diff --git a/changelog.d/153.md b/changelog.d/153.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5511116
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/153.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Pinned template registries install with rig and serve default converges offline (#153)
diff --git a/commands/lib/templates.sh b/commands/lib/templates.sh
index 18acbd3..15c26f9 100644
--- a/commands/lib/templates.sh
+++ b/commands/lib/templates.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
 #   <role>/creds.md       the per-vendor creds-free paragraph the context
 #                         renderer splices in
 #
-# THE SOURCE IS THREE KNOBS, precedence _DIR > _REF > pin:
+# THE SOURCE IS THREE KNOBS plus the installed pin snapshot, precedence
+# _DIR > _REF > snapshot > pin fetch:
 #   RIG_TEMPLATES_DIR    a local folder — bypasses the fetch entirely (the
 #                        offline-test path, and "try a template before it
 #                        exists anywhere")
@@ -26,7 +27,8 @@
 #                        bootstrap time (the same shape as the rig preinstall)
 #   RIG_TEMPLATES_REPO   which repo that ref lives in (default
 #                        heavy-duty/rig-templates)
-# and, absent both overrides, the PIN below.
+# and, absent both overrides, the snapshot installed beside this file when it
+# matches the PIN below, then a live fetch of that pin as the fallback.
 
 # The default registry ref a mint converges — the BOX_RELEASE discipline
 # (#103): one line, bumped deliberately by ordinary rig PR after review, so a
@@ -51,6 +53,10 @@ MACHINE_KEYS_REQUIRED=(ROOT_DOOR HOST JOIN)
 templates_source_desc() {
   if [ -n "${RIG_TEMPLATES_DIR:-}" ]; then
     printf 'local dir %s (RIG_TEMPLATES_DIR)' "$RIG_TEMPLATES_DIR"
+  elif [ -z "${RIG_TEMPLATES_REF:-}" ] && templates_snapshot_usable; then
+    printf '%s@%s (snapshot)' \
+      "${RIG_TEMPLATES_REPO:-heavy-duty/rig-templates}" \
+      "$RIG_TEMPLATES_PIN"
   else
     printf '%s@%s%s' \
       "${RIG_TEMPLATES_REPO:-heavy-duty/rig-templates}" \
@@ -59,7 +65,26 @@ templates_source_desc() {
   fi
 }
 
-# templates_resolve — resolve the three knobs to a LOCAL directory holding
+# The snapshot path is derived from this library's installed tree. Its
+# pin-bearing directory name is the staleness guard: an older snapshot is
+# invisible after a pin bump. A usable registry has at least one definition;
+# an empty directory means an interrupted extraction and falls through to the
+# same live fetch as an absent snapshot.
+templates_snapshot_dir() {
+  local lib_dir
+  lib_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+  printf '%s/templates@%s' "$(cd "$lib_dir/../.." && pwd)" "$RIG_TEMPLATES_PIN"
+}
+
+templates_snapshot_usable() {
+  local snapshot role_env
+  snapshot="$(templates_snapshot_dir)"
+  [ -d "$snapshot" ] || return 1
+  role_env="$(find "$snapshot" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -type f -name template.env -print -quit 2>/dev/null)"
+  [ -n "$role_env" ]
+}
+
+# templates_resolve — resolve the knobs to a LOCAL directory holding
 # the registry, left in the REGISTRY_DIR global (a global, not stdout: a
 # $(…) call site would run the fetch in a subshell and lose TEMPLATES_TMP,
 # the path the caller's cleanup trap must rm). RIG_TEMPLATES_DIR wins and is
@@ -83,6 +108,10 @@ templates_resolve() {
     REGISTRY_DIR="$RIG_TEMPLATES_DIR"
     return 0
   fi
+  if [ -z "${RIG_TEMPLATES_REF:-}" ] && templates_snapshot_usable; then
+    REGISTRY_DIR="$(templates_snapshot_dir)"
+    return 0
+  fi
   repo="${RIG_TEMPLATES_REPO:-heavy-duty/rig-templates}"
   ref="${RIG_TEMPLATES_REF:-$RIG_TEMPLATES_PIN}"
   command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1 || { printf 'curl is required to fetch the template registry\n' >&2; return 1; }
diff --git a/test/cli.sh b/test/cli.sh
index fff0f8c..25ed744 100644
--- a/test/cli.sh
+++ b/test/cli.sh
@@ -854,6 +854,45 @@ check "templates: the pin is one greppable line" 0 "1" \
 check "templates: unset knobs fall back to the pin" 0 "the in-tree pin" \
   bash -c '. "$1/commands/lib/templates.sh" && templates_source_desc' _ "$ROOT"
 
+# The installed snapshot is found relative to templates.sh itself, so exercise
+# it in a copied rig tree: no fixture-only path knob can accidentally make the
+# production precedence pass. Poisoned curl makes any network attempt fatal.
+mkdir -p "$TPL_WORK/rig/commands/lib"
+cp "$ROOT/commands/lib/templates.sh" "$TPL_WORK/rig/commands/lib/templates.sh"
+TPL_PIN="$(sed -n 's/^RIG_TEMPLATES_PIN=//p' "$ROOT/commands/lib/templates.sh")"
+cp -r "$TPL_FIX" "$TPL_WORK/rig/templates@$TPL_PIN"
+cat > "$TPL_WORK/bin/curl" <<'CURLEOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "poisoned curl: snapshot resolution attempted network I/O" >&2
+exit 99
+CURLEOF
+chmod +x "$TPL_WORK/bin/curl"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016
+snapshot_resolve='set -euo pipefail
+  . "$1/commands/lib/templates.sh"
+  templates_resolve
+  printf "%s\n%s\n" "$REGISTRY_DIR" "$(templates_source_desc)"'
+check "templates: matching snapshot resolves with poisoned curl" 0 "(snapshot)" \
+  env PATH="$TPL_WORK/bin:$PATH" bash -c "$snapshot_resolve" _ "$TPL_WORK/rig"
+
+# A stale directory and an empty current directory are both unusable. The
+# poisoned fetch exit is folded into templates_resolve's normal loud refusal;
+# the important assertion is that neither path answers as the registry.
+mv "$TPL_WORK/rig/templates@$TPL_PIN" "$TPL_WORK/rig/templates@stale-pin"
+mkdir "$TPL_WORK/rig/templates@$TPL_PIN"
+check "templates: empty matching snapshot falls back to fetch" 1 "cannot fetch" \
+  env PATH="$TPL_WORK/bin:$PATH" bash -c "$snapshot_resolve" _ "$TPL_WORK/rig"
+rm -rf "$TPL_WORK/rig/templates@$TPL_PIN"
+check "templates: stale snapshot is ignored" 1 "cannot fetch" \
+  env PATH="$TPL_WORK/bin:$PATH" bash -c "$snapshot_resolve" _ "$TPL_WORK/rig"
+
+# An explicit ref always means a live fetch, even when the matching snapshot
+# exists: restore it and prove the poison is reached.
+mv "$TPL_WORK/rig/templates@stale-pin" "$TPL_WORK/rig/templates@$TPL_PIN"
+check "templates: explicit REF never reads the snapshot" 1 "cannot fetch" \
+  env PATH="$TPL_WORK/bin:$PATH" RIG_TEMPLATES_REF=operator-ref \
+  bash -c "$snapshot_resolve" _ "$TPL_WORK/rig"
+
 # rig template-lint — the registry repo's CI gate, same schema as the mint's
 # parser (rig defines validity; rig-templates CI enforces it on every PR).
 check "template-lint: --help exits 0" 0 "usage:" "$ROOT/commands/template-lint.sh" --help