diff --git a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go
index 2dde72a..940de69 100644
--- a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go
+++ b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ const (
 	meshRouteHealthFeedbackRefreshBackoff    = 5 * time.Second
 	maxMeshRendezvousLeaseReportEntries      = 20
 	maxVPNFabricEndpointHealthReportEntries  = 32
+	maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries   = 256
+	vpnFabricEndpointObservationMaxAge       = 30 * time.Minute
 	meshRendezvousLeaseReportSchema          = "c17z18.mesh_rendezvous_lease_report.v1"
 	meshRendezvousLeaseTelemetryCapability   = "mesh_rendezvous_lease_telemetry"
 	meshRendezvousLeaseRefreshCapability     = "mesh_rendezvous_lease_refresh_contract"
@@ -443,6 +445,7 @@ func (s *vpnFabricEndpointObservationStore) Snapshot() map[string]mesh.EndpointC
 	}
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	s.pruneLocked(time.Now().UTC(), vpnFabricEndpointObservationMaxAge, maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries)
 	out := make(map[string]mesh.EndpointCandidateHealthObservation, len(s.observations))
 	for key, value := range s.observations {
 		out[key] = value
@@ -450,6 +453,41 @@ func (s *vpnFabricEndpointObservationStore) Snapshot() map[string]mesh.EndpointC
 	return out
 }
 
+func (s *vpnFabricEndpointObservationStore) pruneLocked(now time.Time, maxAge time.Duration, maxEntries int) {
+	if s == nil || len(s.observations) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	if !now.IsZero() && maxAge > 0 {
+		for endpointID, observation := range s.observations {
+			if !observation.ObservedAt.IsZero() && now.Sub(observation.ObservedAt.UTC()) > maxAge {
+				delete(s.observations, endpointID)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if maxEntries <= 0 || len(s.observations) <= maxEntries {
+		return
+	}
+	values := make([]mesh.EndpointCandidateHealthObservation, 0, len(s.observations))
+	for _, observation := range s.observations {
+		values = append(values, observation)
+	}
+	sort.SliceStable(values, func(i, j int) bool {
+		if !values[i].ObservedAt.Equal(values[j].ObservedAt) {
+			return values[i].ObservedAt.After(values[j].ObservedAt)
+		}
+		return values[i].EndpointID < values[j].EndpointID
+	})
+	keep := make(map[string]struct{}, maxEntries)
+	for _, observation := range values[:maxEntries] {
+		keep[observation.EndpointID] = struct{}{}
+	}
+	for endpointID := range s.observations {
+		if _, ok := keep[endpointID]; !ok {
+			delete(s.observations, endpointID)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func (s *vpnFabricEndpointObservationStore) Report(observedAt time.Time, maxEntries int) map[string]any {
 	snapshot := s.Snapshot()
 	if len(snapshot) == 0 {
@@ -500,6 +538,7 @@ func (s *vpnFabricEndpointObservationStore) ObserveSuccess(endpointID string, la
 	observation.LastFailureReason = ""
 	observation.ObservedAt = time.Now().UTC()
 	s.observations[endpointID] = observation
+	s.pruneLocked(observation.ObservedAt, vpnFabricEndpointObservationMaxAge, maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries)
 }
 
 func (s *vpnFabricEndpointObservationStore) ObserveFailure(endpointID string, reason string) {
@@ -515,6 +554,7 @@ func (s *vpnFabricEndpointObservationStore) ObserveFailure(endpointID string, re
 	observation.ReliabilityScore = 35
 	observation.ObservedAt = time.Now().UTC()
 	s.observations[endpointID] = observation
+	s.pruneLocked(observation.ObservedAt, vpnFabricEndpointObservationMaxAge, maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries)
 }
 
 func fabricTransportLabelIsQUIC(label string) bool {
diff --git a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go
index 3cdcaad..535595e 100644
--- a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go
+++ b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/ed25519"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
@@ -814,6 +815,35 @@ func TestVPNFabricEndpointObservationReportIsBoundedAndNewestFirst(t *testing.T)
 	}
 }
 
+func TestVPNFabricEndpointObservationStorePrunesOldAndExcessEntries(t *testing.T) {
+	store := newVPNFabricEndpointObservationStore()
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	store.observations["old"] = mesh.EndpointCandidateHealthObservation{
+		EndpointID: "old",
+		ObservedAt: now.Add(-vpnFabricEndpointObservationMaxAge - time.Second),
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries+10; i++ {
+		endpointID := fmt.Sprintf("endpoint-%03d", i)
+		store.observations[endpointID] = mesh.EndpointCandidateHealthObservation{
+			EndpointID: endpointID,
+			ObservedAt: now.Add(time.Duration(i) * time.Second),
+		}
+	}
+	snapshot := store.Snapshot()
+	if len(snapshot) != maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries {
+		t.Fatalf("snapshot size = %d, want %d", len(snapshot), maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries)
+	}
+	if _, ok := snapshot["old"]; ok {
+		t.Fatalf("old observation was not pruned: %+v", snapshot["old"])
+	}
+	if _, ok := snapshot["endpoint-000"]; ok {
+		t.Fatalf("oldest excess observation was not pruned")
+	}
+	if _, ok := snapshot[fmt.Sprintf("endpoint-%03d", maxVPNFabricEndpointObservationEntries+9)]; !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("newest observation was pruned")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestVPNFabricSessionTargetPrefersRankedQUICCandidate(t *testing.T) {
 	now := time.Now().UTC()
 	target, ok := vpnFabricSessionTarget(&syntheticMeshState{
diff --git a/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md b/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md
index df54123..1cbef20 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md
@@ -336,6 +336,9 @@ candidate feedback without parsing the transport diagnostics blob.
 VPN fabric-session transport telemetry is carrier-neutral
 (`fabric_session_binary_frames`) and reports QUIC/WebSocket as available
 carriers instead of describing the dataplane as WebSocket-only.
+Endpoint health observations are pruned in-memory by age and count before
+snapshot/report generation, preventing long-running nodes from accumulating
+unbounded candidate history.
 
 Deliverables: