diff --git a/gui/src/components/storage-workspace/StorageWorkspace.tsx b/gui/src/components/storage-workspace/StorageWorkspace.tsx
index fb5ed7808d..46d670a68e 100644
--- a/gui/src/components/storage-workspace/StorageWorkspace.tsx
+++ b/gui/src/components/storage-workspace/StorageWorkspace.tsx
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ export interface CodexLogGuardReport {
     reclaimableBytes: number;
     estimatedLogBytes: number | null;
   };
+  metricsSkipped?: null | {
+    reason: "database_too_large";
+    thresholdBytes: number;
+  };
 }
 
 export interface StorageReport {
@@ -205,6 +209,22 @@ function CodexLogGuardPanel({
             </div>
           </>
         )}
+        {/*
+          Say WHY the rows are missing (#2605). Skipping the aggregates above the size threshold
+          is what keeps a cold inspection off the proxy thread, but silently dropping the row
+          block reads as "this database has no rows" — the exact confusion the null-vs-zero
+          distinction on the server exists to prevent. A user who sees a 1 GB database and no
+          row count deserves the reason.
+        */}
+        {!metrics && report.metricsSkipped && (
+          <div className="stw-kv-row" data-testid="log-guard-metrics-skipped">
+            <dt>{t("storage.col.rows")}</dt>
+            <dd className="muted">
+              {logGuardLabel(locale, "metricsSkippedLarge")
+                .replace("{threshold}", formatBytes(report.metricsSkipped.thresholdBytes, locale))}
+            </dd>
+          </div>
+        )}
         <div className="stw-kv-row">
           <dt><code>sqlite_home</code></dt>
           <dd className="stw-kv-mono">
diff --git a/gui/src/i18n/log-guard-labels.ts b/gui/src/i18n/log-guard-labels.ts
index de7ed41af5..a0164259e7 100644
--- a/gui/src/i18n/log-guard-labels.ts
+++ b/gui/src/i18n/log-guard-labels.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export type LogGuardLabelKey =
   | "inspectionOnly"
   | "externalSqliteHome"
   | "inspectionUnavailable"
+  | "metricsSkippedLarge"
   | "protection"
   | "compat"
   | "quiet"
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: 'Inspection only',
     externalSqliteHome: 'External SQLite storage',
     inspectionUnavailable: "Diagnostic log inspection is unavailable.",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "Row metrics skipped: the database is above {threshold}, and scanning it would stall the proxy.",
     protection: "Protection",
     compat: "Compatibility",
     quiet: "Quiet",
@@ -63,6 +65,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: 'Nur Inspektion',
     externalSqliteHome: 'Externer SQLite-Speicher',
     inspectionUnavailable: "Die Diagnoseprotokoll-Inspektion ist nicht verfügbar.",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "Zeilenmetriken übersprungen: Die Datenbank ist größer als {threshold}; ein Scan würde den Proxy blockieren.",
     protection: "Schutz",
     compat: "Kompatibilität",
     quiet: "Leise",
@@ -89,6 +92,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: "Inspection uniquement",
     externalSqliteHome: "Stockage SQLite externe",
     inspectionUnavailable: "L’inspection des journaux de diagnostic est indisponible.",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "Métriques de lignes ignorées : la base dépasse {threshold} et son analyse bloquerait le proxy.",
     protection: "Protection",
     compat: "Compatibilité",
     quiet: "Silencieux",
@@ -115,6 +119,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: '검사 전용',
     externalSqliteHome: '외부 SQLite 저장소',
     inspectionUnavailable: "진단 로그 검사를 사용할 수 없습니다.",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "행 지표를 건너뛰었습니다. 데이터베이스가 {threshold}보다 커서 스캔하면 프록시가 멈춥니다.",
     protection: "보호",
     compat: "호환 모드",
     quiet: "조용한 모드",
@@ -141,6 +146,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: '仅检查',
     externalSqliteHome: '外部 SQLite 存储',
     inspectionUnavailable: "诊断日志检查当前不可用。",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "已跳过行指标：数据库超过 {threshold}，扫描会阻塞代理。",
