diff --git a/cli-config.yaml.example b/cli-config.yaml.example
index b2d09dc5dd..575a03e5c5 100644
--- a/cli-config.yaml.example
+++ b/cli-config.yaml.example
@@ -1041,8 +1041,8 @@ agent:
   # Maximum time an alias routing key waits for an active turn holding the same
   # resolved session lease. On expiry Hermes rejects this inbound message and
   # asks the user to resend rather than running it without serialization.
-  # Non-positive values fall back to the 1800-second default.
-  # gateway_turn_lease_timeout: 1800
+  # Non-positive values fall back to the 5-second default.
+  # gateway_turn_lease_timeout: 5
 
   # Staged warning: send a warning before escalating to full timeout.
   # Fires once per run when inactivity reaches this threshold (seconds).
diff --git a/gateway/run.py b/gateway/run.py
index de8c680ace..8264eedc47 100644
--- a/gateway/run.py
+++ b/gateway/run.py
@@ -18552,26 +18552,44 @@ class GatewayRunner(GatewayAuthorizationMixin, GatewayKanbanWatchersMixin, Gatew
             # immediately evict them, racing with the setup path.
             _stale_idle = float("inf")  # assume idle if we can't check
             _stale_detail = ""
+            _activity_summary_valid = False
             if _stale_agent and hasattr(_stale_agent, "get_activity_summary"):
                 try:
                     _sa = _stale_agent.get_activity_summary()
-                    _stale_idle = _sa.get("seconds_since_activity", float("inf"))
+                    from gateway.session_stall import (
+                        resolve_session_idle_seconds_from_activity,
+                    )
+
+                    _resolved_idle = resolve_session_idle_seconds_from_activity(
+                        _sa if isinstance(_sa, dict) else None,
+                        now=time.time(),
+                    )
+                    if _resolved_idle is not None:
+                        _stale_idle = _resolved_idle
+                        _activity_summary_valid = True
                     _stale_detail = (
-                        f" | last_activity={_sa.get('last_activity_desc', 'unknown')} "
+                        f" | last_activity={_sa.get('last_activity_desc', 'unknown') if isinstance(_sa, dict) else 'unknown'} "
                         f"({_stale_idle:.0f}s ago) "
-                        f"| iteration={_sa.get('api_call_count', 0)}/{_sa.get('max_iterations', 0)}"
+                        f"| iteration={_sa.get('api_call_count', 0) if isinstance(_sa, dict) else 0}/{_sa.get('max_iterations', 0) if isinstance(_sa, dict) else 0}"
                     )
                 except Exception:
                     pass
-            # Evict if: agent is idle beyond timeout, OR wall-clock age is
-            # extreme (10x timeout or 2h, whichever is larger — catches
-            # cases where the agent object was garbage-collected).
+            # A valid activity clock is authoritative: total age alone never
+            # makes an actively progressing turn stale. The emergency wall TTL
+            # is only a fallback when the agent cannot report usable activity.
             _wall_ttl = max(_raw_stale_timeout * 10, 7200) if _raw_stale_timeout > 0 else float("inf")
             _should_evict = (
                 _stale_agent is not _AGENT_PENDING_SENTINEL
                 and (
-                    (_raw_stale_timeout > 0 and _stale_idle >= _raw_stale_timeout)
-                    or _stale_age > _wall_ttl
+                    (
+                        _activity_summary_valid
+                        and _raw_stale_timeout > 0
+                        and _stale_idle >= _raw_stale_timeout
+                    )
+                    or (
+                        not _activity_summary_valid
+                        and _stale_age > _wall_ttl
+                    )
                 )
             )
             if _should_evict:
diff --git a/gateway/session_stall.py b/gateway/session_stall.py
index f95405283a..76dafcbb9b 100644
--- a/gateway/session_stall.py
+++ b/gateway/session_stall.py
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ def resolve_session_idle_seconds_from_activity(
         return None
 
