diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/quality.yml b/.gitea/workflows/quality.yml
index c77cc35..1a9863d 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/quality.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/quality.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           npm test
           python3 tests/staging-deploy.test.py -v
+          python3 tests/reencode-image.test.py -v
       - name: Mobile browser acceptance
         run: |
           npm start > /tmp/timmy-server.log 2>&1 &
@@ -57,5 +58,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           npm run check:syntax
           node --check tests/staging.acceptance.mjs
+      - name: Image runtime pin and re-encode smoke
+        run: python3 -c "import importlib.util,json,pathlib; s=importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('d','scripts/deploy_staging.py'); m=importlib.util.module_from_spec(s); s.loader.exec_module(m); print(json.dumps(m.verify_image_runtime(pathlib.Path('.'))))"
       - name: Diff hygiene
         run: npm run check:diff
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ae71401..2d32133 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
-    "test": "node --test tests/domain.test.js tests/analysis.test.js tests/image-ingress.test.js tests/rate-limiter.test.js tests/vision-service.test.js tests/vision-config.test.js tests/hermes-agent-service.test.js tests/agent-gateway.acceptance.test.js tests/staging-health.test.js tests/service-worker-runtime.test.js tests/training-ingest.test.js tests/ci-workflow.test.js tests/product-decisions.test.js tests/release-demo.test.js tests/selfhost-bootstrap.test.js tests/staging-config.test.js",
+    "test": "node --test tests/domain.test.js tests/analysis.test.js tests/image-ingress.test.js tests/rate-limiter.test.js tests/vision-service.test.js tests/vision-config.test.js tests/hermes-agent-service.test.js tests/agent-gateway.acceptance.test.js tests/staging-health.test.js tests/service-worker-runtime.test.js tests/training-ingest.test.js tests/ci-workflow.test.js tests/product-decisions.test.js tests/release-demo.test.js tests/selfhost-bootstrap.test.js tests/staging-config.test.js tests/image-polyglot.test.js tests/image-dataurl.test.js tests/image-concurrency.test.js tests/image-unavailable.test.js tests/rate-identity.test.js tests/body-timeout.test.js",
     "test:ui": "node tests/ui.acceptance.mjs",
     "test:photo": "node tests/photo-first.acceptance.mjs",
     "test:sleek": "node tests/sleek-chat.acceptance.mjs",
     "test:staging-smoke": "node tests/staging.acceptance.mjs",
-    "check:syntax": "node --check app.js && node --check server.mjs && node --check service-worker.js && node --check src/analysis.js && node --check src/domain.js && node --check src/image-ingress.js && node --check src/rate-limiter.js && node --check src/hermes-agent-service.js && node --check src/vision-config.js && node --check src/vision-service.js && node --check scripts/record_release_demo.mjs && node --check tests/staging.acceptance.mjs && bash -n scripts/bootstrap_selfhost_smolvlm.sh && bash -n scripts/run_selfhost_smolvlm.sh && python3 -m py_compile scripts/ingest_training_photo.py scripts/build_release.py scripts/deploy_staging.py scripts/reencode_image.py",
+    "check:syntax": "node --check app.js && node --check server.mjs && node --check service-worker.js && node --check src/analysis.js && node --check src/domain.js && node --check src/image-ingress.js && node --check src/rate-limiter.js && node --check src/client-identity.js && node --check src/image-container.js && node --check src/hermes-agent-service.js && node --check src/vision-config.js && node --check src/vision-service.js && node --check scripts/record_release_demo.mjs && node --check tests/staging.acceptance.mjs && node --check tests/image-polyglot.test.js && node --check tests/image-dataurl.test.js && node --check tests/image-concurrency.test.js && node --check tests/image-unavailable.test.js && node --check tests/rate-identity.test.js && node --check tests/body-timeout.test.js && bash -n scripts/bootstrap_selfhost_smolvlm.sh && bash -n scripts/run_selfhost_smolvlm.sh && python3 -m py_compile scripts/ingest_training_photo.py scripts/build_release.py scripts/deploy_staging.py scripts/reencode_image.py",
     "check:diff": "bash scripts/check_diff.sh",
     "start": "node server.mjs"
   },
diff --git a/scripts/build_release.py b/scripts/build_release.py
index 5d2b391..e7ddbcb 100755
--- a/scripts/build_release.py
+++ b/scripts/build_release.py
@@ -133,11 +133,16 @@ def main() -> int:
         contact_sheet = release_dir / f"timmy-talking-turd-{version}-demo-contact-sheet.jpg"
         run(["ffmpeg", "-y", "-v", "error", "-i", str(demo), "-vf", "fps=1/2,scale=180:-1,tile=4x3:padding=4:margin=4", "-frames:v", "1", str(contact_sheet)], tree)
         run(["npm", "audit", "--audit-level=high"], tree)
-        for file in ("app.js", "server.mjs", "service-worker.js", "src/analysis.js", "src/domain.js", "src/hermes-agent-service.js", "src/vision-config.js", "src/vision-service.js", "tests/staging.acceptance.mjs"):
+        for file in ("app.js", "server.mjs", "service-worker.js", "src/analysis.js", "src/domain.js", "src/hermes-agent-service.js", "src/vision-config.js", "src/vision-service.js", "src/image-ingress.js", "src/rate-limiter.js", "src/client-identity.js", "src/image-container.js", "tests/staging.acceptance.mjs", "tests/image-polyglot.test.js", "tests/image-dataurl.test.js", "tests/image-concurrency.test.js", "tests/image-unavailable.test.js", "tests/rate-identity.test.js", "tests/body-timeout.test.js"):
             run(["node", "--check", file], tree)
         run(["bash", "-n", "scripts/bootstrap_selfhost_smolvlm.sh"], tree)
         run(["bash", "-n", "scripts/run_selfhost_smolvlm.sh"], tree)
-        run(["python3", "-m", "py_compile", "scripts/ingest_training_photo.py", "scripts/build_release.py"], tree)
+        run(["python3", "-m", "py_compile", "scripts/ingest_training_photo.py", "scripts/build_release.py", "scripts/deploy_staging.py", "scripts/reencode_image.py"], tree)
+        # Gated re-encode runtime smoke: the production image re-encoder must be
+        # the pinned immutable toolchain and must actually re-encode a synthetic
+        # 1x1 under the hard 512 MiB service budget. This is the deployment
+        # smoke gate, run here as part of the release build itself.
+        deploy_mod = run([sys.executable, "-c", "import importlib.util,sys; s=importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('d','scripts/deploy_staging.py'); m=importlib.util.module_from_spec(s); s.loader.exec_module(m); print(__import__('json').dumps(m.verify_image_runtime(__import__('pathlib').Path('.'))))"], tree, capture=True)
         run(["git", "diff", "--check", commit], tree)
 
         names = tracked_files(tree)
diff --git a/scripts/deploy_staging.py b/scripts/deploy_staging.py
index 5d98212..69258d8 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy_staging.py
+++ b/scripts/deploy_staging.py
@@ -238,6 +238,59 @@ def _run_argv(argv: Sequence[str], **options) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
     return subprocess.run(list(argv), check=True, text=True, capture_output=True, shell=False, timeout=timeout)
 
 
+# Pinned, immutable production image runtime. The deployment smoke gate refuses
+# to promote unless the re-encoder provisioned in the release matches this exact
+# toolchain. This is the same record scripts/reencode_image.py publishes, so a
+# runtime drift is caught before a single request is served.
+PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION = "3.11"
+PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION = "12.3.0"
+REENCODE_SCRIPT = "scripts/reencode_image.py"
+
+
+def verify_image_runtime(root: Path, *, timeout: float = 30.0) -> dict:
+    """Smoke-test the release's pinned, immutable image re-encode runtime.
+
+    Runs the release's re-encoder with --verify-pin and, if it matches, performs
+    a synthetic re-encode of a 1x1 pixel image to prove the runtime can actually
+    load, decode, and strip metadata under the hard 512 MiB service budget. No
+    live host or network change: this only exercises the release on disk.
+    """
+    script = root / REENCODE_SCRIPT
+    if not script.is_file():
+        raise DeploymentError("release is missing the image re-encoder script")
+    probe = json.loads(subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, str(script), "--verify-pin"],
+        check=True, text=True, capture_output=True, shell=False, timeout=timeout,
+    ).stdout.strip())
+    if probe.get("ok") is not True:
+        raise DeploymentError(
+            f"image runtime mismatch: provisioned {probe.get('python')}/{probe.get('pillow')} "
+            f"does not match pinned {PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION}/{PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION}"
+        )
+    import base64
+    # Minimal valid 1x1 baseline JPEG (no metadata) used only for the smoke.
+    # Generated with Pillow to avoid an embed errors in a hand-written blob.
+    from PIL import Image as _PILImage
+    import io as _io
+    _buf = _io.BytesIO()
+    _PILImage.new("RGB", (1, 1), (128, 128, 128)).save(_buf, "JPEG", quality=85)
+    pixel = _buf.getvalue()
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="timmy-runtime-smoke-") as work:
+        src = Path(work) / "pixel.jpg"
+        dst = Path(work) / "reencoded.jpg"
+        src.write_bytes(pixel)
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            [sys.executable, str(script), "--in", str(src), "--out", str(dst)],
+            check=True, text=True, capture_output=True, shell=False, timeout=timeout,
+        )
+        verdict = json.loads(result.stdout.strip().splitlines()[-1])
+        if not verdict.get("ok"):
+            raise DeploymentError(f"image runtime re-encode smoke failed: {verdict}")
+        if not dst.is_file() or dst.stat().st_size == 0 or dst.read_bytes()[:3] != b"\xff\xd8\xff":
+            raise DeploymentError("image runtime re-encode smoke produced no valid JPEG")
+    return {"ok": True, "python": probe["python"], "pillow": probe["pillow"]}
+
+
 def poll_health(url: str, expected_commit: str, timeout: float) -> dict:
     deadline = time.monotonic() + timeout
     while True:
@@ -265,6 +318,9 @@ def _verify(config: DeploymentConfig, commit: str, run_command: RunCommand, heal
     health_check(config.health_url, commit, config.health_timeout)
     if smoke:
         run_command(config.smoke_command, check=True, text=True, capture_output=True, shell=False, timeout=config.command_timeout)
+        # Pinned, immutable production image runtime: refuse the promotion if the
+        # release's re-encoder is not the exact toolchain we test against.
+        verify_image_runtime(config.releases / commit, timeout=config.command_timeout)
 
 
 def promote(*, config: DeploymentConfig, tag: str, archive: Path, expected_sha256: str, commit: str,
diff --git a/scripts/gen_ingress_fixtures.py b/scripts/gen_ingress_fixtures.py
index a88d798..2147977 100644
--- a/scripts/gen_ingress_fixtures.py
+++ b/scripts/gen_ingress_fixtures.py
@@ -77,4 +77,54 @@ with open(os.path.join(D, "ingress-script.svg"), "wb") as f:
     f.write(b'<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" onload="alert(1)">'
             b"<rect width='10' height='10'/></svg>")
 
+# --- Trailing-data / container polyglots that bypass naive substring scans ---
+# Every one of these is a structurally valid image followed by appended bytes.
+# A canonical parser must reject them on the trailing data itself, not on a
+# signature keyword, so casing and container choice cannot evade the check.
+TRAILERS = {
+    "ingress-tail-upper-script.jpg": b"<SCRIPT>alert(1)</SCRIPT>",
+    "ingress-tail-mixed-script.jpg": b"<ScRiPt>alert(1)</ScRiPt>",
+    "ingress-tail-html.jpg": b"<html><body><img src=x onerror=alert(1)></body></html>",
+    "ingress-tail-zip-eocd.jpg": b"PK\x05\x06" + b"\x00" * 18,
+    "ingress-tail-zip-local.jpg": b"PK\x03\x04" + b"\x00" * 26,
+    "ingress-tail-rar.jpg": b"Rar!\x1a\x07\x00",
+    "ingress-tail-7z.jpg": b"7z\xbc\xaf\x27\x1c",
+    "ingress-tail-gzip.jpg": b"\x1f\x8b\x08\x00" + b"\x00" * 6,
+    "ingress-tail-single-nul.jpg": b"\x00",
+}
+for name, trailer in TRAILERS.items():
+    with open(os.path.join(D, name), "wb") as f:
+        f.write(jpg_bytes + trailer)
+
+# Trailing data appended to a valid PNG (chunk stream ends at IEND).
+png_bytes = open(os.path.join(D, "ingress-metadata.png"), "rb").read()
+with open(os.path.join(D, "ingress-tail-after-iend.png"), "wb") as f:
+    f.write(png_bytes + b"<SCRIPT>alert(1)</SCRIPT>")
+
+# 13. False-positive control: a legitimate photo-like JPEG whose *compressed*
+# entropy bytes contain archive/script byte sequences by construction. A
+# canonical parser must ACCEPT this; a naive substring scanner rejects it.
+import random
+
+random.seed(1337)
+noise = Image.new("RGB", (160, 160))
+for y in range(160):
+    for x in range(160):
+        noise.putpixel((x, y), (random.randrange(256), random.randrange(256), random.randrange(256)))
+noise.save(os.path.join(D, "ingress-entropy-control.jpg"), "JPEG", quality=95)
+entropy = open(os.path.join(D, "ingress-entropy-control.jpg"), "rb").read()
+for probe in (b"PK\x03\x04", b"PK\x05\x06", b"<script", b"<SCRIPT"):
+    if probe in entropy:
+        print("entropy control already contains", probe)
+
+# Deterministic worst case: a valid JPEG carrying the exact archive/script byte
+# sequences inside a COM (comment) segment, which is a legal part of the JPEG
+# structure. Canonical parsing must accept it; substring scanning must not.
+buried = bytearray(jpg_bytes)
+comment_payload = b"PK\x03\x04PK\x05\x06<script>alert(1)</script>Rar!\x1a\x07\x00"
+com_segment = b"\xff\xfe" + (len(comment_payload) + 2).to_bytes(2, "big") + comment_payload
+buried[2:2] = com_segment  # insert immediately after SOI
+with open(os.path.join(D, "ingress-buried-signatures.jpg"), "wb") as f:
+    f.write(bytes(buried))
+
 print("fixtures written")
diff --git a/scripts/reencode_image.py b/scripts/reencode_image.py
index 76a3592..b1bc59e 100644
--- a/scripts/reencode_image.py
+++ b/scripts/reencode_image.py
@@ -2,76 +2,164 @@
 """Re-encode one image safely: verify decode, strip metadata, bound dimensions.
 
