diff --git a/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py b/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py
index 03b0713..47106dd 100644
--- a/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py
+++ b/mcp_plex/loader/__init__.py
@@ -26,9 +26,12 @@
 from .imdb_cache import IMDbCache
 from .pipeline.channels import (
     IMDbRetryQueue,
+    INGEST_DONE,
     IngestBatch,
+    IngestQueue,
     MovieBatch,
     EpisodeBatch,
+    PersistenceQueue,
     SampleBatch,
     chunk_sequence,
     require_positive,
@@ -81,9 +84,12 @@
 _EpisodeBatch = EpisodeBatch
 _SampleBatch = SampleBatch
 _IngestBatch = IngestBatch
+_IngestQueue = IngestQueue
+_PersistenceQueue = PersistenceQueue
 _require_positive = require_positive
 _chunk_sequence = chunk_sequence
 _IMDbRetryQueue = IMDbRetryQueue
+_INGEST_DONE = INGEST_DONE
 
 
 def _is_local_qdrant(client: AsyncQdrantClient) -> bool:
@@ -1000,12 +1006,10 @@ def __init__(
         if self._sample_items is None and not self._tmdb_api_key:
             raise RuntimeError("TMDB API key required for live ingestion")
 
-        self._ingest_queue: asyncio.Queue[_IngestBatch | None] = asyncio.Queue(
+        self._ingest_queue: IngestQueue = asyncio.Queue(
             maxsize=self._enrichment_workers * 2
         )
-        self._points_queue: asyncio.Queue[list[models.PointStruct] | None] = (
-            asyncio.Queue()
-        )
+        self._points_queue: PersistenceQueue = asyncio.Queue()
         self._upsert_capacity = asyncio.Semaphore(self._max_concurrent_upserts)
         self._items: list[AggregatedItem] = []
         self._qdrant_retry_queue: asyncio.Queue[list[models.PointStruct]] = (
@@ -1161,7 +1165,7 @@ async def _ingest_from_plex(self) -> None:
     async def _enrichment_worker(self, worker_id: int) -> None:
         while True:
             batch = await self._ingest_queue.get()
-            if batch is None:
+            if batch is None or batch is INGEST_DONE:
                 self._ingest_queue.task_done()
                 break
             try:
diff --git a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py
index 6c605c2..a26aab3 100644
--- a/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py
+++ b/mcp_plex/loader/pipeline/channels.py
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
-"""Batch container and helper utilities shared across loader stages."""
+"""Batch container and helper utilities shared across loader stages.
+
+The queues exported here intentionally share sentinel objects so stage-specific
+integration tests can assert on hand-off behavior without duplicating
+constants.  The loader still emits ``None`` as a completion token for
+compatibility while downstream components migrate to sentinel-only signaling.
+"""
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import asyncio
 from collections import deque
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from typing import Iterable, Sequence, TypeVar
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Final, Iterable, Sequence, TypeVar, TypeAlias
 
 from ...common.types import AggregatedItem
 
@@ -15,6 +21,22 @@
 
 T = TypeVar("T")
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from qdrant_client import models
+
+
+INGEST_DONE: Final = object()
+"""Sentinel object signaling that ingestion has completed.
+
+The loader currently places ``None`` on ingestion queues in addition to this
+sentinel so legacy listeners that only check for ``None`` continue to work.
+"""
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    PersistencePayload: TypeAlias = list[models.PointStruct]
+else:  # pragma: no cover - runtime fallback for typing-only alias
+    PersistencePayload: TypeAlias = list[Any]
+
 
 @dataclass(slots=True)
 class MovieBatch:
@@ -40,6 +62,12 @@ class SampleBatch:
 
 IngestBatch = MovieBatch | EpisodeBatch | SampleBatch
 
+IngestQueueItem: TypeAlias = IngestBatch | None | object
+PersistenceQueueItem: TypeAlias = PersistencePayload | None
+
+IngestQueue: TypeAlias = asyncio.Queue[IngestQueueItem]
+PersistenceQueue: TypeAlias = asyncio.Queue[PersistenceQueueItem]
+
 
 def require_positive(value: int, *, name: str) -> int:
     """Return *value* if positive, otherwise raise a ``ValueError``."""
@@ -98,6 +126,9 @@ def snapshot(self) -> list[str]:
 _EpisodeBatch = EpisodeBatch
 _SampleBatch = SampleBatch
 _IngestBatch = IngestBatch
+_INGEST_DONE = INGEST_DONE
+_IngestQueue = IngestQueue
+_PersistenceQueue = PersistenceQueue
 _require_positive = require_positive
 _chunk_sequence = chunk_sequence
 _IMDbRetryQueue = IMDbRetryQueue
@@ -107,6 +138,9 @@ def snapshot(self) -> list[str]:
     "EpisodeBatch",
     "SampleBatch",
     "IngestBatch",
+    "INGEST_DONE",
+    "IngestQueue",
+    "PersistenceQueue",
     "require_positive",
     "chunk_sequence",
     "IMDbRetryQueue",
@@ -114,6 +148,9 @@ def snapshot(self) -> list[str]:
     "_EpisodeBatch",
     "_SampleBatch",
     "_IngestBatch",
+    "_INGEST_DONE",
+    "_IngestQueue",
+    "_PersistenceQueue",
     "_require_positive",
     "_chunk_sequence",
     "_IMDbRetryQueue",