     elapsed = activity.get("seconds_since_activity")
+    if isinstance(elapsed, bool):
+        elapsed = None
     if elapsed is not None:
         try:
             idle = float(elapsed)
@@ -102,6 +104,8 @@ def resolve_session_idle_seconds_from_activity(
         ts = activity.get("last_activity_ts")
     if ts is None:
         return None
+    if isinstance(ts, bool):
+        return None
     try:
         when = float(ts)
     except (TypeError, ValueError):
diff --git a/gateway/turn_lease.py b/gateway/turn_lease.py
index a47ad65a43..0f640f9fd3 100644
--- a/gateway/turn_lease.py
+++ b/gateway/turn_lease.py
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@ DEFAULT_MAX_LEASES = 512
 # HERMES_TURN_LEASE_TIMEOUT bridge because lease contention is not agent
 # inactivity. A caller that reaches this bound must reject the turn rather than
 # run it concurrently with the holder.
-DEFAULT_LEASE_WAIT = 1800.0
+# Keep contention fail-closed, but never pin a sequential platform updater for
+# minutes. A waiter that cannot acquire promptly is rejected with a resend
+# notice; it is never authorized to run without serialization.
+DEFAULT_LEASE_WAIT = 5.0
 
 
 class TurnLeaseTimeoutError(TimeoutError):
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py b/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py
index f0af27e8ca..7990d88ad2 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config_defaults.py
@@ -62,8 +62,10 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
         # Maximum time an alias routing key waits for the active turn holding
         # the same resolved session lease. On expiry the inbound message is
         # rejected with a resend notice rather than run without serialization.
-        # Non-positive values fall back to 1800 seconds.
-        "gateway_turn_lease_timeout": 1800,
+        # Keep this short: Telegram dispatches updates sequentially, so an
+        # inline lease waiter also delays unrelated topics. Non-positive values
+        # fall back to the five-second safety default.
+        "gateway_turn_lease_timeout": 5,
         # Per-session AIAgent cache in the gateway. Each cached agent keeps a
         # warm prompt prefix AND the session's full transcript, so the cache
         # trades memory for cost: too small and every turn re-pays an uncached
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_config_env_bridge_authority.py b/tests/gateway/test_config_env_bridge_authority.py
index 23824ba69e..594f5182ae 100644
--- a/tests/gateway/test_config_env_bridge_authority.py
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_config_env_bridge_authority.py
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ def test_default_turn_lease_timeout_overrides_stale_env_when_key_is_omitted(
 
     env = _run_gateway_import(hermes_home, initial_env={})
 
-    assert env.get("HERMES_TURN_LEASE_TIMEOUT") == "1800"
+    assert env.get("HERMES_TURN_LEASE_TIMEOUT") == "5"
 
 
 def test_default_turn_lease_timeout_matches_the_runtime_fallback() -> None:
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_running_agent_session_toggles.py b/tests/gateway/test_running_agent_session_toggles.py
index e9636bba23..09663b1bab 100644
--- a/tests/gateway/test_running_agent_session_toggles.py
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_running_agent_session_toggles.py
@@ -135,3 +135,34 @@ async def test_verbose_dispatches_mid_run(monkeypatch):
     assert "can't run mid-turn" not in (result or "")
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fresh_ancient_turn_remains_controllable(monkeypatch):
+    """Total turn age must not evict an agent with fresh activity.
+
+    A long autonomous turn can legitimately run beyond the emergency wall TTL.
+    Evicting it solely by age forgets the control handle while its session-ID
+    lease remains held, so /steer and /stop fall into the lease waiter instead
+    of reaching the live agent.
+    """
+    import time
+
+    runner = _make_runner()
+    sk = build_session_key(_make_source())
+    agent = runner._running_agents[sk]
+    agent.get_activity_summary.return_value = {
+        "seconds_since_activity": 3.0,
+        "last_activity_desc": "receiving stream response",
+        "api_call_count": 1186,
+        "max_iterations": 2000,
+    }
+    runner._running_agents_ts[sk] = time.time() - 31_471
+    runner._handle_verbose_command = AsyncMock(return_value="tool progress: new")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_AGENT_TIMEOUT", "1800")
+
+    result = await runner._handle_message(_make_event("/verbose"))
+
+    runner._handle_verbose_command.assert_awaited_once()
+    assert runner._running_agents[sk] is agent
+    assert result == "tool progress: new"
+
+
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_session_stall_watchdog.py b/tests/gateway/test_session_stall_watchdog.py
index 06bae8d2f8..8336212a70 100644
--- a/tests/gateway/test_session_stall_watchdog.py
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_session_stall_watchdog.py
@@ -454,6 +454,18 @@ def test_resolve_idle_rejects_nonfinite_seconds_since_activity():
     assert idle == 15.0
 