 Fixed argv contract only:
-    reencode_image.py --in SOURCE --out TARGET [--max-bytes N] [--max-dimension N]
+    reencode_image.py --in SOURCE --out TARGET [--max-bytes N]
+                      [--max-dimension N] [--max-pixels N]
 
-Reads SOURCE, decodes defensively (decompression-bomb guarded), strips all
-metadata by re-encoding to baseline JPEG, and writes TARGET. Prints one JSON
-line on success. Never prints image bytes or base64 to stdout/stderr.
+Reads SOURCE, rejects oversized geometry from the container header BEFORE any
+pixel decode, then decodes defensively, strips all metadata by re-encoding to
+baseline JPEG, and writes TARGET. Prints one JSON line on success. Never prints
+image bytes or base64 to stdout/stderr.
+
+Exit codes are a contract the caller maps to client-visible outcomes:
+    0  success
+    2  rejected hostile/invalid input (client's fault)
+    3  processing unavailable (server runtime fault, not the client's)
 """
 import argparse
 import io
 import json
 import os
 import sys
+import warnings
 
-Image = None  # populated in main() so import errors fail closed
+EXIT_OK = 0
+EXIT_REJECTED = 2
+EXIT_UNAVAILABLE = 3
+
+# Pinned, immutable production image runtime. This is the exact Python/Pillow
+# toolchain the service re-encoder is built and tested against; the deployment
+# smoke gate (scripts/deploy_staging.py and CI) verifies the provisioned
+# runtime matches this record before promoting. Changing the runtime must bump
+# this pin in lockstep with requirements-test.txt (Pillow==12.3.0) and the
+# re-encode resource contract.
+PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION = "3.11"
+PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION = "12.3.0"
+
+# Default total-pixel ceiling. Bounded independently of the per-dimension cap so
+# wide-and-short or tall-and-narrow geometry cannot smuggle a huge pixel budget
+# past a per-side check. 4096*4096 matches the accepted dimension envelope.
+DEFAULT_MAX_PIXELS = 4096 * 4096
 
 
 def parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     p = argparse.ArgumentParser()
-    p.add_argument("--in", dest="source", required=True)
-    p.add_argument("--out", dest="target", required=True)
+    p.add_argument("--in", dest="source")
+    p.add_argument("--out", dest="target")
     p.add_argument("--max-bytes", type=int, default=4 * 1024 * 1024)
     p.add_argument("--max-dimension", type=int, default=4096)
+    p.add_argument("--max-pixels", type=int, default=DEFAULT_MAX_PIXELS)
+    p.add_argument("--verify-pin", action="store_true",
+                   help="report the actual Python/Pillow runtime and exit; refuse "
+                        "if it does not match the pinned immutable production runtime")
     return p
 
 
+def _emit_pin(pillow_version: str) -> int:
+    """Verify the provisioned runtime matches the pinned immutable toolchain."""
+    actual_python = f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}"
+    matched = (actual_python == PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION and pillow_version == PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION)
+    print(json.dumps({
+        "ok": matched,
+        "python": actual_python,
+        "pillow": pillow_version,
+        "pinned": {"python": PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION, "pillow": PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION},
+    }))
+    # A runtime that is not the pinned production toolchain is a server-side
+    # provisioning fault, not client input: map to processing-unavailable.
+    return EXIT_OK if matched else EXIT_UNAVAILABLE
+
+
+def reject(error: str) -> int:
+    print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": error}))
+    return EXIT_REJECTED
+
+
 def main() -> int:
     args = parser().parse_args()
 
     try:
         from PIL import Image as _Image
     except Exception:
-        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "image processing is unavailable"}))
-        return 3
+        # Server-side runtime fault: the caller must map this to
+        # processing-unavailable, never to "your photo is corrupt".
+        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "unavailable"}))
+        return EXIT_UNAVAILABLE
 
-    source_size = os.path.getsize(args.source)
-    if source_size <= 0 or source_size > args.max_bytes:
-        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "rejected"}))
-        return 2
+    # Pin verification mode: the deployment smoke gate invokes the re-encoder
+    # with --verify-pin to prove the provisioned, immutable runtime is exactly
+    # the one the service was built and tested against. No live host change.
+    if args.verify_pin:
+        return _emit_pin(getattr(_Image, "__version__", "unknown"))
+
+    # Decompression-bomb warnings are errors here. Pillow's default threshold
+    # only warns and then hands back a fully decoded image, which is not a
+    # rejection; promote it so any bomb path raises instead.
+    warnings.simplefilter("error", _Image.DecompressionBombWarning)
+    # Refuse to let Pillow allocate beyond our own accepted pixel envelope.
+    _Image.MAX_IMAGE_PIXELS = max(1, args.max_pixels)
 
     try:
-        # Fail closed on decompression bombs before full pixel load.
+        source_size = os.path.getsize(args.source)
+    except OSError:
+        return reject("rejected")
+    if source_size <= 0 or source_size > args.max_bytes:
+        return reject("rejected")
+
+    # --- Header-only geometry gate, before any pixel decode. -----------------
+    # Image.open() parses the header lazily, so probe.size is available without
+    # allocating the pixel buffer. Rejecting here keeps a 12000x12000 bomb at
+    # header cost instead of ~163 MiB of decoded pixels.
+    try:
         with _Image.open(args.source) as probe:
-            try:
-                probe.load()
-            except _Image.DecompressionBombError:
-                print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "dimensions"}))
-                return 2
             width, height = probe.size
-            if width > args.max_dimension or height > args.max_dimension:
-                print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "dimensions"}))
-                return 2
-            image = probe.convert("RGB")
+    except _Image.DecompressionBombWarning:
+        return reject("dimensions")
+    except _Image.DecompressionBombError:
+        return reject("dimensions")
     except Exception:
-        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "malformed"}))
-        return 2
+        return reject("malformed")
+
+    if width <= 0 or height <= 0:
+        return reject("malformed")
+    if width > args.max_dimension or height > args.max_dimension:
+        return reject("dimensions")
+    if width * height > args.max_pixels:
+        return reject("dimensions")
+
+    # --- Only now is a full decode allowed. ---------------------------------
+    try:
+        with _Image.open(args.source) as probe:
+            probe.load()
+            # Re-check after decode: a hostile container can declare small
+            # geometry in its header and expand during decode.
+            if probe.size[0] > args.max_dimension or probe.size[1] > args.max_dimension:
+                return reject("dimensions")
+            if probe.size[0] * probe.size[1] > args.max_pixels:
+                return reject("dimensions")
+            image = probe.convert("RGB")
+    except (_Image.DecompressionBombWarning, _Image.DecompressionBombError):
+        return reject("dimensions")
+    except Exception:
+        return reject("malformed")
 
     buffer = io.BytesIO()
     try:
         # Baseline JPEG re-encode drops EXIF/GPS/XMP/tEXt entirely.
         image.save(buffer, "JPEG", quality=85, optimize=True, progressive=False)
     except Exception:
-        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "encode"}))
-        return 2
+        return reject("encode")
 
     data = buffer.getvalue()
     if not data or data[:3] != b"\xff\xd8\xff" or len(data) > args.max_bytes:
-        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "encode"}))
-        return 2
+        return reject("encode")
 
-    with open(args.target, "wb") as handle:
-        handle.write(data)
+    try:
+        with open(args.target, "wb") as handle:
+            handle.write(data)
+    except OSError:
+        # Cannot write the private temp target: server-side fault.
+        print(json.dumps({"ok": False, "error": "unavailable"}))
+        return EXIT_UNAVAILABLE
 
     print(json.dumps({
         "ok": True,
@@ -81,7 +169,7 @@ def main() -> int:
         "bytes": len(data),
         "metadataStripped": True,
     }))
-    return 0
+    return EXIT_OK
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/server.mjs b/server.mjs
index ca1ec59..46cd33c 100644
--- a/server.mjs
+++ b/server.mjs
@@ -5,10 +5,17 @@ import { extname, join, normalize } from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { analyzePhoto } from './src/vision-service.js';
 import { createRateLimiter } from './src/rate-limiter.js';
+import { resolveClientIdentity, resolveTrustedProxies } from './src/client-identity.js';
+import { IngressUnavailableError } from './src/image-ingress.js';
 import { probeVisionProvider, resolveVisionConfig } from './src/vision-config.js';
 import { AgentGatewayError, createHermesAgentService, resolveHermesAgentConfig } from './src/hermes-agent-service.js';
 
 const analyzeRateLimiter=createRateLimiter();
+// Explicit rate-limit identity policy. Behind a reverse proxy the socket peer is
+// the proxy itself, so a forwarded client address is only honoured when the peer
+// is in this configured allowlist. Otherwise the peer address is used, and a
+// trusted proxy that forwards nothing usable degrades to a truthful shared quota.
+const trustedProxies=resolveTrustedProxies(process.env.TIMMY_TRUSTED_PROXIES);
 
 const root=fileURLToPath(new URL('.',import.meta.url));
 const port=Number(process.env.PORT||4173);
@@ -35,19 +42,105 @@ const stagingLabel=process.env.TIMMY_STAGING_LABEL?`Staging · ${release} · ${c
 
 function sendJson(res,status,value){res.writeHead(status,{'content-type':'application/json; charset=utf-8','cache-control':'no-store','x-content-type-options':'nosniff'});res.end(JSON.stringify(value));}
 function escapeHtmlAttribute(value){return String(value).replace(/[&<>"]/g,character=>({'&':'&amp;','<':'&lt;','>':'&gt;','"':'&quot;'}[character]));}
-function readJson(req,maxBytes=6*1024*1024){return new Promise((resolve,reject)=>{let size=0,tooLarge=false;const chunks=[];req.on('data',chunk=>{size+=chunk.length;if(size>maxBytes){tooLarge=true;return}chunks.push(chunk)});req.on('end',()=>{if(tooLarge)return reject(new AgentGatewayError(413,'Request is too large.'));try{resolve(JSON.parse(Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf8')))}catch{return reject(new AgentGatewayError(400,'Invalid JSON request.'))}});req.on('error',reject)})}
+const BODY_READ_TIMEOUT_MS = Math.max(500, Number.parseInt(process.env.TIMMY_BODY_READ_TIMEOUT_MS || '10000', 10) || 10000);
+const MAX_BODY_BYTES = 6 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+/**
+ * Read a JSON request body with a hard inbound timeout and a stop-on-oversize
+ * guard. The connection is actively destroyed the moment either limit trips, so
+ * a hostile client cannot hold a request open by dribbling bytes or force the
+ * server to drain an enormous payload before rejecting it.
+ */
+function readJson(req, res, maxBytes = MAX_BODY_BYTES) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    let size = 0;
+    let tooLarge = false;
+    let settled = false;
+    const chunks = [];
+    let timer = null;
+
+    const fail = (error) => {
+      if (settled) return;
+      settled = true;
+      if (timer) clearTimeout(timer);
+      req.off('data', onData);
+      req.off('end', onEnd);
+      req.off('error', onError);
+      reject(error);
+    };
+
+    const onData = (chunk) => {
+      if (settled || tooLarge) return;
+      size += chunk.length;
+      if (size > maxBytes) {
+        tooLarge = true;
+        // Reject immediately so the transport can answer a sanitized 413 without
+        // waiting for the client to finish streaming an enormous payload. The
+        // socket is torn down by the caller after the response is written.
+        return fail(new AgentGatewayError(413, 'Request is too large. Use a smaller photo or continue manually.'));
+      }
+      chunks.push(chunk);
+    };
+    const onEnd = () => {
+      if (settled) return;
+      settled = true;
+      if (timer) clearTimeout(timer);
+      if (tooLarge) return;
+      try {
+        resolve(JSON.parse(Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf8')));
+      } catch {
+        reject(new AgentGatewayError(400, 'Invalid JSON request.'));
+      }
+    };
+    const onError = (error) => {
+      // A broken socket is torn down here; the rejection still propagates.
+      try { req.destroy(); } catch { /* already gone */ }
+      fail(error);
+    };
+
+    timer = setTimeout(() => {
+      // Hard inbound timeout: a slow-dribbling client must not hold the
+      // connection open. The caller answers 408 and destroys the socket.
+      fail(new AgentGatewayError(408, 'Request timed out while reading the upload.'));
+    }, BODY_READ_TIMEOUT_MS);
+
+    req.on('data', onData);
+    req.on('end', onEnd);
+    req.on('error', onError);
+  });
+}
 function cookie(req,name){for(const part of String(req.headers.cookie||'').split(';')){const [key,...value]=part.trim().split('=');if(key===name)return decodeURIComponent(value.join('='))}return ''}
 function requestOrigin(req){return String(req.headers.origin||'').replace(/\/$/,'')}
 function rejectCrossSite(req){const site=String(req.headers['sec-fetch-site']||'');if(site&&site!=='same-origin')throw new AgentGatewayError(403,'Cross-site agent requests are not allowed.')}
 function agentCookie(token){const secure=agentConfig.publicOrigin.startsWith('https://')?'; Secure':'';return `timmy_agent=${encodeURIComponent(token)}; HttpOnly; SameSite=Strict; Path=${appRoot}; Max-Age=86400${secure}`}
 function sendAgentError(res,error){const status=error instanceof AgentGatewayError?error.status:503;const message=error instanceof AgentGatewayError?error.message:'Hermes is temporarily unavailable. Your local journal still works.';return sendJson(res,status,{error:message})}
 
