diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index f6f06a9..5385762 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -34,3 +34,5 @@ PLUTAINER_IMAGE=ghcr.io/ayymoss/plutainer:latest
 EC_PERF_LOG=false
 # Log statements taking at least this many milliseconds; 0 disables logging.
 EC_SLOW_SQL_MS=0
+# For a local SQLite disk, set to 256 for a 256 MiB memory map. Leave 0 for network mounts.
+EC_SQLITE_MMAP_MB=0
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 91a059c..3dd1b87 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -190,6 +190,10 @@ after database changes, capture these timings under the same fleet load and run
 `npm run diagnostics:database -- /data/cherry.db` inside the controller to report
 the largest tables/indexes, database and WAL sizes, and free pages. This command
 opens an existing database read-only and does not run app migrations.
+The controller uses a 128 MiB page cache and each reader worker uses 32 MiB.
+For a local data disk, set `EC_SQLITE_MMAP_MB=256` to enable memory-mapped reads.
+Query statistics are optimized at startup and hourly; WAL reuse is capped at
+64 MiB after checkpoints (active transactions can temporarily grow it larger).
 
 Local controller
 metadata defaults to `./data/cherry.db`; use a separate test database when
diff --git a/src/lib/server/db/connection.ts b/src/lib/server/db/connection.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24d8c1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/server/db/connection.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import type Database from 'better-sqlite3';
+
+export function tuneConnection(handle: Database.Database, reader = false): void {
+    handle.pragma(`cache_size = -${reader ? 32768 : 131072}`);
+    handle.pragma('temp_store = MEMORY');
+    // mmap is opt-in because the controller data directory can be a network mount.
+    const mmapMiB = Number(process.env.EC_SQLITE_MMAP_MB ?? 0);
+    if (Number.isSafeInteger(mmapMiB) && mmapMiB >= 0 && mmapMiB <= 32768) {
+        handle.pragma(`mmap_size = ${mmapMiB * 1024 * 1024}`);
+    }
+    if (!reader) handle.pragma('journal_size_limit = 67108864');
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/server/db/index.ts b/src/lib/server/db/index.ts
index c6e768f..fcb10b6 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/db/index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/db/index.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ import { migrateServerHistory } from './server-history.js';
 import { migrateNativeInstances } from '../backends/schema.js';
 import { installPerformanceIndexes } from './performance-indexes.js';
 import { migrateVersionLayout } from './version-layout.js';
+import { tuneConnection } from './connection.js';
 import { timeStatement } from './slow-statements.js';
 
 let _db: Database.Database | null = null;
+let optimizeTimer: NodeJS.Timeout | undefined;
 
 // Desired shape of the `servers` table. Every column here is added to the
 // table on boot if missing — introspection via PRAGMA table_info handles
@@ -316,6 +318,7 @@ export function db(): Database.Database {
     try {
         handle.pragma('journal_mode = WAL');
         handle.pragma('foreign_keys = ON');
+        tuneConnection(handle);
         dropLegacyBetaTables(handle);
         handle.exec(schemaSql);
         migrateProvisioningActions(handle);
@@ -409,6 +412,7 @@ export function db(): Database.Database {
             ON server_deployments(id) WHERE state NOT IN ('done','warning','cancelled');`);
         installPerformanceIndexes(handle);
         installReportRevisions(handle);
+        handle.pragma('optimize = 0x10002');
     } catch (err) {
         handle.close();
         throw err;
@@ -431,10 +435,17 @@ export function db(): Database.Database {
     }) as typeof handle.prepare;
 
     _db = handle;
+    optimizeTimer = setInterval(() => {
+        try { handle.pragma('optimize'); }
+        catch (error) { console.error('[database] optimize failed:', error); }
+    }, 60 * 60_000);
+    optimizeTimer.unref();
     return _db;
 }
 
 export function closeDb(): void {
+    clearInterval(optimizeTimer);
+    optimizeTimer = undefined;
     if (_db) {
         _db.close();
         _db = null;
diff --git a/src/lib/server/reports/database.ts b/src/lib/server/reports/database.ts
index b99e65a..734ae1c 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/reports/database.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/reports/database.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
 import { workerData } from 'node:worker_threads';
+import { tuneConnection } from '../db/connection.js';
 
 const handle = new Database(workerData.dbPath, { readonly: true, fileMustExist: true });
+tuneConnection(handle, true);
 export function db() { return handle; }
diff --git a/tests/unit/db-statements.test.ts b/tests/unit/db-statements.test.ts
index 0dc0193..e377f75 100644
--- a/tests/unit/db-statements.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/db-statements.test.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,23 @@ beforeEach(async () => {
 afterEach(async () => { await fixture.cleanup(); });
 
 describe('prepared statement caching', () => {
+    it('tunes the controller connection and stops periodic optimization when closed', async () => {
+        const { db, closeDb } = await import('../../src/lib/server/db/index.js');
+        vi.useFakeTimers({ toFake: ['setInterval', 'clearInterval'] });
+        try {
+            const handle = db();
+            expect(handle.pragma('cache_size', { simple: true })).toBe(-131072);
+            expect(handle.pragma('temp_store', { simple: true })).toBe(2);
+            expect(handle.pragma('journal_size_limit', { simple: true })).toBe(67108864);
+            const pragma = vi.spyOn(handle, 'pragma');
+            vi.advanceTimersByTime(60 * 60_000);
+            expect(pragma).toHaveBeenCalledWith('optimize');
+            pragma.mockClear();
+            closeDb();
+            vi.advanceTimersByTime(60 * 60_000);
+            expect(pragma).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+        } finally { vi.useRealTimers(); }
+    });
     it('reuses statements with fresh parameters and remains usable after rollback', async () => {
         const { db } = await import('../../src/lib/server/db/index.js');
         const insertSql = 'INSERT INTO settings (key, value) VALUES (?, ?)';