diff --git a/docs/examples/porch/middleware/idempotent.wo b/docs/examples/porch/middleware/idempotent.wo
index cb51049..42ee152 100644
--- a/docs/examples/porch/middleware/idempotent.wo
+++ b/docs/examples/porch/middleware/idempotent.wo
@@ -60,18 +60,20 @@ pub class Idempotent {
       return r;
     }
 
-    -- Outcome 1: the bare key names a durable (2xx/3xx) replay target.
+    -- Outcome 1: the bare key names a durable (2xx/3xx) replay target --
+    -- this file never deletes it; it is the whole point of a durable row.
     -- Outcome 3: this call's own 4xx/5xx answer lives under a row keyed
     -- by a nonce (the reply's low digits) that nobody else's message
     -- for this same bare key ever writes to -- rebuild that exact key
     -- rather than reading the bare one, so a race with a LATER message
     -- for this key (which never touches this row) can't hand back the
-    -- wrong response. This file never deletes either kind of row.
+    -- wrong response.
     let lookup_key = key;
     if outcome == 3 { lookup_key = "${key}#eph:${raw % 1_000_000_000}"; }
     let hits = from k in IdempotencyKey where k.key == lookup_key take 1 select k;
     if len(hits) == 0 { return server_error(); }
-    let stored = json.decode(hits[0].response) as IdempotentStoredResp;
+    let row = hits[0];
+    let stored = json.decode(row.response) as IdempotentStoredResp;
     if stored == nil { return server_error(); }
     -- `.. ""` forces a fresh, independently-owned Text for every key/value
     -- copied out of the decoded record: json.decode's Text values do not
@@ -80,7 +82,21 @@ pub class Idempotent {
     -- otherwise) — concat is documented to always allocate new owned text.
     let hdrs: map<Text, Text> = {};
     for k, v in stored.headers { hdrs[k .. ""] = v .. ""; }
-    return Resp { status: stored.status, headers: hdrs, body: stored.body .. "" };
+    let result = Resp { status: stored.status, headers: hdrs, body: stored.body .. "" };
+    if outcome == 3 {
+      -- Safe to delete here, unlike the shared bare-key row rounds 1/2
+      -- removed: the nonce that names this row was never handed to
+      -- anyone but this one call() reply, so no other request -- a
+      -- duplicate, a retry, anything -- can ever construct this exact
+      -- key to read it. Deleting it removes the leak AND the
+      -- nonce-wraparound collision (time.ticks() % 1_000_000_000 repeats
+      -- every ~1000s; a lingering row from an earlier failed attempt
+      -- landing on the same nonce would otherwise be there to collide
+      -- with, or worse, poison the actor's OWN unguarded insert on the
+      -- next failure for this key).
+      delete row;
+    }
+    return result;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/docs/examples/porch/middleware/keypool.wo b/docs/examples/porch/middleware/keypool.wo
index 69154e4..0a8df41 100644
--- a/docs/examples/porch/middleware/keypool.wo
+++ b/docs/examples/porch/middleware/keypool.wo
@@ -152,11 +152,17 @@ class KeyActor {
       -- low digits (the same slot pool_pack's remaining_ms uses for
       -- kind 1) so idempotent.wo can reconstruct the exact same key and
       -- read only ever what THIS call produced -- immune to any other
-      -- message touching this bare key, ever. (Trade-off, disclosed:
-      -- unlike the bare-key row, this one is never revisited by a bare-
-      -- key lookup, so it is never lazily pruned by TTL either -- it is
-      -- a permanent row per failed attempt. There is no sweeper in this
-      -- codebase by design; this is that same trade-off, not a new one.)
+      -- message touching this bare key, ever. That same unguessability
+      -- (the nonce is never handed to anyone but this one call() reply)
+      -- is also why idempotent.wo deletes this row right after reading
+      -- it: nothing else can ever construct this exact key, so nothing
+      -- else is deleted out from under. Without that delete, the row
+      -- would linger forever (no sweeper exists) AND time.ticks() % 1e9
+      -- wraps every ~1000s, so a later failed attempt for the SAME
+      -- bare key landing on the same nonce would collide with it --
+      -- reintroducing a stale-replay risk on wraparound, or poisoning
+      -- this actor's own unguarded insert above. Deleting it removes
+      -- both, not just the storage growth.
       let nonce = now % 1_000_000_000;
       insert IdempotencyKey {
         key: "${msg.key}#eph:${nonce}", response: stored_json, created_at: now, digest: msg.digest
diff --git a/scripts/web-app-accept.sh b/scripts/web-app-accept.sh
index e93171c..3698a30 100755
--- a/scripts/web-app-accept.sh
+++ b/scripts/web-app-accept.sh
@@ -820,14 +820,32 @@ class FlakyCount2 {
   }
 }
 