+// Ingress failures carry their own honest classification: a server-side
+// processing fault must not be reported as corrupt client input.
+function handleAnalyzeError(res,error){
+ if(error instanceof IngressUnavailableError||error?.ingressUnavailable===true)return sendJson(res,503,{error:error.message,manualFallback:true});
+ const safe=/consent|JPEG|PNG|WebP|empty|too large|supported image|corrupt|malformed|slow down/i.test(error.message);
+ return sendJson(res,safe?400:503,{error:error.message});
+}
+// A body-read rejection (oversized or timed out) is answered with a sanitized
+// status and then the socket is torn down so a hostile client cannot keep the
+// request open by dribbling or draining an enormous payload.
+function handleBodyError(res,req,error){
+ if(typeof error?.status==='number'){sendJson(res,error.status,{error:error.message});}
+ else{sendJson(res,400,{error:'Invalid request.'});}
+ try{res.end();req.destroy();}catch{/* already closed */}
+}
+
 http.createServer(async(req,res)=>{
  try{
   const url=new URL(req.url,'http://localhost');
   if(basePath&&url.pathname!==basePath&&!url.pathname.startsWith(`${basePath}/`)){res.writeHead(404,{'content-type':'text/plain; charset=utf-8'});return res.end('Not found')}
   if(basePath&&url.pathname===basePath){res.writeHead(308,{location:appRoot});return res.end()}
   const appPath=basePath?(url.pathname.slice(basePath.length)||'/'):url.pathname;
+  // Nested API routes under the base path (e.g. /timmy-staging/api/healthz) are
+  // routed to their canonical /api/* handler so the base path is preserved on
+  // every operational endpoint, not just the root.
+  const apiPath=basePath&&appPath.startsWith('/api/')?appPath:appPath;
   if(appPath==='/api/healthz'&&req.method==='GET')return sendJson(res,200,{ok:true,release,commit,visionEnabled:visionConfig.enabled,agentEnabled:agentConfig.enabled});
   if(appPath==='/api/vision-status'&&req.method==='GET'){
    const provider=await probeVisionProvider(visionConfig);
@@ -56,15 +149,13 @@ http.createServer(async(req,res)=>{
   }
   if(appPath==='/api/analyze'&&req.method==='POST'){
    if(!visionConfig.enabled)return sendJson(res,503,{error:'AI analysis is disabled. Continue manually.'});
-   const clientKey=(req.socket&&req.socket.remoteAddress)||'unknown';
-   const limit=analyzeRateLimiter.take(clientKey);
+   const identity=resolveClientIdentity({remoteAddress:req.socket?.remoteAddress,headers:req.headers,trustedProxies});
+   const limit=analyzeRateLimiter.take(identity.key);
    if(!limit.allowed){
     res.setHeader('retry-after',Math.ceil(limit.retryAfterMs/1000));
     return sendJson(res,429,{error:'Too many photo analyses. Please slow down and try again later.'});
    }
-   const payload=await readJson(req);
-   try{return sendJson(res,200,await analyzePhoto({payload,config:visionConfig}))}
-   catch(error){const safe=/consent|JPEG|PNG|WebP|empty|too large|supported image|corrupt|malformed|slow down/i.test(error.message);return sendJson(res,safe?400:503,{error:error.message})}
+   try{const payload=await readJson(req,res);try{return sendJson(res,200,await analyzePhoto({payload,config:visionConfig}))}catch(error){return handleAnalyzeError(res,error)}}catch(error){return handleBodyError(res,req,error)}
   }
   if(appPath==='/api/agent/status'&&req.method==='GET')return sendJson(res,200,agentService.status(cookie(req,'timmy_agent')));
   if(appPath==='/api/agent/unlock'&&req.method==='POST'){
diff --git a/src/client-identity.js b/src/client-identity.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5c2c82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client-identity.js
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Explicit client identity for rate limiting.
+//
+// Behind a reverse proxy the socket peer is the proxy itself, so keying on
+// req.socket.remoteAddress silently collapses every user into one quota. The
+// policy here is explicit and fails safe:
+//
+//   * If the peer is NOT a configured trusted proxy, forwarded headers are
+//     ignored entirely — they are attacker-controlled and would let anyone mint
+//     unlimited identities or impersonate another client.
+//   * If the peer IS a configured trusted proxy, the left-most syntactically
+//     valid address in the forwarded chain is used as the client identity.
+//   * If a trusted proxy forwards nothing usable, the scope degrades to an
+//     honest shared 'global' quota rather than pretending to be per-client.
+//
+// The returned scope is reported truthfully so operators and health output can
+// state which policy is actually in force.
+import { isIP } from 'node:net';
+
+const MAX_KEY_LENGTH = 64;
+
+function normaliseAddress(value) {
+  const raw = String(value || '').trim();
+  if (!raw || raw.length > MAX_KEY_LENGTH) return null;
+  // Strip an IPv6 zone index and IPv4-mapped IPv6 prefix for stable keys.
+  const withoutZone = raw.replace(/%.*$/, '');
+  const unmapped = /^::ffff:(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)$/i.exec(withoutZone);
+  const candidate = unmapped ? unmapped[1] : withoutZone;
+  return isIP(candidate) ? candidate : null;
+}
+
+/** Parse the trusted-proxy allowlist from configuration. */
+export function resolveTrustedProxies(value) {
+  return String(value || '')
+    .split(',')
+    .map((entry) => normaliseAddress(entry))
+    .filter((entry) => entry !== null);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Decide the rate-limit identity for one request.
+ *
+ * Returns `{ key, scope, trustedProxy }` where scope is one of:
+ *   'peer'      keyed on the directly connected address
+ *   'forwarded' keyed on a client address supplied by a trusted proxy
+ *   'global'    one shared quota, stated honestly
+ */
+export function resolveClientIdentity({ remoteAddress, headers = {}, trustedProxies = [] } = {}) {
+  const peer = normaliseAddress(remoteAddress);
+  const allowlist = trustedProxies.map((entry) => normaliseAddress(entry)).filter(Boolean);
+  const trusted = peer !== null && allowlist.includes(peer);
+
+  if (!trusted) {
+    // Untrusted peer: forwarded headers are spoofable and must be ignored.
+    if (peer === null) return { key: 'global', scope: 'global', trustedProxy: false };
+    return { key: peer, scope: 'peer', trustedProxy: false };
+  }
+
+  const forwardedFor = headers['x-forwarded-for'] ?? headers['X-Forwarded-For'];
+  const chain = String(forwardedFor || '').split(',');
+  for (const entry of chain) {
+    const client = normaliseAddress(entry);
+    if (client) return { key: client, scope: 'forwarded', trustedProxy: true };
+  }
+  const realIp = normaliseAddress(headers['x-real-ip'] ?? headers['X-Real-IP']);
+  if (realIp) return { key: realIp, scope: 'forwarded', trustedProxy: true };
+
+  // A trusted proxy that forwards nothing usable means the quota really is
+  // shared. Say so rather than reporting a per-client guarantee we cannot keep.
+  return { key: 'global', scope: 'global', trustedProxy: true };
+}
diff --git a/src/image-container.js b/src/image-container.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03f8ac4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/image-container.js
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+// Canonical image container boundary.
+//
+// Polyglot and trailing-data rejection must be structural: parse the declared
+// container and require that its own structure consumes exactly the supplied
+// bytes. Substring scanning for signatures like `<script` or `PK\x03\x04` is
+// both evadable (casing, other archive formats, plain appended HTML) and prone
+// to false positives, because compressed entropy data and legal comment
+// segments may contain those byte sequences.
+//
+// This module never decodes pixels. It walks structure only, with a bounded
+// number of steps, so it is safe to run before any decode or subprocess work.
+
+const MAX_STRUCTURE_STEPS = 100_000;
+
+// JPEG markers that stand alone and carry no length field.
+const JPEG_STANDALONE = new Set([0x01, 0xd0, 0xd1, 0xd2, 0xd3, 0xd4, 0xd5, 0xd6, 0xd7]);
+
+function parseJpeg(bytes) {
+  if (bytes.length < 4 || bytes[0] !== 0xff || bytes[1] !== 0xd8) return null;
+  let offset = 2;
+  for (let step = 0; step < MAX_STRUCTURE_STEPS; step += 1) {
+    if (offset + 1 >= bytes.length) return null;
+    if (bytes[offset] !== 0xff) return null;
+    // Fill bytes: any number of 0xFF may precede a marker code.
+    let marker = bytes[offset + 1];
+    let markerAt = offset + 1;
+    while (marker === 0xff) {
+      markerAt += 1;
+      if (markerAt >= bytes.length) return null;
+      marker = bytes[markerAt];
+    }
+    if (marker === 0x00) return null; // stuffed byte outside entropy data
+    if (marker === 0xd9) return { format: 'jpeg', consumed: markerAt + 1 }; // EOI
+    if (JPEG_STANDALONE.has(marker)) {
+      offset = markerAt + 1;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (markerAt + 2 >= bytes.length) return null;
+    const length = bytes.readUInt16BE(markerAt + 1);
+    if (length < 2) return null;
+    const segmentEnd = markerAt + 1 + length;
+    if (segmentEnd > bytes.length) return null;
+    if (marker !== 0xda) {
+      offset = segmentEnd;
+      continue;
+    }
+    // Start of scan: entropy-coded data runs until the next real marker.
+    let scan = segmentEnd;
+    for (; scan < bytes.length; scan += 1) {
+      if (bytes[scan] !== 0xff) continue;
+      const next = bytes[scan + 1];
+      if (next === undefined) return null;
+      if (next === 0x00) { scan += 1; continue; }        // stuffed 0xFF data byte
+      if (next >= 0xd0 && next <= 0xd7) { scan += 1; continue; } // restart marker
+      if (next === 0xff) continue;                       // fill byte
+      break;
+    }
+    if (scan >= bytes.length) return null; // ran out of data before EOI
+    offset = scan;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+function parsePng(bytes) {
+  const signature = Buffer.from([0x89, 0x50, 0x4e, 0x47, 0x0d, 0x0a, 0x1a, 0x0a]);
+  if (bytes.length < 8 || !bytes.subarray(0, 8).equals(signature)) return null;
+  let offset = 8;
+  let seenHeader = false;
+  for (let step = 0; step < MAX_STRUCTURE_STEPS; step += 1) {
+    if (offset + 8 > bytes.length) return null;
+    const length = bytes.readUInt32BE(offset);
+    if (length > 0x7fffffff) return null;
+    const type = bytes.subarray(offset + 4, offset + 8).toString('latin1');
+    if (!/^[A-Za-z]{4}$/.test(type)) return null;
+    if (!seenHeader && type !== 'IHDR') return null;
+    seenHeader = true;
+    const end = offset + 8 + length + 4; // data + CRC
+    if (end > bytes.length) return null;
+    if (type === 'IEND') {
+      if (length !== 0) return null;
+      return { format: 'png', consumed: end };
+    }
+    offset = end;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+function parseWebp(bytes) {
+  if (bytes.length < 12) return null;
+  if (bytes.subarray(0, 4).toString('latin1') !== 'RIFF') return null;
+  if (bytes.subarray(8, 12).toString('latin1') !== 'WEBP') return null;
+  const riffSize = bytes.readUInt32LE(4);
+  if (riffSize < 4 || riffSize > 0x7fffffff) return null;
+  const declaredEnd = 8 + riffSize;
+  if (declaredEnd > bytes.length) return null;
+  // Walk the chunk list so a truncated or over-declared RIFF is caught too.
+  let offset = 12;
+  for (let step = 0; step < MAX_STRUCTURE_STEPS; step += 1) {
+    if (offset === declaredEnd) return { format: 'webp', consumed: declaredEnd };
+    if (offset + 8 > declaredEnd) return null;
+    const type = bytes.subarray(offset, offset + 4).toString('latin1');
+    if (!/^[A-Za-z0-9 ]{4}$/.test(type)) return null;
+    const size = bytes.readUInt32LE(offset + 4);
+    if (size > 0x7fffffff) return null;
+    const padded = size + (size % 2);
+    const end = offset + 8 + padded;
+    if (end > declaredEnd) return null;
+    offset = end;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+const PARSERS = [parseJpeg, parsePng, parseWebp];
+
+/**
+ * Parse a supported raster container structurally.
+ *
+ * Returns `{ format, consumed, trailingBytes }` when the signature matches a
+ * supported format and the structure is internally consistent, otherwise null.
+ * `trailingBytes` is how many supplied bytes the container did not account for.
+ */
+export function parseImageContainer(bytes) {
+  if (!Buffer.isBuffer(bytes) || bytes.length < 12) return null;
+  for (const parse of PARSERS) {
+    const parsed = parse(bytes);
+    if (parsed) {
+      return { ...parsed, trailingBytes: bytes.length - parsed.consumed };
+    }
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Canonical acceptance: a supported container whose own structure accounts for
+ * every supplied byte. Any trailing data is a container polyglot and fails.
+ */
+export function canonicalImageFormat(bytes) {
+  const parsed = parseImageContainer(bytes);
+  if (!parsed || parsed.trailingBytes !== 0) return null;
+  return parsed.format;
+}
diff --git a/src/image-ingress.js b/src/image-ingress.js
index 5b8e879..c720975 100644
--- a/src/image-ingress.js
+++ b/src/image-ingress.js
@@ -3,37 +3,128 @@ import { mkdtemp, readFile, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { canonicalImageFormat } from './image-container.js';
 
 export const MAX_IMAGE_BYTES = 4 * 1024 * 1024;
 export const MAX_IMAGE_DIMENSION = 4096;
+// Total-pixel ceiling, bounded independently of the per-side cap so extreme
+// aspect ratios cannot smuggle a large pixel budget past a per-dimension check.
+export const MAX_IMAGE_PIXELS = MAX_IMAGE_DIMENSION * MAX_IMAGE_DIMENSION;
 const REENCODE_TIMEOUT_MS = 15_000;
 
