (rav1e) at 1280x720, and streams both via MoQ
+group: webcam-pip-stream
+variant: AV1 (rav1e)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - pip
+  - av1
+  - rav1e
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_circle_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_circle_pip.yml
index fe0f8d8a0..52d600fdb 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_circle_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_circle_pip.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,19 @@
 
 name: Webcam Circle PiP (MoQ Stream)
 description: Composites the user's webcam as a circular picture-in-picture overlay (Loom-style) over colorbars, loops audio through a gain filter, and streams both via MoQ
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - circle
+  - loom
+  - pip
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_dav1d_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_dav1d_pip.yml
index e289cf345..30153668d 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_dav1d_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_dav1d_pip.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,21 @@ description: >
   This is the same pipeline as video_moq_webcam_av1_pip.yml but uses the
   video::dav1d::decoder node, which handles corrupt/truncated AV1 data
   gracefully via negative error codes — it never panics.
+group: webcam-pip-stream
+variant: AV1 (dav1d decode)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - pip
+  - av1
+  - dav1d
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_pip.yml
index 7a34304ce..2190a25a9 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_pip.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,21 @@
 
 name: Webcam PiP (MoQ Stream)
 description: Composites the user's webcam as picture-in-picture over colorbars with a text overlay, loops audio through a gain filter, and streams both via MoQ
+group: webcam-pip-stream
+variant: VP9
+canonical: true
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - pip
+  - vp9
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_subtitles.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_subtitles.yml
index a62933a66..570698a16 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_subtitles.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_subtitles.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,22 @@ description: >-
   real-time Parakeet TDT transcription displayed as subtitles via a Slint
   overlay.  Demonstrates the param_bridge node for cross-node control
   messaging.  ~10x faster than Whisper on CPU.
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - speech-to-text
+  - subtitles
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - webcam
+  - subtitles
+  - captions
+  - parakeet
+  - stt
+  - transcription
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml
index bf81e36ce..1c0024941 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_moq_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,21 @@
 
 name: Webcam PiP – SVT-AV1 Output (MoQ Stream)
 description: Composites the user's webcam as picture-in-picture over colorbars with a text overlay, loops audio through a gain filter, re-encodes video as AV1 (SVT-AV1) at 1280x720, and streams both via MoQ
+group: webcam-pip-stream
+variant: AV1 (SVT-AV1)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - pip
+  - av1
+  - svt-av1
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_compositor.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_compositor.yml
index 99ae80281..10d02a348 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_compositor.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_compositor.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,16 @@ description: >
   Composites two colorbars sources and streams via HTTP/MSE only.
   No MoQ output — validates MSE endpoint in isolation.
   Access the stream at GET /mse/{session_id}/video
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - mse
+  - compositor
+  - webm
+  - vp9
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   watch:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_pip.yml
index e5ef202b5..fe75cac7d 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_pip.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,23 @@ description: >
   Receives webcam and microphone via MoQ, composites webcam as PiP over
   colorbars, muxes audio + video into WebM, and outputs via HTTP/MSE only.
   Access the stream at GET /mse/{session_id}/video
+group: webcam-pip-mse
+variant: VP9
+canonical: true
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - mse
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - pip
+  - webm
+  - vp9
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video-mse-pip
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml
index 931fa250c..fa18b9613 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/video_mse_webcam_svt_av1_pip.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,23 @@ description: >
   colorbars with a text overlay and logo watermark, re-encodes as AV1 (SVT-AV1)
   at 1280x720, muxes into WebM, and outputs via HTTP/MSE.
   Access the stream at GET /mse/{session_id}/video
+group: webcam-pip-mse
+variant: AV1 (SVT-AV1)
+category: Streaming
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - webcam
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - mse
+  - webcam
+  - camera
+  - pip
+  - webm
+  - av1
+  - svt-av1
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/video-mse-av1-pip
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-agent-openai.yaml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-agent-openai.yaml
index d03615900..ace312277 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-agent-openai.yaml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-agent-openai.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,21 @@
 
 name: Real-Time Voice Agent (OpenAI)
 description: Runs a MoQ voice agent using Whisper STT, OpenAI, and Kokoro TTS
+category: Voice Agent
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - voice-agent
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - voice agent
+  - openai
+  - llm
+  - whisper
+  - kokoro
+  - stt
+  - tts
+  - conversational
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/voice-agent-openai
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-weather-open-meteo.yaml b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-weather-open-meteo.yaml
index 85e60f2cd..e4da4ea7a 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-weather-open-meteo.yaml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/dynamic/voice-weather-open-meteo.yaml
@@ -29,6 +29,20 @@
 
 name: Real-Time Voice Weather (Open-Meteo)
 description: Ask for the weather in a location (STT → Open-Meteo → TTS) via MoQ
+category: Voice Agent
+tags:
+  - streaming
+  - voice-agent
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - voice agent
+  - weather
+  - open-meteo
+  - whisper
+  - kokoro
+  - stt
+  - tts
 mode: dynamic
 client:
   gateway_path: /moq/voice-weather-open-meteo
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/aac_encode.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/aac_encode.yml
index ae23af870..a01b159b2 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/aac_encode.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/aac_encode.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,14 @@
 
 name: AAC Encode (audio-only, MP4)
 description: Decodes an uploaded Ogg/Opus file, encodes to AAC-LC, and muxes into MP4
+category: Audio Processing
+tags:
+  - audio-encoding
+keywords:
+  - aac
+  - encode
+  - mp4
+  - audio
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/double_volume.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/double_volume.yml
index ac7b48dc5..d5c6990ce 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/double_volume.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/double_volume.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 name: Volume Boost (2×)
 description: Boosts the volume of an uploaded Ogg/Opus file and returns Ogg/Opus
+category: Audio Processing
+tags:
+  - gain
+keywords:
+  - volume
+  - boost
+  - gain
+  - loud
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/dual_upload_mixing.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/dual_upload_mixing.yml
index 2706a6f96..26ffa5297 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/dual_upload_mixing.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/dual_upload_mixing.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 name: Dual Upload Mixer
 description: Mix two uploaded Ogg/Opus tracks and return Opus/WebM
+group: audio-mixing
+variant: Two Uploads
+category: Audio Processing
+tags:
+  - mixing
+keywords:
+  - mix
+  - dual
+  - two tracks
+  - opus
+  - webm
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/gain_filter_rust.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/gain_filter_rust.yml
index 44bd3f778..135b13dfe 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/gain_filter_rust.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/gain_filter_rust.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 name: Gain Filter (Rust WASM)
 description: Applies a gain filter using the Rust WASM plugin
+category: Audio Processing
+tags:
+  - gain
+keywords:
+  - gain
+  - volume
+  - wasm
+  - rust
+  - plugin
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/kokoro-tts.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/kokoro-tts.yml
index e6ae0e263..ea3fdbeb4 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/kokoro-tts.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/kokoro-tts.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 name: Text-to-Speech (Kokoro)
 description: Synthesizes speech from text using Kokoro
+group: text-to-speech
+variant: Kokoro
+canonical: true
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - speech synthesis
+  - synthesize
+  - voice
+  - kokoro
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/matcha-tts.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/matcha-tts.yml
index 571143f0a..6fa86e7c5 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/matcha-tts.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/matcha-tts.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@
 
 name: Text-to-Speech (Matcha)
 description: Synthesizes speech from text using Matcha
+group: text-to-speech
+variant: Matcha
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - speech synthesis
+  - synthesize
+  - voice
+  - matcha
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mixing.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mixing.yml
index 0dcc7b98e..c06840ac5 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mixing.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mixing.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 name: Audio Mixing (Upload + Music Track)
 description: Mixes uploaded audio with a built-in music track and returns Opus/WebM
+group: audio-mixing
+variant: Upload + Music
+canonical: true
+category: Audio Processing
+tags:
+  - mixing
+keywords:
+  - mix
+  - music
+  - opus
+  - webm
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_aac_h264.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_aac_h264.yml
index a4eebc333..36c4167de 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_aac_h264.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_aac_h264.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,17 @@
 
 name: MP4 Mux (AAC + H264)
 description: Muxes AAC-encoded audio with H.264 video into an MP4 container
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+  - audio-encoding
+  - muxing
+keywords:
+  - mp4
+  - mux
+  - aac
+  - h.264
+  - container
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_audio.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_audio.yml
index 7fa497fe8..d03b7c29d 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_audio.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_audio.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,16 @@
 
 name: MP4 Mux (Opus audio, file mode)
 description: Decodes an uploaded Ogg/Opus file, re-encodes, and muxes into an MP4 container (file mode)
+category: Audio Processing
+tags:
+  - audio-encoding
+  - muxing
+keywords:
+  - mp4
+  - mux
+  - opus
+  - audio
+  - container
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_video.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_video.yml
index 99f065e5e..b9bef5708 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_video.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/mp4_mux_video.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,17 @@
 
 name: MP4 Mux (AV1 video, file mode)
 description: Encode colorbars to AV1 and mux into an MP4 file
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+  - muxing
+keywords:
+  - mp4
+  - mux
+  - av1
+  - svt-av1
+  - video
+  - container
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/openh264-encode-test.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/openh264-encode-test.yml
index 451a158e2..55bd7da2a 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/openh264-encode-test.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/openh264-encode-test.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@
 
 name: OpenH264 Encode Test (MP4)
 description: Generates color bars, encodes to H.264 using OpenH264, and muxes into MP4
+group: video-encoding-oneshot
+variant: H.264 (OpenH264)
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - h.264
+  - openh264
+  - mp4
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/parakeet-stt.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/parakeet-stt.yml
index e06a4f763..a459f64ea 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/parakeet-stt.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/parakeet-stt.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 name: Speech-to-Text (Parakeet TDT)
 description: Fast English speech transcription using NVIDIA Parakeet TDT (~10x faster than Whisper on CPU)
+group: speech-to-text
+variant: Parakeet TDT
+category: Speech to Text
+tags:
+  - speech-to-text
+keywords:
+  - stt
+  - asr
+  - transcribe
+  - transcription
+  - parakeet
+  - nvidia
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/piper-tts.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/piper-tts.yml
index c99874fdb..ac84d46ae 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/piper-tts.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/piper-tts.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@
 
