diff --git a/web/lib/potato_mesh/application/instances.rb b/web/lib/potato_mesh/application/instances.rb
index c034448..166d7e0 100644
--- a/web/lib/potato_mesh/application/instances.rb
+++ b/web/lib/potato_mesh/application/instances.rb
@@ -158,7 +158,8 @@ module PotatoMesh
       end
 
       # Fetch all instance rows ready to be served by the API while handling
-      # malformed rows gracefully.
+      # malformed rows gracefully. The dataset is restricted to records updated
+      # within the rolling window defined by PotatoMesh::Config.week_seconds.
       #
       # @return [Array<Hash>] list of cleaned instance payloads.
       def load_instances_for_api
@@ -166,22 +167,30 @@ module PotatoMesh
 
         db = open_database(readonly: true)
         db.results_as_hash = true
+        now = Time.now.to_i
+        min_last_update_time = now - PotatoMesh::Config.week_seconds
+        sql = <<~SQL
+          SELECT id, domain, pubkey, name, version, channel, frequency,
+                 latitude, longitude, last_update_time, is_private, signature
+          FROM instances
+          WHERE domain IS NOT NULL AND TRIM(domain) != ''
+            AND pubkey IS NOT NULL AND TRIM(pubkey) != ''
+            AND last_update_time IS NOT NULL AND last_update_time >= ?
+          ORDER BY LOWER(domain)
+        SQL
+
         rows = with_busy_retry do
-          db.execute(
-            <<~SQL
-              SELECT id, domain, pubkey, name, version, channel, frequency,
-                     latitude, longitude, last_update_time, is_private, signature
-              FROM instances
-              WHERE domain IS NOT NULL AND TRIM(domain) != ''
-                AND pubkey IS NOT NULL AND TRIM(pubkey) != ''
-              ORDER BY LOWER(domain)
-            SQL
-          )
+          db.execute(sql, min_last_update_time)
         end
 
         rows.each_with_object([]) do |row, memo|
           normalized = normalize_instance_row(row)
-          memo << normalized if normalized
+          next unless normalized
+
+          last_update_time = normalized["lastUpdateTime"]
+          next unless last_update_time.is_a?(Integer) && last_update_time >= min_last_update_time
+
+          memo << normalized
         end
       rescue SQLite3::Exception => e
         warn_log(
diff --git a/web/spec/instances_spec.rb b/web/spec/instances_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d06bd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/spec/instances_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2025 l5yth
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "spec_helper"
+require "sqlite3"
+
+RSpec.describe PotatoMesh::App::Instances do
+  let(:application_class) { PotatoMesh::Application }
+  let(:week_seconds) { PotatoMesh::Config.week_seconds }
+
+  # Execute the provided block with a configured SQLite connection.
+  #
+  # @param readonly [Boolean] whether the connection should be read-only.
+  # @yieldparam db [SQLite3::Database] configured database handle.
+  # @return [void]
+  def with_db(readonly: false)
+    db = SQLite3::Database.new(PotatoMesh::Config.db_path, readonly: readonly)
+    db.busy_timeout = PotatoMesh::Config.db_busy_timeout_ms
+    db.execute("PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON")
+    yield db
+  ensure
+    db&.close
+  end
+
+  before do
+    FileUtils.mkdir_p(File.dirname(PotatoMesh::Config.db_path))
+    application_class.init_db unless application_class.db_schema_present?
+    with_db do |db|
+      db.execute("DELETE FROM instances")
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe ".load_instances_for_api" do
+    it "only returns instances updated within the configured rolling window" do
+      fixed_time = Time.utc(2025, 1, 15, 12, 0, 0)
+      allow(Time).to receive(:now).and_return(fixed_time)
+
+      application_class.ensure_self_instance_record!
+
+      recent_timestamp = fixed_time.to_i - (week_seconds / 2)
+      stale_timestamp = fixed_time.to_i - week_seconds - 60
+
+      with_db do |db|
+        db.execute(
+          "INSERT INTO instances (id, domain, pubkey, last_update_time, is_private) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)",
+          [
+            "recent-instance",
+            "recent.mesh.test",
+            PotatoMesh::Application::INSTANCE_PUBLIC_KEY_PEM,
+            recent_timestamp,
+            0,
+          ],
+        )
+        db.execute(
+          "INSERT INTO instances (id, domain, pubkey, last_update_time, is_private) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)",
+          [
+            "stale-instance",
+            "stale.mesh.test",
+            PotatoMesh::Application::INSTANCE_PUBLIC_KEY_PEM,
+            stale_timestamp,
+            0,
+          ],
+        )
+        db.execute(
+          "INSERT INTO instances (id, domain, pubkey, is_private) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)",
+          [
+            "missing-instance",
+            "missing.mesh.test",
+            PotatoMesh::Application::INSTANCE_PUBLIC_KEY_PEM,
+            0,
+          ],
+        )
+      end
+
+      payload = application_class.load_instances_for_api
+      domains = payload.map { |row| row["domain"] }
+      lower_bound = fixed_time.to_i - week_seconds
+
+      expect(domains).to include("recent.mesh.test")
+      expect(domains).to include(application_class.app_constant(:INSTANCE_DOMAIN))
+      expect(domains).not_to include("stale.mesh.test")
+      expect(domains).not_to include("missing.mesh.test")
+      expect(payload.all? { |row| row["lastUpdateTime"] >= lower_bound }).to be(true)
+    end
+  end
+end