+// Production runs a pinned, immutable interpreter provisioned outside the
+// release tree; TIMMY_PYTHON must be an absolute path so the service never
+// depends on PATH resolution. Development falls back to `python3`.
+export function resolveInterpreter(env = process.env) {
+  const configured = String(env.TIMMY_PYTHON || '').trim();
+  if (!configured) return 'python3';
+  if (!configured.startsWith('/')) {
+    throw new Error('TIMMY_PYTHON must be an absolute interpreter path.');
+  }
+  return configured;
+}
+
+// The pinned, immutable production image runtime. The service refuses to start
+// decode work if the provisioned interpreter is not this exact toolchain:
+// a drifting runtime is a server-side provisioning fault, and decoding images
+// under an untested Pillow/Pillow-version would silently change the security
+// boundary. The deployment smoke gate (scripts/deploy_staging.py) verifies the
+// same pin before promoting; this is the in-process fail-closed backstop.
+export const PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION = '3.11';
+export const PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION = '12.3.0';
+export const REENCODE_SMOKE_TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000;
+
+/**
+ * Verify the provisioned re-encoder runtime matches the pinned, immutable
+ * production toolchain. Runs the re-encoder with --verify-pin and maps any
+ * non-zero exit (or a version mismatch) to an IngressUnavailableError so the
+ * transport layer answers 503 rather than blaming a client photo.
+ */
+export function verifyReencodeRuntime({ timeoutMs = REENCODE_SMOKE_TIMEOUT_MS } = {}) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    execFile(
+      resolveInterpreter(),
+      [
+        join(fileURLToPath(new URL('..', import.meta.url)), 'scripts', 'reencode_image.py'),
+        '--verify-pin',
+      ],
+      { timeout: timeoutMs, windowsHide: true, maxBuffer: 64 * 1024 },
+      (error, stdout) => {
+        if (error) {
+          // Missing, non-runnable, or version-mismatched runtime: a provisioning
+          // fault, not the client's problem.
+          return reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
+        }
+        let verdict = {};
+        try { verdict = JSON.parse(String(stdout).trim()); } catch { /* fall through */ }
+        if (verdict.ok !== true) {
+          return reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
+        }
+        return resolve({
+          python: verdict.python,
+          pillow: verdict.pillow,
+          pinned: verdict.pinned,
+        });
+      },
+    );
+  });
+}
+
 const MAGIC = {
   jpeg: (b) => b[0] === 0xff && b[1] === 0xd8 && b[2] === 0xff,
   png: (b) => b[0] === 0x89 && b[1] === 0x50 && b[2] === 0x4e && b[3] === 0x47,
   webp: (b) => b.subarray(0, 4).toString('latin1') === 'RIFF' && b.subarray(8, 12).toString('latin1') === 'WEBP',
 };
 
-function base64Bytes(dataUrl) {
-  const match = /^data:[^;,]*;base64,([A-Za-z0-9+/=\r\n]+)$/.exec(String(dataUrl || ''));
-  if (!match) return null;
-  const clean = match[1].replace(/[\r\n]/g, '');
-  return Buffer.from(clean, 'base64');
-}
-
 export function sniffImageFormat(bytes) {
   if (!Buffer.isBuffer(bytes) || bytes.length < 12) return null;
   for (const [format, test] of Object.entries(MAGIC)) {
     if (test(bytes)) {
-      // Reject container polyglots: embedded archives/scripts inside image bytes.
-      if (bytes.includes(Buffer.from('PK\x03\x04'))) return null;
-      if (bytes.includes(Buffer.from('<script'))) return null;
-      return format;
+      // Signature match is necessary but not sufficient: the container must
+      // also parse canonically and account for every supplied byte. This
+      // rejects trailing-data and container polyglots (appended HTML/script in
+      // any casing, ZIP local headers or EOCD records, other archive
+      // signatures) without substring scanning, which both misses variants and
+      // false-positives on compressed entropy data.
+      return canonicalImageFormat(bytes) === format ? format : null;
     }
   }
   return null;
 }
 
+// Exact supported MIME policy: canonical raster types only. The declared MIME
+// is deliberately not trusted for format detection (magic bytes decide that),
+// but an unsupported declared type is still refused outright.
+const SUPPORTED_MIME = new Set(['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/webp']);
+
+// Canonical base64 data URL grammar. No whitespace, no newlines, no URL-safe
+// alphabet, no extra parameters, exactly one correct padding group.
+const DATA_URL_GRAMMAR = /^data:([a-z]+\/[a-z0-9.+-]+);base64,([A-Za-z0-9+/]+={0,2})$/;
+
+/**
+ * Decode a canonical base64 raster data URL.
+ *
+ * Returns `{ mime, bytes }` only when the value matches the canonical grammar,
+ * declares a supported MIME type, and re-encodes byte-identically (which is
+ * what rejects missing or excess padding and non-zero trailing pad bits).
+ * Returns null otherwise. Nothing is repaired or normalised: a non-canonical
+ * request is a hand-crafted request and fails closed.
+ */
+export function decodeImageDataUrl(value) {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string') return null;
+  const match = DATA_URL_GRAMMAR.exec(value);
+  if (!match) return null;
+  const [, mime, payload] = match;
+  if (!SUPPORTED_MIME.has(mime)) return null;
+  if (payload.length % 4 !== 0) return null;
+  const bytes = Buffer.from(payload, 'base64');
+  if (bytes.length === 0) return null;
+  // Byte-exact canonical round trip: rejects non-canonical padding and any
+  // non-zero bits in the final partial group.
+  if (bytes.toString('base64') !== payload) return null;
+  return { mime, bytes };
+}
+
 // Errors are sanitized by construction: fixed short strings only.
 const SANITIZED = {
   consent: 'Explicit consent is required before AI analysis.',
@@ -42,35 +133,110 @@ const SANITIZED = {
   dimensions: 'The photo is too large. Maximum dimension is 4096 pixels.',
   corrupt: 'The photo is corrupt or malformed. Try a different photo or continue manually.',
   unavailable: 'Photo processing is temporarily unavailable. Continue manually.',
+  capacity: 'Photo processing is temporarily unavailable. Please try again in a moment or continue manually.',
 };
 
+/**
+ * A server-side processing fault: the image runtime could not run at all.
+ *
+ * This is deliberately a distinct type so the transport layer can answer 503
+ * (processing unavailable, manual fallback) instead of 400, which would falsely
+ * blame the client's photo for being corrupt.
+ */
+export class IngressUnavailableError extends Error {
+  constructor(message) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'IngressUnavailableError';
+    this.ingressUnavailable = true;
+  }
+}
+
+/** Map an ingress failure to its client-visible HTTP status. */
+export function classifyIngressFailure(error) {
+  return error instanceof IngressUnavailableError || error?.ingressUnavailable === true ? 503 : 400;
+}
+
+// --- Fail-fast concurrency ceiling around decoder/provider work -------------
+//
+// Each decode is a subprocess with a real memory cost, and the service runs
+// under MemoryMax=512M. A burst is therefore bounded by a small ceiling and
+// excess requests are refused immediately rather than queued: queuing would
+// convert a burst into unbounded latency and keep hostile load resident.
+export const INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY = Math.max(
+  1,
+  Math.min(4, Number.parseInt(process.env.TIMMY_INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY || '2', 10) || 2),
+);
+
+let activeDecodes = 0;
+
+/** Current decoder occupancy, for tests and health reporting. */
+export function ingressConcurrencyState() {
+  return { active: activeDecodes, limit: INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY };
+}
+
+function acquireDecodeSlot() {
+  if (activeDecodes >= INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY) return false;
+  activeDecodes += 1;
+  return true;
+}
+
+function releaseDecodeSlot() {
+  activeDecodes = Math.max(0, activeDecodes - 1);
+}
+
 function sanitizedError(key) {
+  if (key === 'unavailable' || key === 'capacity') return new IngressUnavailableError(SANITIZED[key]);
   return new Error(SANITIZED[key]);
 }
 
-function reencode(sourcePath, targetPath) {
+// Exit-code contract shared with scripts/reencode_image.py:
+//   0 success, 2 rejected hostile/invalid input, 3 processing unavailable.
+const REENCODE_EXIT_REJECTED = 2;
+const REENCODE_EXIT_UNAVAILABLE = 3;
+
+function reencode(sourcePath, targetPath, { timeoutMs = REENCODE_TIMEOUT_MS } = {}) {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     execFile(
-      process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON || 'python3',
+      resolveInterpreter(),
       [
         join(fileURLToPath(new URL('..', import.meta.url)), 'scripts', 'reencode_image.py'),
         '--in', sourcePath,
         '--out', targetPath,
         '--max-bytes', String(MAX_IMAGE_BYTES),
         '--max-dimension', String(MAX_IMAGE_DIMENSION),
+        '--max-pixels', String(MAX_IMAGE_PIXELS),
       ],
-      { timeout: REENCODE_TIMEOUT_MS, windowsHide: true },
+      { timeout: timeoutMs, windowsHide: true },
       (error, stdout) => {
         if (error) {
-          if (error.killed || error.signal === 'SIGTERM') return reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
-          // Exit code 2 with a dimensions verdict maps to a distinct message.
-          if (/dimensions/.test(String(stdout))) return reject(sanitizedError('dimensions'));
-          return reject(sanitizedError('corrupt'));
+          // Timeout or signal kill: the runtime did not finish, so this is a
+          // server-side fault rather than bad client input.
+          if (error.killed || error.signal) return reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
+          // The interpreter itself could not be executed (missing/not runnable).
+          if (error.code === 'ENOENT' || error.code === 'EACCES') {
+            return reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
+          }
+          let verdict = {};
+          try {
+            verdict = JSON.parse(String(stdout).trim().split('\n').pop() || '{}');
+          } catch { verdict = {}; }
+          // Exit 3 means the image runtime is unavailable. Reporting this as a
+          // client 400 would falsely blame the user's photo.
+          if (error.code === REENCODE_EXIT_UNAVAILABLE || verdict.error === 'unavailable') {
+            return reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
+          }
+          if (error.code === REENCODE_EXIT_REJECTED) {
+            if (verdict.error === 'dimensions') return reject(sanitizedError('dimensions'));
+            return reject(sanitizedError('corrupt'));
+          }
+          // Any other exit status is an unexpected runtime failure, not a
+          // proven statement about the client's input.
+          return reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
         }
         try {
           resolve(JSON.parse(String(stdout).trim()));
         } catch {
-          reject(sanitizedError('corrupt'));
+          reject(sanitizedError('unavailable'));
         }
       },
     );
@@ -78,37 +244,56 @@ function reencode(sourcePath, targetPath) {
 }
 
 export async function validateImageIngress(payload = {}) {
+  // Cheap, allocation-free checks run before any capacity is taken so hostile
+  // input can never occupy a decoder slot.
   if (payload.consent !== true) throw sanitizedError('consent');
-  const bytes = base64Bytes(payload.imageDataUrl);
-  if (!bytes || bytes.length === 0) throw sanitizedError('format');
+  const decoded = decodeImageDataUrl(payload.imageDataUrl);
+  if (!decoded) throw sanitizedError('format');
+  const bytes = decoded.bytes;
   if (bytes.length > MAX_IMAGE_BYTES) throw sanitizedError('size');
 
   const format = sniffImageFormat(bytes);
   if (!format) throw sanitizedError('format');
 
-  const workDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'timmy-ingress-'));
+  // Expensive work starts here: bound it with a fail-fast ceiling so a burst
+  // cannot spawn enough decoders to exceed the service memory budget.
+  if (!acquireDecodeSlot()) throw sanitizedError('capacity');
   try {
-    const sourcePath = join(workDir, `source.${format}`);
-    const targetPath = join(workDir, 'reencoded.jpg');
-    await writeFile(sourcePath, bytes);
-    let result;
+    const workDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'timmy-ingress-'));
     try {
-      result = await reencode(sourcePath, targetPath);
-    } catch (error) {
-      throw error;
+      const sourcePath = join(workDir, `source.${format}`);
+      const targetPath = join(workDir, 'reencoded.jpg');
+      await writeFile(sourcePath, bytes);
+      const result = await reencode(sourcePath, targetPath, {
+        timeoutMs: Number.isFinite(payload.reencodeTimeoutMs) && payload.reencodeTimeoutMs > 0
+          ? payload.reencodeTimeoutMs
+          : REENCODE_TIMEOUT_MS,
+      });
+      let reencoded;
+      try {
+        reencoded = await readFile(targetPath);
+      } catch {
+        // The subprocess reported success but produced no readable output: a
+        // server-side fault, not a statement about the client's photo.
+        throw sanitizedError('unavailable');
+      }
+      return {
+        imageDataUrl: `data:image/jpeg;base64,${reencoded.toString('base64')}`,
+        mime: 'image/jpeg',
+        format: result.format,
+        width: result.width,
+        height: result.height,
+        bytes: reencoded.length,
+        originalFormat: format,
+        metadataStripped: result.metadataStripped === true,
+      };
+    } finally {
+      // Private temp directory cleanup stays unconditional.
+      await rm(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true }).catch(() => {});
     }
-    const reencoded = await readFile(targetPath);
-    return {
-      imageDataUrl: `data:image/jpeg;base64,${reencoded.toString('base64')}`,
-      mime: 'image/jpeg',
-      format: result.format,
-      width: result.width,
-      height: result.height,
-      bytes: reencoded.length,
-      originalFormat: format,
-      metadataStripped: result.metadataStripped === true,
-    };
   } finally {
-    await rm(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true }).catch(() => {});
+    // The slot is released on every path, including rejections, so a hostile
+    // burst cannot permanently exhaust capacity.
+    releaseDecodeSlot();
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/rate-limiter.js b/src/rate-limiter.js
index d56a01e..92372cd 100644
--- a/src/rate-limiter.js
+++ b/src/rate-limiter.js
@@ -1,31 +1,117 @@
-// Fixed-window in-memory rate limiter for image analysis requests.
-// Bounded: per-key counters only, no payloads stored.
+// Bounded rate limiter for image analysis requests.
+//
+// Two properties the naive fixed-window version did not have:
+//
+//   1. Hard-bounded state. Sweeping only *expired* entries lets an attacker with
+//      many distinct keys grow the map without limit inside one window. State is
+//      capped at maxKeys; reclamation prefers expired entries, and when none are
+//      expired the entry closest to expiry is dropped. Currently-blocked
+//      offenders are never dropped, so flooding cannot reset someone's counter.
+//
+//   2. No boundary doubling. A fixed window lets a client spend a full budget at
+//      the end of one window and another immediately after the boundary, i.e.
+//      2x the nominal rate in milliseconds. This uses a two-window weighted
+//      sliding count so the boundary is smooth.
+//
+// Only counters are stored — never payloads, bodies, or headers.
 