 name: Text-to-Speech (Piper)
 description: Synthesizes speech from text using Piper
+group: text-to-speech
+variant: Piper
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - speech synthesis
+  - synthesize
+  - voice
+  - piper
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts-voice-clone.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts-voice-clone.yml
index 32bc3ffb6..239921e53 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts-voice-clone.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts-voice-clone.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@
 
 name: Text-to-Speech (Pocket TTS Voice Clone)
 description: Synthesizes speech from text using Pocket TTS with a voice prompt WAV
+group: text-to-speech
+variant: Pocket TTS (Voice Clone)
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - speech synthesis
+  - voice clone
+  - pocket
+  - cloning
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts.yml
index 1419d6cdb..757606378 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/pocket-tts.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@
 
 name: Text-to-Speech (Pocket TTS)
 description: Synthesizes speech from text using Pocket TTS
+group: text-to-speech
+variant: Pocket TTS
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - speech synthesis
+  - synthesize
+  - voice
+  - pocket
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/sensevoice-stt.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/sensevoice-stt.yml
index 57cd82a45..6b32d1857 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/sensevoice-stt.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/sensevoice-stt.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 name: Speech-to-Text (SenseVoice)
 description: Transcribes speech in multiple languages using SenseVoice
+group: speech-to-text
+variant: SenseVoice
+category: Speech to Text
+tags:
+  - speech-to-text
+keywords:
+  - stt
+  - asr
+  - transcribe
+  - transcription
+  - sensevoice
+  - multilingual
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text.yml
index 8d797f5f2..fb46dc7a9 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,18 @@
 name: Speech-to-Text (Whisper)
 description: Transcribes speech to text using Whisper
+group: speech-to-text
+variant: Whisper
+canonical: true
+category: Speech to Text
+tags:
+  - speech-to-text
+  - subtitles
+keywords:
+  - stt
+  - asr
+  - transcribe
+  - transcription
+  - whisper
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate.yml
index 278c27e82..8d0d34d57 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,23 @@
 
 name: Speech Translation (English → Spanish)
 description: Translates English speech into Spanish speech
+group: speech-translation-oneshot
+variant: NLLB
+canonical: true
+category: Speech Translation
+tags:
+  - translation
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - translate
+  - english
+  - spanish
+  - nllb
+  - whisper
+  - piper
+  - stt
+  - tts
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate_helsinki.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate_helsinki.yml
index 27d108901..ab16c3d90 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate_helsinki.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/speech_to_text_translate_helsinki.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,21 @@
 
 name: Speech Translation (English → Spanish) - Helsinki
 description: Translates English speech into Spanish speech using Apache 2.0 licensed Helsinki OPUS-MT
+group: speech-translation-oneshot
+variant: Helsinki
+category: Speech Translation
+tags:
+  - translation
+  - speech-to-text
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - translate
+  - english
+  - spanish
+  - helsinki
+  - opus-mt
+  - stt
+  - tts
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/supertonic-tts.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/supertonic-tts.yml
index bd20be870..992ccacaf 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/supertonic-tts.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/supertonic-tts.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 name: Text-to-Speech (Supertonic)
 description: Synthesizes speech from text using Supertonic (5 languages, 10 voice styles)
+group: text-to-speech
+variant: Supertonic
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - speech synthesis
+  - synthesize
+  - voice
+  - supertonic
+  - multilingual
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/transcode_to_s3.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/transcode_to_s3.yml
index ec8ab042e..6148344ea 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/transcode_to_s3.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/transcode_to_s3.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,17 @@
 
 name: Transcode to S3 (Ogg → MP4)
 description: Transcodes uploaded Ogg/Opus audio to MP4, uploads to S3, and returns the result
+category: Audio Processing
+tags:
+  - transcoding
+  - archival
+  - muxing
+keywords:
+  - s3
+  - object storage
+  - transcode
+  - mp4
+  - archive
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/tts_to_s3.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/tts_to_s3.yml
index 0f57fae24..373e07926 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/tts_to_s3.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/tts_to_s3.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@
 
 name: TTS to S3 (Kokoro)
 description: Synthesizes speech from text, uploads OGG audio to S3, and returns the result
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+  - archival
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - s3
+  - object storage
+  - kokoro
+  - archive
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/useless-facts-tts.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/useless-facts-tts.yml
index 9b7bcd35c..94a318afb 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/useless-facts-tts.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/useless-facts-tts.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@
 
 name: Text-to-Speech (Useless Facts)
 description: Fetches a random fact and reads it out loud using Kokoro
+category: Text to Speech
+tags:
+  - text-to-speech
+keywords:
+  - tts
+  - facts
+  - script
+  - fetch
+  - kokoro
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-demo.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-demo.yml
index dad8056ba..95b299600 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-demo.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-demo.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@
 
 name: Voice Activity Detection
 description: Detects voice activity and outputs events as JSON
+category: Voice Activity
+tags:
+  - voice-activity-detection
+keywords:
+  - vad
+  - voice activity
+  - silence
+  - speech detection
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-filtered-stt.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-filtered-stt.yml
index e423285ec..3d5c15e2c 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-filtered-stt.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/vad-filtered-stt.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,20 @@
 
 name: Speech-to-Text (Whisper, VAD-Filtered)
 description: Filters silence with VAD before transcribing with Whisper
+group: speech-to-text
+variant: Whisper (VAD-Filtered)
+category: Speech to Text
+tags:
+  - speech-to-text
+  - voice-activity-detection
+keywords:
+  - stt
+  - asr
+  - transcribe
+  - transcription
+  - whisper
+  - vad
+  - silence
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_av1_compositor_demo.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_av1_compositor_demo.yml
index c53498fce..cb16ebd52 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_av1_compositor_demo.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_av1_compositor_demo.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,19 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor Demo (AV1)
 description: Composites two colorbars sources (main + PiP) with a text overlay and logo watermark, encodes to AV1, and streams a WebM via http_output (30 seconds)
+group: video-compositor-oneshot
+variant: AV1 (rav1e)
+category: Video Compositing
+tags:
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - overlay
+  - watermark
+  - pip
+  - av1
+  - rav1e
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_colorbars.yml
index cd2b76bd6..1a9151e4d 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_colorbars.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,18 @@
 
 name: Video Color Bars (VP9/WebM)
 description: Generates SMPTE color bars, encodes to VP9, and outputs a WebM file (30 seconds)
+group: video-encoding-oneshot
+variant: VP9 (Software)
+canonical: true
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - smpte
+  - test pattern
+  - vp9
+  - webm
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_demo.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_demo.yml
index 262c66c79..846ee3af6 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_demo.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_demo.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,20 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor Demo
 description: Composites two colorbars sources (main + PiP) with a text overlay and the StreamKit logo watermark through the compositor node, encodes to VP9, and streams a WebM via http_output with real-time pacing (30 seconds)
+group: video-compositor-oneshot
+variant: VP9
+canonical: true
+category: Video Compositing
+tags:
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - overlay
+  - watermark
+  - pip
+  - vp9
+  - webm
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_svg_overlay.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_svg_overlay.yml
index a5d6f7bbe..6da6df0f7 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_svg_overlay.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_compositor_svg_overlay.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,16 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor SVG Overlay Demo
 description: Composites colorbars with an SVG overlay (test_logo.svg), encodes to VP9, and streams a WebM via http_output (30 seconds)
+category: Video Compositing
+tags:
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - svg
+  - overlay
+  - vector
+  - vp9
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_dav1d_compositor_demo.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_dav1d_compositor_demo.yml
index 13e124975..0bebc8d7d 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_dav1d_compositor_demo.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_dav1d_compositor_demo.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,19 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor Demo (dav1d AV1)
 description: Composites two colorbars sources (main + PiP) with a text overlay and logo watermark, encodes to AV1 (SVT-AV1), decodes with C dav1d, re-encodes, and streams a WebM via http_output (30 seconds)
+group: video-compositor-oneshot
+variant: AV1 (dav1d decode)
+category: Video Compositing
+tags:
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - overlay
+  - watermark
+  - pip
+  - av1
+  - dav1d
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_nv_av1_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_nv_av1_colorbars.yml
index dddddc21f..998d09b0a 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_nv_av1_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_nv_av1_colorbars.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,19 @@
 
 name: NVENC AV1 Encode (WebM Oneshot)
 description: Generates color bars, encodes to AV1 using NVIDIA NVENC HW encoder, and muxes into WebM (30 seconds)
+group: video-encoding-oneshot
+variant: AV1 (NVENC)
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:nvidia"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - av1
+  - nvenc
+  - nvidia
+  - gpu
+  - webm
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_slint_watermark.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_slint_watermark.yml
index 31264a552..703b53384 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_slint_watermark.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_slint_watermark.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@
 
 name: Video Slint Watermark (Oneshot)
 description: Composites colorbars with a Slint watermark overlay, encodes to VP9, and streams a WebM via http_output
+category: Video Compositing
+tags:
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - slint
+  - watermark
+  - overlay
+  - graphics
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_svt_av1_compositor_demo.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_svt_av1_compositor_demo.yml
index fcf6c08ef..6ffe67243 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_svt_av1_compositor_demo.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_svt_av1_compositor_demo.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,19 @@
 
 name: Video Compositor Demo (SVT-AV1)
 description: Composites two colorbars sources (main + PiP) with a text overlay and logo watermark, encodes to AV1 via SVT-AV1, and streams a WebM via http_output (30 seconds)
+group: video-compositor-oneshot
+variant: AV1 (SVT-AV1)
+category: Video Compositing
+tags:
+  - compositing
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - compositor
+  - overlay
+  - watermark
+  - pip
+  - av1
+  - svt-av1
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml
index 9ac5d81cd..b2df4205d 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_av1_colorbars.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,18 @@
 
