diff --git a/src/lib/db/index.ts b/src/lib/db/index.ts
index 3322dd9f..a400b54a 100644
--- a/src/lib/db/index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/db/index.ts
@@ -29,11 +29,31 @@ const connectionString = process.env.DATABASE_URL!;
 // during clients-page fanout without log-storm.
 const POOL_MAX = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ? 30 : 20;
 
+// Pool reliability hardening (post-audit F8):
+// During the audit the dev server twice entered a stuck state where every
+// query 500'd with `write CONNECT_TIMEOUT` while the DB was healthy
+// (1 of 100 connections used, queryable from psql immediately).
+// The Docker bridge can silently drop TCP sockets and postgres-js's pool
+// holds onto the stale handles until max_lifetime expires.
+//   - connect_timeout: 5s so failures surface fast instead of stalling
+//     requests for 10s before erroring.
+//   - max_lifetime: 10min so connections recycle before stale sockets
+//     accumulate. Was 30min — too long for the Docker socket-drop pattern.
+//   - onnotice: surfaces postgres NOTICE/WARNING messages that we'd
+//     otherwise miss (extension warnings, deprecation hints).
 const queryClient = postgres(connectionString, {
   max: POOL_MAX,
   idle_timeout: 20,
-  connect_timeout: 10,
-  max_lifetime: 60 * 30,
+  connect_timeout: 5,
+  max_lifetime: 60 * 10,
+  onnotice: (notice) => {
+    // postgres-js types `notice` as `unknown`; the runtime shape is
+    // { severity, code, message, ... }. Only surface WARNING+.
+    const n = notice as { severity?: string; message?: string };
+    if (n.severity && n.severity !== 'NOTICE') {
+      console.warn(`[postgres ${n.severity}] ${n.message ?? ''}`);
+    }
+  },
   connection: {
     // ms values per postgres.js types; these become Postgres GUC settings
     // applied at session start.