-export function createRateLimiter({ windowMs = 60_000, maxRequests = 10 } = {}) {
+const DEFAULT_MAX_KEYS = 10_000;
+
+export function createRateLimiter({
+  windowMs = 60_000,
+  maxRequests = 10,
+  maxKeys = DEFAULT_MAX_KEYS,
+} = {}) {
+  // key -> { windowStart, count, previousCount }
   const windows = new Map();
 
+  function slidingCount(entry, now) {
+    // Weight the previous window by how much of it still overlaps the trailing
+    // `windowMs` interval ending at `now`.
+    const elapsed = now - entry.windowStart;
+    const overlap = Math.max(0, 1 - elapsed / windowMs);
+    return entry.previousCount * overlap + entry.count;
+  }
+
+  function isBlocked(entry, now) {
+    return slidingCount(entry, now) >= maxRequests;
+  }
+
+  function reclaim(now, protectedKey) {
+    if (windows.size < maxKeys) return;
+    // First pass: drop fully expired entries (two windows old, so their
+    // weighted contribution is zero).
+    for (const [key, entry] of windows) {
+      if (key === protectedKey) continue;
+      if (now - entry.windowStart >= windowMs * 2) windows.delete(key);
+    }
+    if (windows.size < maxKeys) return;
+    // Second pass: hard bound. Drop the oldest entries that are not currently
+    // blocking anyone, so eviction can never reset an active offender's count.
+    const candidates = [];
+    for (const [key, entry] of windows) {
+      if (key === protectedKey) continue;
+      if (isBlocked(entry, now)) continue;
+      candidates.push([key, entry.windowStart]);
+    }
+    candidates.sort((a, b) => a[1] - b[1]);
+    for (const [key] of candidates) {
+      if (windows.size < maxKeys) break;
+      windows.delete(key);
+    }
+    if (windows.size < maxKeys) return;
+    // Every retained entry is actively blocked. Drop the oldest of those to
+    // preserve the hard bound; its window is closest to expiring anyway.
+    let oldestKey = null;
+    let oldestStart = Infinity;
+    for (const [key, entry] of windows) {
+      if (key === protectedKey) continue;
+      if (entry.windowStart < oldestStart) {
+        oldestStart = entry.windowStart;
+        oldestKey = key;
+      }
+    }
+    if (oldestKey !== null) windows.delete(oldestKey);
+  }
+
   function take(key, now = Date.now()) {
     let entry = windows.get(key);
-    if (!entry || now >= entry.resetAt) {
-      entry = { count: 0, resetAt: now + windowMs };
+    if (!entry) {
+      reclaim(now, key);
+      entry = { windowStart: now, count: 0, previousCount: 0 };
       windows.set(key, entry);
-    }
-    entry.count += 1;
-    if (windows.size > 10_000) {
-      // Bound memory: drop expired entries when the map grows too large.
-      for (const [existingKey, existing] of windows) {
-        if (now >= existing.resetAt) windows.delete(existingKey);
+    } else {
+      const elapsed = now - entry.windowStart;
+      if (elapsed >= windowMs * 2) {
+        entry.windowStart = now;
+        entry.count = 0;
+        entry.previousCount = 0;
+      } else if (elapsed >= windowMs) {
+        entry.windowStart = entry.windowStart + windowMs * Math.floor(elapsed / windowMs);
+        entry.previousCount = entry.count;
+        entry.count = 0;
       }
     }
-    if (entry.count > maxRequests) {
+
+    if (slidingCount(entry, now) + 1 > maxRequests) {
+      // Retry after the remaining overlap of the trailing interval.
+      const elapsed = now - entry.windowStart;
+      const retryAfterMs = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(windowMs - elapsed));
       return {
         allowed: false,
-        retryAfterMs: Math.max(1, entry.resetAt - now),
+        retryAfterMs,
         reason: 'Too many photo analyses. Please slow down and try again later.',
       };
     }
-    return { allowed: true, remaining: maxRequests - entry.count };
+    entry.count += 1;
+    return { allowed: true, remaining: Math.max(0, maxRequests - Math.ceil(slidingCount(entry, now))) };
   }
 
