diff --git a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt
index 1705497..5bb5330 100644
--- a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt
+++ b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt
@@ -55,6 +55,21 @@ class Conversations(
      */
     private val claimedGroupNames = mutableListOf<Triple<Long, String, String>>()
 
+    /**
+     * ⚠️ **A cap, because the sender chooses how many of these to send.**
+     * Anyone who can reach us can put one claim in this list per envelope, and
+     * the list is only drained by a layer that may not run — a poll that never
+     * reaches `Session.receive`, a code path added later that forgets. An
+     * unbounded list whose growth a stranger controls is a slow memory leak
+     * with somebody else's hand on the tap.
+     *
+     * Well above any real group count: a claim is only ever ACTED on for a
+     * group we are actually in, and the cap exists to bound the queue, not to
+     * ration legitimate traffic. Oldest goes first, since a newer claim is the
+     * one more likely to still be true.
+     */
+    private val maxClaimedGroupNames = 256
+
     /** Take the pending claims, leaving none behind. */
     fun takeClaimedGroupNames(): List<Triple<Long, String, String>> =
         synchronized(claimedGroupNames) {
@@ -1339,7 +1354,12 @@ class Conversations(
                 val gid = content.raw?.optString("gid")?.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() }
                 val gname = content.raw?.optString("gname")?.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() }
                 if (gid != null && gname != null) {
-                    synchronized(claimedGroupNames) { claimedGroupNames += Triple(fromUser, gid, gname) }
+                    synchronized(claimedGroupNames) {
+                        claimedGroupNames += Triple(fromUser, gid, gname)
+                        while (claimedGroupNames.size > maxClaimedGroupNames) {
+                            claimedGroupNames.removeAt(0)
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
                 // 🔴 **The batch is stored first, and independently.** Peer
                 // delivery keys live inside our OWN delivery record, so the
diff --git a/client/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/GroupNameTest.kt b/client/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/GroupNameTest.kt
index 732971a..72773ee 100644
--- a/client/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/GroupNameTest.kt
+++ b/client/src/test/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/GroupNameTest.kt
@@ -232,6 +232,27 @@ class GroupNameTest {
         assertEquals(0, server.requestCount)
     }
 
+    /**
+     * ⚠️ **The sender decides how many claims to send, so the queue is capped.**
+     * It is drained by a layer that may not run on every path, and an unbounded
+     * list whose growth a stranger controls is a slow leak with someone else's
+     * hand on the tap.
+     */
+    @Test
+    fun `the claim queue is bounded`() {
+        val conversations = conversations(vault())
+        repeat(400) { i ->
+            conversations.consumeControl(99L, Content.parse(
+                SealedSender.deliveryKeyEnvelope(
+                    ByteArray(32), groupId = "g$i", groupName = "n$i")))
+        }
+
+        val drained = conversations.takeClaimedGroupNames()
+        assertEquals(256, drained.size)
+        // Oldest dropped, newest kept: a later claim is likelier to still hold.
+        assertEquals("g399", drained.last().second)
+    }
+
     // -- Surviving a reinstall -------------------------------------------------
 
     /**