diff --git a/database/src/db.c b/database/src/db.c
index 4a2863e..c75397c 100644
--- a/database/src/db.c
+++ b/database/src/db.c
@@ -7,6 +7,23 @@
 #include "table.h"
 #include "wal.h"
 
+/* databasev2 3: the inline path's compaction check.
+ *
+ * The drain has its own (vm.c, after the barrier). This one exists because a
+ * statement running ON the owner shard never enters that drain, so without it
+ * a single-shard durable program's log grows FOREVER — measured: WO_SHARDS=1
+ * reached 536 KB where the multi-shard run held 446 KB, because the check was
+ * only wired into the drain.
+ *
+ * Safe here for the same reason it is safe there: the commit above just
+ * emptied the staging buffer. The result is ignored because a failed
+ * compaction is a missed optimisation, not a durability event. */
+static void maybe_compact(wo_db *db, wo_wal *w) {
+    if (wo_wal_should_compact(w->off, w->compacted_bytes, wo_wal_ckpt_floor,
+                              wo_wal_ckpt_ratio))
+        (void)wo_wal_compact(w, db);
+}
+
 int wo_builtin_db(wo_vm *vm, uint64_t *R, uint32_t ins, const char **msg) {
     uint32_t A = wo_ins_a(ins), B = wo_ins_b(ins), C = wo_ins_c(ins);
     wo_db *db = (wo_db *)vm->rt.db;
@@ -44,6 +61,7 @@ int wo_builtin_db(wo_vm *vm, uint64_t *R, uint32_t ins, const char **msg) {
              * Failure is fatal, not a trap: the row is already in RAM. */
             if (wo_wal_append_insert(w, db, cid, id) != 0) wo_wal_stage_fatal(w);
             wo_wal_commit_fatal(w, 1);
+            maybe_compact(db, w);
         }
         R[A] = id;
         return 0;
@@ -61,6 +79,7 @@ int wo_builtin_db(wo_vm *vm, uint64_t *R, uint32_t ins, const char **msg) {
              * admitted. Now fatal — see the insert arm. */
             if (wo_wal_append_update(w, db, cid, id) != 0) wo_wal_stage_fatal(w);
             wo_wal_commit_fatal(w, 1);
+            maybe_compact(db, w);
         }
         R[A] = 0;
         return 0;
@@ -82,6 +101,7 @@ int wo_builtin_db(wo_vm *vm, uint64_t *R, uint32_t ins, const char **msg) {
         if (w) {
             if (wo_wal_append_remove(w, cid, id) != 0) wo_wal_stage_fatal(w);
             wo_wal_commit_fatal(w, 1);
+            maybe_compact(db, w);
         }
         R[A] = 0;
         return 0;
diff --git a/database/src/wal.c b/database/src/wal.c
index c37dbcf..19e797f 100644
--- a/database/src/wal.c
+++ b/database/src/wal.c
@@ -450,6 +450,18 @@ void wo_wal_commit_fatal(wo_wal *w, uint32_t nrec) {
     wal_die(w, rc == WO_WAL_ERR_SYNC ? "fdatasync" : "pwrite", nrec);
 }
 
+uint64_t wo_wal_ckpt_floor = 4u << 20; /* 4 MiB: below this there is nothing worth reclaiming */
+uint32_t wo_wal_ckpt_ratio = 3u;      /* 3x the live-set's own size is enough history */
+
+int wo_wal_should_compact(uint64_t used, uint64_t last, uint64_t floor, uint32_t ratio) {
+    if (used < floor) return 0;   /* a small log has nothing to reclaim */
+    if (last == 0) return 1;      /* past the floor and never compacted: do it once
+                                   * to establish the denominator */
+    if (ratio == 0) return 0;     /* a zero ratio disables the policy rather than
+                                   * dividing by nothing */
+    return used > last * (uint64_t)ratio;
+}
+
 /* databasev2 3: how many records the dump stages before flushing.
  *
  * NOT unbounded: stage() grows the staging buffer by doubling and never
diff --git a/database/src/wal.h b/database/src/wal.h
index 73c53bc..e219a14 100644
--- a/database/src/wal.h
+++ b/database/src/wal.h
@@ -109,6 +109,31 @@ int wo_wal_append_update(wo_wal *w, wo_db *db, uint32_t class_id, uint64_t id);
  * batch stays staged: a failed commit consumes nothing). */
 int wo_wal_commit(wo_wal *w);
 
