diff --git a/core/dr-catalog/examples/dedup_people.rs b/core/dr-catalog/examples/dedup_people.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3eddfce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/dr-catalog/examples/dedup_people.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+//! Run the people and face deduplication (#78) on a copy of a real catalog.
+//!
+//!   cargo run --release -p dr-catalog --example dedup_people -- COPY.sqlite [--peer PEER_COPY.sqlite]
+//!
+//! It writes: run it against a *copy* (`sqlite3 catalog.sqlite ".backup
+//! copy.sqlite"`), never the library's own file. Prints the live people and
+//! faces before and after, what the first run merged and kept apart, and
+//! how long the first and a second run took -- the second is the cost the
+//! job adds to every sync once a catalog is clean.
+//!
+//! `--peer` then plays a sync round trip with another device's catalog (a
+//! copy of the server snapshot, which it also writes): the peer merges this
+//! one as the previous release would, with no job after it, then this one
+//! merges the peer back through `sync::merge_remote`, twice. The named
+//! people each side lists are printed after each step; they should agree.
+
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::time::Instant;
+
+use dr_catalog::{dedup_people, merge, schema, sync};
+use rusqlite::Connection;
+
+fn open(path: &std::path::Path) -> Connection {
+    let conn = Connection::open(path).expect("open the catalog copy");
+    schema::configure(&conn).expect("configure");
+    schema::migrate(&conn).expect("migrate");
+    conn
+}
+
+/// The named people a device lists, as `name (uuid prefix)`, sorted.
+fn named(conn: &Connection) -> Vec<String> {
+    let mut v: Vec<String> = conn
+        .prepare(
+            "SELECT name, substr(uuid, 1, 8) FROM people
+              WHERE merged_into IS NULL AND trim(name) <> ''",
+        )
+        .unwrap()
+        .query_map([], |r| {
+            Ok(format!(
+                "{} ({})",
+                r.get::<_, String>(0)?,
+                r.get::<_, String>(1)?
+            ))
+        })
+        .unwrap()
+        .collect::<Result<_, _>>()
+        .unwrap();
+    v.sort();
+    v
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    let mut args: Vec<String> = std::env::args().skip(1).collect();
+    let peer = args.iter().position(|a| a == "--peer").map(|at| {
+        let p = PathBuf::from(&args[at + 1]);
+        args.drain(at..at + 2);
+        p
+    });
+    let Some(path) = args.first().map(PathBuf::from) else {
+        eprintln!("usage: dedup_people COPY.sqlite [--peer PEER_COPY.sqlite]");
+        std::process::exit(2);
+    };
+    let conn = open(&path);
+
+    let counts = |label: &str| {
+        let q = |sql: &str| -> i64 { conn.query_row(sql, [], |r| r.get(0)).unwrap() };
+        println!(
+            "{label}: {} people listed ({} named), {} redirects, {} faces, {} confirmed",
+            q("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM people WHERE merged_into IS NULL"),
+            q("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM people WHERE merged_into IS NULL AND trim(name) <> ''"),
+            q("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM people WHERE merged_into IS NOT NULL"),
+            q("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM faces"),
+            q("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM face_person WHERE confirmed = 1"),
+        );
+    };
+
+    counts("before");
+    for pass in ["first", "second", "third"] {
+        let started = Instant::now();
+        let report = dedup_people::run(&conn).expect("dedup");
+        let took = started.elapsed();
+        println!("{pass} run: {took:?}, changed: {}", report.changed());
+        if pass == "first" {
+            println!("  merged: {:?}", report.merged);
+            for k in &report.kept_apart {
+                println!(
+                    "  kept apart: {:?} ({}) from {}: {:?}",
+                    k.name, k.uuid, k.survivor, k.why
+                );
+            }
+            println!(
+                "  redirects followed {}, cycles broken {}, faces fused {}, faces confirmed apart {}",
+                report.redirects_followed,
+                report.cycles_broken,
+                report.faces_fused,
+                report.faces_confirmed_apart
+            );
+        }
+    }
+    counts("after");
+
+    let Some(peer_path) = peer else { return };
+    let peer = open(&peer_path);
+    let show = |step: &str| {
+        let (ours, theirs) = (named(&conn), named(&peer));
+        println!(
+            "{step}: this device lists {} named, the peer {}; {}",
+            ours.len(),
+            theirs.len(),
+            if ours == theirs {
+                "the same".to_string()
+            } else {
+                format!("differ:\n  here {ours:?}\n  peer {theirs:?}")
+            }
+        );
+    };
+    show("before the round trip");
+    for round in 1..=2 {
+        peer.execute(
+            "ATTACH DATABASE ?1 AS remote_cat",
+            [path.to_string_lossy().as_ref()],
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        let theirs = merge::merge_all(&peer).expect("the peer's merge");
+        peer.execute("DETACH DATABASE remote_cat", []).unwrap();
+        println!(
+            "round {round}: the peer took {} people updated, {} inserted",
+            theirs.people_updated, theirs.people_inserted
+        );
+        show(&format!("round {round}, after the peer's merge"));
+        let started = Instant::now();
+        let ours = sync::merge_remote(&conn, &peer_path).expect("our merge");
+        println!(
+            "round {round}: merge_remote with the job took {:?}; {} people updated, {} inserted",
+            started.elapsed(),
+            ours.people_updated,
+            ours.people_inserted
+        );
+        show(&format!("round {round}, after ours"));
+    }
+}