 name: VA-API AV1 Encode (WebM Oneshot)
 description: Generates color bars, encodes to AV1 using VA-API HW encoder, and muxes into WebM (30 seconds)
+group: video-encoding-oneshot
+variant: AV1 (VA-API)
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:vaapi"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - av1
+  - vaapi
+  - gpu
+  - webm
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml
index ac6f513d0..75778d889 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vaapi_h264_colorbars.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,18 @@
 
 name: VA-API H.264 Encode (MP4 Oneshot)
 description: Generates color bars, encodes to H.264 using VA-API HW encoder, and muxes into MP4 (30 seconds)
+group: video-encoding-oneshot
+variant: H.264 (VA-API)
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:vaapi"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - h.264
+  - vaapi
+  - gpu
+  - mp4
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml
index acbe95baf..04eaa6507 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/video_vulkan_video_h264_colorbars.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,18 @@
 
 name: Vulkan Video H.264 Encode (MP4 Oneshot)
 description: Generates color bars, encodes to H.264 using Vulkan Video HW encoder, and muxes into MP4 (30 seconds)
+group: video-encoding-oneshot
+variant: H.264 (Vulkan)
+category: Video Encoding
+tags:
+  - video-encoding
+  - "hardware:vulkan"
+keywords:
+  - colorbars
+  - h.264
+  - vulkan
+  - gpu
+  - mp4
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_capture.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_capture.yml
index 6e7b0bc11..3baa0c19e 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_capture.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_capture.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,17 @@
 
 name: Web Page Capture (Servo)
 description: Renders a web page via the Servo engine and outputs a short VP9/WebM clip
+category: Web Capture
+tags:
+  - web-capture
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - servo
+  - web
+  - browser
+  - render
+  - vp9
+  - webm
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_pip_compositor.yml b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_pip_compositor.yml
index fa6fe3f23..ade20f868 100644
--- a/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_pip_compositor.yml
+++ b/samples/pipelines/oneshot/web_pip_compositor.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,19 @@
 
 name: Web PiP Compositor (H.264/MP4)
 description: Composites a Servo-rendered WebGL page as PiP over colorbars, encodes to H.264/MP4
+category: Web Capture
+tags:
+  - web-capture
+  - compositing
+  - picture-in-picture
+  - video-encoding
+keywords:
+  - servo
+  - web
+  - browser
+  - webgl
+  - pip
+  - h.264
 mode: oneshot
 client:
   input:
diff --git a/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.styles.ts b/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.styles.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..780701762
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.styles.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,337 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2025 StreamKit Contributors
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+/**
+ * Styled components for TemplateSelector.
+ *
+ * Extracted to a separate file to keep the main component under the
+ * file-length lint budget.
+ */
+
+import styled from '@emotion/styled';
+import * as RadixRadioGroup from '@radix-ui/react-radio-group';
+
+import { RadioLabel } from '@/components/ui/RadioGroup';
+
+export const SelectorContainer = styled.div`
+  width: 100%;
+`;
+
+export const Controls = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  gap: 12px;
+  align-items: center;
+  justify-content: space-between;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  margin-bottom: 12px;
+`;
+
+export const SearchInput = styled.input`
+  flex: 1;
+  min-width: 220px;
+  padding: 10px 12px;
+  font-size: 14px;
+  background: var(--sk-bg);
+  color: var(--sk-text);
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  font-family: inherit;
+
+  &:focus {
+    outline: none;
+    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
+  }
+
+  &::placeholder {
+    color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+  }
+`;
+
+export const FilterGroup = styled.div`
+  display: inline-flex;
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  overflow: hidden;
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+`;
+
+export const FilterButton = styled.button<{ active?: boolean }>`
+  padding: 8px 12px;
+  font-size: 13px;
+  font-weight: 700;
+  border: none;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  transition: none;
+  background: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary)' : 'transparent')};
+  color: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary-contrast)' : 'var(--sk-text)')};
+
+  &:hover {
+    background: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary-hover)' : 'var(--sk-hover-bg)')};
+  }
+
+  &:focus-visible {
+    outline: 2px solid var(--sk-primary);
+    outline-offset: -2px;
+  }
+`;
+
+export const HiddenSelectionHint = styled.div`
+  padding: 10px 12px;
+  margin-bottom: 12px;
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+  font-size: 13px;
+`;
+
+export const Section = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 12px;
+  margin-bottom: 18px;
+`;
+
+export const SectionHeader = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: baseline;
+  justify-content: space-between;
+  gap: 12px;
+  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+  font-size: 12px;
+  font-weight: 800;
+  letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+`;
+
+export const SectionCount = styled.span`
+  font-weight: 700;
+  letter-spacing: 0.02em;
+  text-transform: none;
+`;
+
+export const EmptyState = styled.div`
+  padding: 16px;
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+  font-size: 14px;
+`;
+
+export const TemplateGrid = styled.div`
+  display: grid;
+  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(250px, 1fr));
+  gap: 16px;
+`;
+
+export const TemplateCard = styled(RadioLabel)`
+  padding: 20px;
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+  border: 2px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  text-align: left;
+  display: flex;
+  gap: 12px;
+  transition: none;
+  align-items: flex-start;
+
+  &:hover {
+    border-color: var(--sk-border-strong);
+    background: var(--sk-hover-bg);
+  }
+
+  &:has([data-state='checked']) {
+    background: var(--sk-primary);
+    color: var(--sk-primary-contrast);
+    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
+  }
+
+  &:has([data-state='checked']):hover {
+    background: var(--sk-primary-hover);
+    border-color: var(--sk-primary-hover);
+  }
+`;
+
+export const TemplateContent = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 8px;
+  flex: 1;
+`;
+
+export const TemplateHeader = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 8px;
+`;
+
+export const TemplateName = styled.div`
+  font-weight: 600;
+  font-size: 16px;
+`;
+
+export const TemplateBadge = styled.span<{ variant: 'system' | 'user' }>`
+  font-size: 11px;
+  font-weight: 700;
+  padding: 3px 10px;
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+  letter-spacing: 0.5px;
+  white-space: nowrap;
+  background: ${(props) => (props.variant === 'system' ? '#4caf50' : '#2196f3')};
+  color: #ffffff;
+
+  /* Adjust for selected state - use high contrast */
+  [data-state='checked'] & {
+    background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
+    color: #ffffff;
+    border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6);
+    padding: 2px 9px; /* Account for border */
+  }
+`;
+
+export const TemplateDescription = styled.div`
+  font-size: 13px;
+  line-height: 1.4;
+  color: inherit;
+  opacity: 0.9;
+`;
+
+export const FacetBar = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 6px;
+  margin-bottom: 16px;
+  padding: 10px 12px;
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+`;
+
+export const FacetRow = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: baseline;
+  gap: 6px;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+`;
+
+export const FacetRowLabel = styled.span`
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+  width: 84px;
+  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+  font-size: 10px;
+  font-weight: 800;
+  letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+`;
+
+// Filter chips use a squared-off shape so they read as filters, distinct from
+// the fully-rounded variant pills (which are a selection control, not a filter).
+export const FacetChip = styled.button<{ active?: boolean }>`
+  padding: 3px 8px;
+  font-size: 12px;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  border-radius: 6px;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  transition: none;
+  background: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary)' : 'var(--sk-panel-bg)')};
+  color: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary-contrast)' : 'var(--sk-text)')};
+  border: 1px solid ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary)' : 'var(--sk-border)')};
+
+  &:hover {
+    border-color: ${(props) =>
+      props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary-hover)' : 'var(--sk-border-strong)'};
+    background: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary-hover)' : 'var(--sk-hover-bg)')};
+  }
+
+  &:focus-visible {
+    outline: 2px solid var(--sk-primary);
+    outline-offset: 2px;
+  }
+`;
+
+// Plain div twin of TemplateCard for multi-variant groups: the card itself is
+// not a single radio target, so selection happens through the variant pills.
+export const GroupCard = styled.div`
+  padding: 20px;
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+  border: 2px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+  text-align: left;
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  gap: 12px;
+
+  &:hover {
+    border-color: var(--sk-border-strong);
+    background: var(--sk-hover-bg);
+  }
+
+  &[data-selected] {
+    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
+    background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--sk-primary) 8%, var(--sk-panel-bg));
+    box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px var(--sk-primary);
+  }
+
+  &[data-selected]:hover {
+    background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--sk-primary) 14%, var(--sk-panel-bg));
+  }
+`;
+
+// Ghost button for clearing all active filters; rendered once in the Controls row.
+export const ClearAllButton = styled.button`
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+  color: var(--sk-primary);
+  font-size: 13px;
+  font-weight: 700;
+  padding: 5px 12px;
+  border-radius: 6px;
+  cursor: pointer;
+
+  &:hover {
+    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
+    background: var(--sk-hover-bg);
+  }
+
+  &:focus-visible {
+    outline: 2px solid var(--sk-primary);
+    outline-offset: 2px;
+  }
+`;
+
+export const VariantSelector = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  gap: 6px;
+`;
+
+export const VariantOption = styled(RadixRadioGroup.Item)`
+  padding: 5px 12px;
+  font-size: 13px;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  border-radius: 999px;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  background: var(--sk-bg);
+  color: var(--sk-text);
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+
+  &:hover {
+    border-color: var(--sk-border-strong);
+    background: var(--sk-hover-bg);
+  }
+
+  &[data-state='checked'] {
+    background: var(--sk-primary);
+    color: var(--sk-primary-contrast);
+    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
+  }
+
+  &:focus-visible {
+    outline: 2px solid var(--sk-primary);
+    outline-offset: 2px;
+  }
+`;
diff --git a/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.test.tsx b/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.test.tsx
index 2b1fa5aa2..baf9c3245 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.test.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import type { SamplePipeline } from '@/types/generated/api-types';
 import { TemplateSelector } from './TemplateSelector';
 
 function makePipeline(overrides: Partial<SamplePipeline> = {}): SamplePipeline {
-  return {
+  const base: SamplePipeline = {
     id: 'tpl-1',
     name: 'Test Pipeline',
     description: 'A test pipeline',
@@ -18,8 +18,20 @@ function makePipeline(overrides: Partial<SamplePipeline> = {}): SamplePipeline {
     is_system: true,
     mode: 'oneshot',
     is_fragment: false,
+    group: null,
+    variant: null,
+    canonical: false,
+    category: null,
+    tags: [],
+    search_terms: [],
     ...overrides,
   };
+  if (!overrides.search_terms) {
+    base.search_terms = [base.name, base.description, base.category, ...base.tags]
+      .filter((t): t is string => Boolean(t))
+      .map((t) => t.toLowerCase());
+  }
+  return base;
 }
 
 const SYSTEM_TPL = makePipeline({ id: 'sys-1', name: 'Transcribe Audio', is_system: true });
@@ -95,14 +107,13 @@ describe('TemplateSelector', () => {
     expect(screen.getByText('Selected template is hidden by your filters.')).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
-  it('clears filters when hint button is clicked', () => {
+  it('clears filters via the persistent Clear all filters control', () => {
     render(<TemplateSelector {...defaultProps} selectedTemplateId="usr-1" />);
 
     const systemButton = screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'System' });
     fireEvent.click(systemButton);
 