+/* databasev2 3: the checkpoint trigger, as a PURE decision so it can be tested
+ * without a store — which is the only way a policy like this gets tested at all.
+ *
+ * [used] the log's used bytes; [last] what the LAST compaction wrote (0 if it
+ * has never run); [floor] the size below which compacting is not worth it;
+ * [ratio] the multiple of [last] that counts as too much history.
+ *
+ * The denominator is the last compaction's MEASURED output rather than an
+ * estimate of the live set: estimating would mean estimating Text, and the
+ * compactor already knows the true number.
+ *
+ * There is deliberately NO TIME component. Postgres' CheckPointTimeout exists
+ * to bound data loss from unflushed buffers; our records are durable at commit,
+ * so a checkpoint only reclaims space and shortens boot. An idle log does not
+ * grow, so a timer would fire with nothing to do.
+ *
+ * 1 = compact now, 0 = leave it. */
+int wo_wal_should_compact(uint64_t used, uint64_t last, uint64_t floor, uint32_t ratio);
+
+/* Defaults, overridable at boot by WO_CHECKPOINT_BYTES / WO_CHECKPOINT_RATIO.
+ * The knobs are what make the policy testable: a test sets a tiny floor and
+ * forces compaction in a few writes instead of waiting for megabytes. */
+extern uint64_t wo_wal_ckpt_floor;
+extern uint32_t wo_wal_ckpt_ratio;
+
 /* databasev2 3: the temporary file compaction writes before the swap. Named
  * next to the log so it lands on the same filesystem — rename(2) is only
  * atomic within one. Boot removes a stale one (a crash before the rename). */
diff --git a/runtime/src/main.c b/runtime/src/main.c
index f8f6191..3cb0f1c 100644
--- a/runtime/src/main.c
+++ b/runtime/src/main.c
@@ -240,6 +240,25 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             if (v >= 1 && v <= 0x7FFFFFFFul) wo_mailbox_cap = (uint32_t)v;
         }
     }
+    /* databasev2 3: the checkpoint policy. WO_CHECKPOINT_BYTES is the floor
+     * below which a log is too small to bother compacting; WO_CHECKPOINT_RATIO
+     * is how many times the live set's own size counts as too much history.
+     * Both exist mainly so the policy is TESTABLE — a gate sets a tiny floor
+     * and forces compaction in a few writes rather than waiting for megabytes.
+     * There is no time-based trigger, by design: our records are durable at
+     * commit, so an idle log does not grow. */
+    {
+        const char *cb = getenv("WO_CHECKPOINT_BYTES");
+        if (cb && cb[0]) {
+            unsigned long long v = strtoull(cb, NULL, 10);
+            if (v > 0) wo_wal_ckpt_floor = (uint64_t)v;
+        }
+        const char *cr = getenv("WO_CHECKPOINT_RATIO");
+        if (cr && cr[0]) {
+            unsigned long v = strtoul(cr, NULL, 10);
+            if (v <= 0xFFFFFFFFul) wo_wal_ckpt_ratio = (uint32_t)v;
+        }
+    }
     /* the arc's stage 2: all cores by default (the brave landing), one
      * pinned worker vm per extra core; WO_SHARDS caps or forces it */
     {
diff --git a/runtime/src/vm.c b/runtime/src/vm.c
index 169c4c6..4eda1e1 100644
--- a/runtime/src/vm.c
+++ b/runtime/src/vm.c
@@ -236,6 +236,25 @@ static int wo_vm_adopt(wo_vm *vm) {
         inbox_push_to(rq->from_shard, rhead);
         rhead = rn;
     }
+    /* databasev2 3: the ONE point where compaction is safe — the barrier above
+     * just ran, so the staging buffer is empty. Anywhere else, a staged record
+     * would be written into a file about to be replaced. This is a correctness
+     * requirement, not a scheduling preference; wo_wal_compact also refuses a
+     * non-empty buffer as a backstop.
+     *
+     * Replies are released FIRST, deliberately: their records are already
+     * durable, and holding them across a stop-the-world rewrite would add the
+     * rewrite's full duration to their latency for no benefit.
+     *
+     * The result is ignored because a failed compaction is a missed
+     * optimisation, not a durability event — the original log is left intact
+     * and the process carries on. */
+    if (staged) {
+        wo_wal *cw = (wo_wal *)vm->rt.wal;
+        if (cw && wo_wal_should_compact(cw->off, cw->compacted_bytes,
+                                        wo_wal_ckpt_floor, wo_wal_ckpt_ratio))
+            (void)wo_wal_compact(cw, (wo_db *)vm->rt.db);
+    }
     return n;
 }
 
