diff --git a/.claude/reference/authentik-state.md b/.claude/reference/authentik-state.md
index 2005bb09..f76dd325 100644
--- a/.claude/reference/authentik-state.md
+++ b/.claude/reference/authentik-state.md
@@ -119,3 +119,18 @@ Removed bindings from:
 - `default-source-authentication` (PK: via policybindingmodel `1a779f24`) — Google/GitHub/Facebook OAuth
 
 Policy still exists with 0 bindings. If brute-force protection is needed, bind to the **password stage** (not the flow level).
+
+## Session Duration (2026-05-01)
+
+Pinned via Terraform in `stacks/authentik/`:
+
+| Knob | Value | Surface | Effect |
+|------|-------|---------|--------|
+| `UserLoginStage.session_duration` on `default-authentication-login` | `weeks=4` | `authentik_stage_user_login.default_login` in `authentik_provider.tf` | Authenticated users stay logged in 4 weeks across browser restarts. No sliding refresh — resets on each login. |
+| `AUTHENTIK_SESSIONS__UNAUTHENTICATED_AGE` (server + worker) | `hours=2` | `server.env` + `worker.env` in `modules/authentik/values.yaml` | Anonymous Django sessions (bots, healthcheckers, partial flows) are reaped within 2h instead of the 1d default. |
+
+Notes:
+- There is **no** `Brand.session_duration`; `UserLoginStage` is the only correct lever for authenticated session lifetime.
+- Embedded outpost session storage moved from `/dev/shm` → Postgres table `authentik_providers_proxy_proxysession` in authentik 2025.10. The 2026-04-18 `/dev/shm`-fill outage class is no longer load-bearing in 2026.2.2; the `unauthenticated_age` cap is still the right lever for anonymous-session bloat from external monitors.
+- `ProxyProvider.access_token_validity` and `remember_me_offset` stay UI-managed via `ignore_changes`.
+- The `unauthenticated_age` env var is injected via `server.env` / `worker.env` (not `authentik.sessions.unauthenticated_age`) because we set `authentik.existingSecret.secretName: goauthentik`, which makes the chart skip rendering its own `AUTHENTIK_*` Secret. The `authentik.*` value block is therefore inert in this stack — anything new under `authentik.*` must use the `*.env` arrays instead. The same applies to the existing `authentik.cache.*`, `authentik.web.*`, `authentik.worker.*` blocks (currently inert; live values come from the orphaned, helm-keep-policy `goauthentik` Secret created by chart 2025.10.3 before `existingSecret` was introduced).
diff --git a/stacks/authentik/authentik_provider.tf b/stacks/authentik/authentik_provider.tf
index e9db3985..f33a225a 100644
--- a/stacks/authentik/authentik_provider.tf
+++ b/stacks/authentik/authentik_provider.tf
@@ -57,3 +57,34 @@ resource "authentik_provider_proxy" "catchall" {
     ignore_changes = [property_mappings, jwt_federation_sources, skip_path_regex, internal_host, basic_auth_enabled, basic_auth_password_attribute, basic_auth_username_attribute, intercept_header_auth, access_token_validity]
   }
 }
+
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Default User Login stage — bound to default-authentication-flow.
+# Adopted into Terraform 2026-05-01 to set session_duration=weeks=4 so users
+# stay logged in across browser restarts. There is no Brand.session_duration
+# in authentik 2026.2.x — UserLoginStage is the correct knob.
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+data "authentik_stage" "default_authentication_login" {
+  name = "default-authentication-login"
+}
+
+import {
+  to = authentik_stage_user_login.default_login
+  id = data.authentik_stage.default_authentication_login.id
+}
+
+resource "authentik_stage_user_login" "default_login" {
+  name             = "default-authentication-login"
+  session_duration = "weeks=4"
+  lifecycle {
+    # Pin only session_duration; everything else stays UI-managed so the
+    # plan doesn't churn unrelated knobs (e.g. remember_me_offset toggles).
+    ignore_changes = [
+      remember_me_offset,
+      terminate_other_sessions,
+      geoip_binding,
+      network_binding,
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/stacks/authentik/modules/authentik/values.yaml b/stacks/authentik/modules/authentik/values.yaml
index e8c7d5ea..9822516c 100644
--- a/stacks/authentik/modules/authentik/values.yaml
+++ b/stacks/authentik/modules/authentik/values.yaml
@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ authentik:
 
 server:
   replicas: 3
+  # Anonymous Django sessions (no completed login: bots, healthcheckers,
+  # partial flows) expire in 2h. Default is days=1. Once login completes,
+  # UserLoginStage.session_duration takes over via request.session.set_expiry.
+  # Injected via server.env (not authentik.sessions.*) because we use
+  # authentik.existingSecret.secretName, which makes the chart skip
+  # rendering the AUTHENTIK_* secret — so the values block doesn't reach env.
+  env:
+    - name: AUTHENTIK_SESSIONS__UNAUTHENTICATED_AGE
+      value: "hours=2"
   strategy:
     type: RollingUpdate
     rollingUpdate:
@@ -70,6 +79,11 @@ global:
 
 worker:
   replicas: 3
+  # Same unauthenticated_age cap as server — both the server (Django session
+  # middleware) and worker (cleanup tasks) need to see the value.
+  env:
+    - name: AUTHENTIK_SESSIONS__UNAUTHENTICATED_AGE
+      value: "hours=2"
   strategy:
     type: RollingUpdate
     rollingUpdate: