diff --git a/app/server/src/confluence/confluenceEngine.ts b/app/server/src/confluence/confluenceEngine.ts
index 0bfe7c3..414be55 100644
--- a/app/server/src/confluence/confluenceEngine.ts
+++ b/app/server/src/confluence/confluenceEngine.ts
@@ -301,7 +301,12 @@ export async function runConfluenceReplay(
     const weeklyFull = await provider.resolveAsOf(symbol, '1wk', '9999-12-31');
     const benchFull = await provider.resolveAsOf(BENCHMARK_SYMBOL, '1d', '9999-12-31');
 
+    let asOfN = 0;
     for (const asOf of slice) {
+      asOfN += 1;
+      if (asOfN % 4 === 0) {
+        await new Promise<void>((r) => setImmediate(r));
+      }
       const dailyCut = daily.candles.filter((c) => (c.ts ?? '').slice(0, 10) <= asOf);
       const weeklyCut = weeklyFull.candles.filter((c) => (c.ts ?? '').slice(0, 10) <= asOf);
       const benchCut = benchFull.candles.filter((c) => (c.ts ?? '').slice(0, 10) <= asOf);
@@ -391,6 +396,7 @@ export async function fillLearningLedger(
       complete: batch.complete,
     };
     if (batch.evaluationsStored === 0) break;
+    await new Promise<void>((r) => setImmediate(r));
   }
   return { ...last, ledger: await learningLedgerStatus(db, cache) };
 }
diff --git a/app/server/src/index.ts b/app/server/src/index.ts
index 0f004f8..977ce6f 100644
--- a/app/server/src/index.ts
+++ b/app/server/src/index.ts
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ async function confluenceTick(label: string): Promise<void> {
   } = await import('./confluence/confluenceEngine.ts');
   const { CONFLUENCE_LEARNING_UNIVERSE } = await import('./confluence/confluenceSeed.ts');
   const replay = label === 'boot'
-    ? await fillLearningLedger(database, cache, 75_000)
+    ? await fillLearningLedger(database, cache, 12_000)
     : await runConfluenceReplay(database, cache, {
       symbols: CONFLUENCE_LEARNING_UNIVERSE,
       symbolsPerTick: LEARNING_REPLAY_SYMBOLS,
@@ -331,7 +331,9 @@ const server = createServer(async (req, res) => {
   const url = new URL(req.url ?? '/', `http://localhost:${PORT}`);
   if (url.pathname === '/health') {
     res.writeHead(200, { 'content-type': 'application/json' });
-    res.end(JSON.stringify({ ok: true, queue: queue.health() }));
+    // Cheap liveness only. queue.health() is a full SQLite scan and must not
+    // ride the docker healthcheck / login path.
+    res.end(JSON.stringify({ ok: true }));
     return;
   }
   if (url.pathname.startsWith('/api/trpc')) {
diff --git a/app/src/lib/trpc.ts b/app/src/lib/trpc.ts
index d95b876..bd79795 100644
--- a/app/src/lib/trpc.ts
+++ b/app/src/lib/trpc.ts
@@ -1008,7 +1008,8 @@ export const api = {
   },
   auth: {
     signup: (email: string, password: string) => trpcMutate<{ userId: string }>("auth.signup", { email, password }),
-    login: (email: string, password: string, totp?: string) => trpcMutate<{ userId: string }>("auth.login", { email, password, ...(totp ? { totp } : {}) }),
+    login: (email: string, password: string, totp?: string) =>
+      trpcMutate<{ userId: string }>("auth.login", { email, password, ...(totp ? { totp } : {}) }, 20_000),
     logout: () => trpcMutate<{ ok: boolean }>("auth.logout", {}),
     changePassword: (current: string, next: string) =>
       trpcMutate<{ ok: boolean }>("auth.changePassword", { current, next }),