diff --git a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.test.ts b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.test.ts
index 38ad3b5c7de13..b2af7e6728256 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.test.ts
@@ -155,30 +155,21 @@ function makeProjection(visibleTurnItems: OrchestrationV2ProjectedTurnItem[]) {
 }
 
 describe("threadHistoryPaging", () => {
-  it("keeps a human turn whole up to the turn row budget and pages a longer one from inside", () => {
-    const humanTurn = (length: number) => {
-      const items = Array.from({ length }, (_, index) => makeRow(index));
-      items[0] = {
-        ...items[0]!,
-        item: {
-          ...items[0]!.item,
-          type: "user_message",
-          createdBy: "user",
-          creationSource: "web",
-          inputIntent: "turn_start",
-          messageId: MessageId.make("long-human-turn"),
-          text: "Continue",
-          attachments: [],
-        },
-      } as OrchestrationV2ProjectedTurnItem;
-      return items;
-    };
-
-    const whole = selectRecentTimelineWindow({ items: humanTurn(180), snapshotSequence: 1 });
-    expect(whole.items).toHaveLength(180);
-    expect(whole.hasMoreHistory).toBe(false);
-
-    const items = humanTurn(THREAD_HISTORY_PAGE_POLICY.maxTurnItems + 100);
+  it("bounds a single human turn and pages every item exactly once", () => {
+    const items = Array.from({ length: 180 }, (_, index) => makeRow(index));
+    items[0] = {
+      ...items[0]!,
+      item: {
+        ...items[0]!.item,
+        type: "user_message",
+        createdBy: "user",
+        creationSource: "web",
+        inputIntent: "turn_start",
+        messageId: MessageId.make("long-human-turn"),
+        text: "Continue",
+        attachments: [],
+      },
+    } as OrchestrationV2ProjectedTurnItem;
     const recent = selectRecentTimelineWindow({ items, snapshotSequence: 1 });
     expect(recent.items).toHaveLength(THREAD_HISTORY_PAGE_POLICY.maxItems);
     const loaded = [...recent.items];
@@ -187,11 +178,7 @@ describe("threadHistoryPaging", () => {
       expect(pages).toBeLessThan(items.length);
       const page = selectHistoryPageFromCursor({ items, cursor, snapshotSequence: 1 });
       expect(page.items.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-      expect(page.items.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(
-        page.items[0]?.item.type === "user_message"
-          ? THREAD_HISTORY_PAGE_POLICY.maxTurnItems
-          : THREAD_HISTORY_PAGE_POLICY.maxItems,
-      );
+      expect(page.items.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(THREAD_HISTORY_PAGE_POLICY.maxItems);
       loaded.unshift(...page.items);
       cursor = page.nextCursor;
     }
@@ -214,6 +201,31 @@ describe("threadHistoryPaging", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("honors a stricter maxTurnItems on human-turn windows", () => {
+    const items = Array.from({ length: 60 }, (_, index) => makeRow(index));
+    items[0] = {
+      ...items[0]!,
+      item: {
+        ...items[0]!.item,
+        type: "user_message",
+        createdBy: "user",
+        creationSource: "web",
+        inputIntent: "turn_start",
+        messageId: MessageId.make("stricter-turn-limit"),
+        text: "Continue",
+        attachments: [],
+      },
+    } as OrchestrationV2ProjectedTurnItem;
+
+    const recent = selectRecentTimelineWindow({
+      items,
+      snapshotSequence: 1,
+      policy: { ...THREAD_HISTORY_PAGE_POLICY, maxItems: 100, maxTurnItems: 20 },
+    });
+
+    expect(recent.items).toHaveLength(20);
+  });
+
   it("keeps background turns with user turns, with main's 150-turn fan-out ceiling", () => {
     const items = Array.from({ length: 161 }, (_, turn) => {
       const row = makeRow(turn * 2);
diff --git a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.ts b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.ts
index dee44adacbb2a..a0fbbe99d4a05 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/orchestration-v2/threadHistoryPaging.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,8 @@ import type {
 } from "@t3tools/contracts";
 
 /**
- * Every window stops at the byte budget. A window that holds a user turn also
- * stops at `maxUserTurns` or `maxTurnItems` rows, which keeps ordinary turns
- * whole (V1 kept 500 activities). Any other window, such as an agent-driven
- * thread or the inside of one very long turn, stops at `maxItems` rows.
+ * Bound every history window by rows and bytes, including a single long human
+ * turn. Turn limits can stop a window earlier.
  */
 export const THREAD_HISTORY_PAGE_POLICY = {
   maxUserTurns: 10,
@@ -221,7 +219,9 @@ function selectOlderTimelinePage<Row extends HistoryRow>(input: {
     ? policy.maxUserTurns
     : undefined;
   const maxItems =
-    turnLimit === undefined ? policy.maxItems : (policy.maxTurnItems ?? policy.maxItems);
+    turnLimit === undefined
+      ? policy.maxItems
+      : Math.min(policy.maxItems, policy.maxTurnItems ?? policy.maxItems);
   for (let index = end - 1; index >= 0; index -= 1) {
     const row = input.items[index]!;
     const rowBytes = rowCost(row);
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ function selectOlderTimelinePage<Row extends HistoryRow>(input: {
   // Inside a turn longer than the window, no selected row starts a user turn.
   // Later pages and the snapshot query see only such rows and use `maxItems`,
   // so this page uses it too.
-  if (userTurns === 0) selected.splice(policy.maxItems);
+  if (userTurns === 0) selected.splice(maxItems);
   selected.reverse();
 
   const oldest = selected[0];