 
+def test_resolve_idle_rejects_boolean_seconds_and_uses_timestamp():
+    now = 1_000_000.0
+    idle = resolve_session_idle_seconds_from_activity(
+        {
+            "seconds_since_activity": True,
+            "last_activity_ts": now - 3,
+        },
+        now=now,
+    )
+    assert idle == 3.0
+
+
 def test_session_stall_timeout_in_default_config():
     from hermes_cli.config import DEFAULT_CONFIG
 
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_steer_command.py b/tests/gateway/test_steer_command.py
index ea4cd3224c..6dbe368b5c 100644
--- a/tests/gateway/test_steer_command.py
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_steer_command.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ interrupting. The gateway runner must:
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from datetime import datetime
+import time
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock
 
@@ -116,6 +117,31 @@ async def test_steer_calls_agent_steer_and_does_not_interrupt():
     assert adapter._pending_messages == {}
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("elapsed", [float("nan"), True, "not-a-number"])
+async def test_steer_reaches_ancient_turn_via_fresh_timestamp_fallback(
+    monkeypatch, elapsed
+):
+    runner, _adapter = _make_runner(_session_entry())
+    sk = build_session_key(_make_source())
+    running_agent = MagicMock()
+    running_agent.steer.return_value = True
+    running_agent.get_activity_summary.return_value = {
+        "seconds_since_activity": elapsed,
+        "last_activity_at": time.time() - 3,
+        "last_activity_desc": "receiving stream response",
+    }
+    runner._running_agents[sk] = running_agent
+    runner._running_agents_ts[sk] = time.time() - 31_471
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_AGENT_TIMEOUT", "1800")
+
+    result = await runner._handle_message(_make_event("/steer pause safely"))
+
+    running_agent.steer.assert_called_once_with("pause safely")
+    assert runner._running_agents[sk] is running_agent
+    assert result is not None
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_steer_agent_without_steer_method_falls_back():
     """If the running agent somehow lacks the steer() method (older build,
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_turn_lease.py b/tests/gateway/test_turn_lease.py
index 552fc98b2d..1295720c1f 100644
--- a/tests/gateway/test_turn_lease.py
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_turn_lease.py
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock
 
 import pytest
 
-from gateway.turn_lease import SessionTurnLeaseRegistry, TurnLeaseTimeoutError
+from gateway.turn_lease import (
+    DEFAULT_LEASE_WAIT,
+    SessionTurnLeaseRegistry,
+    TurnLeaseTimeoutError,
+)
 
 
 def _run(coro):
@@ -96,6 +100,16 @@ def test_distinct_sessions_do_not_contend():
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
+def test_default_wait_cannot_head_of_line_block_platform_updates_for_minutes():
+    """A contended topic must fail/queue promptly, not pin Telegram's updater.
+
+    Telegram dispatches updates sequentially. Awaiting a held session lease for
+    1,800 seconds blocks unrelated topics behind the waiter even though their
+    sessions do not share a transcript.
+    """
+    assert DEFAULT_LEASE_WAIT == 5.0
+
+
 def test_timeout_fails_closed_instead_of_authorizing_an_unserialized_turn():
     """A timed-out waiter must never run against the still-live holder.
 
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
index 89f6e78e8f..3989fc20f9 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/configuration.md
@@ -981,14 +981,14 @@ lease wait independently of the ordinary agent inactivity timeout:
 
 ```yaml
 agent:
-  gateway_turn_lease_timeout: 1800
+  gateway_turn_lease_timeout: 5
 ```
 
 If another turn still holds the session lease when this budget expires, Hermes
 fails closed: it does not load the transcript or run the model for the waiting
 message. The user receives a rejection notice and must resend. Hermes does not
 automatically requeue the message because doing so without durable ordering and
-idempotency could process it twice. Non-positive values use the 1800-second
+idempotency could process it twice. Non-positive values use the 5-second
 default.
 
 ## Session Stall Watchdog