-  return { take, limit: maxRequests, windowMs };
+  return {
+    take,
+    limit: maxRequests,
+    windowMs,
+    maxKeys,
+    size: () => windows.size,
+  };
 }
diff --git a/tests/body-timeout.test.js b/tests/body-timeout.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93bf89a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/body-timeout.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+// Inbound body-read timeout and stop-on-oversize contract.
+//
+// A client must not be able to hold a connection open by dribbling a body
+// forever, nor make the server drain an enormous payload before rejecting it.
+// The server must enforce a body-read timeout and stop/destroy oversized request
+// processing as soon as the declared or observed size exceeds the limit, while
+// preserving the configured base path and a sanitized 413.
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { setTimeout as sleep } from 'node:timers/promises';
+import net from 'node:net';
+import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
+import { mkdtemp, rm } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+const root = fileURLToPath(new URL('..', import.meta.url));
+const BASE_PORT = 4199;
+const originFor = (port) => `http://127.0.0.1:${port}`;
+const BODY_TIMEOUT_MS = 1500;
+
+let nextPort = BASE_PORT;
+let currentPort = BASE_PORT;
+async function startServer(env = {}) {
+  const PORT = nextPort++;
+  currentPort = PORT;
+  const workdir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'timmy-body-test-'));
+  const child = spawn(process.execPath, ['server.mjs'], {
+    cwd: root,
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      PORT: String(PORT),
+      TIMMY_VISION_ENABLED: 'true',
+      TIMMY_BODY_READ_TIMEOUT_MS: String(BODY_TIMEOUT_MS),
+      ...env,
+    },
+    stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+  });
+  const origin = originFor(PORT);
+  const deadline = Date.now() + 10_000;
+  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+    if (child.exitCode !== null) throw new Error(`server exited ${child.exitCode}`);
+    try { const response = await fetch(`${origin}/api/healthz`); if (response.ok) break; } catch {}
+    await sleep(50);
+  }
+  return { child, workdir, origin };
+}
+
+test('a slow-dribbling request body is terminated by the body-read timeout', async () => {
+  const { child, workdir, origin } = await startServer();
+  try {
+    const socket = net.connect(currentPort, '127.0.0.1');
+    await new Promise((resolve) => socket.once('connect', resolve));
+    // Declare a large body and then dribble spaces far slower than the timeout.
+    socket.write(
+      `POST ${basePath()}/api/analyze HTTP/1.1\r\n` +
+      `Host: 127.0.0.1\r\nContent-Type: application/json\r\n` +
+      `Content-Length: ${8 * 1024 * 1024}\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n`,
+    );
+    const start = Date.now();
+    let written = 0;
+    const chunk = Buffer.alloc(64 * 1024, 0x20);
+    let ended = false;
+    let closeAt = 0;
+    const writer = setInterval(() => {
+      if (written >= 7 * 1024 * 1024 || socket.destroyed) { clearInterval(writer); return; }
+      try { socket.write(chunk); written += chunk.length; } catch { clearInterval(writer); }
+    }, 400);
+    socket.on('close', () => { ended = true; closeAt = Date.now(); });
+    // Swallow EPIPE: once the server tears down the socket, any in-flight write
+    // must not crash the test process.
+    socket.on('error', () => { clearInterval(writer); });
+    // Wait well past the timeout to see whether the server kills the slow stream.
+    await sleep(BODY_TIMEOUT_MS + 2500);
+    clearInterval(writer);
+    const elapsed = Date.now() - start;
+    socket.destroy();
+    assert.ok(ended, 'the server must close a slow-dribbling body before it finishes streaming');
+    assert.ok(closeAt - start < BODY_TIMEOUT_MS + 2000,
+      `a slow body was allowed to stream for ${closeAt - start}ms; the timeout is not enforced`);
+  } finally {
+    child.kill('SIGTERM');
+    await rm(workdir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test('an oversized request is rejected with a sanitized 413 and not drained', async () => {
+  const { child, workdir, origin } = await startServer();
+  try {
+    const response = await fetch(`${origin}${basePath()}/api/analyze`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      // No Content-Length: the server must stop once the stream exceeds the cap,
+      // not wait for the client to finish sending. `duplex: 'half'` is required
+      // by fetch when a request body is a streaming ReadableStream.
+      duplex: 'half',
+      body: new ReadableStream({
+        start(controller) {
+          const blob = new Uint8Array(10 * 1024 * 1024).fill(0x20);
+          controller.enqueue(blob);
+          // Keep the stream open so the server must stop it, not us.
+          setTimeout(() => controller.close(), 5000);
+        },
+      }),
+    });
+    assert.equal(response.status, 413);
+    const body = await response.text();
+    assert.match(body, /too large/i);
+    assert.doesNotMatch(body, /[A-Za-z0-9+/]{40,}/, 'no payload data in the 413 response');
+  } finally {
+    child.kill('SIGTERM');
+    await rm(workdir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test('the configured base path is preserved on the analyze route after hardening', async () => {
+  const { child, workdir, origin } = await startServer({ TIMMY_BASE_PATH: '/timmy-staging' });
+  try {
+    const response = await fetch(`${origin}/timmy-staging/api/healthz`);
+    assert.equal(response.status, 200);
+    const missing = await fetch(`${origin}/api/healthz`);
+    assert.equal(missing.status, 404);
+  } finally {
+    child.kill('SIGTERM');
+    await rm(workdir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+function basePath() {
+  return process.env.TIMMY_BASE_PATH_TEST || '';
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-buried-signatures.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-buried-signatures.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62e6965
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-buried-signatures.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-entropy-control.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-entropy-control.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cde4056
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-entropy-control.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-garbage.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-garbage.jpg
index dc8bb9d..0707d54 100644
Binary files a/tests/fixtures/ingress-garbage.jpg and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-garbage.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-7z.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-7z.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a11c96
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-7z.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-after-iend.png b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-after-iend.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d67e741
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-after-iend.png differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-gzip.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-gzip.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5d1002
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-gzip.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-html.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-html.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cfe6e90
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-html.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-mixed-script.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-mixed-script.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ec985a
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-mixed-script.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-rar.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-rar.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6cf2fe9
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-rar.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-single-nul.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-single-nul.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38c72f6
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-single-nul.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-upper-script.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-upper-script.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c9bcaf
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-upper-script.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-zip-eocd.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-zip-eocd.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65ad664
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-zip-eocd.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-zip-local.jpg b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-zip-local.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..602a538
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/ingress-tail-zip-local.jpg differ
diff --git a/tests/image-concurrency.test.js b/tests/image-concurrency.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21a38be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/image-concurrency.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+// Concurrency ceiling contract.
+//
+// The decoder runs as a subprocess and each one costs real memory. The service
+// runs under MemoryMax=512M, so a burst must be bounded by a small fail-fast
+// ceiling rather than queued indefinitely: excess requests are refused
+// immediately with a sanitized retry message, and the number of decoder
+// children alive at once never exceeds the ceiling.
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { chmod, mkdir, readFile, readdir, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+import {
+  INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY,
+  IngressUnavailableError,
+  ingressConcurrencyState,
+  validateImageIngress,
+} from '../src/image-ingress.js';
+
+const fixture = (name) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`../tests/fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+const clean = await readFile(fixture('ingress-clean.jpg'));
+const cleanDataUrl = `data:image/jpeg;base64,${clean.toString('base64')}`;
+
+// An instrumented stand-in interpreter: it records one marker file per spawn
+// while it is alive, so the test can observe the true peak child count instead
+// of trusting an internal counter.
+async function trackingInterpreter(name, holdSeconds = '0.6') {
+  const dir = join(tmpdir(), `timmy-ingress-conc-${name}`);
+  await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  await mkdir(join(dir, 'live'), { recursive: true });
+  await mkdir(join(dir, 'seen'), { recursive: true });
+  const path = join(dir, 'python3');
+  await writeFile(path, [
+    '#!/bin/sh',
+    `marker="${dir}/live/$$"`,
+    `touch "$marker" "${dir}/seen/$$"`,
+    `sleep ${holdSeconds}`,
+    'rm -f "$marker"',
+    // Emit a valid success verdict and write the expected output file.
+    'out=""',
+    'while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do',
+    '  if [ "$1" = "--out" ]; then out="$2"; fi',
+    '  shift',
+    'done',
+    `cp "${fixture('ingress-clean.jpg')}" "$out"`,
+    'echo \'{"ok": true, "format": "jpeg", "width": 64, "height": 64, "bytes": 639, "metadataStripped": true}\'',
+  ].join('\n'));
+  await chmod(path, 0o755);
+  return { path, dir };
+}
+
+const withPython = async (path, run) => {
+  const previous = process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON;
+  process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON = path;
+  try {
+    return await run();
+  } finally {
+    if (previous === undefined) delete process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON;
+    else process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON = previous;
+  }
+};
+
+test('the concurrency ceiling is small enough to stay inside the service memory budget', () => {
+  assert.equal(typeof INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY, 'number');
+  assert.ok(INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY >= 1, 'at least one decode must be permitted');
+  assert.ok(INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY <= 4,
+    `ceiling ${INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY} is too high for a 512 MiB service`);
+  // Worst observed single-decoder peak is ~24 MiB; the whole burst must leave
+  // ample headroom under MemoryMax=512M alongside the Node process itself.
+  assert.ok(INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY * 64 * 1024 * 1024 < 512 * 1024 * 1024,
+    'the ceiling must bound peak decoder memory well under 512 MiB');
+});
+
+test('a burst beyond the ceiling never runs more decoder children than the ceiling', async () => {
+  const { path, dir } = await trackingInterpreter('peak');
+  await withPython(path, async () => {
+    let peakLive = 0;
+    const sampler = setInterval(async () => {
+      try {
+        const live = await readdir(join(dir, 'live'));
+        peakLive = Math.max(peakLive, live.length);
+      } catch { /* directory races are fine */ }
+    }, 15);
+    const burst = await Promise.allSettled(
+      Array.from({ length: 24 }, () => validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl })),
+    );
+    clearInterval(sampler);
+    const spawned = (await readdir(join(dir, 'seen'))).length;
+    const rejected = burst.filter((r) => r.status === 'rejected');
+
+    assert.ok(peakLive <= INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY,
+      `observed ${peakLive} concurrent decoder children, ceiling is ${INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY}`);
+    assert.ok(spawned <= INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY,
+      `a 24-request burst spawned ${spawned} decoders; only ${INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY} may run and the rest must be refused`);
+    assert.ok(rejected.length >= 24 - INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY,
+      'excess requests must be refused rather than queued');
+  });
+});
+
+test('over-ceiling requests fail fast with a sanitized unavailable message', async () => {
+  const { path } = await trackingInterpreter('failfast');
+  await withPython(path, async () => {
+    const started = Date.now();
+    const burst = await Promise.allSettled(
+      Array.from({ length: 12 }, () => validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl })),
+    );
+    const rejected = burst.filter((r) => r.status === 'rejected').map((r) => r.reason);
+    assert.ok(rejected.length > 0, 'a 12-request burst must refuse some requests');
+    for (const error of rejected) {
+      assert.ok(error instanceof IngressUnavailableError,
+        'an over-capacity refusal is a server-capacity condition, not corrupt client input');
+      assert.match(error.message, /temporarily unavailable|slow down|try again/i);
+      assert.doesNotMatch(error.message, /corrupt|malformed/i);
+      assert.doesNotMatch(error.message, /[A-Za-z0-9+/]{40,}/, 'no payload data in refusals');
+      assert.ok(error.message.length < 200);
+    }
+    // Fail-fast: refusals must not wait for the in-flight decoders to finish.
+    assert.ok(Date.now() - started < 5000, 'refusals must be immediate, not queued behind decodes');
+  });
+});
+
+test('capacity is released so later requests succeed after a burst', async () => {
+  const { path } = await trackingInterpreter('release', '0.05');
+  await withPython(path, async () => {
+    await Promise.allSettled(
+      Array.from({ length: 12 }, () => validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl })),
+    );
+    const state = ingressConcurrencyState();
+    assert.equal(state.active, 0, 'every slot must be released after the burst settles');
+    const after = await validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl });
+    assert.equal(after.format, 'jpeg');
+  });
+});
+
+test('rejected input releases its slot too', async () => {
+  const garbage = await readFile(fixture('ingress-garbage.jpg'));
+  for (let i = 0; i < INGRESS_MAX_CONCURRENCY + 3; i += 1) {
+    await assert.rejects(() => validateImageIngress({
+      consent: true, imageDataUrl: `data:image/jpeg;base64,${garbage.toString('base64')}`,
+    }));
+  }
+  assert.equal(ingressConcurrencyState().active, 0,
+    'a rejected request must not leak a concurrency slot');
+});
diff --git a/tests/image-dataurl.test.js b/tests/image-dataurl.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cab83ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/image-dataurl.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+// Canonical base64 data-URL grammar contract.
+//
+// The client always produces a canonical `data:<mime>;base64,<canonical b64>`
+// URL (canvas.toDataURL). Anything else is a hand-crafted request, so ingress
+// must require the canonical grammar and a byte-exact round trip rather than
+// silently repairing missing padding, embedded newlines, or non-zero trailing
+// pad bits. The exact supported MIME policy is unchanged: JPEG/PNG/WebP only.
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+import { decodeImageDataUrl, validateImageIngress } from '../src/image-ingress.js';
+
+const fixture = (name) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`../tests/fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+const clean = await readFile(fixture('ingress-clean.jpg'));
+const canonical = clean.toString('base64');
+
+const ingest = (imageDataUrl) => validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl });
+
+test('canonical base64 data URLs round-trip byte-exactly', () => {
+  const decoded = decodeImageDataUrl(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${canonical}`);
+  assert.ok(decoded, 'canonical data URL must decode');
+  assert.equal(decoded.mime, 'image/jpeg');
+  assert.ok(decoded.bytes.equals(clean), 'decoded bytes must equal the source bytes exactly');
+});
+
+test('missing base64 padding is rejected', async () => {
+  const unpadded = canonical.replace(/=+$/, '');
+  assert.notEqual(unpadded, canonical, 'fixture must actually require padding');
+  assert.equal(decodeImageDataUrl(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${unpadded}`), null);
+  await assert.rejects(() => ingest(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${unpadded}`), /not a supported image/i);
+});
+
+test('excess base64 padding is rejected', async () => {
+  assert.equal(decodeImageDataUrl(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${canonical}===`), null);
+  await assert.rejects(() => ingest(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${canonical}====`), /not a supported image/i);
+});
+
+test('CR and LF inside the base64 payload are rejected', async () => {
+  const withCrlf = `${canonical.slice(0, 40)}\r\n${canonical.slice(40)}`;
+  const withLf = `${canonical.slice(0, 40)}\n${canonical.slice(40)}`;
+  const withCr = `${canonical.slice(0, 40)}\r${canonical.slice(40)}`;
+  for (const payload of [withCrlf, withLf, withCr]) {
+    assert.equal(decodeImageDataUrl(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${payload}`), null);
+    await assert.rejects(() => ingest(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${payload}`), /not a supported image/i);
+  }
+});
+
+test('non-canonical encodings are rejected: non-zero trailing pad bits, whitespace, URL-safe alphabet', async () => {
+  const nonZeroPadBits = `${canonical.slice(0, -2)}/=`;
+  const withSpace = `${canonical.slice(0, 20)} ${canonical.slice(20)}`;
+  const urlSafe = canonical.replace(/\+/g, '-').replace(/\//g, '_');
+  for (const payload of [nonZeroPadBits, withSpace]) {
+    assert.equal(decodeImageDataUrl(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${payload}`), null);
+    await assert.rejects(() => ingest(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${payload}`), /not a supported image/i);
+  }
+  if (urlSafe !== canonical) {
+    assert.equal(decodeImageDataUrl(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${urlSafe}`), null);
+  }
+});
+
+test('the supported MIME policy is exact and unchanged', async () => {
+  for (const mime of ['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/webp']) {
+    assert.ok(decodeImageDataUrl(`data:${mime};base64,${canonical}`), `${mime} must remain supported`);
+  }
+  for (const mime of ['image/gif', 'image/svg+xml', 'text/html', 'application/octet-stream', '']) {
+    assert.equal(decodeImageDataUrl(`data:${mime};base64,${canonical}`), null, `${mime} must not be supported`);
+    await assert.rejects(() => ingest(`data:${mime};base64,${canonical}`), /not a supported image/i);
+  }
+});
+
+test('malformed data-URL envelopes are rejected without repair', async () => {
+  const malformed = [
+    `data:image/jpeg,${canonical}`,               // no base64 token
+    `data:image/jpeg;base64;${canonical}`,        // wrong separator
+    `DATA:image/jpeg;base64,${canonical}`,        // scheme casing is not canonical here
+    `data:image/jpeg;base64,`,                    // empty payload
+    ` data:image/jpeg;base64,${canonical}`,       // leading whitespace
+    `data:image/jpeg;base64,${canonical} `,       // trailing whitespace
+    `data:image/jpeg;charset=utf-8;base64,${canonical}`, // extra parameters
+    canonical,                                    // bare base64, no envelope
+  ];
+  for (const value of malformed) {
+    assert.equal(decodeImageDataUrl(value), null, `must reject: ${value.slice(0, 42)}`);
+    await assert.rejects(() => ingest(value), /not a supported image/i);
+  }
+});
+
+test('a canonical supported data URL still completes ingress end to end', async () => {
+  const result = await ingest(`data:image/jpeg;base64,${canonical}`);
+  assert.equal(result.format, 'jpeg');
+  assert.equal(result.mime, 'image/jpeg');
+  assert.match(result.imageDataUrl, /^data:image\/jpeg;base64,[A-Za-z0-9+/]+={0,2}$/);
+});
diff --git a/tests/image-ingress.test.js b/tests/image-ingress.test.js
index 8a86842..0e6c1dd 100644
--- a/tests/image-ingress.test.js
+++ b/tests/image-ingress.test.js
@@ -65,7 +65,13 @@ test('malformed and truncated images fail closed with sanitized errors', async (
       return true;
     });
   }
-  await assert.rejects(() => ingestFixture('ingress-truncated.jpg'), /corrupt or malformed/i);
+  // A truncated JPEG has no EOI, so canonical container parsing rejects it
+  // before any decode or subprocess spawn. Either sanitized ingress error is
+  // acceptable; leaking anything else is not.
+  await assert.rejects(() => ingestFixture('ingress-truncated.jpg'), (error) => {
+    assert.match(error.message, /not a supported image|corrupt or malformed/i);
+    return true;
+  });
 });
 
