diff --git a/src/shared/support/hooks.ts b/src/shared/support/hooks.ts
index 6725a22..b2c68a1 100644
--- a/src/shared/support/hooks.ts
+++ b/src/shared/support/hooks.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Before, After, BeforeAll, AfterAll, Status, setDefaultTimeout } from '@cucumber/cucumber';
 import { chromium, type Browser, type BrowserContext, type Page, type Frame } from 'playwright';
-import { execSync, spawn, type ChildProcess } from 'child_process';
+import { execSync, spawn, spawnSync, type ChildProcess } from 'child_process';
 import * as http from 'http';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
@@ -37,6 +37,84 @@ const HARNESS_NG_OUT = path.join('dist', 'test-harness-ng.js');
 // Persistent Chromium profile for NG wallet (not the user's daily browser)
 const PLAYWRIGHT_PROFILE = path.resolve('.playwright-profile');
 
+/**
+ * Rotate the profile once it exceeds this many MB. Override with
+ * FESTIPOD_PROFILE_BLOAT_MB; 0 disables the rotation entirely.
+ */
+const BLOAT_THRESHOLD_MB = Number(process.env.FESTIPOD_PROFILE_BLOAT_MB ?? 50);
+
+function dirSizeMB(dir: string): number {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) return 0;
+  try {
+    const result = spawnSync('du', ['-sm', dir], { encoding: 'utf-8' });
+    const line = result.stdout.trim().split('\n')[0] ?? '';
+    return parseInt(line.split('\t')[0] ?? '0', 10);
+  } catch {
+    return 0;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Remove any stale Chromium singleton files from the profile. Chromium refuses to
+ * launch (ProcessSingleton error) if SingletonLock, SingletonCookie or
+ * SingletonSocket are left over from a previous crashed run. Idempotent.
+ */
+function cleanSingletons(profilePath: string): void {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(profilePath)) return;
+  for (const name of ['SingletonLock', 'SingletonCookie', 'SingletonSocket']) {
+    const f = path.join(profilePath, name);
+    if (!fs.existsSync(f)) continue;
+    try {
+      fs.rmSync(f, { force: true });
+      console.log(`[rotate] removed stale ${name}.`);
+    } catch {
+      // Non-fatal: if it cannot be removed, the launch fails with a clear error.
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * ROTATE THE TEST PROFILE when it has grown past the threshold.
+ *
+ * WHY THIS RUNS UNATTENDED. The @data suite writes into one wallet that nothing
+ * empties, so every run leaves more behind. Past some volume the broker stops
+ * answering in time and scenarios die on their step timeout — SILENTLY, nothing
+ * in the console. That failure looks exactly like a bug in whatever was last
+ * edited, and gets diagnosed as one: it happened twice in a single session before
+ * anybody measured the profile. A guard nobody has to remember is the point.
+ *
+ * On THIS branch the rotation resets the DATA, not just the browser state:
+ * nothing here serves a shared wallet file (`ngSession` configures none, and the
+ * `.ngw` is used only by the @e2e staging build), so the @data wallet is the
+ * broker-side one reached through this profile's storage. Removing the profile
+ * takes the `.wallet-ready` marker with it and `ensureAuth` creates a fresh
+ * wallet. The sibling branch documents the opposite, correctly for itself —
+ * there the data lives in the served file and survives this.
+ *
+ * NOT free, and not quiet about it: the new wallet is created by driving the real
+ * broker's sign-up, so each rotation leaves an abandoned wallet behind on it.
+ * That is the price of a measurable suite; `FESTIPOD_PROFILE_BLOAT_MB=0` opts out.
+ */
+function rotateProfileIfBloated(): void {
+  if (BLOAT_THRESHOLD_MB <= 0) {
+    console.log('[rotate] disabled (FESTIPOD_PROFILE_BLOAT_MB=0)');
+    return;
+  }
+  const sizeMB = dirSizeMB(PLAYWRIGHT_PROFILE);
+  if (sizeMB > BLOAT_THRESHOLD_MB) {
+    console.log(`[rotate] profile ${sizeMB}MB > ${BLOAT_THRESHOLD_MB}MB — rotating (a NEW broker wallet will be created)`);
+    try {
+      fs.rmSync(PLAYWRIGHT_PROFILE, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      console.log('[rotate] profile removed — it will be recreated, with empty data.');
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.warn(`[rotate] failed to remove the profile: ${e}`);
+    }
+    return;
+  }
+  cleanSingletons(PLAYWRIGHT_PROFILE);
+  console.log(`[rotate] profile ${sizeMB}MB — below threshold, keeping it.`);
+}
+
 let harnessServer: http.Server | null = null;
 let harnessPort = 0;
 let useRealBroker = false;
@@ -345,6 +423,13 @@ BeforeAll({ timeout: 10 * 60 * 1000 }, async function () {
     execSync(`bun build ${HARNESS_NG_ENTRY} --outfile ${HARNESS_NG_OUT} --bundle --format=iife`, { stdio: 'pipe' });
     console.log(`[Harness] Built NG (${(fs.statSync(HARNESS_NG_OUT).size / 1024).toFixed(0)} KB)`);
 
+    // BEFORE touching the wallet: rotate the profile if it has bloated past the
+    // point where the broker stops answering in time. Here and not earlier in
+    // BeforeAll, because this is the branch that actually uses the profile — the
+    // mock fallback below never opens it, and rotating it would cost a broker
+    // sign-up for nothing.
+    rotateProfileIfBloated();
+
     // Ensure wallet exists in persistent profile (opens browser if needed)
     await ensureAuth();
     useRealBroker = true;