diff --git a/internal/gateway/gateway_test.go b/internal/gateway/gateway_test.go
index 2e2e636..6a8e9d6 100644
--- a/internal/gateway/gateway_test.go
+++ b/internal/gateway/gateway_test.go
@@ -999,3 +999,19 @@ func TestCannotDeleteOwnKey(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected message: %s", rr.Body.String())
 	}
 }
+
+// TestGatewayRingStaysSmall pins the resident record ring at the small default.
+// The gateway used to construct Stats with a 10000-record ring, which after the
+// full-history aggregate scan meant 10000 resident Req structs — putting back the
+// ~25 MB the on-demand paging work removed. Aggregates cover all of history;
+// the ring only needs the first screen plus the 5-minute status windows.
+func TestGatewayRingStaysSmall(t *testing.T) {
+	g := newTestGateway(t)
+	g.stats.mu.Lock()
+	max := g.stats.maxRecs
+	g.stats.mu.Unlock()
+	if max != defaultRingSize {
+		t.Fatalf("gateway record ring = %d, want %d (a big ring reintroduces the resident-memory cost)",
+			max, defaultRingSize)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/gateway/server.go b/internal/gateway/server.go
index 97b29d4..4f6dec0 100644
--- a/internal/gateway/server.go
+++ b/internal/gateway/server.go
@@ -120,7 +120,13 @@ func New(c *core.Core, gatewayKeys []string) (*Gateway, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	st := NewStats(10000)
+	// The record ring is deliberately small: aggregates are built from the full
+	// audit history at startup (see Stats.LoadAudit), so the ring only has to
+	// cover the status page's 5-minute source windows and the dashboard's first
+	// screen. Everything older is paged from disk by /api/stats/records.
+	// A large ring here would put the ~25 MB of resident Req structs straight
+	// back, which is exactly what the on-demand paging removed.
+	st := NewStats(defaultRingSize)
 	if cfg := c.Config(); cfg != nil && cfg.RuntimeFile != "" {
 		st.LoadAudit(cfg.RuntimeFile + ".audit.jsonl")
 	}