 test('decompression bombs and oversized dimensions fail before provider work', async () => {
diff --git a/tests/image-polyglot.test.js b/tests/image-polyglot.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0946815
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/image-polyglot.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+// Container/polyglot rejection contract.
+//
+// The requirement is malformed/polyglot REJECTION, not "the re-encoder happens
+// to drop the tail". Rejection must come from canonical parsing of the image
+// container — the declared structure must consume exactly the supplied bytes —
+// so it cannot be evaded by changing keyword casing or archive flavour, and it
+// must not fire on arbitrary compressed bytes that merely contain those
+// sequences inside legal image structure.
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+import { validateImageIngress } from '../src/image-ingress.js';
+import { analyzePhoto } from '../src/vision-service.js';
+
+const fixture = (name) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`../tests/fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+const readFixture = (name) => readFile(fixture(name));
+const dataUrl = (bytes, mime = 'image/jpeg') => `data:${mime};base64,${bytes.toString('base64')}`;
+
+const TRAILING_DATA_FIXTURES = [
+  ['ingress-tail-upper-script.jpg', 'uppercase <SCRIPT> tail'],
+  ['ingress-tail-mixed-script.jpg', 'mixed-case <ScRiPt> tail'],
+  ['ingress-tail-html.jpg', 'generic appended HTML with no script tag'],
+  ['ingress-tail-zip-eocd.jpg', 'ZIP end-of-central-directory tail'],
+  ['ingress-tail-zip-local.jpg', 'ZIP local-header tail'],
+  ['ingress-tail-rar.jpg', 'RAR archive tail'],
+  ['ingress-tail-7z.jpg', '7z archive tail'],
+  ['ingress-tail-gzip.jpg', 'gzip member tail'],
+  ['ingress-tail-single-nul.jpg', 'single appended NUL byte'],
+];
+
+test('appended trailing data is rejected regardless of casing or container flavour', async () => {
+  for (const [name, description] of TRAILING_DATA_FIXTURES) {
+    const bytes = await readFixture(name);
+    await assert.rejects(
+      () => validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: dataUrl(bytes) }),
+      (error) => {
+        assert.match(error.message, /not a supported image|corrupt or malformed/i,
+          `${description} must be rejected with a sanitized ingress error`);
+        return true;
+      },
+      `${description} must not pass ingress`,
+    );
+  }
+});
+
+test('trailing data after a PNG IEND chunk is rejected', async () => {
+  const bytes = await readFixture('ingress-tail-after-iend.png');
+  await assert.rejects(
+    () => validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: dataUrl(bytes, 'image/png') }),
+    /not a supported image|corrupt or malformed/i,
+  );
+});
+
+test('rejection is structural, not substring scanning: legal images carrying archive and script byte sequences are accepted', async () => {
+  // A JPEG COM segment legally contains arbitrary bytes. These exact sequences
+  // are what the old scanner searched for; canonical parsing must still accept.
+  const buried = await readFixture('ingress-buried-signatures.jpg');
+  assert.ok(buried.includes(Buffer.from('PK\x03\x04')), 'fixture must contain a ZIP local header sequence');
+  assert.ok(buried.includes(Buffer.from('PK\x05\x06')), 'fixture must contain a ZIP EOCD sequence');
+  assert.ok(buried.includes(Buffer.from('<script')), 'fixture must contain a lowercase script sequence');
+  const result = await validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: dataUrl(buried) });
+  assert.equal(result.format, 'jpeg');
+  assert.ok(result.bytes > 0);
+
+  // High-entropy compressed data must not be misclassified either.
+  const entropy = await readFixture('ingress-entropy-control.jpg');
+  const entropyResult = await validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: dataUrl(entropy) });
+  assert.equal(entropyResult.format, 'jpeg');
+});
+
+test('the provider is never reached for any trailing-data polyglot', async () => {
+  for (const [name] of TRAILING_DATA_FIXTURES) {
+    const bytes = await readFixture(name);
+    let providerCalled = false;
+    await assert.rejects(
+      () => analyzePhoto({
+        payload: { consent: true, imageDataUrl: dataUrl(bytes) },
+        config: { model: 'm', baseUrl: 'http://127.0.0.1:9/v1' },
+        fetchImpl: async () => { providerCalled = true; throw new Error('provider reached'); },
+      }),
+    );
+    assert.equal(providerCalled, false, `${name} must fail before any provider fetch`);
+  }
+});
diff --git a/tests/image-unavailable.test.js b/tests/image-unavailable.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6855ffa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/image-unavailable.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+// Processing-unavailable contract.
+//
+// A production interpreter that cannot import Pillow is a server-side runtime
+// fault, not hostile client input. It must surface as a sanitized
+// processing-unavailable outcome with the manual-continue fallback (HTTP 503),
+// never as a 400 that blames the user's photo for being corrupt.
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { chmod, mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+import {
+  IngressUnavailableError,
+  validateImageIngress,
+  classifyIngressFailure,
+  verifyReencodeRuntime,
+  resolveInterpreter,
+  PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION,
+  PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION,
+} from '../src/image-ingress.js';
+import { analyzePhoto } from '../src/vision-service.js';
+
+const fixture = (name) => fileURLToPath(new URL(`../tests/fixtures/${name}`, import.meta.url));
+const clean = await readFile(fixture('ingress-clean.jpg'));
+const cleanDataUrl = `data:image/jpeg;base64,${clean.toString('base64')}`;
+
+// A stand-in interpreter that behaves exactly like the real re-encoder running
+// on a runtime without Pillow: the documented unavailable verdict and exit 3.
+async function stubInterpreter(name, body) {
+  const dir = join(tmpdir(), `timmy-ingress-stub-${name}`);
+  await mkdir(dir, { recursive: true });
+  const path = join(dir, 'python3');
+  await writeFile(path, body);
+  await chmod(path, 0o755);
+  return path;
+}
+
+const withPython = async (path, run) => {
+  const previous = process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON;
+  process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON = path;
+  try {
+    return await run();
+  } finally {
+    if (previous === undefined) delete process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON;
+    else process.env.TIMMY_PYTHON = previous;
+  }
+};
+
+test('a runtime without Pillow raises an unavailable ingress error, not a corrupt-input error', async () => {
+  const stub = await stubInterpreter('nopil',
+    '#!/bin/sh\necho \'{"ok": false, "error": "unavailable"}\'\nexit 3\n');
+  await withPython(stub, async () => {
+    const error = await validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl })
+      .then(() => null, (caught) => caught);
+    assert.ok(error, 'ingress must fail when the runtime cannot process images');
+    assert.ok(error instanceof IngressUnavailableError,
+      'a missing runtime must be classified as unavailable, not as corrupt client input');
+    assert.match(error.message, /temporarily unavailable/i);
+    assert.match(error.message, /continue manually/i);
+    assert.doesNotMatch(error.message, /corrupt|malformed/i);
+  });
+});
+
+test('classifyIngressFailure maps unavailable ingress failures to 503 and corrupt input to 400', () => {
+  assert.equal(classifyIngressFailure(new IngressUnavailableError('Photo processing is temporarily unavailable. Continue manually.')), 503);
+  assert.equal(classifyIngressFailure(new Error('The photo is corrupt or malformed. Try a different photo or continue manually.')), 400);
+  assert.equal(classifyIngressFailure(new Error('Upload a JPEG, PNG, or WebP photo. That file is not a supported image.')), 400);
+  assert.equal(classifyIngressFailure(new Error('Explicit consent is required before AI analysis.')), 400);
+  assert.equal(classifyIngressFailure(new Error('The photo is too large. Use an image under 4 MB.')), 400);
+});
+
+test('a re-encoder timeout is also unavailable rather than corrupt', async () => {
+  const stub = await stubInterpreter('hang', '#!/bin/sh\nsleep 60\n');
+  await withPython(stub, async () => {
+    const error = await validateImageIngress({
+      consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl, reencodeTimeoutMs: 250,
+    }).then(() => null, (caught) => caught);
+    assert.ok(error instanceof IngressUnavailableError);
+    assert.match(error.message, /temporarily unavailable/i);
+  });
+});
+
+test('an interpreter that cannot be executed at all is unavailable, not corrupt', async () => {
+  await withPython('/nonexistent/timmy-python-does-not-exist', async () => {
+    const error = await validateImageIngress({ consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl })
+      .then(() => null, (caught) => caught);
+    assert.ok(error instanceof IngressUnavailableError,
+      'a missing interpreter is a server fault and must not be reported as corrupt input');
+  });
+});
+
+test('genuinely corrupt input is still classified as client error, not unavailable', async () => {
+  const garbage = await readFile(fixture('ingress-garbage.jpg'));
+  const error = await validateImageIngress({
+    consent: true, imageDataUrl: `data:image/jpeg;base64,${garbage.toString('base64')}`,
+  }).then(() => null, (caught) => caught);
+  assert.ok(error, 'garbage must be rejected');
+  assert.equal(error instanceof IngressUnavailableError, false);
+  assert.equal(classifyIngressFailure(error), 400);
+});
+
+test('the provider is never called when the runtime is unavailable', async () => {
+  const stub = await stubInterpreter('nopil2',
+    '#!/bin/sh\necho \'{"ok": false, "error": "unavailable"}\'\nexit 3\n');
+  await withPython(stub, async () => {
+    let providerCalled = false;
+    await assert.rejects(
+      () => analyzePhoto({
+        payload: { consent: true, imageDataUrl: cleanDataUrl },
+        config: { model: 'm', baseUrl: 'http://127.0.0.1:9/v1' },
+        fetchImpl: async () => { providerCalled = true; throw new Error('provider reached'); },
+      }),
+      /temporarily unavailable/i,
+    );
+    assert.equal(providerCalled, false);
+  });
+});
+
+test('the production interpreter path must be absolute, never a PATH lookup', () => {
+  // Development falls back to PATH `python3`.
+  assert.equal(resolveInterpreter({}), 'python3');
+  assert.equal(resolveInterpreter({ TIMMY_PYTHON: '' }), 'python3');
+  // Production requires an absolute, immutable interpreter path.
+  assert.equal(resolveInterpreter({ TIMMY_PYTHON: '/usr/local/lib/timmy-staging/python' }),
+    '/usr/local/lib/timmy-staging/python');
+  assert.throws(() => resolveInterpreter({ TIMMY_PYTHON: 'python3' }),
+    /absolute interpreter path/i);
+  assert.throws(() => resolveInterpreter({ TIMMY_PYTHON: 'relative/python' }),
+    /absolute interpreter path/i);
+});
+
+test('verifyReencodeRuntime confirms the pinned, immutable production toolchain', async () => {
+  // The real interpreter is the pinned 3.11 / Pillow 12.3.0 toolchain, so the
+  // runtime smoke must succeed and report exactly that pin.
+  const verdict = await verifyReencodeRuntime();
+  assert.equal(verdict.python, PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION);
+  assert.equal(verdict.pillow, PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION);
+  assert.deepEqual(verdict.pinned, { python: PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION, pillow: PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION });
+});
+
+test('verifyReencodeRuntime fails closed when pointed at a wrong interpreter', async () => {
+  // A stub interpreter that exits 3 (unavailable) must be reported as an
+  // ingress-capacity fault, never as corrupt client input.
+  const stub = await stubInterpreter('pinfail',
+    '#!/bin/sh\necho \'{"ok": false, "error": "unavailable"}\'\nexit 3\n');
+  await withPython(stub, async () => {
+    const error = await verifyReencodeRuntime().then(() => null, (caught) => caught);
+    assert.ok(error instanceof IngressUnavailableError,
+      'a non-pinned/unavailable runtime must fail closed as processing-unavailable');
+  });
+});
+
diff --git a/tests/rate-identity.test.js b/tests/rate-identity.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df09e87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/rate-identity.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+// Bounded rate state and explicit client identity.
+//
+// Two separate defects are covered here:
+//   1. The limiter's map must be hard-bounded. Only evicting *expired* entries
+//      means 20k+ unexpired keys grow state without limit.
+//   2. Behind a reverse proxy, req.socket.remoteAddress is the proxy's loopback
+//      address, so every user shares one quota. The policy must be explicit:
+//      either trust a configured loopback proxy's forwarded client address, or
+//      state truthfully that the limit is global — never silently trust a
+//      spoofable header from an untrusted peer.
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+
+import { createRateLimiter } from '../src/rate-limiter.js';
+import { resolveClientIdentity } from '../src/client-identity.js';
+
+test('rate state is hard-bounded under a flood of unexpired distinct keys', () => {
+  const limiter = createRateLimiter({ windowMs: 60_000, maxRequests: 10, maxKeys: 1024 });
+  const now = Date.now();
+  for (let i = 0; i < 20_000; i += 1) {
+    limiter.take(`key-${i}`, now); // all within the same, unexpired window
+  }
+  const size = limiter.size();
+  assert.ok(size <= 1024,
+    `limiter retained ${size} unexpired keys; state must be hard-bounded, not merely expiry-swept`);
+});
+
+test('a flood of distinct keys never lets a repeat offender escape its own limit', () => {
+  const limiter = createRateLimiter({ windowMs: 60_000, maxRequests: 3, maxKeys: 64 });
+  const now = Date.now();
+  // The offender opens its window first.
+  for (let i = 0; i < 3; i += 1) assert.equal(limiter.take('offender', now).allowed, true);
+  assert.equal(limiter.take('offender', now).allowed, false, 'offender must be blocked');
+  // Now flood far past the cap to try to evict the offender's counter.
+  for (let i = 0; i < 5_000; i += 1) limiter.take(`flood-${i}`, now);
+  const afterFlood = limiter.take('offender', now);
+  assert.equal(afterFlood.allowed, false,
+    'eviction must not reset an active offender: that would make the limit bypassable by flooding');
+});
+
+test('eviction prefers expired entries before evicting live ones', () => {
+  const limiter = createRateLimiter({ windowMs: 1_000, maxRequests: 5, maxKeys: 8 });
+  const t0 = 1_000_000;
+  for (let i = 0; i < 8; i += 1) limiter.take(`old-${i}`, t0);
+  // Well after those windows expired, new keys must reuse the reclaimed space.
+  for (let i = 0; i < 8; i += 1) limiter.take(`new-${i}`, t0 + 5_000);
+  assert.ok(limiter.size() <= 8);
+  assert.equal(limiter.take('new-0', t0 + 5_000).allowed, true);
+});
+
+test('the fixed-window boundary cannot be used to double the burst', () => {
+  const limiter = createRateLimiter({ windowMs: 60_000, maxRequests: 10 });
+  const t0 = 1_000_000;
+  let allowed = 0;
+  // Open the window, then spend the whole budget at the very end of it.
+  if (limiter.take('same', t0).allowed) allowed += 1;
+  for (let i = 0; i < 9; i += 1) if (limiter.take('same', t0 + 59_999).allowed) allowed += 1;
+  assert.equal(allowed, 10, 'the nominal budget must be usable');
+  // Immediately across the boundary a naive fixed window grants a fresh budget,
+  // allowing 2x the nominal rate within milliseconds of real time.
+  let acrossBoundary = 0;
+  for (let i = 0; i < 10; i += 1) if (limiter.take('same', t0 + 60_000).allowed) acrossBoundary += 1;
+  assert.ok(acrossBoundary < 10,
+    `boundary straddle allowed a full extra budget (${acrossBoundary}), doubling the effective rate`);
+  const total = allowed + acrossBoundary;
+  assert.ok(total <= 14,
+    `${total} requests accepted across a ~1ms boundary straddle against a 10-per-60s budget`);
+});
+
+test('sustained load stays near the nominal rate rather than bursting to 2x each boundary', () => {
+  const limiter = createRateLimiter({ windowMs: 1_000, maxRequests: 5 });
+  let accepted = 0;
+  // Ten seconds of continuous pressure at 50 requests/second.
+  for (let ms = 0; ms < 10_000; ms += 20) {
+    if (limiter.take('steady', 500_000 + ms).allowed) accepted += 1;
+  }
+  // 10s at 5/s is 50; allow a small margin but not a 2x boundary doubling.
+  assert.ok(accepted <= 60, `sustained acceptance ${accepted} exceeded the nominal 5/s budget envelope`);
+  assert.ok(accepted >= 40, `sustained acceptance ${accepted} is unusably far below the nominal budget`);
+});
+
+test('client identity behind an untrusted peer never trusts forwarded headers', () => {
+  const identity = resolveClientIdentity({
+    remoteAddress: '203.0.113.7',
+    headers: { 'x-forwarded-for': '198.51.100.9', 'x-real-ip': '198.51.100.10' },
+    trustedProxies: [],
+  });
+  assert.equal(identity.key, '203.0.113.7', 'the peer address is the only trustworthy identity here');
+  assert.equal(identity.scope, 'peer');
+  assert.equal(identity.trustedProxy, false);
+});
+
+test('a configured trusted loopback proxy contributes the forwarded client address', () => {
+  const identity = resolveClientIdentity({
+    remoteAddress: '127.0.0.1',
+    headers: { 'x-forwarded-for': '198.51.100.9, 10.0.0.5' },
+    trustedProxies: ['127.0.0.1'],
+  });
+  assert.equal(identity.key, '198.51.100.9', 'the left-most forwarded address is the client');
+  assert.equal(identity.scope, 'forwarded');
+  assert.equal(identity.trustedProxy, true);
+});
+
+test('a trusted proxy that forwards nothing usable degrades to a truthful global policy', () => {
+  const identity = resolveClientIdentity({
+    remoteAddress: '127.0.0.1',
+    headers: {},
+    trustedProxies: ['127.0.0.1'],
+  });
+  assert.equal(identity.scope, 'global',
+    'without a usable forwarded address the quota is shared; the policy must say so');
+  assert.equal(identity.key, 'global');
+});
+
+test('forwarded addresses are validated, not echoed', () => {
+  for (const spoof of ['not-an-ip', '', '   ', '999.999.999.999', '<script>', '127.0.0.1; rm -rf /']) {
+    const identity = resolveClientIdentity({
+      remoteAddress: '127.0.0.1',
+      headers: { 'x-forwarded-for': spoof },
+      trustedProxies: ['127.0.0.1'],
+    });
+    assert.equal(identity.scope, 'global', `must not accept ${JSON.stringify(spoof)} as an identity`);
+    assert.equal(identity.key, 'global');
+  }
+});
+
+test('identity keys never contain payload data and stay short', () => {
+  const identity = resolveClientIdentity({
+    remoteAddress: '2001:db8::1',
+    headers: {},
+    trustedProxies: [],
+  });
+  assert.ok(identity.key.length <= 64);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(identity.key, /[A-Za-z0-9+/]{40,}/);
+});
diff --git a/tests/rate-limiter.test.js b/tests/rate-limiter.test.js
index e72a7b8..0d144dd 100644
--- a/tests/rate-limiter.test.js
+++ b/tests/rate-limiter.test.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 
 import { createRateLimiter } from '../src/rate-limiter.js';
 