     protection: "保护",
     compat: "兼容模式",
     quiet: "静默模式",
@@ -167,6 +173,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: '僅檢查',
     externalSqliteHome: '外部 SQLite 儲存空間',
     inspectionUnavailable: "診斷記錄檢查目前無法使用。",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "已略過列指標：資料庫超過 {threshold}，掃描會阻塞代理。",
     protection: "保護",
     compat: "相容模式",
     quiet: "靜默模式",
@@ -193,6 +200,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: 'Только проверка',
     externalSqliteHome: 'Внешнее хранилище SQLite',
     inspectionUnavailable: "Проверка диагностических журналов недоступна.",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "Метрики строк пропущены: база больше {threshold}, и её сканирование заблокировало бы прокси.",
     protection: "Защита",
     compat: "Совместимость",
     quiet: "Тихий режим",
@@ -219,6 +227,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: '検査のみ',
     externalSqliteHome: '外部 SQLite ストレージ',
     inspectionUnavailable: "診断ログの検査を利用できません。",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "行メトリクスをスキップしました。データベースが {threshold} を超えており、走査するとプロキシが停止します。",
     protection: "保護",
     compat: "互換モード",
     quiet: "静音モード",
@@ -245,6 +254,7 @@ const LABELS: Record<Locale, Record<LogGuardLabelKey, string>> = {
     inspectionOnly: 'Yalnızca inceleme',
     externalSqliteHome: 'Harici SQLite depolaması',
     inspectionUnavailable: "Tanılama günlüğü incelemesi kullanılamıyor.",
+    metricsSkippedLarge: "Satır ölçümleri atlandı: veritabanı {threshold} sınırının üzerinde ve taranması proxy’yi kilitler.",
     protection: "Koruma",
     compat: "Uyumluluk",
     quiet: "Sessiz",
diff --git a/gui/tests/storage-log-guard.test.tsx b/gui/tests/storage-log-guard.test.tsx
index 272f925b14..fb065ce5f9 100644
--- a/gui/tests/storage-log-guard.test.tsx
+++ b/gui/tests/storage-log-guard.test.tsx
@@ -129,3 +129,43 @@ test("Storage overview does not render arbitrary Log Guard error strings", () =>
   expect(html).not.toContain("/private/state/logs_2.sqlite");
   expect(html).not.toContain("failed");
 });
+
+/**
+ * A skipped scan must SAY it was skipped (#2605).
+ *
+ * Above the size threshold the server returns `metrics: null` so a cold inspection cannot stall
+ * the proxy thread. Rendering that as an absent row block reads as "this database has no rows" —
+ * the exact confusion the server's null-vs-zero distinction exists to prevent, and the more
+ * misleading the larger the database actually is.
+ */
+test("a skipped large-database scan states the reason instead of rendering no rows", () => {
+  const large = report();
+  large.codexLogs!.files.databaseBytes = 1_468_923_904;
+  large.codexLogs!.metrics = null;
+  large.codexLogs!.metricsSkipped = { reason: "database_too_large", thresholdBytes: 67_108_864 };
+
+  const html = renderToStaticMarkup(
+    <LanguageProvider>
+      <StorageWorkspace report={large} locale="en" />
+    </LanguageProvider>,
+  );
+
+  expect(html).toContain('data-testid="log-guard-metrics-skipped"');
+  expect(html).toContain("Row metrics skipped");
+  // The threshold is stated, so the reader can tell why this database crossed it.
+  expect(html).toContain("64 MiB");
+  // The file sizes still render: only the row aggregates were skipped, not the inspection.
+  expect(html).toContain("1.4 GiB");
+  // And it must not silently show a row count it never computed.
+  expect(html).not.toContain(">400<");
+});
+
+test("a database under the threshold still renders full row metrics", () => {
+  const html = renderToStaticMarkup(
+    <LanguageProvider>
+      <StorageWorkspace report={report()} locale="en" />
+    </LanguageProvider>,
+  );
+  expect(html).not.toContain('data-testid="log-guard-metrics-skipped"');
+  expect(html).toContain("400");
+});
diff --git a/src/codex/log-guard/inspect.ts b/src/codex/log-guard/inspect.ts
index d2c1719236..eca4402e25 100644
--- a/src/codex/log-guard/inspect.ts
+++ b/src/codex/log-guard/inspect.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ import {
 
