diff --git a/plugins/webui/webui.c b/plugins/webui/webui.c
index 2f4a2fd..b3af7e0 100644
--- a/plugins/webui/webui.c
+++ b/plugins/webui/webui.c
@@ -29,20 +29,11 @@
 #define DEFAULT_PORT 8080
 #define READ_LIMIT (8u << 20)
 #define SESSION_COOKIE "naut_session"
-#define SESSION_TTL_SECONDS (60 * 60 * 24 * 7)
-#define MAX_SESSIONS 64
+#define SESSION_TTL_SECONDS (60 * 60 * 24 * 7)   /* default; NAUT_SESSION_TTL */
 #define MAX_CONNECTIONS 128
 #define SPEED_SLOTS 256
 #define ETA_INFINITY 8640000  /* torrent-ui renders >= this as the infinity glyph */
 
-typedef struct {
-    char token[96];
-    char user[64];
-    char role[16];
-    time_t expires;
-    bool used;
-} webui_session;
-
 /* Single-writer (sampler thread) running estimate of a torrent's download
  * rate, derived from successive byte counts. */
 typedef struct {
@@ -70,8 +61,6 @@ typedef struct {
     bool sampler_started;
     pthread_t sampler;
 
-    pthread_mutex_t auth_lock;
-
     pthread_mutex_t conn_lock;
     pthread_cond_t conn_cond;
     size_t active_connections;
@@ -103,8 +92,6 @@ typedef struct {
     bool rss_thread_started;
     pthread_cond_t rss_cond;   /* wakes the poller for an immediate refresh   */
     bool rss_wake;             /* set with rss_cond to force an early re-poll  */
-
-    webui_session sessions[MAX_SESSIONS];
 } webui_state;
 
 typedef struct {
@@ -381,52 +368,52 @@ static bool cookie_token(const char *headers, const char *end,
 /* Look up the session for this request. On a live session, refreshes its TTL
  * and (optionally) copies the account's username and role. Returns true if a
  * valid session was found. */
+/* Session lifetime in seconds (sliding). Override with NAUT_SESSION_TTL. */
+static long session_ttl(void) {
+    const char *env = getenv("NAUT_SESSION_TTL");
+    if (env && *env) {
+        char *e = NULL;
+        long v = strtol(env, &e, 10);
+        if (e && e != env && !*e && v > 0) return v;
+    }
+    return SESSION_TTL_SECONDS;
+}
+
+/* Don't rewrite the session row on every request; only re-extend the sliding
+ * expiry once it has advanced by more than this. */
+#define SESSION_REFRESH_THRESHOLD 3600
+
 static bool current_identity(const char *headers, const char *end,
                              char *user, size_t user_sz,
                              char *role, size_t role_sz) {
     char token[96];
     if (!cookie_token(headers, end, token, sizeof token)) return false;
-    bool ok = false;
-    time_t now = time(NULL);
-    pthread_mutex_lock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < MAX_SESSIONS; i++) {
-        webui_session *session = &g_webui.sessions[i];
-        if (!session->used || strcmp(session->token, token) != 0) continue;
-        if (session->expires < now) {
-            session->used = false;
-            break;
-        }
-        session->expires = now + SESSION_TTL_SECONDS;
-        if (user) snprintf(user, user_sz, "%s", session->user);
-        if (role) snprintf(role, role_sz, "%s", session->role);
-        ok = true;
-        break;
+    if (!g_webui.store) return false;
+    char u[64] = {0}, r[16] = {0};
+    long expires = 0;
+    if (!webui_store_session_lookup(g_webui.store, token, u, sizeof u,
+                                    r, sizeof r, &expires))
+        return false;
+    long now = (long)time(NULL);
+    if (expires <= now) {                       /* expired: clean it up */
+        webui_store_session_delete(g_webui.store, token);
+        return false;
     }
-    pthread_mutex_unlock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
-    return ok;
+    long fresh = now + session_ttl();           /* sliding window, throttled */
+    if (fresh - expires > SESSION_REFRESH_THRESHOLD)
+        webui_store_session_touch(g_webui.store, token, fresh);
+    if (user) snprintf(user, user_sz, "%s", u);
+    if (role) snprintf(role, role_sz, "%s", r);
+    return true;
 }
 