+-- coordinator follow-up: ephemeral (4xx/5xx) rows must not accumulate.
+-- Always fails, so every attempt against the SAME idempotency key is
+-- its own ephemeral miss -- never durable, never a hit for the next one.
+class AlwaysFailHandler {
+  fn handle(req: Req) -> Resp {
+    return server_error();
+  }
+}
+
+class IdemKeyCount {
+  fn handle(req: Req) -> Resp {
+    let n = len(from k in IdempotencyKey select k);
+    return ok_json("{\"count\":${n}}");
+  }
+}
+
 fn build_app(slot: actor PoolMsg) -> App {
   let app = App { middleware: [], routes: [] };
   let p = Pool { actors: [PoolSlot { a: slot }] };
   app.post("/create", Idempotent { key_header: "idempotency-key", pool: p, inner: SlowHandler {} });
   app.post("/flaky", Idempotent { key_header: "idempotency-key", pool: p, inner: FlakyHandler {} });
   app.post("/flaky2", Idempotent { key_header: "idempotency-key", pool: p, inner: FlakyHandler2 {} });
+  app.post("/alwaysfail", Idempotent { key_header: "idempotency-key", pool: p, inner: AlwaysFailHandler {} });
   app.get("/execs", ExecCount {});
   app.get("/flaky2count", FlakyCount2 {});
+  app.get("/idemkeycount", IdemKeyCount {});
   return app;
 }
 
@@ -999,6 +1017,31 @@ if ip_out="$("$WOC" --emit "$IP" -o "$IP/idempotent_check.wob" 2>&1)"; then
     && ok "idempotent: both concurrent attempts genuinely executed (FlakyMark2 count = 2)" \
     || bad "idempotent-5xx-concurrent-execs" "FlakyMark2 count=$fc2 want 2"
 
+  # ---- 18f. gate leg: ephemeral rows do not accumulate (coordinator follow-up) --
+  # AlwaysFailHandler fails every time, so N attempts against the SAME
+  # idempotency key are N separate ephemeral misses -- never a durable
+  # row, never a hit for the next one. Before the fix each attempt left
+  # its own permanent, nonce-keyed row behind; after it, idempotent.wo
+  # deletes that row the instant it reads it back (safe: the nonce is
+  # never handed to anyone else, so nothing else could ever address that
+  # row anyway). The IdempotencyKey row count must return to its
+  # baseline after all N attempts, not grow by N.
+  idemkeycount() {
+    curl -s --max-time 5 -H "Host: a" "http://127.0.0.1:$IPORT/idemkeycount" \
+      | grep -o '"count":[0-9]*' | cut -d: -f2
+  }
+  ik_baseline="$(idemkeycount)"
+  IK_N=3
+  for i in $(seq 1 $IK_N); do
+    curl -s -o /dev/null --max-time 5 -X POST -H "Host: a" \
+      -H "Idempotency-Key: leg13-key" -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
+      --data-binary "x" "http://127.0.0.1:$IPORT/alwaysfail"
+  done
+  ik_after="$(idemkeycount)"
+  [[ "$ik_after" == "$ik_baseline" ]] \
+    && ok "idempotent: $IK_N ephemeral attempts leave no rows behind (IdempotencyKey count stays $ik_baseline)" \
+    || bad "idempotent-ephemeral-leak" "baseline=$ik_baseline after $IK_N attempts=$ik_after"
+
   kill -TERM "$SRV" 2>/dev/null
   istopped=1
   for _ in $(seq 1 30); do kill -0 "$SRV" 2>/dev/null || { istopped=0; break; }; sleep 0.1; done