-    const clearButton = screen.getByText('Clear filters');
-    fireEvent.click(clearButton);
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Clear all filters' }));
 
     expect(screen.getByText('Transcribe Audio')).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.getByText('My Custom Pipeline')).toBeInTheDocument();
@@ -137,3 +148,121 @@ describe('TemplateSelector', () => {
     expect(screen.getByRole('group', { name: 'Filter templates by origin' })).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 });
+
+describe('TemplateSelector variant grouping', () => {
+  const colorbars = makePipeline({
+    id: 'd/colorbars',
+    name: 'Colorbars',
+    group: 'video-moq-colorbars',
+    variant: 'Software',
+    canonical: true,
+  });
+  const h264 = makePipeline({
+    id: 'd/h264-colorbars',
+    name: 'H.264 Colorbars',
+    group: 'video-moq-colorbars',
+    variant: 'H.264',
+  });
+  const vaapi = makePipeline({
+    id: 'd/vaapi-colorbars',
+    name: 'VA-API Colorbars',
+    group: 'video-moq-colorbars',
+    variant: 'VA-API H.264',
+  });
+
+  it('collapses a variant family into a single card with a variant selector', () => {
+    render(
+      <TemplateSelector
+        templates={[colorbars, h264, vaapi]}
+        selectedTemplateId=""
+        onTemplateSelect={vi.fn()}
+      />
+    );
+
+    const systemHeader = screen.getByText('System Pipelines').closest('div')!;
+    expect(within(systemHeader).getByText('1')).toBeInTheDocument();
+
+    expect(screen.getByRole('group', { name: /Colorbars variants/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'Software' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'H.264' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'VA-API H.264' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('selecting a variant loads that variant id', () => {
+    const onSelect = vi.fn();
+    render(
+      <TemplateSelector
+        templates={[colorbars, h264, vaapi]}
+        selectedTemplateId=""
+        onTemplateSelect={onSelect}
+      />
+    );
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('radio', { name: 'VA-API H.264' }));
+    expect(onSelect).toHaveBeenCalledWith('d/vaapi-colorbars');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('TemplateSelector facets', () => {
+  const encode = makePipeline({
+    id: 'd/encode',
+    name: 'VA-API Encode',
+    category: 'Video Encoding',
+    tags: ['video-encoding', 'hardware:vaapi'],
+  });
+  const transcribe = makePipeline({
+    id: 'o/transcribe',
+    name: 'Transcribe',
+    category: 'Speech to Text',
+    tags: ['speech-to-text'],
+  });
+
+  it('filters by category facet chip', () => {
+    render(
+      <TemplateSelector
+        templates={[encode, transcribe]}
+        selectedTemplateId=""
+        onTemplateSelect={vi.fn()}
+      />
+    );
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Speech to Text' }));
+    expect(screen.getByText('Transcribe')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByText('VA-API Encode')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('filters to hardware-requiring samples via the requirements facet', () => {
+    render(
+      <TemplateSelector
+        templates={[encode, transcribe]}
+        selectedTemplateId=""
+        onTemplateSelect={vi.fn()}
+      />
+    );
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Needs GPU' }));
+    expect(screen.getByText('VA-API Encode')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByText('Transcribe')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('hides facet chips that only exist outside the active origin filter', () => {
+    const userEncode = makePipeline({
+      id: 'u/encode',
+      name: 'My Encode',
+      is_system: false,
+      category: 'Video Encoding',
+      tags: ['video-encoding'],
+    });
+    render(
+      <TemplateSelector
+        templates={[encode, transcribe, userEncode]}
+        selectedTemplateId=""
+        onTemplateSelect={vi.fn()}
+      />
+    );
+
+    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Speech to Text' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'User' }));
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('button', { name: 'Speech to Text' })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.tsx b/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.tsx
index 9706b0684..c1d05dbe8 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/converter/TemplateSelector.tsx
@@ -2,265 +2,288 @@
 //
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
 
-import styled from '@emotion/styled';
 import React from 'react';
 
-import { RadioGroupRoot, RadioItem, RadioIndicator, RadioLabel } from '@/components/ui/RadioGroup';
+import { RadioGroupRoot, RadioItem, RadioIndicator } from '@/components/ui/RadioGroup';
 import type { SamplePipeline } from '@/types/generated/api-types';
+import { labelFromKey } from '@/utils/jsonSchema';
+import type { SampleFacets, ScenarioGroup } from '@/utils/samplePipelineOrdering';
 import {
+  buildSearchHaystack,
+  collectSampleFacets,
   compareSamplePipelinesByName,
-  matchesSamplePipelineQuery,
+  groupSamplePipelinesByScenario,
+  haystackMatchesTokens,
+  sampleNeedsHardware,
+  tokenizeQuery,
 } from '@/utils/samplePipelineOrdering';
 
-const SelectorContainer = styled.div`
-  width: 100%;
-`;
-
-const Controls = styled.div`
-  display: flex;
-  gap: 12px;
-  align-items: center;
-  justify-content: space-between;
-  flex-wrap: wrap;
-  margin-bottom: 12px;
-`;
-
-const SearchInput = styled.input`
-  flex: 1;
-  min-width: 220px;
-  padding: 10px 12px;
-  font-size: 14px;
-  background: var(--sk-bg);
-  color: var(--sk-text);
-  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
-  border-radius: 8px;
-  font-family: inherit;
-
-  &:focus {
-    outline: none;
-    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
-  }
-
-  &::placeholder {
-    color: var(--sk-text-muted);
-  }
-`;
-
-const FilterGroup = styled.div`
-  display: inline-flex;
-  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
-  border-radius: 8px;
-  overflow: hidden;
-  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
-`;
-
-const FilterButton = styled.button<{ active?: boolean }>`
-  padding: 8px 12px;
-  font-size: 13px;
-  font-weight: 700;
-  border: none;
-  cursor: pointer;
-  transition: none;
-  background: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary)' : 'transparent')};
-  color: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary-contrast)' : 'var(--sk-text)')};
-
-  &:hover {
-    background: ${(props) => (props.active ? 'var(--sk-primary-hover)' : 'var(--sk-hover-bg)')};
-  }
+import {
+  ClearAllButton,
+  Controls,
+  EmptyState,
+  FacetBar,
+  FacetChip,
+  FacetRow,
+  FacetRowLabel,
+  FilterButton,
+  FilterGroup,
+  GroupCard,
+  HiddenSelectionHint,
+  SearchInput,
+  Section,
+  SectionCount,
+  SectionHeader,
+  SelectorContainer,
+  TemplateBadge,
+  TemplateCard,
+  TemplateContent,
+  TemplateDescription,
+  TemplateGrid,
+  TemplateHeader,
+  TemplateName,
+  VariantOption,
+  VariantSelector,
+} from './TemplateSelector.styles';
 
-  &:focus-visible {
-    outline: 2px solid var(--sk-primary);
-    outline-offset: -2px;
-  }
-`;
-
-const HiddenSelectionHint = styled.div`
-  display: flex;
-  align-items: center;
-  justify-content: space-between;
-  gap: 12px;
-  padding: 10px 12px;
-  margin-bottom: 12px;
-  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
-  border-radius: 8px;
-  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
-  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
-  font-size: 13px;
-`;
-
-const HintButton = styled.button`
-  border: none;
-  background: none;
-  color: var(--sk-primary);
-  font-weight: 700;
-  cursor: pointer;
-  padding: 0;
-
-  &:hover {
-    color: var(--sk-primary-hover);
-  }
+interface TemplateSelectorProps {
+  templates: SamplePipeline[];
+  selectedTemplateId: string;
+  onTemplateSelect: (templateId: string) => void;
+  onSelectionHiddenChange?: (hidden: boolean) => void;
+}
 
