diff --git a/infra/lib/compute-stack.ts b/infra/lib/compute-stack.ts
index 9ff5d48..2f4a186 100644
--- a/infra/lib/compute-stack.ts
+++ b/infra/lib/compute-stack.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import * as lambdaEventSources from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-lambda-event-sources';
 import * as bedrock from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-bedrock';
 import * as opensearchserverless from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-opensearchserverless';
 import * as logs from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-logs';
+import * as cr from 'aws-cdk-lib/custom-resources';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 
 export interface ComputeStackProps extends cdk.StackProps {
@@ -90,8 +91,28 @@ export class ComputeStack extends cdk.Stack {
       resources: [`arn:aws:bedrock:us-east-1::foundation-model/amazon.titan-embed-text-v2:0`],
     }));
 
-    // OpenSearch Serverless data access policy
-    new opensearchserverless.CfnAccessPolicy(this, 'OssDataAccessPolicy', {
+    // Lambda to pre-create the vector index (retries until AOSS access policy propagates)
+    const indexCreatorFn = new lambda.Function(this, 'OssIndexCreator', {
+      runtime: lambda.Runtime.PYTHON_3_12,
+      handler: 'app.handler',
+      code: lambda.Code.fromAsset('../lambdas/oss-index-creator', {
+        bundling: {
+          image: lambda.Runtime.PYTHON_3_12.bundlingImage,
+          command: [
+            'bash', '-c',
+            'pip install -r requirements.txt -t /asset-output && cp -au . /asset-output',
+          ],
+        },
+      }),
+      timeout: cdk.Duration.minutes(6),
+    });
+
+    indexCreatorFn.addToRolePolicy(new iam.PolicyStatement({
+      actions: ['aoss:APIAccessAll'],
+      resources: [ossCollection.attrArn],
+    }));
+
+    const ossDataAccessPolicy = new opensearchserverless.CfnAccessPolicy(this, 'OssDataAccessPolicy', {
       name: 'proposal-system-kb-access',
       type: 'data',
       policy: JSON.stringify([{
@@ -99,11 +120,27 @@ export class ComputeStack extends cdk.Stack {
           { ResourceType: 'collection', Resource: ['collection/proposal-system-kb'], Permission: ['aoss:*'] },
           { ResourceType: 'index', Resource: ['index/proposal-system-kb/*'], Permission: ['aoss:*'] },
         ],
-        Principal: [kbRole.roleArn, `arn:aws:iam::${this.account}:root`],
+        Principal: [kbRole.roleArn, indexCreatorFn.role!.roleArn],
       }]),
     });
+    ossDataAccessPolicy.addDependency(ossCollection);
+
+    const indexProvider = new cr.Provider(this, 'OssIndexProvider', {
+      onEventHandler: indexCreatorFn,
+    });
+
+    const ossIndex = new cdk.CustomResource(this, 'OssIndex', {
+      serviceToken: indexProvider.serviceToken,
+      properties: {
+        Endpoint: ossCollection.attrCollectionEndpoint,
+        IndexName: 'proposal-system-index',
+        VectorField: 'embedding',
+        TextField: 'text',
+        MetadataField: 'metadata',
+      },
+    });
+    ossIndex.node.addDependency(ossDataAccessPolicy);
 
-    // Bedrock Knowledge Base
     const knowledgeBase = new bedrock.CfnKnowledgeBase(this, 'KnowledgeBase', {
       name: 'proposal-system-kb',
       roleArn: kbRole.roleArn,
@@ -126,6 +163,7 @@ export class ComputeStack extends cdk.Stack {
         },
       },
     });
+    knowledgeBase.node.addDependency(ossIndex);
 
     // KB Data Source (S3 library bucket)
     const dataSource = new bedrock.CfnDataSource(this, 'KbDataSource', {
diff --git a/lambdas/oss-index-creator/app.py b/lambdas/oss-index-creator/app.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec23316
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lambdas/oss-index-creator/app.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import json
+import time
+import boto3
+from opensearchpy import OpenSearch, RequestsHttpConnection
+from requests_aws4auth import AWS4Auth
+
+
+def handler(event, context):
+    print(f"Event: {json.dumps(event, default=str)}")
+
+    if event["RequestType"] == "Delete":
+        print("Delete request, returning")
+        return {"PhysicalResourceId": event.get("PhysicalResourceId", "none")}
+
+    props = event["ResourceProperties"]
+    endpoint = props["Endpoint"].replace("https://", "")
+    index_name = props["IndexName"]
+    vector_field = props["VectorField"]
+    text_field = props["TextField"]
+    metadata_field = props["MetadataField"]
+
+    print(f"Endpoint: {endpoint}")
+    print(f"Index: {index_name}")
+
+    session = boto3.Session()
+    credentials = session.get_credentials().get_frozen_credentials()
+    region = session.region_name
+    print(f"Region: {region}")
+
+    awsauth = AWS4Auth(
+        credentials.access_key,
+        credentials.secret_key,
+        region,
+        "aoss",
+        session_token=credentials.token,
+    )
+
+    client = OpenSearch(
+        hosts=[{"host": endpoint, "port": 443}],
+        http_auth=awsauth,
+        use_ssl=True,
+        verify_certs=True,
+        connection_class=RequestsHttpConnection,
+        timeout=30,
+    )
+
+    index_body = {
+        "settings": {
+            "index": {"knn": True, "knn.algo_param.ef_search": 512}
+        },
+        "mappings": {
+            "properties": {
+                vector_field: {
+                    "type": "knn_vector",
+                    "dimension": 1024,
+                    "method": {
+                        "engine": "faiss",
+                        "name": "hnsw",
+                        "space_type": "l2",
+                    },
+                },
+                text_field: {"type": "text"},
+                metadata_field: {"type": "text"},
+            }
+        },
+    }
+
+    for attempt in range(30):
+        try:
+            print(f"Attempt {attempt}: creating index...")
+            response = client.indices.create(index=index_name, body=index_body)
+            print(f"Index created successfully: {response}")
+            # Verify the index exists
+            exists = client.indices.exists(index=index_name)
+            print(f"Index exists check: {exists}")
+            return {"PhysicalResourceId": index_name}
+        except Exception as e:
+            error_str = str(e)
+            print(f"Attempt {attempt} error: {error_str}")
+            if "resource_already_exists_exception" in error_str:
+                print("Index already exists, returning success")
+                return {"PhysicalResourceId": index_name}
+            if "403" in error_str and attempt < 29:
+                print(f"403 error, retrying in 10s (attempt {attempt}/29)")
+                time.sleep(10)
+                continue
+            print(f"Fatal error on attempt {attempt}: {error_str}")
+            raise
+
+    raise Exception("Timeout waiting for AOSS access policy propagation")
diff --git a/lambdas/oss-index-creator/requirements.txt b/lambdas/oss-index-creator/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0ac3c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lambdas/oss-index-creator/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+opensearch-py>=2.4.0
+requests-aws4auth>=1.2.0
+requests>=2.31.0