diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/quarantine.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/quarantine.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..21a738809
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/quarantine.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/**
+ * Quarantine layer (Layer 3 of the worker-pool resilience model).
+ *
+ * Tracks paths that caused a worker death this pool lifetime and must
+ * not be re-dispatched to a worker. Session-scoped — created once per
+ * `createWorkerPool` invocation and discarded with the pool.
+ *
+ * This module is the first piece of the U13 layer-extraction work. The
+ * doc-review's A10 finding flagged the full 5-module split as
+ * abstraction-without-multi-consumer-demand, so the rest of the
+ * extraction is deferred until a real second consumer emerges (e.g., a
+ * non-parse worker pool that reuses the same resilience layers).
+ * Extracting the smallest self-contained layer first validates the
+ * factory + interface pattern with minimal risk: behavior is unchanged,
+ * the worker-pool.ts public API is unchanged, and existing tests act as
+ * the regression net.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Operations a {@link createQuarantine} instance exposes to the worker
+ * pool. Intentionally tiny — anything more would invite the abstraction
+ * overhead doc-review A10 cautioned against. Snapshot returns a fresh
+ * `string[]` (not a `Set` or iterator) so callers can pass it directly
+ * to `WorkerPoolDispatchError` without an `Array.from` dance and so
+ * mutations to the returned array can't accidentally leak back into the
+ * internal set.
+ */
+export interface Quarantine {
+  /** Mark `path` as known-bad for the remainder of this pool's life. */
+  add(path: string): void;
+  /** Whether `path` has been quarantined. */
+  has(path: string): boolean;
+  /** Defensive copy of every quarantined path. */
+  snapshot(): string[];
+  /** How many distinct paths are currently quarantined. */
+  readonly size: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Construct a fresh quarantine. Each `createWorkerPool` invocation gets
+ * its own instance — quarantines never outlive the pool that created
+ * them. The implementation is a thin wrapper around `Set<string>`; the
+ * named interface exists to make the resilience layer addressable as a
+ * unit (named module, dedicated tests) instead of an inline Set field
+ * tangled into 1100+ LOC of pool plumbing.
+ */
+export function createQuarantine(): Quarantine {
+  const paths = new Set<string>();
+  return {
+    add: (path) => {
+      paths.add(path);
+    },
+    has: (path) => paths.has(path),
+    snapshot: () => Array.from(paths),
+    get size() {
+      return paths.size;
+    },
+  };
+}
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts
index 5823a5676..c87f65449 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/ingestion/workers/worker-pool.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import fs from 'node:fs';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 
 import { logger } from '../../logger.js';
+import { createQuarantine } from './quarantine.js';
 export interface WorkerPool {
   /**
    * Dispatch items across workers. Items are split into bounded jobs, each job
@@ -468,7 +469,12 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
   const workers: (Worker | undefined)[] = new Array(size);
   const respawnCount: number[] = new Array(size).fill(0);
   const activeSlots: Set<number> = new Set();
-  const quarantined: Set<string> = new Set();
+  // Layer 3 (quarantine): tracked via the dedicated `quarantine.ts`
+  // module so the resilience layer is addressable as a unit (named
+  // interface, isolated tests) rather than an inline Set tangled into
+  // 1100+ LOC of pool plumbing. Public worker-pool API is unchanged —
+  // `getQuarantinedPaths()` still returns the same defensive copy.
+  const quarantine = createQuarantine();
   // Per-slot consecutive-failure counter (F6): replaces the prior pool-wide
   // scalar so a chronically-failing slot trips the breaker on its own
   // failure streak instead of being masked by another slot's successes.
@@ -517,7 +523,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
     const dispatchableItems: TInput[] = [];
     for (const item of items) {
       const path = itemPath(item);
-      if (path !== undefined && quarantined.has(path)) continue;
+      if (path !== undefined && quarantine.has(path)) continue;
       dispatchableItems.push(item);
     }
     if (dispatchableItems.length === 0) return Promise.resolve([]);
@@ -658,7 +664,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
           }
           const firstPath = itemPath(job.items[0]);
           if (firstPath !== undefined) {
-            quarantined.add(firstPath);
+            quarantine.add(firstPath);
             logger.warn(
               { startIndex: job.startIndex, firstPath, deaths },
               `Conceptual job ${job.startIndex} died ${deaths} times unattributably; ` +
@@ -707,7 +713,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
         if (stopped) return;
         consecutiveFailuresPerSlot[workerIndex]++;
         for (const p of excludePaths) {
-          if (p) quarantined.add(p);
+          if (p) quarantine.add(p);
         }
         if (consecutiveFailuresPerSlot[workerIndex] >= poolOptions.consecutiveFailureThreshold) {
           tripBreaker(
@@ -715,7 +721,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
               `${reason}. Pool circuit breaker tripped: slot ${workerIndex} hit ` +
                 `${consecutiveFailuresPerSlot[workerIndex]} consecutive failures ` +
                 `(threshold: ${poolOptions.consecutiveFailureThreshold}).`,
-              Array.from(quarantined),
+              quarantine.snapshot(),
             ),
           );
           return;
@@ -739,7 +745,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
             tripBreaker(
               new WorkerPoolDispatchError(
                 `${reason}. All ${size} worker slot(s) exhausted their respawn budget.`,
-                Array.from(quarantined),
+                quarantine.snapshot(),
               ),
             );
             return;
@@ -762,7 +768,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
             tripBreaker(
               new WorkerPoolDispatchError(
                 `${reason}. Replacement worker startup failed and no slots remain.`,
-                Array.from(quarantined),
+                quarantine.snapshot(),
               ),
             );
           }
@@ -909,10 +915,10 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
         // queued jobs are fully quarantined back-to-back).
