diff --git a/core/session_manager.py b/core/session_manager.py
index 6a884f8..5491929 100644
--- a/core/session_manager.py
+++ b/core/session_manager.py
@@ -273,7 +273,10 @@ class SessionManager:
 
             db_session = db.query(DbSession).filter(DbSession.id == session_id).first()
             if db_session:
-                db_session.message_count = keep_count
+                # keep_count can exceed the real message total (e.g. the AI tool
+                # defaults to keep_count=10 on a short session); message_count must
+                # track the rows that actually remain, not the requested cap.
+                db_session.message_count = min(keep_count, len(db_messages))
                 db_session.updated_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
 
             db.commit()
diff --git a/tests/test_truncate_message_count_regression.py b/tests/test_truncate_message_count_regression.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa9ef91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_truncate_message_count_regression.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+"""Regression: truncate_messages must not set message_count above the real
+number of messages when keep_count exceeds the message total.
+
+The AI tool layer (src/ai_interaction.py manage_session action='truncate')
+defaults keep_count=10, so a short session (say 3 messages) gets truncated
+with keep_count=10. The DB has only 3 rows left, but truncate_messages used to
+write db_session.message_count = keep_count (=10), leaving the persisted count
+inconsistent with the actual rows. get_session relies on message_count>0 to
+decide whether to lazily hydrate from the DB, so an inflated count is a latent
+correctness hazard.
+"""
+import os
+import tempfile
+
+
+def _make_manager():
+    db_fd, db_path = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix=".db")
+    os.close(db_fd)
+    os.environ["DATABASE_URL"] = f"sqlite:///{db_path}"
+
+    # Import after DATABASE_URL is set so the engine binds to the temp DB.
+    import importlib
+    import core.database as database
+    importlib.reload(database)
+    database.Base.metadata.create_all(bind=database.engine)
+
+    import core.session_manager as sm_mod
+    importlib.reload(sm_mod)
+    return sm_mod.SessionManager(), database, sm_mod
+
+
+def test_truncate_keep_count_exceeds_total_does_not_inflate_count():
+    from core.models import ChatMessage
+
+    sm, database, sm_mod = _make_manager()
+    sid = "short-session"
+    sm.create_session(session_id=sid, name="t", endpoint_url="x",
+                      model="m", rag=False, owner="u")
+    for i in range(3):
+        sm.add_message(sid, ChatMessage("user", f"msg{i}"))
+
+    # AI default keep_count is 10 — larger than the 3 real messages.
+    assert sm.truncate_messages(sid, 10) is True
+
+    db = database.SessionLocal()
+    try:
+        DbSession = database.Session
+        DbChatMessage = database.ChatMessage
+        rows = db.query(DbChatMessage).filter(
+            DbChatMessage.session_id == sid).count()
+        db_session = db.query(DbSession).filter(DbSession.id == sid).first()
+        # Nothing should have been deleted (only 3 messages exist).
+        assert rows == 3
+        # message_count must reflect the real number of rows, not keep_count.
+        assert db_session.message_count == 3, (
+            f"message_count={db_session.message_count} but only {rows} rows exist"
+        )
+    finally:
+        db.close()