-  &:focus-visible {
-    outline: 2px solid var(--sk-primary);
-    outline-offset: 2px;
-    border-radius: 4px;
-  }
-`;
-
-const Section = styled.div`
-  display: flex;
-  flex-direction: column;
-  gap: 12px;
-  margin-bottom: 18px;
-`;
-
-const SectionHeader = styled.div`
-  display: flex;
-  align-items: baseline;
-  justify-content: space-between;
-  gap: 12px;
-  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
-  font-size: 12px;
-  font-weight: 800;
-  letter-spacing: 0.08em;
-  text-transform: uppercase;
-`;
-
-const SectionCount = styled.span`
-  font-weight: 700;
-  letter-spacing: 0.02em;
-  text-transform: none;
-`;
-
-const EmptyState = styled.div`
-  padding: 16px;
-  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
-  border-radius: 8px;
-  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
-  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
-  font-size: 14px;
-`;
-
-const TemplateGrid = styled.div`
-  display: grid;
-  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(250px, 1fr));
-  gap: 16px;
-`;
-
-const TemplateCard = styled(RadioLabel)`
-  padding: 20px;
-  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
-  border: 2px solid var(--sk-border);
-  border-radius: 8px;
-  cursor: pointer;
-  text-align: left;
-  display: flex;
-  gap: 12px;
-  transition: none;
-  align-items: flex-start;
-
-  &:hover {
-    border-color: var(--sk-border-strong);
-    background: var(--sk-hover-bg);
+const ScenarioHeader: React.FC<{ sample: SamplePipeline }> = ({ sample }) => (
+  <TemplateContent>
+    <TemplateHeader>
+      <TemplateName>{sample.name}</TemplateName>
+      <TemplateBadge variant={sample.is_system ? 'system' : 'user'}>
+        {sample.is_system ? 'System' : 'User'}
+      </TemplateBadge>
+    </TemplateHeader>
+    {sample.description && <TemplateDescription>{sample.description}</TemplateDescription>}
+  </TemplateContent>
+);
+
+const ScenarioCard: React.FC<{ group: ScenarioGroup; selectedTemplateId: string }> = ({
+  group,
+  selectedTemplateId,
+}) => {
+  const { base, variants } = group;
+
+  if (variants.length === 1) {
+    return (
+      <TemplateCard htmlFor={`template-${base.id}`}>
+        <RadioItem value={base.id} id={`template-${base.id}`} aria-label={base.name}>
+          <RadioIndicator />
+        </RadioItem>
+        <ScenarioHeader sample={base} />
+      </TemplateCard>
+    );
   }
 
-  &:has([data-state='checked']) {
-    background: var(--sk-primary);
-    color: var(--sk-primary-contrast);
-    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
-  }
+  const selectedMember = variants.find((variant) => variant.id === selectedTemplateId);
 
-  &:has([data-state='checked']):hover {
-    background: var(--sk-primary-hover);
-    border-color: var(--sk-primary-hover);
-  }
-`;
-
-const TemplateContent = styled.div`
-  display: flex;
-  flex-direction: column;
-  gap: 8px;
-  flex: 1;
-`;
-
-const TemplateHeader = styled.div`
-  display: flex;
-  align-items: center;
-  gap: 8px;
-`;
-
-const TemplateName = styled.div`
-  font-weight: 600;
-  font-size: 16px;
-`;
-
-const TemplateBadge = styled.span<{ variant: 'system' | 'user' }>`
-  font-size: 11px;
-  font-weight: 700;
-  padding: 3px 10px;
-  border-radius: 4px;
-  text-transform: uppercase;
-  letter-spacing: 0.5px;
-  white-space: nowrap;
-  background: ${(props) => (props.variant === 'system' ? '#4caf50' : '#2196f3')};
-  color: #ffffff;
-
-  /* Adjust for selected state - use high contrast */
-  [data-state='checked'] & {
-    background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
-    color: #ffffff;
-    border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6);
-    padding: 2px 9px; /* Account for border */
-  }
-`;
+  return (
+    <GroupCard data-selected={selectedMember ? true : undefined}>
+      <ScenarioHeader sample={selectedMember ?? base} />
+      <VariantSelector role="group" aria-label={`${base.name} variants`}>
+        {variants.map((variant) => {
+          const variantLabel = variant.variant ?? variant.name;
+          return (
+            <VariantOption key={variant.id} value={variant.id} aria-label={variantLabel}>
+              {variantLabel}
+            </VariantOption>
+          );
+        })}
+      </VariantSelector>
+    </GroupCard>
+  );
+};
 
-const TemplateDescription = styled.div`
-  font-size: 13px;
-  line-height: 1.4;
-  color: inherit;
-  opacity: 0.9;
-`;
+function toScenarioGroups(samples: SamplePipeline[]): ScenarioGroup[] {
+  return groupSamplePipelinesByScenario(samples).sort((a, b) =>
+    compareSamplePipelinesByName(a.base, b.base)
+  );
+}
 
-interface TemplateSelectorProps {
-  templates: SamplePipeline[];
+const GroupSection: React.FC<{
+  title: string;
+  groups: ScenarioGroup[];
   selectedTemplateId: string;
-  onTemplateSelect: (templateId: string) => void;
+}> = ({ title, groups, selectedTemplateId }) => {
+  if (groups.length === 0) return null;
+  return (
+    <Section>
+      <SectionHeader>
+        <span>{title}</span>
+        <SectionCount>{groups.length}</SectionCount>
+      </SectionHeader>
+      <TemplateGrid>
+        {groups.map((group) => (
+          <ScenarioCard key={group.key} group={group} selectedTemplateId={selectedTemplateId} />
+        ))}
+      </TemplateGrid>
+    </Section>
+  );
+};
+
+interface FacetFiltersProps {
+  facets: SampleFacets;
+  categoryFilter: string | null;
+  capabilityFilter: string | null;
+  hardwareOnly: boolean;
+  onToggleCategory: (category: string) => void;
+  onToggleCapability: (capability: string) => void;
+  onToggleHardware: () => void;
 }
 
+const FacetFilters: React.FC<FacetFiltersProps> = ({
+  facets,
+  categoryFilter,
+  capabilityFilter,
+  hardwareOnly,
+  onToggleCategory,
+  onToggleCapability,
+  onToggleHardware,
+}) => (
+  <FacetBar>
+    {facets.categories.length > 0 && (
+      <FacetRow role="group" aria-label="Filter by category">
+        <FacetRowLabel>Category</FacetRowLabel>
+        {facets.categories.map((category) => (
+          <FacetChip
+            key={category}
+            type="button"
+            active={categoryFilter === category}
+            aria-pressed={categoryFilter === category}
+            onClick={() => onToggleCategory(category)}
+          >
+            {category}
+          </FacetChip>
+        ))}
+      </FacetRow>
+    )}
+
+    {facets.capabilities.length > 0 && (
+      <FacetRow role="group" aria-label="Filter by capability">
+        <FacetRowLabel>Capability</FacetRowLabel>
+        {facets.capabilities.map((capability) => (
+          <FacetChip
+            key={capability}
+            type="button"
+            active={capabilityFilter === capability}
+            aria-pressed={capabilityFilter === capability}
+            onClick={() => onToggleCapability(capability)}
+          >
+            {labelFromKey(capability)}
+          </FacetChip>
+        ))}
+      </FacetRow>
+    )}
+
+    {facets.hasHardware && (
+      <FacetRow role="group" aria-label="Filter by hardware requirements">
+        <FacetRowLabel>Requirements</FacetRowLabel>
+        <FacetChip
+          type="button"
+          active={hardwareOnly}
+          aria-pressed={hardwareOnly}
+          onClick={onToggleHardware}
+        >
+          Needs GPU
+        </FacetChip>
+      </FacetRow>
+    )}
+  </FacetBar>
+);
+
 export const TemplateSelector: React.FC<TemplateSelectorProps> = ({
   templates,
   selectedTemplateId,
   onTemplateSelect,
+  onSelectionHiddenChange,
 }) => {
   const [query, setQuery] = React.useState('');
   const [originFilter, setOriginFilter] = React.useState<'all' | 'system' | 'user'>('all');
+  const [categoryFilter, setCategoryFilter] = React.useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [capabilityFilter, setCapabilityFilter] = React.useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [hardwareOnly, setHardwareOnly] = React.useState(false);
+
+  const originFilteredTemplates = React.useMemo(
+    () =>
+      templates.filter((template) => {
+        if (originFilter === 'system' && !template.is_system) return false;
+        if (originFilter === 'user' && template.is_system) return false;
+        return true;
+      }),
+    [templates, originFilter]
+  );
+
+  const facets = React.useMemo(
+    () => collectSampleFacets(originFilteredTemplates),
+    [originFilteredTemplates]
+  );
+
+  const haystacks = React.useMemo(() => {
+    const map = new Map<string, string>();
+    for (const template of templates) {
+      map.set(template.id, buildSearchHaystack(template));
+    }
+    return map;
+  }, [templates]);
+
+  const facetFiltersActive = Boolean(categoryFilter || capabilityFilter || hardwareOnly);
+  const anyFilterActive = Boolean(query.trim() || originFilter !== 'all' || facetFiltersActive);
 
   const resetFilters = React.useCallback(() => {
     setQuery('');
     setOriginFilter('all');
+    setCategoryFilter(null);
+    setCapabilityFilter(null);
+    setHardwareOnly(false);
   }, []);
 
+  const toggleCategory = React.useCallback(
+    (category: string) => setCategoryFilter((current) => (current === category ? null : category)),
+    []
+  );
+
+  const toggleCapability = React.useCallback(
+    (capability: string) =>
+      setCapabilityFilter((current) => (current === capability ? null : capability)),
+    []
+  );
+
+  const toggleHardware = React.useCallback(() => setHardwareOnly((current) => !current), []);
+
+  const queryTokens = React.useMemo(() => tokenizeQuery(query), [query]);
+
   const filteredTemplates = React.useMemo(() => {
-    return templates.filter((template) => {
-      if (originFilter === 'system' && !template.is_system) return false;
-      if (originFilter === 'user' && template.is_system) return false;
-      return matchesSamplePipelineQuery(template, query);
+    return originFilteredTemplates.filter((template) => {
+      if (categoryFilter && template.category !== categoryFilter) return false;
+      if (capabilityFilter && !(template.tags ?? []).includes(capabilityFilter)) return false;
+      if (hardwareOnly && !sampleNeedsHardware(template)) return false;
+      return haystackMatchesTokens(haystacks.get(template.id) ?? '', queryTokens);
     });
-  }, [templates, originFilter, query]);
-
-  const systemTemplates = React.useMemo(() => {
-    return filteredTemplates
-      .filter((template) => template.is_system)
-      .slice()
-      .sort(compareSamplePipelinesByName);
-  }, [filteredTemplates]);
-
-  const userTemplates = React.useMemo(() => {
-    return filteredTemplates
-      .filter((template) => !template.is_system)
-      .slice()
-      .sort(compareSamplePipelinesByName);
-  }, [filteredTemplates]);
+  }, [
+    originFilteredTemplates,
+    categoryFilter,
+    capabilityFilter,
+    hardwareOnly,
+    haystacks,
+    queryTokens,
+  ]);
+
+  const systemGroups = React.useMemo(
+    () => toScenarioGroups(filteredTemplates.filter((template) => template.is_system)),
+    [filteredTemplates]
+  );
+
+  const userGroups = React.useMemo(
+    () => toScenarioGroups(filteredTemplates.filter((template) => !template.is_system)),
+    [filteredTemplates]
+  );
 
   const selectedExists = React.useMemo(() => {
     return templates.some((template) => template.id === selectedTemplateId);
@@ -270,11 +293,16 @@ export const TemplateSelector: React.FC<TemplateSelectorProps> = ({
     return filteredTemplates.some((template) => template.id === selectedTemplateId);
   }, [filteredTemplates, selectedTemplateId]);
 