diff --git a/runtime/test/test_wal.c b/runtime/test/test_wal.c
index d94a148..1be2996 100644
--- a/runtime/test/test_wal.c
+++ b/runtime/test/test_wal.c
@@ -297,6 +297,67 @@ static void test_stale_compact_temp_is_removed(void) {
     wo_rt_destroy(&rt);
 }
 
+/* databasev2 3 Task 3: the trigger, tested as a pure decision. Kept pure
+ * precisely so it CAN be tested — a policy only observable by writing megabytes
+ * and waiting is a policy nobody checks. */
+static void test_should_compact_policy(void) {
+    /* below the floor, nothing fires however bad the ratio looks */
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(1000, 10, 4096, 3), 0);
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(4095, 1, 4096, 3), 0);
+    /* past the floor with no prior compaction: run once to learn the size */
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(4096, 0, 4096, 3), 1);
+    /* with a known denominator it is a straight ratio test */
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(30000, 10000, 4096, 3), 0); /* exactly 3x is not MORE than 3x */
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(30001, 10000, 4096, 3), 1);
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(19999, 10000, 4096, 2), 0);
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(20001, 10000, 4096, 2), 1);
+    /* a zero ratio disables the policy rather than dividing by nothing */
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_should_compact(1u << 30, 10, 4096, 0), 0);
+}
+
+/* databasev2 3 Task 3: the ordering rule, asserted rather than trusted.
+ * Compaction with records staged would write them into a file about to be
+ * replaced, so it must be REFUSED — and refused without touching the log. */
+static void test_compact_refuses_with_staged_records(void) {
+    char path[128];
+    snprintf(path, sizeof path, "%s/staged.wal", g_dir);
+    wo_rt rt;
+    T_EQ(wo_rt_init(&rt, 1 << 20, CLASSES, 1), 0);
+    wo_db db;
+    T_EQ(wo_db_init(&db, CLASSES, 1, 0, 1), 0);
+    wo_wal w;
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_open(&w, path, 1 << 16), 0);
+    const char *msg = "";
+
+    wo_str *s1 = wo_str_new(&rt, "abc", 3);
+    uint64_t v1[2] = {7, (uint64_t)(uintptr_t)s1};
+    uint64_t id1 = wo_row_insert(&db, 0, v1, &msg, NULL);
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_append_insert(&w, &db, 0, id1), 0);
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_commit(&w), 0); /* durable, buffer empty */
+
+    /* now stage WITHOUT committing */
+    wo_str *s2 = wo_str_new(&rt, "xyz", 3);
+    uint64_t v2[2] = {8, (uint64_t)(uintptr_t)s2};
+    uint64_t id2 = wo_row_insert(&db, 0, v2, &msg, NULL);
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_append_insert(&w, &db, 0, id2), 0);
+    T_CHECK(w.len > 0);
+
+    uint64_t before = 0;
+    int64_t recs = wo_wal_check(path, &before);
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_compact(&w, &db), -1);  /* refused */
+    T_CHECK(w.len > 0);                 /* and the staged record is still there */
+    uint64_t after = 0;
+    T_CHECK(wo_wal_check(path, &after) == recs && after == before); /* log untouched */
+
+    /* the staged record still commits normally afterwards */
+    T_EQ(wo_wal_commit(&w), 0);
+    T_CHECK(wo_wal_check(path, NULL) == recs + 1);
+
+    wo_wal_close(&w);
+    wo_db_destroy(&db);
+    wo_rt_destroy(&rt);
+}
+
 static void test_torn_tail(void) {
     char path[128];
     snprintf(path, sizeof path, "%s/torn.wal", g_dir);
@@ -510,6 +571,8 @@ int main(void) {
     test_commit_failure_detected();
     test_compact_shortens_and_replays_equal();
     test_stale_compact_temp_is_removed();
+    test_should_compact_policy();
+    test_compact_refuses_with_staged_records();
     test_torn_tail();
     test_float_bytes_replay();
     test_crash_battery();