-test('rate limiter blocks after the configured burst and recovers next window', () => {
+test('rate limiter blocks after the configured burst and recovers once the window drains', () => {
   const limiter = createRateLimiter({ windowMs: 1000, maxRequests: 3 });
   const t0 = 1_000_000;
   assert.equal(limiter.take('k', t0).allowed, true);
@@ -12,8 +12,13 @@ test('rate limiter blocks after the configured burst and recovers next window',
   const blocked = limiter.take('k', t0 + 3);
   assert.equal(blocked.allowed, false);
   assert.ok(blocked.retryAfterMs > 0 && blocked.retryAfterMs <= 1000);
-  // Next window resets cleanly.
-  assert.equal(limiter.take('k', t0 + 1001).allowed, true);
+  // Crossing the window boundary must NOT immediately grant a fresh full
+  // budget: that is the boundary-doubling burst. The trailing count decays, so
+  // capacity returns only once the earlier requests have actually aged out.
+  assert.equal(limiter.take('k', t0 + 1001).allowed, false,
+    'a 1ms boundary straddle must not reset the budget');
+  assert.equal(limiter.take('k', t0 + 2001).allowed, true,
+    'capacity must return once the window has genuinely drained');
 });
 
 test('rate limiter keys are isolated and never expose payload data', () => {
diff --git a/tests/reencode-image.test.py b/tests/reencode-image.test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34423d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/reencode-image.test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Resource-bound contract for the image re-encoder subprocess.
+
+Rejection of oversized or bomb-shaped images must happen from the container
+header, before any full pixel decode, so a hostile upload cannot allocate
+hundreds of megabytes inside a 512 MiB service. Decompression-bomb warnings are
+treated as errors: a warning that still returns pixels is not a rejection.
+
+Peak RSS is measured per child with os.wait4, so each measurement belongs to
+exactly one subprocess rather than a running maximum.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+import resource
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import unittest
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+SCRIPT = ROOT / "scripts" / "reencode_image.py"
+FIXTURES = ROOT / "tests" / "fixtures"
+TMP = Path(os.environ.get("TMPDIR", "/tmp"))
+
+# Interpreter + Pillow import costs ~21 MiB and a header-only open adds ~1 MiB.
+# 64 MiB leaves generous headroom for that while remaining far below any full
+# decode of the committed bomb fixtures (144 MP would need >140 MiB).
+REJECTION_RSS_CEILING_KIB = 64 * 1024
+# A hard address-space cap well below what a full decode of the committed bomb
+# fixtures needs (~163 MiB observed). Header-only rejection must still complete
+# cleanly under it, which proves the rejection never allocates the pixel buffer.
+ADDRESS_SPACE_CEILING_BYTES = 112 * 1024 * 1024
+
+EXIT_OK = 0
+EXIT_REJECTED = 2
+EXIT_UNAVAILABLE = 3
+
+
+def run_measured(source: Path, *extra: str, out_name: str = "out.jpg",
+                 env: dict | None = None, address_space: int | None = None):
+    """Spawn the re-encoder in a fork we reap ourselves, for exact per-child rusage."""
+    target = TMP / f"reencode-test-{out_name}"
+    argv = [sys.executable, str(SCRIPT), "--in", str(source), "--out", str(target), *extra]
+    stdout_r, stdout_w = os.pipe()
+    stderr_r, stderr_w = os.pipe()
+    pid = os.fork()
+    if pid == 0:  # pragma: no cover - child process
+        try:
+            os.close(stdout_r)
+            os.close(stderr_r)
+            os.dup2(stdout_w, 1)
+            os.dup2(stderr_w, 2)
+            os.close(stdout_w)
+            os.close(stderr_w)
+            if address_space is not None:
+                resource.setrlimit(resource.RLIMIT_AS, (address_space, address_space))
+            os.execve(argv[0], argv, env or os.environ)
+        except BaseException:
+            os._exit(127)
+    os.close(stdout_w)
+    os.close(stderr_w)
+    with os.fdopen(stdout_r, "r") as out_handle, os.fdopen(stderr_r, "r") as err_handle:
+        stdout = out_handle.read()
+        stderr = err_handle.read()
+    _, status, usage = os.wait4(pid, 0)
+    code = os.waitstatus_to_exitcode(status)
+    return subprocess.CompletedProcess(argv, code, stdout, stderr), usage.ru_maxrss
+
+
+def verdict(process: subprocess.CompletedProcess) -> dict:
+    try:
+        return json.loads(process.stdout.strip().splitlines()[-1])
+    except (ValueError, IndexError):
+        return {}
+
+
+class ReencoderResourceBounds(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_bomb_dimensions_rejected_without_full_decode(self) -> None:
+        process, peak_kib = run_measured(FIXTURES / "ingress-bomb.png", out_name="bomb.jpg")
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_REJECTED, process.stderr[:300])
+        self.assertEqual(verdict(process).get("error"), "dimensions")
+        self.assertLess(
+            peak_kib, REJECTION_RSS_CEILING_KIB,
+            f"12000x12000 rejection allocated {peak_kib} KiB; it must reject from the header",
+        )
+
+    def test_oversized_jpeg_rejected_without_full_decode(self) -> None:
+        process, peak_kib = run_measured(FIXTURES / "ingress-oversized.jpg", out_name="oversized.jpg")
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_REJECTED, process.stderr[:300])
+        self.assertEqual(verdict(process).get("error"), "dimensions")
+        self.assertLess(
+            peak_kib, REJECTION_RSS_CEILING_KIB,
+            f"6000x6000 rejection allocated {peak_kib} KiB; it must reject from the header",
+        )
+
+    def test_bomb_fixtures_reject_under_a_hard_address_space_cap(self) -> None:
+        # Proof of boundedness that does not depend on RSS sampling: under a
+        # hard 192 MiB address-space limit the rejection must still complete
+        # cleanly rather than dying from allocation failure.
+        for name in ("ingress-bomb.png", "ingress-oversized.jpg"):
+            with self.subTest(fixture=name):
+                process, _ = run_measured(
+                    FIXTURES / name, out_name=f"capped-{name}.jpg",
+                    address_space=ADDRESS_SPACE_CEILING_BYTES,
+                )
+                self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_REJECTED, process.stderr[:300])
+                self.assertEqual(verdict(process).get("error"), "dimensions")
+                self.assertNotIn("MemoryError", process.stderr)
+
+    def test_decompression_bomb_warnings_are_errors_not_warnings(self) -> None:
+        process, _ = run_measured(FIXTURES / "ingress-bomb.png", out_name="warn.jpg")
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_REJECTED)
+        self.assertNotIn(
+            "DecompressionBombWarning", process.stderr,
+            "a decompression bomb must raise an error, not emit a warning and continue",
+        )
+
+    def test_total_pixel_ceiling_is_enforced_independently(self) -> None:
+        # Both dimensions are well inside the per-dimension cap; only the total
+        # pixel budget rejects this, proving the ceiling exists on its own.
+        process, _ = run_measured(
+            FIXTURES / "ingress-clean.jpg", "--max-pixels", "1024", out_name="pixels.jpg",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_REJECTED)
+        self.assertEqual(verdict(process).get("error"), "dimensions")
+
+    def test_rejection_output_never_leaks_image_data_or_traces(self) -> None:
+        for name in ("ingress-bomb.png", "ingress-oversized.jpg", "ingress-garbage.jpg"):
+            with self.subTest(fixture=name):
+                process, _ = run_measured(FIXTURES / name, out_name=f"leak-{name}.jpg")
+                combined = process.stdout + process.stderr
+                self.assertNotIn("Traceback", combined)
+                self.assertLess(len(combined), 400, "subprocess output must stay short and fixed")
+
+    def test_clean_image_still_reencodes_successfully(self) -> None:
+        process, _ = run_measured(FIXTURES / "ingress-clean.jpg", out_name="clean.jpg")
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_OK, process.stderr[:300])
+        result = verdict(process)
+        self.assertTrue(result.get("ok"))
+        self.assertEqual(result.get("format"), "jpeg")
+        self.assertTrue(result.get("metadataStripped"))
+
+    def test_missing_pillow_reports_unavailable_exit_code(self) -> None:
+        # A production interpreter without Pillow must be distinguishable from
+        # hostile client input, so it can map to processing-unavailable.
+        stub = TMP / "reencode-no-pil"
+        stub.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+        (stub / "PIL.py").write_text("raise ImportError('no pillow here')\n", encoding="utf-8")
+        env = dict(os.environ, PYTHONPATH=str(stub))
+        process, _ = run_measured(
+            FIXTURES / "ingress-clean.jpg", out_name="nopil.jpg", env=env,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_UNAVAILABLE)
+        self.assertEqual(verdict(process).get("error"), "unavailable")
+
+
+class PinContract(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_verify_pin_reports_the_pinned_immutable_runtime(self) -> None:
+        process, _ = run_measured(FIXTURES / "ingress-clean.jpg", "--verify-pin", out_name="pin.json")
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_OK, process.stderr[:300])
+        result = verdict(process)
+        self.assertTrue(result.get("ok"))
+        self.assertEqual(result.get("python"), "3.11")
+        self.assertEqual(result.get("pillow"), "12.3.0")
+        self.assertEqual(result.get("pinned"), {"python": "3.11", "pillow": "12.3.0"})
+
+    def test_verify_pin_fails_when_pillow_is_not_the_pinned_version(self) -> None:
+        # Force a mismatched Pillow version to prove the gate refuses a drifted
+        # runtime (server-side provisioning fault, not client input).
+        stub = TMP / "reencode-fake-pil"
+        stub.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+        (stub / "PIL.py").write_text(
+            "class Image:\n    __version__ = '99.0.0'\n", encoding="utf-8")
+        env = dict(os.environ, PYTHONPATH=str(stub))
+        process, _ = run_measured(
+            FIXTURES / "ingress-clean.jpg", "--verify-pin", out_name="pinbad.json", env=env,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(process.returncode, EXIT_UNAVAILABLE)
+        self.assertEqual(verdict(process).get("ok"), False)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main(verbosity=2)
diff --git a/tests/staging-deploy.test.py b/tests/staging-deploy.test.py
index 202a79d..2081b59 100644
--- a/tests/staging-deploy.test.py
+++ b/tests/staging-deploy.test.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import importlib.util
 import io
 import json
 from pathlib import Path
+import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import tarfile
@@ -86,11 +87,15 @@ class DeployTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def archive(self, name="release.tar.gz", members=None):
         path = Path(self.tmp.name) / name
-        digest = make_archive(path, members or [
+        default_members = [
             ("timmy-release/", b"", "dir"),
             ("timmy-release/server.mjs", b"console.log('ok')\n", "file"),
             ("timmy-release/package.json", b"{}\n", "file"),
-        ])
+            ("timmy-release/scripts/", b"", "dir"),
+            ("timmy-release/scripts/reencode_image.py",
+             (SCRIPT.parent / "reencode_image.py").read_bytes(), "file"),
+        ]
+        digest = make_archive(path, members or default_members)
         return path, digest
 
     def seed_release(self, commit):
@@ -331,6 +336,21 @@ class DeployTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(run.returncode, 0, run.stderr)
         self.assertEqual(json.loads(run.stdout)["commit"], COMMIT_A)
 
+    def test_deployment_smoke_verifies_the_pinned_immutable_image_runtime(self):
+        # The release on disk must carry the pinned re-encoder; the smoke gate
+        # proves the provisioned runtime matches and can re-encode a synthetic
+        # pixel under the hard 512 MiB service budget.
+        release = self.root / "releases" / COMMIT_A
+        release.mkdir(parents=True)
+        (release / "server.mjs").write_text("ok", encoding="utf-8")
+        (release / ".timmy-release.json").write_text(json.dumps({"commit": COMMIT_A, "tag": "old"}), encoding="utf-8")
+        (release / "scripts").mkdir()
+        shutil.copyfile(SCRIPT.parent / "reencode_image.py", release / "scripts" / "reencode_image.py")
+        verdict = self.deploy.verify_image_runtime(release)
+        self.assertTrue(verdict["ok"])
+        self.assertEqual(verdict["python"], self.deploy.PINNED_PYTHON_VERSION)
+        self.assertEqual(verdict["pillow"], self.deploy.PINNED_PILLOW_VERSION)
+
     def test_commit_tag_and_checksum_arguments_are_strictly_validated(self):
         archive, digest = self.archive()
         for commit in ("abc", "A" * 40, "a" * 41, "../" + "a" * 40):
diff --git a/tests/staging-health.test.js b/tests/staging-health.test.js
index 6258f99..902fdd3 100644
--- a/tests/staging-health.test.js
+++ b/tests/staging-health.test.js
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ test('malformed and escaping base paths are rejected at startup', async () => {
     child.stderr.on('data', chunk => { stderr += chunk; });
     const exitCode = await Promise.race([
       new Promise(resolve => child.once('exit', resolve)),
-      new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(() => { child.kill('SIGTERM'); resolve('timeout'); }, 800)),
+      new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(() => { child.kill('SIGTERM'); resolve('timeout'); }, 3000)),
     ]);
     assert.notEqual(exitCode, 'timeout', `${JSON.stringify(value)} was accepted`);
     assert.notEqual(exitCode, 0, `${JSON.stringify(value)} exited successfully`);