-  const showHiddenSelectionHint =
-    selectedTemplateId &&
-    selectedExists &&
-    !selectedVisible &&
-    (query.trim() || originFilter !== 'all');
+  const selectionHidden = Boolean(selectedTemplateId && selectedExists && !selectedVisible);
+
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    onSelectionHiddenChange?.(selectionHidden);
+  }, [selectionHidden, onSelectionHiddenChange]);
+
+  const showHiddenSelectionHint = selectionHidden && anyFilterActive;
+
+  const showFacetBar =
+    facets.categories.length > 0 || facets.capabilities.length > 0 || facets.hasHardware;
 
   return (
     <SelectorContainer>
@@ -308,15 +336,27 @@ export const TemplateSelector: React.FC<TemplateSelectorProps> = ({
             User
           </FilterButton>
         </FilterGroup>
+        {anyFilterActive && (
+          <ClearAllButton type="button" onClick={resetFilters}>
+            Clear all filters
+          </ClearAllButton>
+        )}
       </Controls>
 
+      {showFacetBar && (
+        <FacetFilters
+          facets={facets}
+          categoryFilter={categoryFilter}
+          capabilityFilter={capabilityFilter}
+          hardwareOnly={hardwareOnly}
+          onToggleCategory={toggleCategory}
+          onToggleCapability={toggleCapability}
+          onToggleHardware={toggleHardware}
+        />
+      )}
+
       {showHiddenSelectionHint && (
-        <HiddenSelectionHint>
-          <div>Selected template is hidden by your filters.</div>
-          <HintButton type="button" onClick={resetFilters}>
-            Clear filters
-          </HintButton>
-        </HiddenSelectionHint>
+        <HiddenSelectionHint>Selected template is hidden by your filters.</HiddenSelectionHint>
       )}
 
       <RadioGroupRoot
@@ -324,63 +364,20 @@ export const TemplateSelector: React.FC<TemplateSelectorProps> = ({
         onValueChange={onTemplateSelect}
         aria-label="Pipeline template selection"
       >
-        {systemTemplates.length === 0 && userTemplates.length === 0 && (
+        {systemGroups.length === 0 && userGroups.length === 0 && (
           <EmptyState>No pipelines match your filters.</EmptyState>
         )}
 
-        {systemTemplates.length > 0 && (
-          <Section>
-            <SectionHeader>
-              <span>System Pipelines</span>
-              <SectionCount>{systemTemplates.length}</SectionCount>
-            </SectionHeader>
-            <TemplateGrid>
-              {systemTemplates.map((template) => (
-                <TemplateCard key={template.id} htmlFor={`template-${template.id}`}>
-                  <RadioItem value={template.id} id={`template-${template.id}`}>
-                    <RadioIndicator />
-                  </RadioItem>
-                  <TemplateContent>
-                    <TemplateHeader>
-                      <TemplateName>{template.name}</TemplateName>
-                      <TemplateBadge variant={template.is_system ? 'system' : 'user'}>
-                        {template.is_system ? 'System' : 'User'}
-                      </TemplateBadge>
-                    </TemplateHeader>
-                    <TemplateDescription>{template.description}</TemplateDescription>
-                  </TemplateContent>
-                </TemplateCard>
-              ))}
-            </TemplateGrid>
-          </Section>
-        )}
-
-        {userTemplates.length > 0 && (
-          <Section>
-            <SectionHeader>
-              <span>User Pipelines</span>
-              <SectionCount>{userTemplates.length}</SectionCount>
-            </SectionHeader>
-            <TemplateGrid>
-              {userTemplates.map((template) => (
-                <TemplateCard key={template.id} htmlFor={`template-${template.id}`}>
-                  <RadioItem value={template.id} id={`template-${template.id}`}>
-                    <RadioIndicator />
-                  </RadioItem>
-                  <TemplateContent>
-                    <TemplateHeader>
-                      <TemplateName>{template.name}</TemplateName>
-                      <TemplateBadge variant={template.is_system ? 'system' : 'user'}>
-                        {template.is_system ? 'System' : 'User'}
-                      </TemplateBadge>
-                    </TemplateHeader>
-                    <TemplateDescription>{template.description}</TemplateDescription>
-                  </TemplateContent>
-                </TemplateCard>
-              ))}
-            </TemplateGrid>
-          </Section>
-        )}
+        <GroupSection
+          title="System Pipelines"
+          groups={systemGroups}
+          selectedTemplateId={selectedTemplateId}
+        />
+        <GroupSection
+          title="User Pipelines"
+          groups={userGroups}
+          selectedTemplateId={selectedTemplateId}
+        />
       </RadioGroupRoot>
     </SelectorContainer>
   );
diff --git a/ui/src/components/stream/PipelineSelectionSection.tsx b/ui/src/components/stream/PipelineSelectionSection.tsx
index 14d3a00c5..c3eec3661 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/stream/PipelineSelectionSection.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/stream/PipelineSelectionSection.tsx
@@ -105,6 +105,15 @@ const LoadingMessage = styled.div`
   font-size: 14px;
 `;
 
+const HiddenSelectionMessage = styled.div`
+  padding: 24px 16px;
+  text-align: center;
+  font-size: 14px;
+  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+  border: 1px dashed var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+`;
+
 const ActiveSessionBadge = styled.div`
   display: inline-flex;
   align-items: center;
@@ -272,6 +281,7 @@ export const PipelineSelectionSection: React.FC<PipelineSelectionSectionProps> =
 }) => {
   const showEmptyState = !samplesLoading && samples.length === 0;
   const showTemplates = !samplesLoading && samples.length > 0;
+  const [selectionHidden, setSelectionHidden] = React.useState(false);
 
   return (
     <Section>
@@ -289,13 +299,21 @@ export const PipelineSelectionSection: React.FC<PipelineSelectionSectionProps> =
             templates={samples}
             selectedTemplateId={selectedTemplateId}
             onTemplateSelect={onTemplateSelect}
+            onSelectionHiddenChange={setSelectionHidden}
           />
 
-          <PipelineEditor
-            value={pipelineYaml}
-            onChange={onPipelineYamlChange}
-            nodeDefinitions={nodeDefinitions}
-          />
+          {selectionHidden ? (
+            <HiddenSelectionMessage>
+              The selected pipeline is hidden by the active filters. Clear the filters or pick a
+              pipeline to customize it.
+            </HiddenSelectionMessage>
+          ) : (
+            <PipelineEditor
+              value={pipelineYaml}
+              onChange={onPipelineYamlChange}
+              nodeDefinitions={nodeDefinitions}
+            />
+          )}
 
           <InputGroup>
             <Label htmlFor="session-name">Session Name (Optional)</Label>
@@ -325,7 +343,7 @@ export const PipelineSelectionSection: React.FC<PipelineSelectionSectionProps> =
             <Button
               variant="primary"
               onClick={onCreateSession}
-              disabled={sessionCreationStatus === 'creating' || !pipelineYaml}
+              disabled={sessionCreationStatus === 'creating' || !pipelineYaml || selectionHidden}
             >
               {sessionCreationStatus === 'creating' ? 'Creating Session...' : 'Create Session'}
             </Button>
diff --git a/ui/src/services/fragments.test.ts b/ui/src/services/fragments.test.ts
index b77290554..5f386ee3a 100644
--- a/ui/src/services/fragments.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/services/fragments.test.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ const FRAGMENT_SAMPLE: SamplePipeline = {
   is_system: false,
   mode: 'oneshot',
   is_fragment: true,
+  group: null,
+  variant: null,
+  canonical: false,
+  category: null,
+  tags: [],
+  search_terms: [],
 };
 
 beforeEach(() => {
diff --git a/ui/src/services/samples.test.ts b/ui/src/services/samples.test.ts
index 915f6fb0a..122170f71 100644
--- a/ui/src/services/samples.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/services/samples.test.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,12 @@ const SAMPLE: SamplePipeline = {
   is_system: false,
   mode: 'oneshot',
   is_fragment: false,
+  group: null,
+  variant: null,
+  canonical: false,
+  category: null,
+  tags: [],
+  search_terms: [],
 };
 
 beforeEach(() => {
diff --git a/ui/src/types/generated/api-types.ts b/ui/src/types/generated/api-types.ts
index 781e5f112..88eb04de7 100644
--- a/ui/src/types/generated/api-types.ts
+++ b/ui/src/types/generated/api-types.ts
@@ -373,7 +373,34 @@ export type SamplePipeline = { id: string, name: string, description: string, ya
 /**
  * Whether this is a reusable fragment (partial pipeline) vs a complete pipeline
  */
-is_fragment: boolean, };
+is_fragment: boolean, 
+/**
+ * Base-scenario key shared by variants; collapses near-duplicate samples
+ * into a single card with a variant selector in the UI.
+ */
+group: string | null, 
+/**
+ * Human label distinguishing this variant within its `group`.
+ */
+variant: string | null, 
+/**
+ * Whether this member represents its `group` (supplies the card title and
+ * description). Exactly one member of a multi-sample group sets this.
+ */
+canonical: boolean, 
+/**
+ * Top-level bucket used for faceted filtering.
+ */
+category: string | null, 
+/**
+ * Facetable capability keywords powering the facet chips.
+ */
+tags: Array<string>, 
+/**
+ * Resolved, lowercased search document (name, description, category,
+ * tags, authored keywords, node kinds) the UI matches queries against.
+ */
+search_terms: Array<string>, };
 
 export type SavePipelineRequest = { name: string, description: string, yaml: string, overwrite: boolean, 
 /**
diff --git a/ui/src/utils/jsonSchema.ts b/ui/src/utils/jsonSchema.ts
index 69024bf07..ae33046f0 100644
--- a/ui/src/utils/jsonSchema.ts
+++ b/ui/src/utils/jsonSchema.ts
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ export const extractTextConfigs = (schema: JsonSchema | undefined): TextConfig[]
 // Schema → ControlConfig conversion
 
