diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index eb708fb..1163224 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ Environment variables consumed by the `picloud` binary:
 | `PICLOUD_BIND` | `0.0.0.0:8080` | HTTP listen address. Port 8080 is owned by another process on this host — override locally. |
 | `PICLOUD_MAX_CONCURRENT_EXECUTIONS` | `32` | Global concurrency cap on data-plane script executions. Overflow returns HTTP 503 with `Retry-After: 1` immediately (no queue). |
 | `DATABASE_URL` | — | Required. Postgres connection string. |
+| `PICLOUD_DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS` | `32` | Postgres pool size. Matched to `PICLOUD_MAX_CONCURRENT_EXECUTIONS` so the data plane can't starve background workers. |
 | `PICLOUD_SESSION_TTL_HOURS` | `24` | Sliding-window session lifetime. |
 | `PICLOUD_SANDBOX_MAX_*` | conservative defaults | Per-knob admin ceilings on Rhai sandbox overrides. See `manager-core::sandbox::SandboxCeiling`. |
 | `PICLOUD_FILES_ROOT` | `./data` | Filesystem root for `files::*` blob storage (v1.1.5). Bytes live at `<root>/files/<app_id>/<collection>/<id[0:2]>/<id>`; metadata in Postgres. |
diff --git a/crates/picloud/src/lib.rs b/crates/picloud/src/lib.rs
index 54bdbb7..162742d 100644
--- a/crates/picloud/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/picloud/src/lib.rs
@@ -588,11 +588,25 @@ pub async fn build_app(
         .layer(TraceLayer::new_for_http()))
 }
 
+/// Default Postgres pool size. Scaled to match the execution gate
+/// default (32 concurrent script executions) so a hot pool doesn't
+/// starve the data plane. Override with `PICLOUD_DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS`.
+/// Sizing relationship: each script run does multiple sequential DB
+/// calls (script resolve, SDK calls, log sink, outbox emit) plus the
+/// dispatcher tick / cron tick / GC sweeps / auth middleware all draw
+/// from the same pool, so this is a floor not a ceiling.
+pub const DEFAULT_DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS: u32 = 32;
+
 /// Open a Postgres pool with the binary's standard timeout settings.
 /// Exposed so tests reach for the same configuration when needed.
 pub async fn init_db(url: &str) -> anyhow::Result<PgPool> {
+    let max_connections = std::env::var("PICLOUD_DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS")
+        .ok()
+        .and_then(|v| v.trim().parse::<u32>().ok())
+        .filter(|n| *n > 0)
+        .unwrap_or(DEFAULT_DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS);
     let pool = PgPoolOptions::new()
-        .max_connections(10)
+        .max_connections(max_connections)
         .acquire_timeout(Duration::from_secs(5))
         .connect(url)
         .await?;