diff --git a/cli-config.yaml.example b/cli-config.yaml.example
index caf023b774d..df89eba21ee 100644
--- a/cli-config.yaml.example
+++ b/cli-config.yaml.example
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 # NFS, or SMB. Hermes will not live-downgrade a database already open in WAL.
 database:
   journal_mode: "wal"  # Supported values: "wal", "delete"
+  # Optional WAL sizing pragmas (integers). Unset = SQLite defaults.
+  # wal_autocheckpoint: 1000     # pages between automatic checkpoints
+  # journal_size_limit: 67108864 # cap the WAL/journal file size in bytes
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Model Configuration
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py b/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py
index c3be88f7be1..499ada142b7 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     # not crash-safe (for example macOS virtiofs, NFS, or SMB).
     "database": {
         "journal_mode": "wal",
+        # Optional WAL sizing pragmas, applied when set to integers.
+        # None = SQLite defaults (autocheckpoint 1000 pages, no size limit).
+        "wal_autocheckpoint": None,
+        "journal_size_limit": None,
     },
     # Global active chat session cap across CLI, TUI/dashboard, and messaging.
     # None/0 = unbounded.