 /** Derive a human-readable label: "clock_running" → "Clock Running". */
-function labelFromKey(key: string): string {
+export function labelFromKey(key: string): string {
   return key.replace(/[_-]/g, ' ').replace(/\b\w/g, (c) => c.toUpperCase());
 }
 
diff --git a/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.test.ts b/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.test.ts
index 2d66bb4c3..0046f385d 100644
--- a/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.test.ts
@@ -7,20 +7,43 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 import type { SamplePipeline } from '@/types/generated/api-types';
 
 import {
+  collectSampleFacets,
   compareSamplePipelinesByName,
+  groupSamplePipelinesByScenario,
   matchesSamplePipelineQuery,
   orderSamplePipelinesSystemFirst,
+  sampleNeedsHardware,
 } from './samplePipelineOrdering';
 
+// Mirrors the backend `build_search_terms`: when a fixture does not supply an
+// explicit `search_terms`, derive one from the discovery fields so query tests
+// exercise the same document the server emits.
 function makePipeline(partial: Partial<SamplePipeline> & { id: string }): SamplePipeline {
+  const name = partial.name ?? '';
+  const description = partial.description ?? '';
+  const category = partial.category ?? null;
+  const group = partial.group ?? null;
+  const variant = partial.variant ?? null;
+  const tags = partial.tags ?? [];
+  const search_terms =
+    partial.search_terms ??
+    [name, description, category, group, variant, ...tags]
+      .filter((t): t is string => Boolean(t))
+      .map((t) => t.toLowerCase());
   return {
     id: partial.id,
-    name: partial.name ?? '',
-    description: partial.description ?? '',
+    name,
+    description,
     yaml: partial.yaml ?? '',
     is_system: partial.is_system ?? false,
     mode: partial.mode ?? 'dynamic',
     is_fragment: partial.is_fragment ?? false,
+    group,
+    variant,
+    canonical: partial.canonical ?? false,
+    category,
+    tags,
+    search_terms,
   };
 }
 
@@ -111,11 +134,11 @@ describe('matchesSamplePipelineQuery', () => {
     expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(pipeline, 'ffmpeg')).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it('matches by id', () => {
+  it('matches a search term substring', () => {
     expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(pipeline, 'mp4')).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it('returns false when the query is not a substring of any field', () => {
+  it('returns false when the query is not a substring of any search term', () => {
     expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(pipeline, 'flac')).toBe(false);
   });
 
@@ -124,8 +147,135 @@ describe('matchesSamplePipelineQuery', () => {
   });
 
   it('handles missing fields without throwing', () => {
-    const sparse = makePipeline({ id: 'x', name: '', description: '' });
+    const sparse = makePipeline({ id: 'x', name: 'x', description: '' });
     expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(sparse, 'x')).toBe(true);
     expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(sparse, 'absent')).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  it('matches via tags and category', () => {
+    const sample = makePipeline({
+      id: 'whisper-transcribe',
+      name: 'Live Transcription',
+      category: 'Speech to Text',
+      tags: ['speech-to-text', 'voice-activity-detection'],
+    });
+    expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(sample, 'speech')).toBe(true);
+    expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(sample, 'voice activity')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('matches authored aliases baked into the resolved search document', () => {
+    // Aliases/synonyms (e.g. "stt") live in each sample's authored keywords,
+    // which the backend folds into search_terms; the UI does no expansion.
+    const stt = makePipeline({
+      id: 'stt',
+      name: 'Whisper',
+      search_terms: ['whisper', 'speech-to-text', 'stt', 'transcribe'],
+    });
+    expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(stt, 'stt')).toBe(true);
+    expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(stt, 'transcribe')).toBe(true);
+    expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(stt, 'tts')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('requires every query term to match (AND semantics)', () => {
+    const sample = makePipeline({
+      id: 'hw-encode',
+      name: 'VA-API H.264 Colorbars',
+      tags: ['video-encoding', 'hardware:vaapi'],
+    });
+    expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(sample, 'vaapi encoding')).toBe(true);
+    expect(matchesSamplePipelineQuery(sample, 'vaapi audio')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('groupSamplePipelinesByScenario', () => {
+  const plain = makePipeline({
+    id: 'd/colorbars',
+    name: 'Colorbars',
+    group: 'video-moq-colorbars',
+    variant: 'Software',
+    canonical: true,
+  });
+  const h264 = makePipeline({
+    id: 'd/h264-colorbars',
+    name: 'H.264 Colorbars',
+    group: 'video-moq-colorbars',
+    variant: 'H.264',
+  });
+  const vaapi = makePipeline({
+    id: 'd/vaapi-colorbars',
+    name: 'VA-API Colorbars',
+    group: 'video-moq-colorbars',
+    variant: 'VA-API H.264',
+  });
+
+  it('collapses same-group samples into one entry with the canonical member first', () => {
+    const groups = groupSamplePipelinesByScenario([h264, plain, vaapi]);
+    expect(groups).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(groups[0].key).toBe('video-moq-colorbars');
+    // The canonical member is the base and comes first.
+    expect(groups[0].base).toBe(plain);
+    expect(groups[0].variants[0]).toBe(plain);
+    expect(groups[0].variants.map((v) => v.variant)).toEqual(['Software', 'H.264', 'VA-API H.264']);
+  });
+
+  it('treats samples without a group as singletons keyed by id', () => {
+    const a = makePipeline({ id: 'oneshot/tts', name: 'TTS' });
+    const b = makePipeline({ id: 'oneshot/stt', name: 'STT' });
+    const groups = groupSamplePipelinesByScenario([a, b]);
+    expect(groups).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(groups.map((g) => g.key)).toEqual(['oneshot/tts', 'oneshot/stt']);
+  });
+
+  it('returns groups in deterministic insertion order (callers re-sort for display)', () => {
+    const groups = groupSamplePipelinesByScenario([
+      makePipeline({ id: 'b', group: 'beta' }),
+      makePipeline({ id: 'a', group: 'alpha' }),
+      makePipeline({ id: 'b2', group: 'beta' }),
+    ]);
+    expect(groups.map((g) => g.key)).toEqual(['beta', 'alpha']);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('sampleNeedsHardware', () => {
+  it('detects hardware facet tags', () => {
+    expect(sampleNeedsHardware(makePipeline({ id: 'a', tags: ['hardware:vaapi'] }))).toBe(true);
+    expect(sampleNeedsHardware(makePipeline({ id: 'b', tags: ['video-encoding'] }))).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('collectSampleFacets', () => {
+  it('aggregates sorted categories and capabilities, excluding hardware tags', () => {
+    const facets = collectSampleFacets([
+      makePipeline({
+        id: 'a',
+        category: 'Video Encoding',
+        tags: ['hardware:vaapi', 'colorbars'],
+      }),
+      makePipeline({ id: 'b', category: 'Speech to Text', tags: ['transcription'] }),
+    ]);
+    expect(facets.categories).toEqual(['Speech to Text', 'Video Encoding']);
+    expect(facets.capabilities).toEqual(['colorbars', 'transcription']);
+    expect(facets.hasHardware).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps tags as capabilities even when a same-named category is shown', () => {
+    // category is a single bucket while tags are multi-valued, so a capability
+    // chip must survive as a cross-cutting filter (e.g. a sample bucketed as
+    // `Video Compositing` may still carry `video-encoding`).
+    const facets = collectSampleFacets([
+      makePipeline({ id: 'a', category: 'Video Encoding', tags: ['video-encoding'] }),
+      makePipeline({
+        id: 'b',
+        category: 'Video Compositing',
+        tags: ['compositing', 'video-encoding'],
+      }),
+    ]);
+    expect(facets.categories).toEqual(['Video Compositing', 'Video Encoding']);
+    expect(facets.capabilities).toEqual(['compositing', 'video-encoding']);
+  });
+
+  it('reports no hardware when no hardware tags are present', () => {
+    const facets = collectSampleFacets([makePipeline({ id: 'a', tags: ['transcription'] })]);
+    expect(facets.hasHardware).toBe(false);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.ts b/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.ts
index 5507f57bb..8edcaa06f 100644
--- a/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.ts
+++ b/ui/src/utils/samplePipelineOrdering.ts
@@ -37,14 +37,118 @@ export function orderSamplePipelinesSystemFirst(pipelines: SamplePipeline[]): Sa
   return [...system, ...user];
 }
 