 static bool create_session(const char *user, const char *role,
                            char *out, size_t out_size) {
     char token[96];
-    if (!random_hex(token, sizeof token, 24)) return false;
-    time_t now = time(NULL);
-    time_t expires = now + SESSION_TTL_SECONDS;
-    pthread_mutex_lock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
-    webui_session *slot = NULL;
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < MAX_SESSIONS; i++) {
-        webui_session *s = &g_webui.sessions[i];
-        if (!s->used || s->expires < now) { slot = s; break; }
-        /* Otherwise track the session that expires soonest, so a full table
-         * evicts the oldest rather than always clobbering slot 0. */
-        if (!slot || s->expires < slot->expires) slot = s;
-    }
-    snprintf(slot->token, sizeof slot->token, "%s", token);
-    snprintf(slot->user, sizeof slot->user, "%s", user ? user : "");
-    snprintf(slot->role, sizeof slot->role, "%s", role ? role : "user");
-    slot->expires = expires;
-    slot->used = true;
-    pthread_mutex_unlock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
+    if (!g_webui.store || !random_hex(token, sizeof token, 24)) return false;
+    long expires = (long)time(NULL) + session_ttl();
+    if (!webui_store_session_create(g_webui.store, token, user, role, expires))
+        return false;
     snprintf(out, out_size, "%s", token);
     return true;
 }
@@ -434,23 +421,13 @@ static bool create_session(const char *user, const char *role,
 /* Invalidate every session belonging to `user` (after delete / password reset
  * by an admin). */
 static void drop_user_sessions(const char *user) {
-    pthread_mutex_lock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < MAX_SESSIONS; i++)
-        if (g_webui.sessions[i].used &&
-            strcmp(g_webui.sessions[i].user, user) == 0)
-            g_webui.sessions[i].used = false;
-    pthread_mutex_unlock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
+    if (g_webui.store) webui_store_sessions_delete_user(g_webui.store, user);
 }
 
 static void clear_session(const char *headers, const char *end) {
     char token[96];
-    if (!cookie_token(headers, end, token, sizeof token)) return;
-    pthread_mutex_lock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < MAX_SESSIONS; i++)
-        if (g_webui.sessions[i].used &&
-            strcmp(g_webui.sessions[i].token, token) == 0)
-            g_webui.sessions[i].used = false;
-    pthread_mutex_unlock(&g_webui.auth_lock);
+    if (g_webui.store && cookie_token(headers, end, token, sizeof token))
+        webui_store_session_delete(g_webui.store, token);
 }
 
 static bool bad_static_path(const char *path) {
@@ -2764,8 +2741,8 @@ static void handle_api(int fd, const char *method, char *path,
         char cookie[256];
         snprintf(cookie, sizeof cookie,
                  "Set-Cookie: %s=%s; Path=/; HttpOnly; SameSite=Lax; "
-                 "Max-Age=%d\r\n",
-                 SESSION_COOKIE, token, SESSION_TTL_SECONDS);
+                 "Max-Age=%ld\r\n",
+                 SESSION_COOKIE, token, session_ttl());
         json_t *json = json_pack("{s:b,s:s,s:s}", "ok", 1,
                                  "user", user, "role", role);
         http_json_extra(fd, 200, json, cookie);
@@ -3110,10 +3087,8 @@ naut_err naut_plugin_register(const naut_host_api *host) {
     memset(&g_webui, 0, sizeof g_webui);
     g_webui.listener = -1;
     g_webui.host = *host;
-    if (pthread_mutex_init(&g_webui.auth_lock, NULL) != 0)
-        return NAUT_ERR_NOMEM;
     if (pthread_mutex_init(&g_webui.conn_lock, NULL) != 0)
-        goto fail_conn_lock;
+        return NAUT_ERR_NOMEM;
     if (pthread_cond_init(&g_webui.conn_cond, NULL) != 0)
         goto fail_conn_cond;
     if (pthread_mutex_init(&g_webui.snap_lock, NULL) != 0)
@@ -3132,6 +3107,8 @@ naut_err naut_plugin_register(const naut_host_api *host) {
     pthread_mutex_init(&g_webui.rss_lock, NULL);
     pthread_cond_init(&g_webui.rss_cond, NULL);
     init_auth();
+    if (g_webui.store)   /* drop sessions that expired while we were down */
+        webui_store_sessions_prune(g_webui.store, (long)time(NULL));
     error = g_webui.host.set_plugin_name(g_webui.host.host_context,
                                                   "webui");
     if (error != NAUT_OK) goto fail_store;
@@ -3158,8 +3135,6 @@ fail_snap_lock:
     pthread_cond_destroy(&g_webui.conn_cond);
 fail_conn_cond:
     pthread_mutex_destroy(&g_webui.conn_lock);
-fail_conn_lock:
-    pthread_mutex_destroy(&g_webui.auth_lock);
     return error;
 }
 
