diff --git a/src/timmy/thinking.py b/src/timmy/thinking.py
index 6bab20c..cfb1db3 100644
--- a/src/timmy/thinking.py
+++ b/src/timmy/thinking.py
@@ -39,19 +39,21 @@ _DEFAULT_DB = Path("data/thoughts.db")
 # qwen3 and other reasoning models wrap chain-of-thought in <think> tags
 _THINK_TAG_RE = re.compile(r"<think>.*?</think>\s*", re.DOTALL)
 
-# Sensitive patterns that must never be stored as facts
-_SENSITIVE_PATTERNS = [
-    "token",
-    "password",
-    "secret",
-    "api_key",
-    "apikey",
-    "credential",
-    ".config/",
-    "/token",
-    "access_token",
-    "private_key",
-    "ssh_key",
+# Sensitive patterns that must never be stored as facts.
+# Uses compiled regexes with word boundaries so that compound technical
+# terms like "max_tokens" or "num_tokens" are NOT falsely flagged.
+_SENSITIVE_RE = [
+    re.compile(r"(?<![a-z_])token(?![a-z_])", re.IGNORECASE),  # "token" but not "max_tokens"
+    re.compile(r"password", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"secret", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"api_key", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"apikey", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"credential", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"\.config/"),
+    re.compile(r"/token\b"),
+    re.compile(r"access_token", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"private_key", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"ssh_key", re.IGNORECASE),
 ]
 
 # Meta-observation phrases to filter out from distilled facts
@@ -548,7 +550,7 @@ class ThinkingEngine:
             fact_lower = fact.lower()
 
             # Block sensitive information
-            if any(pat in fact_lower for pat in _SENSITIVE_PATTERNS):
+            if any(pat.search(fact) for pat in _SENSITIVE_RE):
                 logger.warning("Distill: blocked sensitive fact: %s", fact[:60])
                 continue
 
diff --git a/tests/timmy/test_thinking.py b/tests/timmy/test_thinking.py
index 70c8449..60fb2e0 100644
--- a/tests/timmy/test_thinking.py
+++ b/tests/timmy/test_thinking.py
@@ -1188,3 +1188,42 @@ def test_references_real_files_blocks_mixed(tmp_path):
     # Mix of real and fake files — should fail because of the fake one
     text = "Fix src/timmy/thinking.py and also src/timmy/nonexistent_module.py for the memory leak."
     assert ThinkingEngine._references_real_files(text) is False
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Sensitive-pattern regression: max_tokens must NOT be flagged (#625)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_sensitive_patterns_allow_max_tokens():
+    """_SENSITIVE_RE should not flag 'max_tokens' as sensitive (#625)."""
+    from timmy.thinking import _SENSITIVE_RE
+
+    safe_facts = [
+        "The cascade router passes max_tokens to Ollama provider.",
+        "max_tokens=request.max_tokens in the completion call.",
+        "num_tokens defaults to 2048.",
+        "total_prompt_tokens is tracked in stats.",
+    ]
+    for fact in safe_facts:
+        assert not any(pat.search(fact) for pat in _SENSITIVE_RE), (
+            f"False positive: {fact!r} was flagged as sensitive"
+        )
+
+
+def test_sensitive_patterns_still_block_real_secrets():
+    """_SENSITIVE_RE should still block actual secrets."""
+    from timmy.thinking import _SENSITIVE_RE
+
+    dangerous_facts = [
+        "The token is abc123def456.",
+        "Set password to hunter2.",
+        "api_key = sk-live-xyz",
+        "Found credential in .env file.",
+        "access_token expired yesterday.",
+        "private_key stored in vault.",
+    ]
+    for fact in dangerous_facts:
+        assert any(pat.search(fact) for pat in _SENSITIVE_RE), (
+            f"Missed secret: {fact!r} was NOT flagged as sensitive"
+        )