+/** Splits a free-text query into lowercased, whitespace-delimited tokens. */
+export function tokenizeQuery(query: string): string[] {
+  return query.trim().toLowerCase().split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean);
+}
+
+/** Flattens a pipeline's backend-resolved `search_terms` into one searchable string. */
+export function buildSearchHaystack(pipeline: SamplePipeline): string {
+  return (pipeline.search_terms ?? []).join(' ');
+}
+
+/** Every token must be a substring of `haystack`; an empty token list matches everything. */
+export function haystackMatchesTokens(haystack: string, tokens: string[]): boolean {
+  if (tokens.length === 0) return true;
+  return tokens.every((token) => haystack.includes(token));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether a pipeline matches a tokenized query, against the backend-resolved
+ * `search_terms` document (name, description, id, category, tags, authored
+ * keywords, node kinds). Synonyms/aliases live in each sample's authored
+ * `keywords`, not in a UI-side table, so the UI does no semantic expansion.
+ */
+export function matchesQueryTokens(pipeline: SamplePipeline, tokens: string[]): boolean {
+  return haystackMatchesTokens(buildSearchHaystack(pipeline), tokens);
+}
+
+/** Convenience wrapper that tokenizes `query` and matches a single pipeline. */
 export function matchesSamplePipelineQuery(pipeline: SamplePipeline, query: string): boolean {
-  const normalizedQuery = query.trim().toLowerCase();
-  if (!normalizedQuery) return true;
+  return matchesQueryTokens(pipeline, tokenizeQuery(query));
+}
+
+export interface ScenarioGroup {
+  /** Stable key shared by all variants (the pipeline `group`, or the id). */
+  key: string;
+  /** Canonical member supplying the card title/description. */
+  base: SamplePipeline;
+  /** All samples in the group, canonical member first. */
+  variants: SamplePipeline[];
+}
+
+function variantSortKey(sample: SamplePipeline): string {
+  return (sample.variant ?? '').toLowerCase();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Collapses samples that share a `group` into a single entry with a variant
+ * list, so near-duplicate cards (e.g. the colorbars codec/hardware family)
+ * render once with a variant selector. Samples without a group are singletons.
+ * Group ordering is the caller's responsibility (the picker sorts by name).
+ */
+export function groupSamplePipelinesByScenario(samples: SamplePipeline[]): ScenarioGroup[] {
+  const byKey = new Map<string, SamplePipeline[]>();
+
+  for (const sample of samples) {
+    const key = sample.group && sample.group.length > 0 ? sample.group : sample.id;
+    const existing = byKey.get(key);
+    if (existing) {
+      existing.push(sample);
+    } else {
+      byKey.set(key, [sample]);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return Array.from(byKey, ([key, members]) => {
+    const variants = members.slice().sort((a, b) => {
+      const aCanonical = a.canonical ? 0 : 1;
+      const bCanonical = b.canonical ? 0 : 1;
+      if (aCanonical !== bCanonical) return aCanonical - bCanonical;
+      const variantCompare = getCollator().compare(variantSortKey(a), variantSortKey(b));
+      if (variantCompare !== 0) return variantCompare;
+      return compareSamplePipelinesByName(a, b);
+    });
+    const base = variants.find((v) => v.canonical) ?? variants[0];
+    return { key, base, variants };
+  });
+}
+
+const HARDWARE_TAG_PREFIX = 'hardware:';
+
+export function sampleNeedsHardware(sample: SamplePipeline): boolean {
+  return (sample.tags ?? []).some((tag) => tag.startsWith(HARDWARE_TAG_PREFIX));
+}
+
+export interface SampleFacets {
+  categories: string[];
+  capabilities: string[];
+  hasHardware: boolean;
+}
+
+/** Capability tags exclude the `hardware:*` facets, which surface as a toggle. */
+export function collectSampleFacets(samples: SamplePipeline[]): SampleFacets {
+  const categories = new Set<string>();
+  const capabilities = new Set<string>();
+  let hasHardware = false;
+
+  for (const sample of samples) {
+    if (sample.category) categories.add(sample.category);
+    for (const tag of sample.tags ?? []) {
+      if (tag.startsWith(HARDWARE_TAG_PREFIX)) {
+        hasHardware = true;
+      } else {
+        capabilities.add(tag);
+      }
+    }
+  }
 
-  const haystack = [pipeline.name, pipeline.description, pipeline.id]
-    .filter(Boolean)
-    .join(' ')
-    .toLowerCase();
+  const sortStrings = (values: Set<string>): string[] =>
+    [...values].sort((a, b) => getCollator().compare(a, b));
 
-  return haystack.includes(normalizedQuery);
+  return {
+    categories: sortStrings(categories),
+    capabilities: sortStrings(capabilities),
+    hasHardware,
+  };
 }
diff --git a/ui/src/views/ConvertView.tsx b/ui/src/views/ConvertView.tsx
index 3da95bd9b..56bb9bd86 100644
--- a/ui/src/views/ConvertView.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/views/ConvertView.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import styled from '@emotion/styled';
 import { load as loadYaml } from 'js-yaml';
 import React, { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import { useNavigate } from 'react-router-dom';
 
 import { AssetSelector } from '@/components/converter/AssetSelector';
 import { ConversionProgress } from '@/components/converter/ConversionProgress';
@@ -145,6 +146,41 @@ const ConvertButtonContainer = styled.div`
   justify-content: center;
 `;
 
+const CustomizeActions = styled.div`
+  display: flex;
+  justify-content: flex-end;
+`;
+
+const CustomizeHiddenHint = styled.div`
+  padding: 24px 16px;
+  text-align: center;
+  font-size: 14px;
+  color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+  border: 1px dashed var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 8px;
+`;
+
+const OpenInDesignButton = styled.button`
+  padding: 8px 16px;
+  font-size: 13px;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  color: var(--sk-text);
+  background: var(--sk-panel-bg);
+  border: 1px solid var(--sk-border);
+  border-radius: 6px;
+  cursor: pointer;
+
+  &:hover:not(:disabled) {
+    border-color: var(--sk-primary);
+    color: var(--sk-primary);
+  }
+
+  &:disabled {
+    color: var(--sk-text-muted);
+    cursor: not-allowed;
+  }
+`;
+
 const ConvertButton = styled.button<{ disabled: boolean; isProcessing?: boolean }>`
   padding: 14px 40px;
   font-size: 16px;
@@ -755,6 +791,28 @@ const ConvertView: React.FC = () => {
     fetchSamples();
   }, [setSamples, setSamplesLoading, setSamplesError, setSelectedTemplateId, setPipelineYaml]);
 
+  const navigate = useNavigate();
+
+  const [selectionHidden, setSelectionHidden] = useState(false);
+
+  const handleOpenInDesign = useCallback(() => {
+    if (!pipelineYaml.trim()) return;
+    const sample = samples.find((s) => s.id === selectedTemplateId);
+    const yamlName =
+      typeof parsedPipelineYaml?.name === 'string' ? parsedPipelineYaml.name : undefined;
+    const yamlDescription =
+      typeof parsedPipelineYaml?.description === 'string'
+        ? parsedPipelineYaml.description
+        : undefined;
+    navigate('/design', {
+      state: {
+        importYaml: pipelineYaml,
+        name: yamlName ?? sample?.name ?? '',
+        description: yamlDescription ?? sample?.description ?? '',
+      },
+    });
+  }, [navigate, pipelineYaml, parsedPipelineYaml, samples, selectedTemplateId]);
+
   const handleTemplateSelect = (templateId: string) => {
     const sample = samples.find((s) => s.id === templateId);
     if (sample) {
@@ -1227,19 +1285,37 @@ const ConvertView: React.FC = () => {
                 templates={samples}
                 selectedTemplateId={selectedTemplateId}
                 onTemplateSelect={handleTemplateSelect}
+                onSelectionHiddenChange={setSelectionHidden}
               />
             )}
           </Section>
 
           <Section>
             <SectionTitle>2. Customize Pipeline (Optional)</SectionTitle>
-            <EditorSection>
-              <PipelineEditor
-                value={pipelineYaml}
-                onChange={setPipelineYaml}
-                nodeDefinitions={nodeDefinitions}
-              />
-            </EditorSection>
+            {selectionHidden ? (
+              <CustomizeHiddenHint>
+                The selected pipeline is hidden by the active filters. Clear the filters or pick a
+                pipeline to customize it.
+              </CustomizeHiddenHint>
+            ) : (
+              <EditorSection>
+                <PipelineEditor
+                  value={pipelineYaml}
+                  onChange={setPipelineYaml}
+                  nodeDefinitions={nodeDefinitions}
+                />
+                <CustomizeActions>
+                  <OpenInDesignButton
+                    type="button"
+                    onClick={handleOpenInDesign}
+                    disabled={!pipelineYaml.trim()}
+                    title="Open this pipeline in the visual Design editor"
+                  >
+                    Open in Design view
+                  </OpenInDesignButton>
+                </CustomizeActions>
+              </EditorSection>
+            )}
           </Section>
 
           {!isNoInputPipeline && (
diff --git a/ui/src/views/DesignView.tsx b/ui/src/views/DesignView.tsx
index b7ded4578..b5c90a99c 100644
--- a/ui/src/views/DesignView.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/views/DesignView.tsx
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import {
   type OnConnectEnd,
 } from '@xyflow/react';
 import React, { useState, useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
-import { useNavigate } from 'react-router-dom';
+import { useLocation, useNavigate } from 'react-router-dom';
 import { useShallow } from 'zustand/shallow';
 
 import ConfirmModal from '@/components/ConfirmModal';
@@ -556,6 +556,9 @@ const DesignViewContent: React.FC = () => {
     getId,
   } = usePipeline();
 
+  const location = useLocation();
+  const handoffImportedRef = React.useRef(false);
+
   const cachesRef = React.useRef<Partial<Record<'oneshot' | 'dynamic', PipelineCanvasCache>>>({});
 
   React.useEffect(() => {
@@ -1330,6 +1333,18 @@ const DesignViewContent: React.FC = () => {
     }
   };
 
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    const handoff = location.state as {
+      importYaml?: string;
+      name?: string;
+      description?: string;
+    } | null;
+    if (handoffImportedRef.current || !handoff?.importYaml || nodeDefinitions.length === 0) return;
+    handoffImportedRef.current = true;
+    handleLoadSample(handoff.importYaml, handoff.name ?? '', handoff.description ?? '');
+    navigate('.', { replace: true, state: null });
+  }, [location.state, nodeDefinitions, handleLoadSample, navigate]);
+
   const handleClearCanvas = React.useCallback(() => {
     setNodes([]);
     setEdges([]);