diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index a2bc966..362037a 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -4,3 +4,6 @@ NODE_ENV=production
 # Set a strong random token — all WP sites must send this as: Authorization: Bearer <token>
 # Leave empty to run in open mode (dev only)
 API_TOKEN=change-me-to-a-long-random-string
+# Set to 'true' to log bots that hit the API dashboard directly.
+# Disabled by default — enabling it caused DB bloat from legitimate crawlers.
+ENABLE_SELF_OBSERVE=false
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index a43ce66..c43bd66 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ services:
       - DB_PATH=/data/bots.db
       - NODE_ENV=production
       - API_TOKEN=${API_TOKEN:-change-me-to-a-long-random-string}
+      - ENABLE_SELF_OBSERVE=false
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "wget", "-qO-", "http://localhost:3091/api/v1/health"]
       interval: 30s
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 46944fd..52628b7 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -48,6 +48,22 @@ DB.exec(`
   try { DB.exec(`ALTER TABLE bots ADD COLUMN ${col} TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT ''`); } catch {}
 });
 
+// ── Stats cache (declared early so pruneOldRows can reference it) ─────────────
+
+let _cache = null, _cacheTs = 0;
+
+// ── Row pruning (90 days) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const PRUNE_AGE = 90 * 86400; // 90 days in seconds
+
+function pruneOldRows() {
+  const cutoff = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) - PRUNE_AGE;
+  DB.prepare('DELETE FROM bots WHERE received_at < ?').run(cutoff);
+  _cache = null;
+}
+pruneOldRows(); // on startup
+setInterval(pruneOldRows, 6 * 3600 * 1000); // every 6 hours
+
 // ── Auth ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 const API_TOKEN = (process.env.API_TOKEN || '').trim();
@@ -98,6 +114,14 @@ function parseUA(ua = '') {
 const stmtEnrich = DB.prepare('UPDATE bots SET country=?, asn=? WHERE id=?');
 const enrichCache = new Map();
 
+// Clean enrichCache entries whose TTL has expired (runs every 5 minutes)
+setInterval(() => {
+  const now = Date.now();
+  for (const [ip, expiry] of enrichCache) {
+    if (now > expiry) enrichCache.delete(ip);
+  }
+}, 5 * 60 * 1000);
+
 function isPrivateIP(ip) {
   return /^(10\.|192\.168\.|172\.(1[6-9]|2\d|3[01])\.|127\.|::1$|fc|fd)/.test(ip);
 }
@@ -151,8 +175,7 @@ function allowed(ip, max = 30, win = 60_000) {
 }
 
 // ── Stats cache (30s TTL) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-let _cache = null, _cacheTs = 0;
+// (_cache and _cacheTs are declared earlier, before pruneOldRows)
 
 function getStats() {
   if (_cache && Date.now() - _cacheTs < 30_000) return _cache;
@@ -260,21 +283,46 @@ const insertBatch = DB.transaction((siteId, bots) => {
 
 // ── Self-observation (log bots that visit the API directly) ───────────────────
 //
-// Matches any request whose UA looks like a bot/scanner/tool, or has no UA.
+// Disabled by default (ENABLE_SELF_OBSERVE must be explicitly set to 'true').
+// When enabled: only logs requests where UA is present AND matches bot patterns.
+// Includes per-IP dedup (one log entry per IP per 5 minutes) to prevent DB bloat.
 // Skips /health (Docker probe) and /submit (WP plugin).
 // Logged as site_id='self', action='observed' so they're visually distinct.
 
 const BOT_UA_RE = /(bot|crawl|spider|scrap|scan|slurp|fetch|wget|curl|python|go-http|java\/|scrapy|axios|headless|phantom|gptbot|chatgpt|openai|yandex|baidu|semrush|ahrefs|mj12|dotbot|petalbot)/i;
 const SKIP_SELF = new Set(['/api/v1/health', '/api/v1/submit']);
 
+// Per-IP dedup map for selfObserve: IP -> timestamp of last log
+const selfSeen = new Map();
+
+// Clean selfSeen entries older than 10 minutes every 5 minutes
+setInterval(() => {
+  const cutoff = Date.now() - 10 * 60 * 1000;
+  for (const [ip, t] of selfSeen) {
+    if (t < cutoff) selfSeen.delete(ip);
+  }
+}, 5 * 60 * 1000);
+
 function selfObserve(req, res, next) {
+  // Skip entirely if ENABLE_SELF_OBSERVE is not explicitly 'true'
+  if (!process.env.ENABLE_SELF_OBSERVE || process.env.ENABLE_SELF_OBSERVE === 'false') {
+    return next();
+  }
+
   if (SKIP_SELF.has(req.path)) return next();
 
   const ua = req.headers['user-agent'] || '';
-  if (ua && !BOT_UA_RE.test(ua)) return next(); // normal browser — skip
+  // Only log when UA is present AND matches known bot patterns
+  if (!ua || !BOT_UA_RE.test(ua)) return next();
 
   const ip  = (req.headers['x-forwarded-for'] || '').split(',')[0].trim()
               || req.socket.remoteAddress || '?';
+
+  // Per-IP dedup: skip if this IP was already logged in the last 5 minutes
+  const lastSeen = selfSeen.get(ip);
+  if (lastSeen && Date.now() - lastSeen < 300_000) return next();
+  selfSeen.set(ip, Date.now());
+
   const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
   const fam = parseUA(ua);
 
@@ -282,7 +330,6 @@ function selfObserve(req, res, next) {
     const r = stmtIns.run(
       now, 'self', ip, fam, 'observed', 'Direct API visitor', fam, req.path, '', '', ua.slice(0, 300)
     );
-    _cache = null;
     setImmediate(() => enrichIP(Number(r.lastInsertRowid), ip));
   } catch {}