diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6d927b6..2b6f25d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Bound loaded daily summaries to the configured history recap character budget.
 - Prevent mixed reaction replies from narrating the bot's internal choice to react while preserving natural reaction-plus-text responses.
 - Run Discord-initiated Claude login in a pseudo-terminal so the CLI accepts submitted OAuth codes.
 - Isolate saved history and summaries by Discord channel ID in dedicated storage namespaces so same-named channels do not share automatic context.
diff --git a/src/storage/summaries.ts b/src/storage/summaries.ts
index bea842f..2265389 100644
--- a/src/storage/summaries.ts
+++ b/src/storage/summaries.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import fs from "fs";
 import {
     CLAUDE_WORKLOAD_CONFIG,
+    HISTORY_RECAP_MAX_CHARS,
     HISTORY_V2_DIR,
     SUMMARIES_V2_DIR,
 } from "../config.js";
@@ -32,10 +33,13 @@ export function loadRecentSummaries(
         const date = new Date(Date.now() - i * 86400000);
         const summaryPath = getSummaryPath(channelId, date, channelName);
         if (fs.existsSync(summaryPath)) {
+            const summary = fs
+                .readFileSync(summaryPath, "utf-8")
+                .trim()
+                .slice(0, HISTORY_RECAP_MAX_CHARS);
+            if (!summary) continue;
             const dateStr = date.toISOString().split("T")[0];
-            summaries.push(
-                `[${dateStr}] ${fs.readFileSync(summaryPath, "utf-8").trim()}`,
-            );
+            summaries.push(`[${dateStr}] ${summary}`);
         }
     }
     return summaries.reverse().join("\n\n");
diff --git a/tests/summaryContext.test.mjs b/tests/summaryContext.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3729ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/summaryContext.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import test from "node:test";
+
+const messagesDir = fs.mkdtempSync(
+    path.join(os.tmpdir(), "claudify-summary-context-"),
+);
+process.env.MESSAGES_DIR = messagesDir;
+process.env.HISTORY_RECAP_MAX_CHARS = "80";
+
+const { loadRecentHistory } = await import("../build/storage/history.js");
+const { getSummaryPath } = await import("../build/storage/summaries.js");
+
+test.after(() => fs.rmSync(messagesDir, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+
+test("loaded daily summaries stay within the configured recap character budget", () => {
+    const date = new Date(Date.now() - 86400000);
+    const summary = `important opening context ${"x".repeat(200)} trailing data`;
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+        getSummaryPath("summary-channel", date, "general"),
+        summary,
+        "utf8",
+    );
+
+    const history = loadRecentHistory("summary-channel", "ordinary question", "general");
+
+    assert.match(history, /important opening context/);
+    assert.doesNotMatch(history, /trailing data/);
+});