         let job: WorkerJob<TInput> | undefined;
         while ((job = jobs.shift()) !== undefined) {
-          if (quarantined.size === 0) break;
+          if (quarantine.size === 0) break;
           const dispatchable = job.items.filter((item) => {
             const p = itemPath(item);
-            return p === undefined || !quarantined.has(p);
+            return p === undefined || !quarantine.has(p);
           });
           if (dispatchable.length === 0) continue;
           if (dispatchable.length !== job.items.length) {
@@ -1064,7 +1070,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
                   tripBreaker(
                     new WorkerPoolDispatchError(
                       `Worker pool exhausted all slots during idle-timeout retry.`,
-                      Array.from(quarantined),
+                      quarantine.snapshot(),
                     ),
                   );
                   return;
@@ -1120,7 +1126,7 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
               tripBreaker(
                 new WorkerPoolDispatchError(
                   `Worker ${workerIndex} protocol error: result before flush`,
-                  Array.from(quarantined),
+                  quarantine.snapshot(),
                 ),
               );
               return;
@@ -1225,12 +1231,12 @@ export const createWorkerPool = (
     dispatch,
     terminate,
     size,
-    getQuarantinedPaths: () => Array.from(quarantined),
+    getQuarantinedPaths: () => quarantine.snapshot(),
     getStats: () => ({
       size,
       activeSlots: activeSlots.size,
       droppedSlots: size - activeSlots.size,
-      quarantined: quarantined.size,
+      quarantined: quarantine.size,
       poolBroken,
       slotGenerations: slotGenerations.slice(),
     }),
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/workers/quarantine.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/workers/quarantine.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e8c61825
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/workers/quarantine.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/**
+ * U13 (partial) — Isolated tests for the extracted quarantine layer.
+ *
+ * Worker-pool resilience integration tests (`worker-pool-resilience`,
+ * `worker-pool-windows-quarantine`, `worker-pool.test.ts`) already
+ * exercise the quarantine through the full pool. This file pins the
+ * module's interface CONTRACT directly so a future change to the
+ * quarantine surface — extra methods, signature drift, snapshot
+ * shape — surfaces a focused failure here instead of cascading into
+ * the larger integration suite.
+ *
+ * Notably: the `snapshot()` return type is `string[]`, not `Set` or
+ * iterator. Tests pin that callers can both mutate the returned array
+ * (it's a defensive copy) AND pass it directly to consumers expecting
+ * `string[]` (the `WorkerPoolDispatchError` fallback-exclude-paths
+ * shape).
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { createQuarantine } from '../../../src/core/ingestion/workers/quarantine.js';
+
+describe('quarantine module (U13 partial)', () => {
+  it('starts empty', () => {
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    expect(q.size).toBe(0);
+    expect(q.snapshot()).toEqual([]);
+    expect(q.has('any/path.ts')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('records exact-string paths via add() and reports them via has() + size', () => {
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    q.add('src/bad.ts');
+    expect(q.size).toBe(1);
+    expect(q.has('src/bad.ts')).toBe(true);
+    expect(q.has('src/other.ts')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('deduplicates repeated add() calls — size grows by exactly one distinct path', () => {
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    q.add('src/bad.ts');
+    q.add('src/bad.ts');
+    q.add('src/bad.ts');
+    expect(q.size).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('preserves separator-style for round-trip (no normalization — matches U9 / M5 contract)', () => {
+    // Pins the contract worker-pool-windows-quarantine.test.ts asserts
+    // at the pool level: the quarantine layer treats paths as opaque
+    // strings. `src\\bad.ts` and `src/bad.ts` are distinct entries.
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    q.add('src\\bad.ts');
+    expect(q.has('src\\bad.ts')).toBe(true);
+    expect(q.has('src/bad.ts')).toBe(false);
+    expect(q.size).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('snapshot() returns a defensive copy — mutation does not leak back into the quarantine', () => {
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    q.add('src/a.ts');
+    q.add('src/b.ts');
+    const snap = q.snapshot();
+    expect(snap.sort()).toEqual(['src/a.ts', 'src/b.ts']);
+
+    // Mutate the returned array; the internal state must not change.
+    snap.length = 0;
+    snap.push('src/never-added.ts');
+    expect(q.size).toBe(2);
+    expect(q.has('src/a.ts')).toBe(true);
+    expect(q.has('src/never-added.ts')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('snapshots are independent — successive calls return fresh arrays', () => {
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    q.add('src/a.ts');
+    const first = q.snapshot();
+    const second = q.snapshot();
+    expect(first).toEqual(second);
+    expect(first).not.toBe(second);
+  });
+
+  it('reflects subsequent add() calls in later snapshots', () => {
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    q.add('src/a.ts');
+    expect(q.snapshot()).toEqual(['src/a.ts']);
+    q.add('src/b.ts');
+    expect(q.snapshot().sort()).toEqual(['src/a.ts', 'src/b.ts']);
+  });
+
+  it('size is a getter, not a stale property — reflects state at access time', () => {
+    const q = createQuarantine();
+    expect(q.size).toBe(0);
+    q.add('src/a.ts');
+    expect(q.size).toBe(1);
+    q.add('src/b.ts');
+    expect(q.size).toBe(2);
+  });
+});