@@ -3212,7 +3187,6 @@ naut_err naut_plugin_shutdown(void) {
     pthread_mutex_destroy(&g_webui.snap_lock);
     pthread_cond_destroy(&g_webui.conn_cond);
     pthread_mutex_destroy(&g_webui.conn_lock);
-    pthread_mutex_destroy(&g_webui.auth_lock);
     webui_store_close(g_webui.store);
     g_webui.store = NULL;
     return NAUT_OK;
diff --git a/plugins/webui/webui_store.c b/plugins/webui/webui_store.c
index 2e42cbd..9b69089 100644
--- a/plugins/webui/webui_store.c
+++ b/plugins/webui/webui_store.c
@@ -79,6 +79,13 @@ webui_store *webui_store_open(const char *path) {
         " pw_iters INTEGER NOT NULL,"
         " role TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'user',"
         " created_at INTEGER NOT NULL);"
+        "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS sessions ("
+        " token_hash TEXT PRIMARY KEY,"
+        " username TEXT NOT NULL,"
+        " role TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'user',"
+        " expires INTEGER NOT NULL);"
+        "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS sessions_user ON sessions(username);"
+        "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS sessions_expires ON sessions(expires);"
         "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS categories ("
         " name TEXT PRIMARY KEY,"
         " save_path TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '');"
@@ -323,6 +330,131 @@ bool webui_store_list_users(webui_store *s, json_t *out) {
     return ok;
 }
 
