diff --git a/go-api/internal/knowledge/retrieve.go b/go-api/internal/knowledge/retrieve.go
index a3ed1ad..0ade8a3 100644
--- a/go-api/internal/knowledge/retrieve.go
+++ b/go-api/internal/knowledge/retrieve.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ const RRFConstant = 60.0
 const CandidateMultiple = 3
 
 // DefaultK is how many chunks a retrieval returns when the caller does not say.
-const DefaultK = 8
+const DefaultK = 4
 
 // MaxK is the ceiling. Not a performance guard — a context guard. Retrieved
 // text is prompt, prompt is money, and a caller asking for 500 chunks has made
diff --git a/go-api/internal/tools/tools.go b/go-api/internal/tools/tools.go
index c7604c8..cd3f49c 100644
--- a/go-api/internal/tools/tools.go
+++ b/go-api/internal/tools/tools.go
@@ -42,7 +42,11 @@ const (
 // Not a performance guard. An unbounded result is an unbounded prompt on the
 // next turn, which is an unbounded bill and eventually a context overflow that
 // presents as the model ignoring the middle of its own evidence.
-const DefaultMaxResultBytes = 262_144
+// 32KiB is roughly 8,000 tokens — already more evidence than any one answer
+// needs, and an order of magnitude below the 256KiB this used to be. That old
+// ceiling let ONE result outweigh everything else in the prompt put together,
+// on a deployment whose provider ceiling is 8,000 tokens a minute.
+const DefaultMaxResultBytes = 32_768
 
 // Context is what a handler is given about its caller.
 //
diff --git a/go-api/internal/tools/workforce.go b/go-api/internal/tools/workforce.go
index 60d0228..3fcc0a0 100644
--- a/go-api/internal/tools/workforce.go
+++ b/go-api/internal/tools/workforce.go
@@ -69,8 +69,11 @@ func periodSchema(limitHelp string) map[string]any {
 			"period": map[string]any{
 				"type": "string",
 				"enum": []string{"today", "last-7-days", "last-30-days", "this-month", "previous-month"},
-				"description": "The window to read. Omit for all recorded history. " +
-					"Windows are computed from the current date; do not pass a date.",
+				// Terse on purpose: this schema is attached to thirteen tools and
+				// the whole catalogue is re-sent on EVERY model call, so a
+				// sentence here is paid for once per tool per call. The "do not
+				// pass a date" warning is enforced by the enum anyway.
+				"description": "The window to read. Omit for all history.",
 			},
 			"limit": map[string]any{
 				"type": "integer", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100,