diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 7c54b9d..81c424f 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,6 +1,22 @@
 # Database
 DATABASE_URL=postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/criticalbit_auth
 
+# Database connection pool (per Cloud Run instance). Cloud Run scales
+# horizontally, so size against Cloud SQL's max_connections:
+#
+#   (DB_POOL_SIZE + DB_MAX_OVERFLOW) × max-instances + migrate-job + headroom
+#       ≤ Cloud SQL max_connections
+#
+# Defaults below (10/instance) fit a 200-connection tier comfortably at
+# max-instances=10 (see .github/workflows/deploy.yml). For a ~100-connection
+# tier, lower max-instances or the pool. Defaults are applied to Postgres
+# only; SQLite (dev/test) ignores them.
+# DB_POOL_SIZE=5          # persistent connections kept open per instance
+# DB_MAX_OVERFLOW=5       # extra burst connections above pool_size
+# DB_POOL_TIMEOUT=30      # seconds to wait for a free connection before erroring
+# DB_POOL_RECYCLE=1800    # recycle connections older than N seconds
+# DB_POOL_PRE_PING=true   # check liveness before use (handles idle drops)
+
 # Auth - generate with: openssl rand -hex 32
 SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-change-in-production
 
diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 910220c..3b438a7 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -14,6 +14,18 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     # Database
     database_url: str = "postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/criticalbit_auth"
 
+    # Database connection pool (per Cloud Run instance). On Cloud Run we scale
+    # horizontally, so total DB connections ≈ (pool_size + max_overflow) ×
+    # running instances and must stay under Cloud SQL's max_connections with
+    # headroom for the Alembic migrate job. Conservative defaults; tune per
+    # tier via env. See .env.example for the sizing formula. Ignored for
+    # SQLite (dev/test), whose pool doesn't take these args.
+    db_pool_size: int = 5
+    db_max_overflow: int = 5
+    db_pool_timeout: int = 30
+    db_pool_recycle: int = 1800
+    db_pool_pre_ping: bool = True
+
     # Auth
     secret_key: str = "change-me-in-production"
 
diff --git a/app/database.py b/app/database.py
index df6408a..876f2d6 100644
--- a/app/database.py
+++ b/app/database.py
@@ -12,9 +12,31 @@ class Base(DeclarativeBase):
     pass
 
 
+def _pool_kwargs(database_url: str) -> dict:
+    """Connection-pool kwargs for ``create_async_engine``.
+
+    Empty for SQLite (dev/test), which SQLAlchemy backs with a ``StaticPool``
+    that rejects ``pool_size``/``max_overflow``. For the production
+    ``postgresql+asyncpg`` engine these bound the per-instance pool and add
+    liveness checks (``pool_pre_ping``) plus periodic recycling, so Cloud
+    SQL dropping an idle connection surfaces as a transparent reconnect
+    rather than a request error.
+    """
+    if database_url.startswith("sqlite"):
+        return {}
+    return {
+        "pool_size": settings.db_pool_size,
+        "max_overflow": settings.db_max_overflow,
+        "pool_timeout": settings.db_pool_timeout,
+        "pool_recycle": settings.db_pool_recycle,
+        "pool_pre_ping": settings.db_pool_pre_ping,
+    }
+
+
 engine = create_async_engine(
     settings.database_url,
     echo=settings.is_development,
+    **_pool_kwargs(settings.database_url),
 )
 
 async_session_maker = async_sessionmaker(
diff --git a/tests/test_db_pool.py b/tests/test_db_pool.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdb0657
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_db_pool.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+"""Tests for the database connection-pool configuration (follow-up to #47).
+
+On Cloud Run, total DB connections ≈ (pool_size + max_overflow) × instances,
+so the per-instance pool is bounded and configurable, sized against Cloud
+SQL's max_connections. SQLite (dev/test) uses a StaticPool that rejects these
+args, so they must be applied to Postgres only.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine
+
+from app.config import settings
+from app.database import _pool_kwargs
+
+POSTGRES_URL = "postgresql+asyncpg://u:p@h/db"
+
+
+def test_pool_kwargs_empty_for_sqlite() -> None:
+    """SQLite's StaticPool rejects pool_size/max_overflow — must pass none."""
+    assert _pool_kwargs("sqlite+aiosqlite:///:memory:") == {}
+    assert _pool_kwargs("sqlite:///./local.db") == {}
+
+
+def test_pool_kwargs_set_for_postgres() -> None:
+    assert _pool_kwargs(POSTGRES_URL) == {
+        "pool_size": settings.db_pool_size,
+        "max_overflow": settings.db_max_overflow,
+        "pool_timeout": settings.db_pool_timeout,
+        "pool_recycle": settings.db_pool_recycle,
+        "pool_pre_ping": settings.db_pool_pre_ping,
+    }
+
+
+def test_postgres_engine_applies_configured_pool_size() -> None:
+    """asyncpg never connects at construction, so building a throwaway engine
+    is safe and confirms the kwargs actually bound the pool."""
+    eng = create_async_engine(POSTGRES_URL, **_pool_kwargs(POSTGRES_URL))
+    assert eng.pool.size() == settings.db_pool_size
+
+
+def test_defaults_stay_conservative() -> None:
+    """Tripwire: keep the per-instance footprint modest so (pool × instances)
+    stays under Cloud SQL's ceiling. If you raise these intentionally, update
+    the formula in .env.example and --max-instances in deploy.yml too."""
+    assert settings.db_pool_size + settings.db_max_overflow <= 10
+    assert settings.db_pool_pre_ping is True