diff --git a/internal/rss/poller.go b/internal/rss/poller.go
index 353619c..e6d5c52 100644
--- a/internal/rss/poller.go
+++ b/internal/rss/poller.go
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ type Poller struct {
 	ranker  Ranker
 	cfg     Config
 	nextDue map[string]time.Time
-	seen    map[string]map[string]bool // feed → item ID, for items with no date
-	polled  map[string]bool            // feed → polled at least once in THIS process
+	seen    map[string]*seenIDs // feed → item IDs, for items with no date
+	polled  map[string]bool     // feed → polled at least once in THIS process
 }
 
 // NewPoller wires a poller. Returns nil when there is nothing to poll — a
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ func NewPoller(feeds []FeedConfig, fetch Fetcher, notes Notes, marks Marks, embe
 		feeds: valid, fetch: fetch, notes: notes, marks: marks,
 		embed: embed, ranker: ranker, cfg: cfg,
 		nextDue: map[string]time.Time{},
-		seen:    map[string]map[string]bool{},
+		seen:    map[string]*seenIDs{},
 		polled:  map[string]bool{},
 	}
 }
@@ -283,6 +283,38 @@ func (p *Poller) mark(ctx context.Context, feed string, now time.Time) (time.Tim
 	return at, true
 }
 
+// maxSeenPerFeed bounds the undated-item set. It has to stay comfortably above
+// any one feed's front page, or an item still listed there would fall out of the
+// set and be written a second time. A few hundred entries covers the largest
+// page anyone publishes, and the set only has to span one poll window plus the
+// resync guard, not all of history.
+const maxSeenPerFeed = 512
+
+// seenIDs is a bounded insertion-ordered set. The map answers the lookup, the
+// slice remembers what to drop first, so an undated feed cannot grow the poller
+// for as long as mavend runs.
+type seenIDs struct {
+	ids   map[string]bool
+	order []string
+}
+
+// add records id and reports whether it was new.
+func (s *seenIDs) add(id string) bool {
+	if s.ids == nil {
+		s.ids = make(map[string]bool, maxSeenPerFeed)
+	}
+	if s.ids[id] {
+		return false
+	}
+	s.ids[id] = true
+	s.order = append(s.order, id)
+	if len(s.order) > maxSeenPerFeed {
+		delete(s.ids, s.order[0])
+		s.order = s.order[1:]
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 // fresh — two dedup rules, because feeds are inconsistent about dates. A dated
 // item must be newer than the mark; an undated one is kept once per process by
 // ID.
@@ -308,12 +340,11 @@ func (p *Poller) fresh(f FeedConfig, it Item, mark, now time.Time, resync bool)
 		id = it.Title
 	}
 	if p.seen[f.Name] == nil {
-		p.seen[f.Name] = map[string]bool{}
+		p.seen[f.Name] = &seenIDs{}
 	}
-	if p.seen[f.Name][id] {
+	if !p.seen[f.Name].add(id) {
 		return false
 	}
-	p.seen[f.Name][id] = true
 	return !resync
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/rss/poller_test.go b/internal/rss/poller_test.go
index f071399..28ed267 100644
--- a/internal/rss/poller_test.go
+++ b/internal/rss/poller_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package rss
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -208,3 +209,27 @@ func TestNoFeedsMeansNoPoller(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("a feed with no name or url is not a configuration")
 	}
 }
+
+// An undated feed used to grow p.seen for as long as mavend ran. The set is
+// bounded now, and the bound must not cost the dedupe an item still on the
+// front page — only ids far older than any page fall out.
+func TestSeenIDsBounded(t *testing.T) {
+	var s seenIDs
+	for i := 0; i < maxSeenPerFeed*3; i++ {
+		if !s.add(fmt.Sprintf("item-%d", i)) {
+			t.Fatalf("item-%d read as already seen", i)
+		}
+		if len(s.ids) > maxSeenPerFeed || len(s.order) > maxSeenPerFeed {
+			t.Fatalf("after %d inserts: ids=%d order=%d, cap is %d",
+				i+1, len(s.ids), len(s.order), maxSeenPerFeed)
+		}
+	}
+	// The newest insert is still deduped; the oldest was evicted.
+	last := fmt.Sprintf("item-%d", maxSeenPerFeed*3-1)
+	if s.add(last) {
+		t.Fatalf("%s read as new, so the most recent id was dropped", last)
+	}
+	if !s.add("item-0") {
+		t.Fatal("item-0 survived, so nothing was evicted")
+	}
+}