+/* --- sessions ------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+/* SHA-256 of a bearer token, hex-encoded. We persist only this, never the raw
+ * token, so a DB leak can't be replayed as a live cookie. */
+static void sha256_hex(const char *token, char out[65]) {
+    unsigned char d[32];
+    unsigned int dl = 0;
+    EVP_Digest(token, strlen(token), d, &dl, EVP_sha256(), NULL);
+    to_hex(d, 32, out);
+}
+
+bool webui_store_session_create(webui_store *s, const char *token,
+                                const char *user, const char *role,
+                                long expires) {
+    if (!s || !token || !*token || !user || !*user) return false;
+    char th[65];
+    sha256_hex(token, th);
+    pthread_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    sqlite3_stmt *st = NULL;
+    bool ok = false;
+    if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(s->db,
+            "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO sessions (token_hash,username,role,expires)"
+            " VALUES (?,?,?,?);", -1, &st, NULL) == SQLITE_OK) {
+        sqlite3_bind_text(st, 1, th, -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
+        sqlite3_bind_text(st, 2, user, -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
+        sqlite3_bind_text(st, 3, role && *role ? role : "user", -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
+        sqlite3_bind_int64(st, 4, (sqlite3_int64)expires);
+        ok = sqlite3_step(st) == SQLITE_DONE;
+    }
+    sqlite3_finalize(st);
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+    return ok;
+}
+
+bool webui_store_session_lookup(webui_store *s, const char *token,
+                                char *user, size_t user_sz,
+                                char *role, size_t role_sz, long *expires_out) {
+    if (!s || !token || !*token) return false;
+    char th[65];
+    sha256_hex(token, th);
+    pthread_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    sqlite3_stmt *st = NULL;
+    bool ok = false;
+    if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(s->db,
+            "SELECT username, role, expires FROM sessions WHERE token_hash=?;",
+            -1, &st, NULL) == SQLITE_OK) {
+        sqlite3_bind_text(st, 1, th, -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
+        if (sqlite3_step(st) == SQLITE_ROW) {
+            const char *u = (const char *)sqlite3_column_text(st, 0);
+            const char *r = (const char *)sqlite3_column_text(st, 1);
+            if (user) snprintf(user, user_sz, "%s", u ? u : "");
+            if (role) snprintf(role, role_sz, "%s", r ? r : "user");
+            if (expires_out) *expires_out = (long)sqlite3_column_int64(st, 2);
+            ok = true;
+        }
+    }
+    sqlite3_finalize(st);
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+    return ok;
+}
+
+bool webui_store_session_touch(webui_store *s, const char *token, long expires) {
+    if (!s || !token) return false;
+    char th[65];
+    sha256_hex(token, th);
+    pthread_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    sqlite3_stmt *st = NULL;
+    bool ok = false;
+    if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(s->db,
+            "UPDATE sessions SET expires=? WHERE token_hash=?;",
+            -1, &st, NULL) == SQLITE_OK) {
+        sqlite3_bind_int64(st, 1, (sqlite3_int64)expires);
+        sqlite3_bind_text(st, 2, th, -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
+        ok = sqlite3_step(st) == SQLITE_DONE;
+    }
+    sqlite3_finalize(st);
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+    return ok;
+}
+
+bool webui_store_session_delete(webui_store *s, const char *token) {
+    if (!s || !token) return false;
+    char th[65];
+    sha256_hex(token, th);
+    pthread_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    sqlite3_stmt *st = NULL;
+    bool ok = false;
+    if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(s->db, "DELETE FROM sessions WHERE token_hash=?;",
+                           -1, &st, NULL) == SQLITE_OK) {
+        sqlite3_bind_text(st, 1, th, -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
+        ok = sqlite3_step(st) == SQLITE_DONE;
+    }
+    sqlite3_finalize(st);
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+    return ok;
+}
+
+bool webui_store_sessions_delete_user(webui_store *s, const char *user) {
+    if (!s || !user) return false;
+    pthread_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    sqlite3_stmt *st = NULL;
+    bool ok = false;
+    if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(s->db, "DELETE FROM sessions WHERE username=?;",
+                           -1, &st, NULL) == SQLITE_OK) {
+        sqlite3_bind_text(st, 1, user, -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
+        ok = sqlite3_step(st) == SQLITE_DONE;
+    }
+    sqlite3_finalize(st);
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+    return ok;
+}
+
+void webui_store_sessions_prune(webui_store *s, long now) {
+    if (!s) return;
+    pthread_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
+    sqlite3_stmt *st = NULL;
+    if (sqlite3_prepare_v2(s->db, "DELETE FROM sessions WHERE expires<=?;",
+                           -1, &st, NULL) == SQLITE_OK) {
+        sqlite3_bind_int64(st, 1, (sqlite3_int64)now);
+        sqlite3_step(st);
+    }
+    sqlite3_finalize(st);
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
+}
+
 /* --- taxonomy ------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
 /* Replace one table's contents from a json array, inside a transaction. The
diff --git a/plugins/webui/webui_store.h b/plugins/webui/webui_store.h
index 4207823..7391b6f 100644
--- a/plugins/webui/webui_store.h
+++ b/plugins/webui/webui_store.h
@@ -44,6 +44,20 @@ bool webui_store_delete_user(webui_store *s, const char *username);
  * json array `out`. Returns false on error. */
 bool webui_store_list_users(webui_store *s, json_t *out);
 
+/* --- sessions (persisted so logins survive daemon restarts) --------------- *
+ * Only a SHA-256 of the bearer token is stored, so a DB read can't be replayed
+ * as a live cookie. `expires` is an absolute unix time. */
+bool webui_store_session_create(webui_store *s, const char *token,
+                                const char *user, const char *role, long expires);
+/* On a live (unexpired) session, copies username/role and the stored expiry. */
+bool webui_store_session_lookup(webui_store *s, const char *token,
+                                char *user, size_t user_sz,
+                                char *role, size_t role_sz, long *expires_out);
+bool webui_store_session_touch(webui_store *s, const char *token, long expires);
+bool webui_store_session_delete(webui_store *s, const char *token);
+bool webui_store_sessions_delete_user(webui_store *s, const char *user);
+void webui_store_sessions_prune(webui_store *s, long now);
+
 /* --- category / tag taxonomy (web-UI organization, owned here) ------------- *
  * The save_* calls replace the whole list atomically; the load_* calls append
  * to the (array) `out`. Categories are {name, savePath}; tags are strings. */