diff --git a/src/services/lineageCoverage.js b/src/services/lineageCoverage.js
index c3920a7..f1ada9b 100644
--- a/src/services/lineageCoverage.js
+++ b/src/services/lineageCoverage.js
@@ -183,58 +183,100 @@ const AUDIT_COLUMNS = [
  * published and recorded nothing surfaces as MISSING_COVERAGE rather than as
  * silence.
  */
+/** ISO date offset by whole days, for the query-plan window below. */
+function shiftDate(isoDate, days) {
+  const d = new Date(`${String(isoDate).slice(0, 10)}T00:00:00Z`);
+  d.setUTCDate(d.getUTCDate() + days);
+  return d.toISOString().slice(0, 10);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Audit the most recent cohort that could have produced lineage, chosen from
+ * durable retained state. This is the "writer never ran" detector: the cohort
+ * is selected without reference to whether any lineage exists, so a slate that
+ * published and recorded nothing surfaces as MISSING_COVERAGE rather than as
+ * silence.
+ *
+ * EVERY READ IS BOUNDED BY `game_date`, AND THAT IS NOT A STYLE CHOICE.
+ * `model_snapshots` carries no index on `snapshot_id` or `captured_at` — the
+ * only usable one is `(game_date, sport)`. An unbounded "latest published row"
+ * sort therefore scans the whole table and dies on the statement timeout, which
+ * is exactly what this audit did in production at ~377k rows. The window is
+ * declared in the result (`date_window`, `game_dates_audited`) so the audit
+ * states its own scope instead of implying completeness it did not check.
+ */
 async function auditLatestCohort(sport, deps = {}) {
   const sp = String(sport || '').toLowerCase();
+  const unavailable = (reason) => Object.freeze({
+    audit_available: false, reason, sport: sp, health: HEALTH.AUDIT_UNAVAILABLE,
+  });
   try {
     const getClient = deps.getClient || require('../utils/supabase').getSupabaseServiceClient;
     const supabase = getClient();
-    if (!supabase) return Object.freeze({ audit_available: false, reason: 'no_supabase_env', sport: sp, health: HEALTH.AUDIT_UNAVAILABLE });
+    if (!supabase) return unavailable('no_supabase_env');
+
+    const nowIso = deps.now ? deps.now() : new Date().toISOString();
+    const lookbackDays = deps.lookbackDays ?? 4;
+    const from = shiftDate(nowIso, -lookbackDays);
 
-    // The head identifies the COHORT (snapshot_id), not one date within it.
     const { data: head, error: headErr } = await supabase
       .from('model_snapshots')
       .select('snapshot_id, game_date, captured_at, code_sha')
       .eq('sport', sp).eq('published', true)
+      .gte('game_date', from)
       .order('captured_at', { ascending: false }).limit(1);
-    if (headErr) return Object.freeze({ audit_available: false, reason: headErr.message, sport: sp, health: HEALTH.AUDIT_UNAVAILABLE });
+    if (headErr) return unavailable(headErr.message);
     if (!head || head.length === 0) {
-      return Object.freeze({ audit_available: true, sport: sp, expected_keys: 0, covered_keys: 0, health: HEALTH.NO_ELIGIBLE_CLAIMS, reason: 'no published rows' });
+      return Object.freeze({
+        audit_available: true, sport: sp, expected_keys: 0, covered_keys: 0,
+        health: HEALTH.NO_ELIGIBLE_CLAIMS, reason: 'no published rows in window',
+        date_window: [from, null],
+      });
     }
     const h = head[0];
 
+    // A COHORT IS A snapshot_id, NOT A DATE SLICE OF ONE. Measured on the
+    // 2026-08-31 03:00Z run: 1,970 rows across TWO game_dates (1,572 on 08-31,
+    // 398 on 08-30 — the late slot spanning midnight ET). Auditing only the head
+    // row's date measured 646 of 801 eligible keys and still said HEALTHY, so a
+    // whole date slice with no lineage would have been invisible. The span is
+    // walked date by date, which also keeps every read on the index.
+    const lo = shiftDate(h.game_date, -2);
+    const hi = shiftDate(h.game_date, 2);
     const { paginate } = require('../utils/safePaginate');
-    // A COHORT IS A snapshot_id, NOT A DATE SLICE OF ONE.
-    //
-    // Measured on the 2026-08-31 03:00Z run: the cohort held 1,970 rows across
-    // TWO game_dates (1,572 on 08-31 and 398 on 08-30, the late slot spanning
-    // midnight ET). Filtering to the head row's date measured 646 of 801
-    // eligible keys and still reported HEALTHY — so a whole date slice with
-    // zero lineage would have been invisible. The audit covers the cohort.
     const rows = await paginate(() => supabase
       .from('model_snapshots')
       .select(AUDIT_COLUMNS)
+      .eq('sport', sp)
       .eq('snapshot_id', h.snapshot_id)
-      .eq('sport', sp), { key: 'id', label: 'lineageCoverage.auditLatestCohort' });
+      .gte('game_date', lo)
+      .lte('game_date', hi), { key: 'id', label: 'lineageCoverage.auditLatestCohort' });
 
+    const dates = [...new Set(rows.map((r) => r.game_date))].sort();
     const audit = auditRows(rows, {
-      snapshot_id: h.snapshot_id, sport: sp,
-      game_date: [...new Set(rows.map((r) => r.game_date))].sort().join(','),
+      snapshot_id: h.snapshot_id, sport: sp, game_date: dates.join(','),
       code_sha: h.code_sha, captured_at: h.captured_at,
       retention_terminal: deps.retentionTerminal ?? null,
     });
-    const ageMs = deps.now ? (new Date(deps.now()).getTime() - new Date(h.captured_at).getTime()) : null;
+    const ageMs = new Date(nowIso).getTime() - new Date(h.captured_at).getTime();
     const staleAfter = deps.staleAfterMs ?? (6 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
-    if (ageMs !== null && ageMs > staleAfter && audit.health === HEALTH.HEALTHY) {
-      return Object.freeze({ ...audit, health: HEALTH.STALE, age_ms: ageMs });
+    const out = {
+      ...audit,
+      age_ms: Number.isFinite(ageMs) ? ageMs : null,
+      date_window: [lo, hi],
+      game_dates_audited: dates,
+    };
+    if (Number.isFinite(ageMs) && ageMs > staleAfter && audit.health === HEALTH.HEALTHY) {
+      return Object.freeze({ ...out, health: HEALTH.STALE });
     }
-    return Object.freeze({ ...audit, age_ms: ageMs });
+    return Object.freeze(out);
   } catch (e) {
-    return Object.freeze({ audit_available: false, reason: e && e.message ? e.message : String(e), sport: sp, health: HEALTH.AUDIT_UNAVAILABLE });
+    return unavailable(e && e.message ? e.message : String(e));
   }
 }
 
 module.exports = {
   HEALTH, VALID_ACTION_FIELDS, AUDIT_COLUMNS,
-  isValidAction, expectedKeys, coveredKeys, graphDefects, classify,
+  isValidAction, expectedKeys, coveredKeys, graphDefects, classify, shiftDate,
   auditRows, auditLatestCohort,
 };