 const IMMUTABLE_READONLY_FLAGS = constants.SQLITE_OPEN_READONLY | constants.SQLITE_OPEN_URI;
 const KNOWN_LOG_LEVELS = new Set(["TRACE", "DEBUG", "INFO", "WARN", "ERROR"]);
+// The issue reporter measured a ~1 GB database taking 17.3s for GROUP BY level
+// alone; skipping all row aggregates above 64 MiB reduced /api/storage to 628ms.
+const MAX_SYNCHRONOUS_METRICS_DATABASE_BYTES = 64 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 interface CurrentLogColumn {
   name: string;
@@ -115,6 +118,10 @@ export interface CodexLogGuardInspection {
     reclaim: CodexLogGuardCapability;
   };
   metrics: CodexLogGuardMetrics | null;
+  metricsSkipped: null | {
+    reason: "database_too_large";
+    thresholdBytes: number;
+  };
 }
 
 interface ColumnRow {
@@ -167,9 +174,8 @@ function fileSize(path: string): number {
  * repeated stalls without ever serving stale numbers: any write changes the WAL
  * and invalidates the entry.
  *
- * This bounds the repeat cost, not the first one. A cold inspection of a huge
- * database still blocks; moving that work off-thread needs a Worker and is
- * tracked separately.
+ * Memoization bounds repeat cost. The database-size gate below separately bounds
+ * cold request-thread work by omitting these aggregates for large databases.
  */
 type InspectionCacheEntry = {
   key: string;
@@ -233,6 +239,7 @@ function unavailableInspection(): CodexLogGuardInspection {
       reclaim: unavailable,
     },
     metrics: null,
+    metricsSkipped: null,
   };
 }
 
@@ -425,6 +432,7 @@ function inspectCodexLogsUncached(deps: CodexSqliteHomeDeps = {}): CodexLogGuard
       ...common,
       schema,
       metrics: null,
+      metricsSkipped: null,
       capabilities: {
         inspection: { state: "supported" },
         protection: mutation,
@@ -440,6 +448,7 @@ function inspectCodexLogsUncached(deps: CodexSqliteHomeDeps = {}): CodexLogGuard
       ...common,
       schema,
       metrics: null,
+      metricsSkipped: null,
       capabilities: {
         inspection: { state: "supported" },
         protection: mutation,
@@ -458,6 +467,7 @@ function inspectCodexLogsUncached(deps: CodexSqliteHomeDeps = {}): CodexLogGuard
       ...common,
       schema,
       metrics: null,
+      metricsSkipped: null,
       capabilities: {
         inspection: { state: "supported" },
         protection: mutation,
@@ -476,10 +486,17 @@ function inspectCodexLogsUncached(deps: CodexSqliteHomeDeps = {}): CodexLogGuard
         ? { state: "compatible" }
         : { state: "unsupported", reason: "unknown_schema" };
       const mutation = capabilityFor(schema);
+      const metricsSkipped = files.databaseBytes > MAX_SYNCHRONOUS_METRICS_DATABASE_BYTES
+        ? {
+            reason: "database_too_large" as const,
+            thresholdBytes: MAX_SYNCHRONOUS_METRICS_DATABASE_BYTES,
+          }
+        : null;
       return {
         ...common,
         schema,
-        metrics: readMetrics(db, columns),
+        metrics: metricsSkipped === null ? readMetrics(db, columns) : null,
+        metricsSkipped,
         capabilities: {
           inspection: { state: "supported" },
           protection: mutation,
@@ -496,6 +513,7 @@ function inspectCodexLogsUncached(deps: CodexSqliteHomeDeps = {}): CodexLogGuard
       ...common,
       schema,
       metrics: null,
+      metricsSkipped: null,
       capabilities: {
         inspection: { state: "supported" },
         protection: mutation,
diff --git a/tests/codex-log-guard-inspect.test.ts b/tests/codex-log-guard-inspect.test.ts
index 96deb06672..03ba72c8c7 100644
--- a/tests/codex-log-guard-inspect.test.ts
+++ b/tests/codex-log-guard-inspect.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   renameSync,
   rmSync,
   statSync,
+  truncateSync,
   utimesSync,
   unlinkSync,
   writeFileSync,
@@ -113,6 +114,26 @@ describe("Codex Log Guard inspection", () => {
     expect(report.metrics?.traceShare).toBe(0.5);
     expect(report.metrics?.topTargets[0]).toEqual({ target: "TARGET_1", rows: 2 });
     expect(report.metrics?.reclaimableBytes).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(report.metricsSkipped).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  test("skips row aggregates for a large database without reporting zero metrics", () => {
+    const root = makeRoot();
+    const databasePath = join(root, "logs_2.sqlite");
+    createCurrentLogsDb(databasePath);
+    truncateSync(databasePath, 64 * 1024 * 1024 + 1);
+
+    const report = inspectCodexLogs({ codexHome: root });
+
+    expect(report.schema).toEqual({ state: "compatible" });
+    expect(report.metrics).toBeNull();
+    expect(report.metricsSkipped).toEqual({
+      reason: "database_too_large",
+      thresholdBytes: 64 * 1024 * 1024,
+    });
+    expect(report).not.toMatchObject({
+      metrics: { totalRows: 0, rowsByLevel: {}, estimatedLogBytes: 0 },
+    });
   });
 
   test("never exposes feedback bodies, arbitrary levels, target names, or paths", () => {